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About Google Book Search Google's mission is to organize the world's information and to make it universally accessible and useful. Google Book Search helps readers discover the world's books while helping authors and publishers reach new audiences. You can search through the full text of this book on the web at http : //books . google . com/| Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC HISTORIC CHINA OTHER SKETCHES. Digitized by VjOOQIC Digitized by VjOOQIC HISTORIC CHINA' OTHER SKETCHES BY HERBERT A. GIL OfH,B.M:s Consular Service, Author of * Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio^" ' Chinese Sketches ^ <5r»r. LONDON: THOS. DE LA RUE & CO. no, BUNHILL ROW. 1882 Digitized by VjOOQIC Gr3 l^TAg Right of Translation and Rfproduction is reserv^tf.] Digitized by V3OOQ IC TABLE OF CONTENTS. DYNASTIC SKETCHE& PAGE (1. The Chows (B.C. 1122-250) i The Great Exhibition at Lin-t'ung 19 II. The Hans (b.c. 200-A.D. 200) 32 ) The Death of Ts*ao Ts'ao 45 III. The T'angs (A. D. 600-900) 51 * Visit to the Country of Gentlemen 62 I rv. The Sungs (a.d. 960-1280) 79 The Old Drunkard's Arbour ..v 89 The Intercession of Amida Buddha 92 ' V. The Mings (a.d. 1370-1650) 99 The Rev. Mr. Gold 106 VI. The Ch*ings (A.D. 1650-1882) iii ^ JUDICIAL SKETCHES. The Penal Code of the present Djmasty 125 ^ Lan Lu-chow's Criminal Cases 141 (i). The Three Body-snatchers 149 (2). Evil Effects of Superstitious Doctrines 158 (3). A "Witness from the Grave 163 (4). The Blank Petition 169 (5). A Dead Beggar gets a Wife and Son 175 » (6). The Robbers and the Widow 178 (7). The Quarrelling Brothers 1 85 > (8). Altering the Register 190 (9). Torture at an Inn 194 r *was l^alised' read *was virtually l^alised.' P. 108, third line, for * Gould ' read * Gold.* P. 164, eighth line,yZv 'woulds* read 'wounds.' Digitized by VjOOQIC PREFACE The six * Dynastic Sketches ' with which this volume begins, are intended to present to the general reader a rough panorama of the history of China for the past three thousand years. The whole six will be found to occupy not more than about sixty pages, or two pages to a century, condensation and omission having been pushed to an extreme limit in deference to the homoeo- pathic nature of the demand for such information. For the British public takes but a scanty interest in Chinese affairs, past or present, in spite of the enormous lapse of time during which the Chinese people have covered a vast proportion of the earth's surface and have constituted an over- whelming percentage of the human race. Between these six * Dynastic Sketches' I have sandwiched some translated extracts as specimens of the lighter literature of China. Digitized by VjOOQIC VIU PREPACB. Then follow a series of 'Judicial Sketches/ comprising a brief survey of the Penal Code of the present dynasty, and translations of twelve criminal cases actually tried by a famous magis- trate who flourished about one hundred and fifty years ago, since which date the procedure ot Chinese courts has undergone no change. The volume concludes with several miscel- laneous articles on various topics, as set forth in the Table of Contents. A carefully-prepared Index has been added, on the chance of the work finding even a back place as a casual book of reference on the subjects with which it professes to deal HERBERT A. GILES. Digitized by VjOOQIC DYNASTIC SKETCHES. I.— THE CHOWS. B.C. 1122-250. The Chinese people cannot be proved to have originally come from anywhere beyond the limits of the Chinese empire. At the remotest period to which we can satis- factorily go back, without quitting the domain of history for that of legend, we find them already in existence as an organised and as a more or less civilised nation. Previous to that time, their condition had doubtless been that of nomad tribes ; but whether as immigrants, or as veritable sons of the soil, there is not sufilicient evidence to show. Conjecture, however, based for the most part upon coiixcidences of speech, writing, or manners and customs, lias been busy with their ultimate origin ; and they have been variously identified with the Turks, with the Chaldees, with the earliest inhabitants of Ireland, and with the lost tribes of Israel According to one native authority, China (/>., the world) was evolved out of chaos exactly 3,276,481 years aga This evolution was brought about by the action of a First Cause, or Force, which separated into two B Digitized by VjOOQIC DYNASTIC SKETCHES. principles, active and passive, male and female. These last found their material embodiment in Heaven and Earth, and became the father and mother of all things, beginning with Man, who was immediately associated with them in a triumvirate of creative powers. Then ensued ten immense periods, the last of which has been made, by some Chinese writers on chronology, to end where ever}' sober history of China should begin, namely, with the establishment of the Chow dynasty eleven hundred years before the birth of Christ During this almost immeasurable lapse of time, a process of development was going on, involving such discoveries as the production of fire, the construction of houses, boats, and wheeled vehicles, the cultivation of grain, and mutual communication by means of writing. The father of Chinese history chose, indeed, to carry us back to the court of the Yellow Emperor (aa 2697), and to intro- duce us to his successors — ^Yao and Shun — ^and to the Great Yu, who, by his engineering skill, had drained away a terrible inundation, which some have foolishly sought to identify with Noah's flood. But that was China's * golden age,* the true record of which is shrouded for us in the obscurity of centuries. There were a few laws, but never any occasion to exact the penalties attached to misconduct It was considered superfluous to close the house-door at night, and no one would even pick up any lost property that lay in the high road. All was virtue, happiness, and prosperity, the like of which has not since been known. The Emperor Shun was raised from the plough-tail to the Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. throne, solely because of his filial piety, in recognition of which wild beasts used to come and voluntarily drag his plough for him through 'the channelled fields,' while birds of the air would hover round and guard his sprouting grain from the depredations of insects. This of course is not history ; and but little more can be said for the accounts given of the two dynasties which ruled China between the above-mentioned golden age and the opening reigns of the House of Chow. The "historian in question had not many sources of information at com* mand. Besides tradition, of which he largely availed himself, the chief of these was Ae hundred chapters which had been edited by Confucius from the historical remains of those times, now known as the Book of History. This contains an unquestionable foundation of fact, pointing to a comparatively advanced state of civilisation even so far back as 3,000 years before our era; but the picture is dimly seen, and many of its details are of little practical value. It is only with the dynasty of the Chows that we begin to feel ourselves on safe ground, though long before that date the Chinese were undoubtedly enjoying a far higher civilisation than fell to the share of most Western nations until many centuries later. The art of writing had already been fully developed, having passed, if we are to believe native researches, from an original system of knotted cords,** through successive stages of notches on wood * Some method of calculation by means of knotted cords exists among the Sonthals of Bengal, and is mentioned in the " Report on the Census for 1872." B 3 Digitized by VjOOQIC DYNASTIC SKETCHES. and rude outlines of natural objects, down to the phonetic stage in which it exists at the present day. Astronomical observations of a simple kind had been made and recorded, and the year divided into months. The rite of marriage had been substituted for capture ; and although cowries were still employed and remained in use until a much later date, metallic coins of various shapes and sizes began to be recognised as a more practicable medium of exchange. Music, both vocal and instrumental, was widely cultivated; and a kind of solemn posturing filled the place that has been occu- pied by dancing among options farther to the west Painting, charioteering, and archery, were reckoned among the fine arts; the cross-bow especially being a favourite weapon either on the battle-field or in the chase. The people seem to have lived upon rice and cabbage, pork and fish, much as they do now ; they also drank the ardent spirit distilled firom rice, vulgarly known as 'samshoo,' and clad themselves in silk or their own coarse homestuffs, according to the means of each. All this previous to the dynasty of Chow, with which it is now proposed to begin. The Chows rose to power over the vices of preceding rulers, aided by the genius of a certain duke or chieftain of the Chow State, though he personally never reached the Imperial throne. It was his more famous son, who, in ac 1 121, routed the forces of the last tyrant of the semi -legendary period, and made himself master of China. The China of those days consisted of a number of petty principalities, clustering round one central State, Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. and thus constituting a federation. The central State managed the common affairs, while each one had its own local laws and administration. It was, in some senses, a feudal age, since the various Mukes' were regarded as vassals, owing allegiance to the sovereign at the head of the Imperial State, and bound to assist him with money and men in case of need. And in order to keep together this mass, constantly in danger of dis- integration from strifes within, the sovereigns of the house of Chow were forever summoning these vassal dukes to the capital and making them renew, with ceremonies of sacrifice and potations of blood, their vows of loyalty to themselves and treaties of alliance with each other. The senior duke always occupied a position somewhat closer to the sovereign than the others. It was his special business to protect the Imperial territory from invasion by any malcontent vassal; and he was often deputed to punish acts of insubordination and con- tumacy, relying for help on the sworn faith of all the States as a body against any individual recalcitrant State. Such was the political condition of things through a long series of reigns for nearly nine centuries, the later history of this long and famous