Canals.—Greatest of all the public works in China is the Grand Canal, which traverses the great plain for a distance of seven hundred miles, passing from Tientsin, on the Pei-ho, in the north, across the course of the Hoang-ho to the lower course of the Yang-tze, connecting a system of water communications which extends from the capital to the chief parts of the empire. It is but the greatest sample of the system of canals, great and small, which form a network over all parts of the lowlands of China. Steam communication, however, all along the eastern seaboard from Canton to Tientsin has now very much superseded its use.
The glory of making this canal is due to Kublai, the first sovereign of the Yüan dynasty.
PAGODA, NEAR PEKING, CHINA
The Pagoda, or “idol temple,” in China, usually distinguishes the Buddhist from the Confucian temple. It is a tapering tower, always with an odd number of stories. First-class pagodas have seven, nine, or thirteen stories, minor ones have three or five. The most famous was the Porcelain Tower of Nanking, erected in the beginning of the fifteenth century; only nine of the proposed thirteen stories, cased in white porcelain, were completed, and the height never exceeded about two hundred and sixty feet. It was destroyed by the Taipings in 1856.
After the Grand Canal, as a gigantic achievement, comes the Great Wall, on the north side next Mongolia. Not so useful as the canal, and having failed to answer the purpose for [680] which it was intended—to be a defense against the incursions of the northern tribes, there it still stands, the most remarkable artificial bulwark in the world.
It was in 214 B. C. that Shih Hwang Ti determined to erect a grand barrier all along the north of his vast empire. The wall commences at the Shanhai Pass and extends westward continuously almost into the heart of the continent for a distance of one thousand five hundred miles, over mountain and valley, and across rivers and ravines. It is a rampart of earth, ten to thirty feet high, broad enough at the top to admit of several horsemen passing abreast, and was formerly cased on the sides and top with bricks and stones, and was flanked by numerous projections or towers, gates being left at intervals for the passage of travelers and the collection of customs. Now it has fallen in many places, and its gates are negligently guarded, and northward of Peking the growing Chinese population has spread and settled the country to a considerable distance beyond its barrier.
Climate.—The climatic conditions naturally vary considerably over so large a stretch of country. In the lofty Tibetan plateau and the less elevated plains of Mongolia, the climate is exceedingly dry, and is marked by great extremes of hot and cold. The basins of the two great rivers, being nearer the Pacific, are moister and more equable. In this part of China proper the dry season lasts from November to February, the remaining months, particularly May, being extremely wet. The rainfall is of a copious tropical nature.
Generally speaking, China is a cold country in comparison with other regions in the same latitude. From July to September, however, the weather is intensely hot, and the heat is accompanied by typhoons, which are much dreaded for their violent and devastating effects.
Production and Industry.—Agricultural pursuits occupy the majority of the people, the chief products being tea, silk, indigo, cotton, cereals, rice, and sugar. Agriculture is held in higher estimation here than in any other land in the world. The land is freehold, and is held by families in small holdings.