A wide branch estuary, that of the Fergus, joins from N., and the rivers Mulkear, Maigne and Deel enter from S. From Lough Allen to Limerick, where the Shannon becomes tidal, its fall is 144 ft. With the assistance of short canals the river is navigable for light vessels to Lough Allen, and for small steamers to Athlone; while Limerick is accessible for large vessels. The salmon fishing is famous; trout are also taken in the loughs and tributary streams (Carrick-on-Shannon, Athlone, Killaloe, and Castleconnel are favourite stations for sportsmen. The scenery is generally pleasant, and on the loughs, with their deeply indented shores and numerous islands, often very beautiful. These islands are in several cases sites of early religious settlements, while of those on the river-banks the most noteworthy is that of the seven churches of Clonmacnoise.
SHANS, a collective name, probably from Chinese Shan-tse,
Shan-yen (Shan= “mountain”), “highlanders,” given by the
Burmese to all the tribes of Thai stock subject to the former
kingdom of Burma (see Shan States below). The Shans call
themselves Tai or Punong; while the Chinese call them Pai
or Pai-yi. Among them exist the purest types of the Thai race.
They are found all over the province of Yunnan and in the borderland
between China and Burma. Politically, where not under the
direct control of Chinese magistrates, the tribes are organized
under their own chiefs, who are recognized by the Chinese
government and endowed with official rank and title. In Burmese
such native chiefs are termed Sawbwa.
For the history of the Thai race see Thais. See also Laos, Miaotze, Lolos. Also A. R. Colquhoun, Amongst the Shans (1885); E. Aymonier, “Les Tchaines,” in Revue de l’histoire des religions for 1891.
SHAN-SI, a northern province of China, bounded N. by Mongolia, E. by Chih-li, S. by Ho-nan, and W. by Shen-si. Estimates of its area vary from 66,000 to 81,000 sq. m. and it has besides its capital, Tai-yuen Fu (pop. 230,000), eight prefectural cities. The population is returned as 12,200,000. It includes, in the northern districts, about 500,000 Mongols. The configuration of Shan-si is noteworthy, forming, from its southern frontier as far north as Ning-wu Fu—an area of about 30,000 sq. m.—a plateau 2600 to 6000 ft. above the level of the sea, the whole of which is one vast coal-field. North and west the plateau is bounded by high mountain ranges trending south-west and northeast. Down the central line of the province from north to south lies a series of deep depressions, all of which are ancient lake basins. But though forming a series these lakes were not formerly connected with each other, some being separated from those next adjoining by high ridges, and being drained by different rivers and in different directions. The Fen-ho, the largest river in Shan-si, with a general S.S.W. direction, and the Chin-ho, also a considerable stream, are both tributaries of the Yellow river.
Shan-si is one of the most remarkable coal and iron re ions in
the world, a veritable second Pennsylvania, and Baron von Richthofen
gave it as his opinion that the world a the present
rate of consumption of coal, could be supplied for thousands
of years from Shan-si alone. In the south A vast
coal-field.the neighbourhood
of Tsi-chow Fu abounds in both coal and iron, and
has probably, partly through being within reach of the opulous
plain of Hwai-king Fu, of the Yellow river, of Tao-kow Chin and
Sew-wu Hien (the shipping places for Tientsin and the Grand
Canal) and of Ho-nan Fu, furnished more iron to the Chinese than
any other region of a similar extent in the empire. The iron is of
great purity and easily fusible, while clay and sand for crucibles,
moulds, &c., and a superior anthracite coal, lie ready to hand. The
coal is of two kinds, bituminous and anthracite, the line of demarcation
between the two being formed by the hills which are the
continuation of the Ho-shan range, the fields of bituminous coal
being west of these hills, and those of anthracite east. In the
neighbourhood of P‛ing-ting Chow the extent of the coal-Field is
incalculable; and speaking of the whole plateau, Baron von Richthofen
says: “These extraordinary conditions, for which I know no
parallel on the globe, will eventually give rise to some curious
features in mining. It may be predicted that, if a railway should
ever be built from the plain to this region, . . . branches of it will
be constructed within the body of one or other of these beds of
anthracite, which are among the thickest and most valuable known
anywhere, and continue for miles underneath the hills west of the
present coal-belt of P‛ing-ting Chow. Such a tunnel would allow of
putting the produce of the various coal-beds immediately on railroad
carts destined for distant places.” These mines are worked by
the Peking Syndicate, who have gained a concession to develop
them, and have a railway to connect their workings with the Lu-Han
trunk line, which traverses the east of the province.
