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 population of the province has been estimated by T. T. Meadows[97]
at twelve millions, consisting of Manchus and Chinese. The coast
districts are now mostly occupied and cultivated by emigrants from
Shantung, who are pushing the Manchus toward the Amur, or compelling
them to leave their hunting and take to farming if they wish to stay
where they were born. The conquerors are being civilized and developed
by their subjects, losing the use of their own meagre language, and
becoming more comfortable as they learn to be industrious. But few
aboriginal settlements now remain who still resist these influences.
The inhabitants collect near the river, or along the great roads, where
food or a market are easiest found.
The capital of Shingking is usually known on the spot as Shin-yang, an
older name than the Manchu Mukden, or the Chinese name Fungtien. As the
metropolis of Manchuria, it is also known as Shingking (the ‘Affluent
Capital’), distinguished from the name of the province by the addition
of _pun-ching_, or ‘head-garrison.’ It lies in lat. 41° 50-1/2′ N. and
long. 123° 30′ E., on the banks of the Shin, a small branch of the
Liau, and is reckoned to be five hundred miles north-east from Peking.
The town is surrounded by a low mud wall about ten miles in circuit, at
least half a mile distant from the main city wall, whose eight gates
have double archways so that the crowd may not interfere in passing;
this wall is about three miles around, and its towers and bastions are
in good condition. It is 35 or 40 feet high, and 15 feet wide at the
top, of brick throughout; a crenulated parapet protects the guard.
But for its smaller scale, the walls and buildings here are precisely
similar to those at Peking. The streets are wide, clean, and the main
business avenues lined with large, well built shops, their counters,
windows, and other arrangements indicating a great trade. This capital
contains a large proportion of governmental establishments, _yamuns_,
and nearly all the officials belong to the ruling race. Main streets
run across the city from gate to gate, with narrow roads or _hu-tung_
intersecting them. The palace of the early Manchu sovereigns occupies
the centre; while the large warehouses are outside of the inner city.
Everywhere marks of prosperity and security indicate an enterprising
population, and for its tidy look, industrious and courteous
population, Mukden takes high rank among Chinese cities. Its population
is estimated to be under 200,000, mostly Chinese. The Manchu monarchs
made it the seat of their government in 1631, and the Emperors have
since done everything in their power to enlarge and beautify it. The
Emperor Kienlung rendered himself celebrated among his subjects, and
made the city of Mukden better known abroad, by a poetical eulogy upon
the city and province, which was printed in sixty-four different forms
of Chinese writing. This curious piece of imperial vanity and literary
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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