CHINESE AKCHITECTTJRE BOERSCHMANN. 541 



impressively by comparing Shensi to a balance, with salt in one scale 

 and wheat in the other. As one rose the other fell. It was best when 

 they balanced. Perfection lies between these two extremes. 



I entered the Province of Shensi at the bend of the Yellow River, 

 visited the sacred mountain Huashan, the capital Hsinganfu, crossed 

 the Tsin ling mountains, and then descended to the exceedingly luxu- 

 rious, charming, and fertile Szech'uan. This Province has an area 

 and population somewhat larger than Germany. As a whole it is a 

 poem, and its perfect beauty has been accomplished by gods and men. 



From the capital, Ch'engtu, I pushed on to the most western point 

 as far as Yachoufu, and before me to the westward and north- 

 ward lay the snow-capped mountains that magically lure the traveler 

 to Tibet. It is an imposing mountain panorama whose sublimity 

 is already realized in its spurs near Ch'engtu. The Viceroy "Chao 

 Erhfeng just then set out with a military force en route to Lhassa ; 

 but unfortunately my plans did not permit an acceptance of his 

 cordial invitation to accompany him. I spent three weeks on the 

 sacred mountain Omeishan. The Chinese say that one here feels 

 the pulse of K'un-lun. Then I went down the Min River in a small 

 boat. I made a short excursion to the salt district of Tze-liu-tsing. 

 where are the self-spouting wells, over 4,000 in number, with an aver- 

 age depth of 1,000 meters. From these are extracted salt essences 

 that are boiled and evaporated with natural gas from underground. 

 This district furnishes salt for all the Provinces as far as the mid- 

 Yangtze. The frameworks of the wells are 20 to 30 meters high. 

 As natural gas is used, there is no smoke in this industrial region 

 where 700,000 people are employed. The salt is transported with ease 

 by boats through the numerous canals of this charming "Province. 

 The hidden and mysterious force and the benefit thus derived from 

 the interior of the earth gave the Chinese the motive for the develop- 

 ment of their peculiar religious ideas. In China one observes every- 

 where that industry and trade serve to strengthen and deepen the 

 religious sentiment, because everything is brought into relation with 

 the forces of Nature which are then personified as gods. 



My little boat carried me farther down the Yangtze River, and 

 then for several days I had the pleasure of traveling in our German 

 river gunboat, the Vaterland. We passed by lovely and then again by 

 mighty banks on either side, often at high speed, then by many densely 

 populated cities, over famous rapids, and through romantic gorges, 

 where the echoing voices of the sailors made the great solitude 

 the more impressive. The Yangtze gorges, as they are generally 

 known, are most imposing at the entrance to the Province of Hupeh. 

 From the Tungt'ing Lake one reaches, by way of the Hsiang River 

 in the Province of Hunan, the capital, Ch'angshafu. With a short 

 excursion into the Province of Kiangsi I spent the Christmas festi- 



