388 Field Museum of Natural History — Reports, Vol. IV. 



entirely cleared, as it is planned to utilize this room for the continuation 

 of the Tibetan exhibits, which will comprise means of transportation, 

 saddlery, industries, costumes, jewelry, painting, and the culture of the 

 Tibetan nomad tribes. Owing to this arrangement it was made possible 

 to relieve the congestion prevailing in the East Court by transferring 

 24 new cases to Hall 49. A Tibetan coracle and the trappings of a 

 horse, shown on a papier-mache" model, are already installed in this Hall. 

 Much time was consumed on the final installation of the large 

 collection of Chinese stone sculpture. The pieces are of great dimen- 

 sions and heavy in weight, and required drilling of their bases to secure 

 solid and permanent intrenchment on the shelves. The material is 

 installed in 1 2 two-foot cases, eight of which have been placed in the 

 Rotunda of the East Annex, Hall 58, which seemed to offer the most 

 suitable location. In order to make the best use of the available space, 

 the principle of concentric arrangement has been adopted, the centre 

 being occupied by a small special case sheltering an octagonal pillar 

 inscription of the T'ang dynasty, — an important historical document 

 which records the capture of the city of Taochow in Kansu Province 

 through the Tibetans in the eighth century. From this centre radiates 

 the collection of sculpture with an inner ring of four cases arranged 

 in a square, and fortified by an outer ring of four others, flanking the 

 niches. The distribution, balancing, and classification of the material 

 in the cases proved a task beset with no small difficulties, partially due 

 to the difference in bulk and weight of the single sculptures, partially 

 owing to the repetition of the same types through the various periods of 

 Chinese history. A chronological principle and simultaneously one 

 according to religious types and subjects has been brought into effect. 

 The collection well demonstrates the development of Chinese sculp- 

 ture in its total range from the fourth to the eighteenth century, em- 

 bracing the two religions of Buddhism and Taoism. Three main 

 chronological divisions have been established: the early or pre-T'ang 

 period, fourth to sixth century, mediaeval or T'ang period (618-906), 

 and the retrospective modern or after-T'ang epoch. The assemblage 

 of ancient Taoist sculpture is probably unique and exceptionally rich 

 in beautiful statues of the Supreme Deity of the Taoist pantheon; it 

 fills two cases which have been added to the Taoist section in Halls 46 

 and 47, — one of these harboring in addition tombstones and inscription 

 tablets of the T'ang period. A goodly number of Taoist sculptures 

 has been incorporated in the Buddhistic department, in order to bring 

 out the idea of the dependence of Taoist on Indian-Buddhist art and the 

 interrelations of the two religions. As regards the exhibits of Buddhist 

 statuary, the general scheme of division followed is: the Buddhas, the 



