CGTN: Call Grows For Repatriation Of Ancient Chinese Manuscripts

KUALA LUMPUR, April 30 (Bernama) -- Renewed calls for the repatriation of the Chu Silk Manuscripts, an over 2,000-year-old Chinese cultural artefact currently held in the United States (US), have drawn international attention following new evidence presented by Chinese and American scholars.

The manuscripts, believed to be the only known silk texts from China’s Warring States period (475 to 221 BC), were reportedly looted from an ancient tomb in Changsha, Hunan Province, in 1942. The artefact was later smuggled to the US in 1946 by American collector John Hadley Cox, following its acquisition under contentious circumstances in Shanghai.

In a report published by China Global Television Network (CGTN), researchers traced the full journey of the manuscripts—from their discovery at a site known as Zidanku to their current location at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art in Washington, D.C.

Chinese scholar Professor Li Ling of Peking University, who has spent over four decades researching the manuscripts, presented a detailed chain of evidence confirming their origin and ownership, according to a statement.

His findings were supported by Professor Donald Harper of the University of Chicago, who in 2024 submitted a crucial artefact—an original storage box lid used by Cox—which helped corroborate the timeline.

"The Zidanku Silk Manuscripts clearly belong to China and should be returned," said Prof Harper during the International Conference on the Protection and Return of Cultural Objects Removed from Colonial Contexts, held in Qingdao last year.

The manuscripts, which date back approximately 2,300 years, are considered a unique record of ancient Chinese cosmology and ritual practices, predating the Dead Sea Scrolls by over a century.

Attempts to return the manuscript were previously made by American physician and art collector Dr Arthur M. Sackler, who acquired the artefact in 1966. Although he made multiple efforts to repatriate it to China, they were ultimately unfulfilled due to logistical and personal circumstances.

Currently housed in the Sackler Gallery, the manuscript is listed on the museum's website as an "anonymous gift" with “provenance research underway”.

The CGTN report underscores growing international consensus on the rightful return of cultural artefacts to their countries of origin. It further highlights the importance of cross-border academic collaboration and ethical museum practices, particularly in the context of heritage removed during colonial or conflict periods.

The case reflects broader global discussions on the protection and restitution of cultural property—issues that resonate across Asia and beyond.

-- BERNAMA