dynasty being simply the record of a struggle against the increasing power and ambitious designs of the vassal State of Ch4n, until at length the power of the latter not only outgrew that of the sovereign State, but successfully defied the united efforts of all the others combined together in a league. The house of Chow was overthrown, and the house of Ch*in reigned in its stead, but over an empire, Digitized by VjOOQIC dyKastic sketches. the altered aspect of which will be described in its proper place. Meanwhile, we may glance backward over these nine hundred years, and gather some few interesting facts as to the general economy of the China of those days. The religion of the Chinese was at this date a modification of the older and simpler form of nature- worship practised by their ruder forefathers. The principal objects of veneration were still Heaven and Earth, and the more prominent among the destructive and beneficent powers of nature ; but a tide of personi- fication and deification had begun to set in, and to the spirits of natural objects and influences, now rapidly assuming material shapes, had been added the spirits of departed heroes, whose protection was invoked after death by those to whom it had been afforded during life. The sovereigns of. the Chow dynasty worshipped in a building which they called the Hall of Light, and which also served the purpose of an audience and council chamber. It was 112 feet square, and sur- mounted by a dome ; typical of heaven above and earth beneath. Thirty-six doors gave ample means of ingress and egress, while seventy-two windows, each three feet in height, admitted the light of day. China has always been remarkably backward in architectural development, never having got beyond the familiar roof with its turned-up corners, in which antiquaries trace a likeness to the tent of their nomad days. Hence it is that the Hall of Light of the Chows is considered by the Chinese to have been a very wonderful structure. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. Some have said that the Pentateuch was carried to China in the sixth centuiy B.C. ; but no definite traces of Judaism are discoverable until several centuries later, under the dynasty of the Hans. The Chow period was pre-eminejitly one of cere- monial observances, pushed to an extreme limit Even Confucius was unable to rise above the dead level of an ultra-formal etiquette, which occupies in his teachings a place altogether out of proportion to any advantages likely to accrue from the most scrupulous compliance with its rules. Happily, * ceremonies ' were not for Hie poor and illiterate. They were confined chiefly to the proceedings of vassal courts and courtiers vis-i-vis the Imperial court and each other; to the daily life of personages of leisure and social standing. The quiet dignity of the modem mandarin, surrounded as it is by a host of harmless formalities which seem to us out of keeping with the nineteenth century, is in part a legacy from the exaggerated ceremonial of the Chows. During the early centuries of our present period, laws were, as might be expected, excessively severe, and punishments correspondingly barbarous ; mutilation, and death by burning or dissection, being among the enu- merated penalties. On the other hand, aged persons of nmety and upwards, as well as children under seven years of age, were exempted from all punishment — as, indeed, they are now, except in cases of rebellion and high treason. One hundred years before the close of the Chow dynasty, a great statesman, named Wei Yang, appeared Digitized by VjOOQIC 8 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. in the rising State of Ch*in, above-mentioned, and brought about many valuable reformations. Among other things, he introduced the system of tithings, which has endured to the present day. The unit of Chinese social life has always been the family and not the individual; and Wei Yang caused the people to be divided into groups of ten families to each, upon a basis of mutual protection and responsibility. The headman or elder of each group, elected among them- selves as representative of the tithing, formed one of an unofficial council by whom the affairs of the com- munity were regulated, rights secured, and wrongs redressed, as far as possible without appeal to the authorities. The soil of China has always been regarded as the inalienable property of her Imperial ruler for the time being, held in trust by him on behalf of a higher and greater Power, whose vice-regent he is, and who marks its sense of his good or evil administration by such out- ward and visible signs of pleasure and displeasure as a plenteous harvest or a destroying flood. In the age of the Chows, land appears to have been cultivated upon a system of communal tenure, one-ninth of the total produce being devoted in all cases to the expenses of government and the maintenance of the ruling family in each State. Copper coin, of a uniform shape and portable size, was first cast, according to Chinese writers, about half-way through the sixth century aa We learn from several sources that an irregular form of * money * had been in circulation long before, one of the early Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. vassal dukes having been advised, in order to replenish his treasury, to " break up the hills, and make money out of the metal therein ; to evaporate sea-water, and make salt This," added his advising minister, ''will benefit the realm, and with the profits you may buy up all kinds of goods cheap, and store them until the market has risen. Establish also three hundred d^pdts of courtezans for the traders, who will thereby be induced to bring all kinds of merchandise to your country. This merchan- dise you will tax, and thus have a sufficiency of funds to meet Hie expenses of your army." Such were some of the principles of finance and political economy among the Chows, customs' duties being apparently, even at that early date, a recognised part of the revenue. The art of healing was practised among the Chinese in their pre-historic times, but the first quasi-scientific efforts, of which we have any written record, belong to the period with which we are now dealing. The phy- sicians of the Chow dynasty classified diseases under the four seasons of the year: — Headaches and neuralgic affections under springs skin diseases of all kinds under summer^ fevers and agues under autumn^ and bronchial and pulmonary complaints under winter. They treated the various diseases that fell under these headings by suitable exhibitions of one or more ingredients taken from the five classes of drugs, derived from herbs, trees, living creatures, minerals, and grains, each of which class contained medicines of five flavoiu^, with special pro- perties, as follows: — Sour, for nourishing the bones; acrid, for nourishing the muscles; salt, for nourishing Digitized by VjOOQIC lO DYNASTIC SKETCHES. the blood-vessels ; bitter, for nourishing general vitality ; and sweet, for nourishing the flesh. It was a standing regulation that all potions administered to the ruler of a State should first be tasted by his Prime Minister ; and the public at large was warned against rashly swallowing the prescriptions of any physician whose family had not been three generations in the medical profession. When the Chows went into battle they formed a line, with the bowmen on the left and the spearmen on the right flank. The centre was occupied by chariots, each drawn by either three or four horses harnessed abreast Swords, daggers, shields, iron-headed clubs some Ave to six feet in length and weighing from twelve to fifteen pounds, huge iron hooks, drums, cymbals, gongs, horns, banners and streamers innumerable, were also among the equipment of war. Beacon-fires of wolves* dung were lighted to announce the approach of an enemy and summon the inhabit^ts to arms. Quarter was rarely if ever given, and it was customary to cut the ears from the bodies of the slain. Parleys were conducted and terms of peace arranged under the shelter of a banner of truce, upon which two characters were inscribed— 'Stop fighting.' It was under the Chows, a thousand years before Christ, that the people of China began to possess family names. Previous to that time there appear to have been tribal or clan names, but these were not in ordinary use among the individual members of each clan, who were known by their personal appellations only, bestowed on them in childhood by their parents. Gradually, it Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. II became customary to tack on to this personal appellation a surname, adopted generally from the name of the place where the family lived, sometimes from the personal appellation or official title of a famous ancestor. By the time of Confucius, the use of surnames had become definitely established for all classes. The Chows founded a university, the shadow of which remsuns at the present day. They seem to have had theatrical representations of some kind, though it is difficult to say of what nature these actually were. Music must have already reached a stage of consider- able development, if we are to believe Confucius himself, who has left it on record that after listening to a certain melody he was so affected as not to be able to taste meat for three months. With him, indeed, music was a political instrument, its influence tending to smooth away ruggedness of disposition and make men more amenable to law and order. Slavery was s\{, this date a regular domestic institution, and was not confined as now to the purchase of women alone ; and whereas in still earlier ages it had been usual to bury wooden puppets in the tombs of princes, we now read of slave-boys and slave- girls barbarously interred alive with the body of every ruler of a State, in order, as was believed, to wait upon the tyrant's spirit after death. But public opinion began during the Confucian era to discountenance this savage rite ; and the son of a man who left instructions that he should be buried in a large coffin between two of his concubines, ventured to disobey his father's com- mands. We know that the Chows sat on chairs (while Digitized by VjOOQIC 12 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. all Other eastern nations were sitting on the ground), and ate their food and drank their wine from tables; that they slept on beds and rode on horseback. They measured the hours with the aid of sun-dials ; and the invention of the compass is attributed, but on wholly insufficient grounds, to one of their earliest heroes. They played games of calculation of an at>struse cha- racter, and devised what is