Losing their heads
A couple of heads - one of a rabbit; the other of a rat - are making quite a racket. The heads used to be part of a display at the Old Summer Palace here in Beijing. But in 1860, this palace was looted by French and British forces. The two bronze heads eventually ended up in the collection of the French designer, Yves Saint Laurent. Now they're set to be auctioned in Paris.
China believes that the two bronzes belong right here in Beijing - at their former home in the Old Summer Palace in the north of the city.
Earlier today, a colleague and I went to have a look at the ruins of the Palace. A 25 rmb ($3.65) ticket allows you to wander through the grounds, past frozen lakes and fallen columns. We bumped into several tour groups, doggedly making their way around in the cold (each tour leader had a loudspeaker and a green flag; many tour members had identical orange baseball caps).
Everyone we spoke to believed that the bronzes should be returned to China. It's worth saying that the entire way in which this country views the West is coloured by the looting and destruction of the Old Summer Palace in the 19th century. Many here feel that a failure to return the figures almost 150 years after they were taken away shows a (continuing) lack of regard in the West for China and its heritage.
We had been planning to meander about the ruins for a little longer in order to track down the exact place in which the bronzes used to be displayed. But we got word that three men had set themselves on fire in some kind of protest in downtown Beijing - so we had to get back into town. For a reporter, breaking news has to take precedence over archaeology.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~43~RS~)
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It was not the Chinese government who sued to prevent the auction. And even those who initiated the suing didn't ask for the return of the treasure to China but demanded that they should be displayed in a museum rather than being auctioned.
Please get the facts straight!
And please be careful and professional when you use the word "China" because your readers might not know who you refer to.
Of cause most Chinese (if not every) would want the return of the bronzes. Does this surprise you?
If China was as strong and powerful as the US, there might be a chance of getthing them back by purchasing at a reasonable price or more aggressive methods. But now, we have to wait.
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The last line is not entirely correct.
I would argue that it's not "breaking" news that takes precedence but, rather, "news that could embarass China" that takes precedence.
Some other pieces of news, such as warming of relations between the Mainland and Taiwan; China recording strong economic growth in the last quarter of '08 (while the rest of the world went into recession); reform of China's rural healthcare system - these were all news stories that, when announced, were technically "breaking" news.
Yet these stories were never covered.
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Every time I think about those Chinese treasures that were looted by the West, every time I see them in western museums, my heart is bleeding.
The western museums all have a note under these items to declare that they were “legally” acquired, such as: “donated by…” “bought from…”. Only very few items I saw that would have notes mentioning the fact that they were looted from China.
This is the way, people who talk about human rights in China all day, justifying their robbery. Ironically, I heard, the guy who has these two items told the press that he would only return these two items to China if the human rights condition in China is improved and Dalai Lama returns to Tibet. “Human rights in China” is letting these people do whatever they want in China. Who care about what the Chinese are saying? We arn't going to return what's yours...
Again, China has no way of preventing this from happening again, if she is weak or becomes week some later time. (We saw the treasures in Bagdad were looted by the solders from those countries with best human rights record.)
P.S. a lot of Greek folks are asking the British Museum to return their relics. I hope the Greeks are not as brainwashed as the Chinese and the human rights condition in Greece in good enough for them to justify their claims...
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Is this history written in the text book of The GREAT Britain? In what kind of tone?
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Yes, the bronzes should be returned.
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"For a reporter, breaking news has to take precedence over archaeology"
-Yeah, but sometimes archaeology IS the news...
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They've left it there as a reminder to future generations of how China was once humiliated.
The destruction of the old Summer Palace is used again and again to enforce nationalist sentiment. A number of Chinese (I have to say usually under 30) have brought up the subject with me over the years which suggests the education system is working. The attack was a retaliation for the torture of a Times journalist.
I rarely hear British people raising the subject of WWII bombing with their German counterparts. That is part of history and now it's 2009.
The truth is that our government probably don't need to reinforce patriotism by raking up the past through the media and education system. It's already there. We are joined together by witnessing events like the moving ones seen in parliament today.
On the subject of these treasures, of course they should be returned. I've contacted the British museum before about the ones there (along with the Summer Palace, the treasures in the The British Museum are often raised by Chinese). Until the Chinese put together a 'Restitution claim', they have no realistic hope of getting them back. I can only think this will be achieved through setting up some kind of research unit and building the evidence through documentation. So instead of complaining about their loss, why not take some firm action and get building the case?
