A 1,500-year-old Buddha head will soon be returned to the place of its origin.

The relic is believed to be the head of a Buddha sculpture in a temple in Hebei Province. It had been listed as stolen, until Master Xingyun of Taiwan acknowledged its presence and announced the donation.

A 1,500-year-old Buddha head will soon be returned to the place of its origin.

The Buddha head was donated to Master Xingyun by believers in 2014. On asking the chief of China's National Administration of Cultural Relics, where the Buddha head came from, he was told that it was the head of a Buddhist sculpture in Youju Temple of Lingshou County, Hebei Province.

The master immediately said he wanted to return the Buddha head to the place of its origin. As a result, a ceremony will be held in Taiwan later this month, to reunite the Buddha head with its body.

Along with some50 other Buddhist relics, the body will be taken to Taiwan, so it can reunite with its head. The head itself has temporarily been placed in Foguang mountain in Taiwan.

The Northern Qi Dynasty lasted only 28 years, so there are very few relics left from that period.

So this Buddhist sculpture is a rare treasure. After so many years of not knowing where the head was, the head and the body will finally be reunited.

The body and the accompanying relics are in a warehouse in Beijing that specializes in keeping cultural relics. People on hand were able to marvel at the superb craftsmanship of the Buddhist art treasure.

Many of the accompanying relics are also China's first-class relics. Built in the period of the Southern and Northern dynasties from 1,500 years ago through to the Song Dynasty around 1,000 years ago, the relics are testimony to the peak of Buddhist art in ancient China.

"It's an action of protection and preservation of our cultural relics. We hope that the move by Master Xingyun will spearhead similar gestures that will bring back more ancient Chinese relics back to their homeland," said Hui Chuan, Vice Abbot of Foguang Mountain.

Taiwan Foguang mountain signed a contract of donation with the National Administration of Cultural Relics in December last year. So both the head and body are expected to go home soon after the ceremony.

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