Ssu-ch'uan

In the typical pagoda of the south-eastern provinces the successive stages decrease both in height and diameter; but as the Ssŭ-ch’uan border is passed cases begin to occur in which the fifth or sixth stories are of the same breadth, or as it seems, of even a greater breadth, than the base,[…]

The silver earrings worn by the women of the Chin-chʻuan, a border district of Ssŭ-chʻuan inhabited by Tibetans, are shown in fig. 2.

Great though the quantity of silk produced in the province of Ssŭ-ch’uan is, the output might be quadrupled if some means could be devised for delaying the hatching of the silkworm eggs.

It appears that heavy autumn rains following on the break-up of a hot summer are prevalent all over Ssu-ch'uan, except at Sungpan where the climate is the same as North China, heavy summer rains and fine autumn.

A third example of the t'u-ssu system as prevalent just before the Communist regime came to power in China is that of the Hsuan-wei-ssu of Wa-ssu or Wa Lamasery in the territory of Wen-ch'uan Hsien (northwest of Ch'eng-tu, Ssu-ch'uan).

Orographic rain seems significant only when the monsoon current runs into the high plateaux of Yun-nan and Kuei-chou, and into the mountains of Ssu-ch'uan. Thus the famous Omei Shan of Ssu-ch'uan is one of the wettest places in China, and receives on the average about 76 inches a year.

The Library of Congress has the largest collection of Chinese local histories outside China, with more than 4,000 titles in all. They are rich in historical data on local institutions, customs, geography, and plants and animals of the area. Shown here is a typical volume from the local history of Feng-tu County, Ssu-ch’uan Province, published in 1710.

At Patriarch's invitation, Taoist "Perfected and Friends of the Way" accompany him to Ssu-ch'uan.