[1] As to the origin of the names China and Cathay (the medieval
name) see below Sec. _History_. According to one theory the name China
is of Malay origin, designating originally the region now called
Indo-China, but transferred in early times to China proper. By the
Chinese the country is often called _Shih-pa-sheng_, "the Eighteen
Provinces," from the number of its great territorial divisions. It
is also called _Chung-kwo_, "the Middle Kingdom," properly used of
the central part of China, and _Hwa-kwo_, "the Flowery Kingdom."
[2] A Chinese mile, _li_, or _le_ = 0.36 English mile.
[2] For the Grand Canal the chief authority is Dominique Gandar, S.J.,
"Le Canal Imperial. Etude historique et descriptive," _Varietes
sinologiques_ No. 4 (Shanghai, 1903); see also Stenz, "Der
Kaiserkanal," in _Beitraegen zur Kolonialpolitik_, Band v. (Berlin,
1903-1904), and the works of Ney Elias, Sir J.F. Davis, A.
Williamson, E.H. Parker and W.R. Carles.
[4] Nevertheless there is considerable local traffic. The transit
trade with Shan-tung, passing the Chin-kiang customs and using some
250 m. of the worst part of the canal, was valued in 1905 at
3,331,000 taels.
[5] The portion of the wall which abutted on to the sea has been
destroyed.
[6] See the _Geog. Jnl._ (Feb. and March 1907). For a popular
account of the wall, with numerous photographs, see _The Great Wall
of China_ (London, 1909), by W.E. Giel, who in 1908 followed its
course from east to west. Consult also A. Williamson, _Journey in
North China_ (London, 1870); Martin, "La Grande Muraille de la
Chine," _Revue scientifique_ (1891).
[7] For Shanghai the figures are compiled from twenty-six years'
observations. See _China Sea Directory_, vol. iii. (4th ed., 1904)
p. 660.
[8] The thermometer registered 23 deg. F. in January 1893, on the river
28 m. below Canton. This is the lowest reading known. Ibid, pp.
104-105.
[9] See W.W. Rockhill, _Inquiry into the Population of China_
(Washington, 1904).
[10] For a bibliography of works relating to the aboriginal races of
China see Richard's _Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire_
(1908 ed.), pp. 371-373.
[11] Evidences of the social changes taking place in China are to be
found in the strong movement for the education of girls, and in the
formation of societies, under official patronage, to prevent the
binding of women's feet.
[12] It must be remembered that there is great variety in the
costumes worn in the various provinces. The particulars here given
are of the most general styles of dress.
[13] Richard's _Comprehensive Geography_, &c. (1908 edition), pp.
340-341.
[14] Otherwise Ab[=u] Ja'far Ibn Mahommed al-Mans[=u]r (see CALIPHATE,
C. Sec. 2).
[15] For a summary of Chang Chih-tung's treatise, see _Changing
China_ (1910 edition), chap. xxii.
[16] It was announced in June 1910 that the throne had approved a
recommendation of the Board of Education that English should be the
official language for scientific and technical education, and that
the study of English should be compulsory in all provincial
scientific and technical schools.
[17] See _The Times_ of the 19th of February and the 3rd of May 1910.
[18] Another peculiarity of loess in China is that it lends itself
readily to the excavation of dwellings for the people. In many
places whole villages live in cave dwellings dug out in the vertical
wall of loess. They construct spiral staircases, selecting places
where the ground is firm, and excavate endless chambers and recesses
which are said to be very comfortable and salubrious.
[19] See J. Edkins, _The Poppy in China_, and H.B. Morse, _The Trade
and Administration of the Chinese Empire_, chap. xi.
[20] Richard's _Comprehensive Geography, &c._ (1908 edition), p. 144.
[21] In the 18th century foreign trade was restricted to Canton. In
the 17th century, however, the Dutch traded to Formosa and Amoy, and
the English to Amoy also. The Portuguese traded with Canton as early
as 1517. For the early intercourse between Portugal and China see
the introductory chapter in Donald Ferguson's _Letters from
Portuguese Captives in Canton_ (Bombay, 1902).
