Chapter 1011 Peking Man Skull (I)

After Ouyang Lei left, Vice Minister Yu couldn’t sit still and left in a hurry after greeting Zhuang Rui and Prof. Meng, he must have gone back to the ministry to discuss how to solve this salvage incident.

“Teacher, what do you think about this time? Is the student involved or not?”

To be honest, Zhuang Rui is not very interested in the cooperation with the relevant departments of the state, with this work he might as well go to the Atlantic Ocean for a few rounds, where the salvaged objects are all owned by Zhuang Rui.

And if you participate in this domestic salvage, things are clear, if the gold and platinum and the 150,000 carats of unprocessed diamonds salvaged, designated to be owned by the state, he is at most a bit of what to be recognized.

However, Professor Meng was involved in the salvage of the Apo Maru witness, Zhuang Rui wanted to listen to the views of the old man, and he had a doubt in his mind, but also wanted to ask the teacher.

“The greater the ability, the greater the responsibility, Xiao Zhuang, although many departments in the country have such and such many faults, but you just have to do it according to your own heart, and stand up to these more than one billion people.”

Professor Meng is a pure scholar, is not very accustomed to those bureaucratic style, today’s things especially make him uncomfortable, because before coming to the time when he did not know about it, Dean Liu told him, a few months before the application of a two million dollars in research funds approved.

Hear this news, Professor Meng was originally very happy, but after coming here to know, dare to leadership approved that sum of money, is afraid of their own more than thirty years ago because of the “Awa Maru” salvage incident sat in jail, the heart has a shadow and is not willing to participate in the salvage to make compensation.

Art, science and history, which can not be compensated with money, that Dean Liu’s approach, so that the old professor’s heart is like eating a fly general nausea, when the people who fell into the well, there is this guy.

“But how this cooperation, but can be discussed, Xiao Zhuang, those gold, silver, diamonds and other objects, you do not lack, let them good, just that your museum, as if things are still not a lot, right?”

Prof. Meng winked at Zhuang Rui as he spoke, his face full of smiles.

“Oh, teacher, can they agree?”

Zhuang Rui understood Professor Meng’s meaning, since it was a cooperative salvage, his side naturally had to have benefits, the money was given to the country, so in the lost artifacts on the ship, they could use their brains.

However, according to previous records and last salvage of some of the objects in the water, those lost artifacts, it is likely that the lost artifacts from Manchukuo at that time, that is, Puyi year from the Forbidden City to bring out, which can be the national level of precious cultural relics, the national side does not necessarily agree with their own requirements.

“Do not agree? Stay for those bureaucrats to spoil? Leave it to rot inside the Forbidden City?”

Hearing Zhuang Rui raise this question, Professor Meng’s voice suddenly raised a few degrees, with a somewhat indignant look on his face.

“Teacher? What’s wrong?” Zhuang Rui was a bit puzzled, not knowing which of his words had caused his teacher’s displeasure?

“This has nothing to do with you, I some time ago out of research needs, I want to transfer from the Forbidden City some time ago Liu Xiu tomb unearthed a figure of clay pots, but …… but did not think that things were actually destroyed.”

Professor Meng the more he said the more angry, that pottery pot how can also be considered a national second-class protection of cultural relics, but after being destroyed, one did not report, two did not repair, but in the Forbidden City internal to hide down.

If not Professor Meng research needs, accidentally found the destruction of the pot, I’m afraid that this matter will never be known by the world, even the people in the industry have no way to know.

Prof. Meng couldn’t stand such a bureaucracy any longer, so he didn’t want to see the Awa Maru spoiled by those bureaucrats at the Forbidden City if any precious artifacts did appear.

“Okay, teacher, on the point of cultural relics, I will definitely insist.”

Zhuang Rui was also infuriated when he heard about this, as a cultural relics supervisory department that can’t properly preserve the precious historical relics left behind by their ancestors, and also shifts the blame to each other after they are destroyed, such a department really can’t let Zhuang Rui rest assured.

“Damn, never engage in the exchange of exhibits with the Forbidden City again, it’s too unreliable.”

After listening to Professor Meng’s account, Zhuang Rui heart is still a little afraid of it, last time promised Fatty Jin and the Forbidden City Museum to exchange exhibits of things, fortunately there is no accident, or else their own those baby bumps were damaged or lost, that self is not heartbroken to death ah?

Professor Meng’s face eased down, pointing his finger at Zhuang Rui, said, “Well, some people want political achievements, for these things that can’t be eaten or drunk won’t pay too much attention to, it should be possible to talk about it, but it’s cheap for you!”

“Teacher, you are the one who participated in the first salvage, what exactly are the artifacts on the Awa Maru, tell the students ah? I have heard that year’s ‘Peking Man skull’ is on the Awa Maru ship ah! This in the end …… is true or false?”

