﻿NO. 7 



SMITHSONIAN EXPLORATIONS, I926 



133 



ing. Two pillars, hexagonal in section and carved with dragons coiled 

 around them, are found at the entrance. The left one (fig. 137) is 

 especially interesting, because in the claws of the dragon are grasped 

 two human heads with perfect Grecian features : curly hair, aquiline 

 and finely chiselled nose, small mouth and receding cheeks. One head 

 with the tongue sticking out is held at the mouth of the dragon, while 

 the other is held in the talons of one hind leg. It is an unusually fine 

 piece of sculpture in limestone, wonderfully spaced and with the 

 most graceful lines. The right one is inferior in its workmanship : 

 evidently the two were not executed by the same hand. I saw 28 



Fig. 140. — Supposed tombs of the IJsia Emperors. ( i'hotograpli by 

 P. L. Yiian. Courtesy of the Geological Survey of China.) 



of this kind of pillar in the succeeding two days ; but most of them 

 were crude imitations. It is possible, however, that some are of 

 the ancient type and were made earlier than others. The whole sub- 

 ject is well worth more detailed study. 



The tomb of Shun (fig. 138) has a very difterent appearance from 

 that of Yao. It is located about 30 // northwest of the city of An-i 

 Hsien in the midst of a vast plain with apparently no natural barrier 

 on any side to shelter it from " the wind and the water." Half of 

 the early references to the tomb of this emperor put its location at 

 Ch'ang-wu. Yet Chang Chin-chiin quite convincingly argued that it 

 must be in An-i {Shansi-fung-chih, Vol. 56, pp. 20-23). The problem 

 is similar to that concerning the tomb of Yao, and consequently the 

 solution must be sought in the same way. 



