The Geography of By ROBERT BURNETT HALL University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan

term &dquo;Manchuria&dquo; is applied of middle latitude grassland still un- THEin a more or less vague way to the developed. Its soils are of great fertil- northeasternmost territories of , ity and the long, dry, severe winters and embraces all lands lying east of and hot, rainy summers are admirably and northeast of the Great suited to spring-sown cereals and Wall. Manchuria, as here used, ap- legumes. plies to the Eastern Three Provinces (Tungsanshin) of Heilungkiang (), THE CLIMATE OF MANCHURIA Kirin (Chilin) and Fengtien (Mukden The climate of Manchuria has often or ), and the Japanese leased been described as continental in its - territory of Kwantung and the special sonal fluctuations of temperature, and Barga (Hulunpeierh) District on the monsoonal in its r6gime of rainfall. northwest frontier. It forms a roughly According to the Kbppen system,2 triangular area of about 380,000 square three types of climate may be rec- miles.’ ognized, i.e., Dwa, Dwb and BSkw. The border lands of Manchuria, ex- The first occupies approximately the cept where the broad valley of the Liao southern two-thirds of Manchuria, and reaches the sea and in the north- is a cold, dry, winter type, with the west, where the extensive steppe lands summer hot and sufficiently rainy to of the Great Khingan make permit forest growth. The mean tem- up the Barga District, are composed of perature of the coldest month is below broad mountain masses. These are for 3° C., and of the warmest month, over the most part densely clad in virgin 22° C. The Dwb varies from the forest and contain the bulk of all Chi- preceding only in that the warmest nese timber reserves. Here are found month is below 82° C. It occurs in minerals of several kinds and the Heilungkiang and eastern Kirin. These broader valleys offer excellent agricul- Dw types are found in no other part of tural and grazing lands. Enclosed by the world. The southern part of the these mountain barriers is the great Barga District has the BSkw, or cold Manchurian Plain, originally a grass- steppe-dry winter climate. Here pre- land, where agricultural production cipitation is very low, and the mean and potentialities, coupled with a annual temperature is below 18° C., sparse population, have earned for the but the warmest month is over 18° C. area the titles of the &dquo; Grain basket of Winter is the dry period.3 &dquo; and the &dquo;Land of the Bean.&dquo; In fact, the Manchurian Plain consti- 2 Köppen, W., Die Klimate der Erde, 1923. Part 2, Das geographische System der Klimate. tutes the extensive area practically only 3 de Martonne, Emm., Traité de Géographie 1 The exact area of Manchuria is not known. Physique, 4 ed., pp. 229-261, 1925, recognizes a Between the maximum and minimum estimates Manchurian type (D6) which has a mean annual there is a difference of 119,833 square miles. temperature under 10° C. with the rainy season Chu Hsiao, in Manchuria, pp. 2-4, 1929, makes a during summer. comprehensive consideration and the figure of Sion, Jules, Asie des Moussons, Tome 9, 380,000 square miles is accepted as approxi- Géographie Universelle, Chap. 1, 1928, also rec- mately correct. ognizes a Manchurian type for all of Manchuria 278 279

Manchuria lies between the great ceives in excess of 600 mm. and is continental interior, with its extremes forest clad.6 of pressure, and the sea. In summer, In winter, pressure and wind direc- there is a well-developed low pressure tion are reversed, and exceedingly dry, area over , and moisture- cold winds sweep over Manchuria from laden winds flow inland. These are the north and northwest. Precipita- best developed in July and August, and tion is in the form of snow, but the bring precipitation in the form of rain. amount is small. In south Manchuria, all stations indi- The temperature r6gime is typically cate an annual average precipitation of continental, as is to be expected from over 600 mm.,4 with over fifty per the location on the east coast of a cent occurring in July and August, and in the . at least seventy per cent falling during The mean annual temperature does not the growing season. Much the same exceed 10° C. except at the extreme condition is indicated in central Man- southern tip of the Liaotung Peninsula. churia.’ In general, precipitation de- A relatively steady decrease takes place creases northward. The northern edge northward until, for a small section of the plain receives less than 600 mm. bordering the Amur, it is 2° C. High The eastern slopes of the Changpai elevations in the mountain country Range, near , receive over 800 may well show a smaller figure. mm. The steppe land of Barga, due to The coldest month everywhere in its lying in the rain shadow of the Great Manchuria is January. At Dairen, Khingan, and the eastern slopes of the the warmest station recorded, the southern Great Khingan, due to the January mean is -5.1° C. This drops barrier presented by the hill land of steadily to - £7° C. near the middle Jehol, receive under 400 mm. The Amur. In the middle section of the remaining mountain country all re- plain, shows -17.3° C. and Mukden, -18° C. The warmest month is At Dairen 23’ C. is recorded, east of the Great Khingans. This he describes July. and the middle 20° C. as very cold winter (Jan. mean temp. at Mukden along Amur, -13° C.) but quite warm in summer (July mean In the Barga District, July means are at Mukden—24° .2 C.) with precipitation suf- between 17° and 18° C. ficient to grow wheat. Chu Coching, Climatic The temperature gradient is from , Memoir 1, p. 10, Inst. of south to north at all seasons, but is Meteorology, Nanking, 1929, similarly rec- ognizes a Manchurian type. In this he includes steeper and more regular in winter all of Manchuria except the extreme western than in summer. part. The criteria are as follows: At least five months with a mean temperature below 0° C., SEASONS and mean annual below 10° C. The growing sea- son is limited to five or six months; winter is ex- All of Manchuria has at least five tremely cold. Annual precipitation varies from months with a mean temperature be- 40 to 60 cm. Half of it falls in July and Au- low 0° C.7 In November, frost settles gust. The 40 cm isohyetal marks the western boundary of this . 6 Generalized data on rainfall conditions may 4 Climatic Tables of the Japanese Empire, be secured from N. Murakoshi’s "Rainfall Map : Central Meteorological Station, 1924. of Manchuria and Mongolia," in Chu Coching, Records for 18 years or more, for Dairen, Ryojun, op. cit. Similar data on annual mean averages Yingkow, Mukden, and Changchun. and means of maximum and minimum monthly 5 Statistical Yearbook, : Chinese Eastern temperatures may be had in Gauthier, H., La Railway, 1929, Appendix. Records for Man- Température en Chine, 3 vols., 1918. chouli, Buhedu, Anta, Harbin, Jaomen, Imienpo, 7 Hann, J., Handbuch der Klimatologie, Vol. 3, Taipingling, and Sansing. pp. 303-313. Contains an excellent description 280

