[CPProt.net] Taiwan to Return Ancient Buddha Head to Mainland

[MSN and CPProt list (Ton Cremers)]

Taiwan to Return Ancient Buddha Head to Mainland

HONG KONG, Nov. 29 (Xinhua) -- A precious thousand-year-old stone Buddha
head will be returned to its historic roots in Chinese mainland's Shandong
Province by a Taiwan religious organization next month, according to news
reaching here from Taipei. 

Master Sheng Yen, founder of the Dharma Drum Mountain (DDM) Foundation
located in Peitou, Taipei, explained that "returning this 1,300-year-old
Buddhist relic to its historic roots and restoring it to its original
dignified completeness is much more important than keeping it here at the
DDM." 

The stone head of the Akshobhya Buddha statue, originally from the Four Gate
Pagoda of the Shentong Monastery in Shandong, was sawed off and stolen in
1997. The Buddha head was then moved from place to place around the globe
over a period of more than four years before coming into the possession of a
few Taiwanese business people. 

The relic, which is highly representative of the buddhist culture in China
before the Tang Dynasty, was presented to Master Sheng Yen earlier this year
as a gift intended to be displayed in the DDM Museum of Buddhist History and
Culture that is under planning and construction. 

The DDM spent six months on an investigation into the origins of the stone
Buddha head. Through the help of local art experts and scholars, preliminary
results revealed that the Buddha head might be the missing Buddha head of
the Four Gate Pagoda at the Shentong Monastery in northern China. 

In order to confirm this, Liu Fengjun, a department head of Shandong
University's Institute of Archaeological Art and Research, and Liu Jiwen,
vice president of the Committee of the Four Gate Pagoda Scenic Spot, were
invited by the DDM to Taiwan for further inspection of the statue. 

After thorough observation and analysis on the artifact, the two experts
confirmed the Buddha head to be the missing head of the Akshobhya Buddha
statue that is located at the east wall of the central column of the Four
Gate Pagoda, which was built during the Sui Dynasty (581-618) and was ranked
as China's most important artifact in 1963. 

Master Sheng Yen has decided to allow the Taiwan public an opportunity to
view the Buddha head between Dec. 1-15, before it is to be returned to the
mainland. 

People who go to see the Buddha head will be allowed to write their
blessings and wishes on 10,000 wooden plates, which will be used to build a
case to transport the Buddha head to Shandong Province via Hong Kong. 

Sheng Yen said that the return of the Buddha head is also a move in support
of international campaigns for cultural preservation as this year has been
proclaimed by the United Nations as the "UN Year for Cultural Heritage."
Enditem 

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