Taiwan to return two ancient Buddhist sculptures to Shanxi

Two Chinese Buddhist clay sculptures from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) will be returned from Taiwan to Pingyao county in Shanxi province in late May or early June, according to a March 1 announcement by the Cross-Straits Culture, Education, Trade and Commerce Association in Taipei.

Currently located in Miaoli county, in Taiwan, the two Bodhisattva sculptures, one 2.98 meters tall and the other 2.91 m, belong to China's ancient Qingliang Temple –in Pingyao county – which is believed to have lost some cultural relics between the 1990s and during the early part of the current century.

Hsu Shun-lung, the director general of Cross-Straits Culture, Education, Trade and Commerce Association, helped with the return of the two sculptures after receiving information about them in 2017.

According to the statue recovery plan, three concerts to give blessings will be held in April and cross-Straits experts and scholars will be invited to participate in a cultural relics restoration forum in May before the Bodhisattva clay sculptures are returned to Pingyao county.

"I hope the religious and cultural exchange events will bring cross-Straits people closer together," Hsu said.

Former Kuomintang chairwoman Hung Hsiu-chu said she believed the restitution of the Buddhist relics was a blessing for cross-Straits communications.

In recent years, temples on Fagu Mountain and Foguang Mountain in Taiwan have also returned relics to the Chinese mainland.