Australia Returns Two Ancient Chinese Relics Dating Back to the Song Dynasty
Cultural heritage preserves the memory of the past and connects generations. The return of historical objects therefore matters not only to individual countries but also to the preservation of world history.
The National Gallery of Australia handed over two Chinese cultural relics, dating back approximately 1,000 years, to China's National Cultural Heritage Administration in Canberra on Wednesday.
The objects are the heads of statues depicting a military officer and a civil official. They were stolen from the Yongyu and Yongchang Imperial Mausoleums of the Northern Song Dynasty, which ruled China from 960 to 1127.
According to the National Gallery of Australia, both limestone sculptures originated in central China's Henan Province.
The restitution followed a tip-off received by China's National Cultural Heritage Administration. Working with the Ministry of Public Security and local authorities in Henan Province, the administration gathered evidence before launching formal recovery procedures in 2025.
The handover was carried out under the framework of the 1970 UNESCO Convention, a bilateral memorandum of understanding on cultural heritage protection signed in 2009, and the National Gallery of Australia's provenance and due diligence policies established in 2021.
According to CCTV+, the return of the two ancient sculptural pieces reflects cooperation between Chinese and Australian institutions and highlights the importance of international mechanisms for protecting cultural heritage and recovering historical objects that have been illegally removed.
