Tian Shan

“ The expression Tian Shan Pe-lu, or northern Tian Shan route, in opposition to the Tian Shan Nan-lu, or southern Tian Shan route, shows that the Chinese had fully appreciated the importance of this historic highway, which continues the road running from the extreme western gate of the Great Wall obliquely across Mongolian Kan-su, through Hami and Barkul, to Urumtsi. From here the two natural highways lead, one to the head-waters of the Black Irtish, the other to the passes leading into the Ili valley, and other routes of the Arolo-Caspian depression. ”

“ Fin Fan! Fin Fan! Her face was before him, her voice in his ears. The clock ticked Fin Fan; the cat purred it; a little mouse sqeaked it; a night-bird sang it. He tossed about, striving to think what ailed him. With the first glimmer of morning came knowledge of his condition. He loved Fin Fan, even as the American man loves the girl he would make his wife.
Now Tian Shan, unlike most Chinese, had never saved money and, therefore, had no home to offer Fin Fan. He knew, also, that her father had his eye upon a young merchant in Montreal, who would make a very desirable son-in-law. ”

“ After we had done hunting we turned into the Kaidu valley, crossing the southern slope of the Tian Shan. The ascent of the pass from the Yulduz side is so gradual as to be hardly perceptible, although the elevation above sea-level is at least 9300 feet. But the descent on the other side is extremely difficult. For about forty versts the barely-distinguishable track follows the defile of the Habtsagai, and for twenty-two versts further that of the Balgantai river. ”

“ A Chinese, who has been unlawfully breathing United States air for several years, was captured last night crossing the border, a feat which he is said to have successfully accomplished more than a dozen times during the last few years. His name is Tian Shan, and there is no doubt whatever that he will be deported to China as soon as the necessary papers can be made out.
Fin Fan lifted her head. Fresh air and light had come into her soul. Her eyes sparkled. 234In the closet behind her hung a suit of her father’s clothes. Fin Fan was a tall and well-developed young woman. ”

“ The most important of these ranges is the Tian-shan or Celestial Mountains, which form the northern boundary of the Gobi desert, they lie between 40° and 43° N., and between 75° and 95° E., and some of the summits are said to exceed 20,000 ft. in altitude, along the foot of this range are the principal cultivated districts of central Asia, and here too are situated the few towns which have sprung up in this barren and thinly peopled region. ”

“ Not only has it become highly prosperous and thickly populated under Russian rule, but it has also been raised into one of the most fiscally remunerative portions of the Russian possessions in Central Asia, and then there is its admirable frontier in the Tian Shan, which places the future trade with the western parts of China more at its disposal, than it is through the Semipalatinsk and Chuguchak route, and, above all, it effectually dispels all sense of real danger from attack. ”

“ Up to this time Keen Lung had been generally set down as a literary student, as a man more of thought than of action. But his reading had taught him one thing, and that was that the danger to China from the side of Central Asia was one that went back to remote ages, that it had never been allayed, save for brief intervals, and then only by establishing Chinese authority on either side of the Tian Shan. His studies showed Keen Lung what ought to be done, and the aggressions of his neighbors soon gave him the opportunity of carrying out the policy that he felt to be the best. ”

“ Routes.—The traditional routes between China on the one side and West Turkestan and Persia on the other have from time immemorial crossed the Tian-shan system at some half a dozen points. After traversing the desert of Gobi from Sa-chou to Hami, the great northern route crossed over into the Dzungarian valley either by the Otun-koza depression or by the gap at Urumchi, or else it proceeded over the Muz-art pass on the east side of Khan-tengri or over the Bedel pass in the Kokshal-tau and so down into the valley of Kulja. ”

“ Wild boar and hares excepted, all other animals are comparatively few, and some very scarce. This fauna, too, has no distinguishing feature, for, excepting the wild camel, most of the animals are also found in the Tian Shan, whilst the remainder are common to the deserts of Central Asia generally.
Neither is the country we are describing rich in birds, although one might have supposed that the woods and warm climate in the Tarim valley would have attracted many to winter here. ”

