Children of the Yellow Earth: Studies in Prehistoric China

Abstract

READERS of NATURE are aware of the important work accomplished by Dr. J. Gunnar Andersson in opening up the field of palaeontology in China, and preparing the setting for the epoch-making work of the late Prof. Davidson Black, to whom he dedicates his book in these words: “This volume is dedicated to the memory of my charming friend Davidson Black (f March 15, 1934), Professor at the Peking Union Medical College, who with such penetrating genius identified and described Sinanthropus pekinensis.” Not only did Dr. Andersson discover the site of the earliest phase of human history, but he also recovered the earliest known cultural remains in China, which provided evidence to confirm the reality of the intimate connexion between the first civilisation of China and that of Western Asia, and convincing evidence of the derivation of Chinese Culture indirectly from Mesopotamia, as suggested long ago, but without the conclusive evidence, by Prof. Terrien de la Couperie. The book he has written is not only a fascinating introduction to the early geological and cultural history of China, but also is deeply interesting as giving the great pioneer's account of the circumstances of his discoveries, written in a vivid and entertaining style which throws valuable light upon the personal factors of the international cooperation which led to such momentous results. Children of the Yellow Earth: Studies in Prehistoric China. By J. Gunnar Andersson. Translated from the Swedish by Dr. E. Classen. Pp. xxi + 345 + 32 plates. (London: Kegan Paul and Co., Ltd., 1934.) 25s. net.