A Buddha statue suspected to have been stolen in Hainan, China, was reportedly spotted at Guanfu Museum, founded by renowned collector Ma Weidu. In response to related controversy, Ma Weidu stated that there are multiple differences between the lost Buddha statue in the photos and the one in the museum—such as height, waist sash, and a crack on the left leg.
Recently, some internet users noticed that a Buddha statue exhibited at Beijing's Guanfu Museum closely resembles a cast copper Buddha from the late Song to early Yuan dynasty that went missing from Wugong Temple in Haikou in 2000, and they posted relevant photos. On Thursday (July 2), Guanfu Museum stated it had reported the matter to higher authorities such as the National Cultural Heritage Administration and the Beijing Municipal Cultural Heritage Bureau and applied for an appraisal.
On Saturday evening (the 4th), Ma Weidu publicly addressed the controversy for the first time in a video posted on social media, standing in front of the Buddha statue at the center of the debate in the museum.
Ma Weidu said that in 2005, when collecting artifacts at Xiamen Egret Islet Antique Market, he discovered this Buddha statue. He then had a "detailed discussion" with the legal vendor at the market to understand its provenance. After being informed that the statue had a clear origin, the Ma Weidu team "still felt uneasy" and carried out a comprehensive investigation over nearly half a year, "did not discover any police reports, nor see any mention of the loss in news media or online reports."
After conducting thorough investigations, the team purchased the Buddha statue at great expense at the end of 2005. Four people escorted it back to Beijing, where it has been on display at the Guanfu Museum ever since, for a total of 20 years.
Ma Weidu also pointed out that the Buddha statue lost from Haikou's Wugong Temple was only uploaded to China's Stolen (Lost) Cultural Relics Information Release Platform on June 1, 2021, a full 20 years after its disappearance.
After comparing the police information from the platform and details provided by Haikou with the Buddha statue in the Guanfu Museum, Ma Weidu stated that there are multiple differences in height, waist sash, left leg cracks, and other areas between the lost statue in the photo and the museum's statue.
He gave examples: the police report states the lost statue is 130cm tall, while the statue in the museum is 146cm, a sitting difference of 16cm. Furthermore, judging from available photos, there are clear differences in the kasaya ring ornament, abdominal cracks, kasaya edge patterns, sanghati skirt column holes, the hand gestures, and the way the hands are held.
Ma Weidu said: "We still accept the final appraisal result. No matter what the outcome, it will ultimately be a satisfactory conclusion." He also thanked the netizens who discovered the issue, stating that it helped the museum improve its procedures.