CHINA. 



105 



$1,000,000 on a capital of little over that sum 

 invested in steamboats, wharf property, etc. 



The supply of coal has heen ascertained by 

 geological examinations to be abundant in the 

 provinces bordering on the Yang-tse-Kiang. 

 The coal-fields of China are estimated as equal 

 in extent to those of the United States. 



The commercial intercourse between China 

 and the foreign countries is growing so im- 

 portant that many consider the opening of 

 more ports advisable. The Hong-Kong Cham- 

 ber of Commerce has, however, advised against 

 it, for the following reasons : 



With regard to the question of opening more j>orts 

 on the coast, this Chamber, while desirous of en- 

 couraging in every way possible commercial inter- 

 course between foreigners and Chinese, hesitates, 

 while the system of transit dues continues upon its 

 present unsatisfactory footing, to recommend such a 

 step, and would record as its opinion that greater 

 benefits would accrue to foreign trade by the greater 

 freedom of transit of goods into the interior, such as 

 would be obtained by the introduction of railways 

 and permission to navigate the inland waters of China 

 by steamers. The inlets now afforded ^by the ports 

 at present open to trade are, in the opinion of this 

 Chamber, quite sufficient, with the present deficient 

 state of the transit system. The first stej) should, 

 the Chamber thinks, be directed toward the improve- 

 ment of that system and the development of inland 

 communication, before further expenses are entailed 

 in establishing consula restablishraents upon the sea- 

 board of China. 



While a large emigration of Chinese is mov- 

 ing eastward to the gold and grain regions 

 of California, and the Pacific slope generally, 

 the Mantchoo race is being rapidly replaced in 

 Central and Northern Mantchooria by Chinese 

 immigration, favored by the Peking Govern- 

 ment, which makes grants of land at almost 

 nominal prices. The Chinese race develop in 

 Mantchooria, under a more hardy climate, into 

 a healthier and stronger race. Many Mussul- 

 mans have also been attracted thither, between 

 whom and the Chinese no fellowship exists. 

 Kirin, the capital of Central Mantchooria, is 

 navigable for junks to a considerable distance 

 above the city. This district of country is 

 bounded on the south by the Yellow Sea, the 

 Chih-le Gulf, and the Great Wall ; on the east 

 by the Yaluh, which separates it from Corea, 

 and by the Usuri, which separates it from 

 the portion of the Russian seaboard territory 

 that lies south of the Amoor ; on the north 

 by the Amoor, and on the west by the King- 

 gan mountain-range. The race connected with 

 this great district and neighboring countries, 

 the East Asian race, have for two thousand 

 years recognized one suzerain, the Hwang- 

 te, called by Western foreigners the Em- 

 peror of China, but he is not merely sov- 

 ereign of the Chinese nation. He is supreme 

 also in religious or sacerdotal aifairs, so far as 

 Confucianism deals with these; and his su- 

 premacy is acknowledged e^en in the prevalent 

 idolatries of Taouism and Buddhism, on whose 

 idols and temples he confers highly-prized 

 honorary distinctions. He is "the Son of 

 Heaven," the divinely commissioned represent- 



ative on earth of the supreme heavenly power. 

 The Hwang-te has the right of nominating his 

 successor, but the nominee is bound to secure 

 peace and plenty to the people by good govern- 

 ment, in accordance with the principles laid 

 down in the sacred books ; and, should he fail 

 to do so, that fact is regarded as a proof that 

 Heaven has withdrawn the divine commission 

 from him. The political significance of the 

 Mantchoos, a numerically small nation, inhabit- 

 ing a region bound up by severe frosts for four 

 or five months of the year, rests in the fact that 

 for the last two centuries the Hwang-te has 

 been, as he is now, a member of one and the 

 same Mantchoo family, and that no dynasty of 

 Hwang-tes has had more complete possession of 

 the actual governing power. The family has a 

 legendary origin in an immaculate-conceived 

 personage, the son of a "heavenly virgin," 

 who appeared at Ningkoota, on tbe north of 

 the Long White Mountains, before the time of 

 Ghengis Khan. The subjugation of China 

 Proper to Mantchoo sway has- reacted on that 

 people. The bulk of the Mantchoo nation 

 migrated into China, and the Chinese natives 

 of Shan-tung and Chih-le proceeded into the 

 western parts of Mantchooria and eastern 

 Mongolia, and settled there as traders, artifi- 

 cers, and agriculturists. A sort of finishing 

 blow has been given to the Mantchoos as a dis- 

 tinct nation by recent large draftings of troops 

 to oppose the Taepings, and later rebel bodies 

 in China Proper. The wonderful success of 

 the Mantchoo nation two hundred years ago 

 has, in short, led to their being nearly merged in 

 the Chinese. With regard to Eastern Mongo- 

 lia, the people, though still only pastoral, have 

 ceased to be nomads, and the residences of the 

 dukes and princes of Eastern Mongolia are 

 spacious stone and brick mansions, some of 

 them surpassing the country-seats of wealthy 

 Chinese landed proprietors, and the yamuns of 

 mandarins in Chinese cities. The residence of 

 the duke of the Northern Korlos, near the 

 left bank of the Nouni, occupies (buildings and 

 courts) some five or six acres of ground. The 

 " Palisade " boundary, one line of which sep- 

 arates Mantchooria from Eastern Mongolia, no 

 longer exists. 



The imperial maritime customs of China is 

 a branch of service entirely under the admin- 

 tration of foreigners, assisted by native officials, 

 and is acquiring great efficiency and system. 

 The annual revenue derived from this source 

 does not exceed 15,000,000 taels per annum. 



China imports from Great Britain and her 

 dependencies, under the British flag, merchan- 

 dise per annum as follows : 



Taels. 



Opium from British India 31,990,91 9 



Merchandise 34,463,734 



Total Imports .'. .66,454,653 



China exports to Great Britain and her de- 

 pendencies per annum, to the value of. . .44,611,585 



Leaving a balance of 21,843,068 



