How to "return to the root" after losing cultural relics overseas -- A Perspective of the case of "ancestor Zhang" sitting on the Buddha and pursuing the return order! On July 19, the highly concerned case of "Master Zhang" sitting on the Buddha and pursuing the Buddha was painted with a stop sign. The higher people's Court of Fujian Province made a public judgment in the second instance and upheld the judgment of the first instance that the defendant Oscar should return the physical Buddha statue of "Master Zhang". The Fujian high court believes that the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang" is a stolen cultural relic illegally exported, which has multiple attributes such as human remains, historical relics and sacrificial keepsakes. It reflects the traditional customs and historical marks of Southern Fujian in China. It is a keepsake long worshipped by local villagers. It has special feelings with local villagers and should be returned in accordance with law, reason and emotion. The sentencing of the case triggered a lot of praise from public opinion. "The villagers are very excited and look forward to the early return of the Buddha statue of 'Master Zhang'." The villager representative of Yangchun village, one of the plaintiffs in this case, told the media after participating in the sentencing. What is the symbolic significance of this case? Can the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang" return smoothly? What are the obstacles to the return of China's overseas cultural relics? The reporter conducted an interview. The theft of the thousand year sitting Buddha triggered the transnational pursuit of patriarch Zhang Gong. According to legend, he was a Taoist monk in the Northern Song Dynasty. His French name was widely illuminated. After his death, he was gilded into a Buddha statue. For thousands of years, the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang" has been enshrined in Wushan Township, Datian County, Sanming City, Fujian Province, carrying the spiritual sustenance of local believers. Time goes back to 27 years ago. One day in December, 1995, in the Puzhao hall shared by Yangchun village and Dongpu village in Wushan Township, the villagers found that the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang" had disappeared, so they reported the case to the public security organ, but the Buddha was no longer found. Until March, 2015, when the Hungarian Museum of natural sciences scanned a Buddha statue on display, it found that the remains of an eminent monk were hidden in the Buddha statue. This matter has attracted the attention of local believers in Sanming. The Fujian Provincial Department of cultural relics responded quickly and later confirmed that this was the "patriarch Zhang" who was stolen 20 years ago. In November 2015, the villagers' committees of Yangchun village and Dongpu village, on behalf of all the villagers, authorized a team of lawyers to conduct parallel proceedings against Oscar, the Dutch Buddha collector, in China and the Netherlands. At the end of May 2016, the lawyers filed a complaint with the Amsterdam district court, requesting the court to decide that Oscar should return the "Master Zhang" to the sitting Buddha. Regrettably, in December 2018, the court rejected the claim on the grounds that there was no concept of "villagers' committee" in Dutch law and that the villagers' committee was not a qualified plaintiff. On July 26th, 2018, Sanming intermediate people's court held a public hearing to hear the case of "ancestor Zhang" sitting on the Buddha. On December 4, 2020, Sanming intermediate people's court publicly announced the case, ordering the defendant Oscar to return the body of the "patriarch Zhang" to the plaintiff Yangchun villagers' committee and Dongpu villagers' committee within 30 days from the effective date of the judgment. Since then, Oscar, who lost the lawsuit, filed a second instance with the Fujian High Court. The groundbreaking judgment creates favorable conditions for the return of cultural relics. "This case is the first case in which the Chinese court, as the judicial organ of cultural relics flowing abroad, exercises jurisdiction over and makes a judgment on the litigation for the recovery of cultural relics lost overseas, which is of groundbreaking historical significance." Huo Zhengxin, a professor at the school of international law of China University of political science and law and an observer for the 1970 UNESCO Convention, who has long followed the process of the case, made such comments. Our country implements the system of second instance and final appeal in civil litigation. The above judgment of the second instance made by the Fujian High Court means that the villagers' committees of Yangchun village and Dongpu village have obtained the effective judgment of the Chinese court, and legally regain the ownership of the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang". However, Huo Zhengxin pointed out that since the defendant in this case is Dutch, the sitting Buddha of "Master Zhang" is also located in the Netherlands. Whether the Buddha can really return to his hometown depends on whether the judgment can be recognized and enforced in the Netherlands. The transnational recognition and enforcement of court decisions is a worldwide problem. According to the general principles of international law, the judgments made by the judicial organs of a country