2,190,5217. exports; the United States with 758,915l. of imports, and 2,060,0817. of exports in 1883; Russia, with 46,5937. imports and 1,626,7341. exports; Japan, with 1,047,4487. imports, and 395,3147. exports. The chief imports are opium, 7,102,0527. in 1883; cotton goods, 6,177,693l., besides about 588,5221. for raw cotton; woollen goods, 1,090,8681.; metals, chiefly iron, lead and tin, 1,308,802/.; coals, 331,8681. The chief exports are tea, 9,015,4277. in 1883, and silk, chiefly raw, 6,707,5981. China has besides an extensive coasting trade, largely carried on by British vessels, as well as Chinese junks.

Great Britain has, in virtue of various treaties with the Chinese Government, the right of access to twenty-two ports of the Empire. The following is a list of these twenty-two ports, known as Treaty ports, with the name of the provinces in which they are situated, and the date at which they were opened to trade :—

The port of Nanking, which the Chinese Government consented to throw open by a Treaty made with France in 1858, in which England participated under the 'most favoured nation' clause, had not been opened at the end of 1884.

The value of the total exports from China to the United Kingdom, and of the imports of British and Irish produce and manufactures into China, was as follows in each of the ten years from 1874 to 1883 :

The exports from China to Great Britain and Ireland are made up, to the amount of more than two-thirds, of one article of merchandise, namely, tea. During the ten years from 1874 to 1883, the quantities and value of the exports of tea from China to the United Kingdom were as follows:

:

Besides tea, the only other important article of export from China to Great Britain is raw silk, the value of which amounted to 2,650,0857. in 1880, to 1,926,4957. in 1881, to 1,783,8847. in 1882, and to 1,665,0627. in 1883.

Manufactured cotton and woollen goods, the former of the value of 2,685,6501., and the latter of 624,300l., in the year 1883, constitute the bulk of the imports of British produce into the Chinese empire, exclusive of the goods passing in transit through the colony of Hong Kong. (See page 773.)

The Chinese foreign trade is under the entire management of the Imperial Customs Department, the head of which is a foreigner (English), under whom is a large staff of foreign subordinates; the department being organised somewhat similarly to the English Civil Service. It has an agency in London.

During the year 1883, 23,863 vessels, of 17,589,914 tons, entered

and cleared Chinese ports. Of these 14,205, of 11,003,296 tons, were British; 6,265, of 4,941,728 tons, Chinese; 1,610, of 774,017 tons, German; 256, of 194,861 tons, Japanese; 593 of 150,703 tons, American; 177, of 181,056 tons, French.

According to the best authorities, there are immense coal-fields in the empire, but almost unworked, the total amount of coal raised at present being under three millions tons per annum. All the 18 provinces contain coal; and, although the extent of the coal-fields and the age and quality of the coal vary, yet China may be regarded as one of the first coal countries of the world, and the coal mines at Kai-p'ing, Northern Chihli, under foreign supervision, have been very productive; in 1883 they were reported to be turning out 600 tons per day. There are also considerable stores of iron and copper remaining to be worked.

China is traversed in all directions by 20,000 imperial roads, and though most of them are badly kept, a vast internal trade is carried on over them, and by means of numerous canals and navigable rivers. It is stated that the most populous part of China is singularly well adapted for the establishment of a network of railways, and a first attempt to introduce them into the country was made by the construction of a short line from Shanghai to Woosung, forty miles in length. One-half of this line, from Shanghai to Kangwan, was opened for traffic June 3, 1876, but closed again in 1877, after having been purchased by the Chinese authorities. The Imperial Chinese telegraphs are being rapidly extended; in December 1884 there were 3,089 miles of line and 5,482 miles of wire. There is a line between Pekin and Tientsin, which connects the capital with the following places:- Shanghai, Yangchow, Soochow, all the seven Treaty Ports on the Yangtze, Canton, Fatshan, Woochow, Lungchow. Shanghai is also in communication with Foochow, Amoy, Kashing, Shaoshing, Ningpo, &c. Lines are being constructed between Foochow and Canton, and between Taku and Port Arthur. Diplomatic and Consular Representatives.

1. OF CHINA IN GREAT BRITAIN.

Envoy and Minister.-Marquis Tsêng, accredited March 20, 1879.
English Secretary.-Dr. Halliday Macartney, C.M.G.

2. OF GREAT BRITAIN IN CHINA.

Envoy, Minister, and Chief Superintendent of British Trade.-Sir Harry
Smith Parkes, K.C.B., G.C.M.G. Appointed July 1, 1883.
Secretaries.-Nicholas Roderick O'Conor; C. T. Maude.

Chinese Secretary-E. Colborne Baber.

Money, Weights, and Measures.

The money, weights, and measures, in ordinary use at the treaty ports, and in the intercourse with foreigners, are as follows:

MONEY.

The Haikwan Tael 10 Mace=100 Candareens = 1,000 Cash = Average rate of exchange, 5s. 10d. (5s. 74d. in 1883), or 3 Haikwan Tael to a pound sterling.

There are no national gold and silver coins in China, and foreign coins are looked upon but as bullion, and usually taken by weight.

In the tariff settled by treaty between Great Britain and China, the Chih of 14 English inches has been adopted as the legal standard. It is the only authorised measure of length at all the ports of trade, and its use is gradually spreading all over the empire.