On these articles, I'm sure there are enough billionaires in China now to cough up between them and get them back where they belong? They'd raise enough in ticket sales to get the money back after a few months.
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Regarding the portrayal of the looting of the Summer Palace as 'archeology', it is not really ancient history to Chinese. It is a very real humiliation of the Chinese people by the foreigners. It is also a representation of the arrogance, unjust treatments, and abuse that has been heaped upon the Chinese by Westerners generation after generation and that still continues on today. As long as there are still Chinese people in the world who are not treated fairly by the people in the West, the Chinese people's condemnation of the West for destruction of the Summer Palace will never really be able to fade into history.
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The last but one paragraph "Everyone ... heritage." implies Chinese should not regard west entirely by this way. Are you saying that Chinese government can do whatever they like in Tibet and to Tibetans, because after 150 years, whatsoever, the rest of the world will not regard China entirely by this?
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Why the robbers and their descendants want to keep the loot?
What is the justness of western law? In the early twentieth century, colonization was legal under international law in the way that slavery was once legal. Is there any fundamental change today when these descendants of robbers refuse to return the loot to their owners? It is even more ridiculous and shameless that these robbers play the human rights card! Mind your own business and be a clean man at first place!
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Bad karma goes to the new owners, should the bronzes not be returned to China.
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A journalist from the country where the invaders came from believes what their grandfathers' generation looted from a thirdworld country now belong to them. Oops, is this the same person holds the banners of humanrights, freedom, democracy, culture, tradition so high? He seems also believe that the thieves and robbers are entitiled to possess and trade what they robbed the other nations of. And western laws seem to protect the illegal trade of looted items from other nations. Where is the collective rights of 1.3 billion Chinese rightfully own their own culture herritage? Human rights? You are kidding me.
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Apparently some think this is another "evil" thing the French government has done. This makes these people want to boycott French products even more.
For some reason these people think the French government has control over private properties - that they can conveniently seize these head and return them to China as these people wish. Perhaps the Chinese government should instead go and find some international law that allows them to force the French to hand those over ?
Perhaps these people also have some definitive records to prove these two particular heads were actually seized or stolen, instead of sold, out of China in 1860 ?
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Those were not sold, at least not fairly traded, or willfully given to the Britsh and Franch. They should be given back to who it belongs. As simple as that!!!
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James, will you feel glad if someone looted your personal treasure and wanted you to buy in an extraordinarily high price or it will belong to others??????????????
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I guess it's just common that the robbers forget faster than the people being robbed. But it is still quite surprising that the robbers would have the audacity to ridicule those being robbed for not having the same short memory.
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China should boycott YSL and French product as protest for their disregard of Chinese heritage. These theives even has the cheek to say that they would not handback the statues unless China "greatly improves their human rights" seems to have forgotten the circumstances how their country had aquired them in the first place through gross violation of human rights by means of arsen, theft, rape, mass terrorism and theft against a defenseless nation. The excuse for this attrocity committed by Britain and France was because a country tried to turn its back on narcotic so that future generations can have a chance of survival.
These stolen treasures are a shameful legacy of western imperailism and greed equal of slavery, definately one that the previous "owners" should not be using human rights issue as bargaining chip to over inflate their egos.
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Victor Hugo, in his "Expédition de Chine", described the looting as, "'Two robbers breaking into a museum, devastating, looting and burning, leaving laughing hand-in-hand with their bags full of treasures; one of the robbers is called France and the other Britain." In his letter Hugo hoped that one day France would feel guilty and return what it had plundered from China.
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Imagine if the Chinese government sends secret agents to France to steal, rob, and take whatever action needed to gain possession of French arts and relics. They then smuggle these goods back into China, after which the government announce the end of their feud with the French and will no longer have anything to do with said arts and relics. Will Christie’s agree to list these goods in auctions? If not, what reason will they cite? How will the French react? How will everyone else react in such a role reversal?
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Hi, James
how could you underplay the crimes your ancestors had done to Chinese people?
what if chinese forces looted, sacked the British Museum and then burned it into ashes.?
what if thousands of English were killed by Chinese forces?
what if we auctioned the looted artifacts?
if you stood in my shoes, you would not have written like this.
