Nearly 2 dozen ancient Buddha statues go missing from Sichuan mountain known for artefacts
Almost two dozen ancient Buddha statues were stolen in southwest China in January, and 13 officials were punished thereafter, in an incident first reported in Chinese media on Wednesday (Aug 18).
The 23 Buddha statues dated back to the Tang dynasty (618-907) and were among the more than 220 Buddha figures carved into the surface of a 30-metre tall cliff on Fozi Mountain in Wangcang county, in Sichuan, according to Chinese news portal scol.com.cn.
Fozi Mountain is famous for its Buddha statues , and the stolen ones were all located between 1.5 and 3 metres above the ground.
The apparent thievery was discovered by officials from the local cultural relics department during a routine patrol in January, who then alerted the police.
But the mountain is relatively remote, and there was no surveillance equipment in the area, so the investigation never got off the ground.
Authorities do not know the exact date the statues went missing. Surveillance cameras were installed on the mountain in March.
Eight officials received “disciplinary punishment”, while another five are under police investigation.
The 23 missing artefacts were carved into four niches on the cliffside and included 11 Buddha heads and 12 full-figure statues. Most of the statues were 15cm tall and 8cm wide, the report said.
An older man in his 70s who lives in a village near the mountain told the Chengdu Business News : “There are many Buddha statues on Fozi Mountain. We are not sure how many there are.’”
Earlier this week in Sichuan, authorities arrested four people who were suspected of stealing 10 Buddha heads four years ago in an unrelated case.
The criminal gang sold the Buddha heads for 10,000 yuan (S$2,100) to an antiques businessman in Chengdu who later sold them to a man in Fujian for 120,000 yuan (US$18,500).
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This article was first published in South China Morning Post.
