Jiangsu government investigates Nanjing Museum's handling of donated relics

The provincial Party committee and provincial government of Jiangsu have formed an investigation team to investigate issues related to the management and handling of donated cultural relics at the Nanjing Museum, as well as other concerns about the safety of its collections, CCTV reported on Tuesday.

A celebrated painting from the museum's collection recently surfaced at an auction and generated widespread attention.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the Nanjing Museum announced that it had initiated an internal review after receiving court documents in November 2024 concerning Pang Shuling's "gift contract dispute" lawsuit.

The museum said that it had accepted 137 donated paintings from Pang Zenghe, Pang Shuling's father, in January 1959. Five of these works, including those now under dispute, were determined to be forgeries following two appraisals conducted in the early 1960s.

The museum said that it disposed of the five works in the 1990s in accordance with the regulations governing museum collections at that time, adding that it would cooperate with legal proceedings. If any illegal or non-compliant actions are discovered during their disposal, it will work with the relevant authorities for strict legal handling.

The governmental investigation team consists of members from the commission for discipline inspection, the supervisory commission, and departments of publicity, political and legal affairs, public security, culture and tourism, and cultural relics.

Following the investigation, any illegal or non-compliant activities will be addressed with strict measures, with no tolerance for misconduct. The results of the investigation and the actions taken will be disclosed to the public.

The National Cultural Heritage Administration released a statement on its website on Tuesday, saying that it had formed a working group. The group is already in Nanjing to investigate issues related to the management of cultural relics at the Nanjing Museum.