114 



CHINA. 



eminent, and its members have the duty of watch- 

 ing over all branches of the administration and 

 the right to present memorials to the Emperor 

 regarding any public need or evil or any relapse 

 from the ancient standards. Their function is to 

 keep the Emperor informed of all that goes on in 

 anv part of his dominions that is worthy of Ins 

 notice, and in particular to keep an eye on mal- 

 feasance or oppression on the part of oflicials. The 

 Tsung-li-Yamen, or Foreign Office, since 1SG1 has 

 conducted all business with Western nations and 

 with institutions directed by foreigners, such as 

 the Maritime Customs and the Pekin University. 



The Emperor is Tunir-Chih. reigning under the 

 style of Kwangsu, born Aug. 2, 1872, son of Prince 

 Chun, the seventh son of the Emperor Taokwang. 

 lie was chosen by the imperial family to succeed 

 his cousin, the Emperor Tung-Chili, who died with- 

 out naming a successor in 1875, and until March 

 4, 1SS9. his aunt, the Empress-Dowager Tsu-Hsi, 

 horn Nov. 17. 1S34. acted as regent, as she had 

 done previously during the long minority of his 

 predecessor, \\lio was her son. On Sept. 22, 1898, 

 in consequence of the Emperor's action in decree- 

 ing radical reforms, he was sequestered, and the 

 Empress Dowager resumed the active direction of 

 affairs. During the retirement of the Emperor, 

 who was announced to be very ill, Pu-Chin, son of 

 Tsai-Yi. son of Yit-Sung, fifth son of the Emperor 

 Taokwang, was proclaimed the adoptive son of the 

 late Emperor Tung-Chili and the heir to the 

 throne. This proclamation was issued on Jan. 24, 

 1900. There are as many as 6,000 recognized 

 princes of the royal blood. 



Area and Population. The official estimates 

 of the area in square miles and of the population 

 of the provinces of China proper are given in the 

 following table: 



Manchuria, with an area of 362,310 square miles, 

 has a population estimated at 7,500,000; that of 

 Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,000 square miles, 

 is estimated at 2,000.000; Tibet is estimated to 

 have an area of 651,500 square miles and about 

 6,000,000 inhabitants; Jungaria is 147,950 square 

 miles in extent and has about 600,000. inhabitants; 

 and Chinese Turkestan has an area of 431,800 

 Hfinare miles and 580,000 inhabitants. The area 

 of the Chinese Empire is 4.218.401 square miles, 

 and the estimated population 402,680,000. The 

 ports open by treaty for Europeans to reside in are 

 Canton, with about 2.500,000 inhabitants- Tien- 

 tsin, with 1.000.000: Hankau, with 850,000: Hann-- 

 ohau, with 700,000; Fuchau, with 650,000; 

 Shanghai, with 615.300: Suchau. with 500,000; 

 Chungking, with 300.000; Ningpo, with 255,000- 

 Chinkianp. with 140,000; and Amoy, Niuchuan"' 

 Wuhu, Wenchau, Shasi, Kiukiang, Wuchau 



Kiungchau, Chifu, Swatau, Ichang, Pakhoi, 

 Szemao, Mengtsz, Lungchau, Samshui, Funning, 

 Kongmuii, Kaulun, Lappa, and Yatung. The 

 number of foreigners residing in the treaty ports 

 in 1899 was 17,193, of whom 5,562 were English, 

 2,440 Japanese, 2,335 Americans, 1,621 Russians, 

 1,423 Portuguese, 1,183 French, 1,134 Germans, 

 448 Spanish, 244 Swedes and Norwegians, 234 Bel- 

 gians, 178 Danes, 124 Italians, 106 Dutch, 90 

 Austrians, 42 Koreans, and 29 others. There were 

 401 British commercial houses, 195 Japanese, 115 

 German, 76 French, 70 American, 19 Russian, and 

 10 Portuguese; the Italians, Dutch, Belgians, and 

 Spaniards had each 9, the Austrians 5, the Dane.i 

 4. and Swedes and Norwegians 2. 



