JOU R N AL

O F TE I

NOR TH -C H IN A B R A .N C FI

ROYA.I.., .q.SIA.TIC SOCIE'I Y

THBYBAR
I'OR 1900.
vol,. xL.

EHls-cE^r, HoNcKoNc,YoEonaua & SlNol'poBE

KETLY& SIelEr, LrurrED.
Loxooxt-llssers. Kpo.atr Prur,, Tnnxcr, IaUBNEB & Co,, LD.
PARIE:-M. EBtfEgr LtBoux, Rue Bonaparte28.
LrrPzIo :-O. Erutlgovrtz.
 Archeological Survey
ol the

Environs of China's Ancient Capitals.

By V. Alexeieff,

of thc (.lniuertityof St. Petersbtn.g.

When some trvo years ego I lived in Paris I had an

opportunity of attending the course of lectures on ths
history and arcbreologyof China deliveredby M. Chnvaunes,
Ilembel of the French Academy, at the (lollige do France.
This institution being intended for thoso professors who
desire and are qualified to do somo leading researchesin
sciencewithout being restrained by any prpgrarnme, I have
had a very rare opportunity of follorving up the method of
scientific researches in Chinose. subjects, as it lras been
gxplainod rviih a fulness tha0 does honour to this farnous
French siuologist.
When, in 1\[ay 1907, IU. Clravanues,entrusted by tho
tr'renchAcademy with a scientificrnissionfor tbo exploration
of hisioric and archaological Ohina, passerlthrough Peking,
I had rnuch pleasurein joining hirn in this urission. I must
soy tlrat boih the itinerary and thc progrctume of what
woro to be seen hnd been made after the l-resttuthorities.
orpeciallyChiuese,exclusivelyby M. Chavaunes.
If my subjectswore simply " A visit to the two aucient
cnpitalr of Chinnr" I rvould be vory scarce of information.
It looko very strango to rnalio t strrtement of this kiud,
t
 E N V IITON IJ
AIIOII,' IiOI,OGIC.\I, SURV D Y OF TE E

