Old Summer Palace bronze statue of animal heads
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Old Summer Palace bronze statue of animal heads Bronze statue of Yuanmingyuan animal heads, also known as Yuanmingyuan twelve zodiac bronze animal heads , Bronze statues with human and animal heads of the twelve zodiac animals in Yuanmingyuan. The bronze animal head statue in Yuanmingyuan was originally part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. It was a red bronze statue made during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1860, the British and French allied forces invaded China and burned the Old Summer Palace. The bronze statues of animal heads began to be lost overseas. Only a few have been recovered, so they have become a symbol of the lost cultural relics of the Old Summer Palace overseas.
Contents
Introduction
The design of the bronze animal head statue in Yuanmingyuan The designer of the bronze statue
Principles of shape and construction
< p>Loss of bronze statuesThe whereabouts of the existing bronze statues of animal heads in the Old Summer Palace
Chou Niu
Yin Hu
Mao Rabbit
Chen Long
Si Snake
Wuma
Wei Sheep
Shen Monkey
< p>YoujiXu Dog
Haizhu
The precious significance of the bronze statue of animal head in Yuanmingyuan
The significance of the bronze statue of animal head in Yuanmingyuan Copying and Recreation
The Return
Auction of Rat and Rabbit Heads
Lawyers Form a Group to Recover
Official Response
Introduction to the true value of cultural relics
The design of the bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan
The designer of the bronze statue
Principles of shape and construction
The loss of the bronze statue
The whereabouts of the existing bronze animal head statues in Yuanmingyuan, Zishu
Chou Niu
Yin Hu
Mao Rabbit
Chen Long
Si Snake
Wuma
Wei Sheep
Shen Monkey
You Chicken
< p>Xu GouHaizhu
The precious significance of the bronze animal head statue in the Old Summer Palace
The reproduction and recreation of the bronze animal head statue in the Old Summer Palace
< p>The process of returnAuction of rat and rabbit heads
Lawyers organized a group to recover
Official reaction to the true value of cultural relics Edit this paragraph Introduction
< p>Old Summer Palace historic site Haiyan Hall, [1] was built in 1759 (the 24th year of Qianlong's reign). The word "Haiyan" means "the river is clear and the sea is peaceful, the country is peaceful and the people are safe". "Wenyuan Yinghua" Tang Zhengxi's "The King of Japan and China": "The river is clear and the sea is Yan, the times are prosperous and the years are prosperous" River, Yellow River; Yan, calm. "Heqinghaiyan" is also called "Haiyanheqing", which means that the water flow of the Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm. This term is used to describe peace in the world and has an auspicious connotation of praising world peace. This is also where the name of the ornamental and practical building "Haiyan Hall" in the Yuanmingyuan, the Chinese royal garden, comes from. The essence of this architectural complex - the twelve zodiac bronze statues tell the time with water, which is world-famous. The animal head was designed by Castiglione, a Jesuit priest stationed in China. He used the twelve zodiac signs of the animal head and body to represent the twenty-four hours of the day. Each bronze statue sprayed water in turn, making it a spectacle. In 1860, the twelve zodiac animal heads were plundered by the British and French forces and then scattered around the world. Among them, the rat and rabbit heads were collected by the French; the bronze statues of the cow, monkey, tiger, pig and horse heads have returned to China and are collected in Poly Art. museum; the whereabouts of dragon heads, snake heads, sheep heads, chicken heads, and dog heads are unknown.Edit this paragraph about the design of the bronze statue of the animal head in the Old Summer Palace
The designer of the bronze statue
The bronze statue of the animal head in the Old Summer Palace was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The bronze statue of the animal head in the Old Summer Palace was designed by the European missionary Italian Giuseppe Castiglione (1688-1766), the Frenchman R. Michel Benoist (1715-1744) designed and supervised it, and was produced by Qing court craftsmen. Originally, Castiglione wanted to build a nude female sculpture with Western characteristics. However, Emperor Qianlong felt that this was against Chinese ethics and morals, so he ordered a redesign. Later, this bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animals was created. Another problem is that after the design was completed, Lang Shining discovered that no craftsman in the Qing Dynasty knew how to make bronze wares. Later, he and other craftsmen consulted the classics, which was time-consuming and laborious and finally completed.
