In more than one sense Kiangsi is the barometer for China. No matter how distant or how near a storm of wind or rain may be, it is registered immediately in this wealthy province. The slightest movement of the barometer influences the trade and commerce of Kiangsi.
There are very few provinces that can make the claim of supplying the whole of China with one particular commodity. The great porcelain industry of Kiangsi supplies the whole republic with its teacups, rice bow]s, and vegetable dishes. Chis one industry alone makes Chintehchen known in every part of the country. Merchants come from Kansu in the north and Canton in the south to make their yearly purchase of pottery. The orders come in, the furnaces begin to roar, and money circulates freely. There is a slight lull, the merchants fail to come, the potteries close down, money gets scarce, and Chintehchen concludes there is trouble somewhere in the country. The dimension and location of the political or military disturbance are very soon known in this great industrial centre. The Sincere Ca., the Wing On Ca. and other large Shanghai firms have agents in Chintehchen; New York and San Francisco also send their merchants there: in this sense, therefore, this pottery centre feels very acutely any financial or political upheaval. Porcelain is one of the very few things that will not stand any knocking about.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.