i .e . th a i , th o t,rv oa ttc i o trtc a pi tal s of C hi ua

rvi l l not gi ve us
r,",.;;:,:,:il:; il:,:',o.r.y
, 1"'. po,,,
rny levelliti,rn irr Clrinese alchrcc'logy-but
it is st" rrntl I
trvo reirsonsrvhich rDny
O'ira, .fi.l St,,,,,iuof'ro,: or: .u,,t.y r.alleyso1.tirt,
,.rr,t.ry sort'y to snf it' Tirere a|o I'istorie
'e g i o D I a r r r sl r o r l ti r r g":
a b o u t, \ye r n a y l i r r r l
lrns llo pI'etension s6 r n g
.*pl"in this i,rci, altlrough tltis expllrlltion : l c o m l r :r r .r r i i vcl r .
n r r t.i e n { ,l a to o f tl r e
a 'ti q u i ti e s o f
fi
o f b e i n g e x h a u s ti v e '
alchrcology
irrarr,r,rr.
'or'rtr.r. \\,r,v,,ot
r:il'J;:,lli:i,,,illiil":ii
The first reasonis a geuelal frrct in ohinose to exlr lain,lr r r l is u. lr ut
, 1, , 1, , . i, .t o,
rvhen cornparing l, o ; ; , I r c: r son<- r l'
that tve ob-"elvervith asionislttueut,eslrocirrl!,r' stl l i l ,rnont<. ritI s lt r r t r r or . it : r t i\ '0 r r r y alr oYt ,
t : hit r r ct er .
b o tl rth e p re te rrtl e rl l rrtl re n l arrti qrri l r.rrf()l ri rrl r,w i tl rtl rntof ' 1, , r : r .is.
o ol'ir r , : 1
ir r ( r lr ir r cst,r. , , ; ; ; : r , . f
tl chelological lor . lis t r . vel uo. i't , oi.
G re e c oa rt,l l l ' ,n te . : r 1r , 1, 11,
1 ,,
pl ortrl p[si sl l sl ol )s at
S tl l rn g rl t,l rl ri ,a c o tttl i tl ' rr i (h srrt:l r arrci or r tlinsier . r rO r r l, it r l
. , f 0lr ir", , iu1", i, . , Ho_nau_f u,t he
r ; ir , . ;
to l ro l rr.y l tg tl s rl fc i v i l i s l rl i rl ttl rasl l ()1.(.i tl rorrti ri ttsl rt.or' i oustrl Tlris.^rci.ni,
t,o-1,,,,g Lo-1'aug.
arrtheuti ci bymi gl tl l l e iff f*, or.,",,,.,,
iiij''],^:ilt:,,
trrerr&rlre is preserved
th o IItn tl y n l s l y o f s l ri t:l r l l ro in the of tt,i district
),i"3..!.'.,".,]:":]]
r:r' i i i ci stl! t I rrray appl y 'arrro (w w ';;";;;;
s u ffi c i e n l l .vi rl ,v e rl l ry h i " tol i crrl intc.esti'g to ,r,.ti'* M), it l,;
bt' onzes'oI rvhi c]rt]re "::"r]t t:']]"u. .h" ;."r,;;;
th i s l a s t t' ttttrttl < tt' ' ' o " to o l tl 0l ri rrcsc erymorogv ,;,,,.-:;:]l]o],"''
C h i n e s ea n ti q ttrrl i o s:rfo l er) pt' ou' 1,
thei r hi stori cal creod rrrea,rrhors
"",r " jili:.il:Ji:::ili,il1,::",;il;J,.,
taking tlre 1,l.co of rttt expeliencetl
atrtl
to j
.sober
usti i y
criticism' If
my fol rner
lot seeruquite to under.stanrl
tl,o ,]"t,,o"^,
:"
tl ri * .i ra ,,g o f,,.,t, rl o e s n o t secm Tlrus Giles, i, ;,ir' rvoril vtrng.
clt,ttesr,-1,-.,t,rli._/, !ft
l oadi ng l roi ntsi n mv rvrrrtl .,rtre l);rt;::the
s ta te trte n i ,tl re rc rv i l l l ro p e rhtps sotne l_,r, sou,ruf ,, l,ill, ir:ri'iiJr'i(,
socon(l t'cttlat'li rvhi<:lt'to nry thinl<ing'
are better qualified l'. Couvr.ur. l),i,,(i,,,.,
,,rri,,,,,,!rrrr'17,,",)'",/"
:irl.r:i"ili:
I tu lunrlue c/tittoi,sef
fo r l -re i rrg e :tl l c ,lt l c a s o n ' I ho r-er.v bes[ ,,,,1;,,,,.,t-r,
I,trl thc sr:ho]rr,
i l l h r,s e t' r,rr,ll ' c i IS o lol { ' L l ri ssi l l ngo scnrci i yi n anti qul ri an ff_(+@ fp.) H
of (l hi na i s the pecul i ar
I rof t,,rr)r'1rt:,",,,. ,";;;,;;':.^.::r;''
";;,r;, t" ::X T
i
l e ma i l l s l t i l ro t' rv oa ttt' i e ttl< :rtfi tal s (ii,f/f t[t) C;,t,',',,,,
l ,,essftl rtnati ons,w hi ch
' l ' l l o l rrrr' ,1 a',,r,u
, rili, orit,ttrrtl,l,,r,,ot'd"r',,i ;,,*ii :;r'"* uP,
I c h a rtc te r.o f i l rr, c 0 u rrtr-r' . ',;; I'ont.srre'tt'i# Zffij-At 7,
ol ' l ri stol i crC hi nu' do not lr ,,,*t
c o v e r n e i tl ' l Y tl l o rv l ro l t' srtl l i rr' o io
o f sttcl t tttotttttncttts'Thl rt unstabl e 'ivii.. 1r,,. ttt"tt r l cl i r r i ti 'r r r
( | t i , , ,. t ,- /l r tssi r ttr o .c'tl ts i tt l
fa v o u r th o p re s c rv a ti L rn

