142 



CHINA. 



orders, 40,000, for an aggregate amount of 

 $1,014,607. 



Article 153. of the present Constitution, pro- 

 mulgated in 1833, contains the following pro- 

 vision : " Public education is one of the chief 

 concerns of the Government." The instruction 

 given in all the public schools, from the escuelas 

 de pdrvulos or infant schools up to the highest 

 university courses, is absolutely free. The 

 amount of national funds expended on this 

 branch in 1878 was little short of a million 

 dollars; in 1876 it reached $1,125,579. High- 

 er instruction is given in the Santiago Univer- 

 sity and in the professional courses at the 

 lyceums of Copiapo, La Serena, Valparaiso, 

 and Concepcion, comprising the faculties of 

 belles-lettres, jurisprudence, medicine, and 

 mathematics. The number of alumni of the 

 university in 1878 was 1,017. For secondary 

 instruction (ensenanza secundaria) there are 

 16 lyceums distributed through the different 

 provinces, and the National Institute in San- 

 tiago, hi which last 5,596 received instruction. 

 Primary instruction is given in 1,585 schools, 

 987 of which are supported by the state ; the 

 remaining 598 are private. Of the first men- 

 tioned, 23 are designated as escuelas superiores. 

 The attendance in 1878 was 122,000. In the 

 same year there were 47 night schools support- 

 ed by the Government and by private associa- 

 tions, with an aggregate attendance of 3,956 

 adults of both sexes. There are, besides, the 

 following special educational establishments, 

 all supported by the Government: The Sec- 

 tion of Belles-Lettres in the National Institute, 

 comprising schools of design, of painting, of 

 sculpture, and of architecture, with 113 pupils ; 

 the Conservatory of Music, with 349 pupils, of 

 whom 249 were females ; the National School 

 of Arts and Trades, with 83 pupils ; the Agri- 

 cultural Institute, 43 pupils ; the Military Acade- 

 my, 80 ; the Naval School, 50 ; the Nautical 

 School, 120; and the school for deaf-mutes, 

 with an average of 50 pupils. Lastly, there 

 are seminaries supported by the bishoprics in 

 the cities of Santiago, Valparaiso, La Serena, 

 Talca, Concepcion, and Ancud, for the educa- 

 tion and preparation of youths intended for the 

 Church, the number of whom in 1878 was 958. 



Details relating to the origin and declaration 

 of the war between Chili and Bolivia and Peru 

 are given in the article BOLIVIA, in the present 

 volume ; and the military and naval operations 

 of the campaign, etc., will be narrated in the 

 article PERU. 



CHINA, an empire in Asia. Emperor, 

 Kwang-Su, formerly called Tsaeteen, born in 

 1872, a son of Prince Ch'un, and grandson to 

 the Emperor Tau-Kwang, who died in 1850 ; he 

 succeeded to the throne in 1875. The area of 

 China proper is 1,554,000 square miles; the 

 population is about 405,000,000. The area of 

 the dependencies is estimated at 3,062,000 

 square miles, with a population of about 29,- 

 580,000; making in all 4,616,000 square miles, 

 with a population of 435,000,000. 



A census of the foreign residents taken in 

 1878 gave the following particulars : 



The total population of the treaty ports was 

 estimated at 4,990,000. 



The returns of trade at the treaty ports in 

 1878 were as follows (1 Haikwan tael=|l-346) : 



Haikwnn taeli. 



Imports 70,804,027 



Exports 67,172,179 



Total 187,976,206 



This total is less than in 1877 by 2,702,712 

 taels. The decrease in 1878 was mainly in the 

 imports. The import of cotton goods declined 

 from 18,800,232 taels in 1877 to 16,029,231 

 taels in 1878. The customs revenue in 1878 

 gave a very favorable result, being 12,483,988 

 taels. Of the new ports, TVu-hu and I-chang 

 show a considerable rise, the trade at the for- 

 mer advancing in 1878 to 3,219,476 taels, or 

 more than double the amount in the preceding 

 year, and I-chang showing a rise from a very 

 small sum to 71,014 taels. The trade at Kiung- 

 chow has also increased, though to a small 

 extent; but at "Wenchow it has slightly de- 

 clined, and at Pakhoi no trade at all appears 

 to have been carried in foreign vessels in the 

 year 1878. 



The importation of opium into China ia 

 gradually increasing, as well as the cultivation 

 of opium in the country itself. The imports 

 from 1871 to 1878 were as follows (1 picul = 

 133 Ibs.) : 



Most of the opium finds its way into China 

 by Hong-Kong, and the greater portion of it is 

 of the Malwa kind, the remainder being from 

 Patna, Benares, and other parts of India. The 

 trade in opium is gradually passing out of the 

 hands of foreigners into those of natives. The 

 agencies of the large opium-houses in Shang- 

 hai, which existed until quite recently, were 

 withdrawn one after the other, and were re- 

 placed by guilds of Chinamen, who, instead of 

 entering into a ruinous competition with the 

 large foreign houses, have in several cases paid 

 them a good sum to close their agencies. 