Breaking news take precedence over archaeology.
you have never stood in our side, and spoken a little for the Chinese people even when the moral force is on our sides.
i wish the chinese people would not so hospitable to you.
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"A large proportion of the sale proceeds are to go to a foundation for Aids research."
This makes it right for the western ears, but still wrong in Chinese eyes.
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Is this the same China that refuses to recognise international patent and copyright law!?
They disregard what ever laws they like from human rights to business laws. Therefore, it is the high of hypocrisy to start crying about a pair of little statues.
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From now on, French robbers don't need to bother how to deal with their plunders: sending them to christie, who can help you make a good trade.
That's exactly what thier country does, a decent, civilized country. How ridiculous!
Shame on France!
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James, it is a shame you did not visit Yuanmingyuan soon upon your visit to China. This is the must for the foreigners - doubly so for Europeans, triply for the British. The most marvelous palace, built during more than a century of efforts of best planners and architects, the only European style palace in China, built by the Jesuits - all destroyed in a few days by Elgin and Gro's soldiers... Plundered and burned to the ground! This is the most painful for me, a foreigner in China. Now, making money of national tragedy is most disgusting - and the "West" will never be clean until it restitutes the stolen property to its owners.
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Prizes of a war long gone; get over it and make a bid.
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If there's anyone who genuinely has lack of regard for Chinese heritage, it must be the CCP.
It is the CCP who abolished the beautiful traditional Chinese characters, forbid the use of them and replaced them with the nonsense so-called 'simplified' characters. I'm glad the original characters are actually called 'traditional' characters in English, not 'complicated' characters as they are called in China.
And don't forget it was under Mao, whose portrait is still enshrined in Tiananmen Square, when so many ancient temples, monastries and heritage treasures were destroyed.
Apparently people are taught to remember things that happened 150 years ago but not things that happened 40 years ago.
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If China are so against the sale, why does the Chinese Government not simply bid for the items in the auction, win it, and bring it back to China.
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All of the great museums of the world have, at their core, collections that were "stolen" from many places across the world. Colonial occupations were notorious for doing this, spoils of war were common, theft was rampant, and private wealthy collectors and museums took advantage of the availability of such plunder. However, I do not believe the Chinese government, past and present, is speaking from a position of never having plundered or stolen things. Therefore, they are in no position to demand and threaten. 150 years ago, China was ruled by an emperor. They did not seem to have guarded their cultural heritage very well then, so why all the fuss now?
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destruction of yuan ming yuan (old summer palace) is one of the most shameful events in western history with china. It stores very strong emotions for Chinese, and does explain part of feelings towards west even today.
Looting and destruction of old summer palace was just an act of terror, and it's seen as criminal and barbaric act even today.
I do think that monuments stolen from eternal spring garden are property of Chinese people, and should be returned to China.
Pekka Siltala, Finland
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All very childish. If China wants them, why not just buy them at the auction? What is 38 million euros to a world power like China? Instead they stamp their feet, go to court, make extreme statements, carrying on as if this is a great international issue. The best policy would be to simply buy them quietly, and have them reappear as if by magic in the museum with the other ones.
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The pieces are the spoils of war and China should accept this in the same way they expect the rest of the world to accept that Tibet is rightfully theirs. Yet again double standards from the Chinese who want it all their own way.
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I visited the Summer Palace in Beijing in 1996 and the english description for one area was: "The artifacts were looted by the French and English forces but recently returned. All Chinese who view these should remember with bitterness the humiliation inflicted upon us." I could only guess what the chinese version was.
I am sure that the sign has been removed for the Olympics (the english version anyway) but I would not fall all over myself appeasing the Chinese and their pride.
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Yeah, there's no real way to justify the actions of Victorial imperialists, is there? The British Empire nicked a load of swag from the colonies during the 19th century, rarely for altruistic reasons.
Of course, it's never quite as simple as basic ethics and manners suggests it ought to be - the British Museum has proved to be a good place to keep artefacts safe, as opposed to the appalling theft of so many artefacts from the Baghdad museum in 2003. With the priceless Middle Eastern artefacts in the BM and the Louvre kept safe, we were spared the worst of it.