[22] From _The Statesman's Year Book_, 1910 edition.
[23] See _The Times_ of the 28th of March 1910.
[24] See Morse, _op. cit._ chap. x.
[25] The maritime customs had established a postal service for its
own convenience in 1861, and it first gave facilities to the general
public in 1876. An organized service for the conveyance of
government despatches has existed in China for many centuries, and
the commercial classes maintain at their own expense a system
("letter hongs") for the transmission of correspondence.
[26] For the causes leading to this movement and the progress of
reform see Sec. _History_.
[27] For recent authoritative accounts of the government of China
see H.B. Morse, _The Trade and Administration of the Chinese
Empire_, chap. iii.; Richard's _Comprehensive Geography_, &c., Bk.
I. Sec. v., and _The Statesman's Year Book_.
[28] The empress-consort is chosen by the emperor from a number of
girls selected by his ministers from the families of Manchu nobles.
From the same candidates the emperor also selects
secondary-empresses (usually not more than four). Concubines, not
limited in number, are chosen from the daughters of Manchu nobles
and free-men. All the children are equally legitimate.
[29] Recent emperors have been children at accession and have been
kept in seclusion.
[30] See "Democratic China" in H.A. Giles, _China and the Chinese_.
[31] W.F. Mayers, _The Chinese Government_ (1878).
[32] This body is superseded by the Imperial Senate summoned to meet
for the first time on the 3rd of October 1910.
[33] Yamen is the name given to the residences of all high
officials. Tsung-li Yamen = the bureau for managing each (foreign)
kingdom's affairs.
[34] An edict of the 15th of July 1909 created a naval and military
advisory board. Up to that time the navy was controlled by the
viceroys at Canton, Nanking, Fu-chow and Tientsin; the viceroys at
Canton and Tientsin being ministers superintendent of the southern
and northern ports respectively.
[35] Thus in 1910 Prince Ching, president of the grand council, was,
for the third time, impeached by censors, being denounced as an "old
treacherous minister," who filled the public service with a crowd of
men as unworthy as himself. The censor who made the charge was
stripped of his office (see _The Times_ of the 30th of March 1910).
[36] For details of local government see Richard's _Comprehensive
Geography_, 1908 edition, pp. 301 et seq.
[37] Morse, op. cit., 1908 edition, p. 76
[38] See _The Times_ of the 28th of February 1910.
[39] See _The Statesman's Year-Book_ (1910 edition).
[40] A few of the old native customs stations, which are deemed
perquisites of the imperial court, may also be excepted, as, for
instance, the native custom-house at Canton, Hwei Kwan on the Grand
Canal, and various stations in the neighbourhood of Peking.
[41] The production of a budget in 1915 was promised in one of the
reform edicts of 1908.
[42] In this article the tael used as a standard is the Haikwan (i.e.
customs) tael, worth about 3s. It fluctuates with the value of
silver.
[43] Roughly L43,000,000.
[44] _Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_ (1910), p. 118.
[45] Temporary reductions are granted in provinces affected by
rebellion, drought or flood.
[46] Information as to what extent the expenses of the new army and
navy are met by the central government is lacking.
[47] To meet the expenditure on interest and redemption of the
indemnities for the Boxer outrages the Peking government required
the provincial authorities to increase their annual remittances by
taels 18,700,000 during the years 1902-1910.
[48] It must be remembered that the Haikwan tael is here indicated.
[49] See Morse's _Trade and Administration of the Chinese Empire_,
chap. ix.
[50] A supplementary exchange of notes of the same date excepted
from the scope of this agreement the Shan-hai-kwan-Niu-chwang
extension which had already been conceded to the Hongkong & Shanghai
Bank.
[51] The religious aspect of the Boxer movement gave it strength.
Its disciples believed that the spirits which defended China were
incensed by the introduction of Western methods and ideals. Many of
them believed themselves to be invulnerable to any Western weapon.
