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CHINA. 



CHINA. 



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of the inlaud towns of China, and carries on an extensive commerce. 

 King-tcheou-foo, farther to the west, likewise on the banks of the 

 Yang-tse-kiang, has also a very extensive trade. 



7. Che-kiang comprehends the south-eastern corner of the plain 

 and the northern portion of the mountainous country extending 

 along the sea. It produces more green tea than other provinces, and 

 also silk, rice, grain, and pulse in great abundance. Its capital is 

 Hang-tcheou-foo, on the banks of the Tsien-tong-kiang, at the southern 

 termination of the Great Canal, in a very pleasant situation. The 

 city is surrounded by strong walls, said to be 8 mil ^s in circumference, 

 and adjoining it are very extensive suburbs. It is the residence of a 

 great many mandarins of high rank and superior government officers ; 

 contains numerous rich temples and public buildings; and its shops are 

 well stored with valuable goods, and " everything," says Mr. Fortune, 

 who passed through the city, " which met the eye stamped Hang- 

 tcheou-foo as a place of wealth and luxury." According to Stauntou 

 its population was thought to be not much less than that of Peking, 

 and the missionaries estimated it at one million. None of the houses 

 exceed two stories in height : the streets are well paved. It has 

 extensive manufactures of silk and cotton goods, especially in flowered 

 and embroidered satins, and a very active commerce, as well by means 

 of the canal as by the river, which is navigable for large vessels up to 

 the town. The principal port of this province is Ning-po. 



8. Kiang-si extends over the eastern portion of the hilly country 

 along the western side of the Nan-ling range, and in its well-culti- 

 vated valleys and plain produces grain, rice, silk, cotton, indigo, and 

 sugar. It has some plantations of tea. The capital, Nan-tchang-foo, 

 on the Ran-kiang, not far from the place where it fulls into the lake 

 Poyang, is a large town, and carries on a great trade. In the hilly 

 country, which begins at some distance from the lake of Poyang on 

 the east, is the borough of King-te-ching, which is said to contain 

 l,000,uOO inhabitants, who are occupied exclusively in the fabri- 

 cation of china-ware, which is here made in the greatest perfection. 

 The number of furnaces is said to amount to 500. Kan-tcheou-foo, 

 on the Kan-Wang, not far from its source and the Mei-ling Pass, is a 

 large town, in which Indian ink and varnish are made on an extensive 

 scale. 



9. Hoo-nan, or the southern part of the ancient province of Hou- 

 quang, contains the remainder of the hilly country. Its productions 

 are like those of Kiang-sL It is said to be rich in minerals. The 

 capital, Tchang-cha-foo, on the Heng-kiang, is a large commercial 

 town. Yo-tcheou-fuo, on the channel connecting the large lake of 

 Tung-ting with the Yang-tse-kiang, also carries on a very active trade. 



10. Fo-kian, or Fochan, extends over the mountainous country on 

 the shores of the sea opposite the island of Formosa. Some of the 

 summits of the Nan-ling range here rise to a great height, but do not 

 attain the perpetual snow-line. The higher parts of some of the 

 mountain ridges are bare, others are covered with trees ; but in its 

 extensive and fine valleys all the commercial productions of China are 

 met with except perhaps varnish. Its plantations of tea are extensive, 

 and the greatest quantity of black tea is grown here. The inhabitants 

 of this province are noted for their industry, and still more for their 

 spirit of enterprise and their love of emigration. The capital is PVL- 

 tckeourfoo, on the river Ming-ho, over which a bridge is built of 33 

 arches of fine white stone. The largest Chinese vessels can come up 

 almost to the wall of the city, the maritime commerce of which is 

 very considerable, and its population greater than that of Canton. 

 Ttuen-tckeou-foo, between Fu-tcheou-foo and Amoy, is likewise a large 

 town. A great number of vessels sail hence to the neighbouring 

 countries. It has a bridge built over an arm of the sea on 300 piers 

 of black stone. Here is also the harbour of AMOY. 



11. Quang-tun, Kuang-tong, or Canton, extends over the whole 

 southern coast from 117 E. long, to the very boundary of Cochin 

 China, and is likewise mountainous, but its mountains are not so high 

 as those in Fo-kian. It has a great number of fine and wide valleys, 

 and the plain about Canton is of considerable extent : it produces all 

 the commercial commodities of China except tea and varnish. It has 

 several harbours, some of which may become of importance when China 

 is really opened to Europeans and Americans. The capital of the pro- 

 vince is CANTON. Fochan, lying about 20 miles south-west from Canton, 

 is said to contain a population of 1,000,000, and to have numerous 

 manufactures of silk, cotton, china-ware, and colours. 



12. Quang-si, extending on both sides of the Ta-si-kiang, is covered 

 with mountains ; the valleys, which are generally narrow, occupy a 

 small portion of its surface. The mountains belonging to the Nan- 

 ling range, inclosing the northern side of the province, rise to a great 

 height, and some summits above the perpetual snow-line. The forests 

 im the declivities of the hills are extensive. Its productions are rice, 

 silk, and timber, and it is supposed to contain gold and other metals. 

 A mountainous district towards the northern boundary of this pro- 

 vince is inhabited by the Tchang-Colaa, an aboriginal and independent 

 tribe, differing from the Chinese in language and manners. The 

 capital of the province, Kitei-liny-foo, lies in a narrow but fine valley. 



