THE ANCIENT CAVES OF SZECHWAN PROVINCE, CHINA 



By David Crockett Graham 



Collaborator, tyinilhsoiiian Institution 



In the Province of Szechwan, in the western part of China, there 

 are thousands of artificial caves. (Figs. 1, 2, 3.) They have been 

 chiseled out of solid 

 sandstone on the sides 

 of hills and cliffs, 

 and are found all 

 the way from Hupeh 

 Province on the east 

 to the highlands of 

 the Seech wan-Tibetan 

 border. There are 

 also similar caves 

 along the Yellow 

 River, in the Prov- 

 ince of Kansu.^ 



The caves are usu- 

 ally found in steep 

 places, both singly 

 and in groups. Many 

 are difficult of access. 

 They vary in depth 

 from a few feet to 

 130 feet, and are gen- 

 erally about 6 feet 

 wide and G feet high 

 on the inside. The 

 floors, sides, and tops 

 are the solid stone out 

 of which the caves 

 have been carved. 

 The marl« of the 

 chisels can plainly be seen. Some caves are so close together that holes 

 have been knocked through the walls that separated them. Excepting 



1 Bishop, C. W., The problem of the Min River caves, p. 1. Reprinted by the Peking 

 Express Press from The Chinese Social and Political Science Review, vol. 10, no. 1, Peking, 

 January, 1926. 

 1 



No. 2916 Proceedings U. S. National Museum, Vol. 80, Art. 16. 



FiGUEE 1. — Floor plan of a six-chamber cave, carved from 

 the stone diflfs near Kiating. Native rock pillars have 

 been left in the common entrance. Length, 130 feet ; 

 breadth, 54 feet 



