Professor Su Bai’s Studies on Chinese Grottoes ,published by Cultural Relics Publishing House in 1996, provides us with a panoramic look at a branch of Chinese archaeology, i. e., the archaeology of Chinese grottoes. The book includes twenty-three papers written or published in the period from 1951 to 1996. The research of Chinese grottoes can be largely di-vided into two stages, one prior to the 1950s and the other since then. What differentiates one from the other is whether archaeological methods are involved in the reconnaissance and research of Chinese grottoes. The work in the first stage, either by foreign or Chinese scholars, was done largely from the perspective of history of art. The second stage, represented by Prof. Su bai, features the application of modern archaeological methods and techniques to the research of Chinese grottoes. The achievements made by Prof. Su Bai in founding the archaeology of Chinese grottoes are impressive, and his studies as presented in this book mirror the whole development of archaeological research in the area.
