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SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION WAR BACKGROUND STUDIES NUMBER TWENTY CHINA By A. G. WENLEY and JOHN A. POPE (Publication 3770) CITY OF WASHINGTON PUBLISHED BY THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION JULY 27, 1944 Z$>t £oxt> Q§aitimovt (Preeo BALTIMORE, MD., U. S. A. CONTENTS Page Introduction 1 Note on Chinese names 2 Geography (Pope) 2 North China 5 The North China Plain 5 The Mountains of Shantung 7 The Loess Highlands 7 Sinkiang 11 Manchuria 13 Central China 16 The Mountain Barrier 16 The Yangtze Plain 17 The Red Basin of Szechwan 19 The Tibetan Borderland 20 South China 21 The South Yangtze Hills 22 The Southeastern Coast 23 The Liangkwang 25 The Southwestern Tableland 27 Language (Wenley) 29 History (Pope) 37 Prehistory 37 Recorded history 37 Pattern of history 38 Examination system 39 Foreign contacts (Pope) 41 Earliest times through Ming 41 European trade 44 Treaties and concessions 45 The Boxer Rebellion 49 Founding a republic 50 World War I to 1937 53 China's part in World War II (Wenley) 55 Social organization and government (Wenley) 58 Social units 59 Government 61 Education 62 Chinese art (Wenley and Pope) 63 The Chinese mind (Pope) 70 Bibliography 77 Appendix 79 iii . IV ILLUSTRATIONS ILLUSTRATIONS PLATES Page 1. Peaks of Hua Shan, Shensi Province 1 2. Upper, Boats on the Pearl River, Canton Lower, The Bund, Shang-hai 3. Chinese and British sections of Hongkong 4. Left, East Gate, T'ung-kuan, Honan-Shensi border Right, Pagoda of Ming Dynasty, Hopeh Province 5. Upper, Boats on canal, Yangtse Delta, Kiangsu Province Lower, Tomb of Sun Yat-sen 6. Upper, Fish nets on bank of Long River 30 Lower, Street scene in Tsinan, Shantung Province 30 7. Upper, Logs on the Yalu River, Liaoning Province 30 Lower, Lumber being sawed by hand 30 8. Upper, Preparing a paddy field with water buffalo 30 Lower, Raising water from one level to another by foot power 30 9. Upper, Bridge on grounds of the Summer Palace near Peking 30 Lower, Section of Great Wall, near Peking 30 10. Left, Lama temple, Suiyiian Province 38 Right, Valley in the T'ien Shan, Sinkiang Province 38 1 1 Upper, Taklamakan Desert 38 Lower, Ruins of Buddhist cave temples, Sinkiang Province 38 12. Upper, Buddhist cave temples at Yiin-kang, Shansi Province 38 Lower, Peking carts on snowy northern road in winter 38 13. Upper, Snow on hillside terraces, Honan Province 38 Lower, Street scene, I-chou, Liaoning Province, Manchuria 38 14. Upper, Sunken road in the loess country, Honan Province 46 Lower, Camels resting in village inn yard 46 15. Left, Chair bearer in Chungking 46 Right, A scholar in his study 46 16. Left, Peak of O-mei Shan and "Cliff of the Buddha's Glory" 46 Right, Aged Taoist priest 46 17. Upper, Boats on canal north of Sha-shih, Hupeh Province 46 Lower, Fishing boats off coast near Pei-t'ai-ho, Hopeh Province 46 18. Upper, Fleet of junks leaving Macao harbor 58 Lower, Limestone peaks in a Chinese landscape 58 19. Left, Hillside terracing, Szechwan Province 58 Right, Temple of the Dragon King Cave, Hupeh Province 58 20. Left, Grain mills for grinding barley, Yunnan Province 58 Right, Gorge of the Long River, Yunnan Province 58 21. Upper, Section of Burma Road under construction, Yunnan Province 58 Lower, Racial types at fair in Ta-H, Yunnan Province 58 22. Upper, Principal throne room and audience hall of Manchu emperors, Peking . 76 Lower, Main hall of Confucian Temple at Ch'ang-sha, Hunan Province. 76 23. Landscape in ink and faint colors on silk , 76 ILLUSTRATIONS V Page 24. Upper, Chinese calligraphy 16 Lower, Relief sculpture in stone 16 25. Left, Porcelain vase, Ch'ien Lung Period 16 Right, Bronze ceremonial vessel, Shang Dynasty 16 TEXT FIGURES Page 1. Sketch map of Asia 3 2. China. The 28 provinces 4 3. Map of China superimposed on map of the United States 6 4. China. Principal cities, railroads, etc 6 5. Junk and barge on the Yellow River 8 6. Typical country village of North China 8 7. China. Topography 8 8. Central Asia. Topography 12 9. Manchuria. Topography 14 10. Evolution and formation of Chinese characters 32 TABLES Page 1 . The 28 provinces 4 Appendix: 1. The principal periods of history 79 2. The lesser periods 80 3. Chronological chart 82 0r'. ; ,r X' , 5Ni 1i ^^i*" :"V CHINA By A. G. WENLEY, Director AND JOHN A. POPE, Associate in Research Freer Gallery of Art (With 25 Plates) INTRODUCTION In presenting an account of China appropriate to the title "War Back- ground Studies," both time and space deserve equal consideration; and a study of the country today without due reference to the thirty-odd cen- turies of tradition that produced it would be both inadequate and unfair. The literature on