Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 11.djvu/576

* KIRCHNEB. 520 KIBIIi. mostly for the piauo, and his preludes, caprices, and nocturnes are charming. KIRGHIZ, ker-gez', or Kirgiiiz-Kazaks. The chief part of Ihe Central Asiatic group of Turko- Tatarie (Mongolian) jjcoples. They number, altogether, some 3,000,000, ranging over the great steppe and marshy area from the borders of Euro- pean Russia to those of West<'rn China, north- ward beyond the Sir-Darya. The ancient division of the Kirghiz into "hordes' is still retained. The 'Great Horde' has its habitat partly in Russian and partly in (yhinese territory in the Yarkand- Tashkent-Alatau region; the 'Middle Horde,' or Siberian Kirghiz, chielly in the Balkash-Irtish- Tobol region; the 'Little Horde,' in the steppes north of the Aral and Caspian seas, to the west of the 'Jliddle Horde.' To the 'Little H<ude' belong the Kirghiz of the Volga-Ural steppes in European Russia, who for the last century have wandered over that country. The Kirghiz are, for the most part, characteristically a nomadic, tent-dwelling people, living by their flocks and herds, though recently some of them (e.g. a part of the 'Little Horde') have taken somewhut to agriculture. Bj' language the Kirghiz belong to the Turkish stock, and the folk-literature of the various 'hordes' evidences no little poetical spirit and a marked sense of humor. They preserve some of the old characters of the Tiirko-Tataric race, and beneath the creed of Islam, which so many of them have accepted, the more ancient Sha- manism is often scarcely hidden. Some few of the Western Kirghiz are Buddhists. The Kara- Kirghiz ('Ijlack Kirghiz') of the Tliian Shan region between the lake of Issik Kul and the Kuenlun Mountains, who number some 3.50,000, are known to the Russians as Diko-kaiiienija Kirgisi, or 'wild mountain Kirghiz,' and have a less favorable reputation than some of the other sections of this widely distributed people. Their language is thought to be more archaic, their folk-poetry more sid ficiieris, while they have also retained more perfectly some of the ancient customs and beliefs of the stock. The name Kirghiz has often been loosely employed in the sense of 'nomad,' and not all of the tribes and fractions of tribes thus denominated are of Turko-Tataric ancestry. The Kirghiz also pos- sess, in all probability, not a little Aryan and other non-Mongolian blood. The Kara-Kirghiz are, perhaps, the most Slongolian of all, repre- senting l)est the Turko-Tataric type of the milieu of Turkestan — brachycephalic, medium statured (or a little taller), and of somewhat darker com- plexion. Besides the Russinu studies of Grode- kow (18,90), Kharuzin (1889-0.5), etc., reference may be made to Seeland. "Les Kirghis," in the Revue d'AiilhrnpoInpie (Paris) for 188(5, which summarizes a good deal of the Russian literature on the subject. Consult, also: Helhvald, Central- nsien (Leipzig, 1880) ; Viimbery, Die primitive Kvltur <Icf! tiirkn-tatarischen ]'oIkes (ib,, 1879); id., Dns- TiirUenvolk (ib.. 1885) ; Shaw, Visits to High Tdrtnrii. ric. (London, 1871). KIBILLITSA, k# ril'li-tsS.or CYRILLITSA (Russ., Cyrillic). The Slavic alphabet alleged to have been invented by Saint Cyril (q.v. ), and now used (in n modified form) by the Russians, Servians, and Bulgarians. All ecclesiastical books in the Old Church Slavic language are written either in Kirillitsa or Glagolitsa (q.v.). The books in Kirillitsa, fewer in number than those in Glagolitsa, fall into three redactions: Russian, Servian, and Bulgarian. Of the Rus- sian group the most ancient are the (lospel of Ostramir (1057) and the Collection of Ixyaslaf (1073). KIB.IN, ke-ren' (Chin. Ai-/i)i, lucky forest). The central one of the three provinces of Man- churia, bounded on the north by the Sungari River, on the east by the Usuri and the Russian Jlaritinie Province, on the south by Korea and the Province of Shing-king, and on the west by the Sungari, Area, 115,000 square miles (Map: China, G .'5), It consists of two parts, a 'prairie' or level part l.ving within the loop of the Sungari, and a mountainous ])ait. The chief mountain is the Slian-a-lin (otherwise known as the Ch'ang I'eh tihan or "Ever-White Mountain') with peaks from 8000 to 10,000 feet high, and covered with snow. In general the trend of the ranges in this mountainous part is from northeast to southwest, as in China proper. The chief rivers are the Sungari, the ilurka, and the Usuri. The first of these is the most im])ortant. It rises on the northwest side of the Sliana-lin, flows north by west, receives many tributaries, jiasses the city of Kirin, then west to about latitude 44° 30' N., where it enters Mongolia, and takes a north- west direction, passes Petuna, where it receives the Nonni, flows east and finally northeast, tending to north until it reaches the Amur. The Usuri River, in latitude 44° N., longitude 131° E., re- ceives numerous tributaries, and after a course of 500 miles also joins the Amur. The Ilurka River, not far from the source of the Sungari, takes a northerly direction past Ninguta, receives two important tributaries from the west, and joins the Sung.ari at the city of San-sing (which lies on the south bank of the Sungari, east bank of the Ilurka, and southwest bank of the Kung-ho, which here joins the others). From Petuna east the country is a level plain, broken with insig- nificant undulations, cultivated in the vicinity of the villages, but elsewhere covered with a sea of waving tall grass. The soil of the province is fertile; the chief products are pulse, millet, maize, barley, potatoes, and the ])0])py. Tigers abound in the mountain- ous part, and black bears, wild boars, panthers, and polecats are numerous; eagles are also found, and the game includes pheasants, partridges, quails, and grouse. The cities of the province besides Kirin (q.v.), the capital, are Ashiho (population. 40,000), near which the new Man- churian railway line passes; Petuna, on the Sungari (30,000); San-sing, alreadv mentioned; Lalin, 1"20 miles north of Kirin (l'5,000); Nin- guta (15.000), of little importance commercial- ly; and Shwang-shing-pu. a walled town 45 miles east of Ashiho, full of inns, and exceedingly dirty. The province on the north is called Tsi- tsi-har, or in Chinese Beh-lung-kinng, or 'Black Dragon River.' KIBIIT. The capital of the province of the same name in ^Manchuria, beautifully situated at the foot of hills, and on the Sungari River, about 250 miles west of Vladivostok (Map: China, G 3 ), The main .street runs east and west, and is built partly on piles which stretch out into the river. There are many squares beau- tifully ornamented with flowers in pots. The streets are paved with wood blocks; wood is abundant and cheap, and boats and small junks