Yearender: Top 10 cultural events in 2015

A CT scan shows a body, whose internal organs were removed, concealed in an ancient Chinese statue of a Buddha. [Photos provided by the Drents Museum]

6. Dutch collector to return the stolen Buddha statue to China, or not

A 1000-year-old Buddha statue with a mummified monk inside, now in the possession of Dutch private collector Oscar van Overeem, triggered a series of disputes in the past eight months between the collector and villagers of Yangchun in Southeastern China's Fujian province who claim that the statue was the one of Patriarch Zhanggong which was stolen in 1995 from the Puzhao Temple in their village.

The collector has promised to return the statue to China earlier this year, but later put up conditions for the return, demanding that it be returned to a grand temple instead of a small temple in a village. It is said that the Dutch collector wished to return the statue to South Putuo Temple, a millennium-old temple in Xiamen city of Fujian province, but the temple didn't accept it.

According to the Global Times website, the villagers hired a group of lawyers and filed a lawsuit to the Intermediate People's Court in Sanming city of Fujian province, addressing the Dutch collector's infringements relating to the villagers' property rights, personal rights, as well as spiritual rights. If necessary, they will undertake legal action in Holland.

Related:

Dutch collector puts conditions on stolen Buddha statue's return to China

Buddha statue still not returned to China

Field investigation complete on village's case to reclaim 1,000-year old statue

Why return of mummified Buddha matters

Mysteries of the mummified Buddha Zhanggong

Chinese authorities contact Dutch collector of stolen Buddha