the  provinces  and  the  TREATY  PORTS  237
in  the  same  way  as  the  British  concession  at  Tientsin.  The
course  of  trade  is  shown  by  the  following  figures  :—
Imports.  Exports.  Total.
Tls.  Tls.  Tls.
1864  ..  4,673,294  1,208,486  5,88l,78o
1874  .  .  11,439,133  1,029,008  12,468,141
1884  .  .  11,108,506  976,425  12,084,931
1894  .  .  15,165,088  4,127,403  19,292,491
1904  .  .  23,941,579  8,381,625  32,323,204
The  principal  imports  in  1904  were  cotton  woven  fabrics
(Tls.3,866,000),  cotton  yarn  (Tls.3,693,000),  matches
(Tls.  572,000),  kerosene  oil  (Tls.1,786,000),  sandal-wood
(Tls.325,000),  sugar  (Tls.3,681,000),  wood-oil  (Tls.1,058,000),
and  tobacco  (Tls.594,000).  The  principal  exports  were
beans  (Tls.535,000),  bean-cake  (Tls.781,000),  ground  nuts
(Tls.1,804,000),  ground  nut-oil  (Tls.911,000),  sesamum  oil
(Tls.876,000)  and  satin  (Tls.759,000).  Of  the  total  import
of  foreign  goods,  excluding  opium,  in  1904  (Tls.  15,185,682),
78  per  cent,  went  inland  under  transit  pass,  38  per  cent,
going  to  destinations  in  the  home  province,  and  40  per  cent,
into  other  provinces,  Anhwei,  Shuntung,  Honan,  etc.
SoocHOW  (31°  25'  N.,  120 0  34'  E.),  the  provincial  capital,
has  for  centuries  been  famous  for  its  wealth  and  its  magnificence, ­
  and  is  the  subject  of  two  well-known  proverbial
expressions.
Shang  yu  tien  tang,
Hsia  yu  Soo  Hang.
(Above  is  heaven’s  blue,
Below  are  Hang  and  Soo.)
The  other  is  more  cryptic,  and  is  expressed  in  three  words
“  Hang  Soo  Lin,”  which  may  be  explained  as  follows  :
“  Be  born  at  (Hang-)  chow,  because  there  the  men  are
handsomest  and  most  learned  ;  marry  at  (S00-)  chow,
because  there  the  women  are  most  beautiful  ;  die  at  (Lin-)
chow,  because  there  may  be  found  the  finest  wood  for
coffins.”  Poets  have  sung  the  city  in  many  another  phrase,
and  Western  poets  may  there  find  keen  enjoyment,  pro-