Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

MANCHURIA

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 554 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

MANCHURIA , the name by which the territory in the See also:

east of See also:Asia occupied by the Manchus is known in See also:Europe. By the See also:Chinese it is called the See also:country of the Manchus, an epithet meaning " pure," chosen by the founder of the See also:dynasty which now rules over Manchuria and See also:China as an appropriate designation for his See also:family. Manchuria lies in a See also:north-See also:westerly and See also:south-easterly direction between 390 and 530 N. and between 116° and 131° E., and is wedged in between China and See also:Mongolia on the See also:west and north-west, and See also:Korea and the See also:Russian territory on the See also:Amur on the east and north. More definitely, it is bounded N. by the Amur, E. by the Usuri, S. by the Gulf of Liao-tung, the Yellow See also:Sea and Korea, and W. by Chih-h and Mongolia. The territory thus defined is about 800 m. in length and 500 M. in width, and contains about 390,000 sq. m. It is divided into three provinces, viz. Hei-See also:lung-kiang or See also:Northern Manchuria, See also:Kirin or Central Manchuria, and Sheng-See also:king or See also:Southern Manchuria. Physically the country is divided into two regions, the one a See also:series of See also:mountain ranges occupying the northern and eastern portions of the See also:kingdom, and the other a See also:plain which stretches southwards from See also:Mukden, the See also:capital, to the Gulf of Liao-tung. A See also:system of parallel ranges of mountains, culminating in the Chinese Ch'ang pai Shan, " the See also:long See also:white mountains," on the Korean frontier, runs in a north-easterly direction from the shores of the Gulf of Liao-tung. In its course through Eastern Manchuria it forms the See also:watershed of the Sungari, Usuri and other See also:rivers, and in the south that of the Ya-lu and many smaller streams. It also forms the eastern boundary of the See also:great plain of Liao-tung. The mountains of this system reach their greatest height on the south-east of Kirin, where their See also:snow-capped peaks rise to the See also:elevation of 8000 ft.

The scenery among them is justly celebrated, more especially in the neighbourhood of Haich'eng, Siu-yen and the Korean See also:

Gate. • The three See also:principal rivers of Manchuria are the Sungari,Mutankiang and Usuri already mentioned. Of these the Sungari, which is the largest, rises on the northern slopes of the Ch'ang pai Shan range, and runs in a north-westerly direction to its junction with the Nonni, from which point it turns north-east until it empties itself into the Amur. It is navigable by native junks above Kirin, which See also:city may also be reached by steamer. In its long course it varies greatly both in See also:depth and width, in some parts being only a few feet deep and spreading out to a width of more than a mile, while in other and mountainous portions of its course its channel is narrowed to 300 or 400 ft., and its depth is increased in inverse ratio. The Usuri rises in about 440 N. and 131° E., and after See also:running a north-easterly course for nearly 500 M. it also joins the Amur. The Mutan-kiang takes its rise, like the Sungari, on the northern slopes of the Ch'ang pai Shan range, and not far from the See also:sources of that See also:river. It takes a north-easterly course as far as the city of Ninguta, at which point it turns northward, and so continues until it joins the Sungari at See also:San-sing. It is navigable by junks between that city and Ninguta, though the torrents in its course make the voyage backwards and forwards one of considerable difficulty. Next in importance to these rivers are the Liao and Ya-lu, the former of which rises in Mongolia, and after running in an easterly direction for abput 400 M. enters Manchuria in about 430 N., and turning southward empties itself into the Gulf of Liao-tung. The Ya-lu rises in Korea, and is the frontier river of that country. Provinces and Towns.—Mukden, or as it is called by the Chinese Sheng-king, the capital city of Manchuria, is situated in the See also:province of Sheng-king, occupies a See also:fine position on the river Hun-ho, an affluent of the Liao, and is a city of considerable pre-tensions.

