Page:EB1911 - Volume 06.djvu/249

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CHINGFORD—CHINO-JAPANESE WAR
233

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 It has fallen into disuse now, having been replaced by the glockenspiel or steel harmonica.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.) 


CHINGFORD, an urban district in the Epping parliamentary division of Essex, England, 101/2 m. N. of London (Liverpool Street station) by the Great Eastern railway. Pop. (1901) 4373. It lies between the river Lea and the western outskirts of Epping Forest. The church of All Saints has Early English and Perpendicular remains. Queen Elizabeth’s or Fair Mead hunting lodge, a picturesque half-timbered building, is preserved under the Epping Forest Preservation Act. A majestic oak, one of the finest trees in the Forest, stands near it. Buckhurst Hill (an urban district; pop. 4786) lies to the N.E.


CHINGLEPUT, or Chengalpat, a town and district of British India, in the Madras presidency. The town, situated 36 m. by rail from Madras, had a population in 1901 of 10,551. With Chandragiri in North Arcot, Chingleput was once the capital of the Vijayanagar kings, after their overthrow by the Mussulmans at Talikota in 1565. In 1639 a chief, subject to these kings, granted to the East India Company the land on which Fort St George now stands. The fort built by the Vijayanagar kings in the 16th century was of strategic importance, owing to its swampy surroundings and the lake that flanked its side. It was taken by the French in 1751, and was retaken in 1752 by Clive, after which it proved invaluable to the British, especially when Lally in his advance on Madras left it unreduced in his rear. During the wars of the British with Hyder Ali it withstood his power, and afforded a refuge to the natives; and in 1780, after the defeat of Colonel W. Baillie, the army of Sir Hector Munro here found refuge. The town is noted for its manufacture of pottery, and carries on a trade in rice.

The District of Chingleput surrounds the city of Madras, stretching along the coast for about 115 m. The administrative headquarters are at Saidapet. Area, 3079 sq. m. Pop. (1901) 1,312,122, showing an increase of 9% in the decade. Salt is extensively manufactured all along the coast. Cotton and silk weaving is also largely carried on, and there are numerous indigo vats, tanneries and an English cigar factory.


CHIN HILLS, a mountainous district of Upper Burma. It lies on the border between the Lushai districts of Eastern Bengal and Assam and the plains of Burma, and has an area of 8000 sq. m. It is bounded N. by Assam and Manipur, S. by Arakan, E. by Burma, and W. by Tippera and the Chittagong hill tracts. The Chins, Lushais and Kukis are to the north-east border of India what the Pathan tribes are to the north-west frontier. In 1895 the Chin Hills were declared a part of the province of Burma, and constituted a scheduled district which is now administered by a political officer with headquarters at Falam. The tract forms a parallelogram 250 m. from N. to S. by 100 to 150 m. wide. The country consists of a much broken and contorted mass of mountains, intersected by deep valleys. The main ranges run generally N. to S., and vary in height from 5000 to 9000 ft., among the most important being the Letha or Tang, which is the watershed between the Chindwin and Manipur rivers; the Imbukklang, which divides the Sokte tribe from the Whenchs and sheds the water from its eastern slopes into Upper Burma and that from its western slopes into Arakan; and the Rong-klang, which with its prolongations is the main watershed of the southern hills, its eastern slopes draining into the Myittha and thus into the Chindwin, while the western fall drains into the Boinu river, which winding through the hills discharges itself eventually in the Bay of Bengal. The highest peak yet discovered is the Liklang, between Rawywa and Lungno, some 70 m. S. of Haka (nearly 10,000 ft.).

It is supposed that the Kukis of Manipur, the Lushais of Bengal and Assam, and the Chins originally lived in Tibet and are of the same stock; their form of government, method of cultivation, manners and customs, beliefs and traditions all point to one origin. The slow speech, the serious manner, the respect for birth and the knowledge of pedigrees, the duty of revenge, the taste for and the treacherous method of warfare, the curse of drink, the virtue of hospitality, the clannish feeling, the vice of avarice, the filthy state of the body, mutual distrust, impatience under control, the want of power of combination and of continued effort, arrogance in victory, speedy discouragement and panic in defeat, are common traits. The Chins, Lushais and Kukis were noted for the secrecy of their plans, the suddenness of their raids, and their extraordinary speed in retreating to their fastnesses. After committing a raid they have been known to march two days and two nights consecutively without cooking a meal or sleeping, so as to escape from any parties which might follow them. The British, since the occupation of Upper Burma, have been able to penetrate the Chin-Lushai country from both sides at once. The pacification of the Chin Hills is a triumph for British administration. Roads, on which Chin coolies now readily work, have been constructed in all directions. The rivers have been bridged; the people have taken up the cultivation of English vegetables, and the indigenous districts have been largely developed. The Chin Hills had a population (1901 census) of 87,189, while the Chins in Burma totalled 179,292. The Pakôkku Chin Hills, which form a separate tract, have an area of 2260 sq. m.; pop. (1901) 13,116.  (J. G. Sc.) 


CHINKIANG, or Chen-Kiang-fu, a treaty port of China, in the province of Kiang-su, on the Yangtsze-kiang above Shanghai, from which it is distant 160 m. It is in railway communication both with Shanghai and Nanking (40 m. distant), and being at the point where the Grand Canal running N. and S. intersects the Yangtsze, which runs E. and W., is peculiarly well situated to be a commercial entrepôt. The total value of exports and imports for 1904 was £4,632,992; estimated pop. 168,000. In the war of 1842 it yielded to the British only after a desperate resistance. It was laid waste by the Tʽaipʽing rebels in 1853, and was recaptured by the imperial forces in 1858.


CHINO-JAPANESE WAR (1894–95). The causes of this conflict arose out of the immemorial rivalry of China and Japan for influence in Korea. In the 16th century a prolonged war in the peninsula had ended with the failure of Japan to make good her footing on the mainland—a failure brought about largely by lack of naval resources. In more modern times (1875, 1882, 1884) Japan had repeatedly sent expeditions to Korea, and had fostered the growth of a progressive party in Seoul. The difficulties of 1884 were settled between China and Japan by the convention of Tientsin, wherein it was agreed that in the event of future intervention each should inform the other if it were decided to despatch troops to the peninsula. Nine years later the occasion arose. A serious rebellion induced the Korean government to apply for military assistance from China. Early in June 1894 a small force of Chinese troops were sent to Asan, and Japan, duly informed of this action, replied by furnishing her minister at Seoul with an escort, rapidly following up this step by the despatch of about 5000 troops under Major-General Oshima. A complicated situation thus arose. Chinese troops were present in Korea by the request of the government to put down rebellion. The Japanese controlled the capital, and declined to recognize Korea as a tributary of China. But she proposed that the two powers should unite to suppress the disturbance and to inaugurate certain specified reforms. China considered that the measures of reform must be left to Korea herself. The reply was that Japan considered the government of Korea “lacking in some of the elements which are essential to responsible independence.” By the middle of July war had become inevitable unless the Peking government were willing to abandon all claims over Korea, and as Chinese troops were already in the country by invitation, it was not to be expected that the shadowy suzerainty would be abandoned.

At Seoul the issue was forced by the Japanese minister, who delivered an ultimatum to the Korean government on the 20th of July. On the 23rd the palace was forcibly occupied. Meanwhile China had despatched about 8000 troops to the Yalu river.

  1. See Captain C. R. Day, Descriptive Catalogue of Musical Instruments (London, 1891), p. 233.
  2. See Hone’s Everyday Book, i. 1248.