Principles of shape and structure
The Haiyan Hall, a historic site in the Old Summer Palace, was built in 1759 (the 24th year of Qianlong's reign). The word "Haiyan" means "the river is clear and the sea is peaceful, the country is peaceful and the people are safe". "Wenyuan Yinghua" Tang Zhengxi's "The King of Japan and China": "The river is clear and the sea is Yan, the times are prosperous and the years are prosperous" River, Yellow River; Yan, calm. "Heqinghaiyan" is also called "Haiyanheqing", which means that the water flow of the Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm. This term is used to describe peace in the world and has an auspicious connotation of praising world peace. This is also where the name of the ornamental and practical building "Haiyan Hall" in the Yuanmingyuan, the Chinese royal garden, comes from. The essence of this architectural complex - the twelve zodiac bronze statues tell the time with water, which is world-famous. The twelve zodiac bronze statues were designed by the European missionary Castiglione and produced by the craftsmen of the Qing court. They are art treasures that display the blend of Chinese and Western cultures. They have extremely high artistic and appreciation values ??internationally. The designer fully considered Chinese folk culture and replaced the human body sculptures commonly used in Western fountain designs with seated figures of the twelve zodiac signs. The body of the zodiac bronze statue is a stone sculpture wearing a robe, and the head is a realistic style. The casting is fine, and the wrinkles, down, and other details on the animal head are clear and lifelike.
The material used to cast the animal head was red copper refined by the Qing court at that time. It has a deep color on the outside and a polished interior. It has lasted for hundreds of years without rusting, which is a unique feat. According to research, the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animals were arranged in a figure-eight shape on both sides of a pool in front of Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. They were called "hydraulic clocks" by people at the time. Every day, the twelve zodiac bronze statues will spray water in turn, representing different times of the day. At noon, the twelve statues will spray water at the same time. The Haiyantang Twelve Zodiac Fountain is a fountain clock designed according to the twelve Chinese zodiac signs. Every hour, the zodiac clock belonging to that hour will automatically spray water. At twelve o'clock at noon, the twelve zodiac signs will spray water at the same time. The design Extremely sophisticated. The main building of Haiyan Hall faces west, with eleven rooms at the top and bottom. There are stacked fountains on the left and right of the door. There is a large fountain under the steps. On the left and right of the pool, there are bronze statues of human bodies and animal heads of the twelve zodiac animals arranged in an "eight" shape. At twelve hours every day and night, the twelve zodiac signs take turns spraying water, commonly known as the "water clock". The portraits of the Twelve Lives were originally placed on the 12 stone platforms on the north and south sides of the fan-shaped pool fountain in front of Haiyan Hall in the Western Tower of Yuanmingyuan. On the south bank are the rat, tiger, dragon, horse, monkey, and dog; on the north bank are the ox, the rabbit, the snake, the sheep, the rooster, and the pig. These portraits all have animal heads and human bodies. The head is made of copper and the body is made of stone. The hollow is connected to a water spray pipe. Every other hour (two hours), the portrait representing that hour will spray water from its mouth; at noon, ten The two portraits have fountains of water gushing out of their mouths at the same time, creating a spectacle. These bronze zodiac statues are 50 centimeters high and are exquisitely carved. They are the finest bronzes of the Qing Dynasty. In the middle of the pool is a stone clam sculpture about two meters high. There are six stone seats arranged in a figure of eight on both sides of the pool. Each stone is carved with an animal-headed human figure wearing a robe. The animal head is made of copper and the human body is made of stone. They are arranged according to the rules of the Chinese zodiac. Every other hour (two hours today), the animal head representing that hour sprays water from its mouth, and the water pours into the pool in a parabola shape, that is, Zi hour (23 o'clock to 1 o'clock the next day). At Chou hour (1 to 3 o'clock), a bronze statue with a rat head sprays water from its mouth; at Chou hour (1 to 3 o'clock), a bronze statue with an ox head sprays water from its mouth. At 12 o'clock at noon, in addition to the horse's head continuing to spray water, the mouths of the other eleven animal bronze statues also sprayed water jets together, and the scene was extremely spectacular in an instant. Therefore, as long as people see the water jet coming from the mouth of the zodiac avatar, they can know the current time. This group of fountains is a huge and unique water conservancy clock.