(See Lord W. Cecil, _Changing China_, 1910, ch. i.)
[52] The diary of a Manchu noble printed in _China under the Empress
Dowager_ (1910) by J.O. Bland and E. Backhouse throws light on the
subject. It was to Jung-Lu, father-in-law of Prince Chin, that the
legations owed their escape from extermination.
[53] It was at this time (July 17th) that the intense anxiety of the
civilized world with regard to the fate of the besieged reached its
culminating point. Circumstantial accounts of the fall of the
legations and the massacre of their inmates were circulated in
Shanghai and found general credence. It was not till near the end of
the month that an authentic message from the American minister
proved these fears to be premature.
[54] In negotiating this agreement Lord Salisbury appears to have
been largely influenced by the aggressive features of Russia's
action in North China, while Germany appears to have been actuated
by a desire to forestall isolated action by Great Britain in the
Yangtsze basin. In Germany the agreement was known as the Yangtsze
Agreement. Great Britain held, however, that it applied equally to
Manchuria.
[55] Liu Kun-yi died in 1902. In the same year died Tao-mu, the
viceroy of Canton. In these men China lost two of her most capable
and enlightened officials.
[56] Prince Chun was born in 1882. He was the first member of the
imperial family to be sent on a foreign mission.
[57] Tung Fu-hsiang died in 1908. A sum of some L80,000 belonging to
him, and left in the provincial treasury, was appropriated for works
of public utility (see _The Times_, April 9th, 1910).
[58] Lord W. Cecil, op. cit. p. 9.
[59] This institution was nominally a private concern which financed
the Manchurian railway, but it acted as part of the Russian
government machinery. The existence of the contract of the 27th of
August 1896 was frequently denied until expressly admitted by the
Russo-Chinese agreement of the 8th of April 1902.
[60] On the 8th of October the Russian troops had been withdrawn
from Mukden, but they reoccupied the town on the 28th of the same
month, Admiral Alexeiev, the viceroy of the Far East, alleging that
the inertia of the Chinese officials seriously hindered the work of
extending civilization in Manchuria.
[61] The form of outrage, probably the first of its kind in China,
was itself a symptom of the changed times. The bomb injured Prince
Tsai Tse and another commissioner, and the departure of the
commission was consequently delayed some months.
[62] In 1907 further commissions were appointed, on the initiative
of Yuan Shih-kai, to study specifically the constitutions of Great
Britain, Germany and Japan.
[63] This department was organized at Shanghai in 1854. The Taiping
rebels being in possession of the native city, the collection of
customs dues, especially on foreign ships, was placed in the hands
of foreigners. This developed into a permanent institution, the
European staff being mainly British.
[64] The British official view, as stated in parliament on the 27th
of April 1910, was that the changes resulting from the creation of
the Board of Control had, so far, been purely departmental changes
of form, and that the position of the inspector-general remained
unaltered.
[65] See _The Times_ of the 21st of April and 11th of May 1910.
[66] A chest contained from 135 lb to 160 lb.
[67] A picul = 133-1/2 lb.
[68] _Changing China_, p. 118.
[69] See _The Times_ of 7th and 8th of March and 8th of April 1910.
[70] The first recorded importation of morphia into China was in
1892, and it is suggested that it was first used as an anti-opium
medicine. Morphia-taking, however, speedily became a vice, and in
1902 over 195,000 oz. of morphia were imported (enough for some
300,000,000 injections). To check the evil the Chinese government
during 1903 imposed a tax of about 200% _ad valorem_, with the
result that the imports declared to the customs fell in 1905 to 54
oz. only. The falling off was explained "not by a diminished demand,
but by smuggling" (Morse's _Trade and Administration of the Chinese
Empire_, p. 351).
[71] A regulation by the ministry of education, dated the 14th of
January 1910, ordered that no girl should be admitted to school
dressed in foreign clothes or with unnatural (i.e. bound) feet.
[72] For the growth of the education movement see _The Times_, 4th
of September 1909.
