NO. 2 FOLK RELIGION IN SOUTHWEST CHINA — GRAHAM 2$ 



The houses of the poor are often oblong in shape, with only one, 

 two, or three rooms. Large famihes often build their houses with four 

 wings joining to make a square, with an open space in the center called 

 a "sky well," from which doors open into all surrounding rooms. 



During the lifetime of a parent, all his descendants, excepting 

 married daughters and their families, live in the same house, and the 

 incomes of all are pooled. Each member of the family shares the 

 benefits of those whose incomes are large, and those with small in- 

 comes or none at all have food, clothing, and a house to live in. 



Floods and droughts have caused a great deal of suffering in China. 

 In "China: Land of Famine," by Walter Mallory, the author presents 

 a table showing the number of known floods in China in a thousand 

 years, and two others showing the number of droughts. By far the 

 greatest number of disastrous droughts and floods have occurred in 

 northeastern and central China. According to one chart, the greatest 

 number of droughts in West China occurred in Shensi (91), the next 

 greatest in Szechwan (35), and the fewest in Yunnan (19), Kansu 

 (4), and Kweichow (4) (Mallory, 1926, pp. 41-43). Failure of crops 

 for one year, or even for part of a year, causes much distress and 

 sometimes many deaths. During famines the price of foods becomes 

 very high, so that starvation or semistarvation occurs among the poor 

 people. Floods have been very rare in Szechwan, Sikang, Kweichow, 

 and Yunnan, more common in Kansu, and most common in Shensi. 

 They are caused by monsoon rains, never by the melting snows in 

 Tibet. 



Centuries ago Szechwan was famous for the peppers it shipped to 

 Canton, and walkingsticks were exported to India. Han dynasty 

 lacquer from Chengtu has been found in Korea. In recent years 

 mandarin oranges have been shipped from I-pin to Chengtu, and tight- 

 skinned oranges from the region of Chengtu down the Min and the 

 Yangtse Rivers. Salt has been mined in Wu-t'ung-ch'iao and Tzu-liu- 

 ching and shipped all over the province, to Sikang, to northern Yini- 

 nan, and down the Yangtse River. Coal is shipped up and down the 

 rivers and streams, and overland to near and distant places. From 

 the mountains of Sikang and western Szechwan, rafts of logs arc 

 shipped down the rivers to East China. Silk, t'u7ig oil, pigs' bristles, 

 medicines, and other commodities are shipped to East China and to 

 foreign countries. 



The imports into West China are many, some coming overland, but 

 most of them by river. Among these have been seafood, kerosene, 

 tobacco, cotton and cotton cloth, iron, copper, and a great variety of 

 manufactured goods. 



