290  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
been  Chinese  sugar  re-imported,  the  greater  part  being
Java  sugar,  with  some  quantity  from  the  Philippines,
shipped  to  Hongkong  and  imported  thence  either  in  i
original  state  or,  to  the  extent  of  1,322,000  piculs,  re  ne
Timber,  hard  and  soft,  was  imported  in  1867  to  the  valu
of  Tls.205,168,  and  in  1905  of  Tls.3,121,841  ;  in  the  lat
year  the  quantity  of  soft-wood  planks  was  90,432,396  superficial ­
  feet,  of  which  61  per  cent,  came  from  the  United
States  and  38  per  cent,  from  Japan.
Raw  Cotton  occupies  a  peculiar  position  in  China,  being
both  exported  and  imported.  In  1867  the  export  (from
Shanghai)  was  29,391  piculs,  and  the  import  from  In  I a -
(chiefly  into  Canton)  was  336,072  piculs,  its  ,  value  con  ^
stituting  a  third  of  the  foreign  sundries  impor  e  ,
In  1904  the  export  was  1,228,588  piculs,  and  the  impor
60,057  piculs.  China  is  a  great  cotton-growing  country,
and  the  proportions  for  1905  (export  789,273  piculs,  impor
90,581  piculs)  represent  the  normal  movement.
Exports
Exported  goods  were  valued  in  1867  at  Tls.57,^95  &gt;7*3
(£19,298,571),  and  in  1905  at  Tls.  227,888,197  (£34» I ^3» 2 3 0 )'
a  much  smaller  development  than  is  shown  in  the  case  0
imports.  The  export  trade  of  China  is  in  three  bioa
divisions—silk,  tea,  and  “  sundries,”  the  last  being  11
official  designation  of  what  was  called  by  merchants  in  11
old  trade  “  chow-chow,”  and  to-day  is  called  muck  an
truck.”  In  1867,  of  the  whole  export  trade,  silk  and  1
products  accounted  for  34  per  cent.,  tea  for  59  per  cen  •
and  sundries  for  7  per  cent.  ;  in  1905  the  proportions  wef e
silk  31  per  cent.,  tea  11  per  cent,  and  sundries  58  per  cent
Tea  *  constituted  the  main  staple  of  the  old  trade  0
*  The  English  and  Dutch  obtained  their  first  tea  at  Amoy,
consequently  called  the  leaf  tea  (rhyming  with  obey),  the  name  *
the  Amoy  dialect  ;  French,  Germans,  Americans,  and  others
obtained  the  leaf,  and  with  it  the  name  through  England  or  Holla»  ’
The  Portuguese  and  Spanish  obtained  it  from  Canton,  and  c ° nS ^_
quently  called  it  by  the  Cantonese  name  cha.  The  Russians,  P