On a somber note in history, 164 years ago, the Old Summer Palace in Beijing fell victim to a devastating act of cultural vandalism. British and French troops, amid the chaos of the Second Opium War, set the palace ablaze, leaving it in ruins and looting over 1.5 million artifacts of immense cultural significance. Today, only fragments of the palace’s former grandeur remain, scattered ruins that tell a tale of loss and devastation.
In recent years, a concerted effort by the Chinese government, alongside dedicated patriots and various international cultural bodies, has slowly reversed some of this historical plunder. Approximately one-tenth of the stolen treasures have been repatriated to China, marking small victories in a long-standing quest for cultural restitution.
A poignant moment in this ongoing effort occurred last June when seven white marble pillars, looted over a century ago, were returned from a museum in Norway. These pillars, which were unveiled to the public in October, exemplify a remarkable synthesis of Chinese and Western artistic traditions. The pillars, standing between 80 and 92 centimeters in height, feature Western-style carvings like freesia and shells on their fronts, while their sides are adorned with vases of traditionally significant Chinese flowers—peonies, magnolias, lotuses, and chrysanthemums—symbolizing good fortune and purity.
Among the returned artifacts are also twelve animal head sculptures, part of a zodiac water clock that once graced the imperial garden. These sculptures represent a unique blend of Oriental zodiac culture and Western architectural elements. The horse head, a creation of the Italian artist Giuseppe Castiglione who served at the Qing court, is particularly noteworthy. Purchased at auction by Macao billionaire Stanley Ho in 2007 and recently donated back to China, it symbolizes the complex journey of cultural artifacts through history.
Despite these returns, the quest for repatriation continues, with four of the zodiac heads still missing. In another significant return, a bronze water vessel with a tiger-shaped lid, known as a hu ying, was recently bought back. Taken by a British captain during the palace’s destruction and kept by his descendants, it was sold at an auction in Canterbury, England, in 2018 and subsequently returned to China by an anonymous buyer.
The return of these artifacts is not just about reclaiming physical items; it is about restoring dignity to a culture that suffered great losses. Each repatriated piece brings a measure of closure to a painful chapter in China’s history and reaffirms the value of preserving cultural heritage across national boundaries.
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