Page 45 - The Golden Age of Chinese Archaeology: Celebrated Discoveries from the People’s Republic of China

1 The jin shi xue was formally established during the North- 17 For accounts of Warner's activities, see Bowie, 1966,
ern Song dynasty (960-1127). See Wei 1937; and Rudolph 114-122, and Hopkirk 1980, 209-222. Russian archaeolo-
1963. Although early antiquarian activities in China are gists as well removed works of art in the course of their
often treated as "archaeology," in this article the term is expeditions during the late nineteenth and early twenti-
used narrowly to describe scientific excavations and eth centuries. In 1898, D. Klementz organized the first
surveys, as well as related research, undertaken since the Russian archaeological expedition to Turfan, Xinjiang.
late nineteenth century. During this venture, he removed some wall paintings
2 Roman, Greek, and Egyptian archaeology were established from temples. For this expedition's report, see Klementz
earlier than Chinese archaeology; for related history, see 1899. In addition, Russian K. Koslov (1863-1935) went to
Daniel 1975. Xinjiang, Qinghai, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia regions six
3 For discoveries of oracle-bone inscriptions, see Li Ji 1977, times between 1883 to 1926. His most important achieve-
3-31; for a related comprehensive study, see Keightley ment was the discovery and excavation of the ancient
1978. For the Dunhuang discoveries, see Chavannes 1913; cities at Heicheng, Inner Mongolia, in 1907-1909.
Pelliot 1920-1924; Waley 1931; Luo 1914; and Whitfield Meanwhile, he took more than eleven thousand pieces
1982-1985. of manuscript and works of art to Russia; they are now in
4 Chinese academics generally consider the jin shi xue the the collections of the Institute of Oriental Studies and the
predecessor of Chinese archaeology. See Xia 1979; Xia State Hermitage Museum. Between 1902 and 1914, the
and Wang 1986; and Wang 1986. German Albert von Le Coq (1860-1930) went to Xinjiang.
5 These include the Japanese invasion and the Second He collected and removed many documents, frescoes,
World War (1937-1945), the Civil War (1945-1949), the and sculptures and took them to Germany. Many were
Anti-Rightists Campaign (1957-1958), and the Cultural destroyed during the Second World War. See Hopkirk
Revolution (1966-1976). For accounts of modern Chinese 1980,114-146, 200-202, and 229-231.
history and related events, see Fairbank and Feuerwerker 18 Hopkirk 1980, 223 - 227.
1986, 519-550; MacFarquhart and Fairbank 1987,138-152, 19 Hedin 1943-1945.
253-258; and 1991. 20 For Xu Bingxu's (Xu Xusheng) history and scholarship, see
6 Since the late 19705, people in the field have termed the Huang 1981.
present stage of Chinese archaeology the "Golden Age." 21 Xu 1931; and Hedin 1943-1945.
For example, see Chang 1977, 623; Zhongguo 1984^ and 22 Yuan 1983. In fact, some objects remained in Sweden after
Dien 1999. related research was completed.
7 For related history and social background, see Fairbank 23 For the biography of V. K. Ting, see Hu 1956
1978 and 1983. 24 Li Ji 1977, 35-48.
8 The May Fourth Movement originated with a Beijing 25 Luo 1910; Luo 1914; Wang 1959; and Zhongguo 1994,1-6.
University student demonstration against a treaty signed 26 Xia 1979.
by the Beijing leadership that favored foreign interests. 27 Andersson summarized his accomplishments in geology
It soon developed into a movement against imperialism and palaeontology thus; "By a series of fortunate circum-
and feudalism and generated the New Culture Campaign, stances I was on several occasions the pioneer. In 1914 I
which sought to reassess the Chinese cultural and intel- was the first to stumble upon the organic origin of stro-
lectual heritage while advocating Western science and matolite ore. In 1918 I discovered the Collenia nodules and
democracy. During this period, classical language and recognized their connection with similar 'fossils' in the
writing were superseded by the vernacular. For Western pre-Cambrian area of North America. In the same year we
and Marxist views of the May Fourth movement and discovered the first Hipparion field in China made known
phenomenon, see Hua 1952; Chow 1960; Lin, 1978; and to science. In 1919 we found the beaver fauna at Ertemte
Fairbank 1983, 464-504. in Mongolia." See Andersson 1934, foreword, xviii.
9 Liang 1959, 8. For contributions of other Chinese schol- 28 See Andersson 1934, xviii.
ars during that period, see Yu 1983. For Liang Qichao's 29 Pumpelly 1908. According to current knowledge, the
history, thought and scholarship, see Levenson 1959: cultural remains at Shaoguotun belong to the Hongshan
Chang 1971; and Huang 1972. and the post-Hongshan (Xiaoheyan culture) cultures. See
10 Several foreign expeditions can be traced back to the mid- Liaoning i997d, 3-4.
nineteenth century. For instance, John Andersson, an 30 Andersson 1923 and 1934,163-187.
Englishman who worked in India, went to Yunnan 31 Andersson 1924,18-20; 1934, 224-276; and 1943, 295.
province and collected some polished stone objects 32 Andersson 1934, 97; and 1943,17-19.
around 1860. See Andersson 1871. 33 For comprehensive evaluations of Andersson's scholarship,
11 Torri 1910. see Chen 19913; and Zhang 1998.
12 For more detailed accounts, see Mizuno, 1948, 6-37; and 34 Andersson stated that "I have a feeling that there lie here
Chen 1997, 43-45. the remains of one of our ancestors and it is only a ques-
13 For a comprehensive account of the foreign expeditions, tion of your finding him. Take your time and stick to it till
see Hopkirk 1980. the cave is emptied, if need be." See Andersson 1934,101.
14 For Stein's accomplishments, see Stein 1907,1912,1921, 35 Grabau designated the discovery Peking Man. Black
1928, and 1933; and Mirsky 1977. named it Sinanthropus Pekinensis after his exhaustive study
15 Waley 1931; and Whitfield 1982 -1985. in 1927. See Andersson 1934,104; and Black 1927.
16 Pelliot 1920-1924; and Gies and Cohen 1995. 36 For reports of these discoveries, see Pei 1929 and 1931;

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