Stolen calligraphy work recovered in Beijing
6/1/2005 14:43
A stolen calligraphy album by ancient Chinese philosopher Zhu Xi has
finally been recovered and three people arrested on suspicion of theft, Beijing
police announced Wednesday.
The album, which was set to go under the hammer
for a base price of 3 million yuan (US$360,000) in December, disappeared as it
was being shown at the Asian Hotel a couple of days before the auction.
Local
police did not immediately release news of the incident, but word got out when
its absence was noticed among the 1,880 lots, which included curios, ancient
writings and paintings.
Known as "Master Zhu," Zhu was considered the most
important person in Confucianism after Confucius and Mencius in ancient China.
His interpretations were considered orthodox Confucian thinking during the Yuan,
Ming and Qing dynasties (1279-1911).
The stolen work is a poem written by Zhu
in 1182 to celebrate two of his followers passing imperial civil
examinations.
Yi Suhao, general manager of Zhongmao Shengjia International
Auction Co Ltd, said there are only two copies of the poem still in existence.
The other is in the Taipei Palace Museum collection.
"The album was in the
possession of a collector in Hong Kong. He wants it to go back to the mainland
by auction," said Yi.
Liu Ruibin, head of the Dongcheng Branch of the Beijing
Municipal Public Security Bureau, said local police had questioned more than 100
people at the hotel on the day it was stolen.
Beijinger Diao Chongjing was
arrested after allegedly admitting he took the work while guards were not
looking.
On December 15, Diao and an accomplice allegedly hid the volume in a
church in downtown Beijing. In total three are facing trial.
Xinhua
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