Page:Glimpses into Chinese homes.djvu/17

Rh to the absence of beautiful and imposing models, and to ignorance of mechanical principles. But the chief reason is "the inertness of the imaginative faculty in the Chinese mind."

In the country the majority of the houses are built either of mud and straw or adobe. In the cities burnt brick of grayish slate-color is the principal building material.

An isolated farm house is seldom seen, even in the far interior. Their houses are located in hamlets, thereby affording mutual protection and social advantages. The closely packed villages, in even sparsely settled regions, afford excellent opportunity for the prosecution of mission work.

The majority of the people live in hovels. A single room accommodates a family. It is often shared with pigs and chickens if the family are rich enough to have such property. These homes have earth or brick floors, and paper windows. In the northern part of the