CHINA AND JAPAN
The relative position of China, Russia, and Japan is not unlike that of
continental Europe and Great Britain, and the struggle for supremacy in
the Japan and Yellow Seas is about the same as that which in times past
took place in the North Sea. In the latter case France and Holland were
the disturbing powers; in the former, it is Russia.
=The Chinese Empire.=--A comparison of the Chinese Empire with the United
States shows that the two countries have about the same position and
extent of latitude. There is also about the same proportion of
highlands, arid lands, and fertile lowlands. The similarity of the two
countries in geographic conditions is very marked.
The fertile lowland in the east and southeast is one of the most
productive regions in the world, and forms the chief resource of the
country; on account of its productivity it is densely peopled. The arid
and mountain lands are peopled mainly by cattle-herders and nomadic
tribes.
China is essentially an agricultural country, and the farms are held in
much the same way as in the United States, but the holdings are so small
that agricultural machinery is not required for their cultivation.
Wheat, millet, and pease are grown throughout the lowlands wherever they
can be cultivated. The cultivation of rice is confined mainly to the
coast lowlands. The amount of food-stuffs produced, however, is scarcely
sufficient for home consumption; indeed, a considerable amount is
imported, and the imports year by year are increasing. This is due not
so much to the density of population as to want of means of
transportation of the soil products from inland regions. It is often
much cheaper to import food-stuffs from abroad than to transport them,
even from an adjoining province.
Tea is extensively cultivated, and China exports nearly one-half of the
world's product; the total amount produced is considerably more than
half. Most of this goes to Great Britain and Canada. Raw silk is an
important product, and the mulberry-tree is extensively grown. Cotton is
one of the most general crops in the southern part of the empire,
especially along the lower Yangtze. It is a garden-crop, however, and
nearly all of it is consumed.
The mineral wealth is very great, and with proper management will make
China one of the most productive and powerful countries in the world.
Coal is found in every one of the provinces, and the city of Peking is
supplied with an excellent quality of anthracite from the Fang-shan
mines, only a few miles distant. It is thought that the coal-fields are
the most extensive in the world. Iron ore of excellent quality is
abundant, and in several localities, notably in the province of Shansi,
the two are near each other.
Foreign capitalists are seeking to develop these resources in several
localities. The Germans have obtained mining concessions in Shantung
peninsula, and these involve the iron ore and coal occurring there. The
Peking syndicate, a London company, has also obtained a coal-mining
concession in Shansi.
[Illustration: EASTERN CHINA]
For the greater part the manufactures are home industries.[79] Until
recently most of the cotton cloth was made by means of cottage looms,
and the beautiful silk brocades which are not surpassed anywhere else in
the world are still made in this manner. Porcelain-making is one of the
oldest industries, and to this day the wares sold in Europe and America
are known as "china." Straw carpet, or matting, and fans for export are
also important exports.
The mill system of manufacture is rapidly gaining ground, however, and
foreign companies find it economical to carry the yarn made in India
from American cotton into China to be made into cloth. In the vicinity
of Shanghai alone there are nearly three hundred thousand spindles. This
phase of the industry is due largely to the factor of cheap labor; the
Chinese skilled laborer is intelligent; he does not object to a
sixteen-hour working-day at wages varying from five to twenty cents.
There is no great localization of industrial centres, as in the United
States and Europe. Each centre of population is practically
self-supporting and independent from an economic stand-point. The
introduction of western methods, however, is gradually changing this
feature.
All industries of a general character are hampered for want of good
means of transportation. The empire is traversed by a network of unpaved
roads; but although these are always in a wretched condition, an
enormous traffic is carried over them by means of wheel-barrows,
pack-animals, and by equally primitive methods.
The numerous rivers form an important means of communication. The
Yangtze is now available to commerce a distance of 2,000 miles, and the
opening of the Si Kiang (West River) adds a large area that is
commercially tributary to Canton and Hongkong. The most important
water-way is the Grand Canal, extending from Hang Chow to Tientsin. This
canal is by no means a good one as compared with American and European
standards. It was built not so much for the necessities of traffic, as
to avoid the numerous pirate vessels that infest the coasts. Junks,
row-boats, house-boats, and foreign steam craft are all employed for
traffic. The internal water-ways aggregate about fifteen thousand miles
in length.
[Illustration: A TEA-PLANTATION--PICKING THE LEAVES]
[Illustration: PREPARING THE LEAVES FOR ROASTING]
[Illustration: TEA-BALES FOR EXPORT THROUGH RUSSIA]
Of railways there were less than three hundred and fifty miles at the
close of the century, the most important being the line from Tientsin to
Peking. About five thousand miles are projected and under construction
by American and European companies. A branch of the Transsiberian
railway is under construction to Port Arthur. Telegraph and telephone
lines have become popular and have been extended to the interior a
considerable distance. There are upward of twenty thousand miles of wire
communication, the most important, in many respects, being a direct
overland line between Peking and European cities. Inasmuch as there are
no letters in the Chinese language, the difficulties in using the Morse
code of telegraphy are very great. In some cases the messages are
translated into a foreign language before they are transmitted; in
others, a thousand or more words in colloquial and commercial use are
numbered, and the number is telegraphed instead of the word.
