From this it might be gathered that Pe~ King is unchanged, that it remains the same old city of historical surroundings, immune from any influence of modern business. This is hardly in accordance with the facts. The capital is rapidly undergoing a transformation, commercial og well as political, even though, for the reason mentioned above, it has not responded to the modern stimulus of large scale undertakings. It must be borne in mind that Peking has not been subject to foreign influence for much over a generation, and that until 1911 the main sections of the city were given over to Manchus and their following, who compressed the city in a very conservative mould. Though the commercially minded Chinese had broken down the barriera to residence and trade in these sections, as they did in Manchuria, yet the pressure was not strong enough to eliminate the traditions of Manchu self-sufficiency.
But' after the Revolution the Manchus gave way completely before the incoming rapidly from the congested quarter in the Chinese, and business operations extended Chinese city to the Tartar city. The Chinese had come in contact with, and were impressed by, foreign influences, and a transformation in commercial activities went hand in hand with political rebirth. New ideas were adopted, new firms established and modern buildings erected. Those Manchus who in dynastic days lived comfortably on their pensions an
the enroackments of the commerce merely out of right of occupation resisted Before factories and mills came into being, Shanghai was the home of the small craftsman. In the narrow ways of the Native City sat the seal engraver, the lantern maker, the silversmith and the artist in pewter and the baser metals: sons are there still carrying on the Family tradition, but they are gradually dying out, Peking, on the other hand, still sits in the lap of amturies past and gone. Lantern Street means what it says. The ivory carver, firework= maker, patter and brass-smith ill ply their old crafts, and appear to increase rather than lessen. The following article though written of Peking applies in great part to every Chinese city.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.