THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS LIBRARY 0\o RaAoE v.l ■Bt,flrlin'ip- I LISRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY of ILLINOIS. y^ VIEW TAKEN FROM THE SmDIEK PALACE, TEKIXG. THE EARTH AND ITS INHABITANTS thp: "•^ -D UNIVERSAL GEOGRAPHY By ELISEE RECLUS EDITED By A. H. KEANE, B.A. MEMB. OF COUNCIL, ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE VOL. VII. EAST ASIA ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS AND MAPS LONDON J. S. VIRTUE & CO., Limited, 294, CITY ROAD LONDON : PhlXTtD BT J. S. VlJiTUK AND CO., LIMITED, CITY KOAD. -1 ^ CONTENTS. VOL. VII. EAST ASIA. Chap. I. General Survey East and West contrasted, p. 2. Isolation of China, p. 3. Intercourse with India and Europe, p. 4. Foieign Influence : Russian Encroachments, p. 8. Rivalry of the Eastern and Western Races, p. 9. Future Prospects, p. 12. Chap. II. Tibet Nomenclature, p. 13. Physical Outlines, p. 14. Extent, E.xploration, Divisions, p. 15. The Kuen-lun Range, p. 17. Khachi: Lacustrine System, p. 19. Eastern Highlands and Rivers, p. 22. South Tibet, Trans- Himalayas, p. 23. Mount Kailas, Upper Satlaj, and Indus, p. 24. Lake Pang-kong, p. 29. The Tsangbo River, p. 30. Head-waters of the Great Indo-Chinese Rivers, p. 36. Climate, p. 38. Fauna and Flora, p. 40. Inhabitants : the Tibetans, p. 41. Buddhism, p. 44. Diet, Social Customs, Population, p. 48. Topography, p. 50. Trade and Trade Routes, p. 54. Administration, Postal Service, p. 56. Chap. III. Chinese Turkestan: The Tarim Basin Progress of Discovery, p. 58. Extent, Population, Water System, p. 60. The Yarkand and Kashgar Rivers, p. 61. The Tarim and Lob-nor, p. 62. The Takla-makan Desert, p. 64. Flora and Fauna, p. 66. Inhabitants : the Kashgarians, p. 67. Routes and Passes, p. 69. Topography : Administrative Divisions, p. 70. Chap. IV. Mongolia .,....-•••••••• I. The Kuku-nor, p. 74. Relief of the Land, p. 74. Lake Kuku. p. 77. The Chaidam Bfisin, p. 78. Inhabitants: the Tangutans, p. 79. II. Mongolian Kansu, p. 80. Climate, p. 81. Routes, Extent, Papulation, p. 82. Inhabitants, Topogrnphy, p. 83. III. Zingaria and KuLJA, OR Ili, p. 88. Historical Routes, p. 88. Lake Zair.im, p. 90. Inhabitants: the Zungarians, Dungans, nnd Taranchi, p. 90. Topography, p. 91. IV. North Mongolia and the Gobi, p. 93 The Ektag Altai and Tannu Ola Ranges, p. 95. Lakes Ubsa and Koso, p. 95. The Gobi Desert, p. 96. The Khingan and In-shan Highlands, p. 99. The Ordos Plateau and Ala-shan Uplands, p. 100. The Great Wall, p. 102. Inhabitants : the Mongolians, p. 1U3. Topography, p. 111. V. Chinese Manchuria, p. 115. Physical Features, p. 116. The Sunuari and Liao-he Rivers, p. 117. Flora and Fauna, p. 119. Inhabitants: the Manchus, p. 120. Topography, p. 123. Chap. V. China General Survey, p. 128. Progress of Dis -overy, p. 129. Physical Features, Climate, p. 132. Flora and Fauna, p. 134. Inhabitants: the Chinese Race, p. 136. The Chinese Language, p. 137. Religion, p. 140. The Feng-shui, p. 143. Buddhism, p. 145. The Jews and Mohammedans, p. 147. The Christians, p. 151. Habits and Customs, p. 153. Secret Societies, the Taijiings, p. 15.). Basin of the Pei-ho, Province of Pechili, p. 162. Topography : Peking, p. 164. The Shantung Peninsula, p. 174. Topography, p. 175. The Iloangho Basin, Kansu, Shensi, Shansi, and Honan, p. 179. The Grand Canal and Lower Iloang-ho, p. 185. The Tsing-ling and other Ranges, p. 187. The Yellow Lands P 189. Topography, PAOS 1 13 58 128 VI t ^5 iv CONTENTS. PAOB p. 192. Basin of the Yang-tze-kiang, Sechuen, Kweichcw, Hupch, Hunan, Nganhwei, Kiangsu, Kiangsi, Chekiang, p. 196. The Upper Yang-tze and Min, p. 199. The Middle Yang-tze and Ilan-kiang, p. 201. Lake Poyang and the Lower Yang-tze, p. 202. Sechuen Highlands, p. 205. Inhabitants of Sechuen, the Si-fan, p. 209. The Mantze, Lolo, and Chinese of Seihuen, p. 210. Province of Kweichew, the Miaotze, p. 214. Hunan, Kiangsi, and Cliekiang, p. 217. Inhabitants of the Lower Yang-tze Basin, p. 219. Topography, p. 220. Eastern Sloi^es of the Nan-shan, 240. Inhabitants of Fokien, p. 241. Topography, p. 242. Basin of the Si-kiang, Kwangsi, and Kwangtung, p. 247. The Si-kiang River System, p. 248. The Canton Delta, p. 249. Climate of South China, p. 250. Inhabitants, p. 251. Topography, p. 253. Hong Kong, p. 257. Macao, p. 259. Yunnan, p. 263. Inhabitants, p. 267. The Panthay Insurrection, p. 268. Topography, p 209. Hainan, p. 273. Formosa, p. 275. Inhabitants, p. 280. Topography, p. 281. Material and Social Condition of China, p. 284. The Chinese Towns, p. 285. Agriculture, p. 287. The Tea Trade, p. 291. Land Tenure, the Commune, p. 292. Industries, p. 295. Minerals, Metal Work, Bronzes, p. 298. Printing, the Labour Market, p. 299. Inland and Foreign Trade, p. 300. The Opium Question, p. 301. The Treaty Ports and Foreign E.xchanges, Staples of Trade, p. 303. Highways, Railway Prospects, Telegraphs, p. 305. Foreigners in Ctiina, Chinese Emigration, p. 308. The New Ideas, Social Progress, Public Instruction, The Literati, p. 312. Pending Changes in the Social System, p. 314. Administration, Filial Devotion to the Head of the Family and of the State, p. 315. Imperial Authority, the Euiperor's Household, p. 317. Education, Public Examinations, p. 320. The Mandarins, p. 322. Penal Code, p, 326. Army and Xavy, p. 328. Revenue, Currency, p. 331. Administrative Divisions, p. 333. Chap. VI. Korea . . . . " 334 Progress of Discovery, Foreign Relations, p. 337. Physical Features, Orographic System, p. 339. The Korean Archipelagos, p. 340. Mineral Wealth, Flora and Fauna, Climate, p. 341. Inhabitants, Language, p. 344. Social Condition, Religion, p. 346. Habits and Customs, Trade, Industries, p. 348.,yGovernment, Admiuistration, p. 351. Topography, p. 353. Chap. VII. Japan 355 Form, Extent, IS^ame, p. 356. Progress of Discovery, p. 358. The Kurile Archipelago, p. 360. Yeso, p. 362. Hondo, p. 364. The Nikko Highlands, a Buddhist Legend, p. 367. Asama- yama and Fuzi-san, p. 369. The Highlands of South Hondo, p. 371. Lake Biva, p. 373. The Inland Sea, p. 375. The Island of Sikok, p. 376. The Island of Kiu-siu, p. 378. The Kiu-kiu (Lu-chu) and Goto Archipelagos, p. 381, Hydrographic System, Chief Rivers, p. 386. Climate, p. 387. Vegetation, p. 389. Fauna, p. 393. Inhabitants, the Ainos, p. 396. The Aborigines of Japan, p. 400. The Jipanese Race, p. 401. Language and Letters, p. 408. The Art of Printing, p. 410. Religion: Sintoism, p. 411. Buddhism, p. 415. Christianity, p. 416. Topography of the Kuriles and Yeso, p. 418. Topography of Xip-pon, p. 421. Topography of Sikok, Kiu-siu, and Riu-kiu, p. 441. The Boniu Archipelago, p. 444. Vital Statistics, Agriculture, p. 446. Rice and Tea Culture, p. 447. Natural Resources of Yeso, p. 450. Land Tenure, Mining Industry, p. 450. Manufactures, Japanese Art, Porcelain, p. 453. Lacquer-ware, Paper, p. 455. Decline of Art, Traffic in " Curios," p. 459. Foreign Trade, p. 462. Shipping, p. 466. Roads, Railways, Telegraphs, p. 467. Literature and Public Instruction, p. 469, Historic Retrospect, the Revolution, p. 470. Administration, p. 473. Finance, Army and Xavy, p. 475. Statistical Tables , . . 477 Index 485 LIST or ILLUSTRATIONS. VOL VII. MAPS PRINTED IN COLOUPtS. PAGK 1, Turkestan and Inner Asia . . . 58 2. China * . . 128 3. Peking and Neighboui'hood 4. Canton and the Pearl River 5. The Islands of Japan . 164 I 6. Tokio and its Bay PA OB 249 355 423 PLATES. The Yang-tze-kiang — Mitan Gorge To face jmge The Lantzan-kiang — Hogg's Gorge Ovis Ammon — Ibex Siberica — Ovis Nahura — Markhor Ram .... Monastery at Shigatze .... Lassa — Lamassery of Potala in the Seventeenth Century Chinese Turkestan — Types and Cos'.umes Upper Kara-kash Valley .... Street Scene, Yarkand .... Mongolian Desert — Tomb of Lama and En campment ..... Dungans and Taranehis — Types and Costumes Manchu Ministers — Chiefs of Banners View taken from the Summer Palace, Pekin Nan-kow, Southern Gate of the Great Wall — View taken from Pata-ling View on the Upper Yang-tze-kiang Road cut through the " Yellow Earth " . River View on the Upper Yangtze-kiang Chinese Miners — Upper Yang-tze Highlands Hankow — Han-kiang and Yang-tze Ccn- fluenee ....... -3 37 40 51 52 58 60 72 80 91 121 164 173 190 192 203 221 227 A Slreet in Kin-kiang — Types and Cos- tumes .... To face page 229 Tower of Long-hua, Shanghai . . . 236 Female Types and Costumes — Province of Fokien 241 Buddhist Monastery at Yuen-fu on the Miu, South of Fuchew-fu 243 Lake Tali — View taken from the North . . 270 Formosan Types and Costumes — Butan Captives in Japan ....... 280 Paper-mill, China 299 M. Tseng— Chinese Minister in Paris . . 317 Korean Mandarins ..... 344 Fuzi Yama — View taken from the South-west 370 Lake Hakone ....... 372 Cape Homer — View taken from the Entrance of Kago-sima Bay ..... 380 Japanese Peasantry ..... 386 Aino Types and Costumes .... 397 Japanese Types and Costumes . . . 409 Types and Costumes of Citizens of Tokio . 423 View of Odovara ; taken from Tokai-do . . 429 Birdseye View of Nagaski .... 