USEUROPEAFRICAASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    China
    Home / China / Society

    Villagers demand name of disputed statue's new holder

    China Daily | Updated: 2017-07-17 07:24

    Villagers demand name of disputed statue's new holder

    Judges hear the case brought by the villagers in Amsterdam on Friday. [Photo/Xinhua]

    Legal standing

    Other issues were also brought up in court, such as the legal standing of the Chinese villagers in Dutch courts, and whether or not Van Overeem bought the statue in good faith.

    Van Overeem claimed that the "Chinese village committee is not to be referred to as a natural person or legal person" under the Dutch Code of Civil Procedure, and "the claimants should be declared inadmissible in their claims".

    Holthuis later told media outlets: "We have already argued that the village committee is a special legal person under Chinese law, and there is jurisprudence or case law in the Netherlands saying that even when you do not have legal presentation in terms of a legal entity, you can still file a claim.

    "A lot of issues in this case have no case law," he told Xinhua. "Each time we almost have to invent the next step. But it doesn't mean we will fail."

    Burning incense

    On Thursday evening, dozens of villagers burned incense in Pu Zhao Tang, the temple in Yangchun, and prayed for the return of the missing statue.

    In 2015, the village went through official and private channels to negotiate with the Dutch collector for the return of the statue after hearing media reports that the statue being displayed at a "Mummy World" exhibition at the Hungarian Natural History Museum in the capital, Budapest.

    Villager Lin Wenqing said the Buddha had been worshipped in the village temple for more than 1,000 years, and even though the statue is no longer there, the villagers still hold a prayer ritual every year on Oct 5, the Bodhidharma Buddha's birthday according to the lunar calendar.

    Liu Quan, a local man who became a monk in his 20s and adopted the name Zhang Gong, won fame for helping people by treating illnesses and spreading Buddhist beliefs.

    When he died at age 37, his body was mummified as he had wished, and placed inside the statue.

    "Master Zhang Gong was famous as a spiritual leader, because of the help he gave to those who needed it and because of his powers of healing. Upon his death, his body was protected against rotting through herbs and other means. Thereafter, the body was protected with a layer of lacquer and covered with a layer of gold," said Liu Yushen, a lawyer registered in Beijing who provides legal support to the villagers.

    "The likely wish of monk Zhang Gong was that through mummification he would continue to have a spiritual and healing power on his environment after his death, and he would certainly not have agreed that his body would become the subject of (illegal) art trade," Liu told Xinhua.

    "For villagers who live in a region that was the root of Buddhism in China, mummification has a special meaning. It implies that the body of the enlightened Buddhist monk remains part of the human world, and can still be defiled after his death by external influences. From generation to generation, the statue is worshipped and the day of the monk's death is still marked with pious ceremonies."

    In March 2015, hundreds of Fujian residents signed a letter addressed to Mark Rutte, prime minister of the Netherlands, pleading for the return of the statue.

    The letter, written in Chinese and English, was handed to European-Chinese groups in the Netherlands, which delivered it via the Chinese embassy.

    "We believe this is the Buddha we have been searching for during the past 20 years and we look forward to its return," the letter said.

    Xinhua

    Previous 1 2 3 4 Next

    Editor's picks
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
     
    午夜无码中文字幕在线播放| 天堂√最新版中文在线| 成人免费无码H在线观看不卡 | 亚洲成?v人片天堂网无码| 无码国产精品一区二区免费vr| 亚洲一级特黄无码片| 永久免费av无码入口国语片| 中文字幕无码无码专区| 国产AV无码专区亚洲精品 | 在线观看免费无码专区| 亚洲综合中文字幕无线码| AV大片在线无码永久免费| 亚洲成AV人片天堂网无码| 一本一道色欲综合网中文字幕| 中文字幕无码日韩专区免费| 国产精品无码v在线观看| 少妇无码AV无码专区线| 久久久久精品国产亚洲AV无码| 欧美中文字幕在线视频| 精品人体无码一区二区三区| 亚洲精品无码Av人在线观看国产 | 国产∨亚洲V天堂无码久久久| 色婷婷久久综合中文久久一本| 蜜臀AV无码国产精品色午夜麻豆 | 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕 | 亚洲高清有码中文字| 精品少妇无码AV无码专区| 日本乱偷人妻中文字幕在线| 日韩乱码人妻无码中文字幕| 最近高清中文字幕无吗免费看| 午夜成人无码福利免费视频| 国模无码一区二区三区不卡| 99无码人妻一区二区三区免费| 亚洲av中文无码乱人伦在线播放 | 中文字幕51日韩视频| 日韩精品一区二三区中文| 中文字幕一区二区三区久久网站| 亚洲精品无码鲁网中文电影| 中文无码一区二区不卡αv| 亚洲AV无码一区二三区| 午夜亚洲av永久无码精品|