After the founding of New China, especially after the 1980s, a large number of precious cultural relics were also sold overseas. It can be speculated that there are at least millions of cultural relics in China living in foreign countries around the world.
There are three main channels for the loss of old China cultural relics overseas:
First, the imperialist powers snatched it from China after the Opium War;
Second, some foreigners who came to China stole it from China;
Third, foreigners colluded with reactionary warlords and profiteers at that time to buy and smuggle out of the country at a very low price.
Stan and the Taoist King
It is no exaggeration to say that Beijing's "savings since the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, from legal relics to treasures, have been swept away". It's simple. Your house was robbed. It must be the most valuable thing. Therefore, there is no doubt that some cultural relics you saw overseas during the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties are priceless.
Qing Yongzheng Lang Yaohong gourd bottle
Tang Yucheng Museum Collection (Overseas Return)
20 16 Hangzhou G20 Summit Exhibition Series
Where are the cultural relics lost overseas in China?
Britain, France, America and Japan have the most museums.
The China Pavilion in the French Fontainebleau Palace has a collection of more than 30,000 famous China paintings, jade articles, porcelain, incense burners, chimes, precious stones and gold and silver wares.
Yuanmingyuan enamel maid hip flask
France Fontainebleau Palace Collection
Bronze gilded stupa
France Fontainebleau Palace Collection
Cloisonne Kirin was once hidden in Fontainebleau Palace, France, and was stolen in 20 15.
If you are interested in painting, then you should go to America, where there is the largest collection. The Flier Museum in Washington has more than 1200 pieces. There are nearly 500 paintings by China in the Metropolitan Museum.
Han Gan's "Night White Map"
Metropolitan museum
Bamboo Bird Map of Evonne
Metropolitan museum
However, to say that the collection of Chinese paintings is the most precious, it still belongs to? The British Museum, such as one of the top ten famous paintings handed down from generation to generation, is a historical picture of women.
A History of Women (Eastern Jin Dynasty) Gu Kaizhi
British Museum Collection (Tang Dynasty Replica)
In addition, the Louvre is the most concentrated place for French collection of China cultural relics. Only its branch, Ji Mei Museum, has collected tens of thousands of China cultural relics, including 65,438+2,000 pieces of ceramics of past dynasties, ranking first in China ceramic collections of overseas museums. The collection of China cultural relics in the Paris Museum is comparable to that in the Louvre.
Ji Mei Museum Song Dynasty Porcelain Collection
China's paintings and calligraphy, antique porcelain, Oracle Bone Inscriptions and other cultural relics collected in Japan are mostly fine works. For example, the famous Tokyo National Museum and Osaka Toyo Ceramic Art Museum are famous for their collection of Song porcelain.
Russian Oriental Culture Museum: The museum has bronzes, paintings and sculptures from the Shang Dynasty to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. Paintings include The Maid's Figure by Chou Ying in Ming Dynasty and Lotus by Ren Bonian in Qing Dynasty.
Nelson Art Museum:? The most outstanding collection of the museum is the oriental cultural relics, among which the most wonderful and famous is the classical furniture of China cultural relics, which has a large quantity and high quality.
Nelson Atkins Museum of Art, USA
China Liao Dynasty Nanhai Guanyin woodcarving
Murals of Xingsheng Buddha in Guangsheng Temple, Shanxi
Boston Art Museum: The museum is famous for its oriental art works, and now there are more than 5,000 paintings from China and Japan. Among them, there are quite a number of famous works in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, such as the well-preserved Daolian Map of Tang Dynasty and Five-color Parrot.
Song Huizong Five-color Parrot in Boston Art Museum.
Art Museum of Chicago:? The eastern part of the museum attracts the world's attention because of its collection of Chinese bronzes, the most fascinating of which is a hanging beam during the Warring States period.
Freer Art Museum, Washington, USA:? Apart from the above-mentioned collection of Chinese paintings, almost half of the collections in the museum are China cultural relics, including calligraphy and painting, Buddhist art, bronzes, jades and pottery.
San Francisco Asian Art Museum: This is a museum that mainly collects Asian cultural relics, especially China cultural relics. Among them, there are more than 2,000 pieces of ceramics, which began in the Neolithic Age and ended in the Qing Dynasty. The Jade Department has more than 1200 pieces, which is the museum with the richest collection of China jade in the world. There are about 800 pieces in the bronze department.
San Francisco Asian Art Museum
Southern Song Dynasty Agate Cup
Fogg Art Museum, Harvard University:? The museum has a considerable collection of China murals, stone carvings, bronzes, jade articles, paintings and other precious cultural relics. Faced with such dazzling ancient art treasures in China, we are proud of the long history and outstanding creativity of the Chinese nation, and at the same time regret that so many priceless treasures have fled overseas.
Harvard Art Museum, murals of the Tang Dynasty
Although the relevant departments have actively pursued and redeemed the cultural relics lost overseas on a global scale and achieved certain results, compared with millions of cultural relics lost overseas, few cultural relics can return to the motherland.