A ceremony marking the 150th anniversary of the sack of the Summer Palace was held in Beijing, capital of China, Oct. 18, 2010. The Summer Palace, an imperial garden built in the Qing dynasty (1636-1911), was sacked and destroyed by the British and French forces on Oct. 18 and 19 of 1860 during the Second Opium War.
The proposal, part of commemorations held by the park administration, urged owners of Yuanmingyuan relics to resist the temptations of the antique trade and return them. It also made recommendations for the study and preservation of the relics.
Located in northwest Beijing, Yuanmingyuan, or the Old Summer Palace, was built from 1709 onwards and had once been a resort for the imperial families of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).
It was pillaged and burned by British and French troops in 1860 during the Second Opium War, along with several other imperial gardens in Beijing.
Documents recording all the relics inside the imperial garden were ruined by fires lit by the invading forces, so the exact number of relics that were lost remains unknown, but Yuanmingyuan relics have been found both in China and abroad.
According to UNESCO statistics, 1.64 million Chinese relics are being stored by more than 200 museums in 47 countries.
In February 2009, two of the Yuanmingyuan relics, bronze rat and hare head sculptures, were auctioned by Christie's in Paris for 14 million euros ($19.55 million) each.
The memorial proposal will be on display inside Yuanmingyuan Park for a year to allow supporters to sign their names on it.
In 2006, 22 experts had signed a similar proposal by the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Beijing cultural heritage administration, authorizing the Yuanmingyuan Society of China to collect cultural relics from Yuanmingyuan.
It was a complicated job involving many parties with conflicting interests. Diplomatic, legal and historical considerations also needed to be taken into account at the same time, which made it even more difficult.
In Beijing, more than 100 relics are scattered across the city because their current owners have refused to return them, told by culture relic department of the administrative office.
Editor: Susan
Date: Oct 20, 2010