13. Kuei-tcheou, to the north of Quang-si, is one of the most moun- 

 tainous provinces of China, being traversed in all its length by the 

 highest portion of the Nan-ling range, several summits of which are 

 always covered with snow. In these mountains live the Seng Miao-tsec, 

 an aboriginal tribe, who differ in language and manners from the 



Chinese, and often make war on them. Many fortresses have been 

 erected in the narrow parts of the valleys to stop their incursions. The 

 productions of the province are timber and metals, gold, silver, &c., 

 but especially copper and quicksilver. The capital is Kuei-yang-foo, a 

 comparatively small town, its circuit being little more than two miles. 



14. Yun-uan, the moat south-western province, bordering on Cochin 

 China, Siam, and the Birinan empire, forms an extensive but uneven 

 table-land, studded here and there with high mountains, especially 

 towards the north, where there are several snow-capped summits. 

 The mountains towards the south, on the boundary-line of the Birman 

 empire and Siam, are inhabited by a tribe of mountaineers called Lolos, 

 or Lowas, who are only nominally dependent on the Chinese. Its 

 commercial wealth consists of the produce of its mines, gold, silver, 

 copper, &c. ; and of its forests, which contain timber-trees and several 

 kinds of rare wood. The capital, Yun-ndn-foo, situated on the least 

 mountainous part of the table-land, is a considerable place, and carries 

 on an active trade with the Birman empire. A much-frequented 

 road, running mostly on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang, connects 

 this town with the interior provinces of China ; and another passes 

 hence west to Yang-tchany-foo, another considerable town perhaps 

 larger than Yun-nan. From this place the road continues to the 

 Irawaddi River, and to Bhanmo in the Birmau empire. A conside- 

 rable trade is carried on by this route. [BIRMA.] 



15. Se-tchu-an, the largest of the provinces, is nearly everywhere 

 inclosed by high mountain chains, and its interior is traversed by 

 lower ranges. Its valleys are commonly wide, and often expand into 

 plains. The soil is rich, and produces every kind of grain as well as 

 rice and sugar in abundance ; but its commercial riches consist 

 principally of silk, timber, and different kinds of metals. Its capital, 

 Tching-too-foo, situated on an island formed by the Min-kiang in an 

 extensive and richly-cultivated plain, is a place of considerable trade, 

 and very populous. Koci-tcheou-foo, on the banks of the Yang-tge- 

 kiang, is one of the most commercial places in the interior of China, 

 and very populous. 



16. Shen-si is more covered with rugged mountains than Se-tchu-an, 

 and contains a much smaller portion of cultivable land ; yet the wide 

 valleys through which the Hoai-ho and Han-kiang run are very fer- 

 tile, and produce abundance of wheat, millet, and pulse, but little 

 rice. The capital is Si-ngan-foo on the Hoai-ho, once the metropolis 

 of the whole empire, a town so large that it is compared with Peking 

 itself ; it is strongly fortified, and carries on a considerable trade. 



17. Shan-si is still more mountainous than Shen-si; it has one wide 

 and fertile valley along the banks of the Fen-ho, or Fien-ho, which 

 is well cultivated and studded with villages and towns. It exports 

 wheat, millet, raisins, iron, and coal. The capital is Tai-yuen-foo, a 

 large place, with considerable manufactures in silk and carpets, and 

 some trade. Tai-tong-foo is one of the principal fortified places near 

 the Great Wall. 



18. Kan-si, the most north-western province of China, consists of 

 the western portion of Shen-si, to which has been added a compara- 

 tively narrow tract of land which extends far westward to the centre 

 of Asia. This tract has been added with the view of separating the 

 warlike and wandering tribes which inhabit the table-lands to the 

 north and west of China from one another, and of preventing their 

 incursions into China. The eastern part of this province is studded 

 with high and many snow-capped mountains, and the western part 

 extends over the stony and sandy deserts of Central Asia ; the whole 

 is a poor country, and thinly inhabited. The capital is Lan-tcheou, 

 a small place on the banks of the Hoang-ho, which however carries 

 on a brisk trade with the tribes inhabiting the table-lauds to the 

 north and west of it. 



To these eighteen provinces may be added the province of Lrao- 

 tong, or Mougden, which extends along the northern shores of the 

 Hoang-hai, or Yellow Sea. It constituted formerly a part of Man- 

 churia, but after the present dynasty had ascended the throne of China 

 this portion was separated from it, and considered as the domain of 

 the imperial family. It is divided from China by the eastern extre- 

 mity of the Great Wall, and from Mongolia by a stockade of wooden 

 piles which extends to the mountains which separate it from Corea. 

 This country is covered with high mountains except on the banks of 

 the Leao-ho, where there is a plain of considerable extent, and pretty 

 well cultivated. Here is the capital, Mougden or Mukden, now called 

 Fung-thian-foo, a place of moderate extent, in which are the tombs 

 of the Manchow dynasty. Towards the boundary of Corea is Fm\- 

 hoan, traversed by the only road which connects Corea with China, 

 and on which some trade is carried on. 



Inhabitants. In their physical characteristics, the Chinese have 

 been recognised as superior to many other Asiatics. A finer shaped 

 and more powerful race of men hardly exists than the coolies, or 

 porters, of Canton ; and as sailors, they are found stronger and more 

 efficient than natives of India. Though the Chinese are allied to the 

 Mongols in the general cast of their features, the harsher points of 

 the Mongols are in the Chinese softened down considerably : in the 

 thickness of the lips the Chinese in some degree approaches, but by 

 no means equals, the Negro, nor is that feature at all so prominent; 

 the nose is flattened, and the nostril expanded in the Chinese, but not 

 to the same extent as in the African : there is the same lank, black, 

 and shining hair in the case of the Chinese as m that of the North 



