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NANJING: One of China’s most renowned museums has apologised for mishandling donated artworks, after a rare Ming dynasty painting appeared at a private art auction in Beijing - triggering an official investigation into alleged art theft that has implicated 29 people.
The case came to light last December when Chinese media outlets reported that a rare Ming Dynasty painting, titled Spring in Jiangnan, appeared at an auction in Beijing to be sold for an estimated 88 million yuan (US$12.7 million).
The painting was one of 137 paintings donated by famed Chinese art collector Pang Zenghe.
Established in 1933, the Nanjing Museum is one of China’s largest - with more than 430,000 rare artefacts and artworks. Especially notable are its collections of Ming and Qing imperial porcelain, among the largest in the world.
The museum also played a critical role during the Japanese Occupation when rare relics were transferred to southwestern China.
FROM DONATION TO DISAPPEARANCE
Under the guidance of China’s National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), an investigative team was set up by the Jiangsu provincial government and tasked with probing issues related to donated cultural relics.
In a statement released on Monday (Feb 9), NCHA said its investigation focused on tracing the whereabouts of five paintings donated by Pang, including the Spring in Jiangnan painting.
Pang donated 137 paintings to the museum in 1959, it added.
In the 1990s, Xu Huping, who was then the museum’s executive vice-director, failed to follow required appraisal and review procedures.
Xu later illegally authorised the transfer of Spring in Jiangnan and other paintings to the state-owned Jiangsu provincial cultural relics store for sale.
The painting appeared at an auction in May 2025, before being withdrawn following a report to the NCHA by Pang Shuling, a descendant of Pang Zenghe.
Pang and her lawyers subsequently visited the museum twice but the museum was unable to account for five of the donated paintings, including Spring in Jiangnan.
The remaining 132 paintings still remain in the museum’s collection.
Investigators conducted inquiries across 12 provinces and municipalities, NCHA said - interviewing more than 1,000 people and reviewing at least 65,000 documents.
They collected more than 1,500 pieces of evidence and examined over 30,000 calligraphy and painting artefacts.
ILLEGALLY SOLD FOR 25,000 YUAN
An employee, surnamed Zhang, exploited her position managing state-owned assets - illegally trading cultural relics for personal gain, NCHA said.
Zhang came across the Spring in Jiangnan painting back in 1997, which had been illegally transferred for sale and priced at 25,000 yuan.
“Believing there was profit to be made, Zhang conspired with her boyfriend, surnamed Wang, to purchase the painting and resell it at a higher price,” NCHA said in its statement.
She had also altered the price tag from 25,000 yuan to 2,500 yuan.
She then circumvented a rule prohibiting staff from purchasing items by arranging for her boyfriend’s colleague, surnamed Chen, to make the purchase.
Zhang later instructed Wang to falsely claim that the painting was a “family heirloom” and offer it for sale to an art dealer surnamed Lu.
Lu, who died in 2025, bought Spring in Jiangnan and two other paintings for 120,000 yuan.
The painting was later passed through several private hands before appearing at auction in Beijing last April.
NCHA said the painting was withdrawn from auction the following month following Pang’s report and was returned to the museum on Dec 28, 2025.
"LOSS OF CULTURAL RELICS"
The museum, cultural relics store and the provincial department of culture had violated regulations by illegally approving the transfer of relics, NCHA said - selling them without authorisation and causing “the loss of cultural relics”.
Primary responsibility was placed on Xu for the museum’s management failures, including illegally approving transfers and failing to enforce relic management rules.
He is also suspected of other “serious disciplinary and legal violations” and is currently under investigation.
A total of 29 people, including five who are deceased, had been involved in the case, NCHA said.
The remaining 24 suspects will be “strictly dealt with in accordance with regulations, discipline and the law” - with those suspected of crimes to be transferred to judicial authorities.
The incident exposed “institutional deficiencies and management chaos” at the museum, NCHA said - particularly shortcomings in regulations governing donated items and ineffective policy implementation.
“This led to the loss of state-owned assets and damaged the credibility of state-owned museums. The lessons are profoundly sobering,” it said.
In an apology posted on its official WeChat account on Monday, Nanjing Museum said it had “mishandled” the disposal of donated artworks and had “betrayed the trust and responsibility placed on us by Mr Pang Zenghe”.
The incident revealed institutional shortcomings, chaotic management and a lack of respect for donors and their families, the museum said, adding that the actions of its employees had “severely damaged the museum’s social credibility” and “greatly tarnished the image of the cultural heritage sector”.
“In the wake of this painful lesson, our museum is determined to rise from the ashes with firm resolve and concrete actions to rebuild our image and restore public trust,” it said.