[73] The Dalai Lama left Peking in December 1908 on his return to
Lhassa, which he reached in November 1909. Differences had arisen
between him and the Chinese government, which sought to make the
spiritual as well as the temporal power of the Dalai Lama dependent
on his recognition by the emperor of China. Early in 1910 the Dalai
Lama, in consequence of the action of the Chinese amban in Lhassa,
fled from that city and sought refuge in India.
[74] Chang Chih-tung died in October 1909. He was a man of considerable
ability, and one whose honesty and loyalty had never been doubted. He
was noted as an opponent of opium smoking, and for over thirty years
had addressed memorials to the throne against the use of the drug.
[75] See _The Times_ of the 7th of September 1909.
[76] Proposals made early in 1910 by the American secretary of state
for the neutralization of the Manchurian railway received no
support.
[77] By a convention signed on July 4th, 1910, Russia and Japan agreed
to "maintain and respect" the _status quo_ in Manchuria.
[78] See the _Quinzaine coloniale_ of the 10th of December 1909.
[79] See _The Times_ of the 20th of January 1910.
[80] See for the prospects of reform _The Times_ of 30th May 1910.
[81] _La Sculpture sur pierre en Chine ait temps des deux dynasties
Han_ (Paris, 1893).
CHINA, the common name for ware made of porcelain, given because it came
from China, where the first vitrified, translucent, white ware was
produced. The Portuguese or Italians gave it the name of "porcelain"
(q.v.). English usage was influenced by India and the East, where the
Persian _ch[=i]n[=i]_ was widely prevalent as the name of the ware. This
is seen also in some of the earlier forms and pronunciations, e.g.
_chiney_, _cheney_, and later _chaney_ (see CERAMICS; and for
"china-clay" KAOLIN).
CHINANDEGA, or CHINENDEGA, the capital of the department of Chinandega
in western Nicaragua, 10 m. N.N.E. of the seaport of Corinto by the
Corinto-Managua railway. Pop. (1900) about 12,000. Chinandega is the
centre of a fertile corn-producing district, and has a large transit
trade owing to its excellent situation on the chief Nicaraguan railway.
Its manufactures include coarse cloth, pottery and Indian feather
ornaments. Cotton, sugar-cane and bananas are cultivated in the
neighbourhood.
CHI-NAN FU, the capital of Shan-tung, China, in 36 deg. 40' N., 117 deg.
1' E. Pop. about 100,000. It is situated in one of the earliest settled
districts of the Chinese empire. The city, which lies in the valley of
the present channel of the Yellow river (Hwang-Ho), and about 4 m. south
of the river, is surrounded by a triple line of defence. First is the
city wall, strongly built and carefully guarded, outside this a granite
wall, and beyond this again a mud rampart. Three springs outside the
west gate throw up streams of tepid water to a height of about 2 ft.
This water, which is highly prized for its healing qualities, fills the
moat and forms a fine lake in the northern quarter of the city.
Chi-nan Fu was formerly famous for its manufacture of silks and of
imitation precious stones. It is now the chief commercial entrepot of
Western Shan-tung but no longer a manufacturing centre. A highway
connects it with the Yellow river, and it is joined by a railway 280 m.
long to Kiaochow. The city has a university for instruction on Western
lines, and an efficient military school. American Presbyterians began
mission work in the city in 1873; it is also the see of a Roman Catholic
bishop.
CHINCHA ISLANDS, three small islands in the Pacific Ocean, about 12 m.
from the coast of Peru (to which country they belong), opposite the town
of Pisco, and 106 m. distant from Callao, in 13 deg. 38' S., 76 deg. 28' W.