Salt is produced in the prefecture of P‛ing-yang in the south of the province, both from a salt lake and from the alluvial soil in the neighbourhood of the Fên-ho. Shan-si produces cereals, tobacco, cotton and sometimes rice, but in agricultural products the province is poor; the means of transport are rude and insufficient. The people of Shan-si are great traders, and nearly all the commerce of southern Mongolia is in their hands. A railway connecting the capital with Pekin was opened in 1908. The only wagon road leading into and through Shan-si is the great highway from Peking to Si-gan Fu, which enters Shan-si west of Chêng-ting Fu, and leaves the province at Tung-kwan at the great bend of the Hwang-ho. Transport is chiefly on the backs of camels, mules and asses. The province suffered from a terrible famine in 1878–1879, about which time Protestant missionaries began Work in the capital. In the north, beyond the Great Wall, is the city of Kwei-hwa-Cheng (pop. about 200,000), formerly the residence of the grand Lama of Mongolia; it has many Lama monasteries.
Shan-si university, one of the best equipped in China, owes its existence to the Boxer rising. Certain Protestant missionary bodies in the province refused to accept the compensation awarded them for damage to their property, and at their request the money was devoted to the foundation of a university, the missionaries being guaranteed for ten years the control of the western side of the education given therein.
See Richard's Comprehensive Geography of the Chinese Empire (Shanghai, 1908), § 1, ch. iii. and the authorities there cited.
SHAN STATES, a collection of semi-independent states on the E. frontier of Upper Burma inhabited by the Shan or Thai race. The Shan States have a total area of 57,915 sq. m. and a total population (1901) of 1,137,444. There are six states under the supervision of the superintendent of the N. Shan States, and 37 under the superintendent and political officer of the S. Shan States. In addition, two states are under the commissioner of the Mandalay division, namely, Hkamti Lông on the N. of Myitkyina district and Möng Mit which is temporarily administered as a subdivision of the Ruby Mines district; and two states, Sinkaling Hkamti and Hsawng Hsup, near Manipur, are under the supervision of the commissioner of the Sagaing division. There are besides a number of Shan States beyond the border of Burma, which are tributary to China, though China exercises an authority which is little more than nominal. The British Shan States were tributary to Burma and came under British control at the time of the annexation of Upper Burma. They rank as British territory, not as native states. By section 11 of the Burma Laws Act 1898, the civil, criminal and revenue administration of each state is vested in the chief, subject to the restriction specified in the sanad or order of appointment granted to him. Under the same section the law to be administered is the customary law of each state so far as it is in accordance with justice, and not opposed to the spirit of the law in British India.
Physical Features.—The shape of the Shan States is roughly that of a triangle, with its base on the plains of Burma and its apex on the Mekong river. The Shan plateau is properly only the country between the Salween and Irrawaddy rivers. On the W. it is abruptly marked by the long line of hills, which begin about Bhamo and run S. till they sink into the plains of Lower Burma. On the E. it is no less sharply defined by the deep and narrow rift of the Salween. The average height of the plateau is between 2000 and 3000 ft., but it is seamed and ribbed by mountain ranges, which split up and run into one another. On the N. the Shan States are barred across by the E. and W. ranges which follow the line of the Namtu. The huge mass of Loi Ling, 9000 ft., projects S. from this, and from either side of it and to the S. extends the wide plain which extends down to Möng Nai. The highest peaks are in the N. and the S. Loi Ling is the highest point W. of the Salween, and in Kokang and other parts of N. Hsenwi there are many peaks above 7000 ft. The majority of the intermediate parallel ranges have an average of between 4000 and 5000 ft. with peaks rising to over 6000. The country beyond the Salween is a mass of broken hills, ranging in the S. towards the Menam from 2000 to 3000 ft., while in the N. towards the Wa states they average from 5000 to 7000. Several peaks rise to 8000 ft. such as Loi Maw (8102). The climate varies
