[16] It was announced in June 1910 that the throne had approved a recommendation of the Board of Education that English should be the official language for scientific and technical education, and that the study of English should be compulsory in all provincial scientific and technical schools.
[17] See The Times of the 19th of February and the 3rd of May 1910.
[18] Another peculiarity of loess in China is that it lends itself readily to the excavation of dwellings for the people. In many places whole villages live in cave dwellings dug out in the vertical wall of loess. They construct spiral staircases, selecting places where the ground is firm, and excavate endless chambers and recesses which are said to be very comfortable and salubrious.
[19] See J. Edkins, The Poppy in China, and H.B. Morse, The Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire, chap. xi.
[20] Richard’s Comprehensive Geography, &c. (1908 edition), p. 144.
[21] In the 18th century foreign trade was restricted to Canton. In the 17th century, however, the Dutch traded to Formosa and Amoy, and the English to Amoy also. The Portuguese traded with Canton as early as 1517. For the early intercourse between Portugal and China see the introductory chapter in Donald Ferguson’s Letters from Portuguese Captives in Canton (Bombay, 1902).
[22] From The Statesman’s Year Book, 1910 edition.
[23] See The Times of the 28th of March 1910.
[24] See Morse, op. cit. chap. x.
[25] The maritime customs had established a postal service for its own convenience in 1861, and it first gave facilities to the general public in 1876. An organized service for the conveyance of government despatches has existed in China for many centuries, and the commercial classes maintain at their own expense a system (“letter hongs”) for the transmission of correspondence.