On July 28, 2018, "Collector" Weng Wange officially donated 183 cultural relics to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA, on his 100th birthday.
As soon as the news was announced, it immediately caused an uproar in the Chinese collection circles.
It should be known that as early as 2000, Weng Wange gave China more than 500 rare and ancient books in his collection for 4.5 million US dollars.
Therefore, for the two different attitudes before and after Weng Wange, the people in china have talked about it a lot, some people have denounced him as a "traitor", and some people have scolded him for "hurting the honor of the motherland".
So what is Ongwango's identity background? Why did he make such a move? And finally how did you respond to this?
At the age of two, he inherited the collection of his ancestors
At the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were many prominent book collectors, and out of their protection and love for the treasures passed down from generation to generation, they usually spent a lot of money and a lot of time to find and buy, and then collected them in their homes.
The Weng family in Changshu, Jiangsu Province, was one of the most famous "collectors" at that time.
Its beginning ancestor was none other than Weng Xincun, the "Emperor of the Two Dynasties".
Weng Xincun was a former official to the University of Tirenge, and his promotion of status and extensive travel allowed him to better develop his interest in collecting ancient books and rare books.
After Weng Xincun's death, his collection was all passed on to his eldest son Weng Tongshu, but this person was not a long-lived person, and died of dysentery in his fifties due to dysentery, so his younger brother Weng Tonggong took over these books.
Weng Tonggong
Weng Tonggong was as talented as his father, and after passing the examination, his career had been smooth, and by the late Qing Dynasty, Weng Tonggong had become an important figure in the political situation.
At that time, many disciples and friends knew that he had a hobby of collecting ancient books, so they collected them from all over the place and gave them to him.
It is precisely because of this that the number of books in the Weng family's collection was once very prosperous.
However, as the situation in the late Qing Dynasty became increasingly chaotic, Weng Tonggong was deposed by Empress Dowager Cixi for supporting the restoration and reform of the law.
Instead of staying in the official arena, he could also stay idle and be accompanied by his own collection of paintings and calligraphy.
However, in his later years, Weng Tonggong, who had no children and no daughters, also began to worry about who should give these books to protect.
After thinking about it, Weng Tonggong passed on the son and grandson of his brother Weng Tongjue to him, but unfortunately both of them died early, so he passed on Weng Zhilian from the clan family, and the other party still had no queen.
In 1904, Weng Tonggong died of illness, fourteen years later, Weng Wange was born, and when he was two years old, in order to carry on the wishes of his predecessors, the family passed him on to Weng Zhilian.
That's it
As a child, Ongwango became the heir to the Ong family's book collection, carrying the hopes of the whole clan.
Having said that, at the age of two, Wengwango did not know anything, and these books were basically managed by the elders of the family and his parents, and Wengwango's main task was to go to school well.
In 1936, at the age of eighteen, Weng Wange was successfully admitted to Yenching University, but in order to take care of the elders in the family nearby, he still gave up his admission qualifications and was admitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
At that time, the situation in old China was already very chaotic, and the following year the War of Resistance Against Japan broke out, the war spread to everywhere, and Shanghai soon fell.
In order to complete his studies, Onwango went to the United States to study for a master's degree, and it was not until after the end of the War of Resistance that he returned home with his wife.
Unexpectedly, a new war was ignited in The country again.
Because it is not known when the war will stop, in 1948, Onwango made a surprising decision.
That is, to go to the United States again and transport all the cultural relics in the family collection.
After some twists and turns, the collection finally crossed the ocean to the United States, and Ongwango deposited them with a company in New York.
Since then, due to the influence of Sino-US relations, Weng Wange has not returned to China for almost thirty years, until the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the United States has eased, he has the opportunity to return to visit his relatives many times, and he rarely mentions to the outside world about the Weng family's collection of books.
The Weng Collection returned to China
In 1985, the American Huamei Association suddenly exhibited a number of Weng family books, which instantly caused a sensation in the academic community and cultural relics circles.
