Shanxi museum holds exhibition of long-missing relic

Nearly one century after it was lost, a Buddha head statue repatriated from Japan finally returned to its home in the Tianlongshan Grottoes in Taiyuan, Shanxi province, on Saturday.

The relic, dating to the Sui Dynasty (581-618), was originally set on the northern side in the No 8 Tianlongshan Grottoes, and was believed to be stolen and lost overseas around 1924, according to an appraisal by an expert panel formed by the National Cultural Heritage Administration.

The No 8 Cave was the largest grotto in Tianlongshan, where the carving of caves with Buddhist iconography lasted from the sixth to the early eighth centuries, and is the only one with a specific date of construction (AD 584). This smiling Buddha, with typical artistic features of its time, represents extraordinary craftsmanship and academic values, according to the panel.