the subject, published in Western languages alone, is enormous ; and this booklet attempts to provide, in condensed form, mate- rial touching on its vast area, its complex population, and its more than 3,000 years of intellectual and material development in order to show contemporary China in its proper setting. The geographical notes are based on studies published in the last two decades and present the essential facts of area, population, topography, climate, natural resources, and agriculture as reported in those years. No consecutive account of history has been attempted; the past century is the only one treated in any detail, and this is little more than a thumb- nail sketch to show the development of China's participation in world affairs. Notes are given on how Chinese history unfolded, how it was recorded, how government officials were chosen, how they functioned, and how the country was at all times in active contact with the outside world. Modern government, language, and the closely interlocking socio- governmental system have been briefly described. Some basic facts on the principal phases of Chinese art are noted, and the section headed "The Chinese Mind" outlines the major types of thought which underlay all Chinese activity until the coming of Western science and industry and which still provide the solid base on which the Western veneer is gradu- ally being laid. Plate 1 A temple perches on the narrow ridge of one of the peaks of Hua Shan. One of the five sacred mountains of China, this group forms part of the northern face of the Ch'in-ling Range, Shensi Province. (Photograph by Hedda Hammer, Peking; courtesy Fogg Museum of Art.) , 2 WAR BACKGROUND STUDIES, NO. 20 NOTE ON CHINESE NAMES In general, Chinese names are here romanized according to the Wade- Giles system as used in "A Chinese-English Dictionary," by H. A. Giles. Exceptions are made in the case of certain well-known names which might be unrecognizable in this form (e.g., Confucius, Chiang K'ai-shek) and for the names of the provinces, which follow the "China Postal Atlas." In the geographical section place names are treated as prescribed by the United States Board on Geographical Names in its "Guide to Geographical Names in China." This recommends the above handling of provincial names and a modified form of Wade-Giles for the rest. In view of the fact that place names are frequently changed, those found in the "New Atlas of China," by V. K. Ting (1934), are taken as stand- ard; and other well-known names are used as alternates in parentheses. In the historical and other sections the names used are those that have been considered most recognizable to the lay reader, and alternates have often been employed for clarity. In referring to the three major rivers, translation is used instead of romanization when speaking of the rivers themselves. Traditional forms have been retained when the names are used as adjectives. Thus: Huang Ho (Giles), Hwang Ho (Postal Atlas) = Yellow River. Hsi Chiang (Giles), Si Kiang (Postal Atlas) = West River. Yang-tzu Chiang (Giles), Yang-tze Kiang (Postal Atlas) or more commonly Yangtze Kiang = Long River. (This is a translation of Ch'ang Chiang, the term by which the river is best known to the Chinese.) Note, however, the terms Yangtze Plain, and South Yangtze Hills, which relate those areas to the Long River. GEOGRAPHY The more than 3,000,000 square miles of modern China cover roughly 18° to 53° N. latitude, and 73° to 134° E. longitude. With climates ranging from tropical to subarctic, areas of extreme aridity and heavy precipitation, high mountains, rugged tablelands, dense forests, barren deserts, and fertile valleys, the country presents almost every kind of physiographic and climatic feature known to the Northern Hemisphere. Its population of about 450,000,000 people x includes some dozen dif- ferent races speaking some 44 languages and dialects aside from the Chinese. 1 Population figures for China, as well as for its subdivisions, are never entirely accurate. While an effort has been made to use the best available sources, all figures in this work must be considered suggestive rather than definitive. CHINA—WENLEY AND POPE — 4 WAR BACKGROUND STUDIES, NO. 20 The 28 provinces (see map, fig. 2; and table 1, facing map) do not include Tibet or Mongolia, which are organized on a special basis owing to differences of religious and political background. They do, however, include the area recognized in some quarters as the independent state of Manchoukuo, for this and other areas temporarily under enemy occupa- Table 1. The 28 provinces Population * Location (China Handbook, Area in sq. mi.* (approximate Name 1937-43) (Cressey) center) Anhwei 22,705,000 57,000 117°E. x 32°N.