in the ground and remains until March. 20th and the 30the; and millet about the The in the south is frozen 15th. over for four months, the Sungari in October is a month of nearly perfect the central plain is frozen for five weather-warm, dry, and sunny. To- months, and the Amur in the ward the end of the month the winds is ice-bound for at least six months. have completely shifted, and by No- During this winter period, cold, dry vember the first frosts tell the coming of winds blow strongly from the north- another winter. west. The skies are extremely clear. Vigorous radiation takes place at night SURFACE DIVISIONS and strong insolation by day. What Morphologically, Manchuria may be precipitation occurs falls as snow, and divided into: (1) the mountainous an accumulation of as much as one foot lands of ancient rocks that surround the is exceedingly rare. The country plain; (2) the plain lands of alluvial, roads are frozen hard and favor traffic. low-lying flats and higher gravelly The severe, snow-free winter prohibits terraces which are drained by the fall-sown crops, but limits rodent and Sungari and Liao and their insect pests. streams; and (3) the con- In March the cold northwesters tinuation of the high Mongolian pla- cease and warm, humid winds from the teau which makes up the Barga Dis- southwest set in. Wheat is planted in trict in the northwest. early April, although the subsoil is still EASTERN MOUNTAIN LAND OF frozen. Later in the same month, In- CHANGPAI dian corn and tobacco are planted. April is the only spring month, for in Stretching from the northeastern May summer begins. Beans, kaoliang corner of Manchuria, where the River and millet are planted the last days of joins with the Amur, southeast- April or in early May-the exact date ward to the tip of the Liaotung Penin- varying from south to north. Until sula is a continuous mountain land the end of June, only occasional light known as the Changpai Range. This showers occur. This is far from ideal, mountain mass, the length of which is and in some years the seeds fail to over sixteen hundred kilometers and germinate because of excessive drought. the maximum width of which near the In the last days of June and early July, center is six hundred kilometers, is the heavy rains begin. This is a time composed chiefly of ancient rocks- of violent storms. Often it pours con- gneiss, granite, quartzite, mica schist, tinuously for several days. The rivers clay slate, porphyry, and diorite.18 flood. The roads become quagmires. These rocks are considered as older This lasts through August. Tempera- than Paleozoic, although their exact tures are then at the highest and all chronology is not known, because of vegetation makes rapid growth. In the lack of detailed field work. Coal- September the rains cease and the bearing tertiary formations are some- warm, dry weather encourages rapid times found resting unconformably ripening. Beans are harvested be- upon these ancient rocks. While the tween the 25th and the 30th of Sep- tertiary beds everywhere show a tend- tember ; kaolzang and corn between the ency to folding parallel to the major trend of the the strike of of Manchurian weather but one which can be range, somewhat altered on the basis of more recent 8 Seuss, E., The Face of the , Vol. 3, p. 123, weather data. 1909. 281

(1) Manchurian Plain; (2) Plain of Interior Drainage; (3) Worn-down mountains (Changpai and Little Khingan); (4) Dissected escarpment of (Great Khingan); (5) Hill country of Jehol; (6) Plateau district of Barga; (7) Forests; (8) Areas of forest exploitation. the older core rocks is somewhat de- crater lake occupies its summit. Both viated. north and south of this peak are found The culminative point of the Chang- remnants of smaller volcanoes,9 several pai Mountains is the giant volcano of of which contain crater lakes. Rather Peik-tu-shan (2400 m.). Nine months recent basaltic flows are found near of the year its peak is snow clad, and Ringuta, just south of where the during midsummer it stands forth bare 9 Sowerby, A. de C., "The Exploration of and pumice covered. A picturesque Manchuria," Geographical Journal, p. 180, 1919. 282

