The Middle Kingdom, Volume 1 (of 2): A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and its InhabitantsWilliams, S. Wells (Samuel Wells)
History
The Middle Kingdom, Volume 1 (of 2): A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and its Inhabitants
Williams, S. Wells (Samuel Wells)
China
The remaining cities and districts of Kiangsu present nothing worthy
of special remark. The Grand Canal runs from north to south, and
affords a safe and ample thoroughfare for multitudes of boats in its
entire length. Tsing-kiang-pu and Hwai-ngan, near the old Yellow River,
receive the traffic from the north and Hungtsih Lake, while Yangchau
near the Yangtsz’ River, takes that going north. In this part of the
channel, constant dyking has resulted in raising the banks; the city
of Hwai-ngan, for example, lies below the canal which brings trade
to its doors, and may one day be drowned by its benefactor. Salt is
manufactured in the districts south of the Yellow River, where the
people cultivate but rare patches of arable land.
The island of Tsungming, at the mouth of the Yangtsz’, is about
sixty miles long, and sixteen wide, containing over nine hundred
square miles, and is gradually enlarging by the constant deposits
from the river; it is flat, but contains fresh water. It is highly
cultivated and populous, though some places on the northern side are
so impregnated with salt, and others so marshy, as to be useless for
raising food. This island produces a variety of _kaoliang_ or sorghum
(_Holcus_), which is sweet enough to furnish syrup, and is grown for
that purpose in the United States.
~POSITION AND TOWNS OF NGANHWUI PROVINCE.~
The province of NGANHWUI was so named by combining the first words
in its two large cities, Nganking and Hwuichau, and forms the
south-western half of Kiangnan; it is both larger and more uneven
than Kiangsu, ranges of hills stretching along the southern portions,
and between the River Hwai and the Yangtsz’. It lies in the central
and southern parts of the Plain, north of Kiangsí, west of Kiangsu
and Chehkiang, and between them and Honan and Hupeh. Its productions
and manufactures, the surface, cultivation of the country, and
character of the people, are very similar to those of Kiangsu, but the
cities are less celebrated. The terrible destruction of life in this
province during the Tai-ping rule has only been partially remedied by
immigration from other provinces; it will require years of peace and
industry to restore the prosperous days of Taokwang’s reign.
The surface of the country is naturally divided into that portion which
lies in the hilly regions around Hwuichau and Ningkwoh connected with
the Tsientang River, the central plain of the Yangtsz’ with its short
affluents, and the northern portion which the River Hwai drains. The
southern districts are superior for climate, fertility, and value of
their products to most parts of the Empire; and the numerous rivulets
which irrigate and open their beautiful valleys to traffic with other
districts, render them attractive to settlers. No expense has been
spared in erecting and preserving the embankments along the streams,
whose waters are thereby placed at the service of the farmers.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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