A pair of knockers of Yuanmingyuan, an imperial summer resort
sacked and destroyed in 1860 by British and French forces, were
auctioned in Beijing on Sunday despite the opposition of
experts.
The pair of silver knockers
of Yuanmingyuan (file photo)
The knockers made in silver were knocked down by Beijing Rongbao
Auction Ltd. at the price of 1.9 million yuan (US$256,441) with a
228,000-yuan commission.
Experts said the knockers were rare since they were built by the
royal family in the 1700s in the design of a taotie, a
mythical ferocious animal, which was popular in the Western Zhou
Dynasty (1100 BC-771 BC).
They are believed to have been specially made for
Yuanmingyuan.
An expert from the Yuanmingyuan Society said the society
objected the auction of Yuanmingyuan antiques that had been taken
away to foreign countries, believing it would hinder efforts to
bring the antiques back to the imperial garden.
Zong Tianliang, spokesman of the administration office of
Yuanmingyuan, said that "the knockers were of historic value and it
is good for them to return to where they were, instead of putting
them under the hammer."
However, the company said the auction was approved by
authorities and they had not received official objections from the
administration office of Yuanmingyuan.
Located in northwest Beijing, construction on Yuanmingyuan began
in 1709 and was finished in 1744. It was burned down by British and
French troops in 1860.
It was sacked and burned down again, after a partial
restoration, in 1900 when the Eight-Power Allied Forces -- troops
sent by Britain, the United States, Germany, France, Tsarist
Russia, Japan, Italy and Austria -- occupied Beijing.
The 170,000-square-meter palace is composed of Yuanmingyuan,
Changchunyuan and Yichunyuan gardens.
(Xinhua News Agency December 10, 2007)
