Want China Timesa
Date: 2015-05-06
By: Xinhua

An ancient Buddhist sculpture will be reunited with its head more than a decade

The headless Buddha sculpture, May 5. (Photo/Xinhua)

and a half after it was stolen.

The headless statue, housed in a museum in north China’s Hebei province, is being prepared for its journey to Kaohsiung in Taiwan later this month, where it will be pieced back together during a cross-strait exhibition.

The sculpture, made of white marble, dates back to the North Qi (550-557) of the South and North Dynasties. It was originally worshiped at Youju Temple in Lingshou county, Hebei, where the Buddha’s head was stolen in 1996. The body, which is 1.59 meters tall, was later sent to the Hebei provincial museum for protection.     [FULL  STORY]