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
|{Ulterior Tibet |Shigatsé |{Ruled by the Teshu-lama,
| | |{ assisted by a resident
| | |{ from Peking.
----------+-----------------+-------------------+----------------------
~EXTENT OF MANCHURIA.~
_Manchuria_ is so termed from the leading race who dwell there, the
_Mandjurs_ or _Manchus_; it is a word of foreign origin, the Chinese
having no general appellation for the vice-royalty ruled from Mukden.
It comprises the eastern portion of the high table land of Central
Asia, and lies between latitudes 39° and 52° N., and longitudes 120°
to 134° E. These points include the limits in both directions, giving
the region a rectangular shape lying in a north-east and south-west
direction; roughly speaking, its dimensions are 800 by 500 miles. It is
bounded on the south by the Gulf of Pechele, and the highlands of Corea
on the north bank of the Yaluh River; on the east by a line running
from the Russian town of Possiet northerly to the River Usuri, so as to
include Hinka Lake; thence from its headwaters to its junction with the
Amur. This river forms the northern frontier; its tributary, the River
Argun, together with the large lakes Hurun and Puyur, lie on the west;
from the latter lake an artificial line stretching nearly due east for
six degrees in lat. 47° strikes the town of Tsitsihar on the River
Nonni. The rest of the western border follows the rivers Nonni and
Songari to the Palisade. This obsolete boundary commences at Shan-hai
kwan on the Gulf of Liatung and runs north-easterly; it nominally
separates the Mongols from the Manchus for nearly 300 miles, and really
exists only at the passes where the roads are guarded by military.
But a portion of this region has yet been traversed by Europeans, and
most of it is a wilderness. The entire population is not stated in the
census of 1812, and from the nature of the country and wandering habits
of the people, many tribes of whom render no allegiance to the Emperor,
it would be impossible to take a regular census. Parts of Manchuria, as
here defined, have been known under many names at different periods.
_Liautung_ (‘East of the River Liau’) has been applied to the country
between that river, Corea, and the Sea of Japan; _Tungking_ (‘Eastern
Capital’) referred to the chief town of that region, under the Ming
dynasty; and _Kwantung_ (‘East of the Pass’), denoting the same
country, is still a common designation for the whole territory.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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