:],;.,,
r r r ,,l ,
-stuff is
practictlly tlovortring (i!cr-\' tuol)tlrllent'
is nobu,ly in Chint rr'ho trrlics
('itrc of them; tlrus I
alrtl there

in this large loess

il;lil::';,:jlnl;::li
;,,,: i:i;;:::ri'li:
:ll,ji|i
' l ' l r. r 'r , r . , l . . 1. : r r r g. .
"tl l 't,l i r r "l

rogret to think that every tnonttmottt' lr : r r l, r , , " i; ; ; ,

saw ono day a r' rrrrr.
i , d e s ti n e dto ru i n ' For examl ' l o' I i r, r . , , r r r r lr, . , , l , , "", . . , . , ' "l ] '1|t t t 1tr t t llt o $r 'ns{r( , t
" rl "
pailott,of a virtuous womall rvhich,
llthough erected onl)' ,,\ur,,.,,
r,r,.1,
,1., ,l
r,,1,,'1.",,';;,'*,1:l
.s o mel t,tn ,l .e tly e a rs u g o , i s uou' i u r rui notl s
condi ti on'bei ng il:l ,,r::,i:l:.,,:i,i,,:i,;l,,:
already half buried in loess' If -'o'
'rvhat then have rve to :1J:'' i,."',1']f "1'rtt"'
",,1',1"' t,r'
r,,,
trr,.^ro
",',',,,',,',",,,il or.
*l'r' rlr"
Oxpectfrotn moro ancient moDuments
?
f l t t lll u , , . , ' , , ' , , ,r"' ,rrr
"'I
lrrnl I.v , ,, ,,,::";l;;;r;'j;,1,,.,
:
 ARCH/EOL OOICA L S U R V E Y OF Tl l l l E N V I R Ol i S OT' C H IN A ' S A N C IE N T C A P ITA LS .
5

