Mukden

Mukden, or MOUTDEN, capital of Manchuria, is situated in the southern part of the country, on a branch of the river Liao, 425 miles NE. of Peking. Mukden is the Manchu name; the Chinese call it Shingking, its present official title. The town is surrounded by a good masonry wall, a parallelogram in shape. Outside this the suburbs extend for one to two miles and are protected by a mud wall. The imperial palace stands in the centre of the city, enclosed within a third separate wall. Previous to 1623 the town was called Shenyang; in that year Nurhachu, the founder of the present reigning family in China, made it his capital and called it Mukden. The Irish and Scotch Presbyterians are very active in the place; they conduct also a medical mission which is very successful. There is, too, a Roman Catholic mission. Numerous temples adorn the city. About four miles to the east is the tomb of Nurhachu. Mukden contains other imperial tombs of the reigning family. Good coal exists in the vicinity. Its port is Newchwang (q.v.); and it is an important point on the Russian railway system which connects the Siberian line with Port Arthur and the China Sea.