Who is stealing and reselling?, National Treasure Zhaojun's Bronze Mirror Appears at the Exhibition | Bronze Mirror | Zhaojun

Recently, the police in Luoyang, Henan Province, cracked down on an important case of selling cultural relics, involving the first-class cultural relic Zhaojun's bronze mirrors. The important clues to the event will start with an exhibition held in Beijing in April 2021.

The appearance of bronze mirrors at the exhibition has attracted the attention of the police

The bronze mirror at the exhibition, with the appearance of the two characters, stood out from the more than 400 unique and representative exhibits and became the focus of attention from all parties.

Exhibition introduction: The inscription around this bronze mirror is written with a poem, which not only includes the name of Wang Zhaojun, but also includes the words "China", which means that "China" officially represents the Central Plains dynasty. This is probably the first time it has been discovered in physical objects.

After discovering the relevant situation, the Luoyang police immediately rushed to the exhibition site for investigation.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: When we actually see it, our hearts are still very shocked. There is indeed a very clear word for "China" on it, which can be recognized at first glance.

Originally, at the beginning of the investigation, the police discovered an article published in 2018 online in order to search for clues about the relevant case. In this article, the author posted a photo called the Mirror of Zhao Jun's Inscription on Going to the Frontier, and praised this bronze mirror for its rare inscriptions and exquisite decorations.

Unfortunately, the evidence available to the police at that time was very limited, and they were unable to link the bronze mirror mentioned in the article with the case they were investigating. So, what secret is hidden on this bronze mirror? How is it related to the cases investigated by the police?

In October 2020, the police in Luoyang, Henan Province discovered a clue suspected of reselling cultural relics during their work. Pointing directly at a bronze mirror with the story of "Zhao Jun leaving the frontier", it was sold to a Guangdong businessman.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau, said that there was a person in Hunan who sold a bronze mirror from Zhaojun to Li, and then Li sold the mirror to a wealthy businessman. It is said that the words "China" appeared twice on this bronze mirror because we have been engaged in the fight against cultural relics crimes for a long time, and this information caught our attention.

The appearance of the word "China" twice in the bronze mirror inscription is of great historical value

Through online searches of key information in clues such as "Bronze Mirror," "Zhaojun's Embankment," and "China," an article titled "Masterpiece of Eastern Han Dynasty Portrait Mirror" caught the attention of police officers. According to the content of the article, the police found that both the story of the portrait of Emperor Zhaojun leaving the frontier engraved on the bronze mirror and the two inscriptions of "China" are highly similar to the features of the copper mirror mentioned in the clue.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: After downloading this picture, we asked cultural relics experts to interpret our bronze mirror. The cultural relics experts said that this bronze mirror was unearthed from the south.

Not only that, experts also say that this mirror has not appeared in previous domestic archaeological records, so they suspect that this bronze mirror should have been the hands of tomb raiders.

The suspect holds positions in multiple private collection organizations

After investigation, it was found that Li mentioned in the clue is a shareholder of a cultural communication company in Luoyang City, and also holds positions in multiple domestic folk collection organizations.

After analyzing and judging Li's relevant information, the police also found that there was indeed a Guangdong businessman surnamed Luo among his contacts.

However, by sorting out the relevant information of the two individuals, the police did not find any intersection between them and the person mentioned in the clue, Deng.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: At that time, we judged that it was possible that the information we received was not accurate, and it was also possible that Deng was not directly sold to Li. There may have been intermediaries, so we put this Deng aside first and focused our main energy on the relationship between Li and the wealthy businessman.

Confirming the identity of the holder of the bronze mirror remains a mystery as to the origin of the bronze mirror

Coincidentally, when the Luoyang police were investigating the bronze mirror of Zhaojun at the Beijing exhibition, Li and Luo were also present at the exhibition, and they looked very familiar. Not only that, the police also found in the introduction of the cultural relics that Luo was the holder of this bronze mirror from Zhaojun's exit. According to police analysis, Li and Luo have a buying and selling relationship, and behind them, there may be one or several hidden chains of interest related to profiteering and poaching. The police have decided to launch a full chain crackdown on this.

After determining the investigation strategy for the full chain crackdown, the police once again shifted the focus of the investigation to Li. Through the analysis and judgment of his information, the police sorted out nearly 70 clues about his involvement in reselling cultural relics, involving nearly 20 suspect in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, Jiangsu and other places.

Hu Xiaoben, a police officer of Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: the first group of 20 suspect, including Mr. Li's important connections, and Mr. Li's going home. The so-called going home means reselling suspected cultural relics to Mr. Li.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: From their transaction amount, if it is pure handicrafts, the price will not be so high, but their transactions can easily reach hundreds of thousands or even millions. They usually don't have any other fixed jobs, their main business is to open antique shops or engage in antique trading, making profits from it.

