The Snapshots in Time Collection

Stone Spirit-Way Official Statue at Chinese Imperial Tomb Site, Photographed by U.S. Navy Personnel, WWII Era

Stone Spirit-Way Official Statue at Chinese Imperial Tomb Site, Photographed by U.S. Navy Personnel, WWII Era

A stone guardian statue depicting a robed civil official stands amid construction debris at a historic tomb site in China, photographed by U.S. Navy air transport personnel during a wartime or postwar layover. Such statues traditionally lined the ceremonial 'Spirit Way' approach to imperial tombs, and this snapshot reflects the informal sightseeing common among American servicemen stationed or transiting through China in the 1940s. Project: 218213