to all intents and purposes a variety of chess. They also had games involving manual dexterity, such as pitching arrows into a long-necked bottle. They appear to have worn shoes of leather, and stockings, and hats and caps, in addition to robes of silk ; and to have possessed such other material luxuries as fans, mirrors of metal, flat-irons, and bath-tubs. But it is often difficult to separate truth from falsehood in the statements of Chinese writers with regard to their early history. They are fond of exaggerating the civilisation of their forefathers,^ which, as a matter of fact, was sufficiently advanced to command admiration without the undesirable colouring of fiction they have thus been tempted to lay on. It has been stated that the art of writing was known to the Chinese long before our starting-point at the end of the twelfth century B.C. Indeed, there is a tablet still in existence, covered with an illegible inscription written in the wriggling style known as the * tadpole character,' which is said to have been set up on a mountain in commemoration of the labours of the Great Yii, more than 4,000 years ago. It was discovered only in the thirteenth century of our era, and is admittedly a Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 13 forgery of that date. Dismissing, therefore, this and other similar attempts, the great antiquity of Chinese writing remains beyond a doubt; and, far back as we can go, there is a great gulf between us and the be- ginnings of the art It would seem that the rude delineation of a few dozen of the more prominent objects in nature, such as the sun, moon, stars, etc, was followed, contrary to all analogy, by a sudden inspiration — the use of signs to represent spoken sounds; and that then, by a process of combination, a host of composite characters was produced, each one made up of two parts, guiding the eye to the sound and sense, respectively. It is, at any rate, pretty certain that eight centuries before Christ elaborate symbols of the kind, approximately those of modem times, were traced upon tablets of bamboo with a sharp-pointed metal stylus ; and there are now in Peking ten irregular-shaped blocks of stone, called * stone dri^ns,' bearing inscrip- tions in the same form of character as that employed under the Chow dynasty, to which period they may without exaggeration be referred. We have also plenty of inscriptions said to be copied from vases or bells dating from the pre-historic dynasties; but many of these are evidently spurious and the rest doubtful Of the bamboo tablets in use among the Chows, not one is known to be in existence now ; and on paper, which was not invented until several centuries later, there are pro- bably no manuscript remains more than six or seven hundred years old. Near about the middle of the Chow dynasty was bom Digitized by VjOOQIC 14 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. Lao-tzii, the founder of an abstruse system of ethical philosophy which was destined first of all to lose its original character in wild speculation and alchemistic research; then to be supplemented by an admixture of Buddhist ritual and creed ; and finally to drag out, side by side and on friendly terms with its Indian rival, that loathsome combination of knavery and superstition so familiar in the Taoism of to-day. But the *Tao' of Lao-tzii, as we learn from the only brief treatise bequeathed by him to posterity, was simply the " path " of rectitude ; and the utterances by which he sought to guide mankind along it to a haven of perfect virtue contain nothing of the mysticism imported into the system by his later disciples, still less of the absurdities by which, as will be seen hereafter, his pure philosophy became ultimately corrupted and transformed. ** Three precious things I prize and hold fast," said Lao-tzU — "Humility, Compassion, and Economy." Closely following, and partially a contemporary, came Confucius, a teacher who has been equalled in his influence upon masses of the human race by Buddha alone, and approached only by Mahomet and Christ His noble doctrines, among which is to be found the ^golden rule,' with many other maxims of great ethical value, were collected together about a hundred years after his death, and now form one of the standard classical works in which all candidates for literary honours are rigorously examined. Confucius devoted his life chiefly to the moral amelioration of his fellow- men by oral teaching. But he was also an author Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 15 Besides editing, as stated in a previous paragraph, one hundred chapters of th'b historical remains of earlier ages, he published a collection of the old national ballads of China, and wrote a history of his native State during the two hundred and fifty years imme- diately {Mreceding his own death in aa 479. All these we have now, the latter accompanied by a diffuse commentary, the work of an admiring disciple, and practically the most valuable portion of the whole. In his daily life, the Sage was severely formal and regular. He never spoke at meals. He did not eat to excess ; and in his potations he was careful to keep oa the right side of inebriety. He was particular about the colour and make of his clothes ; and insisted that all his domestic surroundings should be 'squarely' arranged. With him, decorum was a virtue ; but it was the decorum of external ceremonies only, and its essence consisted in a due paformance of bows and scrapes. A hundred years later came Mencius, the record of whose teachings also forms an important part of the only authorised curriculum of a modern student His pet theory, and one which has been more intimately asso- ciated with his name than any other, was that Uhe nature of man is good,' and that all evil tendencies arc necessarily acquired from evil communications sub- sequent to birth and early childhood. He was opposed in this view by more than one able thinker of the age. Some upheld an exactly opposite opinion; others, a mean between these two extremes — namely, that the nature of man at birth was not prejudiced either way, but Digitized by VjOOQIC l6 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. remained open to receive any impressions that particular circumstances might produce. Another of the Mencian dogmas was that the people can be led in any given direction, but cannot be made to understand the reason why. Meanwhile, the country was flooded with philo- sophical treatises of various kinds and values, some of which have come down to us, while the great bulk of them has disappeared. It was then that Lao-tzti's speculations fell into the hands of enthusiastic seekers after truth, and so much more began to be read out of them than the old philo- sopher himself had written in them. Foremost among these was Chuang-tzii, who broached several extraordi- nary theories of a socialistic and communistic character. He argued that if all laws were abrogated, crime must necessarily cease; and showed that if weights and measures were abolished, the people could not cheat each other in the exchange of commodities. But Chuang-tzti, like all those who have impugned in the slightest degree the holy doctrines of Confucianism, has been relegated to the limbo of heterodoxy. His work remains, but it is not read except as a curiosity of literature. With the briefest possible allusion to three important books, not otherwise mentioned, and a short paragraph on the beginnings of modem Chinese poetry, this scanty notice of the literary activity of the Chows will be brought to an end. The Book of Changes is the most ancient work in the Chinese language. Its subject is a philosophic Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 17 system deducible from the combinations and pennu- tations of certain sets of lines of different lengths, formed into "diagrams" representing some power in nature, either active or passive, such as fire, water, thunder, etc Attributed to one of the legendary emperors, nearly 3,000 years before Christ, we may safely refer it to the commencement of the Chow dynasty, as the period to which in all probability it belongs. The Chow Ritual dates from a century or two later. It treats of officials and their various functions, and is a guide to the court etiquette of those days, the etiquette of private life being dealt with in another work, the Decorum Ritual^ which has also come down to us from the Chows. The Erh Ya \% z, glossary of terms used in the old historical and poetical remains, classified according to subjects, and accompanied by explanatory notes. It has been assigned to the opening years of the Chow dynasty, but belongs more probably to the Confucian era, some five or six centuries later. Excluding from our calculations the more or less irregular national ballads which were collected and edited by Confucius, we may consider Chinese poetry to have begun, a hundred years before the Chows passed away, with the productions of Ch*u P*ing, a high officer of government in one of the vassal States. A beautiful poem from his hand may still be read. It is entitled Dissipation of Grief and consists of a pathetic adieu to the world and its troubles, which he abruptly quitted by Digitized by VjOOQIC 1 8 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. drowning himself. Chagrin at the loss of his sovereign's favour, intrigued away from him by an unworthy rival, urged him to the fatal step. His loss was deeply felt by the people at large, and an annual sacrifice was instituted in his memory, involving a pretended search for his body, which survives in the famous Dragon Festival of to-day. The nine centuries covered by the history of the Chows were full of stirring incidents in other parts of the world. The Trojan war had just been brought to an end, and Mneas had taken refuge in Italy from the sack of Troy. Early in the dynasty, Zoroaster was founding in Persia the religion of the Magi, the worship of fire, which survives in the Parseeism of Bombay. Saul was made king of Israel, and Solomon built the temple at Jerusalem. Later on, Lycurgus gave laws to the Spartans, and Romulus laid the first stone of the eternal city. Then came the Babylonish captivity, the appeiEuance of Buddha, the conquest of Asia Minor by Cyrus, the rise of the Roman republic, the defeats of Darius at Marathon and of Xerxes at Salamis, the Peloponnesian war, the retreat of the Ten Thousand, and Roman conquests down to the end of the first Punic war. From a literary point of view, the Chow dynasty was the age of the Vedas in India ; of Homer, iEschylus, Herodotus, Aristophanes, Thucydides, Aris- totle, and Demosthenes, in Greece; of the Jewish prophets from Samuel to Daniel; and of the Talmud as originally undertaken by the Scribes, subsequent to the return from captivity in Babylon. