

CHINA. 



123 



with which the empire was conquered and occu- 

 pied, the members of which, Manchus. Mongols, 

 and Chinese, enjoy many privileges, and are not 

 subject to the orders of the provincial governors. 

 They number about 323.800, but not more than 

 90,000 are armed with modern firearms and 

 trained to fight in the European fashion. The 

 Chinese army, or Army of the Green Flag, is said 

 to number 539.000 men, or, according to another 

 estimate, 650,000 ; but of these likewise only about 

 98,000 yungs or volunteers and 161,000 lienehun 

 are to be relied on for service in war time. The 

 province of Pechili is defended by 99,000 trained 

 soldiers, with 581 guns. This is the Army of the 

 Black Flag, trained by European officers, and 

 armed, the infantry with Remingtons, the cav- 

 alry with Winchesters, .and the artillery with 

 Krupp 8-centimetre field pieces. Of these, 50.000 

 are kept constantly under arms. The territorial 

 army, or Braves, is supposed to number 600,000 

 men, but in peace time not more than 200,000 are 

 kept under arms. Mongolia has its own militia, 

 numbering 117,100. The militia of Tibet num- 

 bers 64,000 men, of whom 30,000 are constantly 

 under arms. In eastern Turkestan, Kulja, and 

 Tarbagatai there are garrisons 30,000 strong, 

 most of whom have received military instruction 

 and are well disciplined. The total strength 

 of the various armies is estimated at 1,038,000 

 men, of whom 387,000 are regarded as efficient. 

 The troops armed with modern rifles number 

 about 200,000. Next to Li-Hung-Chang's picked 

 corps, sometimes called his private army, the nu- 

 cleus of which was formed a quarter of a century 

 ago from veterans who fought on both sides in 

 the Taiping rebellion, comes the Pekin contin- 

 gent of the old Army of the Eight Banners, num- 

 bering 20,000 men, which has been formed on 

 the same model. Of the whole Banner army, 100,- 

 000 are stationed in the capital province ; of the 

 rest, 180,000 are in Manchuria, and the remainder 

 garrison all parts of China. Manchuria has also 

 another Tartar army, the territorial troops, which 

 is believed to be efficient. The army organized 

 by the Viceroy Tso-Tsung-Tang, with which he 

 took Kulja in 1874, numbered 50.000 well-trained 

 men. Those that are still with the colors in Nan- 

 kin are armed with Remington rifles and Krupp 

 and Armstrong field guns, and those at Foochow 

 have magazine rifles. In Formosa the governor- 

 general, Liu-Ming-Chang, has had 10,000 troops 

 trained by European tacticians, and in Canton an 

 efficient corps has been trained on the system of 

 short enlistments for the Viceroy Li-Han-Chang. 

 The Navy. China has in recent years ac- 

 quired a modern war fleet, in which are some 

 powerfully armed and protected vessels. In the 

 Pei-Yang or northern squadron are the "Ting 

 Yuen " and " Chen Yuen," iron armor-plated 

 barbette ships of 7,335 tons each and 6,000 

 horse power, built in Stettin : the armored cruis- 

 ers " King Yuen " and " Lai Yuen," sister ships, 

 like the above named, built in the same yard, 

 of 2,900 tons and 5,700 horse power each ; the 

 " Chao Yung " and " Yang Wei," sister armored 

 cruisers built by Armstrong in England, of 

 1.350 tons and 2,400 horse power; the "Chi 

 Yuen," a steel cruiser built in Stettin, of 2,300 

 tons and 2,800 horse power; the "Chih Yuen" 

 and " Ching Yuen," sister steel cruisers built by 

 Armstrong, of 2,300 tons and 7.600 horse power ; 6 



Armstrong gunboats, built in 1879 and 1880, 

 each carrying a single 35-ton gun ; 1 torpedo 

 gunboat, built in 1888, and 3 avisos ; in all, 19 

 vessels, of 36,250 tons and 50,760 horse power, 

 armed with 56 large guns, exceeding 10 centi- 

 metres, and 195 smaller guns, and manned by 

 2,600 men. In the Nan Yang or southern squad- 

 ron are 6 cruisers, built between 1883 and 1890 ; 

 2 armed avisos dating from 1872 ; and 4 trans- 

 port avisos, in all, 12 vessels, of 16,910 horse 

 power, armed with 70 guns of more and 33 of 

 less than 10 centimetres caliber, with crews 

 numbering 1,865 men. The Shanghai flotilla is 

 composed of 1 frigate cruiser, 2 protected cruis- 

 ers purchased in 1883, and 5 gunboats ; in all, 

 8 vessels, of 8,668 tons and 7,790 horse power, 

 carrying 51 guns of large bore and 26 of less 

 than 10 centimetres, and manned by 905 men. 

 In the Canton fleet are 3 torpedo cruisers, built 

 in 1890 and 1891, of 7,200 .horse power, carrying 

 27 large and 36 small guns ; 16 gunboats, carry- 

 ing 62 guns ; 22 torpedo gunboats, carrying 54 

 guns ; and 9 torpedo boats of German construc- 

 tion. The northern or Pei-Yang fleet is pro- 

 vided with a torpedo flotilla. The naval arsenal 

 and shipyard at Foochow has turned out gunboats, 

 avisos, and torpedo boats. There are other naval 

 and military arsenals, organized by Europeans, 

 and capable of turning out heavy ordnance and 

 all kinds of war material. In the arsenal near 

 Shanghai, 12-inch rifled cannon and their steel 

 projectiles, rapid-firing guns, shot and shrapnel 

 of all kinds, and magazine rifles are made by 

 native workmen from metal produced in the 

 country, with machinery constructed after the 

 latest European designs by Chinese mechanics. 



Commerce. The value of the imports in 

 1892 was 135,101,198 haikwan taels, taking the 

 tael at the exchange value of $1.06, though the 

 intrinsic value in United States silver dollars or 

 in Chinese dollars coined in Canton is $1.38. 

 This is the official total of the customhouse re- 

 turns ; with the duty, the costs of landing and 

 storing, and the selling commission added, 

 amounting to 18,315,086 taels. The exchange 

 value of the exports was 102,583,525 taels, or 

 117,218,438 taels if commissions, storage, ex- 

 port duty, and other expenses are added. Of 

 the imports, 28,870,150 taels came direct from 

 Great Britain, and 69,816,916 taels from Hong- 

 Kong, 13,861,094 taels direct from India, 6,061,- 

 900 taels from the United States, 5,128,142 taels 

 from Continental Europe, 6,702,302 taels from 

 Japan, and 550,753 taels from Russia in Europe 

 and Asia. Of the exports, 10,476.249 taels were 

 shipped to England and 40,701,916 taels to Hong- 

 Kong, 1,402,891 to India direct, 10,784,655 taels 

 to the United States, 17,166,540 taels to Conti- 

 nental Europe, 8,053,732 taels to Japan, and 

 7,043,250 taels to Russia. 



The exchange values of the principal imports 

 for 1892 are given in the following table : 



