The British Museum conservatively estimates that there are about 23,000 rare Chinese treasures. For example, Gu Kaizhi’s "Proverbs of Female History" is added in the British Museum’s answer. China has lost as many as 1.64 million cultural relics, which are 47 of the world’s Museum collection. The British Museum is the museum with the largest collection of lost cultural relics in China. Its history of collecting Chinese cultural relics can be traced back to the founding of the museum in 1753. It currently has a collection of 23,000 Chinese cultural relics, and about 2,000 pieces are on permanent display. Exhibition Hall 33 of the British Museum is a permanent exhibition hall dedicated to displaying Chinese cultural relics. The collection of Chinese cultural relics in this museum covers the entire art category of China and spans the entire history of China. Stone tools from ancient times, red pottery bowls and pointed-foot jars from Banpo Village more than 6,000 years ago, jade congs and axes from the Neolithic Age, bronze statues and tripods from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, bronze mirrors, pottery, lacquerware, and iron swords from the Qin and Han dynasties, Gold and bronze Buddhas from the Six Dynasties, white marble Buddha statues from the Sui Dynasty, three-color porcelain from the Tang Dynasty, porcelain and various gold and jade products from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties, oracle bone inscriptions, bamboo slips, engraved ancient books and maps, copper coins, silk, embroidery, calligraphy and painting , enamel sculptures, cloisonné, lacquerware, bamboo weaving, etc., which are dazzling. In a word, ancient stone tools, Shang and Zhou bronzes, Wei and Jin stone Buddhist scriptures, Tang and Song calligraphy and paintings, Ming and Qing porcelain and other national treasures that mark the pinnacle of various cultures in Chinese history can all be seen here
However, this It is only part of the 23,000 rare treasures of China collected by the British Museum. The other nine-tenths are stored in 10 collection rooms. Unless special permission is obtained, ordinary tourists have no chance to meet them. Some collections, such as the Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's "Admonitions of Women's History" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, can only be viewed by special experts. "Answer Supplement
In terms of paintings, the United States has the largest collection of cultural relics that China has lost abroad, with more than 1,200 pieces in the Freer Museum in Washington alone; nearly 500 Chinese paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of America; The museum has the most exquisite collection of Chinese paintings. In terms of porcelain, the Jimei Museum in France, which is famous for its collection of Asian art, has the best collection. The porcelain in the museum ranges from the earliest primitive porcelain in China to the blue and white and multicolored porcelain of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are all famous products from famous kilns in various dynasties, and most of them are Excellent product. In terms of local chronicles and ancient books, the United States has the most. The Library of Congress has more than 4,000 local chronicles; there are more than 3,000 rare ancient books and more than 2,000 family trees in the United States.
As far as oracle bone tablets are concerned, Japan is the country with the largest collection. Among the nearly 30,000 oracle bone tablets lost overseas, Japan has nearly 13,000. As far as Dunhuang treasures are concerned, there are only 20,000 Dunhuang posthumous writings in my country, accounting for only 30%; 13,700 pieces are collected in the Oriental Manuscript Department of the British Library; 6,000 pieces are collected in the National Library of Paris, France; There are 12,000 items in the Institute of Ethnology; nearly 2,000 items are stored in the Library of the British Department of Indian Affairs. In addition, Japan, the United States, Sweden, Austria, and South Korea also have collections of Dunhuang cultural relics.
Answer supplement Japan
Tokyo National Museum, Japan
The largest museum in Japan. The museum's collection of more than 90,000 items includes tens of thousands of Chinese cultural relics, ranging from jades from the Liangzhu Culture of the Neolithic Age to porcelain from the Tang, Song and Yuan Dynasties, to porcelain calligraphy and paintings from the Qing Dynasty. Ma Yuan's "Dongshan Water Crossing" and "Hanjiang Fishing Alone", Liang Kai's "Snow Landscape", "Li Bai's Chanting", "The Sixth Patriarch Cutting Bamboo", Li Di's "Red and White Hibiscus" 》 and so on are all masterpieces. In addition, thousands of museums across Japan collect Chinese cultural relics, and there are countless treasures, estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.
According to Meng Guoxiang, author of the book "The Destruction of Cultural Relics Caused by Japan's Invasion of China", after the war, Japan returned some of the cultural relics plundered during the war. There were more than 158,000 carts, of which more than 2,000 were relatively precious. But this is only a small part. Since then, due to various factors, our country has not continued to pursue the case.
Answer supplement British Museum
The British Museum has always been recognized as the museum with the largest and best collection of Chinese cultural relics outside China. In 1860, part of the cultural relics robbed by the British army from the Old Summer Palace were presented to the then Queen Victoria, and the other part was auctioned. The Old Summer Palace artifacts dedicated to the Queen are stored in the British Museum. Its collection now totals nearly 7 million items.
The Chinese cultural relics collected by the British Museum include bronzes, ceramics, calligraphy and paintings, jades, sculptures, etc., totaling more than 23,000 pieces, many of which are treasures and orphans. For example, the favorite collection of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's "The Picture of Women's History" in the Eastern Jin Dynasty are the most eye-catching, while the exquisite Shang and Zhou bronzes and the treasures brought by Stein (accused as "the first person to steal treasures in Dunhuang") in the last century are the most eye-catching. The large number of Dunhuang cultural relics sent to Britain are also extremely important treasures.
Calligraphy and painting: Tang Dynasty copy of Gu Kaizhi's "Proverbs of Female History", Li Sixun's "Green Landscape", Ju Ran's "Main Forests and Mountains", Li Gonglin's "Huayan in Disguise", Fan Kuan's "Visiting Friends with Qin" ", Yan Wengui's "Picture of Snowy Peaks", Su Shi's "Picture of Ink Bamboo", Ma Yuan's "Picture of Landscapes Revisited", etc.
Bronze: Shang Shuang Yang Zun, Western Zhou Kanghou Gui, Xinghou Gui, etc.
Answers supplemented by the British Library
There are more than 60,000 precious Chinese documents and ancient books, including the earliest version of the Chinese Paramita Buddhist Sutra, 45 volumes of "Yongle Dadian" and oracle bone fragments, bamboo slips, and engraved editions Ancient books, Dunhuang Buddhist scriptures (including the block-printed Diamond Sutra) and maps.