Most of the business between the natives and foreigners is carried on by
means of middlemen, or "compradors," and these include both the
commission merchants and the native bankers. They are intelligent,
thrifty, and trustworthy. They are the most capable merchants in Asia,
and have few if any superiors among the merchants of western nations. A
very large part of the retail trade of the Philippine Islands is carried
on by Chinese merchants.
The Chinese Empire consists of China and the five dependencies, as shown
in the following table:
---------------------+-------------+-------------
| | CAPITAL OR
STATE | POPULATION | CHIEF TOWN
---------------------+-------------+-------------
China proper | 380,000,000 | Peking
Manchuria | 7,500,000 | Kirin
Tibet | 6,000,000 | Lassa
Mongolia | 2,000,000 | Urga
Jungaria | 600,000 | Kur-kara-usu
Eastern Turkestan | 600,000 | Yarkand
---------------------+-------------+--------------
The five dependencies are mainly arid, unproductive, and sparsely
peopled. Their chief importance consists in the fact that they are
"buffer states" between China proper and European states. They produce
little except meat, wool, and live-stock.
China proper is divided into provinces, each governed by a viceroy
appointed by the throne. All business with foreign powers is transacted
through a Foreign Office, the Wai-wu-pu (formerly the Tsung-li-Yamen).
The government business is managed by a Grand Council whose members are
advisers to the throne. The government is controlled mainly by Manchu
officials.
[Illustration: HONGKONG]
Until within a few years China nominally allowed no foreign traders
within her borders; recently, however, about forty cities, commonly
known as "treaty ports," have been opened to the trade of foreign
countries. Goods going inland any distance are required to pay a "liken"
or internal tariff at the border of each province.
Several concessions of territory within recent years have been forced
from China by foreign powers: thus, Great Britain has Hongkong Island
(with the peninsula of Kaulung) and Weihaiwei; Germany has Kiaochou on
the bay of the same name; France has Kwang chau wan harbor. These
concessions carry with them the control of the port and surrounding
territory. The German concession includes the right to mine coal and
iron, and to build railways within a territory of much larger extent. At
the close of the war between Russia and Japan, the latter acquired Port
Arthur, the gateway to Manchuria.
Whatever may be the political significance of the opening of the treaty
ports and the granting of the various concessions, the effect has been
to increase the trade of the United States with China about twenty-fold.
The imports from the United States consist mainly of cotton and cotton
cloth, coal-oil, and flour. The chief exports to all countries are tea,
silk goods, and porcelain ware. Most of those sent to the United States
are landed at Seattle or San Francisco. Great Britain, through the port
of Hongkong, has a larger trade than any other nation. Japan and the
United States have most of the remaining trade.
_Peking_, the capital, is politically, but not commercially, important.
The part occupied by the foreign legations is modern and well kept.
_Tientsin_, the port of Peking, is a larger city, with much more
business. _Canton_, the largest city of the empire, and _Hongkong_, are
the commercial centres of nearly all the British trade. Most of the
American and Japanese trade centres at _Shanghai_. _Niuchwang_, on the
Manchurian frontier, is important mainly as a strategic point. _Macao_,
a Portuguese possession, is the open door of Portugal into China.
The inland divisions of the Chinese Empire have but little commercial
importance. Musk, wool, and skins are obtained from Tibet, into whose
capital, _Lassa_, scarcely half-a-dozen Europeans have penetrated. The
closed condition is due to the opposition of the Lamas, an order of
Buddhist priests. Mongolia is a grazing region that supplies the Chinese
border country with goats, sheep, and horses. It also supplies the
camels required for the caravan tea-trade to the Russian frontiers.
Eastern Turkestan is mainly a desert. _Kashgar_, the metropolis of the
fertile portion, is the exchange market for Chinese and Russian
products. Most of the mineral known as jade is obtained there. Manchuria
is a grazing and wheat-growing country, exporting food stuffs and
ginseng into China. _Harbin_, a Russian trading post, is connected with
Peking and with European cities by railway.
[Illustration: JAPAN AND KOREA]
=Korea=, formerly a vassal of China, became an independent state after the
war between China and Japan, this step being forced by Russia. The
country is a natural market for Japanese manufactures, and in turn
supplies Japan with a considerable amount of food-stuffs. _Chemulpo_ is
the chief centre of its commerce.
=Japan.=--Japan is an insular empire, the commercial part of which has
about the same latitude as the Atlantic coast of the United States; the
empire extends from Formosa to Kamchatka. It is sometimes called the
"Great Britain of the East," and the people are also called the "Yankees
of the East." Structurally, the chain of islands consists of ranges of
volcanic mountains. The abundant rains, however, have made many fertile
river-valleys, and have fringed most of the islands with coast-plains.
Since the opening of Japan to foreigners the Japanese have so thoroughly
adapted themselves to western commercial methods that they have become
the dominating power in eastern Asia. Their influence has been greatly
strengthened by a treaty for defensive purposes with Great Britain. A
most excellent army and a modern navy make the alliance a strong one.
