The Hawaiian gazette., 1884-09-03
China.

The government Of the Chinese Empire, as
f.r as known, is q semi military, semi pairiaT-
rhal dcspotisn The sovereign. called ! a.
twanE L, f" or the Great Emperor, y regarded
IS he father Of his people, and has unlimited
r.,vrr over all his subjects. The fundamental
avs Of the empire arc laid Gown IA The Ia
stn--hweiiien. OF Collected BeSplaiions or
the Great Pure dynasty which prescribe the
-uysrumen, OF the state 10 be basct uron Tie
government Of the family,
The preseut sovereign Is The 9th EupeT1r o.
China OF the Tartar dynasty o. ra-tslus, i be
Sublimely Pure which succeeded the naive
DYNASTY Of Ming IN The year l6ii, There e1-
isis no law Of hereditary succession % tne
throne. but 1t Is LEFT 10 each sovereign 20 Ap-
point his successor from among the members
Of his family. A late Emperor, ca des' snatins
his son. q minor. rs his successor, ordered thai
be should be kept, I'll the time o. bus majority
under the guardianship Of eight high ctbcials,
VII were 10 carry on the government In his
name. But in consequence Of palace revo-
luton, occurring soon after the accession Of
the voun- ruler, NOV. .. s5l, three cut Of the
eight appointed imperial guardians were killed
and The rrst banishod, while The supreme power
was taken possession OF by two OF the wives
Of the deceased sovereign, TEi-an, the "hrsi
ccas5rt.' aud TEi-ssi, The mother Of the new
Eupcrur. They associated themselves with
Jih-su. Prince OF Kong, uaclc OF the Young
Emperor. who was nominated bead O. the
Council OF ministers, and became virtual Re
gent Of the empire.
The Emperor Is spiritual Is well a. tempo
raj sovereign. and, as high priest Of the en-
pre-. can alone, with hIs immediate represent
aiives and ministers, perform the great reiis-
igus ceremonies. No ecclesiastical hierarchy
IS maintained al the public expense. uor any
priesthood attached b. the C1utucian % State
religion.
The administration OF The gmp.rc Is under
the supreme direction OF The "lnleTi1r Council
Chamber" comprising four members, two OF
Tartar and two Of Chinese origin, besides two
assistants from the Han-lin, or Grga. College,
who have to see that nothing is done contrary
70 .he civil and religious laws Of the empire,
contained 10 the Tl-tsins- hwci-tien, aud M the
sacred books Of C0u.ucius These members
are dgnomiuated "TA-hyO-si or Ministers OF
STATE Unter their orders arc the Li-poc, or
81 boards Of government, each o. which Q
presided over by Tartar and Chinese. luey
are l. The board Of civil appointments,
which takes co-nisaace Of the conduct and aa-
uinis.ratiun Of all cIvil 0iheers, >. The board
Cf revenues, regulating al, financial affairs, ).
The board Of rites and ceremonies, which co.
forces the laws and customs % be observed by
the people; O. The military board, suPerIu-
tending the administration OF the army >.
The board OF public works. aGt 8. The high
tribunal o. criminal jurisdiction.
Independent q the Government, and lLeC-
rrIcally above tbe central administration IS
the Tu-chah-yucu, OF board Of public ccus5rs. /
L, consists o. frgui 40 10 50 members, under
two presidents. the uaC Of Tartar and The other
-HaHHF HrzF #H Of.
the empire. all tie members Of this board are
PRIVILEGED 20 present any remonsgrancg 10 tue I
sovereign. uae censor is TO bc present a. tie
meetings Of each Of the SIX Sgycrumeu! boards I
without taking any par! 10 The tell1sraucn, |
and others have 10 travel through the various
provinces o. the empire 90 inspec. aud super- I.
intend the administration Of the chief public .
iuncuguaTies
The estimates Of the public revenue Of China .
vary greatly, and while they are stated by /.
some 70 exceed 100 millions sterling, are held I
by others not 90 come up % bali that amount. .
The public revenue Is mainly derived from I
three sources, uaugly y customs duties, licenses, .
ard tax upcu land. The Customs duties fall .
mere upou exports Ghgn imports; their total .
produce at the thirteen treaty ports open to .
Europeans amounted % s,59l,sE taeis, or .
4. 81 ~, IN Sos, and 10 gtZ5 ,t56 tlsis, or
GeaAt q -,@F lN 1855 Az -A- ==a--aaH N-tt-s+-a .
IN So the foreign trade contributed S,002,75l .
taels. CT &, 5G7 ,5Sl, while the portion paid by
Great Britain and British colonies IN the same .
year was 6,T06, Sg5 taels, or 4, 235,i55, Grover
- per cent. Besides this sun, the British .
trade paid transit duties to the amour. Of .
EILl7,T2I in ISIS, - that tie total cgutribu- /
tigu Of The same &c the Imperial Ezchequer .
vas ES,553,7S2
TIE population Of China Is very dense, but
nothing accurate is known respecting the num-
her Of inhabitants, although cthcial e1umera-
lions Of the sumo are stated to have taken .
place ~ intervals since the year lO5. or for more /
than eleven centuries. One Of the causes Of 4
uncertainty regarding the population Of the \
empire is that It's limits are underlined, The Im- I
perial government claiming tue allegiance Of /
the inhabitants Of many Of the nsishbCrinE .
territories, which appear 70 be more or less
According 70 the most reliable /
estimates, together with Chinese official re-
turns. the ARIA Of the empire and is dspsudsn- .
ciss, real and asserted, uoy be set down in
rgu1i Plumbers, a. about 200, Q0Q geographical /
square miles, with a Pgpolgsicn Of nearly 800
millions