The high standard of artistic achievement attained by the people of the Shang and Chow Dynasties Was described by Professor James 'M. Menzies in a lecture to the Royal Asiatic Society, on Thursday, Profes [sor Menzies said that the period under consideration was the same as that of Tutankhamen, whose tomb yielded such wonderful results a few years ago. Few people, had been willing to consider the Shang dynasty anything but mythical, From' the oracle bones found at "Anyang, in North Honan, and from recent excavations of royal tombs by. the Academia Sinica, they now knew that China's culture and art were comparable with that of the Near East at the same period, The particular form of Chinese art in this period was the sacrificial bronzes. with which the people soci ficed to their ancestors. Royal tombs contained many of these, some very Jarge and all very beautiful, The designs were quite different to those found in the West, and were very Supajou.
Menzies elaborate and intricate. Animal forms largely formed the motif, and over these bronzes were found. conventionatized dragons, phenix, tigers, Yams, oxen, boars, and pythons, The art of the Shang dynasty was represented not only by bronzes, but more particularly by carved ivories, Bones and jade were among. the mediums in which the artists of the Shang dynasty worked. Carved stone portrayed grotesque. animals, but in no case did they find anything that seemed to represent idols oF fetishes.
Taken as & whole, the art of the Shang dynasty showed little similarity to that of the Near East, This was so obviously true that scholars now postulated an entirely indigent ous origin for Chinese culture, China lid have contacts with the West at later periods, but the beginnings were peculiarly its own, China, declared Professor Menzies, had much to contribute fo the common world civilization that was to be, and all the more so because its origins seemed to be independent of those of the West.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.