Chinese court upholds ruling that Dutch collector should repatriate mummified Buddha

FUZHOU, July 19 (Xinhua) -- The provincial higher people's court of east China's Fujian on Tuesday rejected the appeal of a Dutch collector, upholding the original judgement that the collector should return a stolen millennium-old Buddha statue to local villagers.

The statue is of Zhanggong Zushi, a Song Dynasty (960-1279) monk who gained fame for curing diseases and spreading Buddhist beliefs. When he died at 37, his body was mummified according to his wishes and placed inside a statue.