But can China be "trusted" to keep its own artefacts safe? Well of course it can. It's a big boy now, and we needn't treat it like a child by "looking after" its stuff and making a tidy profit by it.
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As an aside, I'm surprised by "the entire way in which this country views the West is coloured by the looting and destruction of the Old Summer Palace in the 19th century."
Really? I'm by no means anything other than a layman in Chinaology (not a word) but I'd expect modern China to be sufficiently distanced from the old regime by now to base any anti-west grievances on more recent affronts. Like Boris Johnson's jacket at the Olympics.
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And of course, there's nothing in China that was looted from another country, is there??
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It is absolutely right that things stolen years ago should be returned to their original owners.
Like Tibet, for example.
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I have to say the news hit me hard, like a hammer to my heart. Once again, we Chinese opened heart and show sincere truthfulness about our feelings but get a slap in return.
I cried for five seconds, in memory of my ancestor’s hardworking. Then I will wipe my tear and work HARD. we Chinese are resilient. we survive 5000 years, longest continuous human civilization. We sustained all odds. We will be strong. One day, robbers are going to pay.
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#7 davidwhite44
The Americans don't forget Pearl Harbour, the Japanese don't forget Hiroshima/Nagasaki, the Vietnamese don't forget Agent Orange,......
What's the problem if the Chinese choose to remember the First & Second Opium War, the Nanjing Massacre, etc, etc?
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Well maybe the French should give them back. However, not until the Chinese have thanked both them and the UK for saving these works of art. Had they not spirited them away to a safe place they would have no doubt been lost to Mao's Red Guards in the 'Cultural' Revolution.
Many people in the PRC seem to gloss over this horrendous page in their history, where what was left of China's culture (and a great proportion of its population) was systematically destroyed by the very man they revere to this day!
The good old Republic of China could also do with a good thank you from the PRC for saving a lot of Chinese treasure ;) And at least Taipei is closer to China then Paris...
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(After reading the comments that have been posted - and not deleted - so far)
China plays the victim again.
China's case is not unique.
As stated, Greece has the Elgin marbles now in Britain. Egypt has plenty of artifacts now in Germany. Iraq has ancient artifacts in countries all over the world. Even the Philippines has two church bells stolen by the United States.
Many of these artifacts were taken illegally, during war, or when Western powers were the colonial masters of countries from which the artifacts were stolen.
I agree that these two heads should be returned to China. However, as heyone states, the French government cannot seize these items from private owners.
However, in the case of the Elgin marbles, Philippine bells, Egyptian artwork, etc. that *are* owned by governments, those countries that stole the items can and should return them to their proper owners.
Arguably, France and the UK should buy the rat and rabbit heads at auction the next time they are sold, and then return them to China.
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“...sale by public auction offers the best opportunity for items to be repatriated as a result of worldwide exposure.”
More than that. Other distinct benefits for those items to be left in Westerners’ hand are:
1) It will repeatedly remind the Chinese, within China and overseas, of brutal pillage and crime conducted by Eight-Nation Alliance (Austria-Hungary, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States ) in China in 1800s.
2) Let the people of the world know that the nature of some of these people hasn’t been changed much since their ancestors: it remains that of greediness in 1800s.
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To 23, modagr8:
You are absolutely right.
This is like a robber who robs you your property and gives you a fraction of the profit through running your property. And now the robber tells you: ”You should be thankful”.
To the robber, it sounds very generous. But to you, it is an insult.
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i wonder what the French or westerners
would react if Mona Lisa or Picasso drawings
were taken by Chinese and auction in
the Chinese capital??
would they cry out loud as cultural genocide
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James Reynolds:
That bronzes statues should be return to the Chinese government....
~Dennis Junior~
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If the looting hadn't happened, and if the Palace had survived the Cultural Revolution, it would by now have been ripped down and rebuilt as a kitsch, theme park pastiche, to serve the needs of domestic tourism, like so many of China's historical remnants. It's kept in its current form because it serves as useful propaganda for whipping up nationalism in a youth that's not remotely interested in communist ideology.
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once a thief is always a thief. the thief is selling the victim's belonging in aution.how does the victim feel?
