RECORDS OF THE JOURNEY
in Chinese school reform for a long time, for the schools that have been opened are merely a fraction of those prescribed by the imperial edict. At least 'coo schools (elementary?) are to be established in each provincial capital, not less than 40 in every fu district, and so on. — The things that strike one most, owing to the energy with which they are carried out and the novelty they represent in China, are gymnastics, marching and exercises. They are performed with heart and soul and the progress is remarkable. Rifle practice is done in all the higher schools. A black uniform with white facings is always worn for gymnastic exercises, which gives the school a purely military appearance. Occasionally the pupils are led through the town in these uniforms, carrying rifles, in military columns.
For the last two years a Manchurian, Ngen-Shu, has been in charge of the province, a man of the old school, who does not display any great interest in the work of reform. It is controlled by the Wu yens appointed by him, who are often changed. He does not seem to have any great liking for Europeans. — Yen chung chu Fantai, a man of 6o, has been here too short a time to enable any opinion to be formed of his activities, nor would it be of any particular interest, as he is soon to be replaced. His last appointment was that of Njetai at Kienyiang. — Hsi tung Njetai, a Manchurian of 45-50, has been here for 3 years. Before that he was Taotai at Tung Kwang and Sanchow. The organising of the police and the establishment of a school for police are his doing and he shows some interest in this establishment. — The Fuguan of Si-an-fu is a Chinese of 50, who was formerly the Fu at Hanchung. He seems keen on reforms and occupies himself very successfully with the »tsung hsiao tang», which is under his immediate supervision. — Hu Hsiening hsien and Chang-an hsien Chu, Chinese of 40 and 30, are generally praised for their justice and unselfishness. They are both decidedly in favour of reforms and have done a good deal for the elementary schools. — Chang Taotai, a Chinese of 45, formerly Taotai at Yunnan, confines himself exclusively to his »likin», which he is said to control strictly. — The »Yang wu tu» (for relations with foreigners) is presided over by Wen Taotai, a pronounced enemy of Europeans and anything that is occidental. He and his officials do all they can to place obstacles in the way of foreigners — one might almost imagine that this was the object of this department.
Trade is lively in Si-an-fu. This is obvious from the endless rows of shops that line a great many of the streets. Besides articles that are specially exported from Shensi, there is considerable traffic passing through Si-an-fu from Kan Su, its mountains and Kouwai (less) in the W to the provinces in the NE, E and SE and in the opposite direction. There are many large and wealthy business houses, but in China the larger businesses are often branches or have branches in other places, so that it is not always possible to gauge the extent of their local business correctly. The following figures may, perhaps, give a slight idea of the principal branches of exports and imports, though I consider them far from reliable.
Exports.
Opium to the NE and SE for about io million taels (7-8 million taels) (the likin amounts to 2,400,000 taels)
) 627
IIIF Color HighRes
