74
CHINA
by extraordinary taxation. The public revenue is mainly derived from three sources, namely, custom duties, licences, and a tax upon land, but the receipts from the foreign customs are alone made known. This was
In 1866...... .Tls. 8,781,871 In 1876...Tls. 12,152,921 In 1886..
1871...
"1
1881...
14,685,162
1891....
.Tls. 15,144,678 23,518,021
11,216,146 China had no foreign debt till the end of 1874, when a loan of £627,675, bearing 8 per cent. interest, was contracted through the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, under Imperial authority and secured by the customs' revenue. Since then a number of loans have been raised, most of them through the agency of the Hongkong and Shanghai Bank, several of which have been paid off. The total Foreign debt of China is inconsiderable.
AREA AND POPULATION.
China proper, extending over 73,093 geographical, or 1,534,953 English square miles, is divided into eighteen provinces, the area and population of which are given
below:-
Province
Provincial Capital
Area English
Square Miles
Estimated Population
Chihli..
Peking
58,949
28,114,023
Shantung
Tsinan
65,104
28,958,764
Shansi
Taiyuen..
55,268
27,260,281
Honan
Kaifung.
65,104
23,037,171
Kiangsu
Nanking
Anhwei
Ngankin
92,661 {
37,843,501
34,168,059
Kiangsi
Nanchang
72,176
30,426,999
Fohkien
Foochow
53,480
38,888,432
Chekiang
Hangchow
39,150
26,256,784
Hupeh
Wuchang
37,370,098
Hunan
Shensi
Kansuh
Changchau
381,724
18,652,507
Sigan
10,207,256
Lanchow
154,008
15,193,135
Szechuen
Chingtu..
166,800
21,435,678
Kwangtung
Canton
79,456
19,147,030
Kwangsi
Yunnan
Kwelin
Yunnan....
Kweiyang.
78,250
7,313,895
107,869
5,561,320
64,554
5,288,219
Kweichau
1,534,953 405,213,152
The above population, giving 263 souls per square mile throughout China proper, although partly based on official returns, is not at all reliable. An estimate given by the Board of Revenue of the population in 1887 made it 303,241,969, which is probably much nearer the mark.
The total number of foreigners in China in 1891 was 9,067, of whom 3,746 were natives of Great Britain and Ireland, 1,209 of the United States, 667 of Germany, 681 of France, 316 of Spain, 883 of Japan, and 659 Portuguese, all other nationalities being represented by very few members.
In addition to China proper there are its dependencies. The principal of these are Mongolia, with an area of 1,288,035 square miles, and some 2,000,000 people; and Manchuria, with an area of 362,313 square miles, and an estimated population of 15,000,000. The latter is being steadily and rapidly colonised by Chinese, who greatly outnumber the Manchus in their own land. Thibet, which is also practically a dependency of China, has an area of 643,734 square miles and a population of 6,000,000 souls. It is ruled by the Dalai Lama, but subject to the Government of Peking, who maintain a Resident at Lhassa.
ARMY AND NAVY.
The standing military force of China consists of two great divisions, the first formed by the more immediate subjects of the ruling dynasty, the Manchus, and the second by the Chinese and other subject races. The first, the main force upon which the Imperial Government can rely, form the so-called troops of the Eight Banners, and garrison all the great cities, but so as to be separated by walls and forts from the population. According to the latest reports, the Imperial army comprises a total of 850,000 men, including 678 companies of Tartar troops, 211 companies of Mongols, and native Chinese infantry, a kind of unilitia, numbering 120,000 men. The native soldiers do not as a rule live in barracks, but in their own houses, mostly pursuing some civil occupation.