210 SHOOTING IN CHINA 



The Chinese sportsman of the present 

 day is, in every essential equipment, as far 

 behind the western sportsman as China is 

 behind western nations in civilization. He 

 shoots with an old pattern muzzle loading 

 matchlock gim which he calls Niao-chiang. 

 The barrels may be from four to six feet 

 long, sometimes longer, and is mounted on 

 a stock something like an old fashioned 

 horse pistol. The gun barrels are usually 

 round, except in Kweichow where the 

 barrel is generally octagon in shape and 

 from five to seven feet long. All occupa- 

 tions in China are classified, and the son 

 invariably follows the occupation of his 

 father; the sportsman or shooter is, therefore, 

 a professional, especially in western China 

 where many of them are pious men. There 

 they worship Loa Tien Yah, the old heaven- 

 ly sire, and beseech him to preserve them 

 from all harm and grant them success in 

 their perilous undertakings among the 

 beasts of the forest. The Chinese soldiers, 

 who are stationed as military colonists in 

 Miaoland, or their offspring, sons of Miao 

 maids, engage in sport as a pastime, and 

 some of them are expert in the use of their 

 weapons. They hunt big game, not alone 