The largest of the group, known as the North Island or Isla del Norte, is
only four-fifths of a mile in length, and about a third in breadth. They
are of granitic formation, and rise from the sea in precipitous cliffs,
worn into countless caves and hollows, which furnish convenient
resting-places for the sea-fowl. Their highest points attain an
elevation of 113 ft. The islands have yielded a few remains of the
Chincha Indian race. They were formerly noted for vast deposits of
guano, and its export was begun by the Peruvian government in 1840. The
supply, however, was exhausted in 1874. In 1853-1854 the Chincha Islands
were the chief object in a contest known as the Guano War between
President Echenique and General Castilla; and in April 1864 they were
seized by the Spanish rear-admiral Pinzon in order to bring the Peruvian
government to apologize for its treatment of Spanish immigrants.
CHINCHEW, or CHINCHU, the name usually given in English charts to an
ancient and famous port of China in the province of Fu-kien, of which
the Chinese name is _Ch'ueanchow-fu_ or _Ts'ueanchow-fu_. It stands in 24
deg. 57' N., 118 deg. 35' E. The walls have a circuit of 7 or 8 m., but
embrace much vacant ground. The chief exports are tea and sugar, tobacco,
china-ware, nankeens, &c. There are remains of a fine mosque, founded by
the Arab traders who resorted thither. The English Presbyterian Mission
has had a chapel in the city since about 1862. Beyond the northern
branch of the Min (several miles from the city) there is a suburb called
Loyang, approached by the most celebrated bridge in China.
Ch'ueanchow, owing to the obstruction of its harbour by sand banks, has
been supplanted as a port by Amoy, and its trade is carried on through
the port of Nganhai. It is still, however, a large and populous city. It
was in the middle ages the great port of Western trade with China, and
was known to the Arabs and to Europeans as _Zait[=u]n_ or _Zayton_, the
name under which it appears in Abulfeda's geography and in the Mongol
history of Rash[=i]ddud[=i]n, as well as in Ibn Batuta, Marco Polo and
other medieval travellers. Some argument has been alleged against the
identity of Zayton with Ch'ueanchow, and in favour of its being rather
Changchow (a great city 60 m. W.S.W. of Ch'ueanchow), or a port on the
river of Changchow near Amoy. "Port of Zayton" may have embraced the
great basin called Amoy Harbour, the chief part of which lies within the
_Fu_ or department of Ch'ueanchow; but there is hardly room for doubt
that the Zayton of Marco Polo and Abulfeda was the Ch'ueanchow of the
Chinese. Ibn Batuta informs us that a rich silk texture made here was
called _Zait[=u]niya_; and there can be little doubt that this is the
real origin of the word "Satin," _Zettani_ in medieval Italian,
_Aceytuni_ in Spanish.
CHINCHILLA, a small grey hopping rodent mammal (_Chinchilla lanigera_),
of the approximate size of a squirrel, inhabiting the eastern slopes of
the Andes in Chile and Bolivia, at altitudes between 8000 and 12,000 ft.
It typifies not only the genus _Chinchilla_, but the family
_Chinchillidae_, for the distinctive features of which see RODENTIA. The
ordinary chinchilla is about 10 in. in length, exclusive of the long
tail, and in the form of its head somewhat resembles a rabbit. It is
covered with a dense soft fur 3/4 in. long on the back and upwards of an
inch in length on the sides, of a delicate French grey colour, darkly
mottled on the upper surf ace and dusky white beneath; the ears being
long, broad and thinly covered with hair. Chinchillas live in burrows,
and these subterranean dwellings undermine the ground in some parts of
the Chilean Andes to such an extent as to cause danger to travellers on
horseback. They associate in communities, forming their burrows among
loose rocks, and coming out to feed in the early morning and towards
sunset. They feed chiefly on roots and grasses, in search of which they
often travel considerable distances; and when eating they sit on their
haunches, holding their food in their fore-paws. The Indians in hunting
them employ the grison (_Galictis vittata_), a member of the weasel
family, which is trained to enter the crevices of the rocks where the
chinchillas lie concealed during the day. The fur (q.v.) of this rodent
was prized by the ancient Peruvians, who made coverlets and other
articles with the skin, and at the present day the skins are exported in
large numbers to Europe, where they are made into muffs, tippets and
trimmings. That chinchillas have not under such circumstances become
rare, if not extinct, is owing to their extraordinary fecundity, the
