CHINA. 



105 



The following table shows the articles of import and export in 1S70-'71, and their respective 

 values : 



The movement of shipping, in all the Chinese ports (arrivals and clearances), was as follows : 



The majority of the people are attached to 

 the religion of Fo (Buddha) ; next to it the reli- 

 gions of Confucius and Lao-Tse have the largest 

 number of adherents. The Buddhists have 

 numerous monasteries, which have endowments 

 sufficient to maintain their occupants in more 

 or less comfort. Morning and evening service 

 is chanted in Sanscrit, which neither the priest 

 nor his hearers understand. The monasteries 

 afford shelter to travellers, and the inmates are 

 strict vegetarians, for the destruction of life is 

 hateful to Buddha. They are celibate, and they 

 shave the entire head, instead of only the 

 crown. Personally, they seem little respected, 

 but command some consideration in virtue of 

 their office. The people are rather prone to 

 believe^evil of them, and still more so of the 

 nunneries. But, if ignorant, lazy, and dirty, 



the monks seem at least harmless members of 

 society ; they are civil to visitors, and quite 

 tolerant of foreign heretics. They are, more- 

 over, innocent of political intrigue, which is a 

 monopoly of the literati. 



The Mohammedans belonging to the Chinese 

 Empire number from 1,500,000 to 3,000,000, 

 chiefly in Chinese Toorkistan, and the south- 

 western province of Yunnan. In both parts 

 of the empire the Mohammedans have been 

 for more than ten years in a state of insurrec- 

 tion against the Chinese Government, and 

 have for years maintained independent states. 



The population of the English colony of 

 Hong-Kong, according to the official census of 

 1871, was 124,198; namely, 5,931 Europeans 

 and Americans, 2,823 Indians, and others of 

 mixed blood, and 115,444 Chinese. These num- 



