PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM 



VOL. 80 



in a few instances where steps have been made in the rock, there are 

 no special approaches to the caves; the typical entrance is simply a 

 square hole or door in the solid rock. While the best caves have 

 elaborate carvings, which are above and around the front openings, 

 or on the sides and pillars near the entrances, most of the caves have 

 no carvings at all. 



The popular belief is that these caves, called mantsu dong^ or bar- 

 barian caves, were made and used as dwellings by aborigines who 



inhabited Szechwan 

 Province before the 

 arrival of the Chi- 

 nese. There is increas- 

 ing evidence, however, 

 that they are Chinese 

 tombs, and that they 

 were constructed for 

 77772 burial purposes in the 

 /y^^ Han dynasty (206 

 '-^'^ B. C.-220 A. D.),and 

 possibly during the 

 early years of the 

 Three Kingdoms. The 

 belief of the Chinese that the caves of Szechwan were aboriginal 

 dwellings is probably due to the fact that the Chinese population 

 of Szechwan Province was practically exterminated by Tsang Sliien 



FiGOEB 2. — Plan of a cave near Kiating. 

 \vidth at rear. 6 feet 



Length, 25 feet ; 



''^zMMm^ 



w/////mf^ 



FiGunE 3. — Plan of double cave near Kiating. Total length, 61 feet : width of 



entrance, 21 feet 



Tseng near the close of the Ming dynasty. The new immigrants 

 naturally knew little about the past history of the Province. 



There is reliable evidence that the Chinese took possession of 

 Chengtu, the capital of the Province, about 300 B. C, and later ex- 

 tended their territory westward and sontliward. Monuments at 



