“In the mountainous districts of Kwangsí, Yunnan, Kweichau, and Sz’chuen, and in some other places, there are districts called tu sz’. Among these, the same distinctions of fu, chau, and hien exist, together with the minor division sz’. The magistrates of these departments and districts are hereditary in their succession, being the only hereditary local officers acknowledged by the supreme government.
“There is a larger division than any of the above, but as it does not prevail universally, it was not mentioned in the first instance. It is called tau, a course or circuit, and comprises two or more departments of a province, whether fu, or independent ting or chau. These circuits are subject to the government of officers called tau-tai or intendants of circuit, who often combine with political and judicial powers a military authority and various duties relating to the territory or to the revenue.”[28]
The eighteen provinces received their present boundaries and divisions in the reign of Kienlung; and the little advance which has been made abroad in the geography of China is shown by the fact, that although these divisions were established a hundred years ago, the old demarkations, existing at the time of the survey in 1710, are still found in many modern European geographies and maps. The following table shows their present divisions and government. The three columns under the head of Departments contain the fu, chihlí ting, and chihlí chau, all of which are properly prefectures; the three columns under the head of Districts contain the ting, chau, and hien.
TOPOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS OF CHINA PROPER.
| PROVINCES. | AREA IN ENGLISH SQ. MLS. | DEPARTMENTS. | DISTRICTS. | CAPITAL. | GOVERNMENT. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fu. | Ting. | Chau. | Ting. | Chau. | Hien. | ||||
| Northern Provinces. | |||||||||
| Chihlí | 58,949 | 11 | .. | 6 | 3 | 17 | 124 | Pauting fu. | Ruled by a governor-general or tsungtuh. |
| Shantung | 65,104 | 10 | .. | 2 | .. | 9 | 96 | Tsínan fu. | Each separately ruled by a lieutenant-governor or fuyuen. |
| Shansí | 55,268 | 9 | .. | 10 | 3 | 6 | 85 | Taiyuen fu. | |
| Honan | 65,104 | 9 | .. | 4 | .. | 6 | 97 | Kaifung fu. | |
| Eastern Provinces. | |||||||||
| Kiangsu | 92,961 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 62 | Kiangning fu. | Each under a lieutenant-governor, subordinate to one governor-general, called Liang Kiang tsungtuh. |
| Nganhwui | 8 | .. | 5 | .. | 4 | 50 | Nganking fu. | ||
| Kiangsí | 72,176 | 13 | .. | 1 | 2 | 1 | 75 | Nanchang fu. | |
| Chehkiang | 39,150 | 11 | .. | .. | 1 | 1 | 76 | Hangchau fu. | Each under a lieutenant-governor, subordinate to a governor-general, called Min Cheh tsungtuh. |
| Fuhkien | 53,480 | 10 | .. | 2 | 3 | .. | 62 | Fuhchau fu. | |
| Central Provinces. | |||||||||
| Hupeh | 144,770 | 10 | .. | 1 | .. | 7 | 60 | Wuchang fu. | Each under a lieutenant-governor, subordinate to a governor-general, called Liang Hu tsungtuh. |
| Hunan | 9 | 3 | 4 | .. | 3 | 64 | Changsha fu. | ||
| Southern Provinces. | |||||||||
| Kwangtung | 79,456 | 9 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 79 | Kwangchau fu, or Canton. | Two lieutenant-governors, subordinate to a governor-general, called Liang Kwang tsungtuh. |
| Kwangsí | 78,250 | 11 | .. | 1 | 3 | 16 | 47 | Kweilin fu. | |
| Yunnan | 107,969 | 14 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 39 | Yunnan fu. | Two lieutenant-governors, subordinate to a governor-general, called Yun Kwei tsungtuh. |
| Kweichau | 64,554 | 12 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 34 | Kweiyang fu. | |
| Western Provinces. | |||||||||
| Shensí | 154,008 | 7 | .. | 5 | 5 | 5 | 73 | Síngan fu. | Under a governor-general, called Shen Kan tsungtuh, and one lieutenant-governor over Shensí. |
| Kansuh | 9 | .. | 6 | 7 | 7 | 51 | Lanchau fu. | ||
| Sz’chuen | 166,800 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 111 | Chingtu fu. | Ruled by a governor-general. |
The province of Chihlí is the most important of the whole. On foreign maps it is sometimes written Pechele (i.e., North Chihlí), a name formerly given it in order to distinguish it from Kiangnan, or Nan-chihlí, in which the seat of government was once located. This name is descriptive, rather than technical, and means ‘Direct rule,’ denoting that from this province the supreme power which governs the empire proceeds; any province, in which the Emperor and court should be fixed, would therefore be termed Chihlí, and its chief city King, ‘capital,’ or King-tu or King-sz’, ‘court of the capital.’ The surface of this province lying south of the Great Wall is level, excepting a few ridges of hills in the west and north, while the eastern parts, and those south to the Gulf, are among the flattest portions of the Great Plain.
It is bounded on the north-east by Liautung, where for a short distance the Great Wall is the frontier line; on the east by the Gulf of Pechele; on the south-east and south by Shantung; on the south-west by Honan; on the west by Shansí; and north by Inner Mongolia, where the river Liau forms the boundary. The extensive region beyond the Wall, occupied mostly by the Tsakhar Mongols, is now included within the jurisdiction, and placed under the administration of officers residing at one of the garrisoned gates of the Great Wall; the area of this part is about half that of the whole province. The chief department in the province, that of Shuntien, being both large and important, as containing the metropolis, is divided into four lu or circuits, each under the rule of a sub-prefect, who is subordinate to the prefect living at Peking.
Peking[29] (i.e., Northern Capital) is situated upon a sandy plain, about twelve miles south-west of the Pei ho, and more than a hundred miles west-north-west of its mouth, in lat. 39° 54′ 36″ N., and long. 116° 27′ E., or nearly on the parallel of Samarkand, Naples, and Philadelphia. It is a city worthy of note on many accounts. Its ancient history as the capital of the Yen Kwoh (the ‘Land of Swallows’) during the feudal times, and its later position as the metropolis of the empire for many centuries, give it historical importance; while its imperial buildings, its broad avenues with their imposing gates and towers, its regular arrangement, extent, populousness, and diversity of costume and equipage, combine to render it to a traveller the most interesting and unique city in Asia. It is now ruinous and poor, but the remains of its former grandeur under Kienlung’s prosperous reign indicate the justness of the comparisons made by the Catholic writers with western cities one hundred and eighty years ago. The entire circuit of the walls and suburbs is reckoned by Hyacinthe at twenty-five miles, and its area at twenty-seven square miles, but more accurate measurements of the walls alone give forty-one li, or 14.25 miles (or 23.55 kilometres) for the Manchu city, including the cross-wall, and twenty-eight li, or ten miles, for the Chinese city on its south; not counting the cross-wall, the circuit measures almost twenty-one miles. The suburbs near the thirteen outer gates altogether form a small proportion to the whole; the area within them is nearly twenty-six square miles. Those residents who have had the best opportunities estimate the entire population at a million or somewhat less; no census returns are available to prove this figure, nor can it be stated what is the proportion of Manchus, Mongols, and Chinese, except that the latter outnumber all others. Du Halde reckoned it to be about three millions, and Klaproth one million three hundred thousand; and each was probably true at some period, for the number has diminished with the poverty of the Government.
