YUNNAN (i.e., Cloudy South), a south-west province of China, bounded north by Szechwan, east by Kwei-chow and Kwang-si, south by Burma and the Lao tribes, and west by Burma and Tibet; area 146,718 sq. miles. The population is variously estimated at four to 12 millions, a recent and probable estimate being between eight and nine millions. The inhabitants include many races beside Chinese, such as Shans, Lolos and Maotsze. The Musus, in north-west Yunnan, once formed an independent kingdom which extended into East Tibet. Some of the inhabitants are nominally Muslim. The west and north-west have high mountain ranges and deep gorges of the Kinsha-kiang (upper Yangtze-Kiang), the Mekong and the Salwen; the ridges have peaks over 16,000 ft. high, the slopes are often heavily forested, population is small, communications are bad, and a jour ney from Yunnan Fu to Bhamo, via Teng-yueh (5o5 m.) takes nearly four weeks. The south-east includes the upper basin of the Songkoi or Red river, and of the Pata-ho (upper Si-kiang) ; the former becomes navigable near Man-hao, just before it leaves Yunnan for Tongking. This region has rich valleys and open, undulating country. The north-east, near the Yangtze Kiang's right bank, is not very high, though higher than Kwei chow, over the border, but it is deeply dissected and sparsely peopled. There are a few lakes, especially near the capital, Yunnan Fu. The mean monthly temperature of Yunnan Fu varies from 47° F in December to 69° F in July, the warm season being April to August and the rainy season March to August, with the maximum in June (13.34 in.). The total annual fall is 37 to 38 inches.
Besides Yunnan Fu, the capital, the province contains 13 pre fectural cities, several of which—Teng-ch'uen Fu, Ta-li Fu, Yung-ch'ang Fu, Ch'u-siung Fu and Lin-gan Fu, for example— are situated in the valley plains. Mengtsze, Szemao and Momein (or Teng-yueh) are open to foreign trade. Yunnan Fu is con nected by railway (Iwo) with Tongking. The line, which starts from Haiphong, runs, in Yunnan, via Mengtsze hsien (a great commercial centre), to the capital. Several important roads in
tersect the province; among them are :—(i) The road from Yunnan Fu to Bhamo in Burma via Ta-li Fu (12 days), Teng yueh Chow or Momein (eight days), and Manwyne—beyond Ta-li Fu it is a difficult mountain route. (2) The road from Ta-li Fu North to Patang via Li-kiang Fu, which thus connects West Yunnan with Tibet. (3) The ancient trade road to Canton, which connects Yunnan Fu with Pai-se Fu, in Kwang-si, on the Canton West river, a land journey which occupies about 20 days. From this point the river is navigable to Canton.
Yunnan, long independent, was subdued by Kublai Khan, but was not finally incorporated in the empire until the 17th century. It was the principal centre of the great Mohammedan rebellion, which lasted 16 years and was suppressed in 1872.
See IL R. Davies, Yunnan, the Link between India and the Yangtze (Cambridge, 1909) ; A. Little, Across Yunnan (London, 191o) ; Rev. J. M'Carthy, "The Province of Yunnan," in The Chinese Empire (London, 1907) ; L. Richard, Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire (Shanghai, 1908).
the capital of the province of Yiin-nan, China, about 500 m. by rail N.N.W. of the port of Hai-Gong, Tong king. The town is centrally placed at a focus of ways within the province. The plain in the neighbourhood of the city is fertile and well populated and Yiin-nan-Fu is said to have about 45,000 inhabitants. Originally the surrounding district was known as the "land of the southern barbarians" and the city is surrounded by fortified walls some 61 m. in circuit. The city has a strong Mohammedan colony and was almost reduced to ruin by the Mohammedan rising in 1855. The rise to prosperity was slow, but the opening in 1910 of the railway from Tongking, built by the French, gave a fresh impetus to commerce. The copper works are important and there is a mint at Yiin-nan-Fu. Silk and leather goods are made while English cotton fabrics are imported as well as raw cotton from Burma.