Chinese Eastern Railway crosses the first attracted and later, Japan. Changpai.l° One of these flows, block- Progradation is vigorous, and a num- ing a valley, formed Lake Bertanwas. ber of ancient harbors have been In general, the Changpai is a sub- abandoned as ports. 14 Many small, dued mountain land or one in the stage off-shore islands are found separated of late maturity. The northern por- from the mainland by submergence tion has a general elevation of 600-700 and probably in part by wave action. m., and wide, old age valleys separate Some show definite peneplanation, but this section into several minor ranges others are doubtlessly monadnocks Both in width and elevation, the protruding above the submerged level. Changpai reaches its major propor- The southeastern continuation of this tions in its central portion. As this is peneplain accounts for the shallow also the rainiest part as well, many waters off-shore in the . large streams find their headwaters THE KHINGAN MOUNTAINS here. Here, too, are excellent timber lands, and the production of timber is The Little Khingans lie between the an important industry. Probably the plains of Manchuria and . world’s finest ginseng is gathered here Their general trend is N.N.W. to as well. S.S.E. They are composed chiefly of Southward, the Changpai decreases gneiss and granite, but the north- both in width and relief. Wide valleys western portion is characterized by between subdued uplands furnish good porphyry and basalt.l5 Between the agricultural land and are densely Little Khingans and the northern populated. The valley slopes are gen- Changpai lies a saddle-like level, tle and concave. A gradual decrease in through which the Sungari cuts a relief takes place southward until at narrow gorge. the southern tip of the Liaotung In form, these mountains are quite Peninsula, only a rolling upland in old similar to the northern half of the age is found. 12 The average elevation Changpai, in that they are generally of this extreme southern portion does subdued to late maturity, with wide not exceed 200 m., but several promi- valleys and gentle concave slopes nent peaks protrude well above the In the vicinity of Mergen, several small general level. These are composed of volcanoes containing distinct craters quartzite and metamorphic limestone, are found. Among them, Ujun Khal- and are regarded as monadnocks.~3 dongi is said to have erupted in 1712.17 Many of the Russian fortifications Several recent lava flows are reported were built upon these prominences, on both the south and the Amur sides. and about them is the most famous Several large streams, of battle field of the Russo-Japanese War. the Sungari, of which the Nonni and The coast line of the Liaotung the Hulen Rivers are the largest, rise in Peninsula is richly indented and shows the Little Khingans. This mountain recent submergence. A number of land is forest clad throughout, but ex- good harbors are found there, which ploitation has been retarded on ac- count of its isolation. 10 Seuss, op. cit., p. 124. 11 Seuss, op. cit. 14 Willis, B., and Blackwelder, E., Research in 12 Hanai, S., "Some Characteristic Features of China, Vol. 1, pt. 1, pp. 86-87, 1907. the low-lying Peneplain of the Liaotung Penin- 15 Seuss, op. cit., p. 122. sula," Geog. Rev. of Japan, Vol. 3, p. 650, 1928. 16 Seuss, op. cit. 13 Hanai, op. cit. 17 Seuss, op. cit., p. 120. 283

