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Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million

Read the original at South China Morning Post ↗
Cite

Qiao, E. (2026, October 9). Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million. South China Morning Post. https://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/3370197/rare-chinese-calligraphy-scroll-resurfaces-after-81-years-sells-us226-million?utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

South China Morning Post · collected 2026-10-09 · by Eve Qiao

Quick Summary

A rare Chinese calligraphy scroll by Yu Shinan from the early Tang dynasty, believed lost since 1945, recently resurfaced and was sold for US$22.6 million at an auction in Hong Kong. The piece, titled Jishi Tie or Accumulated Time Letter, fetched HK$177.45 million (US$22.6 million) at China Guardian Hong Kong’s autumn auction. A cultural expert from the Palace Museum referred to it as a "priceless classic" during a symposium in September.
Written by AI on 2026-10-09, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

A rare Chinese calligraphy scroll, Jishi Tie by early Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan, resurfaced after being presumed lost or destroyed during the chaos of 1945. The scroll was auctioned off on Wednesday at China Guardian Hong Kong’s autumn auction in the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre for a staggering HK$177.45 million (US$22.6 million). Jin Yunchang, a member of the Palace Museum’s cultural relics acquisition and appraisal committee, previously commented that the work would eventually become "priceless." The scroll's reappearance and high sale price highlight its historical and artistic significance in Chinese culture.

Written for “Chinese Calligraphy Auction” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Chinese Calligraphy Auction
Entertainment · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
4
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
25%
1 of 4 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
64/100
South China Morning Post's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Entertainment
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-09 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

South China Morning Post · 3451 article(s) · 6 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 6 correction(s)
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Who wrote this

Eve Qiao
6 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 “Today, it is a valuable auction lot, while one day it will be a priceless classic,” Jin Yunchang, a member of the Palace Museum’s cultural relics acquisition and appraisal committee, said at a symposium on the work in September, according to China Guardian. Select Voice Select Speed 1x AI-generated voice
2026-10-09 · mixed framing · Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million
🔮 The arrival of Ping Ping and Fu Shuang in the US following the Xi-Trump summit in Washington continues a Chinese diplomatic tradition Xi said during his US visit that the pandas would be sent as an “envoy of friendship” between the Chinese and American people.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Panda diplomacy: all the countries currently hosting China’s beloved ambassadors
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 6 articles by Eve Qiao →

Topics

China Guardian China Guardian Hong Kong’s Chinese Hong Kong the Palace Museum’s

Subjects

Chinese NORP · 2× Hong Kong GPE · 2× Yu Shinan PERSON · 2× China Guardian ORG · 1× China Guardian Hong Kong’s ORG · 1× Jin Yunchang PERSON · 1× Jishi Tie PERSON · 1× the Palace Museum’s ORG · 1×

Narrative

Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million ‘Priceless classic’ by early Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan is snapped up at auction in Hong Kong 3-MIN READ3-MIN A rare work of Chinese calligraphy long presumed destroyed in the chaos of 1945 only to resurface 81 years later, fetched HK$177.45 million (US$22.6 million) in Hong Kong on Wednesday.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-09
🔮 “Today, it is a valuable auction lot, while one day it will be a priceless classic,” Jin Yunchang, a member of the Palace Museum’s cultural relics acquisition and appraisal committee, said at a symposium on the work in September, according to China Guardian. Select Voice Select Speed 1x AI-generated voice
2026-10-09 · South China Morning Post
Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million · mixed framing

Claims (4 extracted, 1 hedged)

Rare Chinese calligraphy scroll resurfaces after 81 years, sells for US$22.6 million ‘Priceless classic’ by early Tang dynasty calligrapher Yu Shinan is snapped up at auction in Hong Kong 3-MIN READ3-MIN A rare work of Chinese calligraphy long presumed destroyed in the chaos of 1945 only to resurface 81 years later, fetched HK$177.45 million (US$22.6 million) in Hong Kong on Wednesday. asserted
work → resurface → Wednesday
The work called Jishi Tie, or Accumulated Time Letter, by early Tang dynasty (618-907) calligrapher Yu Shinan, went under the hammer at China Guardian Hong Kong’s autumn auction at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. asserted
work → call → Centre
It fetched HK$155 million at the hammer, with the final price including the buyer’s premium reaching HK$177.45 million. asserted
price → fetch → million
“Today, it is a valuable auction lot, while one day it will be a priceless classic,” Jin Yunchang, a member of the Palace Museum’s cultural relics acquisition and appraisal committee, said at a symposium on the work in September, according to China Guardian. Select Voice Select Speed 1x AI-generated voice uncertain
Yunchang → say → voice
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