The loss of bronze statues
During the Second Opium War, the British and French forces invaded China, captured Beijing, and looted countless treasures in the Old Summer Palace, including twelve bronze statues. The animal heads caused these national treasures to be lost overseas for more than a hundred years. The portraits of the Twelve Lives are artistic treasures that show the integration of Chinese and Western cultures, and have extremely high artistic and appreciation value internationally. When the invading army robbed it, they also treated it as the most precious treasure. Those who get them are also people with special status. In 1860, the British and French allied forces burned down the Old Summer Palace, and the twelve zodiac bronze statues in the Old Summer Palace were lost overseas since then, becoming a microcosm of the loss of Chinese cultural relics. In the more than a hundred years after the Opium War, many Chinese cultural relics were lost overseas due to wars, looting, theft, etc. Up to one million pieces.
Edit this paragraph about the whereabouts of the existing bronze animal heads in the Old Summer Palace
Currently, six bronze animal heads of ox, tiger, monkey, pig, horse and dog were sold in 2000 and 2003 respectively. It was rescued and brought back to China by patriots in 2007 and 2007, and it was collected in the Poly Art Museum. It is now known that the rat and rabbit heads were auctioned at a French auction house in February 2009. The dragon head is currently in Taiwan and is well preserved, but will not appear in the short term. The whereabouts of three items including a snake head, a sheep head, and a chicken head are still unknown.
The Rat
The "Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé" was held by the auction giant Christie's from February 23 to 25, 2009 in Paris, France. "Appeared in the special auction. At the auction on February 26, it was unveiled with a reserve price of 9 million euros and was finally sold for 14 million euros. At the time, Christie's did not reveal the true identity of the buyer. On March 2, Niu Xianfeng, deputy director-general of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, said at a press conference in Beijing that Cai Mingchao, collection consultant of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction and became the final bidder. However, since payment has not yet been made and is still within the payment deadline, it is still unknown whether the auction will be completed. Cai Mingchao said: "I will not pay. Under the circumstances at that time, every Chinese would stand up. I just fulfilled my responsibility."
Ugly Cow
20 In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan purchased it at a Sotheby's auction. On April 30, 2000, China Poly Group purchased it at Christie's auction house for HK$7.745 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.
Yin Hu
In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan purchased it at a Sotheby's auction. On May 2, 2000, China Poly Group purchased it at Sotheby's auction house for HK$15.44475 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.
Rabbit
The "Collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé" was held by the auction giant Christie's from February 23 to 25, 2009 in Paris, France. "Appeared in the special auction. At the auction on February 26, it was unveiled with a reserve price of 9 million euros and was finally sold for 14 million euros.
At that time, Christie's did not reveal the true identity of the buyer. On March 2, Niu Xianfeng, deputy director-general of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, said at a press conference in Beijing that Cai Mingchao, collection consultant of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction and became the final bidder. However, since payment has not yet been made and is still within the payment deadline, it is still unknown whether the auction will be completed. Cai Mingchao said: "I will not pay. Under the circumstances at that time, every Chinese would stand up. I just fulfilled my responsibility."
