When and how did the bronze heads of the zodiac in Yuanmingyuan return to China?

Please help edit the encyclopedia business card, the bronze statue of the replica of the dragon head of the Yuanmingyuan animal head, also known as the bronze statue of the animal head of the Yuanmingyuan zodiac and the bronze statue of the animal head of the Yuanmingyuan zodiac. The bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan was originally a part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan, and it was a bronze statue of the Qing Dynasty. 1860, the British and French allied forces invaded China and burned Yuanmingyuan, and the bronze statue of the animal head began to be lost overseas. By 20 12, the bronze statues of bull head, monkey head, tiger head, pig head and horse head had returned to China and were collected in Poly Art Museum. The mouse head and rabbit head were collected by the French, but the whereabouts of the dragon head, snake head, chicken head, dog head and sheep head were unknown. The bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan has become a symbol of the loss of overseas cultural relics in Yuanmingyuan. [1] Chinese name: bronze statue of animal head in Yuanmingyuan. Creation date: Qing Dynasty (about A.D. 1759). Designer: Lang Shining (Italy) Quantity: 12 Design image: mouse, cow, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, chicken.

Brief introduction to the catalogue The bronze statue of the designer lost the bronze statue of the twelve beasts in Yuanmingyuan. The loss of the ugly mouse, the ugly cow, the tiger, the fur rabbit, the dragon snake, the afternoon horse, the sheep, the monkey, the chicken, the dog and the pig, the precious significance of reproduction and re-creation, and the auction of the mouse head, the rabbit lawyer group, sought the official response to the true value of the cultural relics.

Edit this paragraph to introduce the Yuanmingyuan historic site Haiyan Hall [2] built in 1759 (twenty-four years of Qianlong). The word "Haiyan" means "Heqing Haiyan, peaceful country and safe people". Wenyuan Huaying, Tang Zhengxi, and Wang Cifu in Japan and China: "When he was young, Qing Haiyan" River, Yellow River; Yan, calm down. "Heqing Haiyan" is also called "Haiyan Heqing", which means that the Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm. This phrase is used to describe world peace and has auspicious meaning of praising world peace. The name [3] of "Haiyan Hall", an ornamental and practical building in Yuanmingyuan, a royal garden in China, also comes from this. The essence of this building complex, the bronze statue of the zodiac, is famous for telling the time in water. The animal head was designed by Lang Shining, a Jesuit priest in China. He used the animal head to represent 24 hours a day, and each bronze statue took turns spraying water, which was a spectacle. 1860, the animal heads of the Chinese zodiac were plundered by the British and French allied forces and scattered around the country, among which the mouse heads and rabbit heads were collected by the French; The bronze statues of bull's head, monkey's head, tiger's head, pig's head and horse's head have returned to China and are collected in Poly Art Museum. The whereabouts of faucet, snake head, chicken head, dog head and sheep head are unknown. [1] The bronze statue of the animal head of Yuanmingyuan, the designer of this section, was built during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. The bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan was designed by European missionary Lang Shining (1688- 1766), and designed and supervised by French court craftsman R.Michel.Benoist (17 15- 1744). Originally, Lang Shining wanted to build a sculpture of a naked woman with western characteristics, but Emperor Qianlong thought it was against China's ethics, so he ordered a redesign, and later this bronze statue of the Chinese zodiac came into being. Another problem is that when the design was completed, Lang Shining found that no craftsman in the Qing Dynasty knew how to make bronzes. Later, he and other craftsmen consulted the classics, which was time-consuming and laborious. Modeling and structural principles Haiyan Hall, a historic site in Yuanmingyuan, was built in 1759 (twenty-four years of Qianlong). The word "Haiyan" means "Heqing Haiyan, peaceful country and safe people". Wenyuan Huaying, Tang Zhengxi, and Wang Cifu in Japan and China: "When he was young, Qing Haiyan" River, Yellow River; Yan, calm down. "Heqing Haiyan" is also called "Haiyan Heqing", which means that the Yellow River is clear and the sea is calm. This phrase is used to describe world peace and has auspicious meaning of praising world peace. The name "Haiyan Hall", a practical ornamental building in Yuanmingyuan, a royal garden in China, also comes from this. The essence of this building complex, the bronze statue of the zodiac, is famous for telling the time in water. The bronze statue of the Chinese Zodiac was designed by Lang Shining, a European missionary, and made by craftsmen of the Qing court, which embodies the blending of Chinese and Western cultures.

