The great plunder : how China lost its treasures in the 19th and 20th centuries / Chang Qing and Huang Shan ; translated by Daniel McRyan.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Chang, Qing, 1965- author.

Huang, Shan (Researcher on ancient Central Asian artifacts), author.

Contributor:

McRyan, Daniel, translator.

Language:

Chinese

English

Subjects (All):

Art objects, Chinese.

Cultural property--China.

Cultural property.

Antiquities--Collection and preservation--Moral and ethical aspects.

Antiquities.

China--Antiquities--Collection and preservation.

China.

Physical Description:

xiv, 351 pages : illustrations (some color) ; 26 cm

Edition:

English edition.

Place of Publication:

Montréal (Québec), Canada : Royal Collins Publishing Group, 2025.

Summary:

"This book provides a comprehensive overview of the dispersal of Chinese cultural relics from the late 19th to the early 20th century. Following the Opium Wars, there was a surge of Western interest in uncovering treasures in China, leading to the removal of countless artifacts by foreign explorers and antique dealers. These national treasures were lost overseas, making their return to China nearly impossible. Beginning with the exploits of China's Western explorers, such as Sven Hedin, the book unfolds in eleven chapters, detailing the adventures of figures like Stein, von Le Coq, Otani Kozui, and others in locations such as Lop Nur, Dunhuang, and the Blackwater City. It chronicles their plundering of precious cultural relics, including the Berzic Caves wall paintings, Han Dynasty documents, Dunhuang documents, and numerous other valuable artifacts. Filled with meticulously researched historical details, this book serves as both a lament and a commemoration of a century of Chinese cultural relics dispersed worldwide." -- Amazon.com.

Contents:

Sven Anders Hedin: The trailblazer of exploring western China

Discoveries of Albert Grünwedel and Albert von Le Coq in Xinjiang

Dunhuang made Stein famous

Pelliot, the latecomer

The western expedition of Ōtani Kōzui and his Buddhist team

Pyotr Kuzmich Kozlov and the Khara-Khoto treasures

The discerning Oldenburg

Langdon Warner, the ambitious American

Antique dealer: Ching Tsai Loo

Yamanaka Sadajirō and Yamanaka & Co.

Freer: An American industrialist who loves Chinese culture.

Notes:

Translated from the Chinese.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1487812701

9781487812706

OCLC:

1432147507

Publisher Number:

90101999209