Riding the wind of rebirth

"This matter involves the social environment at that time and the attitude towards cultural relics." Zhou Zhi said: "If the letter of introduction that Yin Zhiguo asked the production team to issue had flaws, then the subsequent actions were a clear violation of regulations."

"What happened was that Yin Gairu told his father about the situation after he returned home after handing in the cultural relics. Later, Yin Zhiguo handed Yin Gairu a document issued by the Tang County Cultural Relics Preservation Office, stating that the Tang County Cultural Relics Preservation Office knew that he had dug up the cultural relics and asked him to take them back and hand them over to Tang County for safekeeping."

"So on December 12 of that year, Yin Gairu took the letter from the Tang County Cultural Relics Conservation Center to the Cultural Bureau of the Cangzhou District Administrative Office to find Wang Minzhi and retrieve the 'Gui Fu Dun'."

"However, after the retrieval this time, whether Gui Fudun was handed over to the Tang County Cultural Relics Conservation Center has become a mystery."

"According to the recollections of Yin Jianghui, the current director of public security in Dongjiao Village, it was heard that Yin Zhiguo sold the 'pot' to a cultural relic dealer who came to the village to buy cultural relics for 200 to 300 yuan. However, after our public security agency filed a case, we have not found any clues about the people who were present at the sale of cultural relics or the cultural relic dealer."

"However, Yin Jianghui's recollection is only a solitary testimony, and it happened more than a decade ago, so it is hard to say whether it is wrong or not. According to common sense, the cultural relics requested with the letter from the Cultural Relics Custody Center should be returned to the Tang County Cultural Relics Custody Center. The unearthed cultural relics belong to the state, which is stipulated in the Cultural Relics Protection Law."

"So there are two possibilities for this matter. One is that the Cultural Relics Protection Institute did not attach enough importance to this cultural relic. It only issued a letter but did not ask Yin Zhiguo to return the cultural relics taken back from Cangzhou. Including not sending staff but letting the person concerned to retrieve them himself, these practices must have serious violations."

"However, considering the social environment and attitude towards cultural relics at that time, this practice was not impossible, especially in a poor and closed county town. For example, my fourth uncle and his wife often received many cultural relics at the scrap shop at the price of scrap."

"Another possibility is that Yin Zhiguo had actually sent Guifudun to the Cultural Relics Protection Institute, and the cultural relic finally came out of the institute."

"Unfortunately, Yin Zhiguo passed away in 1992, so the case has become an unsolved case at this point. There is no evidence, and the provincial public security agency has designated the investigation as indefinite."

"Here are copies of the files of the Criminal Investigation Bureau of the Hebei Provincial Public Security Department on this case, including the procedures for Yin Gairu to hand over the cultural relics to the Cangzhou Cultural Bureau, as well as the copies of the procedures for requesting the cultural relics from Mr. Wang Minzhi later."

"There are also the rubbings and articles that Mr. Wang Minzhi made after receiving the cultural relics, as well as Mr. Wang Entian's research articles on inscriptions."

"Although we have not yet confirmed how the cultural relics ended up in Tang County and ended up in Hong Kong Island, and the case is still a long way off, there is no doubt that Gui Fudun was lost from the country."

"It must have taken you a lot of effort to investigate to this extent," An Siyuan asked.

"Not really." Zhou Zhi smiled shyly, "I only did some liaison and coordination work, and studied the Guifu Dun inscription and the history behind it... Hey, that's purely a personal interest."

"Ancient Chinese history is so fascinating." An Siyuan said with emotion: "Such a small bronze ware actually carries such a large amount of information behind it, including the rise and fall of a family, the rise and fall of a country, the proliferation of surnames, and social changes... Then take it with you when you go back this time."

"Ah? Thank you! Thank you, Mr. An!" Zhou Zhi was extremely surprised. He really didn't expect that An Siyuan would agree to let him bring the cultural relics back to China so easily.

In later generations, many people on the Internet were heartbroken about the loss of Chinese cultural relics overseas, and Zhou Zhi could empathize with this. However, many people, out of indignation, claimed that the Chinese cultural relics in the British Museum, the Eastern Palace and museums across the United States should be returned to the country. This was a bit of a joke of the law, or it could only be called a "good wish."

It is actually very difficult to recover cultural relics. Not to mention before the founding of the People's Republic of China, even before the introduction of the Chinese Cultural Relics Law, it was very difficult to recover cultural relics that were lost after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The reason is very simple. There is no evidence in China that those cultural relics were looted.

Yes, there is evidence. It was a turbulent time, and it is entirely possible that these cultural relics were purchased by people at that time and then sent to the West, such as what Lu Qinzhai, the famous antique dealer in the Republic of China, did. You cannot say that he was illegal.

Even if you can produce irrefutable evidence to prove that the items were illegally taken out of the country, there is still a problem, that is, the laws enacted after the founding of New China cannot be traced back to the Republic of China.

Only after a law is enacted and takes effect will it have the power to bind illegal acts committed after that point in time. This is the most basic logic of the rule of law.

Therefore, the cultural relics that China can currently recover are basically all important cultural relics that were stolen from various places after the enactment of the Cultural Relics Law. In addition, the countries where these cultural relics are located will basically require China to provide case details, the basis for filing a case, the case-solving process, and the path closure. Only then will they agree to file a case in their own country. Only after completing all judicial procedures can they talk about the final link of handing over the stolen goods.

Zhou Zhi, who had experienced the experience of returning to China after recovering the statues of the Dragon and Phoenix Heavenly Kings, of course understood all this very well.

If An Siyuan is unwilling to donate the things, then the Chinese side really has no means to force him to comply, because among the four elements of a criminal case, except for the clear object of the crime, the other three - the subject of the crime, the subjective aspect of the crime, and the objective aspect of the crime - are incomplete.

If it is not complete, it can only continue in the investigation stage. While it is still in the investigation stage, there is no concrete evidence to prove that Gui Fudun was smuggled out to An Siyuan through illegal means. There is no way the US side will cooperate with China in launching an investigation.

The success in recovering the Dragon and Phoenix Heavenly King statues when the chain of evidence was completely complete was due to the important evidence provided by An Siyuan and the many tricks Zhou Zhi came up with. Zhou Zhi actually had no hope of recovering Gui Fudun through litigation in New York.

In other words, if An Siyuan really refuses to return Guifulun, there will be no way out unless there are major changes in the domestic case.

The only way left is to persuade An Siyuan to donate Guifulun on his own initiative, otherwise he can only be impressed by money.

As a result, before Zhou Zhi started to persuade him, An Siyuan asked for the things to be returned.

All bronze artifacts are priceless treasures to China, not to mention bronze artifacts with important inscriptions. This is also an important reason why the country once agreed to the circulation of ancient porcelain and even export it to earn foreign exchange, but has always resolutely prohibited the circulation of bronze and jade artifacts.

The procedure and process of returning cultural relics through donation is the simplest, and only a legal certificate is required. Zhou Zhi certainly expressed his deep gratitude to An Siyuan.

An Siyuan smiled and said, "This is something that was illegally leaked out. If it stays with me, it will affect my reputation and encourage crime. Therefore, it should be returned to where it belongs."

"If I have to say thank you, I should thank you for spending a wonderful and enjoyable afternoon with a lonely old man like me." (End of this chapter)