Art treasures have high artistic value and appreciation value in the world. The designer fully considered the folk culture of China, and replaced the human body sculpture commonly used in western fountain design with a sitting statue of the zodiac. The bronze statue of the zodiac is a stone carving, dressed in robes, with a realistic head and fine casting. The wrinkles and fluff on the animal's head are clear and realistic. The material for casting the animal head was refined copper from the Qing court at that time. Dark appearance, clean connotation, a hundred years of rust, a must. According to textual research, the bronze statues of the 12 zodiac animals were arranged on both sides of a pool in front of Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan, and were called "hydraulic clocks" by people at that time. Every day, the bronze statues of the zodiac will spray water in turn, representing different periods of the day. At noon, the twelve elephants will spray at the same time. Tang Haiyan Zodiac Fountain is a fountain clock designed according to China Zodiac. Every hour, the zodiac clock belonging to that hour will automatically spray water, and at noon, the zodiac will also spray water at the same time, which is extremely exquisite in design. The main building of Haiyan Hall faces west, with eleven rooms above and eleven rooms below. There is a cascade fountain at the left and right of the building door, and a big fountain at the bottom of the steps. The bronze statues of the head of the Chinese zodiac are arranged in a figure of eight around the pool. Every other day and night for twelve hours, the Chinese zodiac sprays water in turn, commonly known as the "hydraulic clock". The zodiac image was originally on the 12 stone platform on the north and south sides of the fan-shaped pool spray platform in front of Haiyan Hall in the west building of Yuanmingyuan. On the south bank are rats, silver tigers, dragons, afternoon horses, monkeys and dogs. There are ugly cows, rabbits, snakes, sheep, chickens and pigs on the north shore. These portraits are all animal heads, including copper heads and stone bodies, which are connected by water spray pipes in the hollow. Every hour (two hours), representing the image of the Chinese zodiac at that time, water is sprayed from the mouth; At noon, the fountain gushed out from the mouth of the zodiac at the same time, becoming a spectacle. These bronze zodiac statues are 50 cm high and beautifully carved, making them one of the most exquisite bronzes in the Qing Dynasty. In the center of the pool is a clam stone carving about two meters high, and there are six stone seats on both sides of the pool, which are in a figure of eight. Each stone is carved with an animal head in a robe. Animals' heads are made of copper, and people are made of stone. They are arranged according to the laws of the Chinese zodiac in China. Every hour (two hours today), the head of the animal at that time sprayed water in its mouth, and the water was injected into the pool in a parabolic shape, that is, at midnight (from 23: 00 to 65438+ 0: 00 the next day), a water column was ejected from the mouth of the bronze statue of the mouse head; When it is ugly (1: 00 to 3: 00), a water column is ejected from the mouth of the bronze bull's head. At noon 12, except the horse's head continued to spray water, the mouths of the other eleven bronze animals also sprayed water columns together, and the scene was spectacular in an instant. Therefore, people can know the current time as long as they see the water spouted from the mouth of the head of the Chinese zodiac. This group of fountains is a huge and unique water clock. The loss of bronze statues In the Second Opium War, the British and French allied forces invaded China, captured Beijing, looted countless treasures of Yuanmingyuan, and snatched 12 bronze animal heads, which led to the loss of these national treasures overseas for more than 100 years. The zodiac is an artistic treasure that shows the blending of Chinese and western cultures, and it has extremely high artistic value and appreciation value in the world. When the invading army robbed, it was still regarded as the most precious treasure. Those who get them are also people with special identities. 1860, the British and French allied forces set fire to Yuanmingyuan, and the bronze statue of the zodiac in Yuanmingyuan was lost overseas, which became a microcosm of the loss of cultural relics in China. In the hundred years after the Opium War, as many as one million pieces of China cultural relics were lost overseas due to war, looting and carving. Edit this bronze statue of twelve animal heads in Yuanmingyuan. At present, five bronze animal heads, namely, ox, tiger, monkey, pig and horse, were rescued by patriots in 2000, 2003 and 2007 respectively and collected in Poly Art Museum. It is known that the rat head and rabbit head were auctioned in an auction house in France in February 2009. The dragon head is now in Taiwan Province Province, which is well preserved, but it will not appear in the short term. Four pieces, such as the head of a snake, the head of a sheep, the head of a chicken and the head of a dog, are still missing. This mouse was exhibited by auction giant Christie's in the special auction of "Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Beijing Treasures" held in Paris from February 23 to 25, 2009. At the auction on February 26th, it was unveiled at the reserve price of 9 million euros, and finally sold at 6,543,800 euros. Christie's auction house at that time

