China urges Japan: Please return it to China as soon as possible!

The Comprehensive Collection of Archival Documents on the Tang Honglujing Stele was released in Shanghai on January 16. The book, compiled by the Center for Chinese Overseas Cultural Relics Research at Shanghai University and other institutions, systematically sorts out all existing images of the Tang Honglujing Stele at its original site in Lushun and in Japan, rubbings of the inscriptions on the Tang Honglujing Stele, archival documents related to the Tang Honglujing Stele from its creation until it was looted to Japan, as well as research works on the Tang Honglujing Stele by scholars at home and abroad since the 20th century, providing a complete, systematic, and reliable historical and documentary basis for further research and recovery of the Tang Honglujing Stele.

The Honglujing Stele and its pavilion at the original site in Lushun, Dalian, in the early 20th century. (Provided by the Center for Chinese Overseas Cultural Relics Research at Shanghai University)

The Tang Honglujing Stele was erected in 714 AD, serving as an important historical artifact attesting to the central government of the Tang Dynasty's envoy who was sent to bestow titles on the leader of a local regime of the Mohe ethnic group in northeastern China, thereby establishing the region's subordination to the Tang Dynasty. Before late April 1908, the Japanese garrison stationed in Lushun dismantled the Tang Honglujing Stele and the pavilion built in 1896 to protect the stele, and illegally transported them to Japan by ship. Chinese governmental departments, scholars, social organizations, and Japanese intellectuals have always been committed to the return of the Tang Honglujing Stele to China.

At the book launch ceremony, the editorial committee of "Comprehensive Collection of Archival Documents on the Tang Honglujing Stele" presented the book to representatives of Japanese cultural institutions. Both sides jointly issued a declaration, calling on the Japanese government to respect historical facts, follow the international consensus on returning looted cultural relics to their countries of origin, correct historical errors, and return the Tang Honglujing Stele as soon as possible.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

Original: toutiao.com/article/7595929444411097636/

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