The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-03-17 00:00:00

SKETCH OF THE CHINESE EMPIRE,

Aivp PARTICULARLY OF
THE SEAT OF WAR.

WITH A VIEW OF THE
RISE AND PROGRESS OF THE DISPUTE

THAT HAS LED TO THE SUSPENSION OF

BRITISH INTERCOURSE WITH CANTON.

(Accompanied by a Chart of the Canton or Tigris River,
which will be presented gratuitously to the Purchasers
of the STANDARD of Friday nest.)

The Chinese empire has long been regarded, in this coun-
try, as an important and interesting portion of the globe, not
only from its valuable productions, and the singularity of its
people, but from the lucrative trade pursued with it, on suf-
france, by our Asiatic, merchants, and, above all, from its
supplying us with an article of extensive domestic consump-
tion, which has almost become a necessary of life amongst
ns, and the importation of which, moreover, yields a large
annual revenue to the government. The interest with which
China has so long been viewed from these causes, has receiv-
ed additional excitement from the recent disputes between
the superintendent of British trade and the Chinese auth
ties at Canton, which have resulted in the stoppage of the
opium trade, and unhappily in some hostile encounters at
the mouth of the Tigris, attended with loss of life, and which
will, in all probability, prove preliminary to a war between
the'two nations, and render Canton, or Pekin, or both, the
objects of attack by the British forces now assembling in
India. At such a time, therefore, a sketch of China, its ex-
tent and population, and particularly of the more immediate
scene of the recent disturbances—the point in which our
commerce With China has long been concentrated—together
with some account of the rise and progress of the dispute
which has placed the two countries in a hostile position, can-
not, we think, fail, although brief, to be acceptable to those
of our readers whose pursuits do not permit them to study
the subject in detail--especially as the result may involve
considerable changes in our national and commercial rela-
tions in that quarter. Without, therefore, entering into mi-
nutiae. we shall endeavour to supply, from the most authen-
tic sources, as much explanatory information as our limits
will permit, and the question atissue—the declared or threat-
ened war—may seem to demand.
THE CHINESE EMPIRE,
comprising the dependencies of China, is the most ancient
state in the world, and second only to Russia in extent of
dominion. It extends from Segalien, the eastern extremity,
to Turkistan on the west, a length of 3460 miles, and from
north to south—from the Stanavoy mountains, in Sibe-
ria, to Luy-Choo—about 2000. The whole is computed to
contain 1,298,000 square miles. - A large proportion of this
immense area, however, consists of colonies, unproductive
nortu n-c.a..r,Rt deserts. extending from China PropL er to the
though these are far more extensive t Cl u .frs ; • and
are vastly inferior in value, and are but thinly peopled,by
predatory tribes, over whom the distant government. can
scarcely maintain any effectual control. The entire popula-
tion of the empire is computed at nearly 400 millions. Lying
between lat. 20 deg. 30 min. and 53 deg. north, this vast ter-
ritory is much diversified in climate, as well as in the produc-
tions of the soil. On this subject the Rev. Charles Gutzluff,
one of the most distinguished historians of China, eloqutntly
remarks :

"The Chinese empire presents the greatest variety in its
possessions. Let us compare the dessert of Cobi, with the
fertile plains of Keang-nan Province ; the inhospitable regions
of Mantchouria, and Mongolia, and the sultry tracts of
Kwang-tung, and Zun-nan, with the bare Steppes of the
northern and western parts, where scarcely a shrub grows,
and the southern provinces, overgrown with jungle and
abounding in primitive forests. There are extensive flats,
where not a drop of water is to be found, where not a grain
of corn grows ; and there are swampy regions of great extent
adorned with verdant fields, richly irrigated, where not a sin-
gle spot is left uncultivated. The productiveness of the cen-
tral provinces exceed all belief; but in other parts, despite
of perseverance and hard labour, nothing can be produced.
We meet with plains several hundred miles in extent, and
again with mountainous territories, which strongly remind
us of Switzerland. Whole provinces exhibit nothing but the
habitation of man, one house joins another, hamlet follows
hamlet, village runs into village, and long cities spring up as
by enchantment ; whilst in other parts scarcely a hut of a
solitary shepherd is to be seen, villages and cities are entirely
unknown, and the footsteps of a human being is scarcely to
be found. Here we see the unwearied husbandman, inces-
santly employed in the cultivation of his ground ; there we
perceive thousands of boats covering the surface of rivers,
and numerous junks plying backwards and forwards on the
coast and crowding the harbours ; and in other parts we find
the lazy nomades driving their cattle and substituting the
camel for the junk and river boat. In some districts we may
observe the hardy mountaineer gaining a scanty subsistence
by hunting and delving in the bowels of the earth ; or dis-
cover the roving Mantchoo, in search of the Gin-seng ; whilst
in other districts a wild beast is unknown, and sport is as
little practicable as skating in the Indian Archipelago.
Such are the varied features of the " Celestial Empire,"
which, however, (we allude more particularty to China Pro-
per,) is perhaps the most fertile of all the Asiatic countries.
But though the climate is diversified and the productions
numerous, the latter are inadequate to supply the wants of a
superabundant population, notwithstanding the industry and
skill of the peasantry, who constitute the greater number, in
the cultivation of the soil, an art in which they are scarcely
surpassed by the most advanced nations of Europe. On
this account, a war with this country, which has hitherto
supplied China with a variety of requisite articles, would in
all probability be of short duration, as his Celestial Majesty,
who is not unconscious of the advantages of commerce,
though he hedges it round with restrictions, would find him-
self compelled to yield to expediency what he would other-
wise feel inclined to refuse. We now come to the most im-
portant, the commercial and sea-board portion of the empire.