The Great Khingan is not a moun- pai and the Little Khingans are natu- tain range or system in the true sense ral forest lands and have not been of the word, but rather the highly dis- exploited to any appreciable extent, as sected and gigantic meridional scarp is true also of the northern portion of which separates the Mongolian plateau the Great Khingans. from the low-lying plains of Manchuria. The hill country in Fengtien Prov- The eastern slopes are high and rugged, ince and the valleys and lower slopes of but the western side merges gradually the Changpai have been ruthlessly cut into the elevated peneplain of Mongolia. out. The Chinese came as farmers and In the middle of the nineteenth cen- burned away the forest where it inter- tury, Muschketon pronounced these fered with agriculture. In many mountains to be the result of profound places in south Manchuria, the peas- faulting, marking the first step of the ants are already relying upon the stalks many descents in eastern Asia which of kaoliang and corn for fuel. Both culminate in the deeps of the Pacific.18 Russian and Japanese have entered Richthofen took the same view into the wholesale cutting of the Man- The southern end of the Great Khingan churian forests. Exploitation is con- is supposed to be continuous with the fined to areas where transport is rel- outer border of the fault and flexure atively easy. Such areas are found scarp of Shansi. Thus a great arc is where the drawn which presents its convex side crosses the Great Khingans and the to the southeast. Changpai, and where streams are large The northern part of the system re- enough for logging. The Yalu, the ceives adequate precipitation and is upper Tumen, the Sungari, and the forest clad. The southern portion in Hun are at present active transporters Manchuria is generally treeless be- of log rafts. The cutting takes place cause of a lack of rainfall. Bad land chiefly in winter, and the logs are topography is developed in some rafted out during the high water of the places. summer rains. The laborers enter the forests in late September, after the THE LUMBER INDUSTRY harvest is over on the plains. Unlike most of , where Over three hundred species of trees three thousand years of exploitation have been identified, comprising eight has left barren slopes and a dire timber coniferous and twenty-one broadleaf shortage, the mountain lands of Man- varieties. It is generally estimated churia are still largely untouched. In that about forty per cent of the re- spite of local and international interest, serves are in conifers and sixty per cent however, these timber resources are a in broadleaf trees. The Korean Pine wealth of unknown magnitude. Many is the finest of the conifers and is most sections, especially in the Great Khin- abundant in eastern and northeastern gans, are not well enough known to al- Manchuria. Larch, fir, and spruce are low a reasonable estimate. One fact is widespread. The Siberian pine is com- certain-the area in forest is vast, and mon in the Great Khingan. Oaks, each new estimate places a higher maple, elm, and poplar are important acreage and timber reserve than has been previously made.10 The Chang- mates from Chinese sources to have steadily in- creased from 3.7 mil. acres in 1914 to 30.5 mil. 18 Seuss, op. cit., p. 120. acres in 1927. A Japanese estimate in Report on 19 Richthofen, F., China. Progress in Manchuria, pp. 124-125, 1929, is 88.8 20 Chu Hsiao, op. cit., p. 14, shows the esti- million acres. 284 broadleaf trees. Birch forests occur brown coal are found in north 3iran- north of Tsitsihar and throughout the churia. The best coals and the great- northern Great Khingans. est development of coal mining occur The following table, although possibly in the southern half of the Changpai exaggerated, is as reliable as any and mountains. A little copper is also will give some notion of distribution.21 produced there. Over one half of the iron reserves known to exist in China TABLE I are found in this same mountain area. Gold is found chiefly in the Little Khingan region, although some occurs in the Changpai. All is alluvial. The following table indicates the production of important minerals for Manchuria on the basis of 1925 data.22

TABLE II

The location of Manchuria between China and Japan, both countries deficient in timber, promises an active future trade. The commercial signifi- cance of timber is at present far in- ferior to that of agriculture. In 1927, * forest products amounted to but 1.~’ per Derived from the evaporation of sea water cent of the total The off the shores of southern Manchuria. A large exports. average from the Leased Terri- annual estimated of timber percentage Kwantung production tory. in Manchuria for the years 1923-19Q6 j~ Derived from soil accumulations in the inclusive was 45 million cubic feet. Nonni Valley of north Manchuria. The average import of timber for the same period was 7.4 million. Average A word should be said here regarding export for the same period was 21.6 the production of tussah or pongee silk million, leaving a balance on home and ginseng, both of which are confined consumption of 30.8 million cubic feet. to the southern part of the Changpai mountain country. The former is OTHER INDUSTRIES OF THE MOUNTAIN produced in the valley and lower slope LANDS areas, chiefly along the lower Yalu. Coal, iron, and gold are the chief Its production depends not upon the minerals occurring in Manchuria, al- mulberry leaf, but rather upon the though very extensive of deposits 22 Torgasheff; B. P., "The Mineral Wealth of 21 Report on Progress in Manchuria, pp. 124- North and South Manchuria," Chinese Economic 125. Journal, Vol. 4, No. 1, pp. 28-30, Jan., 1924. 285 foliage of various oaks. Most of this THE LIAO PLAIN silk goes to Chefoo, on the of the Shantung Peninsula, where it is The Liao or Southern Plain stretches made into the famous Shantung pon- northeast-southwest, from the Gulf of gee. The annual value of production Liaotung to about the latitude of Kirin is about $4,000,000, at least ninety per and Changchun, between the foothills cent of the output being exported. of Changpai and the hill country Ginseng, prized by the people of the Jehol. This area lies in the sphere of as a cure-all, was one of the the and magnets which drew the first Chinese Japanese influence. Two subdivisions settlers, and was for a long time one may be recognized; i.e., the south Liao of the chief sources of income of the Plain and the north Liao Plain, arbi- Manchu Dynasty. Purely an exploi- trarily separated from each other at tative industry, it has almost dis- about Tungkiangkou. appeared. The Southern Liao Plain is a broad alluvial plain bordered by terraces on THE PLAIN OF MANCHURIA the extreme margins. Over this area The plain of Manchuria forms a a thin covering of has been de- roughly oval shaped area, inclosed, ex- posited. The best soils are the fresh cept at the mouth of the Liao, by the alluvium of the delta, but periodic floods mountain masses just discussed. This in places prohibit their use. The cli- plain, originally a grassland, was oc- mate here is the mildest of the plain cupied for centuries by nomadic tribes country, and crops such as tobacco and of herders. Today, it is the scene of cotton do well. Paddy rice is of in- possibly the greatest migration in creasing importance. human history. Its vast agricultural For at least two centuries, Chinese possibilities are finally being realized coolies have been pouring into this by the famished millions of Chinese to region, until the density of population the south. Manchuria contains the is now so great that it, too, has become last great area of middle latitude grass- a center of migration northward. The lands still untouched by the plow. Liao River is navigable up to Cheng- Morphologically, it is composed of chiatun, 550 miles from its mouth, and gravelly terrace land (diluvium) ex- including portions of its tributaries cavated by valleys with wide alluvial there is a total navigable distance of plains. About two thirds of the Man- 833 miles. However, it is very shallow churian plain lies in the in places, and only junks can be used. of the River Sungari and its tributaries; It is frozen, too, for about four months. something less than one third is drained Until the completion of the South Man- by the Eastern, the Western, and the churia Railway it was the only gateway Great Liao; and the balance belongs to to the interior. Yingkow was then the the endoreic domain. one great port. Some twenty thousand The entire plain land may be roughly junks are said to have plied the waters divided into three main natural divi- of the Liao in 1899. Today, but three sions : (1) The Plain of the River Liao, thousand junks are employed, and (2) The Plain of the River Sungari Dairen, the terminal of the railroad, far and its tributaries, and (3) the West- surpasses Yingkow. The early settle- ern Plain of interior drainage (part ment naturally followed up the Liao of inner Gobi or Eastern Inner Mon- River, while the immigrants of today golia). go inland from Dairen by rail. 286

