The person we are going to talk about today is a world-renowned collector of Chinese calligraphy and painting. He is Chinese-American Weng Wange. He once collected the national treasure painting "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" and 183 cultural relics. It was donated to the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, USA, free of charge, while the Shanghai Library spent a total of US$4.5 million to acquire 80 of his rare ancient books.

First, let’s talk about why Weng Wange has so many collections. Of course, this is related to his hobbies. In addition, he is also a descendant of Weng Tonghe, a famous politician and calligrapher in modern Chinese history. Weng Tonghe also loved collecting books. After several generations of accumulation, the quantity and quality of the Weng family's book collection have improved. One can imagine.

When these collections passed into the hands of Weng Tong and his fifth-generation grandson Weng Wange, as Weng Wange said: I live for the family collection, and the family collection has also made my life. In 1999, China Guardian Auction Company, which was collecting auction items at the time, learned that Weng Wange had a collection of books that he wanted to sell, and immediately sent people to the United States. After a brief discussion with Weng Wange, they agreed to auction it for him in April of the following year. .

Fortunately, Guardian Company knows how precious this collection is. It is the largest and best-preserved private collection overseas, including 542 volumes of 80 kinds of books from the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties. Guardian Company will immediately He wrote a report to the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, hoping that the state would take over these precious cultural relics. In the end, the collection of books was auctioned by the Shanghai Library for a price of US$4.5 million.

At that time, many domestic media praised Weng Wange's "patriotic sentiments" and reported on them. However, there is no harm without comparison. On July 28, 2018, this man who had been highly praised However, the old man announced that he would donate his treasured national treasure "Ten Thousand Miles of the Yangtze River" and 183 other collections to the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA for free.

Collected by six generations of the Weng family, there are 7 works by Dong Qichang alone. Needless to say its value, we may describe it as a pity. So is the free donation really free? Is it because he is an American national? According to people familiar with the matter, Weng Wange’s approach has two purposes. One is to be tax-free and his children can join the board of directors of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston. The other is that the board members are all Local dignitaries and celebrities, in this way, can be regarded as laying a solid foundation for their children's future social contacts. I have to say, it is really well-intentioned.

What the author wants to say is that Mr. Weng has indeed made a huge contribution to the preservation of national cultural relics, but if cultural relics could talk, I believe it would be more willing to return to the embrace of the motherland, and the motherland would be more patient. and better technology to protect them, many of our country's precious collections are actually in danger of being destroyed abroad.

As one of the most famous Chinese paintings, "The Picture of Women's History" was preserved in the British Museum in the UK by folding the screen. As a result, this thousand-year-old painting showed signs of cracking and powder loss. In the end, it could only be preserved. Ask experts from the Forbidden City to repair it. If the cultural relics could talk, I believe they would be more willing to go home.