Rat head company did not disclose the real identity of the buyer. On March 2nd, Niu Xianfeng, Deputy Director-General of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, said at a press conference held in Beijing that Cai Mingchao, the collection consultant of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction and became the final bidder. However, because the payment has not been paid and is still within the payment period, it is still unknown whether the final auction can be made. Cai Mingchao said, "I won't pay for it. Under the circumstances at that time, everyone in China would stand up and I just did my duty. " In the 1980s, Cai, an entrepreneur from Taiwan Province Province, China, bought it at Sotheby's. April 30, 2000, China Poly Group

Niutou was bought at Christie's auction house for HK$ 7.745 million, and is now deposited in Poly Art Museum. In 1980s, Cai, an entrepreneur from Taiwan Province, China, bought Silver Lake at Sotheby's auction. On May 2, 2000, China Poly Group invested 1.

Tiger Head (HK$ 5,444,750) was purchased at Sotheby's and is now in Poly Art Museum. "Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre" was held by auction giant Christie's in Paris, France from February 23rd to 25th, 2009.

The first Berger collection of rabbits appeared at a special auction. At the auction on February 26th, it was unveiled at the reserve price of 9 million euros, and finally sold at 6,543,800 euros. At that time, Christie's did not disclose the true identity of the buyer. On March 2nd, Niu Xianfeng, Deputy Director-General of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, said at a press conference held in Beijing that Cai Mingchao, the collection consultant of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction and became the final bidder. However, because the payment has not been paid and is still within the payment period, it is still unknown whether the final auction can be made. Cai Mingchao said, "I won't pay for it. Under the circumstances at that time, everyone in China would stand up and I just did my duty. " The dragon head of the zodiac in Chen Long Yuanmingyuan is one of the bronze statues of the zodiac in Yuanmingyuan. It's a bronze statue of the Qing dynasty. It was originally round.

The fountain part outside Haiyan Hall of Longshouming Garden. Chen Long animal head was built in the 24th year of Qing Qianlong, and Yuanmingyuan was lost overseas on 1860, and its whereabouts are unknown. According to a report by Shenzhen Satellite TV in March 2009, [4] Wang Du, a collector in Taiwan Province Province, China, said in an interview that the whereabouts of the dragon head among the animal heads in Yuanmingyuan are unknown, and it is currently in Taiwan Province Province. Wang Du said that the leading horses in Taiwan Province were in good condition in the 1980s. It was worth four or five million Taiwan dollars. Its collectors plan to let the dragon head appear in the auction, but in view of the storm encountered by the mouse head and the rabbit head, the collectors estimate that the dragon head and other unknown Yuanmingyuan animal heads will not appear in a short time. The whereabouts of this snake is unknown.

Horsehead and snake head are one of the bronze statues of the twelve animal heads in Yuanmingyuan. It is a bronze statue of the Qing Dynasty and was originally part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. Wuma Animal Head was built in the 24th year of Qing Qianlong, and Yuanmingyuan was lost overseas in 1860, and now it has returned to the motherland. Horses are animals in the zodiac.

The most unique one of the horseheads, the cloud-like shape and curly hair on his head, shows that this is a typical European prince charming. From June 5438 to October 2007 10, Stanley Ho bought it back with a huge sum of 9,665,438 million+Hong Kong dollars, and donated it to the country, making a sensation all over the world. Wuma beast horse is the most unique animal head among the twelve zodiac animals. The cloud-like shape and curly hair on the head show that this is a typical European prince charming. Perhaps the Italian designer Lanzining expressed his great admiration for this amorous emperor with 3000 beautiful women in this work. Coincidentally, the Chinese zodiac in China also represents these twelve animal hours, in which horses represent noon. Therefore, when the horse's head sprays water, all animals will spray water together. The whereabouts of the sheep are unknown.

In the 1980s, Cai, an entrepreneur from Taiwan Province Province, China, bought it at Sotheby's. China, 30 April 2000.

The Hericium erinaceus Poly Group was purchased at Christie's auction house for HK$ 865,438+085,000, and is now in Poly Art Museum. The whereabouts of your chicken are unknown.

