ABSTRACT
The provinces of China Proper are politically subdivided in a scientific manner, but in the regions beyond them, these divisions are considerably modified. A more methodical work is that of Li Tsing-lai, called 'Plates Illustrative of the Heavens,' being an astronomical and geographical work, much of whose contents were obtained from Europeans residing iiv the country. The Chinese consider the provinces of Kwangtung, Kwangsi, and Yunnan to be the unhealthiest of the eighteen and for this reason employ them as places of banishment for criminals from the north-eastern districts. Mr. Stevens, an American missionary who visited Wei-liai Wei and Chifu in 1837, gives a description of the people, which is still applicable to most parts of the province. It is "These poor people know nothing, from youth to old age, but the same monotonous round of toil for subsistence, and never see, never hear anything of the world around them.