Liao-yang, which was once the capital of the country, is also in the province of Sheng-king. The other cities in the province are See also:

Kin-chow-fu on the west of the Gulf of Liao-tung; Kin-chow, on the western extremity of the Liao-tung See also:peninsula; Kai-ping, on the north-western See also:shore of the same peninsula; See also:Hai-See also:cheng, on the road from Niu-chwang to Mukden; Ki-yuen, a populous and prosperous city in the north of the province; and Sing-king, east of Mukden, the See also:original seat of the founders ofthe See also:present dynasty. The most important commercial See also:place, however, is the treaty See also:port of Niu-chwang, at the See also:head of the Cull of Liao-tung. According to the See also:custom-See also:house returns the value of the See also:foreign imports and exports in the See also:year 188o was £691,954 and I1,117,790 respectively, besides a large native See also:trade carried on in junks. In 1904 the value of foreign imports had risen to £2,757,962, but the exports amounted to £1,742,859 only, the comparatively See also:low figure being accounted for by the Russo-See also:Japanese See also:war. The province of Kirin, or Central Manchuria, is bounded on the N. and N.W. by the Sungari, on the S. by Sheng-king and Korea, on the W. by Mongolia, and on the E. by the Usuri and the maritime Russian province. It contains an See also:area of about 90,000 sq. m., and is entirely mountainous with the exception of a stretch of plain country in its north-western corner. This plain produces large quantities of See also:indigo and See also:opium, and is physically remark-able for the number of isolated conical hills which dot its See also:surface. These sometimes occur in a See also:direct See also:line at intervals of 15 or 20 m., and elsewhere are scattered about " like dish-covers on a table." Kirin, the capital of the province, occupies a magnificent position, being surrounded on the north, west and south by a semicircular range of mountains with the broad stream of the Sungari flowing across the front. The See also:local trade is considerable. A-She-ho, on the Ashe, with a See also:population of 6o,000; Petuna (Chinese, Singchung), on the Sungari, population 30,000; San-sing, near the junction of the Sungari and Mutan-kiang; La-lin, 120 M. to the north of Kirin, population 20,000; See also:Harbin or Kharbin and Ninguta are the other principal cities in the province. Hei-lung-kiang, or Northern Manchuria, which contains about 195,000 sq. m., is bounded on the N. and N.E. by the Amur, on the S. by the Sungari, and on the W. by the Nonni and Mongolia.

It is traversed by the Great and Lesser See also:

Khingan mountains and their offshoots. This province is thinly populated, and is cultivated only along the lines of its rivers. The only towns of any importance are Tsitsihar and Mergen, both situated on the Nonni and Khailar in the west. See also:Climate, See also:Flora, See also:Fauna.—The climate over the greater See also:part of the country varies between extremes of See also:heat and See also:cold, the thermometer ranging between 90° F. in the summer and 10° below zero in the See also:winter. As in the north of China, the rivers are frozen up during the four winter months. After a See also:short See also:spring the heat of summer succeeds, which in its turn is followed by an autumn of six See also:weeks' duration. The great plain in Sheng-king is in many parts swampy, and in the neighbourhood of the sea, where the See also:soil emits a saline exudation such as is also See also:common in the north of China, it is perfectly sterile. In other parts fine crops of See also:millet and various kinds of See also:grain are grown, and on it trees flourish abundantly. The trees and See also:plants are much the same as those common in See also:England, and severe as the See also:weather is in winter the less elevated mountains are covered to their summits with trees. The See also:wild animals also are those known in Europe, with the addition of tigers and panthers. Bears, wild boars, See also:hares, wolves, foxes and wild See also:cats are very common, and in the north sables are found in great See also:numbers. One of the most noticeable of the birds is the Mongolian See also:lark (Melanocorypha mongolica), which is found in a wild See also:state both in Manchuria and in the See also:desert of Mongolia.

This See also:

bird is exported in large numbers to northern China, where it is much prized on See also:account of its extraordinary See also:power of See also:imitation. The Manchurian See also:crane is common, as also are eagles, cuckoos, laughing doves, &c. See also:Insects abound, owing to the swampy nature of much of the country. The rivers are well stocked with See also:fish, especially with See also:salmon, which forms a common See also:article of See also:food. In such immense shoals do these fish appear in some of the smaller streams that numbers are squeezed out on to the See also:banks and there perish. Products and See also:Industries.—In minerals Manchuria is very See also:rich: See also:coal, See also:gold, See also:iron (as well as magnetic iron ore), and See also:precious stones are found in large quantities. Gold mines are worked at several places in the northern part of Manchuria, of which the principal are on the Muho river, an affluent of the Amur, and near the Russian frontier. Mines are also worked at Kwanyin-shan, opposite the Russian frontier See also:town of Radevska, and at Chia-pi-kou, on an affluent of the upper Sungari. Indigo and opium are the most lucrative crops. The indigo plant is grown in large quantities in the plain country to the north of Mukden, and is transported thence to the See also:coast in carts, each of which carries rather more than a ton See also:weight of the dye. The See also:poppy is cultivated wherever it will grow, the See also:crop being far more profitable than that of any other product. See also:Cotton, See also:tobacco, See also:pulse, millet, See also:wheat and See also:barley are also grown.

