An important relic which is 2,300-years-old has been returned to China from Europe. The bronze  ding -- or three-legged tripod -- came home from Europe on Monday and will now be housed in Xi'an, the capital of northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

The historic artifact was presented to the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau by Bernard Gomez (57), a noted French archaeologist and an expert on Chinese antiquities.
   
Bronze dings were common during the Shang (1,600 BC - 1,100 BC) and Western Zhou (1,100 BC - 771 BC) dynasties. They were still used in the Qin (221 BC - 206 BC) and Han (206 BC - 220 AD) periods and symbolized the power and prosperity of a state or even a country.
   
The ding is approximately 17.5 cm high and 24.5 cm in diameter, said Liu Yunhui, deputy-director of the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau
   
The body of the ding bears around 50 inscribed characters which is a record of the states or dynasties who owned the relic in ancient China. The keepers included "Han", a state in the Warring States Period (475 BC - 221 BC), Xianyang Palace of the imperial Qin Dynasty and Linjin Palace of the Han Dynasty.
   
The engravings show that the ding was of great importance as it had been handed down formally as a mark of authority, said Wang Hui, a researcher with the Shaanxi Provincial Cultural Heritage Bureau and an expert on ancient Chinese characters.
   
A ding with inscribed characters from so many states and dynasties was very rare, Wang acknowledged.
   
It is believed to have been excavated in Shaanxi about 100 years ago at the end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) and smuggled to Europe. As with a host of antiquities lost overseas, its movements and record of ownership after leaving China remain unknown.
   
Gomez came across it when assisting with the authentication of ancient Chinese bronzes two years ago and immediately recognized it as an invaluable historic relic. 
   
He decided to buy it and send it back to China. He met with the owner in Paris early this year and persuaded him to sell it so that it could go home. 
   
Gomez declined to disclose the price, but experts say each inscribed character on a ding raises the price by around US$3,000 and it may actually be worth millions of dollars.
   
"I almost went bankrupt obtaining the Ding," Gomez joked.
   
He came to China in 1986 and has been devoted to the country's antiquities ever since. He set up the Association for the Protection of Chinese Art in Europe in 2004 to help retrieve relics lost overseas after seeing so many of his country's artifacts sold at auction abroad.
   
The association is made up of Sinophile culture and antiques enthusiasts, including politicians, nobles, artists and entrepreneurs in Europe.
   
Recovering lost Chinese valuables required a lot of support particularly from governments and business, Gomez observed. .
   
Chinese relics protection departments had limited funds and required to seek private assistance to retrieve valuable items, he added.  
   
"For example, the return of this ding was made possible with financial help from a real estate company in Xi'an," he said.
   
It's estimated that about 10 million Chinese relics have been lost overseas and most are kept by antique collectors, according to China's 'Lost Cultural Relics Recovery Fund'. This is the first non-governmental organization to become involved in the retrieval of relics from overseas.
   
"The ding, now called the Xianyang Palace Ding, has witnessed the prosperity of many dynasties in ancient China and now it has returned home," Gomez said.
   
"It is just my first gift to China," said Gomez. "I hope that it will set a good example and inspire more people to assist in getting Chinese relics home," said Gomez. The ding will be exhibited at the terra-cotta warrior museum.

(Xinhua News Agency April 11, 2006)