According to Yang Linping, vice-president of the Supreme People’s Court, Chinese courts have been successful in formulating judicial rules to recover cultural treasures from overseas. Yang made the announcement at a news conference where she discussed 15 relic-related cases, including the lawsuit involving the 1,000-year-old Zhang Gong Patriarch Buddha statue.
The statue, which contained the mummified remains of a Song Dynasty monk, Zhang Qisan, was enshrined at Puzhao Temple in Sanming, Fujian province, until it went missing in 1995. It reappeared in the Mummy World Exhibition in Budapest in 2015, leading the villagers to initiate a civil lawsuit against Dutch collector Oscar van Overeem for its return. In 2020, the Fujian Provincial High People’s Court upheld the ruling that Van Overeem must return the statue to its rightful owners in Yangchun and Dongpu villages.
Guan Qiang, deputy head of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, praised the case and the courts’ upholding of justice, adding that it opened a new channel of civil litigation to recover lost or stolen relics. The administration has signed agreements with 24 countries to prevent theft, excavation, and illegal export of cultural relics, resulting in the return of over 1,800 relics held overseas.
Since 2016, Chinese courts have resolved 12,407 cases related to relics and heritage items. The successful recovery of cultural treasures from overseas is a significant achievement that demonstrates China’s commitment to protecting its cultural heritage.
