Rebellion of Chang-hsien-chung 199 



Society, but he is able to come to no conclusion as to 

 who constructed them. Like all the Szechuan rivers, the 

 Siao ho forms a succession of pools and rapids, its bed being 

 curiously obstructed in places by reefs of rock which the 

 water has not yet succeeded in disintegrating. Thus, a few 

 miles above Chung-king is the stone gate (Shih men), a ledge 

 of hard sandstone rising some twenty feet above the present 

 winter level, and through which the river flows in a rapid 

 current by four narrow, winding channels. These, as long 

 as the rocks are visible above the water, are easily navigable ; 

 but in summer, when the river is in flood and the rocks are 

 hidden, the passage is perilous in the extreme. Every spot 

 has its legend, and if I were to relate all that I learnt on my 

 voyage up and down, I fear this account would never be 

 brought to a conclusion. All who have a slight acquaintance 

 with the history of China are aware that, during the troublous 

 times that preceded the fall of the Ming dynasty, in the early 

 part of the seventeenth century, the province of Szechuan 

 was almost depopulated by the ferocious rebel — " Chang- 

 hsien-chung," Chang the Loyal (!). The province was re- 

 peopled by immigrants from Hukwang and Kiangsi, to whom 

 land was allotted on exceptionally favourable terms — terms 

 which have been faithfully observed to this day, the land-tax 

 being nominal in amount, and considerably less than that 

 imposed on any other of the eighteen provinces, while its soil 

 is among the most fertile in the empire. During the 

 rebellion of Chang the Loyal, a popular official of Chung- 

 king, named Tung, drowned himself in the Siao ho, and his 

 body was changed into a rock, which still obstructs the navi- 

 gation a short distance above the stone gate. Near by is 

 the " Shih ma ho " (" Stone Horse Temple "), opposite which 

 stands a stone horse wanting in feet. He represents an un- 

 fortunate animal that was in the habit of straying at night 



