A restored version of King-Monk Tran Nhan Tong, the founder of Vietnam Zen Buddhism, was auctioned at USD1.8 million.

Tuoi Tre cited as a news source from China’s Karamy Daily News as saying that the auction was held in April by the Beijing-based Poly Company. The initial price for the painting was just USD160 and then later a customer ended the auction at around 10 million yuan (USD1.6 million). When taking into account the brokerage fee, the final price reached USD11.5 million yuan (USD1.8 million).

However, the details buyer has not yet been released.

In 2006, a Chinese company joined hands with the Liuning Museum to restore several masterpieces, including the painting featuring King Tran Nhan Tong.

The one auctioned in April is just the restored version, while the original is still retained at the museum is said to be invaluable.

According to Pham Van Tuan from the Institute of Hán-Nôm Studies, in the Vietnamese history, almost no images of King Tran Nhan Tong has been retained, except for a handful of paintings and statues, he said, adding that the one still retained at Liuning Museum is the most beautiful and vivid painting of the king. It portrays his refined manner while descending the mountains with his escort to educate people.

MA. Pham Van Tuan also said that, based on the seal on the painting, the author is Tran Giam Nhu. Documents from the Qing and Yuan dynasties indicated that he lived in Hangzhou. However, some other books showed that he was Vietnamese. To date, his nationality remains unclear.

The sophisticated details of the painting suggest that a community of the Tran Family drifted to live in Chinese territory.