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 19 THE GREAT EXHIBITION AT LIN-T^UNG. [The following extract is a translation from the History of the Feudal Statef^ of which work Mr. A. Wylie says, "although written in the iotm. of a novel, it differs less from authentic history probably than any other in the same category." It is simply the story of a bogus exhibition, planned by the scheming State of ChMn, nominally to make a collection of valuables and hand them over as respectful tribute to the sovereign House of Chow, but really with a view to a general massacre of the rival nobles who stood in the way between the Chains and their treasonable designs.] Duke Ai of Ch*in now proceeded with his various officers of State to prepare a place for the proposed exhibition, at the same time setting a number of armed men in ambuscade, with a view to carry out his ambitious designs; and when he heard that the other nobles had arrived, he went out and invited them to come in. The usual ceremonies over, and the nobles having taken their seats according to precedence, Duke Ai addressed the meeting as follows : — " I, having reverently received the commission of the Son of Heaven, do hereby open this assembly for the exhibition of such valuables as may be brought together from all parts of the empire, the same to be subsequently packed together, and forwarded as tribute to our Imperial master. And since you nobles are now all collected here in this place, it is fitting that our several exhibits be forthwith produced and submitted for adjudication." Sounds of assent from the nobles were heard at the conclusion of this speech ; but the Prime Minister of the Ch'i State, conscious that the atmosphere was c 2 Digitized by VjOOQIC 20 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. heavily laden with the vapour of deatji, as if from treacherous ambush, stepped forward and said: — " Of old, when the nobles were wont to assemble, it was customary to appoint one just and upright member to act as arbiter or judge of the meeting ; and now that we have thus met for the purposes of this exhibition, I propose, in the interest of public harmony, that some one of us be nominated arbiter in a similar way." Duke Ai readily agreed to the above proposition, and immediately demanded of the assembled nobles who among them would venture to accept the office indi> cated. The words were scarcely out of his mouth when up rose Pien Chuang, generalissimo of the forces of Ch^ng, and declared that he was ready to undertake the post Duke Ai then asked him upon what grounds, as to personal ability, he based his claim ; to which Pien Chuang replied, " Of ability I have litde indeed, but I have slain a tiger with one blow of my fist, and in martial prowess I am second to none. Upon this I base my claim." Accordingly, Duke Ai called for a golden tablet, and was on the point of investing him as arbiter of the exhibition, when a voice was heard from among the retainers of the Wu state, loudly urging, "The slayer of a tiger need be possessed only of physical courage ; but how is that a sufficient recommendation for this office? Delay awhile, I pray, until I come and take the tablet myselt" By this time Duke Ai had seen th^at the speaker was K'uai Hui, son of the Duke of Wei, and forthwith Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 21 inquired of him what his particular claim to the post might be. *^ I cut the head off a deadly dragon, and for that feat I claim this post" Duke Ai thereupon ordered Pien Chuang to transfer to him the golden tablet; but this he refused to do, arguing that the slaughter of a dragon was simply a magician's trick, and not at all to the present purpose. He added that if the tablet was to be taken from him, it would necessitate an appeal to force between himself and his rival The contest continued thus for some time, until at length the Prime Minister of Ch*i rose again, and solved the difficulty in the following terms: — "The slaughter of a tiger involves physical courage, and the slaughter of a dragon is a magician's trick; hence, neither of these acts embraces that combination of mental and physical power which we desire in the arbiter of this meeting. Now, in front of the palace there stands a sacrificial vessel which weighs about a thousand pounds. Let Duke Ai give out a theme; and then let him who replies thereto with most clearness and accuracy, and who can moreover seize the aforesaid vessel, and carry it round the platform on which the eighteen representative nobles are seated, be nominated to the post of arbiter, and receive the golden tablet" To this plan Duke Ai assented ; and writing down a theme, bade his attendants exhibit it among the heroes of the assembled States. The theme was in rhyme, and contained these eight lines : — Say what supports the sky ; say what supports the earth : What is the mystic number which to the universe gave birth? Digitized by VjOOQIC 22 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. Whence come the eddying waves of the river's rolling might ? Where shall we seek the primal germ of the mountain's towering height? By which of the elements five is the work of nature done? And of all the ten thousand things that are, say which is the wondrous om. Such are the questions seven which I now propound to you ; And he who can answer them straight and well is the trusty man and true. The theme had hardly been uttered, when up started Chi Nien, generalissimo of the Ch^n State, and cried out, •• This is but a question of natural philosophy ; what dif- ficulty is there in it?" He thereupon advanced to the front; and, having obtained permission to compete, seized a stylus, and wrote down the following reply : — Nothing supports the sky ; nothing supports the earth : How can we guess at the number which to the universe gave birth ? From the reaches above come the eddying waves of the river's rolling might : How can we tell where to look for the germ of the mountain's towering height ? By all the elements five is the work of Nature done ; And of all the ten thousand things that are there is no particular one. There you have my replies to the questions set by you ; And the arbiter's post I hereby claim as the trusty man and true. Chi Nien, having delivered this answer, proceeded to tuck up his robe, and, passing to the front of the palace, seized with both hands the sacrificial vessel, and raised it some two feet from the ground, his whole lace becoming suffused with colour under the effort At the same time there arose a great noise of drums and horns, and all the assembled nobles applauded loudly; whereupon Duke Ai personally invested him with the golden tablet, and proclaimed him arbiter of the Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 23 exhibition, for which Chi Nien was just about to return thanks, when suddenly up jumped Wu Yiian, generalis- simo of the Ch*u State, and coming forward, declared m an* angry tone that Chi Nien's answer did not dispose of the theme in a proper and final manner; that he had not removed the sacrificial vesjsel from its place; and that consequently he had not earned the appointment which Wu Yiian now contended should be bestowed upon himself Duke Ai, in view of his scheme for seizing the persons of the various nobles, was naturally anxious that the post of arbiter should faU to one of his own officers, and was much displeased at this attempt on the part of Wu Yiian ; however, he replied that if the latter could dispose of the theme and carry round the sacrificial vessel, the office of arbiter would be his. Wu Yiian thereupon took a stylus, and indited the following lines : — The earth supports the sky ; the sky supports the earth. Five is the mystic number which to the universe gave birth. From the sky come the eddying waves of the river's rolling might. In the Kun-lun range we must seek the germ of the mountain's towering height. By truth J of the elements five,* can most good work be done ; And of all the ten thousand things that are, man is the wondrous one. There you have my replies to the questions set this day ; The answers are clear, and straight to the point, and given without delay. As soon as he had finished writing, he handed his reply to Duke Ai, who at once saw that he had in every * Each of the five physical elements— earth, wood, metal, water, fire — has a corresponding moral equivalent, one of which has, by a figure of rhetoric, been here substituted. Digitized by VjOOQIC 24 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. way disposed of the theme with far greater skill than Chi Nien, and accordingly now bade him show his strength upon the sacrificial vessel Wu Yiian imme- diately stepped forward, and, holding up his robe* with his left hand, seized the vessel with his right, raising it up and bearing it round the platform before the as- sembled nobles, and finally depositing it in its original place, without so much as changing colour. The nobles gazed at each other in astonishment at this feat, and with one accord, declared him to be the hero of the day ; so that Duke Ai had no alternative but to invest him with the golden tablet, and announce his appointment to the post of arbiter. Wu Yiian thanked the Duke in appro- priate terms, and then proceeded to say : — "Your servant, though devoid of ability, has received this appointment at the hands of you nobles here present He has heard that a ship without a rudder is at the mercy of the wind, and that a steel-yard without its weight is no adjuster of quantities. As arbiter of this meeting, your servant will speak out plainly, and will conceal nothing ; but in anticipation of disturbance and insubordination on the part of any of the com- petitors, it will be necessary for you nobles first of all to confer full authority to deal with the same, or other- wise your servant will not venture to take up this post" Duke Ai looked round upon the assembled nobles, and observing that Wu Yiian's request was regarded as perfectly in accordance with what was right, presented him with a sharp sword, and ordered him, in all such cases as he had just mentioned, to slay the offender on Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 25 the spot, and then report the matter for investigation. Wu Yiian again tendered his thanks; and taking his stand upon the steps of the pavilion, summoned the nobles to produce their exhibits for adjudication before entering into a solemn pact of mutual alliance. The exhibits were now brought forth, and displayed for