Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Twelve Beast Heads of the Old Summer Palace: Sheep Heads, Chicken Heads

The two heads of the rat and the rabbit were bought by the French Pinault family at an auction. On June 28, 2013, the two animal heads were officially donated to China and stored in the National Museum of China.

The head of the dragon, according to sources, was once hidden in Taiwan. In 2018, the dragon head, which is suspected to be one of the 12 zodiac animal heads in the Old Summer Palace, appeared at a small auction in Paris, France, and was finally purchased by a Chinese buyer for 24 million yuan. Who exactly is not known.

The other four, the head of the snake, the head of the sheep, the head of the chicken, and the head of the dog, were still missing before Han Zhou's treasure hunt.

Now, the head of the snake has been found by Han Zhou.

A few photos were taken. I didn't post Tik Tok, in case I was found out, and I couldn't bring it back to China.

Protect the snake's head, wrap it in clothes, put it in foam, and put it in the alley inside the car.

He drove to the southwest.

Soon, they came to a hill.

Pick up a folding spatula and head up the hill.

Find the exact location of the golden dot.

Shovel little by little, digging gently.

After two minutes, I dug into a hard thing.

Pull it out and take a look.

It is also a statue, with a sheep's head and two raised horns.

It should be the head of the sheep in the 12 zodiac signs of the Old Summer Palace.

Han Zhou put the head of the sheep and the head of the snake together.

Buy your ticket to Paris the next day. Both artifacts were sent by way of valuables.

The next day at noon.

Han Zhou stayed at a five-star hotel in Paris.

Presidential Suite. The head of the snake and the head of the sheep were placed in the safe in the house.

Han Zhou checked the treasure map and found that one of the golden points of light was on the outskirts of Paris, and the other was not in Paris, but in the city of Marseille.

During the day, Han Zhou still visited the major attractions in Paris as usual.

The famous Louvre, along with the British Museum, is one of the four largest museums in the world.

Han Zhou, in the center of Paris, France, on the north bank of the Seine, looking at the Louvre.

In front of the Louvre, there is the famous transparent glass pyramid.

The glass pyramid was designed and built by a Chinese architect, I.M. Pei.

In the early eighties of the twentieth century, French President Francois Mitterrand decided to renovate and expand the Louvre, a world-famous art treasure. To this end, the French government has solicited design proposals extensively.

The applicants were all well-known architects from France and other countries. Finally, President Francois Mitterrand invited 15 of the world's most prestigious museum directors to select and choose the design proposals for the competition.

As a result, thirteen curators chose I.M. Pei's design.

He designed the construction of a glass pyramid in the Napoleonic courtyard of the Louvre using modern building materials.

However, this plan caused an uproar among the French people and aroused fierce opposition.

It is widely believed in France that this would destroy the 800-year-old architectural style, "destroying both the Louvre and the pyramids".

When I.M. Pei submitted the pyramid scheme to the Supreme Council of Historic Monuments as a "diamond" on January 23, 1984, the answer was that the giant broken thing was just a fake diamond. According to statistics, 90% of Parisians at that time were against the construction of glass pyramids.

But when I.M. Pei overcame many difficulties and finally succeeded in realizing this idea. All opposition was gone, replaced by endless praise.

It is widely believed that this glass pyramid is not only a masterpiece of modern art, but also a unique attempt to use modern science and technology.

It is the perfect combination of history and modernity.

Step inside the Louvre.

The Louvre is divided into six sections: the Gallery of Greek and Roman Art, the Gallery of Egyptian Art, the Gallery of Oriental Art, the Gallery of Painting, the Gallery of Sculpture and the Gallery of Decorative Arts.

Han Zhou admired the statue of Venus with a broken arm, which is known as the three treasures of the world, the oil painting of the Mona Lisa and the stone sculpture of the goddess of victory.

Then he left satisfied.

In the evening, visit the famous Musée Guimet in France.

This museum was founded in 1889 by the Lyonnais industrialist Emile Guimet and is located in the 16th arrondissement of Paris.

It is characterized by its many precious Chinese cultural relics.

Han Zhou came to the Guimet Museum and admired them one by one.

Dunhuang artifacts are a feature of the Guimet Museum. According to statistics, the Guimet Museum has Chinese cultural relics such as paintings (220 volumes), wood carvings (21 pieces), triangular flags, fragments of textile ornaments, silk brocade and bamboo warp books.

"Amitabha Western Pure Land Variation Map", from the Tang Dynasty of Dunhuang. This is a Buddhist painting depicting the Western Elysium, the picture is colorful, imaginative, numerous, and the composition is intricate and delicate, which can be called a rare work.

"Fuxian Bodhisattva riding an elephant" depicts the solemn scene of Fuxian Bodhisattva riding a six-tusked white elephant.

In addition, there is a national treasure-level bronze: the elephant.

The elephant is massive, measuring 96 centimeters in length, 64 centimeters in height, and 45 centimeters in width, with a back opening of 26 and 21 centimeters in length.

The ventral lateral side and head are engraved with animal face patterns, and the ears, nose and feet are decorated with scale patterns, which should be unearthed in Hunan and Hubei.

Like most of the contemporaneous Zun styles, "Elephant Zun" should belong to the late Yin Shang period.

Legend has it that the statue was unearthed in Changsha, Hunan Province, but there is nowhere to verify it, but its natural and realistic shape and ornamental style make experts more inclined to believe that "it came from the hands of craftsmen in the central basin of the Yangtze River Basin".

Now they are far from their homeland and are hidden in a foreign land.

Han Zhou became more and more emotional.

Go back to the hotel and go to bed.

The next day, a buggy was rented. Buy a folding shovel and other wilderness survival items again.

To the outskirts of Paris.

Soon, in a remote mountain col, the long-sealed chicken head was found.

Cockscomb, beak, corns, lifelike.

Han Zhou took the chicken head with him and went to Marseille, France.

Excited hands, trembling hearts.

He's going to find the last golden spot of light on this treasure hunt.