Beijing, 8 August 2011, Art Media Agency (AMA).
The rumours started circulating a few days ago – the Palace Museum of the Forbidden City is said to have sold some of its priceless antiques at substantial a profit. It is alleged that five letters dating from the Song dynasty (960-1279) were sold.
The cultural heritage authorities of Beijing said on Saturday that the Palace Museum did not buy the letters in question at the 1997 auction, nor sell them in 2005. Nevertheless, media reports seem to indicate that this is not true. The law concerning Chinese cultural relics stipulates that museums are not allowed to sell their collection. However, the book Eighty Years of the Palace Museum, which was released by the museum itself, states: “The Palace Museum bought five letters of the Song Dynasty from the Beijing Hanhai Auction Co Ltd on June 18, 2007.”
According to Gegu Riji, the newspaper of Pei Guanghui, an independent antique expert, the Palace Museum acquired the letters for CNY6.82 million in 1997 and sold them for CNY22.9 million in 2009. Pei Guanghui is reported to have obtained this information from friends who work at the museum and also conducted his own investigation into the matter.
These new allegations once again raise doubts about the trustworthiness of the Palace Museum. The institution was recently accused of hiding the damage to a porcelain piece dating from the Song Dynasty. It has also been rumoured that the Palace Museum would like to transform the Jianfu Palace into a private club.