荷蘭藏家願歸還肉身佛

The Dutch private collector who now owns the 1,000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside is willing to return the relic to China, if the statue is proven to be stolen from China, according to Amsterdam-based newspaper NRC Handelsblad.
阿姆斯特丹《新鹿特丹商業》報道，荷蘭私人收藏家擁有的這尊肉身坐佛是一個有1000年曆史的佛像，且佛像中包含一位僧人的肉身。收藏家表示，如果事實證明這尊佛像確爲中國被盜文物，他願意物歸原主。

According to the report, the current owner, who works as an architect in Amsterdam, purchased the statue for 40,000 guilders ($19,786) in 1995, the same year a Buddha statue was reported stolen from China.
報道稱，這位收藏者是阿姆斯特丹一名建築師，1995年，他花4萬荷蘭盾（19786美元）將佛像買到手。正是在那年，中國的一尊佛像被盜。

Jin Ruiguo, an official with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage (SACH), said in a statement that based on photos, local archives and witness statements, SACH can confirm that this Buddha statue was stolen from a temple in Yangchun village in east China's Fujian province in 1995.
中國國家文物局工作人員金瑞國，在綜合分析了文物圖片，村莊檔案，以及目擊者的描述後稱，這尊肉身坐佛就是1995年福建省陽春村(位於中國東南部）的被盜文物。

The collector said the statue is indeed similar to the one in photos of the Buddha stolen from China. However, the Chinese reports say the Buddha was stolen in October, 1995 by the lunar calendar (which corresponds to the period from end of November to mid December, 1995 by the solar calendar), but the collector can prove that the statue was already in the Netherlands in mid 1995, hence it is uncertain whether the two Buddha statues are the same one.
收藏者說，從照片上看，這尊佛像確實與中國被盜文物頗爲相似。但是，根據中國的報道，佛像是在1995年農曆十月（大約在1995年11月到12月之間）被盜的，而他能夠證明在1995年年中，這尊佛像就已經在荷蘭了，因此，不能肯定它就是中國那尊被盜佛像。

The owner is willing to invest more, including in DNA testing technologies, to further verify the identity of the Buddha. The SACH is also gathering more evidence and working with other departments to secure the statue's return, Jin said.
收藏者表示，他願意配合深入調查，包括用DNA檢驗法來覈實佛像身份。而中方人員表示，中國國家文物局也在繼續收集證據，並會與其它部門合作，確保佛像順利回國。

The statue attracted attention after a CT scan last year found it contained a mummy of a 12th century Buddhist monk. The monk sits on a pillow that is around 300 years older.
去年，人們在CT掃描後發現，這個佛像中有一個12世紀的僧人肉身，從而引起了廣泛關注。佛像中的僧人坐在一個比他還老300年的坐墊上。

Chinese characters are written on the side of the pillow, which say the monk's name was Zhang Liuquan.
坐墊一側寫有漢字，表明這位僧人名字叫章六全。

The Buddha statue was included in a "Mummy World" exhibition at the Hungarian Natural History Museum, which opened in October last year. It was originally scheduled to be on display until May 17.
去年十月，匈牙利自然歷史博物館舉辦的“木乃伊世界”主題展，展出了這尊佛像，按照原計劃，該展覽會持續到5月17日。

The Hungarian Natural History Museum borrowed the statue from the Drents Museumin Assen, the Netherlands. On March 20, the Dutch owner withdrew the statue from the exhibition in order to "calmly and critically evaluate the unexpected situation," said a statement sent to Xinhua by the owner's spokesman.
這尊佛像是匈牙利自然歷史博物館向荷蘭的德倫特博物館借的。3月20日，收藏者將該佛像從展覽中撤走，他的發言人在一份聲明中表示，此舉是爲了“ 冷靜客觀地處理這個突發狀況。”

According to Yangchun archives, a monk, living in the village in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), helped cure people with his knowledge of Chinese herbal medicine. When he died, his body was mummified and local people made a statue to hold his body.
根據陽春村的檔案記錄，在宋朝（960-1279），村子裏有一位僧人，他精通中醫，在村子裏治病救人。他圓寂後坐化成佛，當地人築了尊佛像保存其肉身。

The statue was worshipped as an icon.
這尊肉身坐佛曾被當做聖像膜拜。

The collector was once offered 10 million euro for the statue, but declined to sell it despite the impressive sum. If the statue is indeed the one stolen from China, the collector is willing to return the statue, but wishes that it would return to the village where it was originally worshipped, instead of to showcases at museums.
曾有人出1千萬歐元的高價購買佛像，收藏者也沒有出售。他表示如果這尊佛像正是中國被盜文物，他願意歸還，但希望佛像能回到原本所屬的村莊，而不是進入博物館展覽。

Vocabulary:

lunar calendar: 陰曆，農曆

solar calendar: 陽曆，公曆

icon: 偶像，聖像