Chinanews.com, Sanming, July 19th (Reporter Lin Chunyin) On the morning of the 19th, the Higher People’s Court of Fujian Province issued a public verdict on the second trial of “Zhanggong Patriarch” sitting in the Buddha’s body in accordance with the law: the verdict upheld Sanming The first-instance judgment of the Municipal Intermediate People’s Court that Oscar should return the Buddha statue of Zhanggong Patriarch.
On July 19, the Higher People’s Court of Fujian Province issued a public verdict on the second trial of “Zhanggong Patriarch” sitting in the Buddha’s body in accordance with the law . Pictured is the court hearing. Photo by Zhang Bin
On the same day, the Higher People’s Court of Fujian Province charged the appellant Oscar Van Overeem (transliteration: Oscar Van Overeem, hereinafter referred to as “Oscar”) and the appellee Datian County, Fujian Province in accordance with the law Yangchun Village Committee of Wushan Township, Dongpu Village Committee of Wushan Township, Datian County, Design& Consultancy B.V. (Transliteration: Design and Consulting Private Co., Ltd.), Design& Consultancy Oscarvan Overeem B.V. Co., Ltd.) of the second instance of the dispute over the protection of property rights was publicly pronounced, and the judgment of the first instance of the Sanming Intermediate People’s Court that Oscar should return the Buddha statue of Zhanggong Patriarch was upheld.
The picture shows the trial scene. Photo by Zhang Bin
The court of second instance found out after hearing that the “Seated Buddha Statue of Patriarch Zhanggong” in which the eminent monk Zhanggong of the Song Dynasty was seated was originally enshrined in Puzhaotang, Yangchun Village, Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province. On December 14, 1995, the Buddha statue was stolen. Oscar claimed that he bought and obtained the Buddha statue involved in the case in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1996, but did not provide the corresponding transaction certificate of the source of the Buddha statue. In March 2015, almost 20 years after it was stolen, the Buddha statue was put on public display at the Hungarian Museum of Natural Sciences with permission from Oscar.
The court of second instance held that the statue of Patriarch Zhanggong in dispute was a stolen cultural relic that was illegally exported, and had multiple attributes such as human remains, historical relics, and worship objects, reflecting the traditional customs and historical imprints of the southern Fujian region of China. It is a token of worship that the local villagers have worshipped for a long time, and it has a special relationship with the local villagers.
Outside the court hearing, Fan Dingbao, a lawyer representing the two villages, accepted an exclusive interview with a reporter from Chinanews.com and said: The long-awaited cross-border lawsuit of Zhanggong Patriarch Zhanggong sitting on Buddha in the body of Dongpu Village and Yangchun Village finally made a final judgment , This is an open and fair judgment. I hope Oscar can earnestly implement the final judgment of the Chinese court and let Patriarch Zhang Gong return to Puzhaotang as soon as possible.
The picture shows the trial scene. Photo by Zhang Bin
In 2020, a Dutch collector once said that the seated Buddha in the flesh had changed hands and was willing to assist in communication and return. However, Fan Dingbao believes that there is no evidence to prove that the body seated Buddha has changed hands. At present, the villagers of the two villages in China are dealing with it in parallel, not only requiring the Dutch collector to return it through Chinese law, but also continuing to contact each other through non-governmental organizations to negotiate and deal with it.
Lin Kai’an, a villager representative from Yangchun Village, Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province, recalled the cross-border recourse in an interview, “The most difficult thing was that the six villagers’ representatives from our two villages went to the Dutch court. Those 10 days were really Life is like a year.”
Lin Kai’an expressed his gratitude to the Dutch collectors for protecting the ancestors of Zhanggong for many years, and hoped that the Dutch collectors would have a special fate with Yangchun. He said: “I hope Patriarch Zhanggong can return to Puzhaotang as soon as possible. He is our relative and our belief.”