Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/462

450 CHINA while the rain precipitated a flood in the N. E. [ Foreign vessels were able to supply the coun- try of the former region, but the other was in- accessible during the succeeding winter months by reason of the presence of ice, and many peo- pie died from starvation. This could not how- ' ever be taken as an indication of over popula- ! tion. The climates and soils of China are so diverse that a famine in any district can only be disastrous as a result of a failure of trans- portation. The Chinese speak but one lan- guage, but of course the aborigines still found in southern China, and those of Formosa and ; Hainan, have their own tongues. The spoken language has many dialects. It is not uncom- mon to find marked differences of pronuncia- tion on the different sides of a mountain range or of a stream. These differences are so great that difficulty is experienced by the Chinese of one section in understanding the speech of those from another district. The written lan- guage is the same everywhere. A special article is devoted to the Chinese language and litera- ture, but it may be said here that the language presents a great bar to the progress of the em- pire. More time is consumed by Chinese stu- dents in mastering the written language than is given in the countries of the West to the acquirement of a liberal education. The cele- brated literary examinations of China are di- rected to the inquiry whether the candidates can read and write with readiness and grace. The acquisition of general or special knowledge is not thought of, and the masses are kept in a state of degraded ignorance. The principal occupation of the Chinese is agriculture, which next to letters they consider the most honora- ble of all. In order to remind the people that agriculture is the basis of society, the emperor himself and the viceroys of the provinces once in every year perform the ceremony of plough- ing some furrows and sowing one of the grains. Nowhere is the soil cultivated more carefully and diligently. The implements used in their agriculture are very rude. The system of irri- gation is perfect, and the great importance of manuring is fully appreciated. As the scarcity of domestic animals prevents the application of stable manures on a large scale, all refuse ap- plicable to the purpose is carefully collected. Human ordure, ashes, muck, gypsum, offal, hair (even the barbers gathering the product of their tonsorial performances, and selling it to the farmers), and whatever other matters can invigorate the soil, are freely used. The density of the population rendering it imprac- ticable to let the fields lie fallow, and the rota- tion of crops not being well understood, the Chinese sustain the productiveness of the soil chiefly by constant manuring. In the fertile country between the Yellow and Yang-tse riv- ers and south of the latter, two crops are ob- tained from the same field in one year. The threshing of the grain is performed either by treading or by rollers and flails. The sedge in the marshes and grass on the hills are collected for fodder and fuel, but it is believed not a sin- gle acre of land is sown with grass seed. Cat- tle raising is, therefore, the most unimportant part of the farming business. The flesh of do- mestic animals is rarely used for food, the hog, and in the north mutton, excepted. Butter and cheese are not made at all. Poultry fur- nishes the favorite meat for all classes of the population. The fields of different owners are not, as in America and England, separated by fences, walls, or hedgerows; and hence the cultivated plain appears like a vast garden, in which the plats seem to be mere beds. Hunt- ing is profitable only in the mountainous dis- tricts of the west and southwest ; there are no game laws in China. The skill exhibited by the Chinese in their various modes of catching and rearing fish is admirable. One tenth of the population derive their food from the wa- ter. Great numbers of cormorants are trained to catch fish. The progress of the Chinese in the mechanical arts is slow ; their imita- tive faculty having in the course of time be- come stronger than the inventive, they cling to their ancient implements and designs, and are slow to adopt improvements in either. But their obstinacy in this respect has been very much exaggerated. They do not greatly feel the want of improved machinery, since labor is so cheap that it would even appear cruel to replace it by mechanical forces. In the arts of metallurgy they have attained only to medi- ocrity, except in the alloying of metals, and in chased or carved work in gold and silver, in both of which they excel. In the manufacture of glass, though it has been but recently intro- duced, they are making good progress. Their porcelain was a century ago unequalled ; but the quality, styles, and finish are far below the standard of that now produced in Europe, and their patterns never have compared with those of the classic ages of Europe. The manufac- ture of silk is original among the Chinese, and in some directions foreigners have not yet suc- ceeded in fully equalling their products. A durable cotton cloth (nankeen) is made in the central provinces. The consumption of leather is small, and it is porous and tender in conse- quence of the rapid manner in which the tan- ning process is completed. The only woollen fabrics of the Chinese are felt for soles and hats and a sort of rug. Their carved work in ivory, wood, and horn is exquisitely delicate. The Chinese mechanics of different trades are ac- customed to form associations with certain rules and regulations, but these are submitted to voluntarily, no restraint being imposed by the state on the liberty of trade. Handicrafts- men of every trade wander through the streets of cities and villages, carrying their implements with them, ready to do every job on the spot. The Chinese are eminently a trading peo- ple; their merchants are acute, methodical, sagacious, and enterprising, not overscrupulous as to their mercantile honesty in small trans- actions, but in large dealings exhibiting that