﻿FAR 
  EASTERN 
  CIVILIZATIONS 
  — 
  BISHOP 
  465 
  

  

  Rivers 
  and, 
  lakes. 
  — 
  In 
  northern 
  China 
  the 
  rivers 
  are 
  "young" 
  (again 
  

   in 
  the 
  geologic 
  sense) 
  and 
  are 
  therefore 
  subject 
  to 
  devastating 
  floods. 
  

   By 
  far 
  the 
  largest 
  is 
  the 
  Huang 
  Ho 
  or 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  sometimes 
  called 
  

   "China's 
  Sorrow" 
  on 
  account 
  of 
  the 
  terrible 
  loss 
  of 
  life 
  which 
  it 
  often 
  

   causes. 
  This 
  stream 
  rises 
  in 
  northeastern 
  Tibet 
  and 
  is 
  2,500 
  miles 
  in 
  

   length. 
  Too 
  shallow 
  and 
  swift 
  to 
  be 
  an 
  important 
  waterway, 
  it 
  has 
  

   often 
  altered 
  its 
  lower 
  course 
  ; 
  the 
  most 
  recent 
  of 
  these 
  changes 
  occurred 
  

   less 
  than 
  a 
  century 
  ago. 
  South 
  of 
  it 
  flows 
  the 
  Huai 
  River, 
  much 
  

   shorter, 
  and 
  the 
  mouth 
  of 
  which 
  has 
  for 
  the 
  past 
  few 
  hundred 
  years 
  

   been 
  cut 
  off 
  by 
  the 
  Grand 
  Canal, 
  so 
  that 
  it 
  no 
  longer 
  flows 
  directly 
  

   into 
  the 
  sea. 
  

  

  The 
  rivers 
  of 
  southern 
  China, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  are 
  "mature" 
  in 
  

   character, 
  with 
  deep, 
  well-defined 
  channels. 
  The 
  most 
  important 
  is 
  

   the 
  Yangtze, 
  second 
  in 
  size 
  and 
  volume 
  only 
  to 
  the 
  Amazon, 
  in 
  South 
  

   America. 
  Like 
  the 
  Yellow 
  River, 
  it 
  too 
  rises 
  in 
  northeastern 
  Tibet, 
  

   and 
  flows 
  in 
  a 
  general 
  easterly 
  direction 
  for 
  3,200 
  miles 
  before 
  it 
  

   reaches 
  the 
  sea, 
  near 
  the 
  present 
  city 
  of 
  Shanghai. 
  Its 
  value 
  as 
  a 
  high- 
  

   way 
  of 
  commerce 
  is 
  very 
  great, 
  and 
  oceangoing 
  steamers 
  are 
  able 
  to 
  

   ascend 
  it 
  for 
  over 
  600 
  miles. 
  In 
  the 
  early 
  historical 
  period 
  it 
  entered 
  

   the 
  sea 
  through 
  a 
  delta 
  with 
  three 
  mouths, 
  now 
  reduced 
  to 
  one. 
  

  

  The 
  river 
  systems 
  of 
  southeastern 
  China 
  are 
  nearly 
  all 
  short 
  and 
  

   coastal, 
  few 
  of 
  them 
  extending 
  back 
  into 
  the 
  interior 
  of 
  China. 
  There 
  

   are 
  likewise, 
  especially 
  in 
  the 
  center 
  and 
  north 
  of 
  the 
  country, 
  nu- 
  

   merous 
  lakes, 
  some 
  shallow 
  and 
  subject 
  to 
  seasonal 
  fluctuations 
  of 
  out- 
  

   line, 
  while 
  others 
  are 
  deeper 
  and 
  more 
  permanent 
  in 
  character. 
  

  

  Flora 
  and 
  fauna. 
  — 
  The 
  great 
  plains 
  of 
  northern 
  China 
  were 
  before 
  

   the 
  dawn 
  of 
  history 
  probably 
  open 
  grassland, 
  with 
  belts 
  of 
  timber 
  

   along 
  the 
  streams 
  and 
  on 
  the 
  watersheds 
  — 
  much 
  like 
  our 
  American 
  

   prairies 
  in 
  aboriginal 
  times. 
  The 
  Yangtze 
  Basin 
  and 
  southern 
  China 
  

   in 
  general, 
  on 
  the 
  other 
  hand, 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  covered 
  with 
  luxuriant 
  

   subtropical 
  forest 
  continuous 
  with 
  that 
  clothing 
  Indo-China 
  and 
  much 
  

   of 
  India, 
  and 
  not 
  unlike 
  the 
  one 
  that 
  once 
  occupied 
  the 
  southeastern 
  

   part 
  of 
  North 
  America. 
  

  

  There 
  are 
  in 
  eastern 
  Asia 
  two 
  main 
  zoological 
  provinces, 
  a 
  northern 
  

   and 
  a 
  southern. 
  The 
  boundary 
  between 
  these 
  today 
  extends, 
  roughly, 
  

   along 
  the 
  southern 
  border 
  of 
  the 
  Yangtze 
  Basin 
  ; 
  but 
  in 
  ancient 
  times 
  

   it 
  ran 
  at 
  least 
  as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  the 
  latitude 
  of 
  Peiping. 
  2 
  

  

  Hence 
  as 
  late 
  as 
  the 
  second 
  millennium 
  B. 
  C. 
  China 
  had, 
  even 
  in 
  

   the 
  north, 
  many 
  large 
  forms, 
  such 
  as 
  the 
  elephant, 
  the 
  rhinoceros, 
  and 
  

   the 
  water 
  buffalo, 
  now 
  living 
  only 
  in 
  regions 
  much 
  farther 
  south. 
  

  

  Eastern 
  Asia 
  was, 
  in 
  fact, 
  during 
  ancient 
  times 
  (before 
  human 
  activ- 
  

   ity 
  had 
  yet 
  had 
  time 
  to 
  produce 
  its 
  usual 
  destructive 
  effect) 
  a 
  region 
  

   teeming 
  with 
  very 
  many 
  forms 
  of 
  wildlife, 
  both 
  animal 
  and 
  vegetable. 
  

  

  2 
  This 
  parallel, 
  of 
  very 
  nearly 
  40° 
  N. 
  latitude, 
  passes 
  through 
  northern 
  California 
  and 
  

   central 
  New 
  Jersey 
  on 
  our 
  side 
  of 
  the 
  globe. 
  

  

  