CHEKIANG, the smallest but one of the most famous and densely peopled provinces of China, with an area of 36,68o sq.m. and a population of 22 millions. It is the most northerly of the coastal provinces of south China and is situated where the south west to north-east ridges, so characteristic of south-east China, begin to sink beneath the alluvial plains of the delta of the Yangtze-Kiang. The province, indeed, falls naturally into two physiographic regions demarcated by the Tayu-ling, the northern most ridge, which runs out to sea in the Chusan archipelago. The southern region consists of ridges and troughs parallel to the Tayu-ling and cut across by a number of transverse rivers. At the mouth of the largest of these, the Wu-kiang, lies Wenchow, the chief port of southern Chekiang. The northern region, drained for the most part by a single river, the Tsien-tang, with its outlet in Hangchow bay, consists essentially of the alluvial plains round the bay and of the foothills of the highlands. These northern plains are the most densely peopled part of the province partici pating in the life of the Yangtze delta and containing the well known seaport of Ningpo and the far-famed and beautiful capital city of Hangchow. This northern part of the province therefore resembles southern Kiangsu, while the rest is essentially similar to Fukien, which succeeds it on the south. Away from the plains around Hangchow bay flat land is rare and terraces stretch far up the mountain slopes.
The crops—wheat and beans, rice and cotton, tea and silk— are typical of mid-China, where the products characteristic of north and south overlap. On the slopes of the maritime ranges, scenically one of the most beautiful parts of China, some of the best tea grown in the country is produced. The historical role of the province and many aspects of its culture reflect the pivotal position of Chekiang. Before the consolidation of China in the 3rd century B.C. north Chekiang was the core of the maritime state of Yiieh, which finally gained the mastery over the whole Yangtze delta. During the 12th and 13th centuries A.D. it had a larger significance, for Hangchow was then the capital of what remained of China to the Sung dynasty, retreating southwards before the Kin Tatars, and, after the Mongol conquest, it re mained the acknowledged centre of Mangi. (See CATHAY. ) The province has played a conspicuous part in the cultural his tory of China and in recent times is said to have produced much the highest proportion, relative to its population, of literati and officials of high rank. Linguistically, Chekiang belongs to the non Mandarin speaking zone of south-east China. Over by far the greatest part of the province the Wu dialects, spoken in southern Kiangsu, prevail, and this constitutes another link with the Yangtze delta and facilitates close economic connection. In the south-west, Mandarin (or the official language) from Kiangsi and the Fukien dialects transgress the provincial boundary.