China News Service, Sanming Yangchun, July 21 (Lin Chunyin, Lei Chaoliang, Zhang Bin) After receiving the 32-page verdict in white and red letters, Lin Kai'an and Lin Chuanding immediately drove back to Puzhaotang, Yangchun Village, Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province. He knelt down in front of the statue of Zhanggong Patriarch, and Shangxiang told the matter.
On July 19, the Fujian Provincial Higher People's Court pronounced the final verdict, upholding the first-instance judgment of the Fujian Sanming Intermediate People's Court that the Dutch collector Oscar van Overrem (hereinafter referred to as Oscar) should return the Buddha statue of Zhanggong Patriarch.
Experts and commentators all believed that this case, in which a Chinese court exercised jurisdiction and made a judgment on overseas lost cultural relics for the first time, "has a very high demonstration and breakthrough role."
However, in the past two days, compared with the hustle and bustle of the outside world, Yangchun Village was too quiet.
As the legal representatives of the village committees of Yangchun Village and Dongpu Village, Lin Kai'an (first from left) and Lin Chuanding (second from left) attended the trial.
The first on the right is lawyer Fan Dingbao.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Villager: "During the epidemic, I received a letter of greetings from a Dutch collector"
A reporter from Chinanews.com followed Lin Kai'an back to Yangchun Village.
Puzhaotang is owned by Datian Yangchun Village and Dongpu Village. In the past two years, the villagers of the two villages invited woodworkers from Nan'an, Fujian to repair it.
In front of the temple, a red banner saying "Pray for the early return of the thousand-year-old body Bodhisattva Zhanggong" has always been quiet and eye-catching.
The news of the final judgment made Lin Kai'an so excited on the eve of the trial that he "reluctantly fell asleep at three in the morning".
The good news spread quickly on the village's social media.
But the villagers decided to face it calmly, no fireworks, no bonfires, no carnival parade.
Banners expressing villagers' wishes have been hung for several years in Yangchun Village, Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province, on July 19, 2022.
Photo by Zhang Bin
"The law has made it clear that Patriarch Zhanggong is ours, and this is the most valuable support." Lin Kai'an said that he will maintain close communication and negotiation with Dutch collectors, "The outside world is very concerned, we still have a lot of things to do, and we will deal with it in a low-key manner. ."
The Buddha statue of "Zhanggong Patriarch" has been enshrined in Puzhaotang for thousands of years. It was found stolen on December 15, 1995.
In March 2015, the statue was recognized by Chinese villagers when it was exhibited in Hungary with the consent of a Dutch collector.
"My heart was about to jump out at that time." Lin Yongtuan, a villager in Yangchun Village, first discovered on the news that the Chinese Buddha statue was scanned out of the flesh. I have been used to it since I was a child, and it is very familiar.
Chinese villagers had to file parallel lawsuits in China and the Netherlands before the 20-year statute of limitations expired in the theft case.
Lin Yongtuan, who has been kind to people all his life, joined the overseas pursuit and became a "lawsuit person".
Despite this, he firmly believes that Oscar is a kind person. "After all, Patriarch Zhanggong has been with him for decades."
When the new crown pneumonia epidemic was raging in 2020, Lin Yongtuan received a letter from Oscar from overseas to say hello to the villagers and say peace.
"I feel his kindness," Lin Yongtuan said. "I think we guard the same Buddha statue, and we can get along well, like relatives."
The Puzhao Halls in Yangchun Village and Dongpu Village, Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province are dedicated to the patriarch Zhang Gong.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Lawyer: "Hundreds of villagers have submitted power of attorney to us"
The villagers offered incense to their ancestors, as well as Liu Yang, a Beijing lawyer who led them to the Dutch court.
Liu Yang served as the chief lawyer of the Chinese lawyers' group to France to recover the lost cultural relics of the Yuanmingyuan, and extended a helping hand when the villagers were at their most helpless.
Liu Yang believes that the villagers have worshipped and guarded the flesh Buddha statues for many years, and the admirers of Patriarch Zhanggong are all over the country. This case has a certain significance of public interest and public order.
As stated in the final judgment of the Higher People's Court of Fujian Province, the Buddha statue in the body of Patriarch Zhanggong "is a token of worship by local villagers for a long time, and has a special relationship with the local villagers. It should be returned in accordance with the law, reason and emotion." This is also the consistent attitude of lawyer Liu Yang. .
Yangchun Village's representative Lin Kai'an was interviewed after the trial.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Liu Yang passed away due to illness in August 2019, when the first instance of the Chinese lawsuit had not yet been sentenced.
The villagers of the two villages once sent representatives to Beijing to see them off.
Recalling that Zeng Quan village beat gongs and drums and greeted Liu Yang and his party with high morale, Lin Kaian said with tears: "We are very, very sorry."
