国立情報学研究所 - ディジタル・シルクロード・プロジェクト
『東洋文庫所蔵』貴重書デジタルアーカイブ

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTION

In recent years there have been brought to our notice by art dealers and some
archeologists who import Chinese art, certain objects which are not sufficiently
explained by the artistic development of the Far East alone. Among these
dealers, C.T. Loo and Co. have for some years been accumulating a group of
articles permitting a study of this art today. These objects have already inte-
rested sinologues, and the question of their origin has provoked considerable
discussion. We are usually given some indication as to their provenance, connec-
ting them with countries bordering the north of China. It has been possible
at times to make this origin appear probable, even to prove it, but little has been
gained by an approximative geographic determination. These objects from the
north of China have for the most part been brought to us with no report of
their discovery, with no tomb inventories, and above all with no inscriptions,
that is to say, with none of those means by which science is usually helped, when
it endeavours to classify unknown material.
Difficulty begins at once with the designation of these articles. The adjective
" Scythian " has frequently been used by dealers, who with this word wish to
convey the idea that such articles owe some part of their artistic formation to
the inhabitants of the Eurasiatic Steppes. This is no doubt true, only unfor-
tunately, in certain cases we do not know in detail what tribe nor even what
race from the northern frontier of China may be considered as inspiring this
art. This search for the creator is at once combined with a search for the period
of creation, since we have sufficient information on the succession of the different
peoples on the continent of Eurasia, thanks to historical documents of both
East and West. With the adjective " Scythian " we refer only to the first ethnical
group the existance of which has been historically proved, and which inhabited
the extreme west of the zone of the Steppes. In attempting to start exclusively
from the Scythians in order to determine the period of all this Chinese frontier
art, a date is reached that in most cases seems to us too early (1). Besides it is