CHAPTER II.

GEOGRAPHICAL DESCRIPTION OF THE EASTERN PROVINCES. TnE provinces of China Proper are politically subdivided in a scientific manner, but in the regions beyond them, these divi• sions are considerably modified. JYianchnria is regarded as be• longing to the reigning family, somewhat as Hanover once per• tained to the kings of England, and its scanty population is rnled by a simple military organization, the higher officials be• ing appointed by his majesty himself. The khans of the Mon• gols in Mongolia and 11i, the Mohammedan begs in Turkestan, and the lamas in Tibet, are assisted in their rule by Chinese · residents and generals who direct and uphold the government. The geography of foreign countries has not been studied by the Chinese; and so few educated men have travelled even into the islands of the Indian Archipelago, or the kingdoms of Siam, Corea, or Burmah, that the people have had no opportunity to become acquainted with the countries lying on their borders, much less with those in remoter parts, whoRe names, even, they hardly know. A few native works exist on foreign geography, among which four may be here noticed. "1. Researches 'l:n tlw East and TVest, 6 Yols. Svo. It was written about two cen• tlu·ies ago; the first volume contains some rude charts intended to show the situation and form of foreign countries. 2. Notice8 qf the Sea8, 1 vol. Its author, Yang Ping-nan, obtained his in• formation from a townsman, who, being wrecked at sea, was picked up by a foreign ship, and travelled abroad for fourteen years; on his return to China he became blind, and was en• gaged as an interpreter in Macao. 3. Notice8 qf Thing8 heard and 8een 1:11 Foreign Conntries, 2 vols. 12mo ; written about a century ago, containing among other things a chart of the whole Vo1.. 1.-4 f>O TilE )fiDDLE KI:L\GDO){.

Chinese coast. 4. Tlw .1lfemoranda qf Foreign Tribes, 4 vols. Svo, published in the reign of Kienlung."' A more methodi• cal work is that of Li Tsing-lai, called 'Plates Illustrative qf the IIeavens,' being an astronomical and geographical work, much of whose contents were obtained from Europeans residing in the country. But even if the Chinese had better treatises on these subjects, the information contained in them would be of little use until it was taught in their schools. The high of• :ficers in the government begin now to see the importance of a better acquaintance with general geography. Commissioner Lin, in 1841, published a partial translation of :Murray's Oyclo• pa?clia qf Geograplty, in 20 volumes; Gov. Sen Ki-yu, in 1850, issued a compenu of geographical notices with maps, and many others, more accurate and extensive, are now extant. However scarce their geographical works upon foreign coun• tries may be, those delineating the topography of their own are hardly equalled in number and minuteness in any language : every district and town of importance in the empire, as well as every department and province, has a local geography of its own. It may be saiu that the topographical and statistical works form, after the ethical, the most valuable portion of Chinese literature. It would not be difficult to collect a library of 10,000 volumes of such treatises alone; the topography of the city of Suchan, and of the province of Chehkiang, are each in 40 vols., ·while the Iiwangtung Tung OAi, an' Historical and Statistical Account of Kwangtnng,' is in 182 volumes. Kone of these works, however, would bear to be translated entire, such is the amount of legendary and unimportant matter con• tained in them; but they contain many data not to be over• looked by one who undertakes to write a geography of China. The Climate of the Eighteen Provinces has been represented in meteorological tables sufficiently well to ascertain its general salubrity. Pestilences do not frequently visit the land, nor, as in Southern India, is it deluged with rain during one monsoon, and parched with drought during the other. The average tem• perature of the whole empire is lower than that of any other

1 Bridgman's Cltinese Chrestomathy, p. 420. Macao, 1841.