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BOOK REVIEWS
Children's toys and games are not overlooked, and are detailed in the chapter on the Tenth Moon. This was the season for kite flying, often with aeolian harps attached. The forms mentioned include the flamingo, wild goose, and flying tiger, all painted with extreme care. Tun is fond of seeking motives for children's amusements and considers the kites beneficial in making the eyes clearer as they are strained to look after the mounting objects. He finds a similar value in shuttlecocks. These were made of a skin covering sewn over a copper coin, with a bunch of feathers attached to the top with a cord. When children kick them about it promotes the circulation of the blood, and keeps them warm. As a side-line the glass factories produced two forms of trumpet, one gourd-shaped, and the other of conventional type. By blowing these the young people were obliged to take deep breaths and filled their lungs with fresh air. Boys of the poorer class ground stones into small marble-like balls which they kicked about as footballs, so keeping the blood circulating in their extremities.
"Peace Drums" sound like very modern propaganda. They consisted of an iron circlet over which a donkey skin was stretched. They were furnished with a handle like a fan, at the lower end of which was a loop with a number of iron rings. The drum was beaten with a rattan cane making a booming noise that contrasted with the jangling of the rings. Diabolo was a favourite toy, and the flanges were provided with a rectangular opening to produce a humming sound when sufficient speed was acquired. The cotton string which operated the reel was always given a twist, and some children were very skilful at operating a diabolo with only one flange balanced by a ball-shaped piece of wood.
Nothing in the local scene escapes the observant author, who describes fighting crickets and the seasonal birds, with notes on their training. He describes one autumn fruit, Tou Ku-niang as being “shaped like a small egg plant, red as coral, round, glassy and slippery." It was, he says, a great favourite with the young, and owes its name "Fighting girls" from the contention it arouses for its possession.
The book is lavishly illustrated with Chinese line drawings and several coloured plates, whilst inside the covers are skeleton maps of Peking, with conventional signs for places of interest referred to in the text. In addition, there are six most useful