The Compensations of Plunder: How China Lost Its Treasures
The Robert and Frances Fullerton Museum of Art (RAFFMA) in collaboration with the History Department will present a lecture by Justin M. Jacobs entitled:
“The Compensations of Plunder: How China Lost Its Treasures”
Monday, November 9 at Noon
From the 1790s until World War I, Western museums filled their shelves with art and antiquities from around the world. These objects are now widely seen as stolen or plundered from their countries of origin and demands for their return continue to grow louder.
Drawing on his new book, The Compensations of Plunder, Justin M. Jacobs, associate professor of history at American University, challenges the longstanding assumption that coercion, corruption, and deceit were chiefly responsible for the exodus of cultural treasures from northwestern China. From a close analysis of previously neglected archival sources in English, French, and Chinese, Jacobs finds that the removal of art and antiquities from China by Western archaeologists was generally undertaken with the full knowledge and consent of Chinese officials and scholars, who in exchange received various forms of capital or compensations deemed more valuable at the time than the objects in question.
Jacobs is a historian of China, Xinjiang, the Silk Road, antiquities, and archaeology. He is the author of The Compensations of Plunder: How China Lost Its Treasures, Indiana Jones in History, and Xinjiang and the Modern Chinese State. He teaches courses on ancient and modern China, the Japanese empire, an introduction to Asia, and the history of archaeological expeditions. He also serves as editor of The Silk Road journal and hosts Beyond Huaxia, a podcast on East Asian history.
This event is free and open to the public.
Questions, please contact raffma@csusb.edu