442 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. ILLUSTKATIONS IN TEXT. EAST ASIA. 1. Itinerary of H'wen-Tsang 2. Encroachments of Asiatic Russia on China 3. Itineraries of the Tibetan Explorers . 4. Upi'f.k Kaka-kash Valley 5. Lake Daniji'a-yum and Taigot Rloun tains 6. Tengri-nor ..... 7. Mount Kailas and the Four Sacred River 8. The Mansaraur Ba.sin 9. Lake Paxg-kong : Encami'mknt or the English Expedition ok 1871 10. Lake Pang-kong 11. Lake Palti 12. Course of the Tsangbo 13. Course of the Tsangbo 14. Course of the Tsangbo 15. Course of the Tsangbo 16. Tibetan Ethnography 17. Pkayer inscribed ox A Rock 18. Tibetan Amulet 19. Lassa .... 20. Trade Routes of Tibet 21. Itineraries of the Tian-shan Nan-lu 22. The Tian shan Nan-lu, from a Chinese Map 23. Lake Kar.ishar .... 24. Lob-nor ..... 25. Races of Chinese Turkestan 26. Routes from Kashgar to Ferghana 27. Khotan and the Southern Plateaux 28. Yarkand and Yangi-shahr 29. Sources of the Hoang-ho, from a Chinese Map .... 30. Kuku-nor .... 31. West End of the Great Wall 32. FoKTiFiED Villages near Lantchew Province of Kaxsu . 33. Oases of Barkul and Hami 34. Urumtsi, Turfan, and surrounding Moun tains ...... 35. Ebi-nor 36. Chuguehak and the Tarbagatrai Range 37. Valley of the Tekes .... 38. Section of the Gobi, going East and West 39. View in the Gobi 40. Section of the Gobi between Urga an Kalgan ..... 41. South-east Corner of the Mongolia Plateau PAGE 6 8 IG 19 20 21 2.5 26 28 29 30 32 33 34 35 43 45 46 52 54 59 61 63 64 68 70 71 73 76 77 82 84 86 87 89 92 93 94 97 98 99 42. The Grkat Wall. Vikw taken at the Nankow Pass 43. Mongol Invasions and Conquests of their Successors . 44. Inhabitants of Mongolia 45. Kobdo Plateau . 46. Urga .... 47. IMongolian Highways 48. IMouth of the Liao-he 49. Manchu Woman 50. Confluence of the Nonni and Sungari 51. Lower Tumen Valley and Possiet Bay 52. The Nine Provinces accoi'ding to the Yukung 53. China according to the Native Geographers 54. Kiang-su, according to Martini 55. Isothermals of China . 56. Range of the Chinese Fauna 57. Chinese Dfelects 58. The Nine Sacred Mountains. — The Chew Epoch 59. The Taiki, or Magic Looking-glass 60. Buddhist Priest .... 61. The Goddess Kwanyix . 62. Domestic Altar. — The Smiling Buddh.^ 63. Regions wasted by the Mohammedan In surrcctions .... 64. A Chinese SAVA^T .... 65. Chinese Children . . . 66. Terrace with Funeral Urns xeai Amoy ..... 67. Manchu Lady 68. Lands wasted by the Taiping lusur rection 69. Routes of the Chief Modern Explorers in China ..... 70. Range of the Floodings of the Lower Pechil 71. Successive Displacements of Peking . 72. The High Street, Peking 73. The Temple of Heaven, Peking . 74. Celestial Sphere in the Old Observa TORY, Peking .... 75. Tientsin 76. The Lower Pei-ho 77. Old Shantung Strait . 78. Tengchew and Miao-tao ArcIiipeLigo 79. Chefu 80. Trans-Ordos 81. Cliffs of Yellow Earth on the Hoaxg HO ...... 102 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. vu 82. Shiftings of the Hoang-ho during Three 128. Thousand Years .... 182 129. 83. Recent Shiftings of the Hoang-ho . 1S3 130. 84. Yellow Sea 186 131. 85. Terrace Lands of Shan si .... 188 132. 86. TJtai-shan 189 133. 87. Yellow Lands of North China . 190 134. 88. Singan and the Lower Wei-ho Valley 193 135. 89. Comparative Discharge of the Yang-tze 136. and other Rivers .... 197 90. Navigable Course of the Yang-tze and its 137. Tributaries 198 138. 91. Old Mouths of the Yang-tze . 204 139. 92. Channels and Breakwaters between the 140. Hoang-ho and Yang-tze . 205 93. Channels and Breakwaters between the 141. Hoang-ho and Yang-tze . 206 142. 94. Mountains between Tatsienlu and Batang 207 143. 95. From the Min Valley to Tatsienlu . 208 144. 96. The Sechuen Highlands 213 145. 97. Races of South-west China 216 146. 98. Chingtu-fu Basin 221 147. 99. The Tsing-ling and Singan 223 100. Course of the Yang-tze above the Gorges 224 148. 101. I-chang Gorges 225 149. 102. Wuchang : View takem fkom the TOWEK OF THE YeLLOW CraNE (Ho- 150. ANG-HO-LEW) 228 151. 103. Hankow and surrounding Lakes 229 152. 104. Nanking ....... 230 105. Chingkiang 232 153. 106. Shanghai and the Hoang-pu . 233 154. 107. Shanghai ...... 234 155. 108. Suchew before the Taiping War 235 109. Hangchew and the Si-hu 237 156. 110, Ningpo and Tsinhai .... 238 111. Grand Chusan and Putu .... 239 157. 112. Mouth of the Min ..... 243 158. 113. Fuchew-fu ...... 244 114. Shui-kow, on the Upper Min, Fokien . 245 159. 115. Amoy 246 160. 116. Comparative Temperature of Canton and 161. other Towns 251 162 117. Inhabitants of Kwangtung 252 163 118. Female Coiffure, Swatow . 254 164 119. Canton, Whampoa, and Honan Island . 256 165 120 Hong Kong ...... 258 166 121 Hong Kong : View taken from Kowlun 259 167 122 Macao 260 168 123 Pakhoi 261 169 124 Wei-chew 262 170 125 . Upper Song-koi Valley .... 265 171 126 Chinese of Yunnan . . . . 268 172 127 Route between Momcin and Tali-fu 209 PAOE Tali-fu and Lake Tali .... 270 Yunnan ....... 272 Hainan Strait ...... 273 Formosa and Fokien Strait . . . 276 IIighlamd Landscape, Formosa . . 277 Typhoon of the " Novara "... 279 Pepo-hoan Wom.\n and Child . . 282 Kelung 283 Grand Lu-chew, according to an old Chinese Map 284 Density of the Chinese Population in 1842 285 Singan-fu 286 Irrigating Pump, South China . . 287 Relative Importance of the Crops in the Chinese Provinces .... 288 Chief Crops of China .... 293 Mines of Shantung ..... 296 Mines of Yunnan 298 Portage in Chekiang .... 300 Chinese Treaty Ports . . . .302 General View of Nanking . . . 306 Routes, Telegraphs, and Lines of Steam Navigation in China . . . .307 Signal Towers 309 Range of Chinese Migration . . .310 M. Yang, Attache of the Chinese Legation in Paris .... 313 Chinese Quarter, Shanghai . . .316 Summer Palace — Bronze Lions, E.m- blems of the Imperial Power . 318 Vagrant Convicts 325 Defences of the Mouth of the Pei-ho . 329 Provincial Chief Towns, Fu and Chew, in China 332 General View of Kang-hoa, Lower Hang-kiang ..... 335 Korea Strait ...... 336 Explorations of Korea and surrounding Waters 337 South-west Archipelago of Korea . . 338 Entrance to the Gulf of Pechili . . 342 Island of Quelpaert 343 Han-kang, or Seul River . . . 352 Administrative Divisions of Korea . . 353 Curves of the Japanese Archipelago . 357 krait of Yeso 359 The Kurile Islands 360 Paramushir Island — Kuriles . . 361 Section of the Sea of Okhotsk . . 362 Tsugar Strait, between Ycso and Hondo . 363 Mouths of the Tone-gava . . . 365 , Oga-sima Island, and Ohokata-hatsiro Sea 366 NiKKO — Portico of the Temple of the Four Dragons 368 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 173. Gulf of Simoda and Oho-sima 174. Lake Biva 175. Naruto Strait 176. Yama-gava and Mount Kaimon 177. Kago-sima and Mi-take Volcano 178. llelicf of Japan and Depths of the sur rounding Waters ... 179. Geology of Japan .... 180. Tsu-sima 181. Isothermals of Japan 182. Japanese Landscape — View taken at Fl'ZISAVA ...... 183. Badger: Fac-simile of Japanese Design 184. Fac-simile of a Japanese Bird Design 185. Primitive Populatioils of Nip-pon, accord- ing to the Japanese Annals '186. Japanese Woman . 187. Jap.^nese Gikl 188. Japanese Musicians and Dealer 189. Japanese Tattooing 190. Japanese Women . 191. Xikko and the Upper Tone-gava 192. Buddhist Temple at Nikko. 103. Nagasaki and Unzen-san 104. Hakodate Bay PAGE 371 375 377 378 379 380 382 383 390 391 394 395 400 402 403 404 405 406 412 414 417 419 PAGE 195. Hakodate . . ^ . . . 420 196. Nihi-gata and Sado Island . . .421 197. Kanezava and the \Miite Mountain . . 422 198. Monster Bell in the Siha Quarter, ToKio ...... 425 199. JiNRiKsiA, Japanese Hand-cart . . 427 200. Simoda Bay 429 201. Nagoya and Delta of the Kiso-gava . 431 202. Lake Biva 434 203. Ohosaka 435 204. Hiogo-kohe 438 205. Matsuye 439 206. Nafa and Siuri in the Island of Okinava 443 207. Benin, or Ogasavara Archipelago . . 446 208. Mineral Deposits of Yeso . . .452 209. Scenes of Industrial Life . . . 455 210. Street Scenes 458 211. The Gods 460 212. Rats as Bice Merchants . . . 461 213. Ports open to Foreign Tiade . . . 465 214. Japanese Lines of Na\-igation . . . 466 215. View taken on the Tokai-do Highway 468 2^16. The Pillory in Japan before the Revolution 474 217. Administrative Divisions of Japan . . 