Synopsis
In the spring of 1914 a French archaeological expedition, led by the French poet and medical doctor Victor Segalen, entered the Province of Sichuan in order to do research on burial mounds of the Han era (206 BCE-220 CE) and early Chinese Buddhist iconography and epigraphy. Research in this realm still continues in Sichuan today, but the means and techniques of the archaeologists and art historians are more complex and advanced compared to those of a century ago. Segalen, who lived in China from 1909 until 1914, was fluent in the Chinese language and was able to read ancient Chinese writings. He was a great admirer of Chinese culture and history.
