5 bronze animal heads together in Yuanmingyuan for first time in 163 years

The Monkey Chinese zodiac head at the Yuanmingyuan Photo:Lihao/GT

A set of bronze heads from the 12 Chinese zodiac animal statues at the Old Summer Palace, or Yuanmingyuan, are now on display at a special exhibition inside the ruins park.

In cooperation with the Poly Art Museum, this is the first time in 163 years that the five Chinese zodiac heads - Ox, Tiger, Monkey, Pig and Horse - have returned to the Old Summer Palace since it was burned down by Anglo-French allied forces in 1860. 

The 12 animal heads were originally part of a water clock fountain that stood in front of Haiyan Hall in the Old Summer Palace. The fountain combined Eastern culture in a Western-style fountain. 

The animal heads made use of special bronze material, exquisite craftsmanship and ingenious structural design, making them incredibly valuable both in terms of aesthetics and technical design.  

The Ox, Tiger and Monkey Chinese zodiac heads were bought by the Poly Group from an auction house in 2000 and are part of the Poly Art Museum's collection. 

In 2003, Stanley Ho (Ho Hung-sun), an entrepreneur known for his casino empire and for his patriotic contributions to China's social and economic development as well as national unity, bought back the Pig head from a US collector and donated it to the Poly Art Museum.

Purchased by Ho in 2007, the Horse head was donated to China's National Cultural Heritage Administration in 2019. It officially returned to the Old Summer Palace in 2020. 

In July, the Ox, Tiger, Monkey and Pig heads were displayed in Hong Kong by the Poly Art Museum to celebrate the 26th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland. 

The special exhibition at the Old Summer Palace also displays about 50 sets of cultural relics and photos. 

In addition, seven exquisite stone pillars which were retrieved from Norway in June after 10 years of efforts are another highlight of the exhibition. 

Staff with the Old Summer Palace said at the exhibition that this display uses the loss of the stone pillars as a background to allow visitors to understand the efforts made in repatriating these lost cultural relics back to their homeland.

As so far, eight have returned to China but the rest is still missing.

The exhibition will last until October 29.