NANNING 



NANTES 



been signed for the construction of 

 a line from Nanking to Chuchow, 

 in Hunan. 



Dating from the 5th or 6th cent. 

 B.C., Nanking, the name of which 

 means southern capital, was the 

 capital of China for several periods 

 between A.D. 222 and 501, and 

 again from the accession of the 

 Ming dynasty in 1368, until their 

 removal to Peking in 1403. The 

 city was nearly destroyed by the 

 Taipings, who took it in 1853, and 

 overthrew the famous Porcelain 

 Tower. It was their capital until 

 1865, and gradually recovered after 

 the suppression of the rebellion. 

 At Nanking the first treaty between 

 Great Britain and China was signed, 

 Aug. 29, 1842. Pop. 370,000. 



Nanning. City of Kwangsi 

 province, China. It stands on the 

 Sikiang or West River, 320 m. 

 S.W. of Canton. It was opened as 

 a treaty port, 1907. Pop. 40,000. 

 Nansen, FRTDTJOF (b. 1861). 

 Norwegian explorer. Born near 

 Christiania, Oct. 10, 1861, he 

 graduated at 

 Christian i a 

 University. He 

 went to Green- 

 land in 1882 

 to obtain zoo- 

 logical speci- 

 mens, and on 

 his return was 

 appointed cur- 

 ator of the 

 natural history 

 museum at 

 Bergen. In 1888-89 he crossed 

 Greenland from E. to W., pub- 

 lishing The First Crossing of 

 Greenland, 1890. In 1893 he em- 

 barked on the Fram on a polar 

 expedition. Passing the N. coasts 

 of Europe and Asia, he placed his 

 vessel in the pack ice off the New 

 Siberia Islands, and in 1895 made 

 a dash for the pole, reaching 86 14' 

 N., at that time the farthest point 

 yet reached. 



Upon his return in 1895 he wrote 

 Farthest North, 1897, and various 

 scientific articles on his observa- 

 tions of the arctic conditions. In 

 1905 he took an active part in 

 politics, had much to do with the 

 separation of Norway from Sweden, 

 and was the first Norwegian 

 ambassador to England, resigning 

 in 1908. In 1920 he was director 

 of the international scheme for 

 repatriating prisoners of the Great 

 War, and professor of oceanogra- 

 phy at Christiania University, and 

 in 1921 High Commissioner for 

 Russian Famine Relief. See Dr. 

 Nansen, the Man and His Work. 

 F. Dolman, 1897. 



Nanshan. Mt. range of Asia. 

 It comprises parallel ridges between 

 the Gobi desert and the Tsaidam 



Fridtjof Nansen, 

 Norwegian explorer 



Nanking, China. Avenue of giant statues, leading to 

 the royal tombs of the Ming dynasty 



Swamp on the N.E. boundary of 

 Tibet. The range, alt. 14,000- 

 16,000 ft., which has a general 

 direction N.W. and S.E., is a con- 

 tinuation of the Kwenlun and Altyn 

 Tagh systems. Among the names 

 given to sections of the Nanshan 

 Range are the Alexander III, the 

 Humboldt, the Ritter, and the 

 Amne-Machin Mts. 



There is a second range of the 

 same name S. of the Yangtse, 

 running parallel with the coast 

 from Kwangsi to Chekiang prov. 

 Its greatest alt. is 9,500 ft. 



Nanshan, BATTLE OF. Fight 

 between the Russians and the 

 Japanese, May 26, 1904. Japan, 

 having Korea in her hands, deter- 

 mined to capture Port Arthur, and 

 this battle practically marks the 

 commencement of the siege. The 

 second army under Oku had been 

 embarked during April and began 

 to land near Pitzewu on May 5, but 

 it took nearly three weeks for the 

 whole disembarkation and for the 

 extension to Port Adams across the 

 peninsula. 



Having captured Kinchow, Oku 

 provided a guard to the N. against 

 a relieving force, and, turning to 

 the S., found himself faced by the 

 naturally strong position of Nan- 

 shan, a line of hills, 300 ft. high in 

 the centre, across the narrowest 

 part of the peninsula, both flanks 

 resting on the sea, the left (W.) 

 ending in precipitous cliffs, and the 

 right supported by the fire of 

 Russian gunboats. The position 

 was held by about 12,000 Russians, 

 carefully entrenched, and with 

 their front covered by formidable 

 obstacles, but was engaged by the 

 Japanese with great valour and 

 determination. Their first rush at 

 dawn on May 26 only carried them 

 up to the beginning of the ob- 

 stacles, but through this day of 

 stress they made nine successive 

 attempts to carry the position, 

 losing heavily, in the effort to find 

 a weak flank. Towards evening 

 an attack pushed strenuously all 

 along the line carried out the 

 scheme. A division on their right, 



powerfully aided 

 by artillery fire 

 from land and sea, 

 waded along the 

 coast, and swarm- 

 ing up the cliffs, 

 turned the Russian 

 left. 



Stossel, in com- 

 mand at Port 

 Arthur, although 

 only 3,000 of his 

 men had actually 

 been engaged, and 

 he had only lost 

 about 1,500 men, 

 ordered a retire- 

 ment to the prepared positions in 

 rear. It was a decided Japanese 

 victory, for they had captured many 

 guns, and were now in a position to 

 begin the investment of Port 

 Arthur. See Port Arthur ; Russo- 

 Japanese War. 



Nanterre. Village of France. It 

 is 5J m. N.W. of Paris, and was the 

 birthplace of S. Genevieve, whose 

 prayers are said to have preserved 

 the city from Attila. The church 

 contains an alleged fragment of the 

 true cross, an object of veneration 

 by pilgrims for centuries. Pop. 

 5,100. See Genevieve. 



Nantes. City of France. The 

 capital of the dept. of Loire-In- 

 ferieure, 248 m. S.W. of Paris, it 

 isbuiltonsevcral 

 islands of the 

 Loire, which is 

 joined in the 

 centre of the 

 city by theErdre. 

 Though 35 m. 

 from the sea, it 

 is a great sea- 

 port, fourth in 



Nantes arms 



importance in France, a shipbuild- 

 ing centre, and a naval arsenal. 

 Large steamers come up by the ship 

 canal from St. Nazaire. There are 

 over 11 bridges across the rivers, 

 and the quays extend for 2 m., 

 making handsome promenades. The 

 city is almost entirely modern, 

 having been rebuilt 1865-70. The 

 only old street is the Rue de la 

 Juiverie. Here are large textile, 

 machinery, glass, soap, and chem- 

 ical factories. The cathedral of S. 

 Pierre (1434) has a fine nave, and 

 contains a notable altar tomb of 

 Francis II, the last duke of _Brit- 

 tany, and his wife Marguerite^ 



The castle of the dukes of Brit- 

 tany, built in the 14th century,, has 

 massive towers and a moat. Here 

 Henry IV signed the edict of 

 Nantes in 1598, and many other 

 kings of France resided. Cardinal 

 de Retz escaped from prison hi the 

 castle in 1654. It was the scene of 

 a serious fire in 1921. 



Nantes was the capital of the 

 Gallic tribe of the Namnetes, and 



