THE GROWTH OF THE YANGTZE DELTA 



38 



Ping-yang-sha termed Changsha, which is the core of ihe 

 present island. 



A chart in the Kiangnan Eecords shows the 'general 

 arrangement between the years 1550 and 1583. The pro- 

 portions are so inaccurate that no reliance can be placed 

 upon it as to scale, but it shows clearly that at that epoch 

 there was a number of small islands (thirteen are shown but 

 some bear several names implying earlier subdivision) from 

 which Tsungming Island has developed. Father Havret 

 considers there is good evidence that the island has decreased 

 in width since A.D. 1700. See Plate 11, 12 and 13. 



History of the Northern or H aim-en Promontory. — The 

 records of Tungchou contain many references to the changes 

 which have occurred in the neighbourhood of Haimen. It 

 is stated that this area goes back to the second century B.C. , 

 'and there was at first only a sandbank which gradually 

 became connected with the mainland. The name Haimen 

 was given to it in A.D. 958, at which time the city of Tung- 

 chou was built. The Haimen bank was steadily cut away 

 by the river until in 1672 the town of Haimen was des- 

 troyed and the areas which had shrunk to almost nothing 

 ceased to be regarded as an administrative unit. At the 

 same time new banks began to appear 1 in the middle of the 

 river, half-way between Tungchou and Tsungming and 

 became connected to the left bank. This new area was 

 created a "Ting" with the old name "Haimen" in 1768. 

 Since then the promontory has steadily advanced and in one 

 hundred and ten years progressed seaward twenty-five miles. 

 Father Havret (Varietes Sinologiques, No. 1, L'ile de Tsong- 

 ming, Shanghai, 1892), to whom I am indebted for this 

 information, has published a map showing the probable 

 changes of the promontory. See Plate 11, 12 and 13. 



The Features of Hang chow Bay, and the Chien Tang 

 Kianq Est imny.— Assuming that the coast line follows a line 

 from" Yangchow through Chinkiang to Hangchow then the 

 Hangchow Bav was a part of the sea, The outlet ot the 

 Chien Tang Kiang was at Hangchow, or Hangchow was pro- 

 bably on the northern side of the estuary. The hills in the 

 coastal plain north to a line from Hangchow to Nmgpo are 

 similar to the hills in the Yangtze Delta and the island off 

 the China coast. See Plate 14. 



Tie delta has probably been built up argely from the 



silt of the Yangtze, the nature of the material being identicab 



The waters of the Hangchow Bay are permeated with 



Wze silt and the growth of the <*£ opp^ Chapu 



and Haining are from the Bay inward. See Plate 14. 



