Date：2019-03-26 11:09:31 Source：National Cultural Heritage Administration Author：Organization
In President Xi Jinping and Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte’s presence, an intergovernmental agreement for the repatriation of cultural relics, signed by Chinese Minister of Culture and Tourism Luo Shugang and Italian Minister of Cultural Heritage and Activities Alberto Bonisoli in Rome on March 23rd, gave the green light to the return of 796 artifacts to China. The successful return is attributed to more than ten years of cooperation between cultural heritage departments of two sides. It will also be the largest-scale international repatriation of lost Chinese cultural relics from overseas over the past twenty years, as well as the first successful practical cooperation according to the bilateral agreement on combating and preventing illegally trafficking in cultural relics. Meanwhile, these important results are not only an important milestone in the history of cultural heritage cooperation between two sides but also set an good example for international cooperation in tracking and repatriate lost cultural relics.
The relics first came back to light in 2007, when a Italian gendarmerie seized a large number of Chinese cultural relics and artworks suspected of being illegally trafficked. Learning of the discovery, the NCHA immediately contacted its Italian counterpart to begin the work to bring the relics home including the involvement of the State Relics Appraisal Committee and many administrative offices for the entry-exit examination and verification of cultural relics in relic appraisal and research, detailed appraisals and report of law reference offered to Italy, as well as formal request to Italian government for returning cultural relics through diplomatic channels. Though a adjudication in China’s favor was given by the Italian courts in 2014, it was not executed due to the appeal of other parties of shared interest. In 2019, the Italian courts finally ruled that the relics should be returned to China. After 12 years of endeavor, the lost Chinese cultural relics will set off for home.
There are 796 sets of relics found in Italy which were originally unearthed from North west China’s Shaanxi Province, North China’s Shanxi Province, Central China’s Henan Province and East China’s Jiangsu Province and spans a period of time covering the Neolithic age through to the Republic of China (1912-49) period, according to the NCHA. These relics are of high historical, archaeological, cultural and aesthetical values. Among the relics are a diverse range of Neolithic colored pottery, which can provide a direct window into the pottery making techniques in Northwest China thousands of years ago. Carrying important historical information of ethnic exchanges, beliefs and convictions in ancient central China, the Terracotta figures from the Han (206BC-AD220), Tang (618-907) and Ming (1368-1644) dynasties are also valuable resources for researching people’s material and spiritual lives in ancient China.
Since the 18th National People’s Congress of the CPC, under the strong leadership of the CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping as its core, substantial progress has been made in the return of stolen Chinese artifacts. With full support of relevant departments, NCHA has succeeded in repatriating more than ten arrays of cultural heritage with nearly 500 sets of cultural relics, such as glittering pieces of ornamental gold foil from the Dabuzi Hill tomb and a looted “Tiger Ying” bronze vessel, by virtue of diplomatic coordination, law cooperation, judicial lawsuit and negotiation. These two cases are of great significance around the world in that they not only demonstrated successful implementation of the current framework of international law and mechanism of cooperation. but also show an innovative attempt to ensure the lost historical cultural relics back to their home.
As two ancient civilizations with the largest number of world heritage sites, it seems that China and Italy’s efforts in combating illegal trafficking in relics and promoting the relic return from overseas are not only of cultural significance but also a matter related to the sense of international responsibility and national pride. Over the past years, China and Italy has maintained a close cooperation in combating illegal trafficking in cultural relics with fruitful results achieved in mechanism establishment, personnel exchanges and information sharing. It is believed that the deep cooperation and joint efforts between two sides are sure to exert positive and far-reaching influence on building a fair and righteous international order and protecting human’s cultural heritage.