1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Kiang-Su

KIANG-SU, a maritime province of China, bounded N. by Shantung, S. by Cheh-kiang, W. by Ngan-hui, and E. by the sea. It has an area of 45,000 sq. m., and a population estimated at 21,000,000. Kiang-su forms part of the great plain of northern China. There are no mountains within its limits, and few hills. It is watered as no other province in China is watered. The Grand Canal runs through it from south to north; the Yangtsze-kiang crosses its southern portion from west to east; it possesses several lakes, of which the T’ai-hu is the most noteworthy, and numberless streams connect the canal with the sea. Its coast is studded with low islands and sandbanks, the results of the deposits brought down by the Hwang-ho. Kiang-su is rich in places of interest. Nanking, “the Southern Capital,” was the seat of the Chinese court until the beginning of the 15th century, and it was the headquarters of the T’ai-p’ing rebels from 1853, when they took the city by assault, to 1864, when its garrison yielded to Colonel Gordon’s army. Hang-chow Fu and Su-chow Fu, situated on the T’ai-hu, are reckoned the most beautiful cities in China. “Above there is Paradise, below are Su and Hang,” says a Chinese proverb. Shang-hai is the chief port in the province. In 1909 it was connected by railway (270 m. long) via Su-Chow and Chin-kiang with Nanking. Tea and silk are the principal articles of commerce produced in Kiang-su, and next in importance are cotton, sugar and medicines. The silk manufactured in the looms of Su-chow is famous all over the empire. In the mountains near Nanking, coal, plumbago, iron ore and marble are found. Shang-hai, Chin-kiang, Nanking and Su-chow are the treaty ports of the province.