Bronze statue of the twelve zodiac animal heads in Yuanmingyuan - chicken head

Originally part of the fountain outside the Haiyan Hall of the Yuanmingyuan. The bronze statue of the rooster's head represents the hour of You (17:00-19:00) and is one of the twelve zodiac bronze statues. It was designed by European missionary, Italian Lang Shining, supervised by French Jiang Youren, and produced by Qing court craftsmen. The chicken head bronze statue symbolizes punctuality and diligence, and is an important symbol in traditional Chinese culture. In 1860, the British and French coalition invaded China and set fire to the Yuanmingyuan, causing the chicken head bronze statue to begin to be lost overseas. Until now, its whereabouts are still unknown. Like several other animal heads, its fate has become a symbol of the loss of cultural relics overseas from the Yuanmingyuan and a witness to the loss of Chinese cultural heritage.