Looted Chinese relics sold for 14 million euros each

阿邱 · 发表于 2009-3-1 23:05:58

本帖最后由阿邱于 2009-3-1 23:07 编辑

Two controversial ancient Chinese relics were auctioned off on Wednesday night for 14 million euros (17.92 million U.S. dollars) each by anonymous telephone bidders in Christie's sale of the collection of Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Berge in the Grand Palace of Paris.
According to Christie's, they have received 8 phone calls for "enquiries" before the sale. After the auction was launched, the competition was only conducted between telephone bidders, with no one in the scene raised for a bid.
Christie's refused to disclose who were the bidders at a press conference afterward.
The bronze sculptures, a rat's head and a rabbit's head, were looted by invading Anglo-French expedition army in the 19th century, when the invaders burned down the royal garden of Yuanmingyuan in Beijing.
Li Huan, a Chinese student in France told that the two bronzes are news for the French, but history for the Chinese. Earlier this night, some Chinese students in France voluntarily went to the Grand Palace, distributing sheets introducing the history of Yuanmingyuan and the Second Opium War in 1860.
"They should know more about the history. Although we failed in the lawsuit, justice will not fail," said Li.
The Tribunal de Grande Instance in Paris ruled against stopping the sale of the two bronzes on Monday, and the Association for the protection of Chinese Art in Europe (APACE) was ordered to pay compensation to the defendant.
Ren Xiaohong, a lawyer for APACE, told Xinhua that it was "of great significance" to file the lawsuit. "We hope to arouse public attention in Europe on the fate of numerous Chinese works stolen in the past, to help keep those relics well protected and collected," Ren said.
"My heart sank when the court refused our appeal," said Bernard Gomez, president of APACE, adding that "I hope the bidders are Chinese, I hope the two relics could go home eventually."
Bernard Brizay, French historian and journalist, as well as the author of "1860: the Looting of the Summer Palace" told Xinhua after the two bronzes were sold that he could understand the Chinese feelings towards the two relics. He said, "the two bronzes should be returned to China, no matter who got the bids."
Brizay also scorned on the offer by Pierre Berge, Yves Saint Laurent's partner. He used five "stupid" on Berge's words. "Combining the two relics with human rights and Tibet issues has no difference with blackmailing for ransom," he said.
The Chinese government formally called on Tuesday for the cancellation of the auction of the two bronzes. "The State Administration of Cultural Heritage has formally informed the auctioneer of our strong opposition to the auction, and clearly demanded its cancellation," said Ma Chaoxu, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in a press conference.
"Using the pretext of human rights to infringe on the Chinese people's fundamental cultural rights is just ridiculous," Ma said.
The two bronze sculptures are part of the art collection of the late fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent. So far, five of the 12 bronze animal fountainheads have been returned to China, while the whereabouts of five others are unknown.
巴黎时间２５日晚，在法国巴黎大皇宫举办的“伊夫·圣洛朗与皮埃尔·贝尔热珍藏”专场拍卖会上，圆明园流失文物鼠首和兔首铜像分别以１４００万欧元落锤。
千余名来自世界各地的收藏爱好者出席了当晚的拍卖活动。不过，鼠首和兔首铜像拍卖主要在几名电话竞拍者之间进行。经过几个回合的叫价，两尊兽首最终均被通过电话参与当晚拍卖会的买家拍得。目前，两尊兽首到底被几位买家拍得以及买家身份尚不清楚。
鼠首和兔首铜像是圆明园“１２生肖兽首”中目前所能确定的仍流落海外的两件。“１２生肖兽首”在第二次鸦片战争时期流失，目前已经回归的有五件：牛首、猴首、虎首、猪首、马首，另外五件龙首、蛇首、羊首、鸡首、狗首铜像至今下落不明。
获悉拍卖结果，曾向法国法院提出要求停止圆明园流失文物鼠首兔首铜像拍卖诉讼请求的欧洲保护中华艺术联合会主席贝尔纳·高美斯表示，他感到非常心痛。他希望是中国买家拍到了这两尊兽首，这样文物就可以回到中国了。高美斯还强调，他之所以提出诉讼请求，除了希望能够阻止佳士得拍卖行此次拍卖活动外，还希望提醒法国民众关注中国流失文物的命运。
曾经在法国出版揭露火烧圆明园内幕作品《１８６０：圆明园大劫难》的法国历史学家、资深记者贝尔纳·布里泽也在得知圆明园鼠首和兔首铜像拍卖结果后向新华社记者表示，他能够理解中国人的心情。他希望无论是谁购买了这两尊兽首都能够将它们送回中国。
此外，２５日晚，在拍卖活动进行的同时，一些旅法华侨华人和留学生在拍卖地巴黎大皇宫门前举行了抗议活动。他们向过往行人发放了介绍圆明园和此次拍卖活动的宣传材料。一位留学生表示，两尊兽首对于法国人是新闻，但是对于中国人却是历史，希望能够通过抗议活动帮助法国人了解圆明园的历史以及这两尊兽首流落海外的坎坷经历。
２００８年７月，法国佳士得拍卖行发布公报宣布，将于２００９年２月举办“伊夫·圣洛朗与皮埃尔·贝尔热珍藏”专场拍卖会，鼠首和兔首铜像出现在此次拍卖会的拍品名录上，引起各界广泛关注。
中国外交部发言人马朝旭２４日说，以人权为旗号侵犯中国人民的基本文化权利是荒谬的。他说，保护文化遗产，促进文物返还原属国，是国际社会的广泛共识，也是文化财产原属国人民不容剥夺的基本文化权利；近代以来，西方列强在战争中掠夺的大量中国文物，包括从圆明园掠夺并流失出境的众多珍贵文物，应该归还中国；拍卖圆明园文物，有悖于相关国际公约的基本精神，将严重损害中国人民的文化权益和民族感情。

txy660 · 发表于 2009-3-2 17:02:20

Awesome 和 terrific 一樣, 在字典裏都有可怕的意思, 可是當你聽到別人說這個字時, 百分之百就只有很棒的意思. 通常老美只講 awesome 一個字, 例如別人問你, 你覺得我的家佈置的如何, 你就可以答說. "Awesome!" 或是人家問你, "How do you think of that game?" 你也可以說 awesome! 表示那場比賽真的是很精采.

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