the decision of the arbiter. They consisted of the following rarities: — (i). A goblet, possessing the peculiar property of warming all wine poured into it in winter, and of cooling all wine poured into it in summer. [Exhibited by the Ch'in State.] (2). A precious stone, so brilliant as to light up a large hall by night, in the same way as a lamp. [Exhi- bited by the Ch*i State.] (3). A double sword, having two blades fitting into the same scabbard, each of which would cry out if the other was missing, and possessing also the power of decapitating devils. [Exhibited by the Lu State.] (4). A crystal screen able to raise wind or bring down rain; and which, when thrown into the water, could separate the waves on each side of it [Exhibited by the Chin State.] (5). A curious mirror which, when placed on the bed of a river or at the bottom of the sea, resembled the moon, and lighted up the surrounding waters. [Exhi- bited by the Sung State.] (6). An umbrella which would effectually keep off rain and snow from the person holding it, and disperse sand and dust [Exhibited by the Ch^ng State.] Digitized by VjOOQIC 26 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. (7). A coral pillow, reclining upon which a drunken man would become sober, a sick man well, a heated man cool, and a chilly man warm. [Exhibited by the Wu State.] (8). A marvellous stone which, when placed in a room swept by draughts, would cause such a stillness in the air that not a feather would be moved. [Exhibited by the Wei State.] (9). An as-yoU'Wish, able to induce either joy or anger as desured, and, when placed up the sleeve, to bring about the realisation of any hope. [Exhibited by the Yen State.] (10). An agate plate which would play tunes on being struck. [Exhibited by the Yiieh State.] (11). A fan, by means of which a cool wind could be produced in summer. [Exhibited by the T*^ng State.] (12). A girdle of rhinoceros horn, possessing the property of dividing water, of extinguishing fire, and of curing all diseases. [Exhibited by the Hsieh State.] (13). A wonderful mirror which would reflect every- thing for more than thirty miles round, including the forms of devils and bogies. [Exhibited by the Chii State.] (14). A marvellous sword, which could sever rainbows and ward off wind and rain. [Exhibited by the Hsii State.] The other States having brought nothing to exhibit, Duke Ai demanded to know from them why the Im- perial command had been disobeyed ; to which the Dukes Ts'ai and Ch'^n replied by making an obeisance and saying, '' Our humble territories are limited in area, and Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. 27 SO unproductive that we have nothing worthy of exhi- bition at this meeting. Afraid, however, to disregard entirely the Imperial wishes, we have come hither our- selves even though empty-handed, and now pray that our case may be represented for the merciful consideration of the Son of Heaven." Duke Ai was unwilling to look at their omission in this light ; and referring to the arbiter inquired of him what would be a fitting punishment to award. The arbiter observed that when the Great Yii marked out the nine divisions of the empire, he arranged that each district was to pay a tribute of local products, a scheme which was subsequently adopted by the first sovereign of the Chows at the overthrow of the dynasty of Shang. "And although," he continued, "this exhibition is nomi- nally one of rare or costly articles, still, if any States are from natural causes deficient in these, there seems to be no reason why they should not be permitted to fall back upon local products." Reflecting for a few moments on this suggestion, Duke Ai replied as follows: — "That certain of these States should be unable to compete in costly articles b perhaps not a subject for surprise ; but pray tell me how it is that the State of Ch'u, a fief estimated at a thousand chariots, with a rich soil and a prosperous population, is abo without exhibits at this meeting?" •*We men of Ch*u," rejoined the arbiter, "deem vmue our most precious jewel;" upon which Duke Ai promptly remarked that with their history of war and slaughter, desolation of homes and states, and Digitized by VjOOQIC 28 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. desecration of sacred places beyond number, he should be glad to be informed where any particular manifestation of ' virtue ' came in. " All that you have enumerated," retorted the arbiter, " we learned from the example of your Highness' own honourable State, and small blame to us. What I mean with regard to virtue is simply this : that in the State of Ch*u, prince and subject, father and son, severally fulfil the due obligations attaching to conditions of prince, subject, father, and son; that the scholar, the husbandman, the artisan, and the merchant, peacefully pursue their various callings ; and that no one picks up property lost upon the highway. The result is a high standard of morals, and successful administration of public affairs. These are the 'jewels' which give strength and repose to my humble State, and which are in no sense to be placed in comparison with your inch-square pearls and your three-foot poniards." Now when Duke Ai, whose intention it had been to reprimand the Ch*u State for bringing nothing to the exhibition, received instead this open rebuke himself, he was unable to say a word; and when the nobles saw what a defeat he had suffered at the hands of the arbiter, they secretly rejoiced and praised the latter exceedingly, while on the other hand some of the Duke's flattering courtiers inquired what answer could be made to the Son of Heaven in respect of this serious omission. "Do you, nobles," cried the arbiter, "confine your- selves to signing the instrument of confederation, and leave me to report our neglect to the Son of Heaven." Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. * 29 Thereupon he proceeded to slay a black ox and a white horse, and to perform the sacritices to Heaven and Earth. These being concluded, he took in his left hand a bowl of the freshly-shed blood, and brandishing in his right his sharp sword, he mounted the steps leading up to the pavilion, and cried aloud to the assembled nobles as foUows : — "All you chieftains who are present at this meeting do hereby covenant to act, as rulers, considerately; as subjects, loyally ;* as fathers, kindly ; as sons, lovingly. You agree to exchange mutual courtesies in times of sorrow and of joy ; to live in peace and harmony with one another; to acknowledge the supremacy of the Imperial house of Chow, and to pay tribute accordingly. And it is further covenanted that any breach of faith on the part of any one of the contracting parties shall be punished by the rest, united together for that purpose." At this speech all the assembled nobles bowed their heads, and drinking the blood of the sacrifice, called out in reply, " We hereby bind ourselves to obey without fiul the injunctions thus set forth;" whereupon the arbiter, having fully settled the terms of alliance, placed the deed of confederation in a golden casket He next collected together the costly exhibits of the various States, and forwarded them as tribute to the Court of Chow; after which all the representatives sat down to take part in a grand banquet Let us now revert to Kung-sun Hou. He, seeing • That is, to the sovereign house of Chow, Digitized by VjOOQIC 30 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. that the original plot had failed, in consequence of the appointment of Wu Yiian as arbiter, at once issued orders to the soldiers in attendance to wait until the wine had freely circulated and then to take Wu Yiian, dead or alive, as a first step towards finally crushing the power of the States. Now the guests were scarcely more than half tipsy, when Chi Kuang of the Wu State interrupted the decorum of the banquet by accidentally breaking a jade bowL This so enraged Duke Ai that he shouted in a loud voice to the guard to arrest for him the man who could venture to insult his superiors by such a flagrant breach of propriety. " Hold ! " cried Wu Yiian, the arbiter, at this juncture ; " all things have their appointed issues, and man is not infallible. Duke Mu, of old, did not take vengeance on those who stole his horse, and Prince Chuang could pardon even a dose of leeches.* And although Chi Kuang has undoubtedly committed a breach of decorum in breaking the bowl, surely your Highness will not be outdone in magnanimity." Duke Ai, however, would not listen to the arbiter, and Kung-sun Hou began to tap on the wooden rattle, at which a number of soldiers rushed in from all sides and seized Chi Kuang, as if in open defiance of the assembled nobles. "Hold!" cried the arbiter again; "this is no place for martial demonstrations, but the scene of a friendly conference of States. If this young noble is put to death, will it not be taking an undue advantage over * Which he is said to have swallowed, through inadvertence of his prescribing physician. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE CHOWS. ^ - 31 the body of representatives who are not provided even with half an inch of protecting steel?" These words, coupled with Wu Yiian's general demeanour, so alarmed Kung-sun Hou that Chi Kuang was immediately re- leased; and then Wu Yiian continued: — "Nobles, our business is at an end: the banquet is over. Let us return to our respective homes without delay." Thereupon, a move was made among the guests ; and Wu Yiian, tiu*ning to Duke Ai, said, "As your High- ness has been the president of this conference, and as I have reason to suspect an armed attack to be made upon us when leaving your court, I pray you send a guard to escort us safely to the frontier; otherwise, in case of accident, your State will be held responsible." Duke Ai had no option but to accede to this request, and forth- with gave orders to Tzti-t*ieh, his general, to carry out the wishes of the arbiter ; and before Tzii-t'ieh had had time to think, Wu Yuan had got him up on horseback, and seizing his hand, said to him, "Your Excellency is a pillar of this State and a representative of the public Without your escort we should not dare to start upon our journey." Tzti-t*ieh accordingly set out to escort the nobles on their homeward journey. For several miles there was an uninterrupted stream of official hats and red umbrellas ; but the soldiers of the Ch*in State, who were lying in am- buscade, did not attack the cavalcade, seeing that it was under the escort of one of their own officers. And thus the assembled nobles and their retinues passed over the frontier in safety ; and then Wu Yiian released the hand of Tzii-t4eh, and bade him a final farewell Digitized by VjOOQIC 32 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. II.