The Japanese are better adapted to mould the commercial policy of China
than any other people.
With a population of more than half that of the United States, occupying
an area not larger than the State of California, every square foot of
available land must be cultivated. Yet the Japanese not only grow most
of the food-stuffs they consume, but are able to export rice. There is
scant facility for growing beef cattle, but fish very largely takes the
place of beef. The cattle grown are used as draught-animals in farm
labor. Ordinary dairy products are but little used.
Rice, tea, and silk are the staple crops. Rice is grown on the coast
lowlands, the west or rainy side[80] producing the larger crop. The
Japanese crop is so superior that the larger part is exported, while an
inferior Chinese grain is imported for home consumption. The quality of
the Japanese rice is due to skilful cultivation.
[Illustration: NATIVE PLOUGHING RICE-FIELDS]
[Illustration: IRRIGATING A RICE-FIELD]
[Illustration: RICE-FIELDS]
Tea has become the staple crop, and is cultivated from Formosa to the
forty-fifth parallel. Tea-farms occupy nearly every acre of the
cultivable hill-side areas in some of the islands, and the soil is
enriched with a fertilizer made from fish and fish refuse, dried and
broken. Most of the tea product is made into green tea, and on account
of its quality it commands a high price. Formosa tea is considered the
best in the market.
Silk culture is confined almost wholly to the island of Hondo. The raw
silk is of superior quality, and the exported material is used mainly in
the manufacture of ribbons and brocades. A limited amount of cotton is
grown, but the staple is short, and its cultivation is not profitable
except in a few localities.
Among the forestry there is comparatively little timber suitable for
building purposes, and a considerable amount of timber is purchased from
the mills of Puget Sound. Bamboo is largely employed for buildings.
Camphor is the product of a tree (_Camphora officinarum_) allied to the
cinnamon and the sassafras. It is cultivated in the island of Kiushiu.
The best gum, however, is now obtained from Formosa, and this island now
controls the world's supply. The camphor product is a government
monopoly leased to a British company.
The lacquer-tree (_Rhus vernicifera_) grows mainly in the island of
Hondo. The sap, after preparation, forms the most durable varnish known.
Black lacquer is obtained by treating the sap with nutgalls. Lacquered
wooden-ware is sold all over Europe and the United States. The lacquered
surface is exceedingly hard and water-proof; it is not affected by
climate.
Gold, porcelain clay, silver, copper, and petroleum are mined. The gold
and silver are used both for coinage and in the arts; the clay has made
Japanese porcelains famous. The copper comes from the most productive
mines of Asia; a considerable amount is exported, but much is used in
the manufacture of Japanese bronze goods. Coal is mined, and this has
given a great impetus to manufacture; iron ore is deficient, and steel
must be imported. The quantity of petroleum is increasing yearly, and is
becoming an important factor in the world's product.
Manufacturing industries are giving shape to the industrial future of
the country. The cotton-mills alone employ seventy thousand people and
keep more than one million spindles busy. More than one million
operatives are engaged in textile manufactures. Much of the cloth, both
cotton and silk, is still woven on cottage looms. The cotton cloth is
sold mainly in China and Korea; the surplus silk textiles find a ready
market in the United States. The best straw matting used as a
floor-covering is now made in Japan and constitutes a very important
export.
Three thousand miles of railway aid the internal industries of the
country; several steamship lines to Hongkong and Shanghai, and one or
more each to Vladivostok, Bombay, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu,
Australia, and Vancouver (B.C.) carry the tea, raw silk, and
manufactured products to Europe and America. Much, if not most, of the
steamship interests are owned by the Japanese, and the lines are
encouraged by government subsidies. France and the United States buy
most of the raw silk. The latter country purchases most of the tea,
sending coal-oil, cotton, leather, and lumber in return. Great Britain
and Germany sell to the Japanese a large part of the textiles and the
machinery they use. The exports to the United States are consigned
mainly to San Francisco, New York and Seattle.
_Tokio_ is the capital; _Yokohama_ is the chief port for American
traffic, and the market for most of the foreign trade. Most of the trade
between China and Japan centres at _Nagasaki_, which is the Japanese
naval station. _Osaka_ and _Kioto_ are the chief centres of cotton and
textile manufactures.
QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION
How has the policy of seclusion affected the commercial development of
China?
What has been its effect on the social life of the people?
How did the cultivation of opium in India become a factor in the opening
of China to foreign trade?
What is meant by "treaty ports"? Make a list of those shown on the map
of eastern China.
Name two Chinese statesmen who have been factors in the relations
between China and the United States.
Compare the position of Japan with that of the British Isles with
reference to commerce.
What advantages has Japan with reference to latitude?--what
disadvantages with reference to cultivable lands?
From the Statesman's Year-Book find the leading exports and imports and
the volume of trade of these states.
From the Abstract of Statistics find the leading articles of trade
between these states and the United States.
FOR COLLATERAL READING AND REFERENCE
From a cyclopædia read the following topics: The opium war, Commodore
Perry's expedition.