Two years later, the senior architect Xi Nian went to the United States to investigate the collection of ancient Chinese cultural relics.
Accidentally discovered the unseen collection of Weng's books and documents that Weng Wange had placed in his home.
Fu Xinian was very excited in his heart, and when he returned to China, he published what he had seen and heard in a magazine, praising the precious value of the Weng family's collection of books.
Coincidentally, Chen Xianxian, a research librarian at the Shanghai Library at that time, also noticed this matter, and he had always hoped that the Shanghai Library would collect the books in Weng Wange's family, and had previously taken the opportunity to work together to gently mention this matter to Weng Wange, but he still could not get a clear response from the other party.
Chen Xianxian
Until 1997, Weng Wange appeared at the auction of Beijing Guardian Company, and the organizers immediately contacted him after hearing about it, asking whether the other party was interested in providing the lot to participate in the auction.
At that time, Weng Wange said that in order to understand the domestic auction market, he neither agreed nor refused.
General Manager Wang Yannan saw that there was a little hope, so he quickly contacted Wang Qingzheng, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, and asked what the value of the Weng family's collection of books was. Is it worth the auction? After receiving an affirmative answer, she quickly rushed to the United States and explained her intentions to Weng Wango.
After some conversation, the two sides also understood each other's meaning, before parting, Weng Wange gave Wang Yannan a pair of "Mr. Changli Collection", and first let the other party take it to the domestic auction.
Unexpectedly, the following year, it was successfully traded at a high price of 1.11 million yuan.
After hearing this news, Weng Wange quickly conveyed his gratitude to Wang Yannan, and also expressed his willingness to auction the entire Weng's collection of books or transfer it to a first-class permanent institution.
"The Collection of Mr. Chang Li"
Because the specific things need to be met and discussed, a year later Wang Yannan flew to the United States again to negotiate with him, and finally the two sides finally signed a consignment auction transfer agreement.
During this period, Onwango proposed three conditions:
The first is that the whole batch must not be scattered; the second is that the collection units must be of a considerable level, limited to Asia, preferring China, excluding Japan; the third is to make good prices.
Wang Yannan quickly returned to China with this good news, and then visited the responsible personnel of various relevant departments to communicate the specific details of the transfer and auction.
It didn't take long for the National Library to draft an application report, strongly calling on the government to provide financial support.
In order to bring back these books as soon as possible, in February 2000, 12 experts and scholars jointly wrote a letter to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and the Minister of Culture, hoping that the state could allocate funds to buy them before the public auction, taking advantage of this best opportunity to win back the Weng collection.
Wang Yannan
After handing over the report materials, the crowd waited for a reply from their superiors, and within a few days, there was opposition from Beijing, and just when everyone was at a loss, the Shanghai side suddenly took action.
Wang Qingzheng, deputy director of the Shanghai Museum, received the news and quickly reported to the municipal leaders, and after receiving strong support, they entrusted the task of collecting the Weng family's books to the Shanghai Library.
The leaders of the Shanghai Library rushed to Beijing without stopping, held a welcome banquet for Weng Wange and his wife, and said that they would definitely make a home for these ancient books.
By the next day, the two sides formally agreed on the intention to transfer.
For the Weng family's collection that has been guarded for many years, it is now to be placed elsewhere, and Weng Wange, the "Tibetan keeper", has reluctance and treasure in his heart.
Ongwango with Madame
So in the following time, he personally went to the Shanghai Library to visit, seeing that here is so magnificently built, there are many modern constructions, Weng Wange felt very pleased in his heart, he deeply felt that this is the ideal residence for Weng Zang's ancient books!
Wait until you enter the substantive communication phase,
Weng Wange made it clear that he was willing to transfer weng's collection to the Shanghai Library, and also reduced the original $5 million to $4.5 million.
After the two sides negotiated, the Shanghai Library signed a transfer contract with Beijing Guardian Auction Company, and then paid a joint payment of $4.5 million with the Shanghai Municipal Government.
On April 13, Weng's collection was officially collected in the Shanghai Library's rare book library.