female usually producing five or six young twice a year. They are docile
in disposition, and thus well fitted for domestication. The Peruvian
chinchilla (_C. brevicaudata_) is larger, with relatively shorter ears
and tail; while still larger species constitute the genus _Lagidium_,
ranging from the Andes to Patagonia, and distinguished by having four in
place of five front-toes, more pointed ears, and a somewhat differently
formed skull. (See also VISCACHA). (R. L.*)
CHINDE, a town of Portuguese East Africa, chief port for the Zambezi
valley and British Central Africa, at the mouth of the Chinde branch of
the Zambezi, in 18 deg. 40' S., 36 deg. 30' E. Pop. (1907) 2790, of whom
218 were Europeans. Large steamers are unable to cross the bar, over which
the depth of water varies from 10 to 18 ft. Chinde owes its existence to
the discovery in 1889 that the branch of the river on the banks of which
it is built is navigable from the ocean (see ZAMBEZI). The Portuguese in
1891 granted on lease for 99 years an area of 5 acres--subsequently
increased to 25--to the British government, on which goods in transit to
British possessions could be stored duty free. This block of land is
known as the British Concession, or British Chinde. The prosperity of
the town largely depends on the transit trade with Nyasaland and North
East Rhodesia. There is also a considerable export from Portuguese
districts, sugar, cotton and ground nuts being largely cultivated in the
Zambezi valley, and gold and copper mines worked.
CHINDWIN, a river of Burma, the largest tributary of the Irrawaddy, its
entire course being in Burmese territory. It is called Ningthi by the
Manipuris. The Chindwin is formed by the junction of the Tanai, the
Tawan and the Taron or Turong, but it is still uncertain which is the
main stream. The Tanai has hitherto been looked on as the chief source.
It rises in about 25 deg. 30' N. and 97 deg. E., on the Shwedaung-gyi peak
of the Kumon range, 12 m. N. of Mogaung, and flows due N. for the first
part of its course until it reaches the Hukawng valley, when it turns to
the W. and flows through the middle of the plain to the end of the
valley proper. There it curves round to the S., passes through the Taron
or Turong valley, takes the name of the Chindwin, and maintains a
general southerly course until it enters the Irrawaddy, after flowing
through the entire length of the Upper and Lower Chindwin districts, in
about 21 deg. 30' N. and 95 deg. 15' E. Its extreme outlets are 22 m.
apart, the interval forming a succession of long, low, partially populated
islands. The most southerly mouth of the Chindwin is, according to
tradition, an artificial channel, cut by one of the kings of Pag[=a]n. It
was choked up for many centuries until in 1824 it was opened out by an
exceptional flood. The Tanai (it is frequently called Tanaikha, but _kha_
is merely the Kachin word for river), as long as it retains that name, is
a swift, clear river, from 50 to 300 yds. wide and from 3 to 15 ft. deep.
The river is navigated by native boats in the Hukawng valley, but launches
cannot come up from the Chindwin proper because of the reefs below Taro.
The Taron, Turong or Towang river seems to be the real main source of
the Chindwin. It flows into the Hukawng valley from the north, and has
a swift current with a succession of rapids. Its sources are in the
hills to the south of Sadiya, rising from 10,000 to 11,000 ft. above
sea-level. It flows through a deep valley, with a general E. and W.
direction, as far as its junction with the Loglai. It then turns S.,
and after draining an intricate system of hills, breaks into the
Hukawng valley a few miles N. of Saraw, and joins or receives the
Tanai about 10 m. above Kintaw village. Except the Tanai, the chief
branches of the Upper Chindwin rise in mountains that are covered at
least with winter snows. Below the Hukawng valley the Chindwin is
interrupted at several places by fails or transverse reefs. At the
village of Haksa there is a fall, which necessitates transhipment from
large boats to canoes. Not far below this the Uyu river comes in on
the left bank at Homalin, and from this point downwards the steamers
of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company ply for the greater part of the
year. The Uyu flows through a fertile and well-cultivated valley, and
during the rainy season it is navigable for a distance of 150 m. from
its mouth by steamers of light draught. Ordinarily regular steam
communication with Homalin ceases in the dry weather, but from Kindat,
nearly 150 m. below it, there are weekly steamers all the year round.