“ Concerning the structure of the central Asian plateau our knowledge is still incomplete. The great mountain chains, the Kuen-lun, the Nan-shan and the Tian-shan, are belts of folding; but the Mongolian Altai is a horst—a strip of ancient rock lying between two faults and with a depressed area upon each side. In the whole of this northern region faulting, as distinct from folding, seems to have played an important part. Along the southern margin of the Tian-shan there is a remarkable trough-like depression which appears to lie between two approximately parallel faults.
(P. La.) Fauna. ”

“ The little party of adventurers crossed the Tian Shan in mid-winter without encountering any opposition, and in January 1865 reached the neighbourhood of Kashgar. Meanwhile Sadik Beg had repented of the invitation given to the Khoja prince, and pointed out that the Chinese were sure to reconquer Kashgar, where they would exact stern retribution. But Yakub Beg, moulded in the school of adversity, disregarded the warning and insisted on entering Kashgar, where Buzurg Khan was received with enthusiasm and proclaimed Khan. ”

“ To the north runs the Tian Shan; to [Pg 236] the west lies the Kizil Art, holding up the Pamirs, those elevated valleys of High Asia; on the south are the lofty Kara Koram and Kuen Lun ranges, the latter being the Kasia Mountains of Ptolemy, bounding Serindia, as he termed the province. The eastern boundary is the vast Gobi or “Desert,” where Sir Francis Younghusband travelled for nearly one thousand miles without seeing a house. ”

“ Eastern Turkestan, which has passed once more into the possession of China, the third great power in Asia, is outside the sphere we have defined as Central Asia; but as some most interesting explorations have recently been made in the Tian Shan regions, it is proposed to include them in this chapter, which summarises the results, so far as they are yet known, of the discoveries of the last three years on the part of Russian explorers. ”

“ Hope died within their bosoms, and the resignation of despair only nerved them to bear a fate which their own valour should have striven to avert. It is time for us now to return to the Chinese army, and to follow its decisive operations.
North of the Tian Shan the supreme command was vested in the hands of Tso Tsung Tang, generalissimo of the army operating against Kashgar, and Viceroy of the province of Kansuh. South of it the commanders were Generals Kin Shun and Chang Yao, the former the hero of the siege of Manas, the latter of the diversion against Turfan from Hamil. ”

“ By this means the cultivated country was slowly but surely spread over a greater extent of territory, and the vicinity of the three cities of Kashgar, Yangy Hissar, and Yarkand became known as the garden of Asia. Corn and fruit grew in abundance, and from Yarkand to the south of the Tian Shan the traveller could pass through one endless orchard. On all sides he saw nothing but plenty and content, peaceful hamlets and [Pg 60] smiling inhabitants. These were the outcome of a Chinese domination. ”

“ Before reaching Lake Lob we had to march due south and strike the valley of the Tarim at a point eighty-six versts distant from Korla. For some way the country has the appearance of an undulating plain covered with a pebbly or gravelly soil, and totally devoid of vegetation, forming a belt twenty to twenty-five versts wide, more or less, running parallel to and at the foot of the Kurugh-tagh, a low, waterless, and barren range forming the last arm of the Tian Shan in the direction of the Lob-nor desert. ”

“ THE CHIEF OF THE CUSTOM-HOUSE GIVES A LESSON IN OPIUM SMOKING. Urumtsi, or Hun-miao (red temple) of the Chinese, still retains its ancient prestige in being the seat of government for the viceroyalty of Sin-tsiang, which includes all that portion of western China lying without the limit of Mongolia and Tibet. Thanks to its happy position, it has always rapidly recovered after every fresh disaster. It now does considerable trade with Russia through the town of Chuguchak, and with China through the great gap which here occurs in the Tian Shan range. ”

“ In the Alai region there are other extensive glaciers, e.g. the Fedchenko and Shurovsky glaciers south of peak Kauffmann. Generally speaking, the snow-line runs at 11,500–12,800 ft. above sea-level, and all ranges the peaks of which shoot up above 12,000 ft. are snow-clad, and all ranges which are snow-clad rise to higher altitudes than 11,500 ft. A feature generally characteristic of the Tian-shan as a whole is that the absolute elevation of the ranges increases gradually from north to south, and from the centre decreases towards both the east and the west. ”

