2,300-year-old ding comes home

"Maybe I was Chinese in a previous life. I cherish a dream that enables all Chinese national treasures lost overseas to be returned home," said Bernard Gomez, a noted French archaeologist and an expert in Chinese antiquities.

Gomez made the remarks on Monday at a ceremony to present a 2,300-year-old bronze ding, or three-legged tripod, to the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau in Xi'an, capital of Northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Gomez spotted it while helping to authenticate ancient Chinese bronze ware two years ago, and immediately recognized it as an invaluable ding.

He decided to buy it and send it back to China. He met with the owner in Paris early this year and persuaded him to sell it so that it could be repatriated.

He declined to disclose the cost, but experts say each inscription character on a ding raises the price by US$3,000, and it may be worth millions of dollars.

"I almost went bankrupt obtaining the ding," Gomez joked.

Bronze ding were common during the Shang (1600-1046 BC) and Western Zhou (1046-771 BC) dynasties and were still used in the Qin (221-206 BC) and Han (206 BC-AD 220) dynasties, symbolizing the power and prosperity of a state or country.

The ding is approximately 17.5 centimetres high and 24.5 centimetres in diameter, said Liu Yunhui, deputy director of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau.

The body of the ding bore about 50 inscripted characters, which record the states or dynasties that held it in ancient China. The keepers included Han, a state in the Warring States Period (475-221 BC); Xianyang Palace of the imperial Qin Dynasty and Linjin Palace of the Han Dynasty.

The marks show that the ding was of great importance since it was handed down formally as an emblem of authority, said Wang Hui, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau and an expert on ancient Chinese characters.

A ding with inscription characters from so many states and dynasties is very rare, Wang acknowledged.

"This ding witnessed the unification of China: Its inscriptions proved its existence in the Warring States Period, Qin, Han, and other historical periods. It also went to Xianyang, Linjin and other places," said Gomez. "Maybe it was once a favoured toy in the hands of Emperor Shihuang of the Qin Dynasty."

It is believed to have been excavated in Shaanxi about 100 years ago at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and then smuggled to Europe.

As with a host of antiquities lost overseas, its movements and record of ownership after leaving China remain unknown.

Gomez developed an interest in art in his early years and travelled extensively in Asian countries like India and China. These journeys broadened his views on different cultures.

He first came to Xi'an in 1989 and was impressed by the hospitality of the people.

"Each time I came to China, I felt as if I was walking in history. This is especially true when I visit Xi'an," said Gomez.

He set up the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe in 2004, to help retrieve relics lost overseas, after seeing so many Chinese relics sold at auctions abroad.

The association is made up of Sinophile culture and antiques enthusiasts, including politicians, artists and entrepreneurs from Europe.

Recovering lost Chinese relics required a lot of support particularly from governments and businesses, he said.

Chinese relic protection departments have limited funds and should seek private assistance to retrieve the lost items, he said.

"For example, the return of the ding received financial help from a real estate company in Xi'an," he said.

About 10 million Chinese relics have been lost overseas and most are kept by folk collectors, according to China's Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Fund, the first non-governmental organization to retrieve relics lost overseas.

"The ding, now called the Xianyang Palace Ding, has witnessed the prosperity of many dynasties in ancient China and now it has returned," Gomez said.

"It is just my first gift to China. I hope it will set a fine example and inspire more people to help Chinese relics return home," said Gomez.

The ding will be exhibited at the Emperor Qin's Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum.

Source:China Daily