Chenlong
According to In March 2009, Shenzhen Satellite TV reported [2] that Wang Du, a collector from Taiwan, China, said in an interview that the dragon head among the missing animal heads from the Old Summer Palace is currently in Taiwan. Wang Du said that Taiwan Dragon Head was in good condition in the 1980s. At that time, the value was NT$4 to 5 million. The collector originally planned to have the dragon head appear at the auction, but in view of the turmoil encountered by the rat head and rabbit head, the collector does not expect the dragon head and other unknown Yuanmingyuan animal heads to appear in the short term
Si She
Whereabouts unknown
Wuma
In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan purchased it at a Sotheby's auction. On September 20, 2007, Dr. Stanley Ho, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and entrepreneur, successfully purchased and donated it to the country at a record price of HK$69.1 million.
Weiyang
Whereabouts unknown
Shenhou
In the 1980s, Taiwanese entrepreneur Cai Chennan auctioned at Sotheby's Purchased at the meeting. On April 30, 2000, China Poly Group purchased it at Christie's auction house for HK$8.185 million, and it is now stored in the Poly Art Museum.
Youji
Whereabouts Unknown
Xu Dog
According to a report by the US "World Journal" on April 27, 2009[3] , a few days ago, Zheng Andy (sound), a Chinese living in Front Royal, a small town in the mountains of Virginia, USA, said that he bought a bronze statue of a dog's head at a thrift store for US$1,000 a month ago. Judging from the appearance, material and size, he thought it was most likely a bronze statue of a dog. Among the 12 animal-headed bronze statues, there is a dog-headed bronze statue. The thrift store owner claimed that the bronze statue was consigned by others and its origin was unknown. The seller offered a price of US$1,000, and nothing less would be enough. Andy Zheng decided to buy it after careful consideration. Andy Zheng said that it would be a good thing if the national treasures lost overseas could return to the motherland, but he has neither the financial resources nor the opportunity to authenticate the bronze dog-head statue. He hopes to attract the attention of cultural relic appreciators and collectors.
Haizhu
In 1987, it was purchased by a museum in the United States. In 2003, the famous entrepreneur Dr. Stanley Ho invested in the acquisition and donated it to the Poly Art Museum for collection, finally returning to the motherland. As for the amount of funds paid, Poly did not disclose it, but it is said to be less than HK$7 million.
Edit this paragraph on the precious significance of the bronze animal head statues in the Old Summer Palace
Why are the bronze animal head bronze statues in the Old Summer Palace precious? During the prosperous period of Qianlong, the Qing Dynasty's national power was strong and its craftsmanship was at its peak. This was particularly reflected in the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Yuanmingyuan. First of all, the copper it uses is an alloy copper specially refined for the palace. It contains many precious metals. It is the same as the copper used in the bronze cranes displayed in the Forbidden City and the Summer Palace in Beijing. It has a deep color, a polished interior, and has withstood the wind and rain without rusting. , can be called a masterpiece. Secondly, it was carefully made by the craftsmen of the palace manufacturing office who specialized in serving the emperor. The casters were finely crafted, and the surface was carved with fine chiseling. The details such as the animal hair on the image were all chiselled and forged. It is completed, clear and lifelike, and key parts such as the nose, eyes, ears, and the wrinkles on the nose and neck are all very delicate, without a trace of sloppiness, showing a very high level of craftsmanship. What is even more commendable is that the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads were made by Chinese palace craftsmen, and the designers were Castiglione and other European artists. Therefore, the bronze statues not only have strong traditional Chinese aesthetic taste, but also integrate Western plastic arts. characteristics.
