Essay on The On Chinese Culture Is Not The Answer
1135 Words
Dec 4th, 2015
5 Pages
The Chinese government has requested that America halt all imports of pillaged archaeological material from the Paleolithic Period to Qing Dynasty in China. In this paper I will determine if this is a fair or even a realistic request. After pondering the request and considering all points of views I will decide if it should be accepted or if it should be denied. Further, I will examine my future as a museum curator if they request goes through as well as what it means for the future of Chinese antiquities.
Following my examination of the request from the Chinese government from the point of view of a museum curator, I find request not only completely unfair, but also extremely unrealistic. While there should be some action taken to stop looting, banning America from having access to Chinese culture is not the answer. First of all, it is just unrealistic to think that by shutting down trade in America the looting in China would cease considering many other countries collect Chinese art. “When you take into account global auction sales of Chinese art in 2004, American sales amounted to less than 4% of the total” (Hawkins and Gibbons). American trading is in the minority, while China itself contributes to most of the sales of these antiquities. So the reality is banning America from imports while not do much in preventing looting simply because there are so many other countries that are buying more antiquities the the U.S. This is not the only reason why the action would not…
Following my examination of the request from the Chinese government from the point of view of a museum curator, I find request not only completely unfair, but also extremely unrealistic. While there should be some action taken to stop looting, banning America from having access to Chinese culture is not the answer. First of all, it is just unrealistic to think that by shutting down trade in America the looting in China would cease considering many other countries collect Chinese art. “When you take into account global auction sales of Chinese art in 2004, American sales amounted to less than 4% of the total” (Hawkins and Gibbons). American trading is in the minority, while China itself contributes to most of the sales of these antiquities. So the reality is banning America from imports while not do much in preventing looting simply because there are so many other countries that are buying more antiquities the the U.S. This is not the only reason why the action would not…