The Southern Liao Plain is today the terrace land into which the many most densely populated portion of streams of north Manchuria have sunk Manchuria and is in many ways a their channels and built wide alluvial detached remnant of the Plain of North plains. This is the real frontier of China. Practically all arable land is Manchuria and the scene of the most intensively cultivated in a variety of active immigration. Its climate is crops. Kaoliang occupies more than distinctly continental, and long, severe fifty per cent of the cultivated land. winters occur. Indian corn, too, is important. Small The soy bean is all-important. walled villages of mud houses are Spring wheat reaches its major signifi- densely and evenly scattered over the cance here. Much of the land is still plain. Kaoliang and corn stalks con- uncultivated and supports a thriving stitute the chief source of fuel and grazing industry. thatch. This is the land of Russian domi- The great majority of farmers are nance and is served by the Chinese land owners in this section, but the Eastern Railway. The Sungari, which average farm is exceedingly small. is navigable for about six hundred At least one fourth of the farms are miles, and its larger tributaries, which not more than an acre in size, and not off er wide stretches of navigable water, more than one fifth exceed ten acres. are also important arteries of transport The value of good land is about $110 and communication. Two divisions per acre.23 may be recognized-eastern or Sungari, The Northern Liao Plain is an ex- and western or Nonni. tensive area of undulating land broken The eastern or Sungari division lies near the margins by higher terrace eastward of about the longitude of lands. It is a region of highly fertile Anta. This area is dominated by the black soils, but unlike the lands to the main course of the Sungari River. south, some of the natural grassland is Broad alluvial plains lie on either side left and the grazing industries are still of the river, but the most extensive significant. The settlement of this ones occur to the north. Three forces area has been exceedingly rapid in re- can be recognized as affecting settle- cent years, and population may soon ment and the present distribution of exceed the saturation point. K Kaoliang population. First, the direction of and corn are still important, but the Chinese migration has been from the soy bean and millet compete for pri- south; and as a result the oldest settle- mary place. Spring-sown wheat and ments and the densest population are barley are of increasing importance. found along the southern border, The average size of farms has increased where rural density runs about eighty ten to thirty acres and tenantry is more per square kilometer. common than along the lower Liao. Second, the rivers furnish access to The value of good land here is about the interior and transportation for sur- $60.24 plus products. In addition, the best soils are often found adjacent to the THE SUNGARI PLAIN streams. As a result, settlement has The Plain of the River Sungari and pushed far along the immediate valleys its tributaries is an area of extensive of the Sungari and its tributaries. 23 the railroad many ad- Adachi, K., Manchuria: A Survey, p. 149, Finally, gives 1925. vantages to the settler, and relatively 24 Adachi, op. cit. dense population is found near it. 287

