Ancient bronze sword rest in museum

Nanchang (CNS) -- An ancient bronze sword, once weilded by Chinese warriors, has a new home in the Jiangxi Provincial Museum, a sound environment for preserving ancient relics.

The sword was picked up by a port worker surnamed Xiong along the Ganjiang River in Jiangxi Province on September 9, 2011. Another worker named Luo claimed the sword was first found buried in his sand field then accidentally ended up in the water when some cobblestones were shifted out.

In their fight to claim ownership of the sword, both Xiong's and Luo's family stirred up a series of disputes. Local police responded with an immediate investigation.

In September 2011, heritage experts identified the weapon to be from the Warring States period, coming to light now across over two thousand years of Chinese history, and worth in the millions of yuan.

On March 27, the ownership case was officially closed, an the artifact, as a national treasure, was transferred to the care of the museum in line with related laws on cultural relics protection.