are only valid in its territory and have no extraterritorial effect, unless there are international treaties on mutual recognition and enforcement of civil judgments or reciprocal relations between the relevant countries. Huo Zhengxin said frankly that in this case, because there is no treaty between China and the Netherlands on mutual recognition and enforcement of judgments, and the Dutch court has rejected the plaintiff's claim, "if the defendant does not take the initiative to implement the judgment of the Chinese court, there is still great uncertainty about whether the 'Master Zhang' can return to the past.". "Nevertheless, the judgment of the Fujian High Court is tantamount to declaring the legal ownership of the seated Buddha in the flesh to the world. In this case, even if the Dutch collector does not immediately implement the judgment, it will be more difficult for him to change hands again. Because potential buyers are usually very cautious and will not buy cultural relics with disputed ownership, especially those cultural relics that have been clearly judged by a national court." Huo Zhengxin pointed out, "this will create favorable conditions for the final return of the" Master Zhang "sitting Buddha. In this sense, the judgment of the Fujian High Court is of great significance even if it cannot be fulfilled immediately. " China is one of the countries with the most serious loss of cultural relics in the world. According to the statistics of the Chinese Academy of cultural relics, since the Opium War in 1840, more than 10million cultural relics in China have been lost overseas, including more than 1 million national first and second-class cultural relics. "Cultural transportation is linked with national transportation, and cultural context is connected with national context." Since the founding of new China, more than 300 batches and more than 150000 national treasures have returned to the embrace of the motherland. In the 21st century, especially since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, China has vigorously built a multi-level cultural cooperation mechanism, including the protection and return of cultural relics. The recovery of lost cultural relics has undergone structural and historical changes. The lost national treasures such as the bronze "tiger Ying" in the Yuanmingyuan Garden and the head of the main Buddha on the northern wall of cave 8 in the Tianlongshan Grottoes have returned one after another. It is understood that the main ways for the return of overseas cultural relics are international law enforcement cooperation, international civil litigation, negotiation and negotiation, donation, repurchase, etc. These approaches have been involved in the cases of overseas lost cultural relics that have been successfully recovered in China. However, as a worldwide problem, China still faces a series of challenges in this regard. Huo Zhengxin pointed out that the existing relevant international conventions are only valid for the Contracting States, while most of the western logistics importing countries do not join the Convention on the return of cultural relics for their own interests, resulting in a significant reduction in the actual binding force of the Convention. And these conventions were formulated in the late 20th century, which cannot be traced back to the law, and cannot be applied to the looted or stolen cultural relics before their entry into force. At the same time, the pursuit of cultural relics is subject to the courts of Western cultural relics market countries and their domestic laws. Bringing a lawsuit in these countries is obviously unfair and detrimental to the countries of origin of cultural relics. How to further improve our ability to trace cultural relics? Huo Zhengxin believes that we should focus on the following aspects: first, reform and improve the legal system of cultural relics, and build a perfect legal system of cultural relics tracing. The law on the protection of cultural relics should formulate legal provisions for the recovery of cultural relics lost overseas, and clarify the subject of recovery and the main responsible organization. Second, we should steadily promote the application of the 1970 Convention on the means of prohibiting and preventing the Illicit Import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property to Hong Kong and Macao. Third, relying on the "the Belt and Road" initiative, we should further promote international cooperation in the recovery and return of lost cultural relics. Fourth, actively promote the reform process of the system and rules of international law in the field of the recovery and return of cultural relics, and play a constructive role in the development of international law towards a more equitable and just direction. "China's people's courts play an irreplaceable role in solving the dilemma of tracing cultural relics." Huo Zhengxin stressed that the court has the advantages of relative independence and moderation in resolving disputes over the ownership of transnational cultural relics with high sensitivity. As China has changed from a simple flow of cultural relics abroad to a large country of cultural relics market and cultural relics resources, Chinese courts should actively exercise international civil jurisdiction and establish the international influence of Chinese justice in the field of cultural relics return. (reporter Jin Hao) (outlook new era)