. A complete geography . ts is regarded in China as one of the worst of sins, forwhich children may be whipped to death. By law the punishment forstriking a parent is death. 492 ASIA The conservatism of the Chinese is shown by their objection to theintroduction of labor-saving machinery, and it is also shown by theirmethods of transportation. Much of the traffic is carried on by means ofcanals (Fig. 503), of which the largest is the Grand Canal (Fig. 469),built more than twelve hundred years ago. The rivers are also used(Fig. 472), even where transportation on them seems almost impos-sible ; y
. A complete geography . ts is regarded in China as one of the worst of sins, forwhich children may be whipped to death. By law the punishment forstriking a parent is death. 492 ASIA The conservatism of the Chinese is shown by their objection to theintroduction of labor-saving machinery, and it is also shown by theirmethods of transportation. Much of the traffic is carried on by means ofcanals (Fig. 503), of which the largest is the Grand Canal (Fig. 469),built more than twelve hundred years ago. The rivers are also used(Fig. 472), even where transportation on them seems almost impos-sible ; yet, instead of steam, they make use of poles, oars, and sails. Goodroads are rare, and one of the principal vehicles is the wheelbarrow, evenfor carrying travellers. There are, for example, two thousand passengerwheelbarrows in Shanghai. Pack animals and men are used for carrying loads, and the more prosper-ous persons are carried inchairs by their servants. Itis evident that a mans timein China is not valued Fig. typical Chinese village and canal. National Resources. —Though many Chinese areengaged in fishing, both inthe rivers and the ocean,they are in the main anagricultural people. Theirfarming methods are verycrude ; yet they are socareful and industrious, and labor is of so little value, that they tillevery bit of land possible. For example, vv^ater for irrigation, in-stead of being distributed only over moderate slopes, as in the UnitedStates, is often taken to the very tops of hills. It is first raisedfrom the river by means of wheels, turned either by men or by buf-faloes, and then pumped upward from one terrace to the next untilthe whole hillside has been watered. The principal food of the Chinese is rice ; but their mainproducts for export are tea and silk. Tea is raised on the damphill slopes of the south, where the conditions resemble those inIndia (p. 485). Fully forty thousand men and women are employedin carrying tea into FucHAU alone. They
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectgeograp, bookyear1902
