Roads were usually mere trails or paths, which did not allow any form of vehicle traffic or horses. In these circumstances central government authority was weakened and armed robbery was commonplace.

In many parts of old China, travel between villages was so difficult that the roads were usually deserted.

This picture was taken in 1911 in the far west of China. It was common then for the traveller to meet no one and encounter no sign of human habitation for days.

The few isolated villages were usually fortified.

A Chinese Soldier Assigned to Guard a Foreign Traveler in the early 1900s

Because of the dangers, foreign travelers were usually given an armed government escort.  Guarding the foreign traveler was good policy: it allowed the Chinese government to keep an eye on the intruder, and also kept him safe from the armed highwaymen and bandits that plagued the countryside. Keeping the foreign traveler safe was important; the Chinese government did not want to provoke an international incident, should something happen.

Unfortunately, many of discoveries were lost or failed to be perfected mainly due to China experiencing the equivalent of a dark age when it was overrun and occupied by barbarians from the North.

Considering that the Chinese had developed a hot air balloon toy that was an exact though miniature equivalent of the first manned balloon flown in France centuries later,  one can only wonder what the world would have been like if ancient Chinese civilization had been allowed to develop and take advantage of its initial head start.

Below is a partial list of Chinese “firsts” – technologies and devices which were actually invented or discovered in ancient China:

• the Abacus – the abacus was an ancient counting and addition/subtraction device – the forerunner of the modern calculator.
• the calendar
• the wheel barrow
• paper
• kites – in ancient China kites were used both as a toy and for more military purposes. Large kites were used to hoist human observers aloft to observe the enemy positions. Similar kites were used by European armies at the beginning of World War 1.
• relief maps
• halter (for horses and beasts of burden)
• bells
• fireworks
• an early form of the compass
• self igniting matches
• hot air balloons
• parachutes
• the fishing reel
• negative numbers – an amazing mathematical achievement allowing for complex mathematics and physics
• the umbrella
• gunpowder
• mechanical clocks
• flushing toilets
• magic mirrors
• brackets — which allowed for more complex engineering and construction
• silk
• porcelain (hence china)
• an early version of the printing press
• the suspension bridge

As well as many more ….

A Chinese Labourer Lifts a Bale of Tea Weighing 420 pounds

In old pre-revolutionary China most people earned their living by farming (usually as sharecroppers) or as unskilled manual labourers. Their lives were especially hard. Their back breaking work earned them very little money.

In this picture, taken around 1911, a labourer is lifting a sack full of cotton weighing many times the man.  Cotton and tea were the main Chinese cash exports.

This dock worker is seen carrying a 420-lb bale of cotton from a ship to the Hangkow Bund. He probably earned less than a dollar and half per week,  low even for 1911 standards. But in some ways he was lucky; most peasants were not able to earn any cash and relied on barter.

The Religions of Ancient China

As today,  Ancient China was a diverse land encompassing many different peoples and regions. Within this vast land were many different religions and belief systems,  some such as Confucianism developed locally while others such as Christianity and Buddhism were adopted (in varying degrees) from other lands.

This is a gateway to a book entitled the Religions of Ancient China by Herbert Giles.

• RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA
  

• PREPARER’S NOTE

• RELIGIONS OF ANCIENT CHINA

• CHAPTER I — THE ANCIENT FAITH

• CHAPTER II — CONFUCIANISM

• CHAPTER III — TAOISM

• CHAPTER IV — MATERIALISM

• CHAPTER V — BUDDHISM AND OTHER RELIGIONS

• CHRONOLOGICAL SYLLABUS

A Poor Chinese Family Works a Home Made Coal Mine

Coal mining has always been a dangerous occupation.  Cave ins explosions, and flooding have claimed the lives of thousands of coal miners.

In the modern era there have been many cave ins in which hundreds of miners have been trapped underground. Modern Chinese coal mines do not have a good safety record.

However, as bad as being a coal miner in modern China may be, it must be many times better than life for the coal miner in the early 1900’s, when coal miners had to descend into dark tunnels dug by hand with no electrical lighting.

In old China, many coal mines were essentially backyard affairs worked by several generations of the same families. These crude tunnels provided a livelihood for the family and also no doubt claimed many of its members.

In the picture attached to the post, one can see the primitive coal minining techniques that existed in Yun-Nan region of China around 1911.
Coal was abundant in many parts of Yün-nan, though production is small and methods of mining were very crude. The picture shows the tunnel leading underground.