NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 5 



tains. The plain is irrigated by the waters of the Min River and one 

 or two smaller streams, divided into thousands of irrigating ditches. 

 The water is plentiful, the soil rich, the yield is abundant, and there 

 is never a failure of crops. This is one of the most thickly populated 

 farming districts in the world. 



The main part of Szechwan is the Red Basin, so called because it 

 has a surface of purple-red sandstone, which in some places is 4,000 

 feet thick. The stone weathers rather easily and contains substances 

 that turn into fertile soil. This new soil replaces the old which is 

 eroded away in the heavy rains, so that the land remains continually 

 productive. The term "basin" may be misleading, as the terrain is 

 not flat. During the past ages foldings of the earth's surface occurred, 

 so that there are several low, parallel mountain ranges between Chung- 

 king and Chengtu running from northeast to southwest. The farmers 

 have terraced the land so that a very large percentage of it is culti- 

 vated, and with irrigation and fertilization the soil is very productive. 

 Nearly all the mountains and hillsides that cannot be farmed are 

 covered with forests, which are cultivated for the wood and lumber 

 that they produce. Szechwan is by far the most thickly populated 

 part of West China, with a population estimated at between 50 and 

 70 millions. It is one of the most favored places on earth, and has 

 been called a Garden of Eden. 



In Sikang or eastern Tibet the winters are long, cold, and dry, and 

 the summers arc short and have little rain. Crops can be raised to an 

 altitude of about 14,000 feet. They are all summer crops, mostly of 

 barley, but also of bearded wheat, buckwheat, fruit, and vegetables. 

 In the lower altitudes that can be farmed, the people have large stone 

 houses. In the summer their herds are pastured on the higher grass- 

 lands, and in the winter they are brought back home. 



In Kansu the winters are a little shorter and the summers a little 

 longer than in Tibet, but otherwise the weather is much the same. The 

 main summer crop is wheat, and there is no winter crop. The country 

 becomes progressively dryer until the Gobi Desert is reached. 



In Shcnsi the winters are cold and dry, and the summers have mod- 

 erate to low rainfall. Here winter wheat is grown, as it is also in 

 Szechwan and Kweichow. 



Yunnan has dry winters with warm, sunshiny days and cold frosty 

 nights. In the late spring, summer, and early fall there is abundant 

 rain, but crops must be irrigated in winter. Kweichow has a slightlv 

 heavier rainfall and is somewhat cloudier and warmer. 



Captain W. Pitcairn, "the river man," who succeeded Captain Plant 



