cultural relics Reading practice课件(新人教版高中英语必修2 unit 1).ppt

This wave of returning artifacts has aroused issues concerning the protection of Chinas cultural heritage and the development of the antique market in the country. The hot art market has contributed to the current tidal wave, among other factors, said Kou Qin, assistant general manager of the Beijing-based China Guardian Auction Co. The price was 10 times the record price Qis work fetched in global art circles in 1998. The rise in the price of artwork in its home country, and the forthcoming return of the countrys relics from overseas have been a natural result of the economic boom, said Zhang Yongnian, director of the non-governmental China Cultural Relics Recovery Fund. In 1860, invading British and French armies looted and burned down the Old Summer Palace, which was known then as the garden of gardens.In 1900, the invading British, American, German, French, Russian, Japanese, Italian and Austrian troops sparked looting throughout Beijing, including the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace, temples and mausoleums, government offices and residential houses. The relics that have returned mostly come from individual collectors and private museums, said Zhang. Zhang said there are three major ways for a country to recover cultural relics from overseas collections: to apply international conventions, to purchase them and to get them back as donations. Many signatory countries, such as China, Egypt and Greece, hope to recover cultural objects stolen from their countries under those conventions. But unfortunately the countries with the most valuable cultural relics from other countries, especially developing ones, including the United States and Britain, have not signed the two conventions. International institutions have made several major donations and returned Chinese cultural relics to their home since 1949. Among them a large part were brought to the Chinese market by auctioneers, according to society. The shortage in relic supplies spurred us on to sea