222  THE  CHINESE  EMPIRE
Shansi,  the  “  Mountains  of  the  West,”  lies  between
Chinli  and  Shensi.  With  practically  no  rivers  intersecting
it,  and  skirted  on  the  west  and  south  by  the  unnavigable
Yellow  River,  it  occupies  a  high  plateau  with  a  steep  escarpment ­
  on  its  eastern  side.  Any  failure  of  rain  brings  drought
and  almost  unrelievable  famine,  and  the  difficulties  0
transport  are  such  as  to  be  overcome  only  by  the  construction ­
  of  railways.  A  line  is  in  course  of  construction,
connecting  the  capital,  Taiyuanfu,  with  the  Peking-HankoW
line  at  Chentow.  The  estimated  area  is  82,000  square
miles,  and  population  12,000,000.
Shensi  lies  between  Shansi,  Honan,  and  Hupeh  on  the
east,  Szechwan  on  the  south,  and  Kansu  on  the  west.  Its
produce  finds  an  outlet  partly  through  Honan  and  part  y
over  the  mountains  and  down  the  Han  River  to  Hankow-At
  or  near  Sianfu  was  the  ancient  capital  of  what  thenconstituted
  the  Empire,  in  the  third  century  before  Christ
and  again  in  the  sixth  century  after  Christ  ;  and  at  Sianfu,
to  which  the  Court  fled  for  refuge  from  the  troubles  of  19 00 '
are  maintained  simulacra  of  Ministries,  as  at  Moukden,
but  without  staffs.  The  area  of  the  province  is  estimated
a t  75&gt;ooo  square  miles,  and  its  population  at  8,500,000*
The  name  of  this  province  affords  an  instance  of  the  di
cutties  of  the  Chinese  language  and  its  dependence  on  tones
or  inflexion  of  the  voice.  In  spelling  there  is  properly  no
distinction  between  Shansi  and  this  province,  and  to  dis
tinguish  correctly  the  sound  as  spoken,  the  former  should
be  Shansi  and  the  latter  Shansi  :  Shensi  is  only  a  convenient
conventionalised  mode  of  distinguishing  the  two  provinces.
Kansu  forms  the  extreme  north-west  corner  of  the
Eighteen  Provinces,  and  has  an  area  estimated  at  125,° 0 ^
square  miles,  and  a  population  of  8,000,000.  Traversed
by  the  Yellow  River,  it  is  restricted  to  land  transport  :
and  its  produce,  mainly  wool  of  sheep  and  camel,  finds  its
out  et  through  Mongolia,  thence  down  from  the  north-west
to  Tientsin.
Kweichow  lies  far  to  the  south,  but  is  more  conveniently
mentioned  here,  as  the  only  other  province  not  having