. The "Overland" to China. ers of China) or Shengking, with Mukden as capi-tal, in the south; Kirin in the centre, the chief townbearing the same name; and Helungkiang in thenorth, with Tsitsikar as capital. Fungtien is gov-erned on the same system as is customary in China,the two other provinces being under military govern-ment and both having a commander-in-chief. Since1878, however, the Chinese agricultural populationhas been practically under civil law alone. Theofficial posts are all given to Manchus, the army isexclusively composed of them, and, notwithstandingthe fact that they are bein
. The "Overland" to China. ers of China) or Shengking, with Mukden as capi-tal, in the south; Kirin in the centre, the chief townbearing the same name; and Helungkiang in thenorth, with Tsitsikar as capital. Fungtien is gov-erned on the same system as is customary in China,the two other provinces being under military govern-ment and both having a commander-in-chief. Since1878, however, the Chinese agricultural populationhas been practically under civil law alone. Theofficial posts are all given to Manchus, the army isexclusively composed of them, and, notwithstandingthe fact that they are being gradually merged in theChinese race, the country has hitherto preserved asort of political and racial independence, beingdirectly subject only to the Emperor—an inde- 214 MANCHURIA pendence which has, naturally, been fostered bythe reigning dynasty for its own advantage. It must have become painfully apparent, however,to the Chinese people that, with the whole of Man-churia, including Mukden—always held sacred by the. ^Ihi [^ MANCirU WOMAN Manchus as the burial-place of their early khans—in the hands of Russia, the power of the Sonof Heaven is rapidly declining in favor of that ofthe White Tsar. Assuredly, Russia herself is notslow to recognize and take the fullest advantage ofher opportunities. She is gradually pushing herbattalions, both infantry and cavalry, farther and 215 OVERLAND TO CHINA farther south and southeast, and forming a chain ofmilitary posts commanding the whole Chinese fron-tier from Blagoveschensk to Port Arthur, and an-other series from Blagoveschensk, along the Sun-srari River and its tributaries, to the Great Wallitself. The old and for many years neglectedhigh-roads to the frontier are being repaired, newones constructed — among others, one from Ai-cun to ]\Iero;en — and other routes are receivinirattention, the great road from Kirin to Pekingbeing, indeed, entirely under Russian domination. To add to all these powers of menace againstChina,
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