Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Chinese group asks Japanese Emperor, gov't to return looted relic
Xinhua ^ | 2014-08-11 21:48:56 | Wang Cong and Ren Qinqin

Posted on 08/11/2014 9:29:48 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin

BEIJING, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- A Chinese group has asked Japan to return a 1,300-year-old stone stele looted by Japanese soldiers early last century from northeastern China.

In a letter addressed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and the Japanese government on Sunday via the Japanese Embassy in China, the China Federation of Demanding Compensation from Japan (CFDC) said the Honglujing Stele, which documents China's endorsement of the first king of the Bohai Kingdom (698-926) in 713 A.D., should be handed back to China as soon as possible.

CFDC president Tong Zeng told Xinhua on Monday that so far the federation has not yet received any reply from Japanese authorities.

This is the first time a Chinese civic group has asked the Japanese imperial family for the return of a looted Chinese relic.

About three meters wide, 1.8 meters tall and two meters thick, the Honglujing Stele shows that the first king of the Bohai Kingdom was conferred the title by an emperor of China's Tang Dynasty (618-907).

The stele was originally placed in Lushun in northeast China's Liaoning Province, but now sits in virtual seclusion in the Japanese imperial palace after the Japanese army shipped the stele to Japan in 1908 as a wartime "trophy." Lushun was controlled by Russia before the war.

Established in 2006, the CFDC seeks compensation for personal, material and spiritual damage caused by Japanese militarism during the country's aggression against China in the 20th century.

According to Wang Jinsi, a CFDC director in charge of recovering cultural relics, the Honglujing Stele is one of the most important relics taken from China to Japan in last century.

The stele is but one of the many ancient antiquities looted by Japanese soldiers during their military aggression in China.

Earlier reports said Japanese soldiers took home some 3.6 million relics from China and ransacked some 740 relic sites during the five decades between the first Sino-Japanese War in 1894 and Japan's World War II defeat in 1945.

"These historic relics, which belong to China but now lie in Japan, have done great damage to Sino-Japanese ties," said Wang. "They should be returned to their rightful owner."

Wang said the CFDC plans to send an expert team to Japan to further pressure Japanese authorities on the return of the stele.

"If that does not work either, we will have to learn from our international counterparts and have our government step in," he said.

Japan handed over Bukgwandaecheopbi (meaning "monument for the great victory at Bukgwan"), an 18th-century stone stele commemorating a series of Korean military victories against the invading army of Japan in the 1590s, to the Republic of Korea in 2005 after repeated requests by official authorities and civic groups.

CFDC president Tong Zeng said a number of Chinese experts have spent years gathering evidence of Japan's looting of the Honglujing Stele and its current location in order to make way for its return.

"What we try to recover is not just the relic itself, but also a symbol of international justice," he said.

Meanwhile, news of the CFDC request has gone viral on Chinese social networks with hundreds of thousands of reposts and comments in a day.

One read, "You have to start with concrete things when it comes to Japan if you want to get back what is rightfully ours. We don't need slogans but concrete actions."

"To correct the wrong, the only right thing for Japan to do is to return the relic now," another read.


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; Government
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/11/2014 9:29:48 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

If I were Japan I would Cite Mao’s “Cultural Revolution” and tell them they don’t want to risk the destruction of ANOTHER piece of history on the altar of the Commie Party.


2 posted on 08/11/2014 9:31:53 AM PDT by GraceG (No, My Initials are not A.B.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

What’s the fun of winning a war if you don’t get to keep the loot?


3 posted on 08/11/2014 9:33:33 AM PDT by Cowboy Bob (They are called "Liberals" because the word "parasite" was already taken.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Cowboy Bob

So you take the view that Japan won WWII?


4 posted on 08/11/2014 9:34:57 AM PDT by DeaconBenjamin (A trillion here, a trillion there, soon you're NOT talking real money)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

Maybe john f’n kohn-heinz-kerry can put together a package deal and try to maybe get lois liars emails included.


5 posted on 08/11/2014 9:35:05 AM PDT by rktman (Ethnicity: Nascarian. Race: Daytonafivehundrian)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin
Japan should return this thing, it will have to admit their mistakes.
6 posted on 08/11/2014 9:36:06 AM PDT by eizverson22
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

Japan should return this and the British museum should return the Parthenon Sculptures to Greece once the restoration of the Parthenon is near completion.


7 posted on 08/11/2014 9:41:08 AM PDT by jpsb (Believe nothing until it has been officially denied)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

They should give it to the muzzies — they’ll smash it and end the controversy.


8 posted on 08/11/2014 9:43:38 AM PDT by Born to Conserve
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jpsb

Opps, I just researched the Parthenon Sculptures a little more and I’ve changed my mind. They should stay in the UK. I hate it when I post something I need to retract!


9 posted on 08/11/2014 9:47:04 AM PDT by jpsb (Believe nothing until it has been officially denied)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin; Cowboy Bob

Japan certainly beat China for the first 45 years of the century.


10 posted on 08/11/2014 9:55:59 AM PDT by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

Japan can’t because if they did they’d be acknowledging they looted when they’ve been denying it all along in their history books.


11 posted on 08/11/2014 9:56:46 AM PDT by SkyDancer (If you don't read the newspaper you are uninformed. If you do read the newspaper you are misinformed)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

Is one of those looted relics Okinawa?


12 posted on 08/11/2014 9:57:46 AM PDT by DoodleDawg
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

It was an earlier war than WWII. From the article:

“... the Japanese army shipped the stele to Japan in 1908 as a wartime “trophy.” Lushun was controlled by Russia before the war.”

The Russo-Japanese war (8 February 1904 – 5 September 1905) - Japan kicked their ass. After they took the territory from the Russians (who had previously taken it from the Chinese over a number of incursions) they moved the stone.


13 posted on 08/11/2014 10:06:45 AM PDT by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothings)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

Communist Chinese gov’t could care less about PRE-communist chinese relics..

They WANT to start applying pressure to the Japanese gov’t..
Throwing their weight around politically.. with a BIGGER NAVY And ARMY..

CLUE: Sony, Nissan and Toyota SHOULD START making fighter jets and Submarines..
you know... at a faster rate..


14 posted on 08/11/2014 10:32:17 AM PDT by hosepipe (This propaganda has been edited to include some fully orbed hyperbole..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: jpsb
"Opps, I just researched the Parthenon Sculptures a little more and I’ve changed my mind. They should stay in the UK. I hate it when I post something I need to retract!"

I agree with you. I've seen the "Elgin Marbles" in London. Considering how the many Greek governments of the past have taken care of the ancient artifacts in Greece, it would be a mistake to return those carvings to Greece. We have those carvings today because the British value historical artifacts and do their best to preserve them for later generations.

15 posted on 08/11/2014 10:50:10 AM PDT by StormEye
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: DeaconBenjamin

I’d like to see France tell England they want their stuff back...


16 posted on 08/11/2014 11:03:50 AM PDT by Vendome (Don't take life so seriously-you won't live through it anyway-Enjoy Yourself ala Louis Prima)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson