SILK REELING.
Hangchow is the city of silk, a wealthy and generally well-to-do city. Everything speaks to the visitor of silk. The country is covered by the mulberry tree, which grows in every available spot. There are thousands of hand-looms. In the picture given, the silk is being wound into a thread from the cocoons, which are thrown into a pan of hot water, kept hot by a small furnace; the ends of the threads are disentangled from the cocoon, four or five of them taken together are given a twist by the right hand, whilst the left winds the thread on to the wheel. This is the first step in, and the foundation of, all silk manufacture.
SILK REELING
A TYPICAL ENTRANCE
TO A HOUSE.
This particular house was at Mukden, in Manchuria. The main building is surrounded by a courtyard. The outer building contains the servants’ rooms. They live around the courtyard, the family occupying the central building. The windows of the servants’ rooms may be seen in the outer wall. The pillars of woodwork are highly decorated, and in the courtyard itself there is always a flower-garden. Comparing this simple house with a palace such as the English Legation, it will be seen that the latter is but an amplification of the ordinary house, the number of courtyards surrounding the chief dwelling being greater, but the principle of construction being the same.
A TYPICAL ENTRANCE
TO A HOUSE
THE GUEST HALL IN A
CHINESE HOUSE,
WAN HSIEN, SZE CHUAN.
Every good house has its guest hall, and every invited guest knows his place in it. A Chinaman is wretched in a foreign house because he does not know his place in it. Etiquette prescribes everything in China, and no matter who or what the visitor may be, he knows which chair to take. No matter who may be present, he is never disturbed or distressed; and when tea or pipes are introduced he enjoys them as though he were in his own house, and both host and visitor are perfectly at their ease.
THE GUEST HALL IN A
CHINESE HOUSE,
WAN HSIEN, SZE CHUAN