After everything was arranged, the Shanghai Library held a ceremony for the entry of the "Weng's Collection", and at that time, in addition to the leaders, staff and experts and scholars involved in this matter, many well-known people in society also came to the scene.
Returning to the United States, WengWango learned of this grand event and sent a fax to express his congratulations, although he often dreamed of the ancient books in his family collection that had been bid farewell, but now that they can return to his homeland, he has unspeakable relief in his heart.
The donation of a national treasure to the United States without compensation has caused controversy
The Weng collection of books and the manuscripts of the Weng clan can return to the embrace of the motherland,
It not only represents the important achievements in the protection of Chinese ancient books, but also a major harvest of the return of overseas ancient books, of course, all this is also thanks to The protection of Weng Wange.
When Weng Wange transferred the collection to the Shanghai Library for only 4.5 million US dollars, many people heard about it and thought that his approach was commendable, but no one expected that such a "good impression" would not last long and was quickly broken.
In 2018, on the occasion of his 100th birthday, Weng Wange suddenly made a decision that surprised the people of china.
That is, the 183 cultural relics collected by the Weng family for six generations, including 130 paintings, 31 calligraphy, 18 rubbings and 4 pieces of embroidery, were donated to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the United States free of charge.
Among them, there is the 16-meter-long "Ten Thousand Miles map of the Yangtze River" painted by the painter Wang Yi in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, which was obtained by Weng Wange's gaozu Weng Tonggong at the expense of buying a house, which is a treasure.
Because of This move of Weng Wange, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts in the United States has directly become the most important collection of Chinese paintings besides China.
Therefore, many experts and scholars in China and the general public have expressed their incomprehension, why does Weng Wange not donate the national treasure to his own country, but to the United States?
After learning that Onwango had donated 20 pieces of the collection to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston in the past decade, the public complained more and more.
Some people scolded Weng Wange for "betraying the double standard", and some people denounced him as "hurting the honor of the motherland", but at the same time, there were also different voices saying that Weng Wange was actually just to promote China's ancient culture to the outside world...
So what are the facts?
In fact, while weng Wange donated the cultural relics to the Boston Museum, he also donated the paintings of Shen Zhou in the Ming Dynasty and Wang Yuanqi in the Qing Dynasty to the Shanghai Museum.
Pushing the time forward, in 2010, the 92-year-old Weng Wange, accompanied by his nephew Weng Yijun, once again came to the Shanghai Library.
Seeing that Weng's collection of books was very well protected and placed in the most conspicuous position, Weng Wange was both excited and relieved in his heart, and he thought that his original choice was completely correct.
So in the same year,
Weng Wange also donated his collection of Ming Dynasty painter Wu Bin's "Spoon Garden Zen Map" to Peking University.
In 2015, after much consideration, Weng Wange decided to donate the manuscript of Gao Zu Weng's diary to the Shanghai Library.
Because in his view, the collection of these ancient books will be more convenient for people to sort out and study, and this may be the best place for them.
So after sorting out the manuscripts, Onwango handed them all over to the staff who had come to discuss the handover with him.
On December 19 of the same year, the manuscript of Weng Tonggong's diary, which had been wandering for nearly half a century, finally returned to the motherland and was finally collected in the rare book library of the Shanghai Library.
In 2016, at the behest of Weng Wange, his nephew Weng Yijun donated his collection of Weng Tongshu, Weng Tonggong manuscripts and other Weng family documents to the Shanghai Library.
At the same time, Weng Mingqing, the fifth grandson of Weng Tongshu, also donated weng Tonggong's "Diary of Self-Unitary Nangui Examination" to here.
Although Weng Wange's treatment of some cultural relics is not recognized by everyone, he has almost spent a hundred years of life guarding the six generations of Weng's family collection.
When he was in a foreign country, Weng Wange was also committed to promoting Chinese culture, so in the face of different remarks from the outside world, Weng Wange would not defend himself, and could only "argue and laugh and scold people".