Evening star., 1928-06-03

to Mr.. Freer's genius ror Winning Sy,
respect Of Chinese savants, artisa.
oealers and private owners OF rare ar.
and gives the following description OF
now tne Jade sword blade in the gallery
was obtained:
THE famous Jade sword blade is one
OF the most spectacular examples of the
position Freer gradually established for
himself In China. All the japanese COL
lectors, all Europe and America knew
that this glorious and royal treasure
must be one day offered up BY the
viceroy's widow. Great was the rivalry
for the priceless scabbard. Freer never
moved hand TO grasp what he wanted
more than anything on earth until It
was delicateiy conveyed TO him that ne
alone might be successful In winning
the much-prized blade If he considered
1t worthy OF his honored collection. SO
understanding, so considerate and so
Just was Freer In his relations with
these people that he had offered TO him
again and again as a personal tribute
precious family heirlooms that were not
for sale, as well as outstanding cele-
brated objects for which the Oriental
and Occidental words were wing"
Mr.. Freer left some Of MS fortune for
further acquisitions Of Chinese and
other Oriental art, and the Arrangement
Of the works now In the gallery fol-
lowed broadly Mr. Freer's wishes, as
understood by the curator Of the GAL
lery, John E Lodge. who knew Mr..
Freer intimately. The regents Of the
Smithsonian Institution have general
supervision Of the Freer Gallery.
~
ONE Of the more recent activities Of
the Freer Gallery has been study
in China Of archaeological remains by
the associate curator. Carl Whiting
Bishop Mfr Bishop returned last year
from four years research, when the
civil war made investigations In the In
terror impracticahle. During that visit
Mr.. Bishop accumulated data on an
cient burial mounds, temples, sculp-
lures. sites Of ruined cities, the Great
Wall and similar works Of the highest
importance to scholars and historians.
and since his arrival in Washington has
been classifying and recording the data
to make the facts available to interested
persons.
A difficulty in this research was the
reluctance Of the Chinese to have their
burial mounds explored. In Egypt the
ancient tombs have been opened and
much light thereby has been thrown
on Egyptian history, but in China rev.
erence for the dead still operates to bar
similar explorations. What Mr.. Bishop
has done of great value. however, is to
locate many of the important ruins
and mounds, so that when China is will
ing to have them explored, archeologists
here and abroad will have the adyan-
tage Of this preliminary field work
It was part Of Mr.. Bishops concep-
ton Of the work to train Chinese as
sistants, who are continuing the re-
search work as much as the upset con-
ditions in China will permit, and many
Chinese leaders now are awake TO the
desirability Of preserving ruins and
ultimately Of examining them IN the
light Of scientific knowledge. When
China will settle down sufficiently 70
permit Of large operations N this way
is not predictable nov.
Having used airplanes in his ex-
plorations in China, Mr.. Bishop stronp
favors this method OF obtaining the
best view at least Of ruined temples and
cities. On horseback or on foot it
often is harder to comprehend the ftil
plan of the places being mapped.
While aviation among the Chinese is
not extensively practiced, the civil war
is spreading a knowledge Of flying, and
when peace comes this technical train
ing may be turned into research work.
It seems safe 10 say that the data
accumulated by Mr.. Bishop plus the
data already possessed by the gallery
make 1t pre-eminert in this respect as
well as in actual Chinese art objects
Experts the world over are veering
toward Washington to get the benef:
Of the art and literary resources as
sembled here. While special emphasis
has been given to Chinese works and
data in this article. the various muse
ums and libraries of Washington have
facilities for studying the art. ltera-
ture and history of all other nations,
in varying degrees Of excellence, so
that the National Capital is now ap-
proximating the ideal held up for it
by President Coolidge of becoming the
world center Of culture.