According to the American World Journal reported on April 27th, 2009, [5] a few days ago, he lived in Front Ro, a mountain town in Virginia, USA.

Andy Zheng, a Chinese in yal of Dog Head, said that he bought a bronze statue of a dog head at a thrift store a month ago for 1000. Judging from the appearance, material and size, he thinks it is very likely to be a bronze statue of the dog's head in 12 years. The owner of the thrift store said that the bronze statue was checked by others and the source was unknown. The seller offered 65,438+0,000, not a penny less. Andy Zheng decided to buy it after careful calculation. Zheng Andi said that it would be nice if the national treasure lost overseas could return to the motherland, but he had neither the financial resources nor the opportunity to identify the bronze statue of the dog head. He hopes to attract the attention of cultural relics connoisseurs and collectors. The porcupine 1987 was bought by an American museum. In 2003, Dr. Stanley Ho, a famous entrepreneur, bought it and donated it to Poly Art.

Pig's head museum collection, finally returned to the motherland. As for the amount paid, Poly did not disclose it. It is said that it is less than HK$ 7 million. Why is the bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan precious? In the prosperous period of Qianlong, the national strength of the Qing Dynasty was strong, and the level of craftsmanship was at its peak, which was particularly fully manifested in the bronze statue of the animal head of the 12 Zodiac in Yuanmingyuan. First of all, the copper used in it is alloy copper specially refined for the court, which contains a lot of precious metals, the same as the bronze cranes displayed in the Forbidden City and Summer Palace in Beijing. Dark color and clean connotation. It is necessary that it will survive the wind and rain without rusting. Secondly, it was elaborately made by palace craftsmen who specially served the emperor. The foundry worker finished it, and the surface was carved with a fine chisel. Details such as animal fluff are chiseled and forged, clear and realistic. The key parts such as nose, eyes and ears, as well as the wrinkles on the nose and neck are very delicate, showing a very high level of craftsmanship. What's more commendable is that the bronze statue of the animal head of the Chinese Zodiac was made by court craftsmen in China, and the designers were artists from Europe such as Lang Shining, so the bronze statue not only has strong traditional aesthetic taste in China, but also combines the characteristics of western plastic arts. Edit this passage to copy and re-create ● Silhouette image in bronze stamp products of Yuanmingyuan Zodiac Animals. On June 5438+1October 65438+August, 2005, the "Soul of National Treasure"-bronze stamp products of Yuanmingyuan Zodiac Animals was officially unveiled by china national philatelic corporation. The China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, which participated in the design, called on the whole society to contribute to the return of lost overseas national treasures. "Soul of National Treasure"-The bronze statue of the animal head of the Lunar New Year in Yuanmingyuan consists of 12 stamps and 4 stamps. At that time, the four national treasures that were rescued and returned to China were all printed cards with physical photos, including cow head, tiger head, monkey head and pig head. The other eight bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac, such as the head of a mouse, the head of a rabbit, the head of a dragon, the head of a snake, the head of a horse, the head of a sheep, the head of a chicken and the head of a dog, have still been lost overseas or have never been seen before, so the animal head rescued from China is adopted in the stamp products. "Although this is a great pity, it also reminds people that we must make unremitting efforts to reunite the bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac in our hometown as soon as possible," said Zhang Yongnian, director of the China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics. ● The ceramic replica of Gigantic Pavilion, a cultural relic reproduction institution in Beijing, was looted by the British and French allied forces. The bronze statues of the twelve animal heads in Yuanmingyuan were successfully copied by Jiguge, an old cultural relic copying institution in Beijing, and were collectively exhibited in Liulichang in 2007. Five bronze statues of dragons, snakes, sheep, chickens and dogs, whose whereabouts were unknown at that time, were also copied by experts looking for information in many ways. At that time, there were four bronze statues of the Chinese zodiac that were lost overseas for more than 65,438+040 years, including four in Poly Museum and two in France. Horseheads are collected by collectors in Taiwan Province Province and will be auctioned by Sotheby's. The remaining five bronze statues are missing. Li Lianxiang, the person in charge of the replica, said that the replica of the cultural relic was the most difficult to copy in Ji Gu Pavilion for decades, because there was no original for reference. In order to be as close to the original as possible, the staff referred to the paintings of Yuanmingyuan and bronze statue designer Lang Shining.

