Vyvyan Donnithorne was of
Cornish descent. He was educated at
Christ's Hospital,
Clare College, Cambridge and
Ridley Hall, Cambridge. After
wartime service in the
Royal Hampshire Regiment he was
ordained in 1919. He was a member of the
Church Missionary Society in
Szechwan (now romanized as Sichuan), West China from 1920 to 1949. He served as pastor in the
Gospel Church of Hanchow, since 1929. He was a
chaplain in the
Canary Islands, Spain from 1949 to 1953. In retirement, he lived in
Hong Kong. He died in 1968 and was buried in
Hong Kong Cemetery. He was the father of
Audrey Donnithorne; and was one of the key figures in the discovery of the archaeological site now known as
Sanxingdui. A well to do farmer had discovered jade implements while dredging an irrigation ditch in 1927. This was near
Hanchow, where Donnithorne was stationed, and the discovery was brought to his attention in 1931. He recognized the importance of the discovery and contacted a local magistrate as well as
Daniel S. Dye, a professor of geology at
West China Union University. The three of them then visited the site and photographed and measured it. Through the magistrate, a few items were acquired and sent to the museum at WCUU. Then, in 1934,
David Crockett Graham, the new director of the museum at WCUU, organized the first archaeological excavation of the site. == See also ==