— THE HANS. B.C. 20O-A.D. 20a It has been stated that the Imperial rule of the Chows over the vassal States which made up the China of those early days, was gradually undermined by the growing power and influence of one of the latter, the very name of which was transformed into a by-word of reproach, so that to call a person a * man of Ch*in ' was equivalent to saying, in vulgar parlance, * He is no friend of mine.' The struggle between the Ch'ins and the rest of the empire may be likened to the struggle between Athens and the rest of Greece, though the end in each case was not the same. The State of Ch*in vanquished its com- bined opponents, and finally established a dynasty — short-lived, indeed, but containing among the few rulers who sat upon the throne, only about fifty years in all, the name of one remarkable man, the * First Emperor * of a united China. On the ruins of the old feudal system, the landmarks of which his three or four predecessors had succeeded in sweeping away, the 'First Emperor' laid the foun- dations of a coherent empire which was to date firom himself as its founder. He sent an army of 300,000 men to fight against the Huns. He despatched a fleet Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 33 to search for some mysterious islands off the coast of China; and this expedition has since been connected seriously with the colonisation of Japan. He buih the Great Wall, whiqh is nearly 1,400 miles in length, twenty-two feet in height, and twenty feet in thickness, forming the most prominent artificial object on the surface of the earth. His copper coinage was so uni- formly good that the cowry disappeared altogether from commerce with this reign. According to some, the modem hair-pencil, employed by the Chinese as a pen, was invented about this time, to be used for writing on silk ; while the characters themselves underwent certain modifications and orthographical improvements. The * First Emperor ' desired above all things to impart a fresh stimulus to literary effort; but he adopted singu- larly unfortunate means to secure this desirable end. For, listening to the insidious flattery of courtiers, he determined that literature should begin anew with his reign. He therefore issued orders for the destruction of all existing books, with the exception of works treating of medicine, agriculture, and divination, and the annals of his own house ; and he actually put to death many hundreds of the literati who refused to comply with these commands. Numbers of valuable works thus perished in a general literary conflagration, popularly known as the ' Burning of the Books ; ' and it is partly to accident and partly to the pious efforts of the scholars of the age that posterity is indebted for the preservation of the most precious relics of ancient Chinese literature. But the • First Emperor' went the way of all flesh ; and D Digitized by VjOOQIC 34 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. his son and successor, the ' Second Emperor ' and last of the line, was shortly afterwards compelled to follow his great father — ^a victim to the treachery of an am- bitious eunuch. Meanwhile, an insurrection had broken out A peasant forced his way to the front, and finally seated himself firmly upon the throne as the first emperor of the Hans. The stately house of Han ruled over China for four hundred years, accidentally divided into two equal portions by the Christian era and by a temporary usurpation of the throne which for some time threatened the stability of the dynasty in the direct line of suc- cession. During the whole period, the empire, if not enjoying uninterrupted tranquillity either at home or abroad, was nevertheless making vast strides towards a more settled state of prosperity and civilisation. There were, however, constant wars with the Tartar tribes to the north, against which the Great Wall proved to be a wholly ineffectual barrier. Also, with the various Turkic tribes on the west ; especially with the Huns, who once succeeded in shutting up the founder of the dynasty in one of his own cities, from which he only escaped by a ^stratagem to be related in another connection. Later on, an attempt was made to win over a Hun chieftain, who happened to be visiting the court, by bestowing upon him a distinguished Chinese lady to share with him the honour and dignity of his Khanate ; and even now traces of Hunnish influence are discernible in several of the recognised surnames of the Chinese. The wild tribes of modern Yunnan were reduced to Digitized tyVjOOQlC THE HANS. 35 subjection, and their territory may be considered as added to the empire from this date. At home, the eunuchs gave an immense deal of trouble by their restless spirit of intrigue; besides which, for nearly twenty years the Imperial power was in the hands of a famous usurper, named Wang Mang, who had sectired it by the usual means of treachery and poison, to lose it on the battle-field and himself to perish shortly afterwards in a revolt of his own soldiery. This dynasty also witnessed the spectacle — most unusual in the East — of a woman wielding the Imperial sceptre; and hers was not a reign calculated to inspire the people of China with much faith either in the virtue or the administrative ability of the sex. In Chinese history, however, her place is that of the only female sovereign who ever legitimately occupied the throne. The founder of the Hans, oh his entry into the capital of the fallen Ch4ns, at once issued a procla- mation embodying what have since been known as the •Three Laws,' the object in view being to attach the people to his cause by an abandonment of the more barbarous legal penalties in force at that date. By these laws, murder was still to be punished with death, but wounding and robbery only in proportion to the act committed. His next care was to entrust an able and faithful adherent, named Hsiao Ho, with the construc- tion of a Penal Code, which was ultimately published, and contained no fewer than 359 statute laws, upon one of which, namely capital punishment, we read that there were 409 additional clauses and 13,472 quoted D 2 Digitized by VjOOQIC 36 DYNASTIC SKETCHE& precedents. It was at any rate upon the model thtis made available that later dynasties framed their various Codes, each with such modifications as altered cir- cumstances might dictate. It was under the Han dynasty that the religion of Shikyamuni Buddha first became known to the Chinese people. We read in the History of the Later Hans that ^' the Emperor Ming had a vision of a golden being over ten feet in height, around whose head was playing a brilliant light On asking his assembled ministers about this dream, one of them said that in the West there was a god, named Fo, sixteen feet high, and of the colour of gold. So the Emperor sent off envoys to India to inquire about the religion of Fo, and these brought back the images and portraits we now possess." Another passage runs : '* The books of their priests consist chiefly of the glorification of hollowness and abstraction. With them, compassion is one of the highest virtues. They do not take life. They believe that the vitality of man does not perish with the body at death, but is again endued with a mortal shape. They expect rewards and punishments according to their good or evil acts in a previous life, and are therefore very particular about cultivating rectitude of heart, in order to become Buddhas hereaftor." The quiet philosophy of Lao-tzii was meanwhile undergoing a fundamental change. It had begun to degenerate into a hocus-pocus system, the ultimate objects of which were avowedly the transmutation of metals and the preparation of an elixir of immortal life. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 57 A giandson of the founder of the dynasty, occupying a high position in the public service, and commonly known as Huai Nan Tzii, identified himself closely with these researches, and bequeathed to posterity a mystic work which now forms part of the Taoist canon, under the title of the History of Great Light It was also during this period that the Jews appear to have founded a colony in Honan, but we cannot say what kind of reception was accorded to the new fiiith. In the glow of early Buddhism, and in the exciting times of its subsequent persecution, it is probable that Judaism failed to attract much serious attention from the Chinese. A synagogue was built at K^-fung Fu in 1164, and the Catholic priest Ricci visited the colony in the sixteenth century. In 1850, certain Hebrew rolls were recovered from the few remaining descendants of former Jews; but there was then no one left who could read a word of them, or who possessed any knowledge of the creed of their forefathers beyond a few traditions of the scantiest possible kind. But the most remarkable of all events connected with our present period was the general revival of learning and authorship. The Confucian texts were rescued from hiding-places in which they had been concealed at the risk of death ; editing committees were appointed, and immense efforts made to repair the mischief sustained by literature at the hands of the * First Emperor.' The schoolmen of the day expounded the records and teachings of the great Sage according to their lights: Digitized by VjOOQIC 38 DYNASTIC SKETCHES, and although the practical outcome of their labours was later on scattered to the wind by the genius of one man, the bulky commentaries they put together still survive, to be perused by the curious and accepted by the few. Ink was invented under the Hans, to replace such mixtures as brick-dust and water, with which cha- racters had already been traced on silk; and paper, made from the bark of trees and from hemp, followed shortly after. The result of these inventions was a further modification of the writtet\ character from that previously in use, and suitable to the stylus and tablets of bamboo, to a form which could be more rapidly committed to paper with the aid of the hair pencil Authorship was then enabled to make a fresh start — the very start indeed that the 'First Emperor* had longed to associate with his own reign, and had at- tempted to secure by such impracticable means. The * father of Chinese history ' flourished during the latter portion of the second century b.c His great work, which has been the model for all subsequent histories, is divided into 130 books, and deals with a period extending from the reign of the Yellow Emperor down to his own times. This narrative was subsequently /i.ilob- taken