From just due to the deputy minister mouth heard “Awa Maru” after the name of the ship, Zhuang Rui heart has always existed in this question, have been holding all half a day.

“You kid, I knew you would ask this question.”

Prof. Meng smiled at his words and pondered for a while before speaking, “Xiao Zhuang, how much do you know about the Peking Man Skull?”

Professor Meng didn’t want to test Zhuang Rui, but the Peking Man Skull involved a very complicated history, and if one didn’t understand the situation at that time, one simply couldn’t make inferences.

“Teacher, what I know is from what I read in the textbooks, in addition there are some gossip, it can’t be accurate.”

Zhuang Rui scratched his head in embarrassment, “Peking Man Skull” has more significance for anthropologists and historians than archaeologists, so when he saw the related reports, he only looked at it as a story.

However, out of professional sensitivity, Zhuang Rui still remembered the ins and outs of this matter, as early as the twenties of the last century, Chinese scientists in Zhoukoudian found two teeth belonging to early man, in October of the same year, the Beijing scientific community to report on this important discovery, immediately stirred up the domestic and foreign.

Subsequently, the China Geological Survey and the Union Medical College jointly, Zhoukoudian Peking Man site, carried out a large-scale excavation work, when one day in the early winter, the young paleontologist Pei Wenzhong excavation process, suddenly saw a small hole, the hole in the fissure is so narrow that only one person in and out of the hole.

In order to find out the truth, Fei Wenzhong entered the cave alone, and accidentally found many animal fossils in the cave. After one day of excavation, the archaeological discovery that shocked the world, finally appeared.

At that time, it was already dark, but Fei Wenzhong, who insisted on digging by picking the lamp, found an ape-man’s skull, at that time, half of this skull was still in the soil, and after careful and meticulous excavation, the first Peking Man skull was finally completely unearthed.

At that time Pei Wenzhong personally escorted this rare treasure to the city in a car, wrapped in his own two quilts and mattresses and felt.

In 1936, Jalanpo found three fossilized skulls of “Peking Man” in Ape Man Cave, and unearthed 6 skulls, 12 skull fragments, 15 mandibles, 157 teeth and broken femurs, fishy bones, etc., which belonged to more than forty individuals of both sexes, young and old.

The discovery of the Peking Man site and its fossils is a great event in the history of the world paleoanthropology research. Up to now, there is no other ancient human site like the Zhoukoudian Peking Man site which has so many ancient humans, ancient cultures, fossils of ancient animals and other materials.

The fossil of Peking Man has become a rare treasure in the attention of the world scientific community. Although it is not the earliest human being, as a representative of the intermediate link from ape to human, it is called “the most meaningful and moving discovery in the whole history of ancient human beings”. Therefore, the preciousness of the “Peking Man Skull” can be imagined.

However, because of this, it also became some speculators and imperialists coveted object, Pei Wenzhong and other excavated five Peking Man skull and a number of fossils, in the war of resistance against Japan during the strange “disappearance”.

In 1941, the relationship between Japan and the United States was getting tense, and in Beiping, which was occupied by the Japanese army at that time, the Japanese army began to occupy some institutions of the neutral country, the United States, in Beiping.

Although the Peking Union Medical College Hospital, where the fossilized Peking Man skull was stored and kept, was the property of the United States, it could not be spared at that time. Under these circumstances, the Office of New Generation Research decided to find a safer location for the Peking Man fossils.

The contract signed between China and the United States during the cooperative excavation of the fossils stipulated that all the fossils excavated in Zhoukoudian were Chinese property and were forbidden to be shipped out of the country. Therefore, the American Embassy refused to accept the fossils.

After the coordination of the national government, the U.S. Ambassador to China in Chongqing agreed and authorized the U.S. Embassy in Beiping to receive the precious ancient human fossils, and ready to transport them safely to the United States for preservation.

In the early morning of December 5, 1941, a U.S. Marine Corps special train out of Beiping, according to the plan of the train to Qinhuangdao, the fossils transported to the “President Harrison” ship, and then shipped to the United States.

Just very unfortunate, in the marines are ready to sail back to the United States when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, the Pacific War broke out, the Japanese quickly occupied the United States in China, the United States Marine Corps barracks in Qinhuangdao was also invaded by the Japanese army, the Beijing skull disappeared.

This incident became a theft that shocked the world, and for more than half a century, people continued to search for it.

In 1998, the father of Peking Man, Mr. Jia Lanpo, had joined hands with more than ten other academicians to launch the “End-of-the-Century Search”, but in the end, no valuable clues were found, and the search has remained fruitless so far.