The British Museum is one of the largest museums in the world, and its collection is astonishingly rich and extensive. Among them, Chinese antiquities are an important part of the British Museum's Asian collections, including but not limited to the following categories:
1.Dunhuang documents: The British Museum has a large collection of Dunhuang testament books, which were stolen from the Mogao Grottoes in Dunhuang in the early 20th century, including Buddhist classics, historical documents, poems, paintings, etc., which are of great value for the study of culture, art, history, and religion in the Tang Dynasty and before in China.
2.Silk Road Artifacts: The British Museum has a collection of many Silk Road-related artifacts, such as silk, fabrics, ceramics, gold and silver vessels, etc., which reflect the cultural exchange between the East and the West in ancient times.
3.Bronzes and ceramics: These include bronze ritual vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties and ceramics from the Song to Qing dynasties, which demonstrate the craftsmanship and aesthetic characteristics of ancient China.
4.Calligraphy and Painting: The collection contains many calligraphy works and paintings by famous Chinese artists, such as Zhang Xuan's "Pounding Practice" in the Tang Dynasty.
5.Jadeite jewelry: such as jadeite wrenches and jadeite ornaments of the Qing Dynasty, these exquisite jadeite products reflect the essence of Chinese jade culture.
6.Other works of art: including gold and silver vessels, inlay crafts, court costumes, etc.
These collections of Chinese artifacts in the British Museum are of high historical, artistic and cultural value, not only in China but around the world. However, the loss of these artifacts is a great loss in China's cultural history. Most of them left China after the Opium Wars in the mid-19th century due to unequal treaties and illegal plunder. China** and the cultural community have been calling for the return of these illegally lost cultural relics, in the hope that these precious cultural heritage can be returned to their cultural origins.