Province of Sheng-king (Feng T'ien) 4,000,000 Kirin 6,500,000 Hei-lung-kiang 2,000,000 See also:

Total . . . 12,500,000 s1 were laid down, and remain, on the the See also:main line continues in the same See also:general direction to the eastern frontier of Manchuria, and so to See also:Vladivostok. In 1898 See also:Russia obtained a See also:lease of the Liao-tung peninsula, and a clause of this See also:contract empowered her to connect Port See also:Arthur and Dalny (now See also:Tairen) with the main Manchurian railway by a See also:branch southward from Harbin. In spite of interruption caused by the Boxer outbreak, through communication was established in 1901. Under the Russo- Japanese treaty of See also:August 1905, after the war, supplemented by a See also:convention between See also:Japan and China concluded in See also:December of the same year, Japan took over the line from Port Arthur as far as Kwang-cheng-tsze, now known as the Southern Manchurian railway (508 m.). Branches were promoted (a) from Mukden to Antung on the Yalu, to connect with the Korean system, and (b) from Kwang-cheng-tsze to Kirin. The See also:rest of the original Manchurian system (1088 See also:miles) remains under Russian See also:control. In the south- west of Manchuria a line of the imperial See also:railways of Northern China gives connexion from See also:Peking, and branches at Kou-pang-tsze to See also:Sin- See also:min-ting and to Niu-chwang, and the See also:link between Sin-min-ting and Mukden is also under Chinese control. The lines now under Russian control 5 ft. See also:gauge which is the Russian See also:standard; but after the Russian See also:con-Railways _ :.::.: trol of the southern lines was lost Capital - . ~ the gauge was altered from that Provincial Capitals a standard. See also:History.—Manchu, as has been said, is not the name of the country but of the See also:people who inhabit it.

The name was adopted by a ruler who See also:

rose to power in the beginning of the 13th See also:century. Before that See also:time the Manchus were more or less a shifting population, and, being broken up into a number of tribes, they went mainly under the distinctive name of those clans which exercised lordship over them. Thus under the Chow dynasty (1122—225 B.c.) they were known as Sewshin, and at subsequent periods as Yih-low, Wuh-keih, Moh-hoh, Pohai, Ni.ichih and ac-cording to the Chinese historians also as Khitan. Throughout their history they appear as a See also:rude people, the See also:tribute they brought to the Chinese See also:court consisting of See also:stone arrow-heads, See also:hawks, gold, and latterly See also:ginseng. Assuming that, as the Chinese say, the Khitans were Manchus, the first See also:appearance of the Manchus, as a people, in China See also:dates from the beginning of the loth century, when the Khitans, having first conquered the kingdom of Pohai, crossed the frontier into China and established the Liao or Iron dynasty in the northern portion of the See also:empire. These invaders F were in their turn overthrown two centuries later by another invasion from Manchuria. These new conquerors were Nuchihs, and therefore direct ancestors of the Manchus. On assuming the imperial yellow in China their See also:chief adopted the See also:title of Kin or " See also:Golden " for his dynasty. " Iron " (Liao), he said, " rusts, but gold always keeps its purity and See also:colour, therefore my dynasty shall be called Kin." In a little more than a century, however, the Kins were driven out of China by the See also:Mongols under Jenghiz See also:Khan. But before the See also:close of their See also:rule a miraculous event occurred Communications.—Four principal highways See also:traverse Manchuria. The first runs from Peking to Kirin via Mukden, where it sends off a branch to Korea. At Kirin it bifurcates, one branch going to San-sing, the extreme north-eastern town of the province of Kirin, and the other to Possiet See also:Bay on the coast via Ninguta.