Agriculture is most important where land, millets twenty-one per cent, and population is densest and where trans- wheat ten per cent. Cattle and horses portation is best developed. Grazing are very numerous. Much of the land is of greater relative importance else- is still virgin grassland and is valued at where. The soy bean occupies about one to three dollars an acre. Ranches thirty-five per cent of all cultivated of a thousand acres are not unknown. land, wheat twelve per cent, and millets The Western Plain of Interior Drain- sixteen per cent.25 Kaoliang and corn age lies at the foot of the Great Khingan occupy thirteen per cent and seven per and constitutes part of the area known cent respectively, but are found chiefly as Inner Gobi or Eastern Inner Mon- along the southern border. Good farm golia. It has recently come under the lands sell at five to ten dollars per acre. political control of Manchuria. This The western or Nonni section is is a sandy basin plain containing sev- dominated by the Nonni River and its eral saline lakes and extensive saline tributaries and is the least settled of the flats. The extraction of soda from fertile lands of Manchuria. It was these lands is an ancient and important until rather recently under the rule of industry. A few nomadic herders Mongol chieftains and is today the tend their flocks as well. most bandit-infested part of Manchu- ria. It has also the most severe cli- AGRICULTURE mate and as a result it is but sparsely Agriculture affords by far the chief populated. Soy beans occupy about income and the future wealth of Man- twenty-seven per cent of the cultivated churia. Its application is and will be 25 Statistical Yearbook, Appendix and Economic confined almost exclusively to the Bureau, C. E. R.; The C. E. R. and its Zone, Manchurian plain, although valleys of 1928, maps and statistical data. An interesting the and the Little discussion of Manchurian agriculture from the Changpai Khingan Japanese point of view is found in Tanaka, H., Mountains allow some development. &dquo;Agriculture in Manchuria and Mongolia,&dquo; The following tables give fairly reli- Chikyu-The Globe, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 42-48, able estimates on present agricultural 1924. An excellent set of agricultural maps and development by provinces and totals. a resume of agricultural conditions are given by and southern Kirin contain Murakoshi, N., and Trewartha, G., &dquo;Land Util- Fengtien ization Maps of Manchuria,&dquo; Geographical Re- the Plain of the River Liao, while view, Vol. 20, No. 3, pp. 480-494, 1930. northern Kirin and Heilungkiang con-

TABLE III-19e7 26

26 From Diagrams of Current Statistics, Vol. II, pt. 3, Table 17, Statistical Soc. of Japan: 1928. 288

TABLE IV-19e7 27

~7 In thousands of acres. Yearbook of Manchuria-Mongolia, p. 490f, Manchuria Enlightening Society: 19~8. tain the plain of the River Sungari and other crops. In 1914, it occupied its tributaries. 4,165,000 acres, or twenty per cent of The total arable land of Manchuria the cultivated land. By 1927, there is estimated at about fifty-five million was an almost two-time increase, or an acres, or about 22.6 per cent of the total acreage of 7,620,000 acres, which oc- area. Of this cultivable area, twenty- cupied 31.3 per cent of the crop land. eight million acres or about one half is Until 1917, Fengtien Province was the now under cultivation. The per cent largest producer, but has since been of arable land utilized for agriculture passed by the other two provinces. decreases from south to north. In Kaoliang is almost entirely a suste- Fengtien Province about two thirds is nance crop and is confined to the south- cultivated, in Kirin about one half, and ern half of the Manchurian plain. in Heilungkiang about one third. As Corn is also chiefly found in the south- Heilungkiang also has the greatest area ern half, but it has been losing in recent of arable land, as well, the greatest years to kutze and the other millets. future development can be expected Barga is a special district in north- there. Likewise, the intensity of culti- west Manchuria, lying beyond the vation increases southward and so the crest of the Great Khingans. It is in greatest increases per unit of area can reality a part of the high Mongolian be expected in the north. plateau and is extremely arid. Agri- The most important crop of Man- culture is but slightly developed and churia is the soy bean. In fact, over nearly impossible. Grazing, especially one half of the world’s soy bean produc- sheep, is the important industry. tion occurs in the Three Eastern Prov- Deposits of brown coal occur and are inces. The average yield per acre is mined for the Chinese Eastern Railway. likewise outstanding, being twenty Barga straddles the Chinese Eastern bushels to the acre, as compared with Railway where it enters Manchuria, fifteen in the and four- and is the meeting place of many peo- teen in China proper. In commercial ples. Its population includes , significance the soy bean far surpasses refugee , , Chinese, kaoliang, which has nearly the same and Manchus. The great annual fair acreage, for it furnishes the bulk of at Ganjur about a hundred miles from Manchurian export. The production Hailar, is a picturesque institution and of soy beans is gaining rapidly, both serves, commercially, a large area in absolutely and relatively in regard to adjacent Mongolia. 289