up by Pan Ku a century and a half later, and completed after his death by a gifted sister, who brought the work down to Wang Mang's usurpation of the throne. In another branch of literature, a foremost place among the lexicographers of the world may fairly be ^i'^e^jr^ claimed for Hsu Sh^n, the author of the famous dic- tionary known as the Shuo Win^ though it was not until Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 39 quite recently that he was accorded a niche in the Valhalla of Chinese literature, the temple of Confucius. His work consisted of about 10,000 separate characters in the^ tablet-and-stylus form, commonly called the * Lesser Seal,' — seal^ because for many centuries it has been a favourite style for legends on public and private seals and similar inscriptions; lesser^ to distinguish it from the older style (of which it was a modification) in use during the early days of the Chow dynasty. It was systematically arranged for purposes of reference, and the meaning and scope of each character were more or less elucidated by short explanatory entries. The keynote to the whole lies in an attempt to establish the 'hieroglyphic' origin of the written language; and in this respect the author fails, from disregard of scientific method and from grotesque exaggeration, to carry his readers with him. On the other hand, he has left us an ample and valuable record of the written character of eighteen centuries ago, from an inspection of which we learn that the principle of phonetic formation was then as fully developed as it is now, leaving us to infer that a considerable interval must necessarily have elapsed between the beginnings of the art and an age in which it was already so fully developed. Many other voluminous works and celebrated writers of the Han dynasty could here be mentioned at the risk of tiring the reader with an overburdened page. But these we will reluctantly pass over, to conclude with the honoured name of one man who ensured for himself, by his virtue and integrity, a more imperishable fame Digitized by VjOOQIC 40 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. than any mere literary achievement could bestow. Yang Ch^n was indeed a scholar of no mean attainments, and away in his occidental home he was known as 'the Confucius of the West' An officer of government in a high position, with every means of obtaining wealth at his command, he lived and died in comparative poverty, his only object of ambition being the reputation of a 'spotless official' The Yangs of his day grumbled sorely at opportunities thus thrown away ; but the Yangs of to-day glory in the fame of their great ancestor, and are proud to worship in the ancestral hall to which his uprightness has bequeathed a name. For once, when pressed to receive a bribe, with the additional induce- ment that no one would know of the transaction, he quietly replied — " How so ? Heaven would know ; Earth, would know; you would know; and I should know." And to this hour the ancestral shrine of the clan of the Yangs bears as its name *The Hall of the Four Knows.' It was, in all probability, under the dynasty of the Hans that the drama first took its place among the amusements of the people, though some defer its ap- pearance until eight or nine centuries later, and attribute its origin to a dream of one of the Emperors of the T'angs, in which he fancied himself on a visit to the mooa Now, when the founder of the Hans was besieged, as has been stated, by an army of Huns, His Majesty, acting under the advice of a crafty minister, sent a messenger to the Hun chieftain and offered him the present of a vay beautiful girl on condition of being Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HAN& 41 allowed to pass unharmed through his lines. The Hun chieftain, suspicious of treachery, repaired by agreement to the foot of the city wall, and there beheld a charming young lady moving about among a circle of attendants alnK>st as lovely as herself. His suspicions being* thus allayed, he gave orders to open a passage to the Emperor and his suite, who promptly made the best of their way out At the same time, the Hun chieftain entered the city and proceeded to the spot on the wall where the young lady was awaiting him, still surrounded by her bevy of handmaids ; but on arriving there, he found, to his infinite chagrin, that the beauty and her attendants were simply a set of wooden puppets which had been dressed up for the occasion, and were worked by a concealed arrangement of strings. Overcome with rage and mortification, he instantly started in pursuit of the flying Emperor, who however succeeded in making good his escape. From that day Punch and Judy shows are said to have come into existence, if indeed the term •Punch and Judy' be not somewhat of a misnomer. For the marionettes of China are unconnected in any way with the loves and hatreds of our own Mr. Punch. The former exhibit to Chinese crowds of men, women, and children, stirring episodes taken from the history of ancient China, relieved by occasional farces of rather questionable decency. Emperors, generals, crafty man- darins, and intriguing women, strut backwards and forwards across the mimic stage, and teach their lessons of worldly wisdom in the local dialect of the audience. No money is collected on the spot, the proprietors of Digitized by VjOOQIC 43 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. the show being paid out of the theatrical fund of the street or village, sometimes by a well-to-do citizen, to give their entertainment free to all comers. The custom of burying slaves with the dead was abolished early in the dynasty by the same enlightened emperor, who reduced the twenty-seven months' mourning for parents to a more manageable period of twenty-seven days. Literary degrees were first established; and the existing calendar was corrected to accord with the cal- culations of the historian Ssii-ma Ch^ea Perpetual hereditary rank was conferred upon the senior descen- dant of Confucius in the male line, and the succession has continued unbroken to the present day. The head of the *K*ungs,' or Confucian clan, is now a *duke,' and resides in a palace, taking rank with, if not before, the highest provincial authorities. Later on, the written language of China and the teachings of Confucius were carried over to Japan, to be there received with unmixed veneration for many centuries, and to shape the edti- cational curriculum of the people and the national bent of thought, until destined in recent days to pale before the flood of a brighter light During the above period, Greece had fallen from her high estate and had become a Roman province. Her literary activity seemed to be extinguished simultaneously with the loss of her prestige and political supremacy; and the tide of production, which in little more than a hundred years had made Greek literature what it is, was stopped for ever. Hannibal had been finally vanquished : Christ had been crucified: Julius Caesar had vbited Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 43 Britain: Augustus had been saluted Emperor: and St Paul had been brought in chains to Rome. The close of the Han dynasty, and the rise of the 'Three Kingdoms' into which the empire was for a short time divided, form one of the most interesting portions of Chinese history. It was essentially an age of heroes, of martial prowess, of bold attack and skilled defence, of Odyssean cunning and Hectorean courage. On the other hand, the empire was deluged in blood ; cities were sacked, homes desolated, and vast tracts converted into desert solitudes. An invasion of the Tibetans, followed by a rebellion, popularly known as the revolt of the * Yellow Turbans,* and coupled with palace intrigues, were the primary causes of all the trouble, which began with a temporary usurpation of the throne, the eunuchs being as usual in the thick of the mischiefl Able generals came to the front in unusual numbers, the result being that each one of these, either foreseeing or intending the early overthrow of the reigning house, began to consult his own personal interests and entertain the most ambitious designs. Foremost among these was Ts*ao Ts*ao, whose long and brilliant campaigns eventually placed not himself but his son upon the throne of one of the Three Kingdoms. Second only to Ts*ao Ts*ao, and for some time one of his lieutenants, was Liu Pei, who was distantly connected with the Imperial family. Like his above-mentioned commander, his early laurels were gained in fighting against the Yellow Turbans and in aiding to crush their rebellion; and like him, he too Digitized by VjOOQIC ^ 44 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. became a leader on his own account, finally establishing himself, under the direction of his great general and counsellor, Chu-ko Liang {or K\mg-ming), as Emperor of a second of the Three Kingdoms. In his early days, Liu Pei had fallen in with two kindred spirits, Chang Fei and Kuan Yii ; and the three, after having sworn an oath of eternal fidelity to each other in a peach-orchard, continued through life to fight together side by side. Chang Fei fell by the hand of an assassin, and Kuan Yii was taken prisoner by Sun Ch^an, a rival general, and beheaded. The latter became Emperor of the third of the Three Kingdoms, while Kuan Yii, the greatest military hero of all Chinese history, was first of all canonised as a saint and subsequently promoted to the rank of a God. He is now the guardian angel of every Chinese city, and plays a {prominent part in the Chinese pantheon as the God of War. The whole story of these civil wars is most graphically told in a famous historical romance composed about i,ooo years afterwards. A considerable element of fiction has been interwoven with truth to make the narrative more palatable to the general reader; but its basis is history, and the work is universally regarded among the Chinese themselves as one of the most valuable productions in the lighter iMranches of their literature. The annexed extract is given chiefly because of the allusion it contains to the use of anaesthetics at an early date. