The Chinese government will ban individuals from taking cultural
relics predating 1911 out of the country, amid efforts to
strengthen the protection of cultural heritage, a senior official
said on Tuesday.
"Previous regulations stipulated that cultural relics predating
1795 could not be taken across the border by individuals. However,
the base line is going to be adjusted to 1911," said Shan Jixiang,
director for the State Administration of Cultural Heritage
(SACH).
"The end of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), China's last feudal
society, is a convenient social mark for Chinese archaeologists,"
Li Peisong, vice director of the SACH's Museum Department, told
Xinhua.
The year 1911 was almost 100 years ago, which accords with
international practice defining cultural relics protection based on
centennial marks, Li said, noting the smuggling of China's cultural
relics abroad has been a severe problem for many years.
Shan said the new regulation would be promulgated before the end
of this year. It also stipulates that important cultural relics
produced before 1949 and major ethnic minority relics before 1966
could not be removed, except those taking part in overseas
exhibitions, Shan said.
Ethnic minority relics, especially those with distinct ethnic
features, enjoy great international popularity, said Tala, director
of the Institute of Cultural and Historical Relics and Archeology
of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
"Traditional Mongolian women's headgear decorated with red
coral, turquoise, pearl, and precious metals, are treasures of the
Mongolian ethnic group and have long been favored by overseas
collectors. Some have been lost overseas due to the lack of legal
protection," said Tala, himself of Mongolian ethnic origin.
Tala said headgear, saddles, and other costumes could be sold to
affluent private collectors for millions of yuan on the global
market because the materials from which they were made are hard to
find, especially after 1966.
He said Mongolian cultural relics could not be easily identified
as herders still used traditional silver bowls at home, some of
which are very old and easily bought and smuggled by private
collectors.
Laws and regulations say the removal of cultural relics should
first be approved by the State Council, and they must go through
the port designated by the government and declared to Customs.
Chinese experts estimated that more than 10 million Chinese
cultural relics have been lost overseas.
According to the Chinese Culture Relics Society, most of the
cultural relics were stolen and smuggled out of China before the
founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949.
The lost treasures include paintings, calligraphy, bronzeware,
porcelain, oracle bone inscriptions, and ancient books and
records.
(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2007)