Netizens want to exchange a brocade flag for Sotheby's Longmen Grottoes.

A Buddhist head of the Tang Dynasty attracted the attention of the Chinese at Sotheby's 2018 autumn auction in New York. The Buddha's head is majestic and majestic, much like the lost Buddha's head in the 1720 Longmen Grottoes. Sotheby's, which did not feel well, removed the Buddha's head from the auction list on September 7th.

Careful netizens found suspected "Buddha's head in Longmen Grottoes"

It was Yang Xin, a netizen, who first discovered that the Buddha's head at Sotheby's auction looked like the "Buddha's head in the Longmen Grottoes." after Yang Xin told the news to netizens in the circle, everyone showed great interest in the Buddha's head.

In order to verify this, Yangxin commissioned his classmates in Luoyang to take pictures of Grottoes 1720 on the spot. The photos taken in the field are basically the same as the Buddha statues in the old photos, but there is really no Buddha head. Yangxin also found a picture of the giant Buddha in Longmen Grottoes 1720 taken in the early 20th century and found a high coincidence, so the Buddha's head at Sotheby's 2018 autumn auction is very likely to be the Buddha's head lost in Longmen Grottoes!

Curiously cancel the auction and refuse any reply

At a time when netizens were very interested in the Buddha's head, Sotheby's quietly removed the Buddha's head from the shelf and cancelled the auction. A total of 18 items were sold at the auction except for the Buddha's head numbered 5. According to Sotheby's Hong Kong office, netizens' questions need to be reported to the head office before they can be answered. In addition, everyone also communicated with Sotheby's through email and website messages, but Sotheby's did not make any reply.

Five evidences of Buddha's head in Longmen Grottoes

1. The characteristics of Tang Dynasty.

The Buddha's head of this auction belongs to the typical Tang Dynasty style in appearance, with a solemn face, powerful eyebrows, and closed lips revealing dignity and demeanor. Netizens who have visited the Longmen Grottoes all feel the same way.

2. Same size

According to Sotheby's auction house, the head of the Buddha is 70 centimeters high, while the head of the giant Buddha in Cave 1720 is also 70 centimeters high.

3. The broken mark left when stealing

The missing Buddha's head in Cave 1720 has more broken marks on the left and less on the right, while the Buddha's head auctioned by Sotheby's this time clearly shows that there are more broken marks on the left side of the neck than on the right.

4. Same stone material

According to the actual investigation of experienced netizens, the Buddha head auctioned by Sotheby's is consistent with the stone of Longmen Grottoes 1720 in Luoyang and is the same kind of cyan stone.

5. The details are the same

Compared with the old photos at the same angle, we can find that the number and arrangement of the bun are the same; the structure of the eyebrow arch, the white spot pit at the tip of the nose, the depression on the right side of the chin, and so on; the section of the left earlobe, although it is looking up and looking up, is also highly consistent.

In view of the immoral behavior of Sotheby's auction house, the majority of netizens have left messages to exchange a banner for the "Buddha's head of the Longmen Grottoes" that has been lost for many years, but they do not know what should be written on the banner.