There is a new twist in the ongoing saga over the two bronzes looted from the Yuanmingyuan in 1860 and set for auction next week in France. This past week the Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement of protest, and a group of Beijing-based lawyers has asked French courts to block the sale of the items, which are currently part of the estate of Yves Saint Laurent.
Now Saint Laurent’s partner, Pierre Berge has made an offer: The estate will return the bronzes to China, free of charge, in exchange for China’s promise to respect human rights and pave the way for Τibetan independence:
“I acquired them and I am completely protected by the law, so what the Chinese are saying is a bit ridiculous,” he told Reuters Television on Friday. “But I am prepared to offer this bronze head to the Chinese straight away.”
“All they have to do is to declare they are going to apply human rights, give the Τibetans back their freedom and agree to accept the Dalai Lama on their territory,” he said.
“If they do that, I would be very happy to go myself and bring these two Chinese heads to put them in the Summer Palace in Beijing.”
“It’s obviously blackmail but I accept that,” he said.
First of all, somebody’s forgotten their history. He can’t put the bronze back in the palace because Lord Elgin and the Anglo-French Expedition of 1860 torched the place. He’s going to have to drop it off at the Poly Museum.
And yes, it is blackmail, but it would also appear that a legacy of European imperialism in the 19th century is on a collision course with another legacy, that of Qing imperial expansion in the 18th.
While I personally feel that private and public collections in Europe and American should begin the process of negotiating with China over the return of antiquities seized during the age of imperialism, there’s something also to be said for M. Berge’s chutzpah.
Since it’s safe to say we’ll sooner see Hu Jintao admit to being a closet smack addict before anyone in China agrees to such a proposal, barring a court injunction, the bronzes will likely go on sale next week as planned.
I haven’t had time this afternoon to cruise the BBSs, but me guesses this suggestion is not going to sit too well with the more patriotic netizens in the China blogosphere…
YSL estate to China: Free Tibet and you get your statues back free of charge. http://tinyurl.com/cs7q9a
YSL Estate to China: Free Τibet and you get your statues back: There is a new twist in the ongoing saga over the.. http://tinyurl.com/cs7q9a
My response to the title was along the chutzpah lines: This guy’s got balls.
Reading the article, though, I thought, naïve. Then the last vestiges of my French grammar kicked in and said, get it right, dammit! Naïf!
Wow, Chutzpah indeed.
I agree it’s high time for such nagotioations to start (for returning of seized antiquities), and not just with China, but also with India, Egypt, and many other Asian, African and South American countries.
This begs the question of whether the ROC is also eligible to claim the bronzes by granting independence to Tibet. It wouldn’t be such a bad deal for them — and they get to keep Outer Mongolia.
if the robbers in 19th centry respect human rights ,the bronzes would stay where it shouold be.
tom – that would be the chutzpah to end all chutzpahs. sadly, the ma administration would be loathe to do anything to upset the PRC, much less tweak their tail to that degree.
The french is really a proud people.
Comments on the Old Summer Palace and these zodiac bronzes are always interesting. While these relics are often dragooned into serving as reminders of Western imperialism and the incursion of the Eight Nation Allied Army into China in 1860, it is also important to note that these zodiac bronzes were crafted by European missionaries to the Qing court at the behest of a Kangxi emperor eager to embrace Western art and design in the construction of his palace. Over a century later, it seems tragic that the East-West harmony and fusion that these bronzes represents remain overshadowed by the greed of private collectors and international politics.
“…crafted by European missionaries to the Qing court at the behest of a Kangxi emperor eager to embrace Western art and design”
Never knew that. Interesting.
I like the Berge response to Beijing’s objections, but would have preferred his ‘blackmail’ to have linked the repatriation of the bronzes to the return of the countless looted Tibetan artifacts during the past 60 years. That would have been more in keeping with the issue at hand.
[...] offer China can refuse: Free Tibet and the Yves Saint Laurent estate will return those controversial statues looted from the Summer Palace in 1860. [Jottings from the Granite [...]
The man is right, I have to say. His way of expressing it is a bit harsh, but he is under no legal obligation to return the heads. The question is entirely a moral one.
I imagine that he still has close ties to the YSL brand. If so, this might be bad for the brand’s chances in China at the moment.
@stuart,
Would you please produce a list of the looted Tibetan artifacts? I don’t know Chinese National Museum has a Tibetan Art section. And Chairman Mao’s art collection taste is still an unfathomed waters in China studies.
You might say that the so-called Tibetan artifacts were looted from China and set up in India in a museum funded by the CIA, the 20th-century imperialists. I don’t think the Chinese would object if Mr Berge and the 14th Dalai Lama brought them back to Lhasa along with the zodiac figures to Beijing.
Regardless of China’s response, Pierre Berge’s offer seems to show the logic that his owning the two statue is as legitimate as China’s violation of human rights in Tibet. Isn’t it kinda self-contradictory and puts himself in the position of a black-mailer?
Rachel & Chris,
Thanks for stopping by. I agree with both of your assessments.
Tom,
That very question was the subject of a post at Blogging for China a couple of weeks ago. I think you might find the discussion on that thread interesting and (in some cases) amusing.
Lee,
Or at least had preschool to teach them to ask before taking things.
cc,
As insightful as usual.
JH,
Nice touch with the irony and I’m sure Giuseppe Castiglione appreciates the shout out.
Stuart & Leo,
I’ll let you two sort this out.
Joe Shouren,
I’m sure you and Leo are coming at this from a common perspective, but I’m curious as to whom in your comment is doing the looting.
Ps. Should I refer to you also as “Lou” Xun? But then he was “Joe” Shuren, I guess…
Su,
It would appear that M. Berge agrees with you to a certain extent. (Check post.)
Just to follow-up JH’s comment (it intrigued me so much that I did a little research to verify if he had anything there)
14-15th paragraph in for the detail, but the whole article is worth a read
If Sarkozy was smart he would bid for the heads himself and return them to China as a kind gesture. But unfortunately consideration for others is a trait that the French lack…
If they do that, I would be very happy to go myself
Mmm… not advisable, Mr Berge…
The best action would be to return these things to China first and then demand the Chinese government for Tibet’s freedom, showing them that there is still someone in the world really put the human rights above private/national interests.
Only one word for M. Berge: naïve, as Chris said…
So, in another word China deserve to keep the loot, just like we in the West.
Well that settles it for me. I hope next time crippled Chinese girl will not be attacked in Paris over Tibet.