IIIF Color HighRes
National Institute of Informatics - Digital Silk Road Project
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| IIIF Color HighRes |
| Across Asia : vol.1 |
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Citation Information
C. G. MANNERHEIM
Boots, shoes and stockings to Kan Su — 2 million taels
Readymade clothing (incl. old) to Kan Su — 2 million taels (?)
Cotton to Szechwan and some to Kan Su — i million taels (3-400,000 taels)
Antlers and musk to the E — 2-300,000 taels
Cow and sheep-hides mostly from Kan Su and the mountains near Tibet, cured and
despatched to the E — i million taels
Medicinal herbs to Shansi and Honan — i million taels (600,00o taels)
Tea (sui yang cha) to Kan Su, Kouwai and Honan — 5-600,000 taels
Paper, nuts, combs to Szechwan — 5-6 million taels (?).
Lacquer and sundries to Szechwan.
Imports.
Silk from Kwantung, Kuangsi, Kien yang — 3 million taels sundry minor articles from Honan and Hupeh
» and sugar from Szechwan — i million taels (500,000 taels)
Cotton cloth from Hunan, Sudshuang (Hupeh) — 2 million taels
(ditto from Honan and Shantung — 5 million taels)
Tea from Hunan, Hupeh and Szechwan and Fukien — 2 million taels (8-900,000)
Salt from Shansi and Kan Su (via Feng-siang-fu) — 6-700,000 taels
Chinaware from Kiangsu — 4-500,00o taels
Tobacco for water-pipes (from Kan Su) — 300,000 taels
Foreign goods (cloth and sundries) — r million taels (2 million).
No minerals are exported. The output of oil, which is still small, is consumed locally. Although there are said to be large coal deposits in the province, a good deal is imported from Shansi. Si-an-fu, in particular, draws its considerable supplies of coal from there by barge along the Wei ho.
The principal centres of trade in the province are Hanchung in the SW on the river Han, its trade reported to be no less than that of Si-an-fu, and San Yuan, I r /2 days' journey to the NNW from Si-an-fu. Trade there is said to be very lively, too, not much less than in the capital. It is hard to understand how there could be such competition at such a short distance. Possibly it may be an attempt to reduce the number of crossings of the river for transit trade going E—W, but this is not very probable, because the Liu ho cannot be much more convenient than the Wei ho. Besides, the competition cannot be very great, for a great many businesses are branches of firms at Si-an-fu.
The northern part of the province is said to be very like the mountainous southern part of Kan Su, still more sparsely populated and very poor, at any rate in comparison with the other parts. The richest part is the Si-an-fu plain that has given good crops for thousands of years. Its southern part is irrigated to some extent, but not the northern part. The soil is very fertile, even when dependent on rainwater. Complete failures of the crops occur sometimes, accompanied by famine, as the inhabitants live from hand to mouth. Terrible tales are told of the last famine. For instance, the fact that there are now comparatively few beggars is said to be due to their all having perished. The avarice of the mandarins,
) 628 (
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