attention to natural phenomena, and tried thereby to ascertain the will of heaven; for this purpose, they also applied fire to the carapace of the tortoise, and tried to discover the future by the lines that resulted therefrom. They feared the influence of evil genii. They did not bury their dead, but wrapping them up in bundles of hay, watched over them until decomposition set in.
Actual China. — Having briefly examined ancient China, how its soil was formed and shaped, and what were its first inhabitants, it now remains for us to study what actual China is.
Situation. — By the Chinese Empire is understood all that part of Asia which lies between 53° and 10° N. latitude, proceeding from N. to S., and going from W. to E., the whole region extending between the 74° and 134° longitude E. from Greenwich.
Divisions. — In this vast Empire, certain parts are governed more or less iomediately by the Emperor of China. Some are merely tributary states. The most important region is called CHINA PROPER, and comprises the 18 Provinces. It is this latter which will be the principal theme of the present work. Manchria, Mongolia, Eastern Turkestan or the New Territory (Sinkiang) and Tibet will afterwards be studied, each in turn.
Boundaries. — China is bounded on the
N. and N.W. — By Siberia,
W. — By Russian Turkestan,
S.W. — By Hindustan,
S. and E. — By Tongking and the Pacific Ocean,
N.E.— By Korea.
Area and Population. — The population of the Chinese Empire, according to the latest official census taken in 1902, is said to amonut to 130,000,000 inhabitants. These are distributed over the 4,278,352 square miles which form the country, as follows:
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Population. Square miles. China Proper (i.e. the 18 Provinces) 110,000,000. Manchuria ... Mongolia... Chinese Turkestan Tibet........ 1,532,800. $,500,000. 363,700. 2,580,000. 1.367,953. 1,200,000. 530,579. ... 0,430,000. 463,320.
Reasons of the unequal distribution of inhabitants. — The climate, the mountainous character of the country, the nature of the soil, explain this unequal distribution of inhabitants in the different parts of China, as we shall see further on, when studying in detail each of its Provinces. Manchuria, cold and hilly, is far from affording its people the resources which abound throughout the rich and sunny plains of the 18 Provinces. Mongolia and Turkestan, frozen in Winter, excessively hot in Summer, and swept continually by sand-storms exhibit but few fertile spots, wherein the bare necessaries of life are found. Tibet, with its snow-capped summits, is a fit abode for man only in those deep valleys where milder air is to be found.
Difficulty of a collective view. — It is by examining each of these countries in detail, that we can study their mountains, plains, table-lands, the distribution of their waters, their elimate, resources, and administration, in a word, everything which constitutes their geography. Their different features vary too much, and thereby hinder anything like a general view.
Study of the 18 Provinces. — The 18 Provinces forming the most important part of the Empire will be the object of a more special study.