Confirming the information of the first batch of 20 suspects involved in the case

On September 3, 2021, after the information of all the persons involved in the case is in place, the police will immediately carry out centralized arrest of the first batch of 20 suspect.

Police officer Hu Xiaoben from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: 20 people. At that time, we selected 32 cultural relics involved in the case and conducted the first batch of appraisal. The appraisal results show that all 32 pieces are cultural relics, and the vast majority are classified cultural relics.

The suspect confessed to the facts of the crime without hesitation

After a round of interrogation, 20 suspects confessed to their criminal act of reselling cultural relics. So, where exactly did Li get this bronze mirror from when Zhao Jun left the frontier?

According to the confession of Mr. Li, the suspect, in August 2019, Mr. Zhang, a friend in his collection circle, suddenly contacted him, saying that he had an excellent antique bronze mirror on his hand, and sent a picture of it.

Suspect Mr. Li: I judged it through the photos. From its technology, content, casting method, I judged that the mirror should be an authentic product. Moreover, the workmanship is very fine and the content is very rich.

Upon hearing Li's confession that his previous wife was Zhang, the police officers present suddenly caught a glimpse. Because among the 20 individuals arrested in this case, Zhang, as a related person of Li, has already arrived at the scene.

According to the confession of suspect Zhang, in his relationship with Li, he knew that the other side was generous and cheerful, so when he got the bronze mirror, the first thing he thought of was Li.

The love of this bronze mirror made suspect Li completely lost his eyes and finally reached a deal with Zhang at a price of 2.4 million yuan.

A few days after buying the bronze mirror, suspect Li took the initiative to contact his old friend Luo and strongly recommended the mirror to the other party.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau, told a wealthy businessman that there is a circle of inscriptions on this bronze mirror with a very large number of words. This inscription not only records the process of Wang Zhaojun's departure from the frontier, but also clearly includes the words "China" and Wang Zhaojun twice. The wealthy businessman felt very precious upon hearing this and asked Li for the price.

More than 20 cultural relics involved in the case were recovered at the exhibition, including bronze mirrors

During the trial, according to the confession of suspect Li, after he met Luo at an auction in a certain place in 2016, he would sell some cultural relics to the other party almost every once in a while. According to him, among the cultural relics sold to Luo, several were brought to the exhibition in Beijing by Luo, including the bronze mirror of Zhaojun's exit from the frontier.

According to the information provided by Li, the police went to the exhibition and Luo's place in two separate routes to carry out the recovery operation. Among them, at the exhibition in Beijing, the police recovered more than 20 cultural relics involved in the case, while at Luo's place, more than 200 suspected cultural relics were recovered.

Hu Xiaoben, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau, said: After Zhao Jun left the border and detained the bronze mirror, we immediately sent it to the hands of cultural relics experts. The cultural relics experts inspected the cultural relic and confirmed that it was a bronze mirror from the Eastern Han Dynasty. The size, size, integrity of preservation, and craftsmanship of this bronze mirror are all top-notch, and the final appraisal result is a first-class cultural relic.

Verify the copper mirror sales chain and trace the source of theft and excavation

The police interrogation is still going on. It can be determined that suspect Zhang is Li's boss. But where did Zhang get this mirror from?

According to the confession of suspect Zhang, he first learned the news of the bronze mirror from his colleague Zhang Weiwei. According to him, it was in 2014 when Zhang learned from a colleague named Yang Mouli who ran an antique shop in Hunan that a Guangxi colleague named Mo was selling a bronze mirror. After seeing the photo, Zhang Mouwei thought the mirror was of good quality and asked his friend Zhang to help him take a look.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: After hearing this news, he asked his fellow villager Zhang Mouwei to continue paying attention and strive to see this bronze mirror. When Zhang truly saw this bronze mirror, he also felt that it was very precious, so he discussed with his fellow villager Zhang Wei what to do and how to negotiate the price.

After some bargaining, both parties finally reached a deal at a price of 200000 yuan. According to Zhang's confession, this money was pieced together by him and Zhang Wei each, totaling 100000 yuan. However, after obtaining the bronze mirror, they caught up with the sluggish domestic bronze mirror market and were not in a hurry to sell it. They have been waiting for the right time. Until 2019, five years later, when the two discovered the increasing popularity of bronze mirror collections in China, Zhang took the initiative to contact his friend Li in the industry.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: Because Zhang knew that Li only bought high-quality products and did not care about the price, he was relatively generous in his spending, and there was a sufficient level of trust between them.

