Family returns old treasures
Print Edition
MINHANG resident Du Xin, 81, recently fulfilled the wish he had been carrying for half of his life by returning four treasures to a Buddhist temple in the district.
The treasures included a gilt and gemmed white jade Guanyin Buddha statue, two grey jade protecting Buddha statues and a china censer (for burning incense) produced in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
Late last month, Du and his family handed the items over to the Changshou Temple that was recently rebuilt in the district.
“He’s so relieved that he kept his father’s promise,” said Li Yaohua, an old family friend of the Dus. With Du in poor health, Li told the long family story that began 77 years ago.
77 years’ committment
In 1937, the Japanese army swept through Pujiang Town in today’s Minhang during its invasion of Shanghai. Monks at the 700-year-old Changshou Temple realized that the temple was not safe. Trying to protect the treasures, the monks entrusted them to Tongshantang, a charity organization started by Du Jinghan, Du Xin’s grandfather.
“Tongshantang was an organization that helped in disaster relief, education and infrastructure construction with its farm rents,” said Li. “Du Jinghan had a very good reputation in the town, so the monks believed it would be safe to trust the treasures there.”
For the next five years, the monks were kept out as the Japanese army occupied the temple, and eventually the temple itself was burned down in the war.
During the period, however, the rattan case that contained the treasures had remained safe under the storage of Tongshantang.
In 1942, however, the Japanese army started to steal valuable artifacts from the town. Tongshantang decided to transfer the treasures to the home of Du Bingcai, Du Jinghan’s son.
“His home had a partition wall that could conceal things,” Li said. “They secretly transferred treasures there. Not many people knew about that because once the information was leaked out, not only would the treasures be taken away, Tongshantang would also be in danger.”
Born in 1933, Du Xin clearly remembers the Japanese army’s surrender in 1945. But he didn’t learn about the treasures at his home until 1950, when he was about to fight in the Korea war. Du Bingcai, then nearly 60, told his son that the treasures belonged to the temple, and once the temple was rebuilt, he should return them.
“In 1958, when Du Xin came back home from his army service, his father showed him the treasure,” Li said. “And again he told him to return them if the temple is rebuilt.”
Du Bingcai died in 1964. The temple was finally rebuilt last year.
Treasure back home
Yao Wei, abbot with the new Changshou Temple, last year visited the decedents of celebrities in the town.
“As soon as he saw me, he said that he had four pieces of treasure at home, which belong to the temple,” said Yao. “I was shocked because I had never known about any temple treasure.”
He said when he first came to Pujiang, he heard people say that once there were jade Buddha statues in the temple, but no one knew if they were still in existence.
“After all these years, who would think that the treasures are still well kept?” said Yao.
In February, when Li visited Du, the old man asked Li how the construction of the temple was going.
“The roof was finished, I told him,” said Li. “He said ‘Now is the time’.”
Du had completed the family task of returning the treasures.
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