Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/733

* CHINCH-BUG. 637 CHINESE ART. rubbish. Early in the spring the female lays 500 or more eggs on the roots and stems of grain. The young, at first, are red in cuUir, and, clustering in crowds on the stems and leaves of grain or maize, suck out the juices and kill the plants. Wheat sutlers most. There are two gen- erations in a year. When arriving at maturity the broods scatter, and should a strong wind be blowing at the time the insects are on the wing, they may be blown or carried many miles. 'et and cold springs and severe winters help to keep down the nmnber of this pest. In Kansas sev- eral contagious diseases that attack this bug have been discovered, and to facilitate the spread of such diseases infested chinch-bugs are sent to various parts of the State with alleged en- couraging results. Several illustrated mono- graphs of this species have been issued, of which the most complete is that by F. il. Webster, The Cliinch-biig (Department of Agriculture, Wash- ington, 1S98). CHINCHILLA DE MONTE - ARAGON, chvn-che'lya da mon'ta a'ra-gnn'. A town of Spain, in the Province of Albacete, 10 miles southeast of the city of that name ( Map : Spain, F. S). It is surrounded by walls, and has a castle. It has manufactures of cloth, linen, leather, earthenware, and glass, and a trade in the agrioiltural produce of the district. Popula- tion, in 1887, 6096; in 1900, 6544. CHINCHIL'LA (Sp., from So. Amer. In- dian ). A small South American rodent allied to the cavies, but outwardly much resembling a ground-squirrel, which represents an extensive family (Chinchillida;). All the species are gre- garious; feed much on roots, for which their strong and sharp incisors are particularly adapted: and live either in holes, which they se- lect for themselves in rocky districts, or in bur- rows, which they excavate. They are valued for their fur, particularly the chinchilla of the . des (Chinchilla lanigcra), whose mouse-gray and extremely soft and lustrous fur constitutes an important article of commerce, but their numbers are said to be perceptibly decreasing. The an- cient Peruvians were accustomed to employ the wool of the chinchilla for the manufacture of fine fabrics:. See Plate of C.wiKS. CHINDWARA, ehlnd-wa'ra. The capital of a district of the same name in the Xerbudda Di- vision, Central Provinces, British India (Map: India, C 4). It is situated in latitude 22° 3' N. and longitude 78° 58' E., occupying a plateau amid the Deoghur ^lountains, 2100 feet above the level of the sea. Its climate is one of the most agreeable and salubrious in India, and at- tracts many visitors in search of health or recrea- tion. Area of district, 4631 square miles. Popu- lation, in 1891. 407.500; in 1901, 408,100. CHINESE ARROWROOT. See Nelumbo. CHINESE ART. For the purpose of this hiquiry the history of China may be said to begin with the Dynasty of the TIan and the accession of KaoTsou about n.c. 200. Some very interesting sculptures on sandstone, parts of family tombs, brought together long afterward* by native anti- quarians and preserved in the Province of Shan- tung, are the earliest works of the kind which it is possible to date even approximately. But it is observable that in this, the earliest piece of ancient art so far examined, we have something which remains in a seaboard province and within a few hours' ride of a great thoroughfare. The same peculiarity obtains in whatever is known of Chinese architecture, architectural sculpture, and lixed and i>ermanent art of any sort; it is close to some great centre never wholly closed to Europeans. What the vast territories of the empire lontain. and what its swarming millions have produced during the two thousand years of record and the thirty centuries of legen- dary history, is not as yet ascertained. No residents of China and no travelers from Euro- l)ean lauds liave given to the world a full ac- count of the renuiins in even one jjrovince; and even the external appearam-c of Imildings in the remoter provinces is known only from very recent photographs taken by casual passers-by. In fact, arciia'ological science has not been in-. troduced into the study of Chinese buildings and ruins, and the slightest observation has been accepted as complete and as containing truth ap- plicable to the whole empire. The famous 'ireat Wall of China is generally thought to date from the close of the Third Cen- tury B.C., but tliis, in spite of its vast extent and the evidence it gives of much practical capacity among large classes of the population, is not in any sense a work of fine art. nor is it equal, in any part of its length of some 1500 miles, to the walls and gates of the greater cities. .It does, however, enable us to accept more readily the extraordinary tales of important works done bv the first Han Emperor, Kao- Tsou. already named, especially in the wa,v of bridges built over the numerous water- courses of the central and western provinces of the empire. These bridges were sometimes mas- sive, rivaling modern engineering works in the prodigious amount of labor and expense involved, and sometimes of light material and hung in air over mountain torrents. Architecture. Architecture in the usual sense is not known to have been carried to important results in China before the appearance there of the Buddhist influence in the course of the First Century ..n. Then Indian types were introduced and the Taa or pagoda of Chinese form appeared; although none of such early date has been identi- fied. These towers, as they now exist, are usually constructed of brick, which material is con- cealed in many cases by an elaborate facing of what are spoken of as 'tiles,' but which are frequently very massive and of elaborate form, embossed with sculptured designs vers' richly painted. Others exist, which are built chiefly of stone. Some reach the height of thirteen stories; but this seems to be unusual. The roof is far more prominent in Chinese ar- chitecture than in that of Europe; and the roofs must have been always of wood, as they are to this dav: round Inirs of no L'roat size, or lengths of bamboo. The curinii* ,nnd often noted tent-like form of these roofs with hollow curves, the steep pitch of the upper part, growing less and less until the broad caves are almost hori- zontal, are not to he ascribed to any attempted imitation of the actual tent of canv.ns or tex- tile material. They are unquestionably the re- sult of the peeiliar frnniin;.' of the roof, which, %vhether built of hollow bnmboos or of light solid pieces, whether, squared or |)resering the natural form of the log, is constructed in a way altorjether difTerent from that used in the roof- building of Europe. The artistic importance of these roofs, their value, iiuliviilunlly or in groups.