Below Kindat the only considerable affluent of the Chindwin is the
Myit-tha, which receives the Chin hills drainage. The Chindwin rises
considerably during the rains, but in March and April it is here and
there so shallow as to make navigation difficult even for small steam
launches. Whirlpools and narrows and shifting sandbanks also give some
trouble, but much has been done to improve navigation since the
British annexation. Kindat, the headquarters of the Upper Chindwin
district, and Monywa of the Lower, are on the banks of the river.
(J. G. SC.)
CHINDWIN, UPPER and LOWER, two districts in the Sagaing division of
Upper Burma. Upper Chindwin has an area of 19,062 sq. m., and a
population, according to the census of 1901, of 154,551. Lower Chindwin
has an area of 3480 sq. m., and a population of 276,383. Upper Chindwin
lies to the north of the lower district, and is bounded on the N. by the
Chin, N[=a]ga and Kachin hills; on the E. they are bounded by the
Myitkyina, Katha and Shwebo districts; Lower Chindwin is bounded on the
S. by the Pakokku and Sagaing districts; and both districts are bounded
on the W. by the Chin hills, and by Pakokku on the southern stretch. The
western portion of both districts is hilly, and the greater part of
Upper Chindwin is of the same character. Both have valuable teak
forests. The total rainfall averages in Lower Chindwin 27 and in Upper
Chindwin 60 in. Coal exists in extensive fields, but these are not very
accessible. Rice forms the great crop, but a certain amount of til-seed
and of indigo is also cultivated. Kindat, a mere village, is the
headquarters of the upper district, and Monywa, with a population of
7869, of the lower. Both are on the Chindwin river, and are served by
the steamers of the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company. Alon, close to Monywa,
and formerly the headquarters, is the terminus of the railway from
Sagaing westwards, which was opened in 1900.
CHINESE PAVILLON, TURKISH CRESCENT, TURKISH JINGLE, or JINGLING JOHNNY
(Fr. _chapeau chinois_; Ger. _tuerkischer Halbmond, Schellenbaum_; Ital.
_cappello chinese_), an instrument of percussion of indefinite
sonorousness, i.e. not producing definite musical tones. The _chapeau
chinois_ was formerly an adjunct in military bands, but never in the
orchestra, where an instrument of somewhat similar shape, often confused
with it and known as the _Glockenspiel_ (q.v.), is occasionally called
into requisition. The Chinese pavilion consists of a pole about 6 ft.
high terminating in a conical metal cap or pavilion, hung with small
jingling bells and surmounted by a crescent and a star. Below this
pavilion are two or more metal bands forming a fanciful double crescent
or squat lyre, likewise furnished with tiny bells. The two points of the
crescent are curved over, ending in fanciful animal heads from whose
mouths hang low streaming tails of horse-hair. The Chinese pavilion is
played by shaking or waving the pole up and down and jingling the bells,
a movement which can at best be but a slow one repeated once or at most
twice in a bar to punctuate the phrases and add brilliancy to the
military music. The Turkish crescent or "jingling Johnny," as it was
familiarly called in the British army bands, was introduced by the
Janissaries into western Europe. It has fallen into disuse now, having
been replaced by the glockenspiel or steel harmonica. Edinburgh
University possesses two specimens.[1] In the 18th century at
Bartholomew Fair one of the chief bands hired was one well known as
playing in London on winter evenings in front of the Spring-Garden
coffee house and opposite Wigley's. This band consisted of a double
drum, a Dutch organ (see BARREL-ORGAN), a tambourine, a violin, pipes
and the Turkish jingle.[2] (K.S.)