Zhang Rong (left) transfers the Buddha head statue to Chinese Embassy in Tokyo in Nov, 2020. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
As Chinese people celebrate Spring Festival, a time for reunion, a lost national treasure has also returned home after being stolen about a century ago.
This 44.5-cm-high Buddha head is the first among these stolen items to be returned from Japan
A lost Buddha head statue, which recently made the journey back to China, appeared during the Spring Festival Gala of China Central Television on Thursday. It was its first public showcase after being successfully repatriated from Japan in December.
The head, dating back to the Sui Dynasty (581-618), was originally placed on the northern wall in the No 8 Tianlongshan Grottoes on the outskirts of Taiyuan, capital of Shanxi province, according to a statement from the National Cultural Heritage Administration.
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It was believed to be stolen and lost overseas around 1924, along with about 240 Buddha images that were looted in the 1920s, initiated by a Japanese antique dealer. Tianlongshan thus became the most heavily ransacked Chinese Buddhist grotto temple by foreign hands.
An expert panel appraises the newly returned Buddha head. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
This 44.5-cm-high Buddha head is the first among these stolen items to be returned from Japan.
The National Cultural Heritage Administration learned in September a Chinese Buddha head statue labeled as from Tang Dynasty (618-907) was about to be auctioned in Tokyo, and was suspected to be a stolen piece from Tianlongshan.
The administration soon began the process of repatriation. In October, the auction house in Tokyo, whose board chairman Zhang Rong is a Chinese from Hangzhou, agreed to cancel the auction.
After negotiations between the National Cultural Heritage Administration, Zhang, and the local holder of the relic in Japan, the Buddha head was bought by Zhang and finally donated to the administration.
The transfer ceremony for the lost relic was held in the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo in November, and it arrived in Beijing in December.
Facade of the No 8 Cave of Tianlongshan Grottoes, home for the lost Buddha head statue. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
The relic was confirmed as a lost Buddha head from the No 8 Cave of Tianlongshan, after an appraisal by an expert panel jointly composed of scholars from Peking University, Tsinghua University and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which referred to old pictures taken in the cave in 1922 and 1923.
The No 8 Cave was the largest Buddhist grotto in Tianlongshan, and the only one with a specific date of construction (AD 584).
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The lost Buddha head statue that returned from Japan. (PHOTO BY LUO ZHENG FOR CHINADAILY.COM.CN)
According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, this smiling Buddha with typical artistic features of its time stands for extraordinary craftsmanship and high academic values. It has been temporarily rated as a Level-1 cultural relic, the highest rating in China.
After being unveiled via the Spring Festival Gala, the Buddha head statue will be displayed in Beijing Lu Xun Museum starting Thursday, the first day of the Lunar New Year, until Mar 14, along with many virtually exhibited Tianlongshan "relics".
In November, the State Council, China's Cabinet, released the first national-level and long-term guideline specifically for the protection and study of grotto temples, and much work has been done to highlight their precious heritage.
An old photo taken in 1922 on the northern wall of No 8 Cave of Tianlongshan. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINADAILY.COM.CN)