﻿NO. 7 SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, 1 926 1 23 



As a result of this expedition, a collection of 3,143 numbers (about 

 9,000 specimens) was procured, some of the species being new or 

 rare ones not previously represented in the National Herbarium. In 

 addition to the herbarium material, a number of land shells and 

 insects were collected. 



ARCHEOLOGICAL SURVEY OF THE FENG RIVER VALLEY, 

 SOUTHERN SHANSI, CHINA' 



In the latter part of December, 1925, ^Ir. Bishop suggested that 

 I undertake some work in the field. The idea immediately occurred to 

 me that before the spade be brought out, a preliminary survey should 

 be made, so it was agreed that I should go to the southern part of 

 Shansi and investigate the archeological possibilities along the Feng 

 River valley. The president of Tsing Hua College, Mr. Y. S. Tsao, 

 kindly consented to cooperate. In his official capacity, he wrote to 

 Governor Yen Hsi-san and successfully arranged for a permit for 

 me to travel in southern Shansi. By a lucky coincidence also, the 

 Geological Survey of China was on the point of sending Mr. P. L. 

 Yiian to the same region for some field-work in geology. Mv. Yiian 

 is a geologist of much experience, having travelled with Andersson in 

 Kansu for two years and acquired a great deal of interest in prehis- 

 toric archeology. So we arranged to travel together. Our start was 

 somewhat delayed, and it was not until February 5. 1926, that we 

 left Peking, just a week before the Chinese New Year. 



We arrived at T'ai -yiian on the 7th, and spent the whole day of 

 February 8th in making calls and purchasing equipment. When I 

 left Peking, I brought a large number of letters of introduction to 

 the Governor and the various officers of influence in Shansi. Among 

 these was one written by Mr. Liang Ch'i-ch'ao, now senior professor 

 of the Tsing Hua Research Institute. Similar to many other letters, 

 this one explained the purpose of my visit and the necessity of 

 archeological work at present. The Governor, however, was too much 

 occupied with matters of greater importance to see us ; but we suc- 

 ceeded in having an interview with his secretary, who, on behalf of 

 the Governor, promised us all the help we asked. These promises were 

 well fulfilled later on. 



'Editor's Note: It is greatly to be regretted that, owing to lack of space 

 available in the present publication, Dr. Li's excellent report, his illustrations 

 and his interesting conclusions cannot be printed complete at this time. The 

 following excerpts will, however, convey some idea, at least, of what he 

 has accomplished by his preliminary search for archeological sites in southern 

 Shansi. 



