流失英国25年的68件走私文物成功回国
图片来源：国家文物局
The cultural relics date from the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC) to the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), encompassing a variety of items, mainly ceramics. They are from provinces including Jiangxi, Anhui, Fujian, Henan, Shaanxi, Hebei and Guizhou.
这些文物时间跨度从春秋到清代，质地多为陶瓷，地域分布江西、安徽、福建、河南、陕西、河北、贵州等。
【单词讲解】
我们常见的cultural relics里面的relic指“an object, tradition, or system from the past that continues to exist”，即“从过去流传至今的物件、传统或体系”，在考古领域多指“从过去遗留下来的物件，没有现实用处，但多具有历史意义”或者“遗迹、遗物”等。Artifact，在英式英语中写作artefact，一般指“手工制品”，在考古领域则多指挖掘出来的“手工制作的(工具、武器、饰品等具有考古或历史价值的)文物”。因此在表示“历史文物”的时候，relic涵盖的范围要比artifact要广一些，而且这两个词一般都用复数形式。
Their return brings an end to a quarter-century of China's efforts to retrieve lost cultural relics from overseas, said Guan Qiang, deputy director of the administration.
国家文物局副局长关强表示，这批文物的回归，为中国政府持续25年的跨国文物追索行动画上圆满句号。
【单词讲解】
这里用常见词return表示“返还、回归”很好理解，更加正式的表达可以用repatriate historical artifacts或者名词形式repatriation of historical artifacts，repatriate表示send something back to its home country(把...送回国)，如果是repatriate someone则表示“遣返、遣送回国”。
“追索流散文物”可以用retrieve lost cultural relics/historical artifacts表示。Retrieve 表示“找回，重新获得”，比如追讨官员赃款(retrieve officials' illegal gains)，找到遗体(retrieve bodies)等。
追索过程一波三折
1995年2月，英警方向中国驻英使馆通报，在侦破一起国际文物犯罪案件过程中发现疑似中国文物，国家文物局初步鉴定为中国禁止出境文物。
图片来源：国家文物局
British police seized all the items in an operation that March. They were later identified by NCHA personnel as lost cultural relics of China.Soon, the State Council, China's Cabinet, set up a special cross-departmental working group to bring them home.
当年3月，英警方截获扣押大量文物。国家文物局确认为走私中国文物。在国务院统一部署下，多部门组成“追索英警方查扣走私中国文物工作小组”。
In 1998, over 3,000 relics were returned to China after cooperation by law enforcement units, a lawsuit and negotiations.
1998年，经过执法部门的合作、诉讼及谈判，3000余件返还文物回国。
However, a local buyer of dozens of remaining relics refused to take part in negotiations, and the civil dispute dragged on after hitting a deadlock. The 68 relics remained impounded by British police.
但该案中一名文物购买人拒绝参与协商谈判，民事诉讼陷入僵局，涉案的68件文物一直被英警方扣押。
In January, the Metropolitan Police informed the Chinese embassy that the deadline for prosecution in the case had passed, but the whereabouts of the buyer were unknown. The police showed a willingness to return the items to China.
2020年1月，伦敦大都会警察局联系中国驻英使馆，告知因购买人去向不明，且扣押时间超过追诉期，主动提出希望将该批文物归还中国政府。
图片来源：国家文物局
The Metropolitan Police Service handed the artifacts to the Chinese embassy in October.
2020年10月，伦敦大都会警察局将这批文物交接给中国驻英使馆。
The relics were transported in tailor-made cases and landed intact in Beijing on Oct 20.
10月20日，装在定制盒子中运送的文物完好无损地抵达北京。
1989年，中国接受联合国教科文组织1970年《关于禁止和防止非法进出口文化财产和非法转让其所有权的方法的公约》(the 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property)，之后与20多个国家就打击非法文物交易以及流失文物追索返还签署双边协议(bilateral agreements on fighting the illegal transfer of and facilitating the repatriation of relics)。
【相关词汇】
文化遗产 cultural heritage
非物质文化遗产 intangible cultural heritage
文化多样性 cultural diversity
传统文化教育 traditional culture education
国家级非物质文化遗产继承人 inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage
世界遗产名录 World Heritage List
申遗 bid for the World Heritage List
文化资源整合 integration of cultural resources
保护世界文化和自然遗产公约 Convention Concerning the Protection of World Cultural and Natural Heritage
