Evening star., 1932-04-03
CAVERNS REVEALED
/ AS CHINESE TOMBS.
esappesed Cave Dwellings
/ Bare Old Customs Still
| in Use.

Exploration of some ancient tombs In
Western China, chiseled out Of solid
sandstone and long reported to have
been the habitat of vanished race OF
primitive cave dwellers, is reported by
David c. Graham, Smithsonian Insti-
tuition collaboration.
g He has sent to the National Museum
o large collection of artifacts gathered
In these caverns, thousands of which
are scattered through Szechwan Prov
ince and along the Tibetan border. The
Smithsonian explorer found they were
actually Chinese tombs dating from
about the beginning of the Christian
era. The popular belief is that they
were the dewlling places Of aborigines
who occupied the country before the
coming of the Chinese Graham, how
ever, was unable to find any support
ing evidence Of this belief. while the
wall carvings and artifacts indicate
clearly that the caverns were burial
places.
Ancient Custom Traced.
OF special interest, Graham says. are
the image of human beings. Some Of
these may show the extraordinary per-
sistence Of custom over thousands of
years. One figure appears to be that
OF clown or comedian. 1t suggests,
the finder says, that the cave builders
had reached a cultural stage where
they were devotees of the theater.
THE left eye" Graham reports, "is
half closed. while the other is wide
open. The face is contorted, the
mouth is drawn out Of shape and the
tongue protrudeS. A bit of plaster ad-
heres above the right eye. On the
Chinese stage today it is customary for
clowns to wf1iten themselves around
the eyes. A second possible stage figure
is strange human being having large
tusks and a long tongue hanging down
his chest. The Chinese say this figure
still persists in local theatricals and has
been known on the stage for hundreds,
If not thousands, of years.
I'VE may assume that the people
who constructed these caves admired
beautiful women, for the artifacts in
cluded many fragments of female
f1gurines. A number OF heads show
undeniable beauty ana unquestioned
skill on the part of the artist. Some
have jewels on their mats. In most
cases the features are rather dimly in
dicated, but there is a smile in each
case and the noses are distinctly Mon
golian. In this they resemble present.
day Chinese women and, according to
the Chinese standards at least, both
grace and beauty are recognized"
Slender Girls in Style.
Apparently it was fashionable for
girls to be slender. Nearly all the
hgurines found by Graham were Of this
type. The only exception was an image
of a girl with double chin and her
hair arranged with bangs cut off just
above the eyebrows, popular form of
coiffure among girls OF the locality to
this day.
One Of the most common artifacts
found by Graham was the earthenware
coffin. Sometimes one is still seen con-
tanning human bones. Almost all the
caves have coffin inches. The clay
images of men and animals, Graham
says, presumably were placed in the
tombs as substitutes for real persons
or animals and indicate the stage of
culture at which the makers had ar
rived.
There Is much evidence, he points
out, that among the ancient Chinese it
was customary to kill and bury human
beings with kings, mobiles and others of
the upper classes. With them also were
buried fowls, dogs, jewelry and money.
Later images Of wood and straw were
substituted for the living, and Ly the
SzecnWan cave period 1t was customary
to use clay images. A little later peo-
pie began to burn paper money in the
tombs instead of leaving real money.
They believed that burning transformed
it into real money that could be used
by the departed souls in the other world
just as well as actual coins The custom
still Is followed at some Chinese
funerals.
Servant Pictured.
The ngurines presumably represented
The persons and objects the dying man
desired to have with him through eter-
nifty. One careful soul apparently was
concerned over the servant problem in
the hereafter. In the tomb was placed
a representation of a servant with a
broom and dustpan very similar to the
sort used in almost every respectable
home In the province at present