A set of recovered bronzeware of Chinese origin was put on display at a cultural relics exhibition on Saturday in the Hubei Provincial Museum in Wuhan.

The eight-piece set of bronzeware, with Chinese characters engraved on them, date back to the late Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771 BC) and the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 BC), according to Fang Qin, curator of the museum.

The bronzewares were recovered by Chinese authorities from Japan in 2019, and they are among the most-valued sets of relics that have been successfully sought and brought back to China since their illegal trade on the global market was stopped.

The relics are probably items from ancient tombs along the Suizhou-Zaoyang corridor, and provide valuable information on the ancient state of Zeng, which was founded in Hubei, Fang added.

A stunning set of 65 functioning chiming bells was unearthed in northern Hubei's Suizhou City in 1978 from the ancient tomb of Marquis Yi, the ruler of Zeng, who died around 433 BC. Since then, archaeological progress has been made on this minor ancient state.

Liu Yuzhu, director of the National Cultural Heritage Administration, said lending the bronzeware to the Hubei Provincial Museum for display will not only help the province revive after the epidemic but also raise visitors' awareness of the recovery of lost cultural relics. 

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