of the Lo, Ching, Wei rivers " and the nrme of Hwayin perhaps the unexpecietl discovery of ihe
tornb of the tll fti
('on the
# E (ffi) by nolthern slopeof the Hrva." Namos * ip, i.e. of ihe Groat llan of Shansi,in Honan.
like p Vfr, +fl $ (if they are narnes)which have a procediug lVhen lve carneto Lung_rrreu(Dragon Gate)
we saw two
de{iuition (fr[|, t) do not, of course, admit the a(blesaid rocliy sloJriughills, of tho gon.r'.1ohi'ese a'd
siberian outline,
rneaning. If wo imagine a place which is situated on the that seonr t ' clir . lr . p as ir ' t bey dicl it
against t heir r vilr .
uorthern bank of a river aud on the southorn foot of a I3ot. slopes of these razy rrilrs trrat a'c tur'ed
torvardsthe
rnountain, we ought to say this lrllee is " on the yang side river Yi, rvhich .uns betlve.rr trror', are honoycombed
u.ith
of both." That is the explanation of tlto terrn Hsien-yang glottos in rvhich are sittiug quietly some
Buddhist figuros,
F rt VD , th e a n c i e n t n a m e of Tsi n S l ri h l l rrangti ' s capi tal the centre of our atteution. f cannot slry
vory much about
a n d mo d e rn n l m e o f H si en-yarrg-hsi en (f,fi B m), a < l i stri ct the figures thtt are most frequerrtlymot rvith
insicle of theso
near to Si-ngan-fu. grottos, although they betray sornetimestho
influenceof.oal
From this place rvc procee,lc,ltliroctly to the s<luth of fndian art. Thc great majority of them represent
a very
H o -n a n -fu (L o -y a n g -h si en),our poi nt of i nterest bei ng sonre well ku.wn group showing Budtlrra with his
trvo bare-hearle<I
Iluddhist sculptures ai the Dragon (itte of Honan (F FX tB disciples, buddhisatras ad libittnn iu numbor
and tho four
FT). Ou our rvay there rve visitetl r lrlnce called ffi ffi ffi, " celestial kings," ugly and f,earful creatures, tr.ampling
I(wan-lin-miao, i.e. grave of Iirvanti ($f, )t ff Ff, ffi ;| E undor thoir feet demonsor evil-doors.
tr &). That is a big Jrlacervith sorno huge temples, the The real gem of altistic rvork is not, however,
to be {bund
most interosting of rvhich is perhaps one lvhere the divinitv in theso figuros. We have to go farther on,
and cliscoverit
is reprosentedas reading rvith respecttho Annals of Confucius in tlvo or rnore grottos ,rvhicharo of an old
dato antl requirc a
(# d t) o n o n e s i d e of the templ c and sl eepi ng qui etl v patient investigatiorr. In theso grottos we
seea syrnmetrieal
i n h i s b e rl o n th o o th e r. S omo huge panel s i ntroduce you row of nicely shaped niches. Insitle of
each of them is
to th e n ry s tc l v o f th i s rel i gi ous couccpti on. Ono of thonr sitti'g n budtlhisatra,represe'ted as a beautiful
fomale figure
s a y s: i S * R , i .r." tre n tl . rl i ngl yl oarl i ng." A notl rer aunoul l ces
: with graceful form. ,Iireso aro rvorkcd out
so boldly antl
| j | .ffi " re p o s i n gr l i ttl c !" To tl rosorvhoaro acquai ntedl vi th finely as to fill you r'ith restheticale'thusiasm. yo'
adnriro
th e s tv l e o f th o C h i n e setreatnrent,ol ' thci r rel i gi oussubj octs in these figures the fiue conception of the
hurnarr body,
th e re i s n o th i n g p a rti cul arl y rcrnarknbkr i n tl ri s templ e. perfecily p.opor.tionod,postured *nd set to
the ,uu"uruot
In the provincc of Shansi, u'horo tlro r:ult of I(rvauti is of life. 'Ihe waist is rather too slentler, but
you rvill see
predominaut,one lnrv seesornctirnosr householtlof I(rvantis romothing moro akiu to our idea of proportion
il, you clirnb
representedlike sorns tnre Lrourgeoiswith their nurnerous up to tho top of the hill. you rvill seo iu
:r grotto two
progeny iu the hands of nurses, with liitchen fully providerl rculpturod figures, which will inrpressyou at
onco, uud you
rill ask yourself immediately: But rvhere
with utonsilsand irnplernents,lvith sclibos, poltors, otc. etc. is tho (, druopdrt,,?
T h i s i s c o m m o n to th e C hi nesorel i gi on i n general ,and there To lirrrl tlre Greek stylc of sculpturo in Chiua,
is in no
is nothing olse to bo noticed at this place if u'e execlrt try usuul lbr au tlchreologist.
 ARCT I.IIOL OOT Ci L S U R Y D Y O!' TU E E N \-IITON S
The inscriptionsat tho sidtlsof tlre statuosin thesoniches
to l l v o u th tt s u c h o r s uch un E mpress, Generalor sornebody
