ROUTES TO WESTERN CHINA.
I have thus endeavoured to point out the amount and value of the trade of Western China, the conditions under which it is carried on, and the means which should be taken for its development. I propose now to show that, so far as Ssŭ-ch’uan, Kuei-chow, and Northern Yün-nan are concerned, there is no possible rival to the Yang-tsze route. The fact that there are half a dozen trade routes to Yün-nan affords a proof of the inaccessibility of the province. I agree with Mr. Colquhoun when he says:—“The configuration of Yün-nan is such that no single route can reach or ‘tap’ the whole trade of the province. To propose one route for the whole country is like advocating some quack medicine for a patient who lies ill with half a dozen ailments.” What, then, are we to think of the proposed route, which is to pass through Yün-nan from south to north, and “tap” Ssŭ-ch’uan? It is as absurd as the proposal of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce to reach Ssŭ-ch’uan from the city of Li-chiang Fu in North-western Yün-nan. Ssŭ-ch’uan is hemmed in on the west and south by range after range of mountains, which will remain formidable barriers to any feasible trade route until the science of engineering has advanced far beyond its present stage. Writing of the Yang-tsze route to Yün-nan, Mr. Colquhoun says:—“The Yang-tsze route, there can be no doubt, can only deal with the northern part of the province. The physical features of the northern portion of the country preclude the possibility of trade penetrating beyond that mountainous and barren region.” I am sorry that Mr Colquhoun has designated the part of Yün-nan, which I claim for the Yang-tsze route, barren. It is exceedingly rich in copper, and contains some of the most fertile plains in the west of China. The plains of T’ung-ch’uan and Chao-t’ung are famous. The admission, however, that Northern Yün-nan will continue to belong to the Yang-tsze route is important, because, to reach that part of the country, goods are carried through the province of Ssŭ-ch’uan. There can be no question, therefore, as to the trade-route to Ssŭ-ch’uan. But I need not rest my argument on the opinions or admissions of others. I have traversed all the existing trade-routes between Yün-nan and Ssŭ-ch’uan, and between Yün-nan and Kuei-chow, and I have very vivid and bitter recollections connected with them. In proof of the difficulties that exist, I may state that it is a common occurrence to see pack animals lying dead on the mountain sides, and this recollection is all the more deeply impressed on my mind by the fact that one of my own horses fell a victim to a vain search after a practicable trade-route.
But, in addition to the physical features of the country, there is another consideration that binds the trade of Western China to the River Yang-tsze. I have already said that the cotton plant does not flourish in Ssŭ-ch’uan, and that raw cotton and native cottons are largely imported by the province. Whence are they imported? From the Central Provinces of China, through which the Yang-tsze flows.
PROBABLE REDUCTION OF TAXES.
The only route to Ssŭ-ch’uan, Kuei-chow, and Northern Yün-nan, is the Yang-tsze, on whose upper waters a large trade in foreign goods is even now conducted, a trade which is capable of enormous development when the present burdensome taxation is reduced. The opening of Ch’ung-k’ing by the ascent of a steamer—an event anxiously looked for by the native merchants of Ssŭ-ch’uan—will, as I have pointed out, reduce that taxation, and will enable millions, who at present look upon foreign goods as articles of luxury, to become themselves consumers; and I trust the day is not far distant when the British flag will float over entrepôts of British manufactures throughout Western China.
CHAPTER XIII.
THE PHÖ.
Non-Chinese races of Western and South-western China—Imperfect knowledge regarding them—A traveller’s difficulties—Phö language approaching extinction—The Miao-tzŭ rebellion—Relationship of the Miao-tzŭ tribes—Art among the Phö—Music and dancing—Characteristics of the language—Exercises—English-Phö vocabulary.
THE NON-CHINESE RACES.