Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1900-08-04
THE VILLAGE OF SHIWANZE
CATHOLIC CHINESE WHO MAY HAVE
SUFFERED TORTURE.
Prof. White of OberIin Adds
Some Timely Inf0r.
nation.


GUS proportions. and at once made an ex-
cursion into Mongolia, returning later to
Tien Tsin. From there. on June 2, he sent
the following account of a singular and in
terestng village Of Catholic cliff jewellers
which he visited in Mongolia. 1t Is quite
probable that the native Christians he de-
scribes have since been massacred by the
heather. Prof. Wright prefaces the de-
scription Of the village with few brief
paragraphs about the curious nature of the
territory in which It is situated.
The eastern border Of Mongolia, and the
northeastern portion Of China, are largely
covered with los Qoess), one Of the most
interesting and puzzling of all the geologi-
cal deposits. Its German name comes from
the valley of the Rhine, where loess is
found In considerable quantities. The in
habitants Of the Mississippi and Missouri
valleys Of the United States are familiar
with the deposit in the bluffs at vicksburg,
Kansas City, Omaha and Sioux City. Dur
ing the siege Of Vicksburg the people took
refuge IN spacious rooms dug out in the
deposit at a considerable depth below the
surface AT numerous places along the
MISSOURI river 1t stands in perpendicular ex-
posures more than hundred feet high and
city streets are cut through Its long, per-
pendicular sides, which stand like a wall
Tor many years. When a section breaks off
from cliff it always leaves a perpendicu-
lar face.
Yet the deposit is so soft that its surface
can be readily cultivated, and 1t can be
handled with a shovel at any depth. The
material principally consists of extremely
fine sand with little lime intimately mixed
with it, 1t Is SO porous that the rain which
falls upon the surface passes entirely
through the deposit, preventing the forma-
ton of springs of water until an impervious
stra tum is reached underneath 1t all. Yet
the capillary attraction is such that the
moisture necessary for vegetation Is always
ap6 dr0J 1crh
better than any other soil.
Peaks and Valleys.
The most extensive development Of the
in an elevated region from 1900 to 5,4OO
feet above the level of the sea, but 1t has
been eroded by water during long geologi-
cal ages into very uneven surface, with
numerous narrow valleys from 1000 to
1900 feet deep with inuumerable tributary
gullies coming down the sides of the inter-
vening ridges. Many isolated peaks also
rise to an absolute height of from 5000 to
1899 feet above level. Into this rugged
region has drifted during a recent epoch
an immense amount of fine dust, which
constitutes the loess: That it has been
blown in by the winds is evident from the
positions in which 1t lies. 1t appears almost
exactly like series of immense snow
drifts that have accumulated behind the
barriers which have caused lulls in the
wind permitting the suspended particles to
settle in protected places. while It has been
swept bare from the exposed positions
These deposits of loess are specially valu-
able because OF their fertility. 1t is this
soil, more thinly spread over the country
which gives agricultural Importance to
southern Dakota, eastern Nebraska and
Kansas. southern Iowa, northern Missouri
and large portions of the prairie east of the
Mississippi in America, and to the vast al
luvial plains of the lower part of the Ho-
ang Ho in China. But in northern China 1t
IS OF especial interest in furnishing cheap,
comfortable and salubrious dwelling places
for multitudes of people.
The Village of Shfwanxe.
In recent excursion through the eastern
part Of Mongolia, outside the great Chinese
wall, In the vicinity of the famous city of
kolgan, 1 saw large number of such vii
lagos excavated in the drifts of loess hang
ing on the sides of the mountains In walk
ing over the grassed surface it was no I'M
common thing to stumble against a chin
ney protuding from a habtation below
From a distance the side of the hill look
ed like an exposed bank pierced with in
swallows nests. The interior of
the houses are clean and comfortable. When
the walls have been moistened and smooth
ed over with a trowel they have a hard fin
ish which does not crumble off The rooms
are uniformly dry and are warm in winter
and cool in summer. On the sloping back of
a hill several stories of such houses are
often seen above, and slightly back of each
other, the roof of one being the front door
yard of the house above it.
The village of ShiwanZe attracted our
special interest This is in Mongolia about
200 miles northeast of Pekin and can be
reached only by mule carts or pack ami
mails. 1t is reached from kolgan by fol-
lowing for forty or fifty miles the ascend
ing course of one of the narrow valleys al
described n
tain plateau by small stream of water.
For much of the way the old Chinese wall
is visible, running along the sharp summit
of the mountain ridge to the southeast.
The narrow gorge opens at length into a
more undulating valley three or four miles
broad. which Is about 1,5G0 feet below the
general level.
Here, to our surprise, we came upon {.
Christian community OF Chinese,
living like their nelghbors in houses dug
out of the cliffs of loess, which are spe
cially prominent here.
Its Interesting History.
Shiwanze has an interesting history. II,
1886 the Roman Catholic converts in Shansi
and Pekin were driven out by bitter Pc
secution. Some of the refugees ned be-
yond the great wall to Mongolia and settled
in Shiwanze The refugees were never for
gotten. Missionaries from Europe We're
from time to time sent them, until now it
missions in Mongolia, which are supported
by society in Belgium. Here we en-
joyed for day the hospitality of the bishop
and his intelligent co-workers, two or three
of whom spoke English readily. The Chris
tan village contains 1,S9O inhabitants, and
has a large church with girls school of
400 and boys school of 300. The total
number of Christians in the diocese is 3d.
0oO. We had occasion to note several of
the other Christian villages in our further
travels.
The main physiological difference be-
tween the heather and the Christian
women in China is in the feet.
Those of the heather women are
made so small by their cruel
mode of bandaging from infancy that they
are practically useless in walking. but the
feet of the women in Shiwanze are of nat
ural size. This permits them to frequent
the streets much as women do in Europe
and America, and is connected with a
higher development in every respect. When
we asked the privilege of photographing a
small group, they Immediately disappeared
inside the doors of their cliff houses, and
we feared that we had missed our oppor-
tunity, as we uniformly did with the
heather Chinese women, who fear some
evil effect from having a picture taken.
But we were mistaken. Soon they ali re-
-