475 ^ A miYEESAL GEOGEAPHY. EAST ASIA. CHINESE EMPIEE, COEEA, JAPAN. CHAPTER I. GENERAL SURVEY. HE natural divisions of tlie Asiatic continent are drawn in bold lines. We liave seen tliat the vast Russian domaiu comprises the Aralo- Caspian depressions and the northern slopes of the mountain systems, which stretch from the Ala'i and Tian-shan to the Manchurian coast ranges. Southwards and westwards, the two Indian peninsulas, the Iranian plateau, Asia Minor, and Arabia are no less clearly defined by snowy barriers, great inlets and seas. In the east, also, China, with Corea and the neighbouring archipelagos, forms, so to say, a world apart, enclosed by an amphitheatre of plateaux ancj highlands with a total frontier-line of 6,000 miles. From Manchuria to Indo-China, the Shanyan-alin, the Dus-alin, the Khingan, the Kentei, the Tannu-ola and Ektag Altai', the Tian-shan, the Tsung- ling, the Himalaya, the rugged hills pierced by the rivers of Transgangetic India, form together a continuous semicircle round about that portion of the Asiatic conti- nent which now constitutes the Chinese Flmpire. Japan has taken the name of the " Land of the Rising Sun ;" but relatively to the rest of the Old World China also faces eastwards. Its general slope, as indicated by the course of its rivers, is towards the Pacific Ocean. From the peoples of the West, China and Japan have rightly received the name of the extreme East, an expression also extended to Indo-China, the Philippines and Malaysia. VOL. VII. B EAST ASIA. East and West contrasted. Compared -witli Western Asia, and especially witli Europe, whicli may in certain respects be regarded as a group of peninsulas belonging to Asia, the eastern regions of tbe continent enjoy certain privileges, but have also some great dis- nd vintages as lands of human culture. The most striking contrast between East and West is presented by their respective seaboards. In Asia Minor and Europe tl'! !oast lands are cut up into numerous peninsulas, forming secondary groups in Mediterranean and Atlantic waters. The peninsulas are moreover prolonged by archipelagos, or the coasts fringed with islands ; so that Europe has by Carl Hitter and others been compared to an organized body well furnished with limbs. This continent seems, so to say, endowed with life and motion beyond the dead mass of the Old World. But China cannot boast of such a surprising diversity of out- lines. From the shores of Manchm'ia to those of Cochin China one important penin- sula alone, that of Corea, is detached from the continental mass, while the land is penetrated only by one gulf deserving the name of sea — the Hoang-hai. The Pacific waters are here doubtless animated by two large islands, Formosa and Hainan, and by the magnificent Archipelago of Japan, But how insignificant are these penin- sulas and islands of Eastern Asia compared with the Cyclades and Sporades, Greece and Italy, the British Isles, Scandinavia, and the whole of Europe, itself a vast peninsula everywhere exposed to the moist and warm sea breezes ! The high degree of cidture attained by the Chinese people cannot therefore be explained by any exceptional advantages in peninsular or island formations. But here the absence of marine inlets has been partly suj)plied by the great rivers. If the Chinese seaboard proper presents but few deep indentations, the great streams of navigable water by which the land is irrigated, and by whose ramifications and canals it is divided into inland islands and peninsulas, give it some of the advan- tages in water communication enjoyed by Europe. Here the Yang-tze-kiang and Hoang-ho replace the iEgean and Tyrrhenian Seas, and like them have served to develop and diffuse a common civilisation. Formerly China had another advantage in the possession of the largest extent of productive land held under one social system in a temperate climate. North America and Europe, which at present possess an equal extent of such territory, were till recently still covered by forests which had to be laboriously cleared. In China is found that vast stretch of " Yellow Lands " which forms pre-eminently an agricultural region, and where were naturally developed those peaceful habits which are acquired by the pursuits of husbandry. To this region are attached other arable lands possessing a different soil and climate, with corresponding animal and vegetable forms, and thus it came about that civilised life encroached step by step on the vast domain stretching from the Mongolian wastes to the shores of the Gidf of Tonkin. These conditions admitted of much variety in cultivating the land, and thus was trade developed between the different pro%dnccs. All partial imjDrovements reacted beneficially on the whole land, and the general civilisation was easily promoted amongst the Chinese themselves and in the neighbouring countries. Comparing East Asia with the Western world, LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITV of ILLINOIS. ISOLATION OF CHINA. 3 we see how greatly China proper differs from Europe in its geographical unity. From the yellow lands of the north to the plains traversed by the Yang-tze on the Indo-Chinese frontier the people had a common centre of graA-ity, and their civil- isation was consequently developed more rapidly in that " Flowery Land," whence it was carried later on to Japan and Formosa. But how much more distinct and individual has been the growth of culture in the various regions of the West, from Asia Minor to Great Britain and Ireland! Greece cut ofi from the rest of Europe by mountain ranges still imperfectly explored ; Italy so sharply limited by its Alpine barrier ; the Iberian peninsula even more completely shut out by the almost impassable Pyrenees ; France with its twofold drainage to the Atlantic and Mediterranean ; the British Isles washed by warm seas and wrapped in fogs, all form so many geographical units, each of which had to develop its special civilisation before a higher cultm-e could be formed, in the production of which all the European nations took part. Without being insurmountable, the natural obstacles between the various coimtries of Europe are greater than between the different provinces of East China, and it was these very obstacles which, by preventing political centralization while permitting mutual intercourse, have fostered the individual energies of the Western races and made them the teachers of the rest of mankind. Isolation of Chixa. But if the communications were easy between the north and south of China, and if the inhabitants of the mainland could without much difficulty cross the narrow seas separating them from Formosa and Japan, the East Asiatic world seemed, on the other hand, almost entirely shut in from the AYest. In prehistoric times the forefathers of the Chinese, Hindus, Chaldacans, and Arabs must no doubt have been close neighbours, maintaining frequent relations with each other ; for these various peoples have inherited the same astronomic concei)tions, while the coincidences of observation and views may be traced even in their details. But these mutual relations, explaining a common civilisation, can only have taken place at a period of greater hmnidity in the Old World, when the now dried-iq) desert regions of Central Asia enabled the iDopulations to conmiunieate more freely together. At that time the Tarim basin, now hemmed in by the sands, still belonged to the Aryan world, and the civilisation of its inhabitants was allied to that of India. Since the nations grouped on either slope of the Pamir were compelled to advance farther do^^^^ to the plains, leaving a broader zone of deserts and steppes between them, the centres of civilisation have been removed to greater distances from each other. That of China has gradually approached the Pacific, while an analogous movement has been going on in an inverse direction Avest of Babylonia towards Asia Minor and Greece. After these centres thus became isolated, no commercial intercourse or exchange of ideas could take place for long ages between the eastern and western extremities of the continent. Distant rumours alone kept up the common traditions of other nations dwelling beyond the rivers and lakes, the plateaux, highlands, forests, and deserts, and the inhabitants of those remote b2 4 EAST ASIA. regions were in the popular imagination transformed to strange and terrible monsters. The two civilisations were independently developed at either extremity of the con- tinent without exercising any mutual influence one on the other, following parallel lines, yet as distinct one from the other as if they had been born on two different planets. There was undoubtedly a time when South Cliiua had even more frequent relations with the scattered islands of the South Sea than with the western regions with which it is connected by an unbroken continental mass. Common physical traits prove that towards the south the Chinese race has been intermingled with the tribes peopling the oceanic regions. Nevertheless, the barrier of plateaux and highlands shutting in the Chinese world offers here and there some wide gaps, some opening towards the south, others in the direction of the north. Nor are the snowy ranges themselves inaccessible. Altai, Tian-shan, Tsung-ling, Kuen-lim, Nan-ling, are all crossed by tracks, over which the trader makes his way regardless of fatigue and cold. The slopes of these uplands, and even the plateaux, are inhabited to an elevation of from 10,000 to 15,000 feet, and traces of the permanent or passing presence of man are everj-w^here met along the route. But owing to their barbarous lives and rude political state these highland populations added a fresh obstacle to that presented by the physical conditions to free international intercourse. The unity of the