Concerning the Provision made in China against Famine.

I have somewhere read, that in China an account is yearly taken of the number of people, and the quantities of provision produced. This account is transmitted to the emperor, whose ministers can thence foresee a scarcity, likely to happen in any province, and from what province it can best be supplied in good time. To facilitate the collecting of this account, and prevent the necessity of entering houses and spending time in asking and answering questions, each house is furnished with a little board, to be hung without the door during a certain time each year; on which board are marked certain words, against which the inhabitant is to mark number and quantity, somewhat in this manner:

Men,
Women,
Children,
Rice, or Wheat,
Flesh, &c.

All under sixteen are accounted children, and all above, men and women. Any other particulars, which the government desires information of, are occasionally marked on the same boards. Thus the officers, appointed to collect the accounts in each district, have only to pass before the doors, and enter into their book what they find marked on the board, without giving the least trouble to the family. There is a penalty on marking falsely, and as neighbours must know nearly the truth of each others account, they dare not expose themselves, by a false one, to each others accusation. Perhaps such a regulation is scarcely practicable with us[83].