The Dutch private collector who owns the 1,000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside is willing to return the relic to China, if the statue is proven to be stolen from China.
A mummified monk inside a gold-painted papier-mache Buddha statue that was exhibited in European museums (the latest being at Budapest) might have been stolen from a village in Fujian province in 1995.
The 1,000-year-old Buddha statue containing a mummified monk on show at the Hungarian Natural History Museum has been confirmed as a relic stolen from China in 1995. Should stolen artifacts be repatriated to their country of origin?
New evidence supports the theory that a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside, now owned by a Dutch private collector, was stolen from China, a government official said Tuesday.
Relic experts in Fujian province presented evidence suggesting that a 1,000-year-old Buddha statue containing a mummified monk, which had been on display at an exhibition in Hungary, may have been stolen from a village temple in the province.
Chinese and Dutch experts are calling on their respective governments to resolve an ownership dispute over a 1,000-year-old Buddhist statue containing a mummified Buddha.