Statistical and other Books of Reference concerning China. 1. OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Returns of Trade at the Treaty Ports in China for the year 1883, Part I. Abstracts of Trade and Customs Revenue Statistics, from 1870 to 1883. Part II. Statistics of each Port. 4. Shanghai, 1884.

Catalogue of the Chinese Customs Collection at the Austro-Hungarian Universal Exhibition. Shanghai, 1873.

Catalogue of the Chinese Collection at the Paris Exhibition. Shanghai, 1878.

Catalogue of the Chinese Collection at the London Fisheries Exhibition. Shanghai, 1883; and the International Health Exhibition. London, 1884. Reports and Statistics relating to Opium in China. Shanghai, 1881.

Report on the Culture, Production, and Manufacture of Silk in China. Shanghai, 1881.

Correspondence respecting the Revision of the Treaty of Tientsin. Presented to the House of Commons. 4. London, 1871.

Treaty of friendship and commerce between Her Majesty and the King of Corea. London, 1884.

Report of Mr. Frederick F. Low, Minister-Resident of the United States, on China: its Social and Political Organisation; its Relation with the People and Governments of other Nations, and its possible Future;' dated Peking, Jan. 10, 1871; in 'Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States.' 8. Washington, 1871.

Report of Mr. George F. Seward, Consul-General of the United States, on the Religious, Educational, and Moral State of the Chinese People,' dated Shanghai, August 22, 1871; in 'Papers relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States.' 8. Washington, 1872.

Report of the Delegates of the Shanghai Chamber of Commerce on the Trade of the Upper Yangtsze river. Presented to Parliament. Fol. London, 1870.

Report by Mr. Mallet, British Secretary of Legation, upon the Fluctuations of the Foreign Trade of China between the years 1864 and 1871. Presented to Parliament. 8. London, 1873.

Commercial Reports from British Consuls in China for 1883. 8. London, 1884. Report by Mr. Arthur Nicolson, British Secretary of Legation, on the opium trade in China, dated Peking, February 25, 1878, in Reports by H.M.'s Secretaries of Embassy and Legation.' Part III. 1878. 8. London, 1878. Report by Mr. Hosie of a journey through the Yunnan, and Kuei Chou, 1883. London, 1884.

provinces of Ssu-ch'uan,

Trade of Great Britain with China; in 'Annual Statement of the Trade of the United Kingdom with Foreign Countries and British Possessions in the year 1883.' Imp. 4. London, 1884.

2. NON-OFFICIAL PUBLICATIONS.

Anderson (John), Mandalay to Momien: a Narrative of the two expeditions to Western China of 1868 and 1875 with Colonels E. B. Sladen and Horace Browne. 8. London, 1876.

Baber (E. Colborne), Travels and Researches in Western China; in Supplementary Papers of the Royal Geographical Society. London, 1883.

Bastian (Dr. A.), Die Völker des Oestlichen Asiens. 6 vols. 8. Jena, 1866-71. Boulger (Demetrius), History of China. London, 1882.

Carné (L. de), Voyage en Indo-Chine et dans l'empire chinois. 18. Paris,

1872.

China, Population of. Discussion of Data in Behm and Wagner's 'Bevölkerung der Erde,' vii. Gotha, 1882.

Chinese Army, the. In Blackwood's Magazine. May 1884.

Colquhoun (A. R.), Across Chryse: from Canton to Mandalay. 2 vols. London, 1883.

Chinese Topography, being an Alphabetical List of the Provinces, Departments, and Districts in the Chinese Empire, with their Latitudes and Longitudes. Canton, 1844. Reprinted in 1864.

Courcy (Marquis de), L'Empire du milieu; description géographique, précis historique, institutions sociales, religieuses, politiques, notions sur les sciences, les arts, l'industrie et le commerce. 8. Paris, 1867.

David (Abbé A.), Journal de mon troisième voyage d'exploration dans l'empire chinois. 2 vols. 18. Paris, 1875.

Davis (Sir John F.), Description of China and its Inhabitants. 2 vols. 8. London, 1857.

Dennys (N. B.) and Mayers (W. T.), China and Japan: a Complete Guide to the Open Ports of those Countries; together with Peking, Yeddo, Hongkong, and Macao. 8. London, 1867.

Douglas (Prof. R. K.), China. London, 1882.

Dudgeon (Dr. J.), Historical Sketch of the Ecclesiastical, Political, and Commercial Relations of Russia with China. 8. Peking, 1872.

Edkins (Joseph, D.D.), Religion in China, containing an Account of the three Religions of the Chinese. 8. London, 1877.

Fontpertuis (Ad. Frout de), La Chine et le Japon et l'Exposition de 1878. 8. Paris, 1878.

Fontpertuis (Ad. Frout de), L'émigration chinoise, son caractère, son importance et sa distribution; in 'Revue Scientifique,' ler Mars, 1879. 4. Paris, 1879. Gill (Captain), The River of Golden Sand. Two vols. London, 1880. Gray (Ven. John Henry), China: a History of the Laws, Manners, and Customs of the People. 2 vols. 8. London, 1877.

Griffis (W. E.), Corea: the Hermit Nation. London, 1882.