Edit this paragraph Reproduction and Recreation of the Bronze Statues of Animal Heads in the Old Summer Palace
●The silhouette image in the stamps of the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace, January 18, 2005, from China The "soul of national treasure" issued by the Philatelic Corporation - the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace was officially unveiled. The China Special Fund for Rescue of Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, which participated in the design, calls on the whole society to contribute its efforts to promote the return of lost overseas cultural relics. "The Soul of National Treasure" - the bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan is composed of 12 stamps and 4 plates. At that time, the four national treasures that had been rescued and returned to China all had actual photos and made version cards, including cow heads, tiger heads, monkey heads, and pig heads. However, the other eight zodiac bronze statues, including the rat head, rabbit head, dragon head, snake head, horse head, sheep head, chicken head and dog head, may still be lost overseas, or have never been traced, so they are used in stamp products. Received the animal head rescued by China. "Although this is a great regret, it also reminds people that unremitting efforts are still needed to reunite the twelve zodiac bronze statues in their hometowns as soon as possible," said Zhang Yongnian, director of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics. ●Ceramic replicas of Jiguge, a Beijing cultural relics reproduction institution. Jiguge Replica (2007)
The twelve bronze animal heads of the Old Summer Palace that were looted by the British and French forces were successfully copied by Jiguge, a time-honored cultural relics replicating institution in Beijing. , exhibited collectively at Liulichang in 2007.
The five bronze statues of dragon, snake, sheep, rooster and dog whose whereabouts were unknown at that time were also copied after experts searched for information from various sources. At that time, among the twelve zodiac bronze statues that had been lost overseas for more than 140 years, four are now in the Poly Museum, two are in France, and the horse heads are collected by collectors in Taiwan and will be auctioned by Sotheby's in Hong Kong. The whereabouts of the remaining five bronze statues are unknown. Li Lianxiang, the person in charge of Jiguge Pavilion who is responsible for this reproduction, said that this reproduction of cultural relics is the most difficult reproduction of Jiguge Pavilion in decades because there are no originals for reference. In order to be as close to the original work as possible, the staff referred to the Old Summer Palace, paintings by the bronze statue designer Lang Shining and other art works, as well as representative sculptures from the Qing Dynasty, "to figure out the sculpture style and aesthetics of that era." Li Lianxiang admitted that without the original for reference and comparison, no matter how well the copy is made, there will always be shortcomings. According to Li Lianxiang, the copying work began in 2005, and it took most of the time for the five bronze statues that had no reference to the originals. "The dragon head bronze statue was the most difficult. The design was changed five times and it took half a year to make it." The material used for this reproduction is different from that of the original. The original is made of copper, while the reproduction is made of ceramic with green glaze. The five bronze statues of dragon, snake, sheep, rooster and dog are in the same style as other bronze statues, with simple shapes and smooth lines. "The expressions match, which shows the success and level of copying." Li Lianxiang said. ●Zhu Bingren's work "The Soul of the Old Summer Palace - Conjecture about the missing animal head of the Old Summer Palace" On November 6, 2008, at the 9th China Arts and Crafts Masters Works and International Art Fine Arts Expo, there was a group of shocking fusion of important works. The copper works were shown to the world for the first time at the exhibition; thus launching Zhu Bingren's new handicraft exploration crystal "copper melting art". As the only "Master of Chinese Arts and Crafts" in the field of Chinese copper art, Zhu Bingren carefully selected 30 fine copper-melted art pieces from more than a hundred works to showcase his original copper-melted art, copper calligraphy and painting art, and the symbol of the common roots of both sides of the Taiwan Strait. An exquisitely carved version of the "Same Origin Bridge". In the most eye-catching position in the exhibition area, the five bottles of missing Yuanmingyuan national treasure art works are particularly eye-catching. Represented by this group of works, Zhu Bingren elaborated on the essence of molten copper art and its artistic and social values: molten copper animal head statues, vast and eroded, with different shapes; some with their eyes raised and their heads raised, or some with tragic twists, seeming to be telling, Accusation, condensation, and prayer. It artistically and truly reproduces the historical changes of the national treasure and expresses the grief, anger and shame of the Chinese nation. "With my blood and passion, I melted the copper and created the vicissitudes and pathos of national history." Master Zhu Bingren said from the bottom of his heart.