Old World was fmally established when the Europeans of the West, by means of the sea route, esta- blished direct relations with the peoples of the eastern seaboard. But before that time direct communications even between the Yang-tze and Amur basins across the barbarous populations of the intervening plateaux took place only at rare inter- vals, and were due as much to the great convulsions of the Asiatic peoples as to the growing expansive power of the Chinese political system. But such rare and irregular international movements had but little influence on the life of the Chinese nation. For thousands of years this race, being almost completely isolated from the rest of mankind, was thrown back on its own resources in working out its natural development. Intercourse with India and Europe. The first great internal revolution of China took place at the time of the intro- duction of the Indian religious ideas. However difiicult it may be to interpret the ancient doctrine of Lao-tze, there can be scarcely any doubt that it was affected by Hindu influence. Some of his precepts are identical in form with those of the sacred writings of the Buddhists, and all are imbued with the same sentiment of humanity and universal philanthropy. Nor does Lao-tze ever cite the leading characters of Chinese history as models of virtue or as examples to be followed, so that the body of his doctrines is associated by no traditional ties with the past annals of his country. According to the unanimous tradition he travelled in the regions lying to the west of China, and the popular legend points to the Khotan highlands as the place whence he was borne heavenwards. The barrier raised by the mountains, plateaux, and their barbarous inhabitants between China and India was so difficult to be crossed that the commimications INTEECOURSE WITH INDIA AND EUEOPE. 5 between the two countries were effected by a detour through the Oxus basin. The Buddhist religion itself was not propagated directly, and iienetrated Into the empire not from the south, but from the west. During the periods of its peaceful expan- sion China included the Tarim basin, and maintained free intercourse with the Oxus basin over the Pamir passes. At that time traders followed the famous "Silk Highway," which was also known to the Greeks, and it was by this or other routes across the plateaux that were introduced the rich products of Southern Asia, as well as the more or less legendary reports of the marvellous region of the Ganges. The same road Avas also followed by the Buddhist pilgrims. After three centuries of religious propaganda the new faith was finally established in the country of Con- fucius, and received ofEcial recognition in the sixty-fifth year of the new era. Buddhism found favour with the Chinese people from its pompous rites, the rich ornaments of its temples, the poetry of the spnbolic lotus blooming in the midst of the waters. It also pleased them, because it opened up vistas of those magnificent Southern lands hitherto concealed from their gaze by the intervening snowy ranges and plateaux. But after all the Fo-Kiao, or worship of Buddha, changed little in the social life of China. The ceremonial was modified, but the substance remained much the same. Whatever be the sacred emblems, the religion that has sur%aved is still that which is associated with the rites in honour of ancestry, with the conjuring of evil spirits, and especially with the strict observance of the old traditional formulas. But at any rate the relations established between China and Hindustan during the period of Buddhist propagandism were never again completely interrupted, and from that time China has no longer remained, even for Europeans, excluded from the limits of the knoA\Ti world. Communication by sea was kej)t up between India and South China, especially through the Gulf of Tonkin. Even two himdred years before the vidgar era an emperor had sent a whole fleet to the Sunda Islands to cidl the " flower of immortality." Later on, other vessels were sent to Ceylon in search of relics, sacred writings, statues of Buddha, and besides these things brought back rich textiles, gems, precious stones, taking them in exchange for their silks, porcelains, and enamelled vases. This route was also followed by the embassies, amongst others by that which, according to the Chinese annals, came from the great Tsin ; that is to say, from Rome, sent by the Emperor An-tun (Aurelius Antoninus) in the year 166 of the Christian era. In the seventh century, when the Chinese Emjjlre, after a series of disasters and internal convulsions, resumed its expansive force and shone with renewed splendour, at the very time when Europe had again lapsed into barbarism, exploring expedi- tions became still more numerous. China now took the lead, and the pilgrim, H'wen-Tsang, whose itinerary in Central Asia has since been rivalled only by Marco Polo, was a true explorer in the modern sense of the term. Ills writings, embodied in the annals of the Tang dynasty, have a special value for the geography of Central Asia and India in mediaeval times, and their importance is fully appre- ciated by European savants. Thanks to the Chinese documents, it has been found possible to determine with some certainty the whole of his itinerary, even in those 6 EAST ASIA. " Snowy ^lountains," where travellers are exposed to the attacks of the " dragons," those mystic animals which may possibly sjnnbolize nothing more than the sufferings entailed by snow and ice. Like the other Buddhist pilgrims of this epoch, H'wen- Tsano- skirted the Tibetan plateaux, where the Buddhist religion had only just been introduced, and reached India through the Oxus valley and xYfghanistan. But some twenty years after his return, in 6G7 or 668, Chinese armies had already traversed Tibet and Nepal, thus penetrating directly into India, where they cap- tured over six himdred towns. At this time the Chinese Empire comprised, with the tributary states, not only the whole depression of Eastern Asia, but also aU the Fig. 1.— Itineuauy of HVen-Tsano. Scale 1 : 30,000,000. C OFG ' 70- 90* CPe to 10,000 Feet. 10,000 to 16,600 Feet. 16,500 Feet and upwards. _ 600 Miles. outer slopes of the highlands and plateaux surrounding it as far as the Caspian. It was also during this period that the Nestorian missionaries introduced Chris- tianity into the empire. The progress of Islam in the west of Asia and along the shores of the Medi- terranean necessarily isolated China, and long rendered all communication with Europe impossible. But in the northern regions of the Mongolian steppes warlike tribes were already preparing for conquest, and thanks to their trimnphant march westwards to the Dnieper, they opened up fresh routes for explorers across the whole of the Old "World. In order to protect themselves from these northern children of INTERCOUESE WITH INDIA AND EUROPE. 7 tlie steppe, tlic Cliinese emperors had already raised, rebuilt, and doubled witli parallel lines that prodigious ramjiart of the " Great Wall " which stretches for thousands of miles between the steppe and the cultivated lands of the south. Curbed by this barrier erected between two physically different regions and two hostile societies, the nomads had passed westwards, where the land lay open before them, and the onward movement was gradually projDagated across the continent. In the fourth and fifth centuries a general convulsion had hurled on the "West those conquering hordes collectively known as Iluns ; in the tweKth century an analogous movement urged the Mongols forward under a new Attila. Holding the Zungarian passes, which gave easy access from the eastern to the western regions of Asia, Jenghiz Khan might have at once advanced westward. But being reluctant to leave any obstacle in his rear, he first crossed the Great Wall and seized Pekin, and then turned his arms against the Western states. At the period of its greatest extent the ISIongoHan Empire, probably the largest that ever existed, stretched from the Pacific seaboard to the Russian steppes. The existence of the Chinese world was revealed to Europe by these fresh arrivals from the East, with whom the Western powers, after the first conflicts, entered into friendly relations by means of embassies, treaties, and alliances against the common enemy, Islam. The Eastern Asiatic Empire was even long known to them by the Tatar name of Cathay, which under the form of Kitai is still cm-rent amongst the Russians. Envoys from the Pope and the Kin^ of France set out to visit the Great Khan in his court at Karakorum, in Mongolia ; and Plan de Carpin, Pubruk, and others brought back marvellous accounts of what they had seen in those distant regions. European traders and artisans followed in the steps of these envoys, and Marco Polo, one of these merchants, was the first who really revealed China to Europe. Henceforth this country enters definitely into the known world, and begins to participate in the general onward movement of mankind. Marco Polo had penetrated into China from the west by first following the beaten tracks which start from the Mediterranean seaboard. Colimibus, still more daring, hoped to reach the shores of Cathay and the gold mines of Zipango by sailing round the globe in the opposite direction from that taken by the great Venetian. But arrested on his route by the New World, he reached neither China nor Japan, although he long believed in the success of his voyage to Eastern Asia. But others continued the work of circumnavigation begun by him. Del Cano, companion of Magellan, returned to Portugal, whence he had set out, thus completing the circmnnavigation of the globe. All the seas had now been explored, and it was possible to reach China by Cape Horn as well as by the Cape of Good Hope. Notwithstanding the determined opposition of the Pekin Government to the entrance of foreigners, the empire was virtually open, and withia two hundred and fifty years of this event China and Japan, which had never ceased to be regularlj^ ^-isitcd by European traders, were obliged to open their seaports, and even to grant certain strips of land on their coast, where the Western nations have abeady raised cities in the European taste. The conquest may be said to have already begun. 