Art works, representative sculptures in Qing dynasty, "try to figure out the sculpture style and aesthetics of that era". Li Lianxiang said frankly that without the original for reference and comparison, no matter how well the replica is made, there will be shortcomings. According to Li Lianxiang, the copying work began in 2005, and five bronze statues without original references took most of the time. "The bronze statue of the faucet is the most difficult. The design was changed five times and it took half a year to make it." The materials used in this replica are different from the original. Originally made of copper, the replica is made of celadon ceramics. The five bronze statues of dragon, snake, sheep, chicken and dog have the same modeling style as other bronze statues, with simple modeling and smooth lines. "The expression is consistent, which shows the success and level of replication," said Li Lianxiang. ● Zhu Bingren's work "The Soul of Yuanmingyuan-The Guess of the Missing Animal Head in Yuanmingyuan" On October 6th, 2008/kloc-0, at the 9th China Arts and Crafts Master Works and International Art Boutique Expo, a group of shocking heavy works of molten copper were presented to the world for the first time. As a result, Zhu Bingren's brand-new handicraft exploration crystallization "copper melting art" was introduced. As the only "China Master of Arts and Crafts" in China's copper art field, Zhu Bingren carefully selected 30 pieces of fine copper melting art from more than 100 works, and concentrated on his original copper melting art, copper painting and calligraphy art, as well as the engraving "Homologous Bridge" symbolizing the same root and homology between the two sides of the strait. In the most eye-catching position in the exhibition area, five bottles of missing Yuanmingyuan national treasures represented by this group of works are particularly eye-catching. Zhu Bingren expounded the essence of molten copper art and its artistic and social values: a statue of molten copper animal head is vast, eroded and in different shapes; Or hold your head high, or be sad and twisted, as if telling, accusing, condensing and praying. It artistically and truly reproduces the historical changes of the national treasure and expresses the grief and revenge of the Chinese nation. "I used my blood and passion to melt copper, casting the vicissitudes and sadness of national history." Master Zhu Bingren said from the bottom of his heart. In 2000, Christie's and Sotheby's auctioned the bronze heads of cattle, monkeys and tigers in Hong Kong, which first ignited the anger of Chinese people about the lost cultural relics being auctioned, and finally China Poly Group Company bought them back at a high price. At the beginning of 2003, the China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics searched for the whereabouts of the bronze statue of pig head in the United States. After hard work, American collectors agreed to transfer the bronze statue of pig's head, and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Standing Committee member and patriotic entrepreneur Stanley Ho donated more than 6 million yuan to buy back the bronze statue of pig's head. In 2007, Sotheby's announced that it would auction the horse's head, which caused public outcry again. After negotiation, Mr. Stanley Ho made a second bid before the auction, and bought the bronze horse head for HK$ 6.965438 billion+and donated it to the country. The long way home stretches in humiliation and twists and turns. One night in the 1990s, an American citizen was walking in France. Inadvertently looking at a private villa near the roadside, I saw several bronze animal heads embedded in the swimming pool. These lovely animal heads shine charming in the sunset. He likes it very much. At this time, the attentive master came over and saw the uninvited guests visiting their swimming pool, showing great interest in these bronze animal heads. "Can you sell it to me?" He asked. "Of course." The host said with a smile. "How much does it cost?" "There is also a cow's head with a towel in the bathtub in my room. I can sell it to you together." Three bronze animal heads, the owner charged him $3,500. So the Americans spent $3,500 to take back these three babies living abroad. At that time, after returning to China, the American wife quarreled with him and thought that they were really not worth that much money! At that time, neither the buyer nor the seller knew the real life experience of these three seemingly ordinary copper handicrafts and their noble lineage. They stay in ordinary people's homes in obscurity, with towels or smelly socks hanging from their heads. How many people have been transferred since then? How many owners does the poor animal head belong to? In a word, thank God, they seem to be very kind to them. If they meet a unlucky guy, they will break it and take it to the junk yard to buy wine. This can't be saved, it's really a sin! Finally, someone discovered their origin! This is the royal property of the Chinese empire in the last century, so their value is a hundred times. The specifications of the treatment are unusual. Even they began to have their own guards and nannies. Later, at an auction in new york in the 1990s, it was the connoisseur named My humble abode who persuaded compatriots in Taiwan Province Province to spend millions of dollars to buy