Edit this paragraph on the return process
In 2000, Christie's and Sotheby's auctioned bronze statues of cow heads, monkey heads and tiger heads in Hong Kong, which for the first time ignited the Chinese people's concern about the loss of cultural relics. After being outraged by the auction, China Poly Group Corporation finally bought the cultural relics back at a high price. In early 2003, the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics searched for the whereabouts of a bronze pig head statue in the United States. After hard work, American collectors agreed to transfer the pig head bronze statue. Stanley Ho, a member of the Standing Committee of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and patriotic entrepreneur, donated more than 6 million yuan to buy back the pig head bronze statue. In 2007, Sotheby's announced that it would auction horse heads, which once again caused public uproar. After negotiation, Stanley Ho made a second move, purchasing bronze statues of horse heads for HK$69.1 million before the auction, and donated them to the country. The long road home, extending in humiliating twists and turns. One evening in the 1990s, an American citizen was walking in France. Unintentionally looking at a private villa near the roadside, he saw several copper animal heads mounted on the edge of the swimming pool. These lovely animal heads glow charmingly under the setting sun. He liked it very much. At this time, the attentive owner came over and saw this uninvited guest visiting his swimming pool blankly, and showed a strong interest in these copper animal heads. "Can you sell it to me?" he asked. "Of course." The master said with a smile. "How much does it cost?" "I also have a cow head hanging a towel in the bathtub in my room. I can sell it to you as well." The owner charged him $3,500 for the three copper animal heads. So the Americans spent 3,500 U.S. dollars to take back these three precious babies that were living overseas. At that time, after returning home, the American's wife had a quarrel with him, thinking that they were really not worth so much money! At that time, neither the buyer nor the seller knew the true origins of these three seemingly ordinary copper handicrafts, nor their noble bloodline. They stay in ordinary homes in obscurity, letting others hang towels or smelly socks on their heads. Since then, how many people have been transferred? I don’t know how many owners the miserable beast heads belong to? Anyway, thank God, they seem to be pretty good to them. If you meet an unlucky guy, break it into pieces and take it to the scrap yard to exchange for wine. This can't be saved, it's really a sin! Later, someone finally discovered their origins! This was a royal possession of the Chinese Empire in the last century, so their worth was instantly worth a hundred times. The treatment specifications are unusual. They even started to have their own guards and nannies. Later, at an auction in New York in the 1990s, it was the connoisseur named Humble House who persuaded the Taiwanese compatriots and spent a million dollars to buy them back. As a result, these bronze animal heads ended their long wanderings and returned to Chinese soil and Chinese hands for the first time.
Edit this paragraph to auction rat and rabbit heads
Horse heads French auction house Christie's plans to auction the rat among the famous cultural relics "12 Zodiac Animal Heads" lost in the Old Summer Palace in February 2009 Bronze statues of rabbit heads and rabbit heads.
It can be seen on the Christie's website that the rat and rabbit head bronze statues are still listed in the auction list and will be auctioned in Paris, France from February 23 to 25 as originally planned. Five pieces have been returned: an ox head, a monkey head, a tiger head, a pig head, and a horse head. The other five bronze statues of a dragon head, a snake head, a sheep head, a chicken head, and a dog head are still missing. The rat head and rabbit head bronze statues are the only two that can be determined among the "12 zodiac animal heads" that are still living overseas. The auction information provided on the website of Christie's auction house stated that the rat heads and rabbit heads to be auctioned are very "rare and important", both from the Qing Dynasty, and the auction estimates of the two items are between 8 million and 10 million euros. Both items are treasures from the collection of French collector Pierre Bergé, and they will appear at the "World-famous couturier Yves Saint Laurent and his companions" at the Grand Palais in Paris, France from February 23 to 25. "Special Auction of El Berge's Collection".
