408 



THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 





.Photograph by Guy Magee. Jr. 



THE MAN IN THE STREET IN CHINA IS APT TO BE A GENIAL INDIVIDUAL, IE 



PROPERLY APPROACHED 



These men are employees of the Shanghai-Nanking Railroad, and their work has brought 

 them in contact with foreigners, so they are no longer shy in the presence of Western 

 travelers. 



Furthermore, because of their diverse 

 occupations and intellectual attainments, 

 they feel themselves differentiated from 

 one another ; hence the added offense in 

 grouping- them at random. 



Our Oriental friends, particularly the 

 Chinese, have a physical and cultural 

 individuality comparable with that of 

 any other nation, albeit developed under 

 a different civilization. 



FOUR DISTINCT TYPES OE CHINESE 



In China the variations of type from 

 north to south are so marked that they 

 might be likened to well-defined strata 

 in a sedimentary geological formation 

 having a slight disturbance in the central 

 layers, the disturbance representing a 

 social upheaval in the Yangtze Valley. 

 Upon close examination each stratum 

 resolves itself into numerous less clearly 

 defined secondary strata ; in like manner 

 the east and west racial belts are made 

 up of numerous weakly defined groups. 



In coastal or mid-China, omitting the 

 west or highlands, the following four 



distinct types or strata stand out between 

 Manchuria on the north and Cochin 

 China on the south, or very roughly be- 

 tween Peking and Hongkong: 



1. North of the Yellow River the Man- 

 chus predominate. They are a tall, large- 

 boned, stolid type, with a dull facial ex- 

 pression. 



2. South of the Yellow River, but 

 within its basin, there has been sufficient 

 admixture of the original Chinese ele- 

 ment to modify somewhat the Alanchu 

 characteristics. This type is not so tall, 

 large-boned, or stolid as its northern 

 neighbor. The features are more ex- 

 pressive and the vision is keener. 



3. South of the Yellow River basin is 

 the Yangtze Valley, which up to the mid- 

 dle of the nineteenth century contained 

 a type, a distinct mean between the north- 

 ern Manchu and the southern Chinese. 

 The social upheaval caused by the Taip- 

 ings unstabilized the existing blend and 

 a new one is being evolved, medium in 

 stature and inclining to the south in 

 facial characteristics. 