8 EAST ASIA. Foreign Influence — Russian Encroachments. The power of the "VYcstern states lias even made itself felt by the temporary occupation of the Chinese capital and the sack of the imperial palaces. It has been revealed still more by the support given by the English and French allies to the Chinese Government against internal revolt. "Whilst the European troops were storniinji- the Pei'-ho forts, occupying Tientsin, and driving the Emperor from Pekin, otlicr Europeans were arresting the Taiping rebels at the gates of Shanghai and barring their approach to the sea. At the same time the Russians kept a garrison Fig. 2. — Encroachments of Asiatic Russia on China. Sciile 1 : 30,000,000. TofG C Porrorx Cliinesc ten-itoiy, according' to the Treaty of Nerchinsk. EH Territoi-y held by China? before the annexation to Siberia. 600 Miles. in Urga to curb the Dungans, and it was probably this intervention of the Western powers thai saved the Tsing djTiasty. The integrity of the empire was upheld, but only because the Europeans were interested in its maintenance. By merely folding their arms China would probably have been split into two, if not three or four, fragments. No doubt its unity seems at present unexposed to danger from the west, but on its northern frontier Russia is continually gathering strength, and is already conterminous with it for a distance of nearly 5,000 miles, more than half of this line running through countries formerly subject to the " Children of Heaven." The temporary and permanent annexations of Russia in Kulja belonged till recentlv to China, and the same is true of Transbaikalia and the whole Amur EIVALEY OF THE EASTEEN AND WESTEEN EACES. 9 valley as far as the reindeer pastures of tlie Nortliem Timguses. . At present all tlie region along the left bank, larger than the whole of France, forms an integral part of Siberia. Lastly, the Manchurian seaboard as far as the Corean frontier has become Russian, and its southern ports, distant two days by steam from Japan, stand on waters now known as the Gulf of Peter the Great, as if to remind the world that the empire of the Czars is as aggressive in the east as in the west. At the slightest diplomatic imbroglio, or whenever the dignity of Eussia may require her to make a military promenade in the Chinese waters, she may easily seize the most convenient port on the Corean coast, and here foimd a naval arsenal still more formidable than that of Vladivostok, commanding at once the entry to the Sea of Japan, the mouth of the Yang-tze, and the inland Japanese waters, Notwith- standing the financial embarrassment of the Government, the periodical famine and di'oughts, and the abject misery of the masses, the resources of the State are still disposed in such a way as to give her great j)ower for aggressive purposes. Iler military strength, even 5,000 miles from the capital, is superior to that of China and Japan in their own domain. In spite of its stockades and forts armed with steel guns, Pekin is probably as much at the mercy of Eussia as it recently was of the English and French allies. Its position is extremely exposed. So long as it had nothing to fear except from Mongolian inroads or local revolts it held an excellent strategical position near the fortified ranges protecting it from the north, not far from the Great Canal whence it drew its supplies, and at no great distance from the Manchu tribes, ever ready at the first signal to hasten to the succour of their threatened fellow-countrjnnen. But the security of the empire may now be menaced by far more formidable enemies than Mongolian nomads or Tai'ping fanatics, and in case of a Eusso-Chinese war the troops of the Czar would no doubt land near the capital. Notwithstanding the recent military equipments and ■improved discipline, the army of the " brave and ever victorious " coidd scarcely hope for success so long as the State refuses to place a railway system at its service. But this innovation may soon be introduced, while a change of system and weU- chosen alliances might also bring about a shifting of equilibrimn in the respective forces of the two empires. ElVALRY OF THE EASTERN AND WESTERN EaCES. But whatever be the political and military destinies of China and Japan, the concert of the Eastern and "Western nations is henceforth an accomplished fact. Through the interchange of produce, the travels of Europeans in the Mongolian world, of Chinese and Japanese in Europe and America, and permanent migrations, the various civilisations have been brought into mutual contact. What arms have failed to do is being far more efficaciously accompli.shed by free commercial inter- course ; nor can further advances be any longer prevented by political frontiers, diversity of speech, traditions, laws, and customs. Wliilc European quarters a\'c springing up in the cities of China and Japan, Chinese villages are appearing in the United States, Peru, and Australia; and Chinese covmting-houses have 10 EAST ASIA. already been opened In London and Now York. To these outward signs correspond profound internal modifications. There is an interchange of ideas as well as of commodities, and the peoples of the East and "West begin to understand each other, and consequently to perceive how much they have in common. The world has become too narrow to allow of any further isolated evolutions of culture in separate geographical areas without blending in a general civilisation of a higher order. The European and Asiatic races formerly dwelt altogether apart ; now the United States of America have been peopled by emigrants who have made this region another Europe ; and thus it is that the Chinese nation now finds itself hemmed in between two Europes — those of the Old and New Continents. From east and west come the same types and ideas, and a continuous current sets from people to people around the globe, across seas and continents. The historic period on which mankind is now entering, through the definite imion of tiie Eastern and Western worlds, is pregnant with great events. As the ruffled surface of the water seeks its level by the force of gra\ity, so the conditions tend to balance themselves in the labour markets. Considered merely as the 0A%Tier of a pair of hands, man is himself as much a commodity as is the produce of his labour. The industries of all nations, drawn more and more into the struggle for existence, seek to produce cheaply by purchasing at the lowest price the raw material and the " hands " to work it up. But where will manufacturing states like those of New England find more skilful and frugal — that is, less expensive — hands than those of the extreme East ? Where will the great agricultural farms, like those of Minnesota and Wisconsin, find more tractable gangs of labourers, more painstaking and less exacting, than those from the banks of the Si-kiang or Yang-tze? Europeans are amazed at the industry, skill, intelKgence, spirit of order, and thrift displayed by the working element in China and Japan. In the workshops and arsenals of the seaj)orts the most delicate operations may be safely intrusted to Chinese hands ; while eye-witnesses bear unanimous testimony to the superior intelligence and instruction of the peasantry over the corresponding classes in Europe. If the Chinese gardeners have not modified their system in the neighbourhood of the coast factories, it is only because they have had nothing to learn from the stranger. The struggle between white and yellow labour — a struggle which threatens to set the two hemispheres by the ears — has even already begmi in certain new districts where European and Asiatic Immigrants meet on common ground. In California, New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria the white labourers have had to compete in most of their trades with the Chinese, and the streets, workshoj^s, farms, and mines have been the scenes of frequent bloodshed, occasioned less by national hatred than by International rivalry In the labour market. Continued over a whole generation, this social warfare has already cost more lives than a pitched battle : it even increases in virulence as the competition grows more fierce. Hitherto the white element has had the best of it in California and Australia. With large majorities in the legislatures, they have triumphed over the manufacturers, farmers, and contractors, whose interest it is to secure cheap labour; and they EIVALEY OF THE EASTEEN AND WESTEEN EACES. 