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Yes, the bronzes should be returned to China. I think everyone agrees with this. But how? There is a legal procedure that has to be followed, involving filing a claim with the French courts. China has done this before and won in the USA. Admittedly, France is more protective of its so-called patrimony - just ask the Spanish about Picasso artworks! In this instance, I strongly suspect the PRC Ministry of Cultural Relics Protection did not act fast enough and did not bother to hire a French lawyer to pursue this matter through French legal channels. This is an expensive and often time-consuming procedure. But it could have stopped the sale at auction and led to the works return to China in about one year's time. And most importantly, would have protected the works against future sale attempts while the legal matter was pending. China has to learn to be more adept at navigating international legal channels.
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The funny thing about this story, is that this event is not so much covered in French news. You can check www.lemonde.fr and you have to be very patient (or smart) to find a related article.
I guess it is quite hard to recognise one's own historical wrongdoing. France is still proud of its past colonialism and by "surrendering" to the Chinese latest demand, it would not only lose face against the Chinese, but would have to recognise itself as a past agressor. It is also painfull for French people (and others) to realise that China will one day overwhelm them politically and economically.
Winners always write and re-write history. One day, I hope all kids in the West and the East would be learning the same facts in school...
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breaking news has to take precedence over archaeology.
Is the heads are auctioned archaeology????????????
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When we talk about the words "human rights", which contain many meanings .
As we all know the great Britian and french are all proud of their human rights, which mean they also have good knowledge of respecting other countries culture and heritage.
Please return all items your robbery to China, Indian, Egypt... many other Asia and Africa countries!!!
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If these two bronze heads are the national heritage of France or UK and they were taken by the Chinese through an illegal means and are being auctioned in China, what will the French and the British feel and do about the whole thing? Will they or will they not request the Chinese to return these national treasures to their owners?
The Westerners have always criticising the Chinese Government for her human rights record in Tibet and other parts of China, especially the French, Have they ever done a serious reflections of what they had done to the Chinese in 1860 when they had burned down the entire palace and killed the people there and looted the national heritage belonged to the Chinese. Is this not a bad human rights record? What human rights are they talking about if they themselves don't even know how to respect the sensitivity and the feeling of others.
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I have a suggestion. China returns
priceless treasures stolen from Tibet
in exchange for the "stolen" bronzes.
As a long term western resident of
East Asia, I have learned quite clearly
the fruitless endeavor of classifying
blame. Every dominant tribe has blood
on its hands.
While Western European countries
dominated China in the 19th century
the Qing still managed to wipe the
Dzungar Mongols off the face of the
earth. The Yuan conquered Moscow
and surely would have gone further had
the khan not had a death in the family.
Where does this attaching blame end?
Can China assume a conscience about
crimes against Tibet? Should every
ukiyo-e woodblock print be returned to
Japan? Should gold be peeled off of Spanish
alters and returned to Mexico and Peru?
There is no end to this nonsense.
Time to move on. This is a suicidal
exercise for humanity. Time for all of
us to look honestly in the mirror and make
lasting peace instead of squabbling over trinkets.
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I had been thinking, someone should "win" the auction and then refuse to pay as the bronzes amount to stolen goods. Well done to the individual who actually did it.
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Our forebears (Brits and French) invaded China over opium trade, destroyed the Chinese Imperial Summer Palace and stole these bronze artifacts from the Chinese people. Therefore, we (this generation) must put right the wrongs of our past and return these national / cultural artifacts to the Chinese people unconditionally and accompanied with an apology.
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These artifacts weren't owned by the Chinese 'people'! They were decorations in a palace built for the pleasure of the ruling aristocracy, which in 1860 was the Qing Dynasty - Manchu, not Han. The Qing were overthrown in 1912 and ultimately replaced by the CCP, largely because of their appalling corruption, incompetence and refusal to modernise (like Japan).
Personally, I think the heads should've been returned as a gesture of goodwill, but you can't look at events that far in the past through a modern cultural prism.
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These are spoils from a war long ago. China needs to leave that war in the past as well as what was lost. If it was that important then they should just buy it instead of attempting to strong-arm a charitable auction. It's most embarassing for a member of their gov't to act in such a manner.
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Simonchin,
Honestly, I believe the western countries,
if there is such a thing, are beyond this
tit for tat.
Consider this. The historic London Bridge
stands where? Lake Havasu, Arizona, USA.
