Page:A wandering student in the Far East vol.1 - Zetland.djvu/255

Rh the weaving of foreign yarns into strong, loosely-knit cloth by the Chinese is an increasing industry, and is likely to continue to be so. The people have come to realise the advantage of buying the cheap machine-made yarns of India and Japan; and so far back as 1897 the members of the Blackburn Commercial Mission observed a placard on the walls of Yün-nan Fu, issued by a benevolent institution, exhorting women and girls to learn the art of weaving foreign yarn, quoting Confucian scripture to prove it was their duty, and, what would doubtless be more effective, showing by arithmetic that it was a profitable undertaking. So long as the mass of the people remain steeped in their present poverty, the less durable machine-made cloths from the looms of Lancashire will have little chance of competing with the yang-sha-pu. Moreover, the yang-sha-pu is made in widths (14 inches) which entail a minimum of waste when cut up for Chinese clothes, whereas the broader widths of English cloths necessitate no small waste,—a matter of vast importance to the frugal and needy Chinaman.