3．Field Method As Demonstrated by Western Geologists，Paleontologists，and Archaeologists in China in the Early Twentieth Century

This chapter is designed to give a general explanation of how Western learning in conjunction with traditional Chinese cultivation of antiquarian study confluently gave birth to archaeology in modern China.

It has often been questioned why，in the long tradition of Chinese culture，in which learning in general and antiquity as a special branch of study have enjoyed such a long history，investigation of the past never extended beyond the limits of book reading and treasure hunting．This pointed question undoubtedly deserves a certain amount of discussion．But if we go into the query at length，we may have to say a great deal about the traditional methods of learning，involving epistemology，philosophy，problems of value，and so on．This is definitely not the place to deal with all these big questions，although they are certainly in one way or another related to the query raised above．There is，however，a relatively simple answer，which can at least summarize Chinese traditional attitudes toward what is considered learning，and which may be helpful to those looking for a detailed explanation of the nature of the problem．Let us quote Mencius，in T'eng-wen-kung：“There is the saying，'Some labour with their minds，and some labour with their strength．Those who labour with their minds govern others；those who labour with their strength are governed by others．……'”^[41] Adherence to this maxim，and others like it，led to the following results：

1．Beginning with the Sung dynasty，every schoolboy's mentality had been molded by the sayings of Confucius and Mencius，which he has committed himself to memorize.

2．Once patternized，it becomes difficult to deviate from the standard.

3．There is a certain amount of self-satisfaction which all mental workers find in these sayings of Mencius quoted above—an egoism，that only modern psychology could adequately explain.

The general result of this education，as might be expected，is not only to accept the saying of Mencius as a general truth with regard to all social arrangements，but also to accept it as a standard for intellectual pursuits．To labor with the mind was gradually limited to book readings，especially after the invention of printing（which，as everybody knows，took place at least earlier than the Northern Sung dynasty）.

On the other hand，if we take a look at the development of archaeology in the West，we find that at the close of the nineteenth century，anthropology had already developed into a special department of research，and archaeology under its influence also had gained status in the highly specialized prehistoric research inaugurated by the French prehistorian Jacques Boucher de Perthes（1788-1868），who started his search for evidences of human industry on the banks of the Somme as early as 1830，^[42] nearly thirty years before the publication of Charles Darwin's Origin of Species．Yet as late as 1899，when D．G．Hogarth，director of the British School at Athens，still held the belief that archaeology of material evidences alone was the“Lesser Archaeology，”the prevailing opinion was that only those finds which could be illuminated by literary documents，for example，those of Mariette，Layard，Newton，or Schliemann，constructed the“Greater Archaeology.”^[43]

From the beginning of this century，field workers in geology，paleontology，and archaeology spread across the world and field data gained importance by leaps and bounds．Old China，for centuries a hunting spot for European imperialism，was forced to open her door widely for whatever the“superior white power”liked to do，including field work in science．Geologists，geographers，and paleontologists as well as fortune hunters rushed to the Far East，particularly China．Among them were，as always，some real workers，a number of them true scientists，but，like political adventurers，they came and went freely without leaving the slightest trace on Chinese soil．Neither did they care，except，perhaps，for some missionary workers.

It was only after the revolution of 1911 that educated Chinese began to wake up．As it had in Europe，the“field method”as a way of learning established its influence on the Chinese mentality．The dual division of human labor set up by Mencius was“gone with the wind，”together with the required reading of the“Four Books.”^[44]

The revolution gave rise to fundamental changes not only in the politics and social structure of Eastern Asia，but，even more importantly，in the mentality of the educated class，who gradually changed their outlook on life.

It was in the early Republican era，in 1916，that the Geological Survey under government order was first organized in Peking，as an agency of the Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce．This institution in its initial stage was fortunately in the hands of a well-known geologist educated in England，who combined mental vigor with a genius for scientific organization．Above all，he was dedicated to the promotion of Western science in his country；his name in English was V．K．Ting.^[45]

With the Geological Survey as a center of his scientific activity，naturally Ting's first task was，as a matter of government policy and also for practical needs，to find mining deposits—of iron，coal，and other important minerals．To fulfill this official function，the newly established official organ certainly had plenty to do．Even more important to mention for our purposes，the surveying work was gradually extended to paleontology and still later to prehistoric archaeology．By this time university curricula already included departments of geology and paleontology so that university students also got acquainted with“field work”as a method of acquiring first-hand scientific knowledge．When Professor Wang Kuo-wei was asked（1925-1926）to give a course on Chinese paleography in the Ts'inghua Research Institute of National Learning，he divided the course data into two major groups，which he called“book data”and“underground data.”This may be taken as definite evidence that the influence of the field method of geological research had already reached the traditional scholars.

Since field method in Western science developed almost a century before its influence reached China，both the nature of problems investigated and techniques of operation had undergone，during the century，evolutionary changes．In fact the idea of“Evolution”itself，in scientific terms，became definite only within that century even in the West．But historically speaking，this basic idea，through the famous translation of Yen Fu，reached China earlier than other scientific conceptions and made a deeper impression on Chinese mentality than did any missionary attempts to introduce the West to China.^[46]

So by the time the Geological Survey was first set up，the psychological attitude of the Chinese intelligentsia had already encompassed the idea of science in general，and the theory of evolution was already deep in their consciousness．Whatever difficulties the Geological Survey had to face were more or less matters of practical politics rather than ideology.

The Geological Survey in its early history achieved several important administrative results．The most important of these was the training of a number of field surveyors，who，in addition to the fundamental knowledge of geology and related sciences，had also to acquire the modern method of land surveying．Each surveyor had to possess the physical capacity to carry his own instruments and to walk on foot no matter how long the journey might be．This was of course a definite break with the traditional training of“scholars”in old China，who labored with their minds only.