1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Shêng-king

SHÊNG-KING, SHEN-KING, or LIAO-TUNG, a province of the Chinese empire, in southern Manchuria. It occupies an area of 50,000 sq. m. and contains a population of 4,000,000. Its capital is Mukden, or, as it is otherwise known, Shêng-king, “ the Flourishing Capital.” The province includes the Liaotung peninsula, the most southern part of which, including Port Arthur, is leased to Japan.

Shêng-king is largely mountainous. A line drawn from King-chow Fu (41° 12' N., 121 10' E.) N.E. to Mukden, and then south by west through Lêaoi-yang and Hai-chêng to Kai-ping and the sea, would define the level country. A large portion of the plain, being an alluvial deposit, is extremely fertile, but in the neighbourhood of the sea the saline exudation common in the north of China renders futile all attempts at cultivation. North and east of this district run numerous mountain ranges, for the most part in a north-and-south direction. The climate of Shêng-king is marked by extremes of heat and cold. In summer the temperature varies from 70° to 90° F., and in winter from 50° above to 10° below zero. The mountain scenery is extremely picturesque, and the trees and shrubs are such as are common in England, the mountain ash being the only common English tree which is there conspicuous by its absence. The most important rivers are the Liao-ho and the Yalu. The former takes its rise in Mongolia, and after running an easterly course for about 400 m., turns S.W., and empties into the Gulf of Liao-tung, in the neighbourhood of Ying-tsze, up to which town, 20 m. from the bar, the river is navigable for large junks. The Yalu rises in the mountains to the south of the plain, and empties into the Yellow Sea.

The chief cities, Mukden, Liao-yang, Niu-chwang, Port Arthur and Tairen (Dalny) are separately noticed. Niu-chwang is the chief port of the province. Shêng-king is well supplied with railways, Mukden being in direct railway connexion with Peking, Niu-chwang, Port Arthur and Tairen as well as with the Korean railways, and with Europe and Vladivostock by the trans-Siberian line. The Mukden-Peking railway follows the route of the imperial highway from Peking, which passes through the Great Wall at Shan-kai-kwan and along the shores of the Gulf of Chih-li, and after leaving Mukden divides into three branches-one going eastward to Korea, another going by Kirin and A-she-ho to San-sing, while a third diverges N. by W. to Fakumen, thence through Mongolia to Pe-tu-na, and then to Tsi-tsi-har, Mergen, and the Amur. Another road leads east from Niu-chwang to Fung-hwang-chung, now a station on the Mukden-Korea railway. The chief-agricultural products are wheat, barley, millet, oats, maize, cotton, indigo and tobacco. Coal, iron and gold are also found in considerable quantities in various localities. (See also Manchuria and China.)