546 ANNUAL REPORT SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION, 1911. 
Priests and pilgrims, Buddhists and Taoists, are met on the road 
throughout the empire. They wander from temple to temple, staying 
for a time here and there, and there is scarcely an old and experienced 
priest who has not visited all or at least most of the holy mountains 
and the famous religious places. Finally, scholars, poets, painters, 
and other artists (frequently combined in one individual) all travel. 
There is no one among the famous men of China of the past or pres- 
ent who has not traveled over the whole country. This is still the 
case. On Omeishan, 3,300 meters high, I met a certain Han-lin, who 
had climbed up there to meditate, study, and compose poetry. In 
Szech’uan I visited the memorial temples of the most famous poets 
of the T’ang dynasty in the eighth century, Li T’ai-pd and Su 
Tung-po. I was shown the place where the former of these had 
Jain drunk on the road, and later I sailed on the Tungt’ing Lake 
and the Yangtze River, where the latter poet had sailed alone and 
fished and composed poems. ‘The memory of these great men of the 
past is as fresh as ever. The smallest boy learns their stories in 
school. Stories in regard to them are recited at home and among 
friends. Professional story tellers choose their deeds for their 
themes. In the theaters the known pieces are acted. In this way 
the tales and events become the common property of the nation, from 
the coolie to the highest personage. The classics are learned by 
everyone who goes to school almost by heart. The paintings repre- 
sent well-known things. The temples and houses teem with carvings 
and inscriptions which refer to famous deeds, men, and thoughts; 
and everybody feels everywhere at home. 
An important item is the fact that until quite recently the daily 
newspaper was unknown in China. Almost all information was com- 
municated orally. In comparison with us, the Chinese seem to talk 
incessantly. A rumor or report spreads most rapidly in everybody’s 
mouth, and he who is convinced that the spoken word is more alive 
than the written word will appreciate the culture of this folk in their 
lively intercourse, in contrast to ours, which more and more emanates 
from the study dee 
China has thus been developed to that uniform individuality in 
which we find it to-day, not that there is a dead uniformity in all parts 
of the Empire. There isa proverb: “Goa mile‘and speech changes; go 
10 miles and the customs change.” These changes are first noticed in 
the styles of buildings, then in the dispositions of the people, their 
mode of life, their agriculture, clothing, and food. Differences in cul- 
ture are found prevailing in different regions, the north with six Prov- 
inces, the Yangtze Valley with five, and the south with six, including 
the seacoast Provinces of Fukien and Chekiang. Szech’uan is in a 
class by itself. This Province is by nature divided off by mountains, 
and has developed its own peculiar culture, imaginative as the in- 
