In a landmark cultural repatriation, the Zidanku Silk Manuscript volumes II and III—the earliest silk texts ever found in the Chinese mainland—arrived in Beijing from the U.S. on Sunday morning. These fragile scrolls, dating back to China’s Warring States Period (475–221 BC), are the only silk manuscripts unearthed from that era.
According to the National Cultural Heritage Administration, the texts were stolen by grave robbers in 1942 from a sealed tomb in the Zidanku area near Changsha City in central China’s Hunan Province. They resurfaced in the United States in 1946 after being illegally taken abroad.
On Friday, the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art announced it had deaccessioned the manuscripts and formally transferred them to the National Cultural Heritage Administration. The move caps a 79-year journey and underscores a global trend toward restoring cultural treasures to their places of origin.
For scholars and history buffs, the return of these scrolls opens new research avenues into ancient governance, philosophy and trade. It also marks a significant step in international cooperation on cultural heritage, offering a powerful reminder of the shared value of preserving our global past.
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Ancient silk texts return to China after 79 years in the U.S.
cgtn.com