Edit this paragraph Lawyers form a group to pursue the case
The fact that the bronze statues of rat and rabbit heads in the Old Summer Palace will be auctioned in France has always attracted widespread attention in Chinese society. Eighty-one Chinese lawyers, including Beijing lawyers Liu Yang and Li Xingfeng, established the "Volunteer Group of Lawyers for Litigation of Recovering Cultural Relics Lost Overseas from the Old Summer Palace" to urge the auction house to cancel the auction and return the cultural relics. The legal team has drafted an indictment, and the defendants are the collectors of two cultural relics, Pierre Bergé et al., and the Christie's auction company. According to French law, the plaintiff needs to have a strong connection with the facts, and the legal team needs the relevant Chinese departments to come forward as the plaintiff, and the legal team provides legal assistance. The Beijing Old Summer Palace Management Office is likely to participate in the lawsuit as a government representative. The news that Chinese lawyers are preparing to file a lawsuit and want to stop the auction has attracted the attention of foreign media, including French media, but Christie's auction house will continue with the original auction plan. The British "Times" stated that Christie's auction house did not accept China's claims. Staff at the auction house said that although they have not yet contacted the Chinese legal team, it is impossible for the house to accept the request to terminate the auction and hand over the two animal heads to a French court to determine their final ownership in accordance with international law. On March 2, the consignor Cai Mingchao (third from right) behind the signboard at the Old Summer Palace rabbit and mouse head auction held a press conference. At a press conference held in Beijing on the 2nd, it was said that Cai Mingchao, collection consultant of the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction of rabbit and rat heads in the Old Summer Palace in Paris, France, and became the final bidder. Niu Xianfeng told reporters: Although Cai Mingchao bought the rabbit and rat heads of the Old Summer Palace in Paris, France for a total of 31.49 million euros, it is still unknown whether the auction can be finalized as the payment has not yet been made and is still within the payment deadline. Cai Mingchao said at the press conference: "I will not pay. Under the circumstances at that time, every Chinese would stand up. I just fulfilled my responsibility."
Edit this paragraph's official reaction
Song Xinchao, Director of the Museum Department of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said when talking about the rat head and rabbit head, "China has unquestionable ownership of it, and of course it should be returned to China. The Chinese government is firmly opposed to the auction! It should be returned to China If the looted cultural relics from the People's Old Summer Palace are auctioned in such a grand manner, it will once again damage China's national sovereignty and the dignity of the Chinese nation."
Edit the true value of this paragraph
Christie's France. The auction house auctioned the rat head and rabbit head bronze statues of the lost cultural relics of China's Old Summer Palace in Paris early yesterday morning, Beijing time. The two animal heads were bought by a phone buyer for 14 million euros each. Faced with this auction result, Zheng Xinyao, deputy secretary-general of the China Auction Industry Association, said in an interview with reporters yesterday that from the price of a bronze statue of a horse head in 1985 to 1,500 US dollars, the bronze statues of a rat head and a rabbit head sold for 14 million US dollars respectively. The euro and the bronze animal head statue in Yuanmingyuan have increased 12,000 times in 24 years. From a pure art auction market perspective, today's prices are far greater than the intrinsic value of these two cultural relics. Therefore, he called on the Chinese people to be wary of people taking advantage of our national sentiments for malicious commercial hype. According to Zheng Xinyao, the bronze animal head statue of the Old Summer Palace is also known as the Old Summer Palace bronze animal head of the twelve zodiac animals, and the Old Summer Palace bronze animal head statue of the twelve zodiac animals. The bronze animal head statue in the Old Summer Palace was originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Old Summer Palace. It was a red bronze statue made during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. It was also the nozzle of the "hydraulic clock" in the original fountain of the Old Summer Palace. The full name of this "hydraulic clock" is "Twelve Zodiac Signs Time Fountain". The bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads are in the shape of an "eight" and are arranged on the human stone platforms on both sides of the fountain. Each animal is a fountain mechanism. Every hour, the corresponding animal's mouth will spray water for two hours. In the 1980s, it was only US$1,500. Zheng Xinyao said that in 1985, an American antique dealer accidentally discovered a bronze statue of a horse head in the Old Summer Palace in a private residence in California. Along with it were bronze statues of an ox head and a tiger head. . The antique dealer bought these three bronze heads at a low price of US$1,500 each. From 1987 to 1989, these three bronze animal heads and monkey heads from the Old Summer Palace appeared at auctions in New York and London. The highest price at that time was a horse head, which was only US$250,000. Emperor Qianlong was born in the year of the horse, so the horse head was the most exquisite in craftsmanship. The Hong Kong auction introduced the Chinese people to the animal heads of the Old Summer Palace. At the end of April and early May 2000, at the auctions of Christie's and Sotheby's in Hong Kong, bronze statues of cow heads, monkey heads and tiger heads appeared.
