ENTRANCE TO THE TOMB OF THE MING EMPEROR, YUNG LO The "Soul Tower," seen through the arch, contains the tablet inscribed with Yung Lo's posthumous title. The Mings, of whom Yung Lo was the second and one of the greatest, were unstinted patrons of the arts. The carpets, silk embroideries, porcelains, jades, and ivories of their times are among the finest that China has produced. Note the peculiar pipe being smoked by the man seated at the right. The bowl holds less than a thimbleful of tobacco.

A MAH JONGG CRAFTSMAN AT WORK IN SHANGHAI

The origin of the now world-famous game is attributed by some to a Chinese fisherman named Sze. For many years sets were manufactured on a rather small scale, but when the craze reached America the demand for them became so great that it was necessary to build many factories to supply the orders. Mah Jongg sets are made of bone or ivory and bamboo. Bamboo is plentiful in China, but much of the bone comes from the Chicago stockyards.

MOTHER AND SON GRINDING BEANS ON A FARM IN NORTHERN CHINA

WOMEN AT WORK IN A CHINESE RICE FIELD

The success or failure of the rice crop is the difference between life and death in many parts of China, where it is the staple food of rich and poor alike. The seed is sown thickly in a small field that has been flooded, and in a short time it sprouts luxuriantly. When the shoots reach a height of six or seven inches they are pulled up by the roots and tied in small bundles, which are then planted in the rice fields proper. These fields must be under several inches of water from then until harvest time, if the crop is to be bountiful.

Chinese sailors had solved many of the secrets of navigation long before the mariners of the Western World. For centuries their junks have plied the China coast, yet their design to-day is scarcely different from that of the ancient craft.