The Tungus, chiefly the last remnants COMPOSITION OF POPULATION of the Manchu peoples, are found still The total population of Manchuria pursuing their primitive grazing in- is a matter of conjecture. Estimates dustries in the Amur region, the north- vary widely, but the more reliable ones ern mountain country, and the drier of recent date would indicate a figure of steppe lands. about 25,000,000. The racial composi- The Russians prior to the war were tion of this population is about as employed chiefly in commerce and follows : 28 transportation centering about the Chinese Eastern This TABLE V Railway. group has been supplemented by refugee White Russians. In Barga, refugee Cossacks are also found in considerable numbers. Russian reports usually give a figure in excess of 100,000, and the figure of 80,000 may well be too small. Europeans other than Russians are confined to the cities in which their commercial activities are allowed by treaty. The Chinese constitute the majority of rural population everywhere in CHINESE, RUSSIAN, AND JAPANESE Manchuria, except possibly in limited SETTLEMENT areas near the Korean border and in The completeness of Russian rural the northern mountain country. Chi- economy, which is essentially that of nese are the most numerous in all of the Northern , allowed the spectac- urban centers also. There, they con- ular advance of the Russian settler stitute the majority of the farmers, across the world’s widest land mass, laborers, and merchants, as well as finally reaching even to . Rus- contributing heavily to the profes- sian settlers reached north Manchuria sional classes. from Europe in less time than Chinese The are most numerous in settlement was able to penetrate be- eastern Kirin Province, where they yond the lower Liao Valley. Chinese have extended paddy culture and settlement, which is illustrative of the where in places they exceed the Chinese Far East, spreads as does a drop of oil. in number. Koreans have been filter- The rural economy demands the pres- ing into Manchuria for centuries and ence of markets and small-town in- many have amalgamated with the dustries. It involves tremendous num- Chinese. In all probability, the figure bers to occupy any appreciable area. given above is too small. Russian settlement, like that of the The Japanese are found chiefly in Anglo-Saxon in , moves the Kwantung leased territory and the forward by establishing detached bits zone of the South Manchuria Railway. far ahead of the urban frontier. How- About 51,000 are employed in agricul- ever, the sparse and disseminated popu- ture, 75,000 in commerce and trans- lation established under the Russian portation, and 55,500 in manufacturing system cannot persist before the on- and mining, and 38,198 are classed as slaught of the massive tide of Chinese professional. settlement. It will probably not be 28 Chu Hsiao, op. cit., p. 40. long before the last vestiges of the Rus- 290 sian dream of Manchurian empire will on the valley blu~ at a point where the pass into oblivion. river swung against it. The Japanese attempt at rural set- Two types of early town may be rec- tlement failed largely for two reasons. ognized. First, the towns which lie First, the semitropical material culture away from the present lines and have of the Japanese is not suited to Man- maintained a dominant oriental char- churia. The flimsy house without acter. These towns are surrounded adequate heating facilities is not fitted by mud and brick walls. The streets to the long, severe, Manchurian win- are narrow and unpaved. On either ters. Rice cultivation is the heritage side of the streets are almost continu- of the Japanese farmer and he is seldom ous lines of small shops. The buildings happy in other types of farming. His have tiled roofs and are of typically general economy, too, has many of the Chinese architecture. Second, many characteristics of the Chinese and is ancient towns have undergone great not adapted to the frontier. Finally, changes since the coming of the rail- the Japanese will not attempt to com- road. Rapid growth has characterized pete on the lower Chinese standard of most of them. In some cases, the old living. town has grown first within the wall The rural Chinese are village dwell- and finally burst beyond it. In other ers where possible. In Manchuria, the cases, the new town has grown up need for protection from bandits makes adjacent to the old. Harbin afford an village life most desirable. A low mud excellent example. wall, with gates corresponding to the The new developments in these cardinal points of the compass and oc- ancient towns, as well as in the new casionally surmounted with turrets, towns which have grown up since the surrounds most villages in the agricul- advent of the railroad, are of two tural areas. Another common settle- types. Northern Manchuria is domi- ment form is the walled and strongly nated by the Chinese Eastern Railway fortified estate of a large land owner and Russian culture. The new towns surrounded by the dwellings of tenants in this district are characterized by a and small farmers. The ordinary rectangular pattern of wide, unpaved country house of the plains is a low streets and Russian architecture. One rectangular hut of mud, thatched with dominating feature always present is kaoliang or corn .stalks. the half-oriental Orthodox church. The rural population of the moun- The more recent developments in tains is confined to the valleys and south Manchuria are dominated by lower slopes, and tends to be dissemi- the Japanized Western elements. nated. Here, the rural house is built Dairen affords the best example. The of stone and timber. streets are largely paved, better than in any city in Japan proper, and lie in URBAN SETTLEMENTS a radial pattern with concentric connec- Prior to the building of the rail- tions. The buildings are straight-lined roads, the rivers afforded almost the and largely of red brick. The Shinto only means of travel. The earlier shrine, an ever-present symbol of Jap- towns then, with few exceptions, grew anese influence, is not missing here. up along the rivers. The broad allu- MANUFACTURING vial plains of the valley bottoms are often subject to flood, and in conse- Manchuria is primarily an agricul- quence the commonest urban site was tural country, and manufacturing in- 291 dustries are but slightly developed. The first railroad construction dates Those that do exist are of recent estab- to the end of the nineteenth century lishment and are chiefly confined to with a contract between the Russo- south Manchuria, where the densest Chinese Bank and the Government populations and the oldest settlements of China for the construction and the occur. All important developments maintenance of the Chinese Eastern are found in the towns and cities Railway. Within the following thirty adjacent to the railroads. The most years, 3,500 miles of railroad were con- highly developed are simple industries structed ; and Manchuria has today dependent upon local raw materials, the best equipment, in this respect, chiefly agricultural. Mines and for- of any part of China. Further con- ests also contribute to some extent. struction is under way and projects The pressing of oil from soy beans is indicate a possible future total of by far the most important industry. about six thousand miles. The chief centers are Dairen, Harbin, The railroad is today the primary Antung, and Newchwang, although agent of settlement and trade, and, many secondary towns located on the more than any other factor, has main-line railroads contribute to the stimulated the extraordinary increase production of these valuable export in production which has characterized commodities. Flour milling is second Manchuria in recent years. The main in importance. Harbin is of first line of the Chinese Eastern Railway is importance and contains twenty-three really a branch and short-cut of the of Manchuria’s fifty mills. At least Trans-Siberian Railroad which enters half of the remaining mills are on Manchuria at Manchouli and reaches the Chinese Eastern Railway. This is the sea at . The South natural, as most of the wheat is grown Manchurian Railway dominates south in north Manchuria. The bulk of the Manchuria and terminates in the flour produced is for local consumption. Japanese leased territory of Kwantung. Distilling, beet sugar refining, tobacco The Chinese Peiping-Mukden line manufacture, saw milling, coke and gas ties the Manchurian system with that production, and a number of other of , while at Antung the industries, although of secondary im- railroads of Korea are tied to the portance, are none the less showing South Manchurian Railway. The chief growth and promise for the future. ports serving Manchurian rail- ways are the Japanese concession port TRANSPORTATION of Dairen, the Russian port of Vladivos- The river systems of the Yalu and tok, and the Chinese port of Yingkow. the Sungari, as has been previously noted, dominated traffic, and commu- TRADE nication prior to the coming of the Manchuria is a new and fertile railroad. They are still important as land, and as such, has a relatively subsidiaries to the railroad. Especially high per capita production. It is is this true in the lumber industry. better served by railroads than is The settlements away from the rail- China proper. Its trade development roads must depend entirely upon the has been rapid, and is characteristic rivers during the rainy season. For- and most illustrative of trade develop- tunately, when the rivers are frozen ment in &dquo;exterior China.&dquo;29 Although the roads are country hard and pass- 29 Remer, C. F., The Foreign Trade of China, able. p. 239, Shanghai: 1926. 292