11 liave passed laws throwing difficulties iu the way of Chinese coolie immigration, constituting this element a distinct and oppressed class, without rights of citizen- ship. But such warfare cuts both ways. Yanquished in one quarter, the Chinese workmen may prevail in another with the aid of the capitalists and legislative bodies ; and the free admission of Chinese hands into the workshop would ulti- mately involve the extinction of their white rivals. The Chinese immigrants need not even gain access to the European and American factories in order to lower the rate of wages generally. It will suffice to establish cotton, woollen, and similar industries throughout the East, the products of which might soon compete success- fully with the local manufactures in the "West. Hence, from the economic point of \'icw, the definite concert of the Mongolian and white races involves consequences of supreme importance. The balance will doubtless be ultimately established, and himianity will learn to adapt itself to the new destinies secured to it by a common possession of the whole world. But during the transition period great disasters miist be anticipated in a struggle iu which upwards of a billion of himian beings will be directly engaged. In point of numbers the civilised clement iu Europe and America is about equal to that of East Asia. On either side hundi-eds of millions stand arrayed against each other, impelled by opposiag interests, and incapable as yet of imderstanding the higher advantages of a common hiuiian concert. For the antagonism of East and "West flows as much from the contrast of ideas and morals as from the opposition of immediate interests. Between the moral standards of Europeans and Chinese, both of whom have a certain personal self- respect, the ideal is not the same, and their conception of duty, if not contradictory, is at least different. This moral contrast reappears, in a more or less conscious form, in the nations themselves. It will, however, doubtless be partly neutralised by intercourse, instruction, and, here and there, by intermixture. The civilisations will be mutually influenced, not only in their outer aspects, but also in their tendencies, and the very ideas which are their true controlling force. It has often been remarked that Europeans look forward, while the Chinese look backward ; but the statement is too general, for society is everywhere decomposed into two groups — one continually renewed by ceaselessly striving to improve its destinies ; the other, through fear of the future, falb'ng back on tradition. The frequent civil A\-ars iu China, and notably the recent insurrection of the Ta'ipings, or " Great Pacifiers," show that beneath the official world, wedded to the old ways and seeking its golden age in the past, there seethes a fiery element which does not fear the risk of facing the unknown. If the Chinese Government has for ages succeeded in liolding fast by the traditional forms, if the disasters of Tatar conquest and intestine convulsions have but slightly affected the outward framework of society, it is none the less true that the Eastern world will now have to learn from European civilisation not only new industrial methods, but esj)ecially a new conception of Inunan culture. Its very existence depends upon the necessity of shifting its moral stand-point. 12 EAST ASIA. Future Prospects. But it may be asked, Will not the ideal of the cultured white races be also shifted '^ "Wheu two elements come together, both are simultaneously modified ; when two rivers mingle their streams, the limpid waters of the one are troubled by the turbid elements of the other, and neither ever again recovers its primitive con- dition. "Will the contact of these two civilisations in the same way residt in raising the one and lowering the other? "Will the progress of the East be attended by a corresponding retrograde movement in the "West? Are coming generations destined to pass through a period like that of mediaeval times, in which Eoman civilisation was eclipsed, while the Barbarians were born to a new light ? Prophets of evil have already raised a cry of alarm. After spending years in the interior of China, travellers like Ilichthofen, Armand David, "Vasilyev, have returned full of terror at those formidable multitudes swarming in the vast empire. They ask themselves what these hosts may not do when disciplined and hurled by victorious leaders against the European world. May they not, under other conditions, renew the Mongolian invasions when, armed with the same weapons, but more united than the Western peoples, they will be marshalled by a second Jenghiz Khan ? Fearing lest in the " struggle for existence " the Chinese may easily become our masters, certain writers have even seriously lu-ged that the European powers should retrace their steps, close the ports already opened to commerce, and endeavour to confine the Chinese to their former seclusion and ignorance. Others are rejoicing that the Chinese nation are becoming sluggish under the influence of opimn, which prevents it from recognising its own strength. " But for opium," says Yasilyev, " China would sooner or later overrun the whole world — would stifle Europe and America in its embrace." But it is now too late to attempt to sej)arate the East and West. With the exception of Tibet, Corea, and a few remote highlands. East Asia henceforth forms part of the open world. "What 'wall be the consequences for humanity of this accession of half a billion of hmuan beings to the general movement of history ? No more serious question can be asked. Hence too much importance cannot be- attached to the study of the Far East and of the " j^ellow " races, which must one day play so great a part in the future development of human culture. CHAPTER II. THE CHINESE EMPIRE. I.— TIBET. EYOND the " Middle Kingdom " the Chinese Empire embraces vast regions, with a joint area more extensive than that of China proper. It includes Tibet, the Tarim, and Kuku-nor basins, the upland A'allcys draining to Lake Balkhash, Zimgaria, Mongolia, Manchuria, and the islands of Formosa and Hainan. It also claims as tributaries the Corean peninsula, and even, on the southern slope of the Himalayas, Nepal and Bhutan, lands which belong, at least geographically, to India. AU these countries, while recognising the common supremacy of China, are severally distinguished by their physical features, the institutions and habits of their inhabitants. But none of them have, in recent times, so effectually repelled foreign influences as Tibet, which is still what China formerly was — an almost inaccessible land. In this respect it may be said to represent tradition, henceforth lost by most of the other East Asiatic states. NOMENCL ATU RE. The name of Tibet is applied not only to the south-west portion of the Chinese Empire, but also to more than half of Kashmir occupied by peoples of Tibetan origin. These regions of " Little Tibet" and of "Apricot Tibet " — so called from the orchards surrounding its villages — consist of deej) valleys opening like troughs between the snowy Himalayan and Karakorum ranges. Draining towards India, these uplands have gradually been brought mider Hindu influences, whereas Tibet proper has pursued a totally different career. It is variously known as " Great," the " Third," or " East Tibet ;" but such is the confusion of nomenclature that the expression " Great Tibet " is also apj^lied to Ladak, Avhich forms part of Kashmir. At the same time, the term Tibet itself, emjDloyed by Europeans to designate two countries widely differing in their physical and political conditions, is imkno\^ni to the people themselves. Hermann Schlagintweit regards it as an old Tibetan word M)L. VII. c 14 EAST ASIA. meaning "strength," or " empire " in a pre-eminent sense, and this is the interpre- tation supplied by the missionaries of the seventeenth century, who give the country the Italian name of Pofcntc, or " Powerful." ]kit however this be, the present inhabitants use the term lind-i/nl alone ; that is, "land of the Bod," itself probably identical with Bhutan, a Iliiidu name restricted by Europeans to a single state on the southern slope of the Himalayas. The Chinese call Tibet either >Si-Tsang — that is, West Tsang, from its principal province — or AVei-Tsang, a word