Is it illegal to buy and sell Dunhuang murals?

It is illegal to buy and sell Dunhuang murals.

According to the relevant provisions of the Law of People's Republic of China (PRC) on the Protection of Cultural Relics, citizens, legal persons and other organizations may not buy or sell the following cultural relics:

(1) State-owned cultural relics, except those permitted by the state;

(2) Precious cultural relics in non-state-owned collections;

(3) murals, sculptures, building components, etc. State-owned immovable cultural relics, except those that are removed according to law and should be collected by cultural relics collection units;

(4) Cultural relics obtained by citizens, legal persons and other organizations through legal channels whose sources do not conform to the provisions of this Law.

Citizens, legal persons and other organizations other than cultural relics collection units may collect cultural relics obtained in the following ways:

(1) Inheriting or accepting gifts according to law;

(2) purchased from a cultural relic store;

(three) from the auction of cultural relics auction business;

(4) Cultural relics legally owned by individual citizens are exchanged or transferred according to law;

(five) other legal means as prescribed by the state.

At the same time, 1992, National Cultural Heritage Administration and other departments issued the Notice on Strengthening the Management of Cultural Relics Market, which stipulated the specific scope of some cultural relics that are prohibited from being operated, referring to the first, second and third-class precious cultural relics that are not allowed to be operated without permission and other cultural relics with great historical, cultural and scientific value protected by the state.

Because Dunhuang murals are cultural relics protected by national laws, buying and selling such cultural relics will be severely punished by the law.

But if it is a work of art imitating Dunhuang murals, it is not included.