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SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 78 



was spent in exploring the terraces, and although no particular arche- 

 ological results were obtained on this trip, we had a fine chance to 

 study the loess formation (fig. 136), a certain knowledge of which, 

 I think, is necessary, if the archeology of southern Shansi is to be 

 properly understood. 



After we returned to Chii-wo, our next trip was to dash across 

 Chung-t'iao-shan. This range, according to the local estimate, ex- 

 tends for about 800 //" from east to west, parallel to the Yellow River 

 on the south and the Feng on the north, and inasmuch as early tradi- 

 tions about the Emperor Shun and the Hsia Dynasty are centered 



Fig. 136. — Loess terraces south of Chiang Chou. (Photograph by P. L. Yiian. 

 Courtesy of the Geological Survey of China.) 



about these mountains, I decided to spend some time here. The next 

 four days, therefore, were devoted to crossing and recrossing Chung- 

 fiao-shan ; but as we found no archeological prospects here, we turned 

 immediately northward to An-i Ilsien and Ytin-ch'eng. 



We arrived at Yiin-ch'eng in the evening of the 17th and entered 

 the city on the i8th. On the 19th we set out to visit the supposed 

 tomb of the Emperor Shun, and on the way stopped at certain temples 

 in Yiin-ch'eng. In Shansi- fung-chih (Vol. 52, p. 2), it is recorded 

 that the stone pillars of these temples were formerly the palace pil- 

 lars of Wei Hui-wang (335-370 A. D.), recovered from the ruined 

 city south of An-i Hsien. Some of them are now used as the entrance 

 pillars in Ch'en-huang Miao and Hou-t'u Miao, and those of Ch'en- 

 huang Miao certainly show peculiar features which are worth record- 



