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SHENDI

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 839 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SHENDI , a See also:

town in the Anglo-See also:Egyptian See also:Sudan in the mudiria (See also:province) of See also:Berber, on the right See also:bank of the See also:Nile in 18° 1' N., 330 59' E., and 104 M. N.N.W. of See also:Khartum by See also:rail. Shendi possesses small manufactories of See also:leather, See also:iron and See also:cotton; extensive railway workshops and a See also:government experimental See also:farm. It is the headquarters of the See also:cavalry of the Egyptian See also:army stationed in the Sudan. Shendi lies within the " See also:Island of IVIeroe" and is a town of See also:great antiquity. See also:Thirty See also:miles See also:north are the pyramids of Meroe. On the opposite (See also:west) bank of the Nile is the See also:village of Metemma, whence there is a See also:caravan route across the Bayuda See also:Desert to the Merawi (Merowe) by See also:Jebel Barkal; this was the route followed by the desert See also:column under See also:Sir See also:Herbert See also:Stewart in 1884 in the See also:Gordon See also:relief expedition. In 1772 See also:James See also:Bruce stayed some See also:time at Shendi—then governed by a woman---on his way to See also:Egypt after visiting the source of the See also:Blue Nile. When the Egyptians invaded the Sudan in 1820 Shendi, then a See also:place of considerable See also:size, submitted to See also:Ismail See also:Pasha, son of Mehemet See also:Ali, the pasha of Egypt. In 1822, how-ever, Ismail and his See also:chief followers were treacherously burnt to See also:death at Shendi by See also:order of the mek (ruler) of the town, in revenge for the cruelties committed by the Egyptians. Later in the same See also:year an Egyptian army from See also:Kordofan razed the town to the ground, most of the inhabitants being massacred. From that See also:period until the See also:establishment of Anglo-Egyptian See also:rule in 1898 Shendi was but a poor village.

Its subsequent growth has been comparatively rapid. There is a considerable See also:

area of fertile See also:land on either See also:side of the Nile in the neighbourhood. SHENG-See also:KING, SHEN-KING, Or LIAO-TUNG, a province of the See also:Chinese See also:empire, in See also:southern See also:Manchuria. It occupies an area of 50,000 sq. m. and contains a See also:population of 4,000,000. Its See also:capital is See also:Mukden, or, as it is otherwise known, Sheng-king, " the Flourishing Capital." The province includes the Liaotung See also:peninsula, the most southern See also:part of which, including See also:Port See also:Arthur, is leased to See also:Japan. Sheng-king is largely mountainous. A See also:line See also:drawn from King-chow Fu (410 12' N., 121 10' E.) N.E. to Mukden, and then See also:south by west through Leaoi-yang and See also:Hai-See also:cheng to Kai-ping and the See also:sea, would define the level See also:country. A large portion of the See also:plain, being an alluvial See also:deposit, is extremely fertile, but in the neighbourhood of the sea the saline exudation See also:common in the north of See also:China renders futile all attempts at cultivation. North and See also:east of this See also:district run numerous See also:mountain ranges, for the most part in a north-and-south direction. The See also:climate of Sheng-king is marked by extremes of See also:heat and See also:cold. In summer the temperature varies from 7o° to 9o° F., and in See also:winter from 5o° above to to° below zero. The mountain scenery is extremely picturesque, and the trees and shrubs are such as are common in See also:England, the mountain ash being the only common See also:English See also:tree which is there conspicuous by its See also:absence.

The most important See also:

rivers are the Liao-ho and the Yalu. The former takes its SHEN-SI rise in See also:Mongolia, and after See also:running an easterly course for about 400 m., turns S.W., and empties into the Gulf of Liao-tung, in the neighbourhood of Ying-tsze, up to which town, 20 M. from the See also:bar, the See also:river is navigable for large junks. The Yalu rises in the mountains to the south of the plain, and empties_into the Yellow Sea. The chief cities, Mukden, Liao-yang, Niu-chwang, Port Arthur and See also:Tairen (Dalny) are separately noticed. Niu-chwang is the chief port of the province. Sheng-king is well supplied with See also:railways, Mukden being in See also:direct railway connexion with See also:Peking, Niu-chwang, Port Arthur and Tairen as well as with the Korean railways, and with See also:Europe and Vladivostock by the trans-Siberian line. The Mukden-Peking railway follows the route of the imperial See also:highway from Peking, which passes through the Great See also:Wall at Shan-kai-kwan and along the shores of the Gulf of Chih-li, and after leaving Mukden divides into three branches—one going eastward to See also:Korea, another going by See also:Kirin and A-she-ho to See also:San-sing, while a third diverges N. by W. to Fakumen, thence through Mongolia to Pe-tu-na, and then to Tsi-tsi-har, Mergen, and the See also:Amur. Another road leads east from Niu-chwang to Fung-hwang-chung, now a station on the Mukden-Korea railway. The chief agricultural products are See also:wheat, See also:barley, See also:millet, oats, See also:maize, cotton, See also:indigo and See also:tobacco. See also:Coal, iron and See also:gold are also found in considerable quantities in various localities. (See also MANCHURIA and CHINA.) SHEN-SI, a See also:northern province of China, bounded N. by the Great Wall, W. by the province of Kan-suh, S. by the province of Sze-ch'uen, and E. by Shan-si; from which it is separated by the Hwang-ho. Area about 75,000 sq. m.; pop. about 8,300,000.

