240 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



could not be said to be more than g-enerally 

 accurate if closely studied in its application 

 to other parts. When every province, city, 

 town, village and neighborhood has its own 

 peculiar customs, and different from what 

 prevails anywhere else, the impossibility of 

 applying any general rule to the whole of 

 the Empire is readily appareut. No one 

 has yet seen every part of China and until 

 that is done no one can write a book that 

 will contain a complete account of the 

 customs of the Chinese. If the shooter 

 should feel an interest in the general and 

 more important customs he can learn them 

 by reading the books I have referred to. 

 In the details Doolittle has successfully 

 stood the test as the highest authority, but 

 in the pleasures of style Smith is more 

 entertaining. 



But there are some minor customs which 

 have come under my observation at Shang- 

 hai and Soochow, and as such often prove 

 the unerring index to the habits of thought 

 and the social life of a people, I hope that I 

 am not digressing too far by writing about 

 them in this connection. At one period of 

 the history of China Soochow was the 

 educational center and still retains some of 