“ Under him are Taoyin, or Governors, of Urumchi, Tarbagtai, Ili, Aksu and Kashgar. The situation is complicated by the fact that the commander of the troops in the districts south of the Tian Shan is independent of the Governor of Urumchi, taking orders direct from Peking. Under the Taoyin of Kashgar, with which we are especially concerned, are Hsien Yin, or Sub-Governors, of Khotan, Yarkand and other districts; there are also officials appointed to deal with foreign affairs. The term Amban is applicable to all Chinese officials, and is used especially as a mark of respect. ”

“ The overthrow of the Tungani, and the reconquest of Kashgaria, have not completed the task that lay before Chinese generals and soldiers in Central Asia. Great and remarkable as those triumphs were, the Chinese are not satisfied with them, because there yet remains more work to be done. They have restored to the Emperor Tian Shan Nan Lu, but so long as the Russians hold Kuldja, Tian Shan Pe Lu is only half won back. Moreover, so long as a great military power is domiciled in Kuldja, China's hold on the country west of Aksu must be only on sufferance. ”

“ Lee Ping shook his head, but gave in.
"You must persuade her yourself," said he to Wong Ling that evening. "We are in a country where the sacred laws and customs of China are as naught."
So Wong Ling pressed his own suit. He was not a bad-looking fellow, and knew well also how to honey his speech. Moreover, he believed in paving his way with offerings of flowers, trinkets, sweetmeats.
Fin Fan looked, listened, and accepted. Every gift that could be kept was carefully put by in a trunk which she hoped some day to take to New York. "They will help to furnish Tian Shan's home," said she. ”

“ Departure from Kulja — Valley of the Ili — Crossing the Tekes — Inhahitants — Fertility of Kunges Valley — Abundance of fruit; bears, birds, &c. — Pass to the Tsanma — Fir forests — Autumn in the mountains — The Narat range — Yulduz and its fauna — Hunting — Ovis Poll — Descent of Tian Shan — Yakub Beg's envoys — River Kaidu-gol — Arrival at Korla — Jealousy and distrust of officials — Desert of Lob— Hydrography of Lower Tarim — Barren country — Oleasters — Monotonous scenery. ”

“ Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/145 Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/146 Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/147 Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/148 Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/149 Page:From Kulja, across the Tian Shan to Lob-Nor (1879) .djvu/150 exist on chilly Yulduz; of snakes and lizards there are none, and only an occasional toad or frog may be caught near a marshy spring. ”

“ In this way he came to the open space known as the Space of the Eight Directions, where Ko’en Cheng and his nobles were assembled.
“One comes alone,” they cried. “This guise is as a taunt.” “Naked to a naked town—the analogy is plain.” “Shall the mocker be suffered to return?”
Thus the murmur grew. Then one, more impetuous than the rest, swung clear his sword and drew it. For the first time Tian understood that treachery was afoot. He looked round for any of his band, but found that he was as a foam-tossed cork upon a turbulent Whang Hai. Cries of anger and derision filled the air ”

“ A wide expanse unfolds on every side, with only the heavens above. One can make out Tzinan, and faintly the Hoang Ho, then a lake of considerable size, and the railway stretching like a hair on the glass into infinity in either direction—a brown world rolling away in a myriad of peaks and knobs and salients of what looks like a boiling landscape suddenly struck solid. I have nowhere been able to find why Tai-shan is a sacred mountain, but it was already so twenty-five hundred years before the Christian era began ”

“ None but Shans live in the valley. They are permitted to govern themselves under Chinese supervision, and preserve their own laws and customs. They have a village near the bridge, of grass-thatched huts and open booths, where travellers can find rest and refreshment, and where native women prettily arrayed in dark-blue, will brew you tea in earthenware teapots. Very different are the Shan women from the Chinese. ”