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I've been writing an art critique about China's Zhou dynasty bronzes, and to my surprise, I can't find much information regarding the "looting of Jincun tombs（金村大墓）" in English. Around 10,000 Chinese cultural relics from the Eastern Zhou dynasty (770-256 B.C.) were looted in the 1920s and are now on display in museums in Canada, the United Kingdom, Sweden, the United States, and Japan. Only three of these cultural treasures are still in China today. One could argue that this ranks among the most significant incidents of cultural damage in contemporary China. I feel compelled to shed light on this tragedy and the role that so-called "art collectors" from the West played in it. Jincun Village is located near Luoyang, one of China’s oldest cities. According to records from Luoyang Antique Management Bureau, in the summer of 1928, a heavy rain hit Jincun, causing the ground to cave in about 1.5 kilometers east of the village and revealing several underground tombs. The tombs soon drew the attention of foreign treasure hunters, particularly a Canadian Christian missionary named William Charles White, known in China as 怀履光, who collected Chinese art for the Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). 𝐖𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝟖,𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞��𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐝𝐚, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐬, 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐌𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐮𝐦. Between 1928 and 1932, eight large royal tombs and three pits containing metal chariots and horses were plundered in Jincun, costing China thousands of priceless cultural relics. The publication of "Tombs of Old Lo-yang" by White in 1934 brought international attention to these tombs. Today, ROM is still home to numerous artifacts with historical significance from Jincun. Many accounts, some of which are official Chinese records, claim that White was directly involved in tomb raiding; however, according to Shen Chen, deputy director of the ROM, the museum's archives suggest that White only hurried through Luoyang once, and that there was no definitive evidence of his visit to Jincun. In any case, the desire of White and other foreign treasure seekers for Jincun cultural relics has led robbers to plunder the tombs further. Jade discs decorated with tigers and dragons, silver warriors, and bronzes with gold and silver inlays were only some of the stolen cultural artefacts. Many of these rare treasures are one-of-a-kind objects that were used to serve emperors and other royals. No similar items have been uncovered since the People's Republic of China was established in 1949. Only three Jincun artefacts remain in China today: the Jincun cauldron in the Luoyang Museum, the Minggua pot at Tsinghua University, and the bronze ruler at Nanjing University. The destruction of bamboo, wood, and silk artefacts, which the robbers called "cheap items," hinders the historical investigation of the Zhou dynasty. The Terracotta Army and the Qin bronze chariot are well-known around the world today, however, not many people know that the Qin chariot was discovered in 3,000 parts and that its magnificence pales compared to that of the Jincun chariots, whose pieces were dumped as rubbish by the thieves and will never be recovered. Damages are permanent to some of the looted artefacts housed in foreign museums. This figurative lamp stand from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts (Picture 1) is a great example. The bronze sculpture depicts a young woman carrying two lampstands. The cultural importance of the artefact was lost entirely when some antiquaries with bad taste and ignorance of Chinese culture placed two jade birds on the lampstands. [Picture 1] Jincun Figural lamp stand, Museum of Fine Arts Boston. [Picture 2] Jincun mirror, Harvard Art Museum. [Picture 3] William Charles White.