Xu Huajie, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, who serves as the principal of the lawyer group, summed up the two court trials in China as "very intense" to a reporter from Chinanews.com;
She was most unforgettable when she came to Yangchun Village for the first time to investigate and collect evidence. "Hundreds of villagers submitted power of attorney to us for several days and nights." "They were very excited, and almost all were crying." The emotion is also the support that keeps her going.
Lin Kai'an explained: "The previous generation lost the totem of faith, and our generation must get it back, otherwise the next generation will forget it."
According to Chang Pengao, a property law expert and professor of Peking University Law School, my country's "Cultural Relics Protection Law" provides special protection for cultural relics, and the previous "Property Law" and the current "Civil Code" property rights can also provide corresponding legal rules , the villagers chose to defend their "rights" with the law, showing that the Chinese people believe in the power of the law, and "the awareness of rights is awakening and rising."
"This is a lawsuit supported by common belief and public interest." Chang Pengao told reporters that the villagers went to court not for their own interests, but for the sake of their ancestors and their descendants. Very important, the abstract personality of the peasant collective is embodied.
"Every household here is the master, participating and making decisions together, which is very important for rural revitalization."
Xu Huajie, a lawyer from Beijing Jingshi Law Firm, who served as the principal of the lawyer group, expressed his opinion.
Photo courtesy of the interviewee
Expert: Recovering Chinese cultural relics is getting more and more international support
Looking back on the experience of going to court in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, Lin Wenqing, the representative of Yangchun Village villagers, said that despite the hardships, the most emotional thing was, "In the Netherlands, we were the closest to the Patriarch Zhang Gong." Villagers who had crossed the country and didn’t know English at all went to the door according to Oscar’s address, and the door was closed.
After 48 hours of travelling day and night, the villagers arrived at Amsterdam Airport.
Airport staff thought they were suspicious and refused to let them go.
Just when Lin Wenqing felt that he was going to be locked in a small dark room, the Dutch lawyer called and explained, and the other party's expression changed from solemn to relaxed, and even showed a smile.
Lin Wenqing, the villager's representative of Yangchun Village.
The pursuit of Buddha statues changed the life plans of many villagers. Lin Wenqing gave up his career in other places and returned to Yangchun Village.
Photo by Zhang Bin
The Dutch lawyer later told the villagers: "I told him that you came to Amsterdam from a very remote mountain village on the coast of China, because your treasures were stolen, and you came to recover them on behalf of the whole village. You are very brave. ."
Now, a Chinese court has ruled that Dutch collectors should return the Buddha statue to the villagers.
Although many viewpoints point out that whether the judgment can be enforced is the key and key point, Huo Zhengxin, a professor of international law at China University of Political Science and Law and an observer of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, pointed out that the judgment of the Fujian Provincial High Court has demonstrative value in the recovery of overseas cultural relics. In addition, it also announced to the world the ownership of this fleshly Buddha statue.
Huo Zhengxin said that according to the return judgment of the Chinese court, potential buyers will have great concerns when Dutch collectors change hands or want to deal with the cultural relics through the cultural relics trading market. Created good conditions.
Huo Zhengxin believes that in recent years, China has continued to establish and improve the legal system for the recovery and return of cultural relics, and has participated in the international governance system for the recovery and return of cultural relics. The just cause of the recovery and return of cultural relics has received more and more international support.
The cases of successful recovery of cultural relics have their own characteristics, and the commonality is that they have achieved the return of cultural relics through the comprehensive use of legal, diplomatic, law enforcement cooperation and other means, with the cooperation or support of the current holder of the cultural relics or the country where they are currently located.
Fu Qisheng, director of the Fujian Provincial Bureau of Cultural Relics, said that despite the arduous and tortuous road to the return of cultural relics, the voluntary cherishing and protection of cultural relics by the villagers in Datian, Fujian deserves recognition and encouragement, and the cultural relics department will actively provide technical support and legal help. I hope that the cultural relics can return to their original places, because the cultural relics are the most vital, convincing, ornamental and religious in their original conditions.”
Yangchun Village is building a digital village and a beautiful village, and the public security and economic construction of the whole village have been greatly improved.
Photo by Zhang Bin
Xu Huajie is very sure of Oscar's respect for Chinese court proceedings: Oscar specially commissioned two lawyers to appear in court to receive the litigation documents, participate in the trial procedures from the first instance to the second instance, and have never refused to sign any of our legal documents," which proves that Mr. Oscar takes it seriously this problem".
Xu Huajie also said that in the future, he will negotiate with the villagers on specific promotion plans.
"All in all, we will still do our best."
In September 2020, Datian County was selected as a national-level digital village pilot county.
Yangchun Village has also entered the era of "digital Yangchun".
Standing in the central control room, Lin Wenqing said, "We are ready to welcome Patriarch Zhang Gong home." (End)