The Army. The Army of the Eight Banners is 

 composed of descendants of the Manchus, Mongols, 

 and Chinese who put an end to the Ming dynasty 

 in the seventeenth century and placed the reign- 

 ing dynasty on the throne. These troops are 

 usually cantoned in 25 towns of the province of 

 Pechili in the vicinity of the capital and dis- 

 tributed in garrisons in certain cities of the prov- 

 inces and in Mongolia and Turkestan. The Army 

 of the Green Flag, or provincial troops, are com- 

 manded by the Governor-General and governors. 

 Their total strength is supposed to be between 

 400,000 and 500,000. Other troops, called irregu- 

 lar, are recruited and disbanded as occasion re- 

 quires. 



The Navy. The naval forces of China are di- 

 vided into the Peiyang, or northern squadron, 

 belonging in the Gulf of Pechili, and the entirely 

 independent southern squadron, called Nanyang, 

 kept at Fuchau and Canton. The Peiyang con- 

 sists at present of 5 small protected cruisers, 

 the Hai-Chi, Hai-Tien, Hai-Yung, Hai-Shu, and 

 Hai-Chen; 2 torpedo gunboats, the Fei-Ying 

 and Fei-Ting; 1 unarmored cruiser, the Fu- 

 Tsing ; and 4 destroyers. The Nanyang com- 

 prises 2 small protected cruisers, the Yang-Pao 

 and Ye-Sing; 7 unarmored cruisers, the Hsi-Ying, 

 Honan-Tai, Kai-Chi, King-Ching, Nan-Shin, Nan- 

 Yin, and Pao-Min; and 2 torpedo-cruisers, the 

 Kuang-Ting and Kien-Wei. There are besides 5 

 gunboats, built before 1885, and 26 torpedo-boats. 



Commerce and Production. The value of 

 imports in 1896 was reported by the Maritime Cus- 

 toms to be 202,589,994 Haikwan taels; in 1897, 

 202,828,625 taels; in 1898, 209,579,334 taels. The 

 value of exports in 1896, 131,081,421 taels; in 1897, 

 163,501,358 taels: in 1898, 159,037,149 taels; in 

 1899, 195,784,832 taels. These figures do not indi- 

 cate the entire value of the foreign commerce, be- 

 cause a great deal of merchandise is transported in 

 native vessels that are beyond the control of the 

 Maritime Customs. The imports of cotton yarn 

 were valued at 54,941,000 taels; of cotton cloth, 

 48,524,000 taels; of opium, 35,793,000 taels;' of rice, 

 17,813,000 taels; of petroleum, 13,002,000 taels; 

 of sugar, 10,226,000 taels; of coal, 6,397,000 taels; 

 of iron goods, 4,021,000 taels; of fish, 3,849,000 

 taels; of woolen cloth, 3,680,000 taels; of raw cot'- 

 ton, 3,476,000 taels; of flour, 3,189,000 "taels; of 

 matches, 2,713,000 taels. The exports of raw silk 

 were valued at 71,366,000 taels; of tea, 31,469,000 

 taels; of silk fabrics, 10,527,000 taels; of beans 

 and bean cake, 9,418,000 taels; of skins, 7,720,000 

 taels; of wool, 4,141,000 taels; of matting, 3,652,- 

 000 taels; of sugar, 3,373,000 taels; of cotton, 

 2,980,000 taels; of straw braid, 2,882,000 taels; of 

 tobacco, 2,310,000 taels; of clothing and shoes, 

 2,224,000 taels; of provisions and pulse, 2,184,000 

 taels; of paper, 2,158,000 taels; of oil, 2,046,000 

 taels; of porcelain and pottery, 1,803,000 taels. 

 The values of the imports and exports, in 1899 

 were in Haikwan taels as follow: 



