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 V

THE DATING OF METAL OBJECTS

Concerning northern Chinese frontier art there are many unanswered ques-
tions, and indeed many that are impossible to answer under actual conditions of
scientific knowledge. There is one problem, that from an archeological point
of view is more important than any other : that of dating objects. Until now
literature has not seriously studied this question, and for that reason we shall
place particular emphasis upon it in the following pages. We must remind our
readers once more that chronological bases such as dates, names of owners, in
short all that may be termed inscriptions, are nearly entirely lacking. There are
few facts when attempting to classify according to period. They are in fact so
scarce that a future study based on archeological and philological research may
perhaps reach conclusions which somewhat differ from those attained here. We
must not forget the accidental quality of the proofs we believe to possess and with
which we uphold our theory, but it is impossible to refrain from an attempt at
some chronological classification. One single reason among those enumerated
further on would not suffice in many cases for the date chosen. It is only the
coincidence of different causes that has led me to believe that not all objects
created at the Chinese frontier under northern Asian influence should carry the
designation "Han" with which they have been labeled until now. In certain
cases we shall advance the limit of a date by about one millennium, admitting
that the art in question may have enjoyed a long life in our particular region.
Its tradition still existed in the II millennium. This would not be possible if be-
tween the Han and Yüan epochs there were no works of art which continued
ancient forms. In the passage of years such forms underwent considerable trans-
formation and change of style. But a criticism of style is always dangerous in
the East, particularly in a region still obscure from want of serious excavations.
Trusting to such a method one too easily forgets the possibility of the migration
of objects easy to transport, and the more or less well developed capacities of the
artisan. We must not neglect these sources of error.
On the other hand we should not be surprised to find an artistic retardation