nndcr thoir cornmand, bealing velv often u, foreigu name
(Hun, Turli, or T:rrtar), enrployerlan &rtist to cut an image
of this ol that buddhisatra. Togcther rvith sorlre verv
intelesting brs-reliefs, rvhich reprosent religious cerernonies
a t th e e a l l v e p o c h of tho l enl tri urnl rh of the C l ri nese
Buddhism, thcso figules illustllio to us rnost brilliantly
th e p e ri o ,lo f C h i n e s eArb fol i hr' 5th rtrr,l{l t,hccrrturi r-rs
of our
e l a (N o l th o rn \\ro i ffi d1' nastr' ). ' l ' l r,' i rrrl rol tunceof these
s e u l l rtu rc -s
rv i l l b e d u l y i l l ustraterl:rn,l cxl rl ti netl i n the coul se
of tn'o ol tlrree yorrs by I\[. Clrlvrrrru,'s. 'I'his future booli on
th e H i s to rl ' o f U h i n e seS cul pturrrlA l t (as a supl rl ernent in a
nerv edition of his -A-ofes .sro'/crsru/pill'(, su?"pierrr: en UIhu')
will give us n complctotreatiseon tlris subject, provirled rvitlr
rlata and facts. It rvill give us also numerousreproductions
of photoglnphs and rubbings thnt htve been talien rluring
our travols in Shuutung and oul' stay at the I)ragon Grte of
H o n a tr.
l ' e rl rn 1 ,sn o t o v crv one of my readers i s tcquai ntcd
rv i th rv h rt I s h o u l d r,al l " r' el i gi ousvandl l i srn" i n C hi na,
s o l c t n ro i n tro rl u c (] you to thi s yrccul i ar fomr of the
e a rtre s tz e rl o l C )h i n osopcol rl e. S rrl ,l rosethrt there i s an
a n c i e n t s trtu e i n l )ro cossof l rri n : r l ol i gi orrso.r' el ool i sat i b
c o m p a s s i o n & teal vn tl tl rcn tl eci rl tsto r.ovt' r' i l ,rvi th a rnask ol '
p a i n te d c l a y , rs i t rv i l l cel tni rrl .r'" l ook botter." B udtl ha
rvill be transfornrcrlinto Lroclriin ol gornobodvelso, it does
llot matterlvhorn, anrl all traceso{' [lro aneiout wor]<'lvill lre
b u l i e d u n d e r tb i s b a rbarousdi sgui sc. ' l hi s sort of tl ri ng rve
notice overyrvherein Chinr.
Tho rocky countr'.y alountl tho Oentlal Sacred Peali
of Chiua (H t!) lrts yerv furv rcuririns of anticluity.
These are ropresentedby six stono gato pillals of the HLur
OT C E IN A .S A N C IE N ' | C A P ITA LS .
efoch, eugraved rvith rnost interesting bas-relicfs. Thesobas-
reliefs give us a supplementnryillustration to the -qcriesof Han
bas-r'oliefsthlt uro linorvu to us, th:tnks to 1\I. Ohavannesand
Dr. Bushell, lnrl thut alo to l-rofound iu the countl'y of
C hi a-t- siang- hsieu
; i [ T nf f , belonging t o t ho dist r ict of
Chi-ning iF{ @, of the Slrarrtrrngprovince. \\rc firrtl in thenr
the sanrebold aud fine irictnle of tho ever')'(lirylifo of thtt,
period as in those of Sh.rntung. Moreover, hele too rve
noticc imrnediatelya peculiar sct of urythological irnrges of
the sa ur e opoch of Han, pr oduced by a ver y or iginal aud
unl'ettered irnagination, and treatetl with t remarl<able
sinrplicity tnd vigour'. Thcse bas-reliefi are of plime
importancefor the students of Chinese Art and ancient folk-
lole, although the latter subject is very difficult to cope
with. We do not, indecd, understandin the snbjectsof these
Han bas-r'eliefsmany of the irnages, figures, rllnsions, but
the tirns has now conle 1'or rvolliing out the rnltelial by
a scientific method {'ronr the iircts anrl rlatn as lvell as flonr
reproduct ionsof genuine specim ens.
Faithfnl to nry l)urposoof giviug hore only an archreo-
logical survey of the countfy around Loyrng aud
Ch'angugan, I rnust 161 -*peali tbout lvhat I should call
'( tnodern antiquities" in that countrr', such as tlre tenrlrlcof
the C ent lal l'eak ( {t #ilS1) ; which lilt e ncr r '1y ull ol' t hr :
ternplcsof O hina is built accoldingt o a conr r r r orlrr r t . hilt 'cl. unr l
recipe. It is ceriainly built after the nrodcl of thc, Iirrnous
tenrploof the Eastcln Peak (R f# Ifi).
Another temple ofl this liind is ilf ffi im " t,t,rnploof
Iurl rcrialLougevit y, " r vhich is sit uat ed,lilio t , lr t tror nlr ll ol' t he
DustenrPeak, at the foot.of this mountain iu tho slrno rlistrict
of " Sacrificial Asccnsion" (H U ffi). 'l'ho uurneof this
totrrlrlo (not its moclern ntrne, rvhich is ffi mE ,'tf, the pnlaco
of tho gorl rvho bestorystho highest point of happiness[see
6 A R c H .ra o L o ctcAsuR
L Y E yoF I' tr& E N yInoN S 0!' cHrNA'sANcrnNTclptrll,g. I

