The former director of China Nanbo was reported to have stolen and sold cultural relics and died of illness in prison. Netizens were shocked: The mastermind behind the scenes breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Huping, the former director of Nanjing Museum in China, was imprisoned for stealing and selling cultural relics. It is now reported that he died of lung cancer in prison.

China's Nanjing Museum accepted 137 donations from collector Pang Laichen's family in 1959. Unexpectedly, it was revealed at the end of last year that the "Jiangnan Spring" scroll by Ming Dynasty painter Qiu Ying had entered the auction market, with a starting price of 88 million yuan (approximately NT$420 million). A retired employee then came forward to report the large-scale theft of cultural relics by former dean Xu Huping. Officials later confirmed that four collections were stolen and sold at low prices, and Xu Huping was imprisoned. Unexpectedly, it was now reported that he died of lung cancer in prison. Chinese netizens believed that this undoubtedly relieved the mastermind behind the scenes.

The Hong Kong media Asia Weekly's WeChat public account "Asia Weekly Online", which first exposed the matter and conducted an exclusive interview with Pang Laichen's great-granddaughter Pang Shuling, issued an article today (14th) stating that Xu Huping, the former director of Nanjing University, died of illness in a prison in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China at about 6 pm on the 12th. He suffered from advanced lung cancer.

It is understood that when Xu Huping served as the executive vice president of Nanjing University in the 1990s, he illegally signed an approval to allocate calligraphy and paintings such as "Jiang Nanchun" to the provincial cultural relics store for sale. The Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture (now restructured into the Department of Culture and Tourism) approved the approval without strict review in accordance with regulations.

In early July 1997, Ms. Zhang, who was a keeper and salesperson in the calligraphy and painting library of the Cultural Relics Main Store, saw that "Jiang Nanchun" was priced at 25,000 yuan (approximately NT$120,000). She was eager to buy it and resell it at a higher price. She also used her job to change the price to 2,500 yuan (approximately NT$12,000). Ms. Zhang then entrusted a friend to come and buy "Jiang Nanchun". This painting changed hands many times and was auctioned by Guardian at a high price last year. Pang Shuling immediately intervened after discovering it.

In addition to "Jiang Nanchun", the "Imitation Beiyuan Landscape Scroll", "Double Horse Picture Scroll" and "Songfeng Xiaosi Picture Scroll" donated by the Pang Laichen family that year were also signed and approved by Xu Huping to the cultural relics store and then wandered outside. The investigation team recovered a total of 3 pieces, but the whereabouts of the "Songfeng Xiaosi Picture Scroll" are unknown.

In September this year, China's official media "Xinhua News Agency" reported that Xu Huping was sentenced to three years in prison for accepting bribes. He was also expelled from the party and had his retirement benefits revoked. The news of his death has not yet been officially confirmed, and the Nanbo blog also stated that it is still learning about it.