PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 80 



FiQCRB 5. — A tile roof edge forms a decorative motif fre- 

 quently found in caves tluoughout Szechwan Province 



Near Yachow is a memorial arch, about 25 feet high, whose in- 

 scriptions show beyond doubt that it was erected in the later Han 

 dynasty. It has elaborate carvings (fig. 4), which give an excellent 

 basis for comparison with the carvings in the caves. In the public 

 museum of Chengtu there are artifacts which were taken from Han 

 dynasty graves on the Chengtu plain. Another interesting collec- 

 tion, secured in the 

 Szechwan caves, is 

 preserved in the 

 museum of the 

 West China Union 

 University. 



In the historic museums of Peiping are many artifacts (some of 

 which are from Han dynasty graves) dating from the Manchu 

 dynasty back to the very beginnings of Chinese history. The Field 

 Museum in Chicago, 111., has a collection of articles from Han 

 dynasty graves in eastern China. The Smithsonian Institution has 

 nearly two hundred 

 artifacts, mostly frag- 

 mentary, collected by 

 the writer in the caves 

 of Szechwan Province. 

 The writer has visited 

 the memorial arch at 

 Yachow, the museums 

 mentioned above, and 

 many of the caves of 

 Szechwan, and this 

 article is largely the 

 result of his impres- 

 sions.^ 



The most common 

 design used in the 

 Szechwan caves is a 

 decoration consisting of a series of circles, bridged by quarter circles 

 resembling new moons. These are also conspicuous on the Han dy- 

 nasty monument at Yachow and on memorial arches, shrines, temples, 

 and even ordinary buildings throughout Szechwan Province. The 

 same design probably occurs all over China, for it resembles the 

 edge of a tile roof, the circles representing the ends of round beams 



* The writer gladly acknowledges his Indebtedness to Rev. Thomas Torrance and to Prof. 

 Daniel Sheets Dye, of the West China Union University, both of whom have studied the 

 Szechwan caves ; also to Dr. Walter Hough, head curator, department of anthropology, and 

 Neil M. Judd, curator of archeology, both of the U. S. National Museum, for their invalu- 

 able assistance In the preparation of this article. 



FiGCRE 6. — This carving on the wall of a cave-tomb near 

 Kiatlng portrays the side of a tile-roofed house 