Manchuria contains but one twelfth ton textiles comprise 20.7 per cent; grain of the area of the Chinese Republic bags, 13.1 per cent; iron and steel, and but one sixteenth of its population, 6.4 per cent; and sugar, tobacco it accounts for nearly one third of products, machinery, and so forth, all China’s total trade. In 1927, the per fall below 5 per cent. capita trade of all China was 4.8 taels; Among the ports of Manchuria, that of Manchuria was 23.8 taels, or Dairen ranks preeminent and accom- more than five times greater.3° The modates 54.6 per cent of the total development of Manchurian trade has foreign trade. Antung holds a poor been spectacular. From 1907 to 1927 second place with 17.1 per cent. Both the increase was from 51 million taels ports have shown large absolute and to 616.3 million, or over twelve times. relative gains. Harbin was very pros- During the same period, the total trade perous before the revolution, but of all China increased but three times. suffered considerable loss during it. Manchurian exports increased seven- In recent years it has regained some of teen times and imports but 8.5 times its older importance and now handles from 1907 to 1927, and a favorable 14.6 per cent of Manchuria’s trade. trade balance is regularly maintained. Newchwang or Yingkow, the oldest The exports, as is to be expected, are port, now handles but 11.6 per cent. chiefly agricultural. Soy beans (26.9 is credited with 2 per cent, and per cent), bean cake (22.3 per cent), all other ports accommodate less than and bean oil (8 per cent), give to this 2 per cent. important product 57.2 per cent of the Japan ranks first among Manchuria’s total exports. Millet and kaoliang customers. This grows out of the comprise 11.9 per cent. Other exports Japanese control of south Manchuria are: coal, 9.3 per cent; tussah silk, and the complementary nature of the 2.7 per cent; timber, 1.7 per cent; two countries. Japan’s share of the pig iron, 1.6 per cent; and seeds, 1.1 total trade in 1927 was 39.3 per cent. per cent. No other product contrib- Food, fertilizer, and coal were impor- utes over 1 per cent of the exports. tant items. China accounted for 30 The imports are typical of those of per cent. Propinquity and the need new, nonindustrialized countries. They for Manchurian foodstuffs in China are chiefly manufactured goods. Cot- account for most of the exports, while the desire for Chinese products among 30 Trade data drawn from The Chinese Mari- the new settlers accounts for most of time Customs Reports, 1907 to 1927 inclusive, and the visible imports. Russia claimed the statistical yearbooks of the Chinese Eastern 13.1 per cent, the United States 4.1 and South Manchurian Railways. All per- and all centages are given in value and for the year of per cent, other countries less 1927, unless otherwise stated. than 3 per cent.