P t.
fre g g e , Sl ,l -l ;i tt,1 , III, B k.2, ode 4 $ 4]) shorvsus thftt i t the E mper or aud Dur lir cssDowagert ook r ef ugein 1900; r vit h
w n g b u i l t i n rn e rn o ry of a fi ne i nci dent of Ohi nesehi stori cal sonre traces of the l\fanchu rlominion, etc. etc. A kind of
lore, r'i--.that,lvhen the \\rrrrior Dmperot of the Han rl.vnasty Epigraphical l\Iuseurn (6prff) hy the side of the Confucian
\yls oscending the Ceutral Pcali for the purposeof sacrifice temple affortls sonrc inl,erestirrginscriptions, sorne of which
(H *l), all the people arourld heard the mountain shoutiug I\f. Olritvirrrrreshus allearly l,ublished in thc Rrtlletitt de
" I\lyriad years! " to tho Emperor (t! W H A). As to the l'Ilcole lirun,,'aise tl' Ii,ttrhne ( )rient. The rnost irnportant of
tntiquitios, thero is but one thing of inrportance to the the fi g ur es and inscr ipt ions f ound at t he neighboulhood of
studentsof 0lrineso histor'.1', r.e. a declee of (ienghis l(han in Si-rtgan-flnare the six horsesof the secondErnperor (^ *),
fa v o u r < l f th e ' I' u c i s t p l i ests, w ri ttott i n a pecrrl i al l \Iougol - of the T(ang dvnasty a nice specirncnof a fino and artistic
C h i n e s os ty l o rru rl c u t or a stono rvhi ohrvo fonnrl hal f Lul i ed Chinese worli, and sorne culious inscriptions of fcrreign
in the ealtlr. dvnast iesin China.
'l'lroro are nrtny iutelesting tiriugs to bo seon nt tlre
rrronasteryof tho Young llorust (r) t $) situatedon one of
the sido slopes of tlro ltooli. Such aro, for instance, the
irnages of burldhisatras,a supel'natulally-taken irnagc of a
rnost renownerlguest of this place-Budidharrna, but nothing
of especialintelest to au archreologist.
Tho loute from Loytng (Ho-uan-fu) to Ch'ung-ngalr
(Si-ngnn-fu) illustrutes the suro position that has been the
happy destiny of the rulers of this country " hrsido of
IJarriers" (En 4t). The road passesbetweoDtwo high walls
of lrard loess folnrirtion antl is rluite intccessibleto invasiorr
from the outsitlo.
Beforetreaclriug (Jh(aug-ngan\ye l)assb,l' tbe temple of
tbe \\restoln Peali, rvhich is situatcrl on the northern foot
o f th i s mo u n ta i n (H r va-shan #j tl 1). l ts huge bui l di ngs
a re n o t o f m o ro i rn l rortancethan those i n the templ e of i he
Central I'eali. I bolievo too that thel' aro likewise built
after tho plan of the Dastern Peali ternple in Shantung.
Tlre Wostorn Oapital of China, tho rnodern city of
*
Si-ngan-fu, is likewise of some littlo irnportance for the
archaologist, but it is, of course,very interostingin itself as a
big city rvith its f'arnoustravelling palnce ('11p), in rvhich