Hangchow
capital of the Chinese province of Chêkiang, and since the Japanese treaty of Shimonoseki (1895), a treaty port, at the mouth of the Tsientang in the Bay of Hangchau, 110 miles S. W. of Shanghai. The city, one of the great commercial, religious, and literary centers of China, has clean, well-paved streets and many magnificent temples, is a principal seat of the silk manufacture, of gold and silver work, and is noted for the beauty of its surroundings. From a remote period, many spots in the environs have been the resort of pilgrims; and here several thousands of candidates assemble every year for the public examinations. It was formerly a naval port. The river is subject to a dangerous bore or eager. Previous to the Tâiping rebellion, the city had about 2,000,000 inhabitants; but it was then (1861) laid in ruins by the rebels. Pop. about 600,000 of whom about 100,000 are engaged in silk-making.
HANGING GARDENS. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were anciently reckoned among the wonders of the world. Their construction is variously ascribed to Queen Semiramis and to Nebuchadnezzar. Diodorus and Strabo have given descriptions of them. They are said to have formed a square, with an area of nearly four acres, and rose in terraces, supported on masonry arches, to a height of 75 feet. They were irrigated from a reservoir built at the top, to which water was lifted from the Euphrates by a screw.
HAN-HAI (hän-hī'), an ancient driedup sea in central Asia, now represented only by Lake Lob-nor.
HAN-KIANG (hän-kyäng), a river in China, 1,300 miles long. Traffic is considerable and the region watered is in some places styled the "Garden of China."
HANKOW (-kou) ("Mouth of the Han"), a town and river-port in China, HANNAY in the province of Hupeh, at the junction of the Han with the Yang-tse-kiang; Hanyang being on the opposite bank of the Han, and Wuchang on the other side of the Yangtse. The port was opened to foreign trade in 1862, and has become the chief emporium for the green-tea districts in the central provinces, which formerly sent their produce for export to Canton. Large steamers ascend to the town. In 1857 Hankow fell into the 185 1857 Hankow fell into town. hands of the Taiping rebels, and was almost completely demolished by them. Pop. about 830,000.