applied to the two provinces of AVei and Tsang, whicli jointly constitute Tibet proper. To the inhabitants they give the name of Tu-Fan, or "Aboriginal Fans," in opposition to the Si-Fan, or " Western Fans," of Sechuen and Kansu. The Mongolians, in this imitated by the Eussians of the last century, often called Tibet the Tangut country, from the tribes inhabiting its northern parts. IJut they more commonly gave it the name of Bamn-toht, or " Right Side," in contrast to Zccjun-tola, or " Left Side ; " that is, the present Zungaria. Physical Outlines. Tibet foiTns almost exactly one-half of the vast semicircle of highlands which stretch with a radius of 480 miles west of China from the first Mongolian spurs of the Tian-shan to the gaps in the Eastern Himalaj^as, through which the Tsangbo, the Salwen, and Mekhong escape to the Indian Ocean. The lofty border range of the Kuen-lun divides this semicircle into two parts presenting striking contrasts with each other. In the north stretches the closed basin of the Tarim and several other streams which are lost in the sands. In the south rises the elevated table- land of Tibet. Thus the most massive plateau on the earth's surface rises close to one of the deepest depressions in the interior of the dry land. Overlooking the irregularities of outline caused by its political frontiers, Tibet is, on the whole, one of the most clearly defined natural regions in the Old World. Resting towards the north-west on the broken masses intersected by the Ladak and Kashmir valleys, it sjjreads out graduall)^ towards the east and south-east between the main continental chains of the Kuen-lun and Himalayas. Like the Pamir, these two mighty ranges are regarded by the peoples dwelling at their base as " roofs of the world," and the "Abode of the Gods." They seem to form the limits of another world, to which its snowy diadem sparkling in the sun gives the appearance of an enchanted land, but which its few explorers learn to recognise as the region of cold, snow-storms, and himger. Suspended like a vast terrace some 14,000 or 16,000 feet above the surrounding plains, the Tibetan plateau is more than half filled with closed basins dotted with a few lakes or marshes, the probable remains of inland seas whose overflow discharged through the breaks in the frontier ranges. But at a distance of about 700 miles from the highlands on its western frontier the Tibetan plateau is limited eastwards by a broken ridge rmming south-west and north-east. West of these mountains the jdateau slopes cast and south-eastwards, here branching into numerous chains with intervening river valleys. Yet on this side the plateau is even less accessible than elsewhere round its perij3hery. On the EXPLOEATION— EXTENT— DIVISIONS. 1 5 eastern frontiers of Tibet travellers arc arrested by the rugged gorges, the extensive forests, the absence of population, and consequently of supplies of all kinds, and to these obstacles is now added the ill-will of tbe Chinese authorities. During the present century the Tibetan Government has succeeded better than any other Asiatic state in preserving the political isolation of the people, thanks chiefly to the relief and physical conditions of the land. Tibet rises lilvc a citadel in the heart of Asia ; hence its defenders have guarded its approaches more easily than those of India, China, and Japan. Exploration — ^Extent — Divisions. The greater part of Tibet remains still unexplored, or at least geographers have failed to trace with certainty the routes of the Eoman Catholic missionaries who traversed the land before their entry was interdicted. In the first half of the four- teenth century the Friuli monlj:, Odorico di Pordencne, made his way from China to Tibet, and resided some time in Lassa. Three centuries later on, in 1G25 and 1020, the Portuguese missionary Andrada twice penetrated into Tibet, where he was well received by the Buddhist priests. In 1001 the Jesuits Griiber and D'Or^ille travelled from China through Lassa to India. In the following century the Tuscan Desideri, the Portuguese Manoel Freyre, and others -v-isited the Tibetan capital from India. But the Capuchins had already founded a Catholic mission in Lassa under the direction of Orazio della Penna, who spent no less than twenty-two years in the country. At this time the Tibetan Government allowed strangers to penetrate freely over the Himalayan passes, which are now so jealously guarded. A lapnan also lived several years in Lassa, whence he went to China by the Xulvu-nor, again returning via Lassa to India. This was the Dutch traveller Van de Putte, who is known to have been a learned man and a great observer, but who unfortu- nately destroj-ed his papers and charts, fearing lest these ill-arranged and mis- understood documents might be the means of propagating error. lie left nothing behind him except a few notes and a manuscript map, carefully preserved in the Middelburg Museum in Zealand. Itineraries traced cither astronomically or by the compass and chronometer are still very rare. The English explorers and the Hindu surveyors employed by the Indian Government have only visited the south-western districts, and the upland basin of the Tsangbo north of Nepal and Sildvim. South-cast Tibet has been traversed by French missionaries; but all the recent attempts made to penetrate from the north and north-cast have failed. In imitation of I'askievich the " Transbaikalian," and Muraviov the " Amurian," the brothers Schlagintweit have assumed the whimsical title of " Transkuenlimian " (in Pussian, Zakucn- Ixmskiy), to perpetuate the memory of their passage over the Tibetan mountains ; but they only visited the western extremity of the country. The Russian explorer Prjevalsky was compelled twice to retire without being able to penetrate into the heart of the country, and the Hungarian Bela Szechenp also found himself obliged to retrace his steps. For all the regions not yet visited by the English and Hindu v2 16 EASr ASIA. surveyors the present maps of Tibet arc merely reproductions of tlie cliart drawn up by the illustricjus D'Anville, and basi-d on the sui'veys made under tlic Emperor Kang-hi by the Tibetan lamas trained by the astronomers of the Society of Jesus. Nevertheless a solid beginning for future research has already been made, thanks to the geodetic works undertaken in the Himalayas. In 1877 the engineer llyall even obtained permission to penetrate into the Upper Satlaj valley iu order to survey the peaks from their northern base, and all the summits visible from this valley have been comprised in his triangulatiou. Within the approximate limits indicated on the present maps, which will have doubtless to be modified in all their details, the area of Tibet, including the Kuku-nor basin, is provisionally estimated Fig. 3. — Itineraries of the Tihetan Explorers. Scale 1 : 22,000,000. : afG 80 C Perron Bogle, Turner, Manning, 10,000 to 16,000 Feet. 16,000 and upwards. Pemberton, Hooker, Eden. Pundits ♦ — ■♦— "» .»,»».,,,^ Prjevulsky. Schlagintweit. Desg-odius. Gill. Johnson. Hue and Gabet. . 600 Miles. at 680,000 square miles, or somewhat more than three times that of France. But if we include several independent neighbouring districts, often regarded as belonging to Tibet, and all the tracts peopled by men of Bod stock in Kashmir and the Chinese province of Sechuen, the total area will exceed 800,000 square miles. Excluding the western highlands belonging politically to Kashmir, Tibet proper comprises three natural divisions — the northern lacustrine plateaux; the southern upland valleys, where the Satlaj and Tsangbo flow in opposite directions along the northern base of the Himalayas; and South-east Tibet, cut up into divergent basins by its flowing waters. THE KUEN-LUN EANGE. 