Another seal of Emperor Qianlong faces auction

The undated photo shows an imperial jade seal of famed Chinese Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, which is reported to be auctioned by Sotheby's in London Wednesday, November 04, 2009. (chinanews.com Photo)

A priceless imperial jade seal of famed Chinese Emperor Qianlong (1711-1799) of the Qing Dynasty will be auctioned off at Sotheby's in London, according to chinanews.com's Wednesday report.

This is the second such controversial auction since Sotheby's Hong Kong sold another looted jade seal of Emperor Qianlong at an auction of last October in Hong Kong for 63.38 million HK dollars.

This second looted antique is expected to fetch about 400 to 600 thousand British pounds, or about 4.5 to 7 million RMB.

The seal was made of Hetian jade, China's best quality jade, in 1790 to mark Qianlong's 80th birthday and the 55th year of his reign, the report says.

In March, an earlier French auction of looted Chinese antiques, the bronze heads of a rat and a rabbit, stirred up indignation throughout China. Both Chinese citizens and the government voiced their anger and strong opposition against any anctions of stolen Chinese antiques.

As for the current auction in London, some online critics have called upon the Chinese government to take action to prevent more looted relics from being auctioned.

In recent years, people have seen a great deal of lost Chinese relics at international auctions around the world.

Source: CRI online
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