The second road runs from the treaty port of Niu-chwang through Mukden to Petuna in the north-western corner of the Kirin province, and thence to Tsitsihar, Mergen and the Amur. The third also starts from 1aa° E D 1 Spring-See also:

sling C. Kosalwu it-ju See also:gong-pa ~•kot (C. Bolan) tong-See also:chin o.rs -heung oughton Bay Quif of Koreg .g-ch-See also:hen C. Duroch Niu-chwang, and strikes southward to Kin-chow at the extremity of the Liao-tung peninsula. The See also:fourth connects Niu-chwang with the Gate of Korea. The original Manchurian railway was constructed under an agreement made in 1896 between the Chinese See also:government and the Russo-Manchurian Chinese See also:bank, an institution founded in 1895 to develop Beltways. Russian interests in the East. The Chinese Eastern Railway See also:Company was formed by the bank under this agreement, to construct and See also:work the line, and surveys were made in 1897, the town of Harbin being founded as headquarters for the work. The line, which affords through communication from Europe on the Chang-pai-Shan mountains which is popularly believed by way of the Trans-Siberian system, enters Manchuria near a to have laid the seeds of the greatness. of the present rulers station of that name in the north-west corner of the country, passes Khailar, and runs south-east, near Tsitsihar, to Harbin. Thence of the empire. Three See also:heaven-See also:born maidens, so runs the MANCHURIA 553 See also:legend, were bathing one See also:day in a See also:lake under the Chang-pai-Shan See also:civil and commercial See also:jurisprudence.

In 1862 he became See also:

minister mountains when a passing See also:magpie dropped a ripe red See also:fruit into the See also:lap of one of them. The See also:maiden See also:ate the fruit, and in due course a See also:child was born to her, whom she named Aisin Gioro, or the Golden. When quite a lad Aisin Gioro was elected chief over three contending clans, and established his capital at Otoli near the Chang-pai-Shan mountains. His reign, however, was brief, for his subjects rose and murdered him, with all his sons except the youngest, Fancha, who, like the See also:infant Haitu in Mongolian history, was miraculously saved. Nothing is re-corded of the facts of Aisin Gioro's reign except that he named the people over whom he reigned Manchu, or " Pure." His descendants, through the rescued Fancha, See also:fell into See also:complete obscurity until about the See also:middle of the 16th century, when one of them, Nurhachu by name, a chieftain of a small tribe, rose to power. Nurhachu played with skill and daring the role which had been played by Jenghiz Khan more than three centuries before in Mongolia. With even greater success than his Mongolian counterpart, Nurhachu See also:drew tribe after tribe under his sway, and after numerous See also:wars with Korea and Mongolia he established his rule over the whole of Manchuria. Being thus the See also:sovereign of an empire, he, again like Jenghiz Khan, adopted for himself the title of Ying-ming, " Brave and Illustrious," and took for his reign the title of T'ien-ming. Thirteen years later, in 1617, after numerous border fights with the Chinese, Nurhachu drew up a See also:list of " seven hates," or indictments, against his southern neighbours, and, not getting the See also:satisfaction he demanded, declared war against them. The progress of this war, the See also:peace hastily patched up, the equally hasty See also:alliance and its consequences, being matters of Chinese history, are treated in the article CHINA. Manchuria was claimed by Russia as her particular See also:sphere of See also:interest towards the close of the loth century, and in the course of the disturbances of 1900 Russian troops occupied various parts of the country. Eventually a Manchurian convention was arranged between China and Russia, by which Russia was to evacuate the province; but no actual ratification of this convention was made by Russia.

The Anglo-See also:

German agreement of See also:October 1900, to which Japan also became a party, and by which it was agreed to " maintain undiminished the territorial See also:condition of the Chinese empire," was considered by Great See also:Britain and Japan not to exclude Manchuria; but See also:Germany, on the other See also:hand, declared that Manchuria was of no interest to her. The Anglo-Japanese treaty of 1902, however, was ostensibly directed towards the preservation of Manchuria in Chinese hands. See also:British capital has been invested in the See also:extension of the Chinese Northern railway to Niu-chwang, and the fact was officially recognized by an agreement between Great Britain and Russia in 1899. One result of the Russo-Japanese War was the evacuation of Manchuria by the Russians, which, after the conclusion of peace in 1905, was handed over by Japan to China. See H. E. M. See also:James, The Long White Mountain (See also:London, 1888) ; D. See also:Christie, Ten Years in Manchuria (See also:Paisley, 1895) ; F. E. See also:Young-See also:husband, The See also:Heart of a See also:Continent: a Narrative of Travels in Manchuria (London, 1896) ; P. H.

See also:

Kent, Railway Enterprise in China (London, 1907). (R. K.

End of Article: MANCHURIA

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
MANCHESTER, EARLS AND DUKES OF 		[next]
MANCINI, PASQUALE STANISLAO (1817-1888)

Site © 2006 - Net Industries