国宝失踪之谜

1929年至1936年，在中国北京的周口店，相继发掘出了三个成年古猿人头骨化石和众多的枕骨、眉骨、耳骨化石碎片。此事一经传出，立刻在世界上造成了轰动，因为“北京人”的存在，让人类不得不重新认定自己起源的旅程，是从中国北京的周口店开始的。国外学术界甚至将此事誉为古人类研究史上最为动人的发现。然而，抗日战争期间，“北京人”头盖骨化石却在辗转途中神秘失踪。时至今日，关于国宝的下落仍然是摆在我们面前的一个谜。

From 1929 to 1936, in Zhoukoudian, Beijing, China, three adult hominid skulls and many fragments of occipital, eyebrow and ear bones were successively excavated. As soon as the incident came out, it immediately caused a sensation in the world. Because of the existence of "Beijingers", human beings had to re identify their origin, starting from Zhoukoudian in Beijing, China. Foreign academic circles even praised this as the most moving discovery in the history of ancient human research. However, during the Anti Japanese War, the skull fossils of "Beijingers" disappeared mysteriously. Today, the whereabouts of the national treasure is still a mystery in front of us.

其实，“北京人”头盖骨化石最初一直是存放在美资北京协和医院底层的保险柜里，供瑞典人类学家魏敦瑞做学术研究之用的。1937年抗日战争爆发后，日本人占领了北京，只是由于协和医院悬挂了美国国旗，日本人才未闯进去掠夺“北京人”头盖骨化石。1941年“珍珠港事件”前夕，日美关系出现恶化，为了确保这些珍贵的文物不会落入到侵略者手中，魏敦瑞建议将“北京人”头盖骨化石转移到美国保存。同年11月初，在获得了当时中国政府允许出境的批示后，魏敦瑞等人将国宝送到了美国驻北平使馆，并委托美国海军陆战队护送到纽约自然历史博物馆暂存避险。12月5日，装有“北京人”头盖骨化石的专列开往秦皇岛，准备于12月8日搭乘美国邮船“哈里逊总统”号。然而就在12月8日凌晨，日军突袭“珍珠港”，日本对美国不宣而战，而当天开往秦皇岛的运送“北京人”头盖骨化石的美国海军陆战队专列也被日军截住，“哈里逊总统”号因此未能赶到接应。从此，举世瞩目的“北京人”头盖骨化石便神秘地失踪了。

In fact, the skull fossils of "Beijingers" have always been stored in the safe at the bottom of Peking Union Medical College Hospital funded by the United States for the academic research of Swedish anthropologist Wei dunrui. After the outbreak of the Anti Japanese war in 1937, the Japanese occupied Beijing. Only because the Union Hospital hoisted the American flag, the Japanese did not break in and plunder the skull fossils of the "Peking Man". On the eve of "Pearl Harbor Incident" in 1941, the relationship between Japan and the United States deteriorated. In order to ensure that these precious cultural relics will not fall into the hands of the aggressors, Wei dunrui proposed to transfer the skull fossils of "Beijingers" to the United States for preservation. In early November of the same year, after obtaining the permission of the Chinese government at that time, Wei dunrui and others sent the national treasure to the U.S. Embassy in Peiping, and entrusted the U.S. Marine Corps to escort it to the New York Museum of natural history for temporary refuge. On December 5, a special train with fossilized skulls of "Beijingers" sailed to Qinhuangdao, ready to take the US mail ship "President Harrison" on December 8. However, in the early morning of December 8, when the Japanese raided Pearl Harbor, Japan fought against the United States without declaration. On the same day, the U.S. Marine Corps special train for transporting the skull fossils of "Peking Man" to Qinhuangdao was also stopped by the Japanese, so president Harrison failed to catch up. Since then, the famous "Peking Man" skull ossified stone has mysteriously disappeared.

由于“北京人”头盖骨化石是在战乱中秘密启运的，遭劫失踪后，查找工作变得相当困难。日本投降后，美国曾多次努力搜索，但结果终是空手而归。而日本方面则一再声称，他们从未发现过“北京人”头盖骨化石的下落。

Because the skull fossils of "Beijingers" were secretly transported during the war, it became very difficult to find them after being robbed and disappeared. After the surrender of Japan, the United States made many efforts to search, but the result was empty handed. Japan, on the other hand, has repeatedly claimed that they have never found the whereabouts of the skull fossils of the Peking man.

新中国成立后，“北京人”头盖骨化石更是成为国人心中永远的牵挂。半个多世纪以来，国内外的许多有识之士一直在为寻找到它而奔波。然而，各种捕风捉影的线索雪片一般地纷至沓来，如有人说它可能被日军掳去，藏在日本民间，或已被野蛮的日本士兵损毁；有人说它被劫后装在一艘名为“阿波丸号”的日本巨轮回日本时，因轮船被美军击毁而沉落大海；有人说它早已成了前苏联红军的“战利品”；有人说它可能被人误为一般的人体标本而遭到了遗弃；有人却坚信它还存在于我们国家的某个角落……但真正有价值的线索却一个都没有。至今，“北京人”头盖骨化石的下落仍然是一个无法破解的谜。

After the founding of the people's Republic of China, "Peking Man" skull fossil has become a permanent concern of the Chinese people. For more than half a century, many people of insight at home and abroad have been running for it. However, all kinds of clues of chasing the wind and shadow came in a stream. Some people said that it might have been captured by the Japanese army, hidden in the Japanese folk, or destroyed by the barbaric Japanese soldiers. Some people said that it was loaded in a Japanese giant ship named "apomaru" when it returned to Japan after being hijacked, because the ship was destroyed by the US Army, it fell to the sea. Some people said that it had already become the "spoils of war" of the former Soviet Red Army ”Some people say that it may have been abandoned as a general human specimen; some people believe that it still exists in some corner of our country But there is no real clue of value. Up to now, the whereabouts of the skulls of "Beijingers" are still an unsolvable mystery.