The British let it go (for a price).
Crimes against humanity, on the other
hand, are a very serious issue confronting
all peoples but a 2 dimensional of China is
just disingenuous.
It is a dominant nation NOW. It has
been a dominant nation most of its
history, having wiped entire peoples
from the face of the earth, like the
Xixia and the aforementioned Dzungar
Mongols. It has absorbed entire countries
such as East Turkestan and Tibet.
Why not give up the charade. Westerners
are the greatest critics of their own
societies. I believe this emboldens
critics who never seem to reciprocate
in opening a similar discussion of their
own culture. None are perfect, you know.
This is not us versus them, Chinese under
assault. It is coming to honest terms with
all our pasts, warts and all. If we have truly
progressed globally, then we can walk away
from this sophmoric food fight.
If the Great Wall were carted off by
French, English, Americans, Japanese, Russians or any other usual suspect instead
of the local peasants who actually did
dismantled much of it, then I believe you
would have a case as it is the symbol of
your great nation. Who dismantled the
mighty wall of Beijing? Mao. Hmm. What
should be made of that?
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#93
The Manchus, one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, are as Chinese as the Hans. Qing Dynasty is as Chinese as any other dynasties in imperial China. The Qing was overthrown by the Nationalist Party (KMT) led by Dr Sun Yat-Sen in 1911.
#94
The Greeks, Egyptians, Indians, etc are also trying to get looted relics returned to their countries.
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There were quite a lot of hypothesis here - if the heads were stolen from Europe by Chinese or if the heads were stolen by French from the US, what is going to happen. All these do not make any sense. So China, if you want to be respected, you need to be better, stronger, and more aggressive than the counterpart.
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"...So China, if you want to be respected, you need to be better, stronger, and more aggressive than the counterpart." --- This is so true.
I like this kind of talking very much.
Blame yourself being so weak, China. Get yourself stronger and all the stolen/looted stuff will be returned voluntarily. Stop whining now.
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Their grandfathers' generation burned down the palaces and looted countless treasure and now they are selling what they robbed. They make laws to make it legal to sell what their grandfather's generation looted from China. And they said we Chinese have to spend millions to get our artifacts back. Or we Chinese have to accept certain political conditions to get it back. How civilised they are! They believe in human rights, religion, democracy and at the same time possess the logic of an armed robber.
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Thank god these relics were not there during the Cultural Revolution, if not, they would have been destroyed by the red guards.
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#101 utter nonsense
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"Thank god these relics were not there during the Cultural Revolution, if not, they would have been destroyed by the red guards." --- I believe this is nonsense, too.
"destroyed by the red guards" would have been better than being robbed by foreigners. They are Chinese property, Chinese people can do whatever they want. "red guards" are Chinese.
Again, it is wasting of time to talk about this. China needs to be stronger. We must all work harder on that.
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Several commentators here have characterized the looting of the Summer palace as a 'humiliation of China by the hands of foreigners'. It seems to be constantly forgotten in this context that the Qing dynasty was foreign as well.
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'The Manchus, one of the 56 ethnic groups in China, are as Chinese as the Han'
Or the Uighur and Tibetans? I wonder if they see it the same way? When you view China as an empire rather than a country, suddenly a lot of the nationalist rhetoric displayed here makes sense.
However, if Chinese claims about ethnic 'Chinese-ness' and sovereignty over places like Xinjiang are taken at face value then, applying the same logic, the capital of China should be Ulaan Bataar. Inconvenient.
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Beijing2008 says that to suggest damage to Beijing cultural relics was or could be perpetrated by Red Guards is 'utter nonsense'. However, even the CCP now acknowledge the widespread cultural destruction that took place in Tibet during 1966-76. Is he suggesting that the Tibetans are somehow less 'Chinese' than those in Beijing, and their culture thus of less value?
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Why do you always consider your own thinking as the thinking of the other chinese?!
Do not image but go to ask their opinions!
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#107
The national boundaries of China which include Xinjiang and Tibet are recognized by all nations having diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China (PRC). When an Uygur or a Tibetan from mainland China visits these countries, he/she carries a passport of the PRC, being a citizen of PRC. That's a fact, not nationalist rhetoric.
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#108
I meant these particular relics (animal heads) would not have been destroyed.
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