Directory_and_Chronicle_1924 — Page 964

CHANGSHA

Chang-sha

Changsha (or “Long-sands," as the Chinese words may be translated) is the capital city of the province of Hunan. It stands on the right bank of the Siang river, which flows into the Tungting lake, and is about 100 miles south of the opening of the lake into the Yangtsze at the north-eastern corner of the province. It is in lat. 28.10 N. and long. 113.01 E.

The name first occurs about B.C. 220 as that of the 36th and last of the com- manderies into which the First Emperor divided the land after conquering it. It was used as the name of one of the kingdoms for about 100 years (B.C. 202-101) during the Han dynasty. Its greatest mark in history was its successful resistance to the 90 days' siege by the Taiping rebels in 1852 by methods which, afterwards employed elsewhere, led to the final defeat of the rebels by Tseng Kuo-fan, the greatest of all Chinese statesmen in the nineteenth century.

Changsha was opened as a treaty port by the China-Japan treaty of 1903. The Custom House was established on July 1st, 1904; a Japanese Consulate followed in November, and a British Consulate the next year. Since then, America and Germany have also sent representatives.

The main line between Canton and Wuchang passes outside the east wall of the city (the river lying on the west). Two passenger trains run daily between Changsha and Wuchang. The line towards Canton is open as far as Liling (about 40 miles from Changsha), a section which was originally part of the special line built between the Pinghsiang collieries (situated just over the Kiangsi border) and the Siang river at Chuchow. Construction on the railway to the south has been in abeyance since 1919, and it is difficult to forecast when there will be a recommencement.

The surrounding country is hilly and picturesque, especially on the west bank of the river, where the Yoluhshan rises some 600 ft. high. This hill, called "Yo Foothills," connected by its name with the great Nan-yo or "Southern Peak," is not actually connected with the Peak in its physical geography, though the Buddhist monastery on its slope is within the Nan-yo diocese. Near the top ridge is a replica of the famous Yu Tablet, which purports to be a monument raised by the Great Yü, in the third millennium B.C., in commemoration of his having redeemed the flooded lands of those days. The original stands on the most southern ridge of the "Southern Peak," which is a range of hills 20 miles long. The original is, however, a shameless fraud which cannot be dated earlier than the twelfth century A.D. The whole story of anyone in those very early days having any knowledge of the country as far south as Hunan is baseless legend and not historically authenticated fact. The hill, however, retains some sanctity from the legend and has a Confucian college at its base, a Buddhist temple in the centre of the slope, and a Taoist shrine on its ridge-hence the name of the Hill of the Three Religions." The College boasts the possession of some very fine Chou dynasty bronzes and also some autograph writings of the celebrated scholar, Chu Hsi, who was connected with the college in the twelfth century. Near the Buddhist monastery, the trees are exceptionally tall and large. The whole slope here is well- wooded, and in the spring (when the azaleas are in flower) or autumn (when the leaves are of all tints) the scenery is of great beauty. From the balcony of the Taoist temple a commanding view of the southern stretches of the Siang on one side, and on the other a bird's-eye view of the whole city of Changsha and of the intervening island are obtainable.

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One of the finest buildings inside the city is a memorial temple to Tseng Kuo-fan. In the beautiful gardens of this temple there is now established a High School and College for girls, the Principal of which, Miss Tseng, who holds the London degree of