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Human rights absent in relic ransacking

By Li Xing (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-26 07:45

Western media ascribe China's outcry against the auction in Paris of two Qing Dynasty animal heads to "nationalist sentiment", as if any other nation had a legitimate interest in these relics.

Most support Mr Pierre Berge, who has asked Christie's to auction the two bronze heads, one of a rat and the other of a rabbit. The relics were among 12 animal fountainheads, representing the Chinese zodiac, which once graced the front of the Xiyanglou, or European-style mansion, at the Old Summer Palace in 19th century Beijing.

Mr Berge is apparently convinced of his legal right to the bronzes, even though he admits they were stolen from China 150 years ago. In asserting his right to auction off the stolen relics, he defends the interests of museums worldwide which hold "many other looted pieces".

He even goes so far as to wrap himself in the mantle of "human rights", telling the French media that he is "ready to give these Chinese heads to China if they are ready to recognize human rights".

I don't see how Mr Berge qualifies as a human rights activist when he holds onto stolen relics of what Victor Hugo called "a wonder of the world".

For Mr Berge, "human rights" is a convenient phrase to bolster his image. But he is still relying on imperialist logic when he proposes to exchange the looted items.

His remarks only serve to remind us of the brutal Opium Wars that the British and French imperialists waged against China 150 years ago. Before they ransacked the Old Summer Palace and stole its treasures, the British and French marauders had already forced China to buy opium and robbed it of its autonomy. Ultimately, they subjugated all of China and shot anyone who resisted. There was no mention of "human rights" then.

Even those who witnessed the ransacking couldn't help but note that it was "a memorable day in the history of plunder and destruction".

James Bruce, the eighth Earl of Elgin and Kincardine, who ordered the plunder, later recalled: "Such a scene of desolation There was not a room I saw in which half the things had not been taken away or broken in pieces ..."

I don't know if Mr. Berge has read Victor Hugo's "Sur les Expditions Franco-Britaniques en Chine", or his letter to Captain Butler on November 25, 1861. Translated into English, the letter was re-published in the November 1985 issue of the Unesco Courier.

Hugo was remarkably clear-eyed about the actions of what he calls two bandits, France and Britain. And he lamented the fact that "What was done to the Parthenon was done to the Summer Palace, more thoroughly and better ... All the treasures of all our cathedrals put together could not equal this formidable and splendid museum of the Orient."

The bronze heads being auctioned at Christie's are only two of some 17 million Chinese relics that are scattered overseas. Many were taken illegally, and I believe we Chinese have the right to fight for their return. If Mr Berge wants to talk about "human rights," let's talk about our right to our cultural heritage.

Meanwhile, I'm encouraged by the support of people like Mr Bernard Gomez, president of the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe, who is working to realize Victor Hugo's wish: "I hope that a day will come when France, delivered and cleansed, will return this booty to despoiled China."

E-mail: lixing@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 02/26/2009 page8)