10 



PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 80 



double — the mark of a well-rounded figure. The face wears an en- 

 gaging smile and dimples lie just beneath the surface. Earrings 

 hang from the ears. But the most interesting thing is that the 

 bangs, indicated by incised lines, are combed straight down over 

 the forehead and clipped off just above the eyebrows. This same 

 style of coiffure — ^bangs combed straight down — is still very popular 

 among young women and girls in Szechwan Province, and probably 

 all over China. Apparently it has persisted 2,000 years. 



Not only do the figurines in the collection before us tell much of 

 character — at least the artist's conception of what character should 

 be — but they also provide information as to the nature of both mas- 

 culine and feminine dress in the days 

 when the caves of Szechwan Province 

 were under construction. One frag- 

 ment (No. 341405) shows the method 

 of attaching a sandal. Loops rise 

 from the extreme toe and heel and 

 from each side near the proximal ends 

 of the first and fifth toes; through 

 these loops passes a single cord, sup- 

 ported by a strap across the instep, 

 which is exactly the manner of tying 

 the common straw sandal worn to-day. 

 Here again we have evidence that some 

 customs have changed but little in 

 Szechwan during the last 2,000 years. 

 Plate 10 (No. 342178) represents a 

 servant with broom and dustpan. The 

 latter closely resembles the bamboo 

 dustpan, or ts^o gi^ used in almost 

 every Szechwanese home, urban or 

 rural, at the present time. Farmers often employ large ones, attached 

 to poles, as a means of carrying fertilizer and other stuffs. The 

 resemblance between that on the clay image before us and those in 

 use to-day is so close that there is little doubt that the latter are 

 survivals of an early type of Szechwan dustpan. 



A man with hands folded in the wide sleeves of his long gown is 

 shown by the fragment pictures in Plate 11 (No. 342177). Gowns 

 with long, flowing sleeves were in use in China centuries before 

 the Christian era and they are still being worn. It is a common 

 practice in West China to use the ample sleeves as muffs. The hands, 

 folded inside, are comfortably warm even on the coldest winter days. 

 Most of the clay images in the present collection were made in half 

 molds and joined together while still moist. Externally, the figures 



FiGDBE 



14. — Head from 

 figurine 



a small 