According to the clues provided by Zhang, in September 2021, the police arrested his accomplice Zhang, along with the introducers Yang and Mo, in Nanyang, Henan, Huaihua, Hunan, and Guilin, Guangxi. During the interrogation, according to Mo's confession, he was only commissioned by his fellow villager Guo to search for buyers on his behalf.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: Our arrest team arrested Guo on the spot. After Guo arrived at the scene, according to Guo's account, he bought it from a person surnamed Lin through Sun's introduction. He had heard of this person surnamed Lin, who was from their neighboring county. He judged that the bronze mirror that Zhao Jun had left the border was likely discovered by Lin and his team.

According to the confession of suspect Guo, at that time, under the introduction of Sun, he and Lin reached a deal at a price of 80000 yuan. According to the information provided by Guo, the police immediately arrested Sun and Lin.

Li Xiaodan, a police officer from the Criminal Investigation Brigade of Luoyang Public Security Bureau: After Lin arrived at the scene, after our interrogation, Lin confessed that he and three other people had illegally excavated an ancient tomb, and also unearthed a criminal fact of Zhao Jun leaving the fortress with a bronze mirror.

According to the clues provided by suspect Lin, Luoyang police arrested his accomplices Huang Mousheng, Huang Mouyun and Huang Mou in Pingle County, Guilin, Guangxi. At this point, in more than two years, the Luoyang police have finally destroyed the entire chain of important cultural relics such as the theft and sale of Zhao Jun's portrait mirror, and solved more than 100 related cases. So far, the police have captured 59 suspect and recovered more than 5000 cultural relics, including 8 Class I cultural relics, 67 Class II cultural relics, 592 Class III cultural relics and 4380 ordinary cultural relics.

Where was the bronze mirror stolen and dug up, and who is its owner?

With the presence of suspect Lin and others, more secrets about the bronze mirror of Zhaojun, a national first-class cultural relic, going out of the fortress were revealed. So, where exactly was this bronze mirror stolen and dug out?

At more than 1:00 p.m. on September 11, 2021, the police took suspect Huang Mouyou, who was involved in the theft of Zhaojun's bronze mirror, to his village to identify the scene. According to Huang's confession, the corn field of Lin's relatives was the place where the four of them stole and dug bronze mirrors at that time.

According to the confession of suspect Huang Mou, one morning in 2014, he saw his neighbors Lin Mou, Huang Mousheng and Huang Mouyun digging in this corn field, and he also participated in it. The four of them started digging until noon that morning and finally dug out this bronze mirror. However, they didn't know the value of this mirror and only thought that they could exchange it for some money. Two days later, Lin gave him 2500 yuan and told him that the copper mirror he had dug out was sold for 10000 yuan, and the four of them shared it equally.

The cultural relics department discovered an ancient tomb during exploration at the crime site

So, what secrets are hidden beneath this cornfield? Experts from the cultural relics department of Guilin City stated that after the incident, they also conducted exploration here and found that there was indeed an ancient tomb beneath this corn field.

He Zhanwu, Deputy Director of Guilin Cultural Relics Protection and Archaeology Center: In fact, we have explored this tomb very small. It is a little over three meters long and 1.7 meters wide, with a depth of about three meters. But inside, except for a bronze mirror reflecting Zhao Jun's departure from the frontier, it seems that the level of the tomb is not quite equivalent to the level of the cultural relics unearthed.

According to the local archaeological excavations and the analysis of cultural relics experts, the village where the suspect lives should have been a military transportation hub in ancient times.

23 people sentenced in the first instance of the court for the crime of reselling cultural relics

From January to November 2022, the People's Procuratorate of Chanhe District, Luoyang City will successively prosecute 23 suspect for the crime of reselling cultural relics.

Zhang Xuyan, prosecutor of the First Procuratorate Department of Chanhe District People's Procuratorate in Luoyang City: Most of these people, knowing that this cultural relic is unearthed and its source is illegal, even purchase it. The purpose of the purchase is to sell this cultural relic, not for collection. In this process, it constitutes the crime of reselling cultural relics.

Article 326 of the Criminal Law stipulates that for the purpose of profit, those who resell cultural relics prohibited by the state for business shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years or criminal detention and shall also be fined; If the circumstances are particularly serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years but not more than ten years and shall also be fined.

From July 2022 to January 2023, the People's Court of Chanhe District, Luoyang City conducted trial sessions on this case. The court sentenced Zhang and 23 others to imprisonment ranging from five years and six months to one year for the crime of reselling cultural relics in the first instance, and Lin and 4 others to imprisonment ranging from ten years to six years for the crime of robbing ancient tombs. Li and six other individuals involved in the case have been prosecuted by the procuratorial organs, while the other 26 individuals are still under further investigation.