in Shen-si and in Shan-si, the Jung; to the north around the Yellow River, the Ti; to the south on the Yang-tse, the Man. The latter, kin to the Tibetans and the Asiatics of the southwest, do not concern us here. Maspero considers some of the Jung, the Ti, and probably the I, as Chinese, while he calls the rest of the Jung, and some tribes less frequently mentioned, Tungus and Huns. He proves in this way that some members of the family of north Asiatic peoples were neighbours of the Chinese. In any case, at the beginning of the Chou Dynasty, the I and the Ti were also northern nomads who were only very slowly assimilated. The texts have much that is instructive to say about these people. The ancient Chinese considered them as dangerous foreigners. It is often said of them, " The barbarians are insatiable wolves " (8), " lacking affection and greedy " (9) " the barbarians from the west and the north give free rein to their feelings " (io), that is, they did not live as did the Chinese, in a society regulated by custom and ceremonial. But it is particularly remarked that they differ above all, in costume, in head-dress and in food (z r). They eat uncooked food, probably raw meat (12); they migrate from home to home (i 3), a characteristic sign of nomads. Human sacrifice proves the cruelty of their customs (14). However they gradually become influenced by Chinese civilization, but succeed nevertheless, particularly in the mountains, in maintaining their independance until the IV Century B.C. 05). For the Chinese there were always two ways of dealing with these awkward and dangerous neighbours : one was to assimilate them, and to let them slowly melt into Chinese society ; the other was to push them as far back as possible from the Chinese frontier, and with fortifications prevent their return. That results could be attained with a method of pacification is proved by the description : " Barbarians pacified and governed " (16), quoted in the III Century B.C. The texts often speak of walls serving for defense; the most important fortifications of this type date from the year 219 B.C. (i7).
It is mentioned several times in historical texts that Chinese princes adopted customs of the barbarians 08). Mixed marriages were the fashion 09). It would therefore appear very possible that certain forms of belief as well as certain artistic forms may have seeped into Chinese society from bordering nations. Hentze has shown that in frequent cases there are myths common to both regions (zo), but here we are only concerned with pointing out the correlative artistic motives. When we attempt to do so in the following pages we are surely warranted in comparing the Chou forms with later examples from the north. The nomads learnt the use of metals later than did nations possessing a higher civilization. But they retained along, with their old myths, artistic forms that are also extremely ancient.
3) Works of art.
The reprensentation of the owl is part of the old inheritance of the Chou.
IIIFカラー高解像度
