The treasured painting, which was drawn by an emperor of the Song Dynasty (960-1279) and was believed to be lost, is scheduled to be auctioned by China's leading auction house, China Guardian Auctions.

Auctioneers estimated Sunday that the painting, or Scroll of Rare Bird Sketches, would fetch up to 10 million yuan (US$1.2 million) at the auction on April 23 at the Kunlun Hotel in Beijing.

However, because it is from a Japanese collector, China's cultural relics law cannot prohibit it from leaving the country again.

Kou Qin, Guardian's vice-president, said that international collectors could compete in bidding for the scroll.

However, Kou said he hopes state-funded museums or other Chinese organizations would buy the painting.

The painter, Emperor Huizong, or Zhao Ji by name, sketched many birds on 12 sections of paper, the total length of which reaches 521.5 centimeters (205 inches).

On the scroll are inscribed 14 imperial seals in various dynasties.

Hu Yanyan, Guardian's expert on ancient Chinese calligraphy and painting, said that many famous collectors in history had kept the scroll.

However, she said, nobody knows the scroll's whereabouts after it was secretly taken out of the imperial museum of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China's last feudal dynasty.

A total of 19 art pieces created by the emperor remain. Museums and other organizations in the Chinese mainland are keeping nine, while the other ten are scattered overseas.

In more than 2,000 years of Chinese feudal history, Emperor Huizong was regarded as the most artistically creative, Hu said.

In traditional calligraphy, the emperor invented the well-known ?slim? style. He was also good at drawing flowers and birds.

Modern Chinese calligrapher Qi Gong said that the scroll was an excellent example of Emperor Huizong's masterpieces.

Guardian plans to exhibit the auction lot from April 19 to 21 at the Kunlun Hotel.

(Xinhua News Agency April 16, 2002)