17 The Kuen-lun Range. The northern region, the largest in extent, but by far the most thinly peopled, consists of all tlie closed basins limited southwards by the eastern prolongation of the Karakorum, and resting northwards on the mighty Kucn-lun range. This border chain of the plateau, separating Tibet from the Tarim basin, should be regarded, far more than the Himalayas, as forming part of the continental back- bone. It continues the Ilindu-Kush east of the Pamir, while connecting itself directly with the " diaphragm " of "Western Asia. It thus constitutes the eastern half of the main continental water-parting, which runs west and east irregularly, now skirting the plateaux in the form of border chains, now breaking into parallel or slightly divergent ridges, occasionally even developing into distinct mountain systems. The Kuen-lun and its eastern continuation into China do not apparently present greater uniformity as the Central Asiatic axis than do the ranges of the western " diaphragm." But the orography of Tibet and China is still too imper- fectly known to allow us to speak with certainty on this point. Hegarding the Kuen-lun vrith. its eastern prolongations as forming one vast system, its total length, from its roots in the Pamii- to its extreme spurs between the Hoang-ho and Yang-tze-kiang, may be estimated at about 2,400 miles. But this orographic system is broken into a great number of chains by frequent gaps, changes of direction, intersections, and displacements of all sorts. The highlands to which the term Kuen-lim was applied in the early periods of Chinese history form a group of magnificent moimtains rising near the sources of the Hoang-ho ; but this mass can scarcely be regarded as the central nucleus of the system to which geographers have subsequently extended the name. AVith the progress of geographical knowledge westwards, the term Kuen-lun (Kul-kun, Kur-kun) also advanced in the same direction. It is now applied to the range b}- the old Hindu immigrants from Kashmir called Aneuta, from the Sanskrit Anavatapta ; that is, the " Unillumined," the moimtain of cold and gloom, sjaionj-mous with the Tatar name, Karangui-tagh, or the " Dark Mountain." The Kuen-lun has apparently no peaks as high as the highest in the Himalayas, or even in the Karakorum range. Johnson, Prjevalsky, Montgomerie, and Ivicht- hofen are of opinion that none of them attain an elevation of 23,000 feet, although beyond Tibet a few summits between Kashmir and Yarkand exceed 24,000 feet. Towards the sources of the Cherchen-daria stands the Tuguz-davan, where the Kuen-lun proper throws off various spurs and terraces, which fall gradually towards the depression formerly filled by the Central Asiatic Mediterranean Sea. The northernmost ridge is the so-called Altin-tagh, or " Gold Moimtains," whose spurs advance to the neighbourhood of the Lob-nor. South of this ridge, which is about 13,000 feet high, there stretch two other parallel chains, besides the main range which continues its normal easterly direction to the Giirlm-naiji, near tlie sources of the Yang-tze-kiang. The Mongolians of the Chaidam plains say that this system is continuous, and that many of its peaks rise above the snow-line. Although inferior to the Himalayas in the elevation of its chief summits, the 18 EAST ASIA. Kuen-lun surpasses them in mean altitude, and is also of a mueli older date. Belono-ino- to a geological cpocli anterior to the existence of the Himalayas, its crests have naturally been gradually weathered, and the detritus spread by the action of Avind and water over the surrounding plateaux and lowlands. In his journey across all the crests separating the Indus and Tarira basins, Stoliczka found that the oldest rocks of this region belong to the Kuen-lun. They consist maiidv of svenitic gneiss, and the most recent deposits are triassic, whereas the Himalayan and Karakorum systems comprise the whole series between the paltcozoic and eocene formations. It is generally admitted that the Kuen-hm is the orio-inal folding of the plateau, and that the southern ranges arc of more modern date. Recent observation, as well as the climatic conditions, show that on the whole the Kuen-lun lacks the variety and sublimity of forms characteristic of the Hima- layas. "With less jagged crests and fewer fissures, it rises above the narrow oases at its base and the Gobi sands like a long rampart, here and there speckled with snow. Notwithstanding its greater mean elevation, it cannot be compared with the Himalayas for the abundance of its ice and snow fields. Still, according to the Chinese documents, there are some real glaciers in its eastern section, as weU as immediately east of the upland Kara-kash valley. The hollows of the plateau are also filled with motionless ice, and thermal springs give rise to frozen masses which spread over a vast surface. The northern winds, to which the range is exposed, have already been deprived of most of their moisture on their way across North Asia, while those from the Indian Ocean discharge nearly all their rains and snows on the Himalayas, and the other chains of Bhutan and South Tibet. Thus the atmospheric currents reaching the Kuen-lun are very dry, and the streams rising in the upper valleys are mostly of small volmne, losing themselves in the sands and marshes on either side of the range. The western extremity of the chain north of Kashmir abounds far more in running waters than the Kuen-lun proper. Here the crests and the plateau above which they rise are much narrower than in Tibet, and the ice and snows are extensive enough to form, on the northern slope of the Karakorum, considerable streams, which escape through the fissures in the Kuen-lun down to the Khotan and Kashgarian plains. Thus the Yarkand, already a large river, crosses the south-eastern Pamir at the point where the projecting spurs of the Hindu- Kush and Kuen-lun almost meet. Farther east, a defile 1,000 feet deep in the latter chain affords an outlet to the Kara-kash, the chief affluent of the Khotan. This river itself rises well to the south of the Kuen-lun, through an opening in which it forces a passage after a long winding course in a side valley. But east of the Khotan the Cherchcn-daria is the only river north of the Tibetan plateaux which has sufficient volimie to form with its affluents a stream large enough to flow to any distance across the plains. However insignificant they may now be, these rivers have in the course of ages accomplished vast works of erosion, by hollowing out the approaches from the Tibetan tablelands doA\Ti to the Tarim depression. In some places the fall is so gradual along these streams that the incline does not THE PROVINCE OF KHACHI— LACUSTEINE SYSTEM. 19 exceed that of ordinary routes in hifi;liland regions. According to the natives of Khotan, it would even be j)ossiblc to cross tlie Kucn-hin in a carriage. One of Montgomerie's Hindu surveyors easily reached the western Tibetan plateau by following the Kiria valley to an altitude of over 16,000 feet. The plateau is approached by other passes from the cast, for the Zungarians have frequently Fig. 4. — UrPEu Kaka-kash Valley. invaded Tibet by crossing the steppes and deserts stretching south of the Lob-nor. The Mongolian pilgrims follow this route on their way to Lassa. The Provixce of KirAnri — Lacustrine System. The Xorth Tibetan tablchind, mostly inhabited or visited only by nomad tribes, still remains the least-known upland region in the Chinese Empire. The Tibetans themselves are acquainted only with the southern districts of this bleak and storm- swept land, roamed over by Mongolian and Tatar nomads, who choose for their camping grounds the sang, or sheltered pastures resembling the jmmirs of the 20 EAST ASIA. plateau between the Oxus and Tarim basins. The Tatar tribes, collectively known as Ilof or KItor, dwell in the western and southern districts. Elsewhere live the Soky or Mongolian nomads, who have named nearly all the lakes and mountains in North-east Tibet. They mostly practise Shamanistic rites, although the Tibetan collective name of all these tribes is Khash-len, or ** Mohammedans," whence, probably, the term Kluuhi applied to the whole region. From the two principal groups of tribes settled in it, the eouiiliy is also known by the name of Hor-Sok. Fiij. 5. — Lake Danoua-yim and Takgut IMountaini- Scale 1 : 2,000,000. '^T'~ r#.r 1 jO' m'yi^^'^:. t -? L.oFG. C V Perron ■ 30 Miles. Of the numerous lakes scattered over the Khachi plateau, those of Namur, Ike NamCir, and Baklia Namdr arc the largest traced on the Chinese maps. The waters or partlj' flooded tracts in this vast lacustrine basin would seem to stretcli south-west and north-east for over 120 miles, and we now know that the plateau is largely occupied by a chain of lacustrine basins running north-west and south-east, parallel witli the depression watered by tbe Tsangbo. In 1874 the pundit Nain Singh visited many of these lakes, several of which are merely the remains of formerly far more extensive basins. Some have even been reduced to muddy meres, covered with a crystalline incrustation, which is broken up by the salt THE PROVINCE OF KHACHI— LACUSTRINE SYSTEM. 21 traders. Some of tlie lakes are saline, others brackisli, while most of those with free outlets are perfectly fresh. This lacustrine region has a mean elevation of from 15,000 to 16,000 feet, with almost everj^vhere extremely gentle slojies, over which carriage and even military roads might easily be constructed. One of the largest lakes is the Dangra-yum, or " Mother Dangra," which is contracted towards the centre, thus forming nearl}^ two separate basins. xVlihoufh no less than 180 miles in circumference, the devout Buddhists of the district, and even of Lassa, often undertake to walk in procession round this lake, taking from eight to twelve days to perform the task, according to the season. A large mountain rising south of the lake has received the name of Targot-yap, or " Father Target," and the natives regard this mountain and Mother Dangra as the first parents of Fig. 6. — Tengri-nor. Scale 1 : 11,001,000. " ' Bou/ iso Takloun^ 0'- \^L^ 90° EofG C .Perron 18 Miles. mankind. The groups of hills dotted round about are their daughters. The l