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People & CultureTrending in China

Nearly two dozen ancient Buddha statues went missing from Sichuan mountain known for artefacts

  • The incident happened in January, but was only reported this week
  • The statues were carved into a cliffside on Fozi Mountain in Sichuan

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The statues that were vandalised are believed to be over 1,000 years old. Photo: Baidu
Alice Yanin Shanghai

Almost two dozen ancient Buddha statues were stolen in southwest China in January, and 13 officials were punished thereafter, in an incident first reported in Chinese media on Wednesday.

The 23 Buddha statues dated back to the Tang dynasty (618-907) and were among the more than 220 Buddha figures carved into the surface of a 30-metre tall cliff on Fozi Mountain in Wangcang county, in Sichuan, according to Chinese news portal scol.com.cn.
Fozi Mountain is famous for its Buddha statues, and the stolen ones were all located between 1.5 and 3 metres above the ground.
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A before and after photograph shows the statues that were stolen in January. Credit: Baidu
A before and after photograph shows the statues that were stolen in January. Credit: Baidu

The apparent thievery was discovered by officials from the local cultural relics department during a routine patrol in January, who then alerted the police.

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But the mountain is relatively remote, and there was no surveillance equipment in the area, so the investigation never got off the ground.

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