Page:Maury's New Elements of Geography, 1907.djvu/122

 dress who is with his children in the courtyard of his home. The Chinese are very polite, and a Chinaman obeys his parents as long as they live.

Instead of eating with knives and forks, the Chinese use two little rounded sticks, called chopsticks. These are usually made of wood or ivory, and are about ten inches along.

The Chinese are a very ingenious people. Some things that we do they did long before us. They used the compass in steering ships at sea, and printed books, nobody knows how long ago. Cups and saucers are often called chinaware, because the first used in Europe were made in China.

6. Chinese Empire.—Manchuria, Mongolia, Sinkiang, and Tibet belong to China, and with it make up the Chinese Empire. Tibet is the highest inhabited country in the world.

Traveling in jinrikisha

A Japanese sleeping-room.

Korea lies northeast of China. Formerly it was a kingdom, but it is now controlled by Japan.

For Recitation.— For what is Siberia noted? What is said of the population of China? What are the great products of China? What are the chief exports of China?

LESSOX LVIII. 1. Japan.—At Shanghai let us embark on a steamer and visit the empire of Japan. It lies east of China, and consists of four large islands and many smaller ones. In some respects it resembles the great island kingdom of Great Britain.

The vegetation of Japan is wonderfully rich and varied, and the people are very fond of flowers.

Tea, rice, and silk are the great products. Rice is the daily food of the people.

One tree yields the resin from which the well-known Japan varnish, called lacquer (lak'er) is made, and another, the gum called camphor.

The camphor tree.

Bamboo is used, as in China, for making all sorts of useful articles.

2. The people are Mongolians. They are like the Chinese, but are more progressive. Within a few years they have adopted the inventions of the most enlightened nations. Railways, steamboats, and telegraphs have been introduced, and public schools established.

The Japanese are ingenious and skilful workmen. Their paper and silks are beautiful. No nation in the world surpasses them in making porcelain and ornamental vases of metal. Of japan, or lacquer ware, they make drinking cups, bowls, and other useful articles.

A Japanese village at the foot of Mt. Fujiyama.

Some of the Japanese customs are very curious. If we visit a Japanese friend, we are not asked to take