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CHINA raw and manufactured, raw cotton and tea, were among the chief exports. In 1910 the value of Chinese exports to the United States amounted to $31,297,928, while the imports from the United States amounted to nearly $17,000,000.

Agriculture. China is a farming country. Each year the emperor began the season by himself turning over a few furrows in the Sacred Field, while the empress in the same way started the work among the silkworms, the care of which is left to the women. Wheat, corn and other grains, peaches, pineapples and other fruits, sugar in Formosa, rice, and opium are grown; but tea and silk are the great export crops. Pork is largely eaten, though ducks and geese, fish, caught by tame cormorants, and dogs are also used as food. The famous bird’s-nest soup is made by slicing the nest into soup, thus adding an invigorating quality. The great beverage is tea, which is drunk weak and clear, and is offered to guests at all hours of the day. It is this tea-drinking habit which has made the Chinese a temperate people, a drunken man being a rare sight. The Chinese clothing is made from their stores of silk, cotton and linen. China is the home of silk; the mulberry grows everywhere, and the silkworm has been cared for since the 23d century B. C. The manufactured silk ranks as high as any made in Europe, while the embroidery is superior to that of the west. Cotton is also now raised everywhere.

Customs and People. For building, the Chinese use timber, brick and stone; but cheap houses are made of a kind of concrete called sifted earth. The best architecture of the country is seen in the marble bridges and altars of Pekin. In the country, houses are rarely over one story high. In the cities, the highest buildings are the pawnbroker’s shops, and the most finely finished are the guildhalls of the trades. The pavilions and pagodas are picturesque. The streets of the cities are usually not wider than lanes; they are paved with slabs and are badly drained. Matting on the floor, tables and straight-backed chairs, sometimes a bamboo couch and stools, make up the furniture of the houses. The dress of both sexes is much the same. The most striking thing in the appearance of the men is the queue, a plat of hair which hangs pendant from the crown, all the rest of the head being shaved; while among the women the most notable thing is their small feet. This is a late and foolish fashion, prevalent only from the 6th century A. D., and is not customary among the very poor or among servants. It is effected by bandaging the feet in early years so as to prevent further growth. The Chinese girl at ten years is shut up in the women’s apartments, and is taught the care of cocoons, silk weaving and all woman’s work. At 15 she wears the hairpin to show that she is now a woman. Marriage is controlled by the parents, and a class of match-makers or go-betweens has arisen, who hunt up desirable matches for parents. The killing of girl-babies was formerly practiced; but only among the lower classes, and then the reason was poverty. The complexion of the Chinese is yellowish, the hair coarse black, the eyes seemingly oblique, cheek bones high and face roundish. They usually are stout and muscular, temperate, industrious, cheerful and easily contented. The dead are buried in graves built in the form of mounds or cones. There is no weekly day of worship and rest, like our Sunday, but festivals are many. New Year’s Day is the one holiday for all. On this festival the noise of firecrackers is to be heard everywhere; the people dress in their best; the temples are visited; and the gambling tables are surrounded by crowds. Other festivals are those of Lanterns, Tombs, Dragon-Boats and All Souls.

History. The Chinese are a very ancient race, their annals going back to 2637 B. C., though there probably were Chinese living in the country long before that. China as an empire dated from 221 B. C., and lasted for over 2,100 years. The late dynasty, the Manchu-Tartar, began to reign in 1643. The Chinese were not the first people in China. They made their way from the north and west, pushing before them the older inhabitants. However far back you go, you always find two persons of prominence in China—the ruler and the sage. The sage, or Man of Intelligence, advised and helped the ruler, and taught the people lessons of truth and duty. From this grew up the custom, in full force since the 7th century A. D., that all officers of the government must be educated. This is now done by competitive examinations. The three religions of China are Confucianism, representing the brains and morality of the nation; Taoism, its superstitions; and Buddhism, its worship and idolatry, though it acknowledges no God. China, before the republic, was governed by the emperor through the grand cabinet, which met daily for business between 4 and 6 Seven boards—civil office, revenues, ceremonies, war, punishment, works and foreign affairs—prepared the matters which were to be dealt with by the grand cabinet. The provinces were governed usually by a viceroy acting for the emperor. The rank of the different provincial officers was indicated by a knob or button on the top of their caps. The revenue of the empire was under $100,000,000. The imperial army was about 200,000 strong, with headquarters at Pekin, and scattered in garrisons throughout the provinces as far as Turkestan. There were also some 700,000 militia troops, called the