Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/69

* SHANS. 53 SHANS, shiinz. A numerous group of tribes on the frontiers of China, Burma, and Siam, extending considerably to the south. Physically and linguistically they belong, together with the Laotians, the Thos-Muong tribes of the Chinese- Tongking frontier, and the civilized Siamese of the southwest, to the Thai, one of the great stocks of Farther India. The Shans are dis- tributed among several semi-independent States subject to Burma. Siaiii, and Cliina. Their own method of government is nujre or less democratic, the chiefs being not at all alisolute, wliile the women have practically the same privileges as the men, something noteworthy in Indo-Chinii. Situated as they are in the upland river valle3's, half-way between the cities of Southern China and the commercial ports of Burma and Siam, the Shans take part in the extensive trade. The culture of the Shans varies from the condition of the wild Palungs to that of the people of Zimme and some of the other States who are little in- ferior to the other civilized and semi-civilized tribes of Indo-China. Many of the Shans are mountainous hunter-tribes of great courage and lionesty; others are agriculturalists of a rather high order, and cattle-breeders. Tea is a chief object of cultivation. Others are timber-cutters and wood-workers; others again skillful workers in iron, gold-beaters, etc. The religion of many of the Shan tribes is Buddhism, but the more in- dependent tribes retain their ancient customs to a very large extent. In the period from the twelfth to the sixteenth century the greater part of the peninsula was under the rule of the Empire of JIau, developed from one of the north- ern Shan States. Another remarkable Shan State was Zimiue, famous in the sixteenth cen- tury, subdued by Siam in the latter part of the eighteentli century, and still subject to that em- pire. The numerous ruins of cities and towns existing in the Shan country are thought to indi- cate great political activity in the period noted above, and perhaps long before then. Consult: Anderson. Mandalay to Moulmein (London, 1876); Colquhoun, Amonc/st the Shans (ib., 1885); Fournereau, Le Siam ancien (Paris, 1895). SHAN-SI, shan'se' (Chin., mountain, or moinitains, west). An inland province of China, originally bounded on the north by the Great Wall, but now including that portion of Southern Mongolia which lies south of the In or Yin Moun- tains (Map; China, D 4). Its greatest length is from north to south. Area, 56,268 square miles. The province is mountainous, especially in its northern half, with ranges (some of them of great height) having a general southwest to northeast trend, forming seven great basins, the more northerly of which drain toward the plain of Peking, some to the east and southeast to the Great Plain, and the others southwest to the Hoang-ho. These basins vary in height above sea-level from 4500 to 5000 feet in the north to about 1200 toward the southeast. The highest mountain peaks are found in the Tai-ho range (8000 feet) in the south-central part of the province, and the sacred Wu-tai Mountains (10.000 to 12,000 feet) farther north, about latitude 30° and near the border of Chih-li. noted for their w^ild grandeur, and for the 360 great Buddhist temples which crown their peaks SHAN-TUNG. or nestle in their recesses and which are annually visited by tens of thousands of pilgrims. Shan-si is rich in minerals. Coal, both bitu- minous and anthracite and of the finest quality, is found everywhere; iron of the best quality, isually associated with coal, abound.s, and is worked; copper has been found in over one hundred localities; tin near Mount Ki and else- where; and silver north of Tai-yuen, the capital. Salt lakes and springs are numerous, and near the great walled village of Lu-tsun, in the south- west, are extensive salt works, the oldest in the Chinese Empire, dating back nearly 5000 years. A notable feature of the province is the "exceed- ingly fertile loess, or 'terrace deposit,' varying in thickness from one foot to a thousand feet, and cut up in many places by the rains and rivers into an intricate network of deep gullies which render travel impossible except along well-traced tracks. The agricultural belt is comparatively small, and the soil does not produce sullicicnt for home consumption. Hence, while large quanti- ties of coal, iron, and salt are exported, opium, wheat, rice, and other foodstufl's have to be im- ported as well as cotton and cotton cloth. To- bacco is gro-wn in the south; in the southwest between Kiai-ehow and Tung-kwan the country is a continuous orchard, producing apples, pears, plums, persimmons, jujubes, etc., and in the plain of Tai-yuen-fu (the capital), besides other fruits, the best grapes in China are raised. Shan-si is a wealthy province. The houses are substantially built of brick, frequently two to three stories high, and in a style of arcliitecture different from that found elsewhere in the country. In the loess region the majority of the people live in caves, sometimes two or more stories high, cut into the deposit and faced with brick, with well-built stairs leading to the upper stories. The inhabit- ants as a rule are civil and friendly to foreigners, are characterized by an enterprising commercial spirit, and the Shan-si men are well known as the bankers and pawnbrokers of the Empire. Population, about 13,000.000. The great highway of tiie province runs from southwest to northeast, connecting the fortress of Tung-kwan at the point where the provinces of Shen-si, Shan-si, and Ho-nan come together, with Kalgan (q.v.), a branch running northeast from Tai-yuen-fu to Ching-ting-fu, Pao-ting, Pe- king, etc., and another from Ta-tung. a'bout latitude 40° X.. nortliwest to Kwei-hwa Ch'ing and west Mongolia. Railway extension will be along these lines. SHAN (shan) STATES. A name applied to a number of semi-independent States in South- eastern Asia, occupying the region between Bur- ma, China, Siam, and Tongking (Map: Burma, C 2). They derive their name from their in- habitants, the Shans (q.v.). SHAN-TUNG, shiin'toong' (Chin., mountain east), A maritime province of China, a con- siderable portion of which consists of a moun- tainous promontory 100 miles wi<le. which pro- jects eastward from the mainland into the Yel- low Sea for 200 miles, and is distant from the peninsula of Korea less than a day's sail (Map: China, E, 4). Area, about 65,104 square miles. The central portion is occupied by massive lime- stone mountains, culminating in Mount Tai (4111 feet), famous in history and considered sacred by the people. West, southwest, and north