Si-gan Fu (q.v.), or Sian Fu, is the provincial capital; there are six other prefectural cities. Shen-si is divided into two parts by a barrier of mountains, consisting of the Fu-niu Shan and the Tsingling Shan, which attain elevations of over I1,000 ft., and run across the southern portion of the province from east to west. To the north of the mountains See also:

lie the basins of the Wei-ho and of several other tributaries to the Hwang-ho. The name Shen=si, " west of the pass," refers to the Tungkwan pass, near the confluence of the Wei and the Hwang-ho. The valley of the Wei, situated between high tableland (the Ordos See also:plateau) on the north and rugged mountains to the south, forms the great channel of communication between Eastern China and Central See also:Asia. Were it in the hands of an enemy the Chinese colonies in Central Asia would be completely severed from the See also:mother country, hence the eagerness evinced by the government through-out all See also:history to retain See also:possession of the region. In this district are the sites of cities used as capitals of China in remote antiquity. Si-gan Fu, founded in the 3rd See also:century B.C., was usually the capital until the time of the See also:Kin See also:dynasty (A.D. I127), and it was chosen by the See also:dowager empress as the temporary capital during the stress of the Boxer outbreak (1900-19o1). It is noted also as containing the celebrated Nestorian tablet, erected A.D. 781, on which is engraved an See also:edict according tolerance to the Nestorian missionaries. See also:Modern See also:Christian (See also:Protestant) See also:mission See also:work in the See also:city See also:dates from 1876.

The walls of Si-gan enclose a square space of 6 m. each way, and, unlike most Chinese cities, its` fortifications are kept in perfect repair. During the See also:

Mahommedan See also:rebellion it was closely invested for two years (1868-1870) by the rebels, who, however, failed to See also:capture it. During a great See also:famine which occurred in 1902 about 2,500,000 persons in the province died of See also:starvation. From Si-gan Fu radiate a number of roads going east, south and west. The east road is the great Tung-kwan road, which forms the See also:principal means of communication between Peking and the north-eastern provinces of the empire, and Sze-ch'uen, Yun-nan and See also:Tibet. To the south, one road crosses the mountains to Shang Chow, and on to the Tan river, an affluent of the Han-kiang, and is thus connected with the See also:trade of the Yangtsze-kiang; and another leads to Han,chung Fu and Sze-ch'uen. Leaving the west See also:gate of the city two roads See also:lead to Lan-chow Fu, from which town begins the great high road into Central Asia by way of Lian-chow Fu, Kan-chow Fu and Su-chow to See also:Hami, where it forks into two branches which follow respectively the northern and southern See also:foot of the Tianshan range, and are known as the Tian-shan pei lu and the Tian-shan nan lu. It, was along these roads that the fame of China first reached Europe, and it was by the Tian-shan nan lu that Marco See also:Polo entered the empire. To defend this line of communication the Great Wall was extended beyond Su-chow, and the Kia-yu gate, " the See also:door of the empire," was built. During the reign of Hia-wu Ti of the Han dynasty, Chinese colonies and high roads lined with fortified cities were established along this route, and though at times the government have lost possession of the line beyond the Great Wall, it has always succeeded in re-establishing its supremacy over it. Occupying a position, then, at the confluence of the roads which connect north-eastern China with its western and south-western portions, Si-gan Fu is a city of great commercial importance. It has few manufactures, but does an extensive trade principally in the importation of See also:silk from Cheh-kiang and Sze-ch'uen, See also:tea from Hu-peh and Hu-nan, and See also:sugar from Sze-ch'uen, and in the exportation of these and other articles (such as skins and furs) to Kan-suh, See also:Russia and Central Asia.

Shen-si is purely an agricultural province. Its principal products are cotton, wheat and See also:

opium—the See also:anti-opium decrees of 1906 had little effect on the province up to 1910—and these it exchanges with the neighbouring provinces for coal, iron, See also:salt, &c. Kao-liang, See also:pulse, millet, maize, groundnut, barley, beans, See also:pease, See also:lucerne, and See also:rape See also:seed are also grown. The Wei See also:basin being a See also:loess region is unfit for See also:rice, but for the same See also:reason it produces See also:fine crops of the kinds mentioned at a minimum See also:expenditure of labour. The Shen-si opium is much valued by smokers and ranked next to the Shan-si See also:drug, which was second only to that produced in Kan-suh. Coal abounds in the northern part of the province, but owing to difficulty of transit it is not worked to any great extent. The winters are cold, but See also:short, and though See also:fruit trees abound and are most productive, no See also:evergreen trees or shrubs are to be met with within the province. Shen-si is specially noted for the See also:varnish tree. Wolves are numerous in the mountains; the See also:heron, See also:ibis, See also:wild See also:goose and See also:snipe in the valley of the Wei. See M. Broomhall, The Chinese Empire (See also:London, 1907), pp. 198-208; L.

See also:

Richard, Comprehensive See also:Geography of the Chinese Empire (See also:Shanghai, 1908), pp. 39-46, and the authorities there cited.

End of Article: SHENDI

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