Zheng Yan also remembers his first field report on 10 unearthed pots-a record in technical language about their sizes, shapes and material. The 53-year-old says that, while he agrees with the standard approach to archaeology, his "feelings from field studies and museums are left unexpressed" if only convention is followed.

He says archaeology is seen as a science in China and that he hopes to bring cultural and artistic perspectives into it through his writings and translations of foreign studies in the field.

He holds a doctorate in archaeology and was involved in the excavation of the legendary Daming Palace site near Xi'an in 2000. He then spent 15 years in Shandong Museum before becoming a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. He was a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago and the National Gallery of Art in Washington.