them back. As a result, these bronze animal heads ended their years of wandering and returned to China and China for the first time. Edit this paragraph to auction the heads of mice and rabbits. Christie's auction house in France plans to auction the bronze heads of mice and rabbits in the famous cultural relic "12 Zodiac Animal Head" lost in Yuanmingyuan in February 2009. On Christie's website, we can see that the bronze statues of the mouse head and the rabbit head are still on the auction list and will be auctioned in Paris, France from February 23 to 25 as originally planned. Five pieces have been returned: cow head, monkey head, tiger head, pig head and horse head. Five other bronze statues of John Lone, snake, sheep, chicken and dog are still missing. The bronze statues of the mouse head and the rabbit head are two recognizable ones in the "12 Zodiac Animal Head", and they still live abroad at present. According to the auction information provided by the website of Christie's auction house, the mouse head and rabbit head to be auctioned are "rare and important", both from the Qing Dynasty, and the auction valuation of the two lots is between 8 million and 6.5438+million euros. These two items are treasures of French collector Pierre Beijing. They will be exhibited at the "Special Auction of World Famous Costume Master Yves Saint Laurent and His Partner Pierre Beijing * * * * and Collections" held at the Grand Palais in Paris, France from February 23rd to 25th. Lawyers organized a group to recover the bronze statue of the rat head and rabbit head in Yuanmingyuan, which will be auctioned in France and attracted wide attention from China society. Beijing lawyers Liu Yang, Li Xingfeng and other 8 1 China lawyers set up a "voluntary group of litigants seeking overseas compensation for the lost cultural relics in Yuanmingyuan", urging the auction house to cancel the auction and return the cultural relics. The lawyers' team has drafted an indictment, and the defendants are Pierre Beijing, the collector of two cultural relics, and Christie's auction company. According to French law, the plaintiff needs to have an interest in the facts, and the lawyers' group needs the relevant departments of China as the plaintiff, and the lawyers' group provides legal aid. Beijing Yuanmingyuan Management Office is likely to participate in the lawsuit as a government representative. Lawyer China is going to file a lawsuit, and the news that he wants to stop the auction has attracted the attention of foreign media including the French media, but Christie's auction house will continue its original auction plan. The Times said that Christie's did not accept China's claim. The staff of the auction house said that although China's lawyer was not contacted, it was impossible for the bank to accept the request to terminate the auction and hand over the two animal heads to the French court to determine their final ownership according to international law. On March 2nd, Cai Mingchao (third from right), the party behind the poster of the auction of rabbit head and mouse head in Yuanmingyuan, was at the press conference. Xinhuanet Beijing, March 2nd. Niu Xianfeng, Deputy Director-General of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, said at a press conference held in Beijing on March 2 that Cai Mingchao, the collection consultant of China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics, participated in the auction of rabbit heads and rat heads in Yuanmingyuan and became the final bidder. Niu Xianfeng told reporters: Although Cai Mingchao photographed the rabbit head and mouse head of Yuanmingyuan with a total price of 3 1.49 million euros in Paris, it is still in the payment period because it has not been paid, and it is still unknown whether the final transaction can be made. Cai Mingchao said at a news conference: "I won't pay. Under the circumstances at that time, everyone in China would stand up and I just did my duty. " Editor's official response Song Xinchao, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration Museum, said when talking about the head of the mouse and the head of the rabbit, "China has unquestionable ownership of it, and of course it should be returned to China. China government is firmly opposed to auction! The looted cultural relics of Yuanmingyuan, which should have been returned to the people of China, will once again damage China's national sovereignty and the dignity of the Chinese nation. " The real value of editing this piece of cultural relics was auctioned by Christie's auction house in Paris yesterday morning Beijing time. Two animal heads were bought by a telephone buyer at the price of140,000 euros. Facing this auction result, Zheng Xinyao, deputy secretary-general of China Auction Industry Association, said in an interview yesterday that in 1.985, the bronze statue of horse head was sold at 1.500 USD, the bronze statue of rat head and the bronze statue of rabbit head were sold at1.400 EUR respectively, and the bronze statue of animal head in Yuanmingyuan has increased by 6.5438+0.2 million only from the pure art auction market. Therefore, he called on Chinese people to be alert to those who use our national feelings to carry out malicious acts against commercial speculation. According to Zheng Xinyao, the bronze statue of the animal head of Yuanmingyuan is also called the bronze statue of the