The Oskaloosa herald. (Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, Iowa) 1885-1919, 1900-08-02
CHINA AND CHINESE.
Facts About the Much Mooted
Country and Race. Y Il


| The area Of China Isl 4,aI84oI Eng
fish square, miles. OF this eterritor,
only I,336,S4I miles belong to China prop
err, the remainder being the dependen,
cies of Manchuria, Mongolia, Thibet
Jungaria and East Turkestan, remark:
a recent issue of the Scientific Ameri.
can! Notwithstanding the 5relativel,
small size Of China proper, it contains
tine bunk on the population, having $780,
100000 inhabitants out Of a total popti.
lation Of the Kingdom Of 4o2, ooo, 900
The present emperor Of China belongs
to the Manchu dynasty, which overthrow
the native dynasty of Ming in the year
I644. AS the late emperor died sudden
ly, he did not designate a successor, as
is the custom in China, where there ex-
lists no law of hereditary succession.
This is one of the causes of the trouble
IN China, owing to the fact that the
Empress Dowager- was able to obtain
ascendency over the young emperor, SO
that on September 2, 1893, an imperial
edict was issued announcing that the
emperor had resigned power to the
Empress Dewagerp who has since re-
tanned the direction of affairs, and by her
dislike of foreigners has done much to
fomert the troubles and has made it
easy for the Boxer movement to gain
Roadway even if shells not directly re-
sponsible for the attack; q as has been
suggested by those who have an intimate
knowledge of Chinese affairs. On jan
uary "a, 1900, it was declared by decree
that the son of Prince 7Tuan should ste
ceed the present emperor. This is gen
orally regarded as equivalent 10 Kwang
Su's deposition The lively interest
which Prince Tuan IS taking In the at
tack on foreigners Is easily accounted
for by his sons right to the throne. GU
The government Of the state is based
upon the, government Of the family. The
Supreme direction of the empire. is vest vest
ed in The, Priyy council Of grand council,
Tbs administration, is under, the ,direeT
tion Of q cabinet cqmprisipg four mem
bersdtwo oifrMALan chhtl and an two Of Chipese
origin besides two assistants from the
great colleges, who have ito bseet that
nothing is done contrary t9ths5 civil and
religious laws of the d empire These
lmembeFsi are called ministers Of state.
Under otheirt order are seven bodies of
-governmentgeaeh offwhieh isopFesided
iuverg by aManchrf and a Chinese. ,eThe
boards are: 4, for ciyis appointment ) 2,
for revenues; 81 for0fites andqeefemo-
5nies} 4Ffor military affairs ssfor pub
lie works; 6, criminals jurisdiction; 80,
admiralty board 2 Independent of the
government, and theoretically above
the central administration, is the Board
of Public Censors, which consists of
forty or fifty members under two presi-..
dents. They are privileged to present
any remonstrance to the sovereign and
one of them must be present at the meet
ings of each of the government buards.
Each of the eighteen provinces is gov
erned by governor general, who is re-
sponsible to the emperor for the entire
administration, political, judicial, mill
tary and physical, He is assisted b. a
council and other officials. Each prov
ince is sub-diyided into departments!
ruled by projects, and each department.
into districts, each under. a separate
ruler. Each town and village also has
its governing body, and among the vari.
Gus rulers there is regular gradaton
in rank, each being responsible to his
immediate superior. Political Office in the
general administration of the empife is
less sought after than the position Of
viceroy or governor in the provinces,
where there are opportunities ri acQu:r-
ing wealth. The number of foreigl ers
resident in the open ports of Crina was
I3,42I at the end of 1893, British sub
jects predominating, About half of the
total number of foreigners reside at
Shanghai. nr .. y. .gn .raga7r .r .
Three religions are acknowledged, by
the Chinese as Indigenous and formally
adopted: Confucianismy Buddhism and
Taoism The emperor is considered the
high priest of the empire and can alon3,
with his immediate representatives ard
ministers, perform the, great religious
ceremonies Confueianism is the state
religion. With the exception of the
practice of ancestral worship, which is
everywhere observed throughout the Eri-
pire, and was fully, commended by Con
fticius, Confucianism has little outward
ceremonial. The study and conternpIa,
| ton and attempted performances Of the
moral precepts Of the aneients constitute
the duties Of Confucianist. Buddhism
and Taoism present a gorgeous and elab
crate ritual inaGhuaLl The bulk ofthC
lReoRls are yBuddhists4 i TIhe5e gars C9bop
thirty million Mahommedans, lone mil,
lion Roman Catholics, and fifty amou
sand Protestants. Most Of the sborig
ipal hill tribes are still nature worship
| peFs. tuBuI9B no emit 8nrEP sf3 III
IOulThe army of China comprises q th,
eight Banners,'' fiofhinally containing
/
about 3oo,o men, The national army
whose, strength is about, $4,000, ha
about 100000 available for war. Beside