Chinese civil group asks Japan to return Tang Dynasty relic  

Honglu Well Stele in Lushun (File photo)

(ECNS) -- A civil group in China has sent a letter to the Imperial House of Japan, asking it to return an ancient Tang Dynasty (618-907) relic plundered by the Japanese Army in 1908, according to the Beijing Times.

It is the first time for a Chinese civil organization to publicly make such a request of the Japanese royal family. The letter was sent to the Japanese Embassy on August 7.

Weighing some nine tons, the Honglu Well Stele was established in Lushun city in 713. It was stolen by Japan after it won the Russo-Japanese War, which mainly took place in northeast China from February 1904 to September 1905.

It is one of the largest and most important Chinese relics lost to a foreign country.

Tong Zeng, the chairman of the civil group, said the stele was a milestone in the Tang Dynasty's governance of northeast China.

The stele is now kept at the Tokyo Imperial Palace. It has been classified as a state property and visitation is limited.

Wang Renfu, a Chinese scholar who has studied the stele for over 20 years, wrote a letter to Japan's Imperial Palace in 2011, asking about the stele's current condition. He received a reply that it was in good shape.