animal head of the Yuanmingyuan Zodiac and the bronze statue of the animal head of the Yuanmingyuan Zodiac. The bronze statue of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan was originally a part of the fountain outside Haiyan Hall in Yuanmingyuan. It is a bronze statue during the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty and the nozzle of the "hydraulic clock" in the original fountain of Yuanmingyuan. The full name of the "hydraulic clock" is "the time fountain of the zodiac". The bronze statues of the animal heads of the 12 Zodiac animals are in the shape of eight, which are located on the stone platforms on both sides of the fountain. Every animal is a fountain mechanism, and every hour, the corresponding animal will spray water for two hours. Zheng Xinyao, who spent only 1.500 dollars in the 1980s, said that 1.985, an American antique dealer stumbled upon the bronze statue of the horse's head in the Yuanmingyuan in a private residence in California, as well as the bronze statues of the bull's head and the tiger's head. The antique dealer bought the three bronze heads at a low price of $65,438+0,500 each. From 1987 to 1989, these three bronze animal heads and monkey heads of Yuanmingyuan have appeared in auctions in new york and London. At that time, the highest transaction price was Ma Shou, only $250,000. Emperor Qianlong is a horse, so the horse's head is the most exquisite in production technology. The auction in Hong Kong let Chinese people know the head of the Yuanmingyuan animal. At the end of April and the beginning of May, 2000, bronze statues of bull's head, monkey's head and tiger's head appeared at the auction of Christie's in Hong Kong and Sotheby's in Hong Kong. At that time, the auction of lost cultural relics by these two auction companies aroused great indignation from all walks of life in China, Hongkong and the Mainland. In the end, China Poly Group Company resolutely participated in the auction, winning the bull's head at HK$ 7.745 million, the monkey's head at HK$ 8.65438+0.85 million and the tiger's head at HK$ 6.5438+0.54475 million (all prices include the auction company's commission). At the beginning of September, 2007, Sotheby's auction company announced that it would auction bronze horse heads in the name of "Eight-Nation Alliance-Yuanmingyuan Cultural Relics". When the news came out, all walks of life were in uproar. The China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics took the lead in issuing the statement "Resolutely Oppose the Public Auction of the Bronze Statue of Ma Shou", and proposed to realize the return of Ma Shou in a public welfare way. At the critical moment, Dr. Stanley Ho, a patriotic entrepreneur from Hong Kong and Macao and a national treasure engineering consultant, bought the bronze statue of Ma Shou for HK$ 69,654.38+before the auction started on September 20, and announced that it would be donated to the country. The only bronze statue of the pig's head that was not involved by the auction company, but was returned in a public welfare way, was also related to Stanley Ho. At the beginning of 2003, the China Special Fund for Saving Lost Overseas Cultural Relics searched for the whereabouts of the bronze statue of pig head in the United States. After hard work, American collectors agreed to transfer the bronze statue of pig head to a special fund. In September 2003, Stanley Ho donated more than 6 million yuan to the special fund to buy back the bronze statue of pig's head. In the bronze statue of the animal head of the zodiac in Yuanmingyuan, there are the heads of returning cows, monkeys, tigers, pigs and horses. Except the pig's head, the return of the other four bronze statues is related to the auction. The other five bronze statues of dragon head, snake head, sheep head, chicken head and dog head have disappeared. 140,000 euros is far greater than the real value of cultural relics. Zheng Xinyao said that the price of140,000 euros for the bronze statues of rat heads and rabbit heads in Paris is completely incredible from a commercial point of view. Xie Chensheng, a famous cultural relic expert and honorary president of China Cultural Relics Society, said yesterday that the bronze statues of the mouse head and the rabbit head are only building components. If it is not associated with the Yuanmingyuan and the invasion of the British and French allied forces, their value cannot be very high. Because of this connection, it has a new value, and this value is the witness of national humiliation. Li Xiaodong, vice president of the China Cultural Relics Society, also thought yesterday that the price of the animal head in Yuanmingyuan was completely hyped. As a building component, leaving the building will greatly reduce its value. So they are not as independent as a famous painting in Song Dynasty and a complete bronze ware in Shang Dynasty. Now such hype has fueled the demand of businessmen to make profits. Therefore, the first auction, three bronze statues will be about 30 million Hong Kong dollars. By 2007, a horse's head was 6,965,438+10,000 Hong Kong dollars, all of which were fried in this way. The auction in Paris, in terms of commercial operation, is naturally higher than the price of 6.965438 billion+HK$. Therefore, the whole process is a kind of commercial speculation, which cannot reflect the true value of these two cultural relics.