At that time, the two auction companies' practices of auctioning lost cultural relics aroused great indignation from all walks of life in Hong Kong and mainland China. In the end, China Poly Group Company resolutely participated in the auction and bought the cow head for HKD 7.745 million, the monkey head for HKD 8.185 million, and the tiger head for HKD 15.44475 million (both prices included the auction company's commission). In early September 2007, Sotheby's auction company announced that it would auction a bronze statue of a horse head under the name of "Eight-Power Allied Forces - Relics of the Old Summer Palace". When the news came out, people from all walks of life were in an uproar. The China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics took the lead in issuing a statement that it "firmly opposes the public auction of bronze horse head statues" and proposed that the return of horse heads should be achieved in a public welfare manner. At a critical moment, Dr. Stanley Ho, a patriotic entrepreneur from Hong Kong and Macao and a consultant on the national treasure project, purchased the horse head bronze statue for HKD 69.1 million before the auction on September 20 and announced that he would donate it to the country. The only one that did not involve the auction company and returned as a charity was the pig head bronze statue, but it was also related to Stanley Ho. In early 2003, the China Special Fund to Rescue Lost Overseas Cultural Relics searched for the whereabouts of a bronze pig head statue in the United States. After hard work, the American collector agreed to transfer the pig head bronze statue to the special fund. In September 2003, Stanley Ho donated more than 6 million yuan to the special fund to buy back the bronze pig head statue. Among the bronze statues of the twelve zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace, the ones that have returned include the heads of ox, monkey, tiger, pig and horse. Except for the pig head, the return of the other four bronze statues is all related to the auction. The other five bronze statues of dragon heads, snake heads, sheep heads, chicken heads, and dog heads have been missing. 14 million euros is far greater than the true value of the cultural relics. Zheng Xinyao said that the price of 14 million euros for the rat head and rabbit head bronze statues in Paris was completely unbelievable from a commercial perspective. Xie Chensheng, a well-known cultural relic expert and honorary president of the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, said yesterday that the rat and rabbit head bronze statues are just architectural components. If they are not connected to the Old Summer Palace and the invasion of the British and French coalition forces, their value cannot be very high. of. Because of this connection, it has new value, and this value is a witness to national humiliation. Li Xiaodong, vice president of the Chinese Cultural Relics Society, also believed yesterday that the price of the animal heads in the Old Summer Palace was completely hyped. As building components, their value will be greatly reduced if they leave the building. Therefore, they do not have independent value like a famous painting from the Song Dynasty or a complete bronze from the Shang Dynasty. The current hype has fueled businessmen’s need to make profits. Therefore, in the first auction, the three bronze statues were only about 30 million Hong Kong dollars. By 2007, one horse head was worth 69.1 million Hong Kong dollars, and it was all speculated in this way. From a commercial perspective, this Paris auction is naturally higher than the price of HK$69.1 million. Therefore, the whole process is a kind of commercial hype and does not reflect the true value of these two cultural relics.