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Taiwan steps up hunt to reinstate stolen Buddha relic of Northern Qi Dynasty

Experts from the Hebei Museum said that the head was one of the three stolen heads of Buddha statues enshrined in the Youju Temple, the then-largest Buddhist monastery of the Northern Qi Dynasty 1,500 years ago. The statues represent the dynasty`s highest level of attainments in Buddhism sculpture art, according to experts, who said that heads of the three statues were stolen by a group of thieves in 1992 and 1996.

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The stolen head of a Buddha statue carved in the Northern Qi Dynasty (550-577) will be placed back on its body and put on display to the public in Taiwan by the end of this May as the result of a cross-strait effort to recover the rare relic.

The Buddha`s head, which was carved from fine quality white marble, was donated by a believer to Taiwan`s largest Buddhist monastery Fo Guang Shan in May 2014. Fo Guang Shan Master Hsing Yun learned from the donor that the Buddha`s head was bought from an auction.

Suspecting that the head could be a stolen relic, Master Hsing Yun contacted the State Administration of Cultural Heritage to confirm its source. The administration dispatched experts to identify the head, confirming that it belongs to a statue of Shakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, originally enshrined in the Youju Temple in north China`s Hebei Province.

Experts from the Hebei Museum said that the head was one of the three stolen heads of Buddha statues enshrined in the Youju Temple, the then-largest Buddhist monastery of the Northern Qi Dynasty 1,500 years ago. The statues represent the dynasty`s highest level of attainments in Buddhism sculpture art, according to experts, who said that heads of the three statues were stolen by a group of thieves in 1992 and 1996.

"I saw the statue before its head was lost. I drew a sketch of it because the Buddha`s face is so beautiful. The statue impressed me so much that it was like engraved on my heart, I will never forget it," said Liu Jianhua, researcher with the Hebei Museum. Hebei authorities moved the three damaged statues out of the temple, placing them into the Hebei Museum for protection.

"We lost a head of one statue in 1992. We don`t know the status of that one, but at least the head of Amitabha which was stolen in 1996 should be well preserved, because it was the same group of thieves who did that. Since the head of Shakyamuni is well preserved, it should be the same for the head of Amitabha," said Liu.

Learning the story of the Buddha`s head, Fo Guang Shan donated the rare relic to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, transferring its ownership to the administration at the end of 2014. "The action is a protection of China`s cultural relics. It has a demonstrative effect on showing how people bring back the lost relics of China," said Master Huichuan, standing deputy abbot of Fo Guang Shan.

The body of the Shakyamuni statue will be sent to Taiwan to reunite with its head by the end of May, when the completed statue will be showed at an art exhibition to the public.
 

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