A mock-up of the "eighth wonder of the world," China’s Terracotta Warriors, in Anhui Province, was ruled as unauthorized and an infringement on trademarks owned by the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor on Thursday, triggering a dispute online.
Located in Anqing City, the Five Hundred Fair Park is a theme park with various elements representing Chinese culture and history. It has a 1,000-square-meter full scale replica of the Terracotta Warriors, which has been on display since 2011. The real warriors are located near Xi'an in Shaanxi Province, and date back to the third century BC.
The "fake" Terracotta Warriors in Anhui Province / VCG Photo
However, the copies of the warrior statues were defined as unauthorized. The park was also accused of infringing various trademarks, like the Chinese word "兵马俑," which means Terracotta Warriors, as well as the Chinese name of the museum in Shaanxi, the "Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.”
“The exhibition of ‘knock-off’ Terracotta Warriors in Anhui Province is not permitted or authorized by the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor,” the China Business View, a Shaanxi-based newspaper cited an unidentified member of staff at the real mausoleum as saying.
The Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor in Shaanxi Province / VCG Photo
A statement has reportedly also been sent to the theme park, in which the mausoleum emphasizes that any unauthorized use of its name, trademarks, pictures and visuals is considered as infringement.
Liu Zhihan, a researcher in intellectual property from China University of Political Science and Law defined the Five Thousand Fair Park’s construction of Terracotta Warriors as unfair competition, and thought that the Shaanxi mausoleum had the right to request that the theme park remove its display.
The Terracotta Warriors in Anhui Province /VCG Photo
In response, the theme park claimed they did not intend to infringe on intellectual property.
“We arrange these statues differently from the real ones in Shaanxi Province, and add some other decorations to the overall layout, like slogans. We have never advertised our statues as being like those in Shaanxi,” Yin Zhaoping, the CEO of the Five Thousand Fair Park explained.
Some netizens also sympathized with Yin, given that the statues are in a culture park, inextricably different from a recent case of counterfeit statues reported in Xi’an. They expressed that such parks are built so that Chinese culture can be more easily shared around the country.
Tourists visit the statues in Anhui Province /VCG Photo
“Why don’t you say other statues in the park copy the real ones, like some replica residences of deceased historical figures,” commented @CcCehnliangban.
Last year, several counterfeit Terracotta Warrior exhibitions were uncovered under the guise of tourist attractions in Xi’an. Local tour guides tricked tourists into believing they were seeing the real Terracotta Warriors when they took them to visit these statues, some of which were even made of wax.