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 45 EXTRACT FROM THE STORY OF THE THREE STATES. [After the death of Kuan Yii, as already narrated, his head was forwarded to Ts'ao Ts'ao; and the latter became from that moment terribly disturbed in spirit, fancying always when he shut his eyes at night that he saw bdbre him the gory countenance of his once dreaded foe. To such a pitch was he worked by this constant strain on his nerves that he finally determined to quit his old palace at Lo-Yang, which he began to believe was haunted by Kuan Yti's ghost, and build himself a new residence, free from all supernatural influences. With this view he caused a skilled artisan, named Su Yiieh, to be brought before him, and proceeded to make arrangements for carrying his plan into execution.] •*Ten miles or so from the city," said Su Yiieh, ** there is a pool called the Pool of the Jumping Dragon. In front of that pool there is a shrine, and alongside of the shrine there grows a tall pear-tree, some hundred feet and more in height That tree would do to make the beam of your Highness* projected palace." Ts'ao Ts'ao was greatly pleased, and sent off workmen to fell it forthwith. These, however, returned after a few days and reported that no saw or axe had any effect on the tree, and that they could not cut it down. Unable to believe their report, Ts*ao Ts*ao himself started at the head of several hundred horsemen, and on arriving at the pool alighted from his hotst before the shrine. Looking up, he beheld a straight and stately tree which reared its head among the cloudf* He immediately gave orders to begin cutting; upon which the village elders came out and attempted to remonstrate with him, urging that the tree was several hundred years old and was inhabited by a spirit, and that in their opinion it could not be cut down. Digitized by VjOOQIC 46 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. "What!" cried Ts*ao Ts*ao, in anger; "shall I who have roamed over the world for the past forty years, the terror of all men from the Son of Heaven down to the meanest of his subjects — shall I be crossed in my design by some trumpery hobgoblin?" Thereupon he drew his sword and attacked the tree with his own hands. Chng'g'g rang the metal as it touched the wood; and the next moment Ts*ao Ts*ao was covered with blood, at which he was so alarmed that he threw aside his sword, vaulted on his horse, and rode home. That night he was restless and unable to sleep, and while he was sitting up with his head bowed upon his arms as he leant over the table, lo! a man with dishevelled hair and dressed in black garments came and stood sword in hand before him. " I," cried the man, pointing with his finger at Ts*ao Ts'ao, "I am the spirit of the pear-tree. You would build a palace in furtherance of your seditious designs, for which you attempted to make use of my glorious timber; but I, knowing that your hour is at hand, have come hither to slay you." Ts*ao Ts*ao was terribly alarmed and called out to the guard; whereupon the black-coated man struck him a blow with his sword, which caused him to utter a loud cry, and immediately afterwards he felt a severe and almost unbearable pain in his head. Orders were at once issued for a search to be made for some skilful leech; but none were of any avail, and Ts*ao Ts*ao*s officers were sad at heart At this juncture, Hua Hsin addressed the commander- in-chief and said, " Does your Highness not know of the Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 47 marvellous skill of Dr. Hua T*o?" in reply to which Ts*ao Ts*ao inquired if he meant the doctor of Chiang- tung who had cured Chou T'ai ; and on being informed that ihe latter was the individual in question, remarked that he was acquainted with Dr. Hua by reputation only. " Dr. Hua," explained Hua Hsin, " is a mighty skilful physician, and such a one as is not often to be found. His administration of drugs, and his use of acupuncture and counter-irritants, are always followed by the speedy recovery of the patient. If the sick man is suffering from some internal complaint and medicines produce no satisfactory result, then Dr. Hua will administer a dose of hashish, under the influence of which the patient becomes as it were intoxicated with wine. He now takes a sharp knife and opens the abdomen, proceeding to wash the patient's viscera with medicinal liquids, but without causing him the slightest pain. The washing finished, he sews up the wound with medicated thread and puts over it a plaster ; and by the end of a month or twenty days the place has healed up. Such is his extraordinary skill One day, for instance, as he was walking along a road he heard someone groaning deeply, and at once declared that the cause was indigestion. On inquiry, this turned out to be the case; and accordingly, Dr Hua ordered him to drink three pints <^ a decoction of garlic and leeks, which he did, and vomited forth a snake between two and three feet in length — after which he could digest food as before. On another occasion, the Governor of Kuang-ling was very modi depressed in his mind, besides being troubled with Digitized by VjOOQIC 48 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. a flushing of the face and total loss of appetite. He consulted Dr. Hua, and the effect of some medicine administered by him was to cause the invalid to throw up a quantity of red-headed wriggling tadpoles, which the doctor told him had been generated in his system by too great indulgence in fish, and which, although temporarily expelled, would re-appear after an interval of three years, when nothing could save him. And sure enough, he died three years afterwards. In a further instance, a man had a tumour growing between his eyebrows, the itching of which was insupportable. When Dr, Hua saw it, he said, *Thftre is a bird inside;* at which everybody laughed. However, he took a knife and opened the tumour, and out flew a canary, the patient beginning to recover from that hour. Again, another man had had his toes bitten by a dog, the consequence being that two lumps of flesh grew up from the wound, one of which was very painful while the other itched unbearably. * There are ten needles,' said Dr. Hua, ' in the sore lump, and two black and white wa-ch^i pips in the other.' No one believed this until Dr. Hua opened them with a knife and showed that it was so. Truly he is of the same strain as Pien Ch'iao and Ts*ang Kung of old ;. and as he is now living not very far from this, I wonder your Highness does not summon him." At this, Ts*ao Ts*ao sent away messengers who were to travel day and night until they had brought Dr. Hua before him ; and when he arrived, Ts'ao Ts*ao held out his pulse and desired him to diagnose his case. "The pain in your Highness' head," said Dr. Huaj Digitized by VjOOQIC THE HANS. 49 "arises from wind, and the seat ot the disease is the brain, where the wind is collected, unable to get out Drugs are of no avail in your present condition, for which there is but one remedy. You must first swallow a dose of hashish, and then with a sharp axe I will split open the back of your head and let the wind out Thus the disease will be exterminated.** Ts*ao Ts'ao here flew into a great rage, and declared that it was a plot aimed at his life ; to which Dr. Hua replied, " Has not your Highness heard of Kuan Yii's wound in the right shoulder ? I scraped the bone and removed the poison for him without a single sign of fear on his part Your Highness* disease is but a trifling affair; why, then, so much suspicion?** "You may scrape a sore shoulder-bone," said Ts^o Ts*ao, "without much risk; but to split open my skull is quite another matter. It strikes me now that you are here simply to avenge your friend Kuan Yii upon this oppor- tunity." He thereupon gave orders that the doctor should be seized and cast into prison, to be put to the question, in spite of all the objections raised by Chia Yii against thus throwing away the skill of such an unrivalled prac- titioner. To this Ts'ao Ts*ao replied that the fellow was another Chi P'ing, and wanted to kill him, at the same time commanding that he should be forthwith bambooed. So Dr. Hua was thrown into prison His gaoler, however, brought him every day presents of wine and food, as a return for which the doctor one day said to him, " I am about to die ; and in recognition of your kindness to me, I should like to give you a medical E Digitized by VjOOQIC so DYNASTIC SKETCHES. work by myself^ which I have not yet published It is all I have to offer. Let me prepare a letter, and you can send to my house for the book, by the aid of which you will be enabled to carry on my practice." The gaoler was overjoyed, and said, ** If I get that book, I will resign my employment in the gaol, and set to work to relieve suffering humanity, and spread the fame of your virtues far and wide." Dr. Hua then wrote a letter and gave it to the gaoler, who, having obtained the book from the doctor's wife, returned with it to the prison, where it was formally presented to him, and subsequently stored by him at his own home. Some ten days after these events Dr. Hua died in gaol, and was decently buried by the gaoler, who finally threw up his post, and went off to his house to study medicine from Dr. Hua's book. He reached home just in time to find his wife in the act of burning it ; and, indeed, there were only a few leaves remaining when he snatched the book hurriedly from the flames. He cursed her soundly for her folly, but she retorted that she had no wish for him to become as clever as Dr. Hua, and perish in prison like him. Her husband sighed deeply at the loss that the world had sustained by the destruction of the book, for the few leaves that remained had reference only to capons and pigs. [It remains only to add that Ts*ao Ts*ao never recovered. He soon afterwards became much worse, and knowing that his last hour had arrived, he uttered his final injunctions to those who stood round the bed. "And as he concluded, he heaved a deep sigh ; tears trickled down his face like rain ; in a few moments he had ceased to breathe, and all was over."] Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANGS. si III.— THE T'ANGS. A.D. 600-900. It is unnecessary to linger over the four centuries which connect the Hans with the T'angs. There was not in them that distinctness of character or coherency of aim which go to make up an 'age' in the sense of these sketches. The Three Kingdoms passed rapidly away. Other small dynasties succeeded them. But their names and dates are not essential to a right comprehension of the state of China, then or now. A few points may, however, be briefly mentioned before quitting this period of transition from the epoch of the Hans to the epoch of the T'angs. The old rule of twenty-seven months' mourning for parents was re-established, and has continued in force until the present day. Diplomatic relations were opened with Japan; and Christianity was introduced by the Nestorians under the title of the 'luminous teaching.' The Tea Record tells us that tea was not known in China before this date, which may be true as regards the particular species of shrub employed in the prepa- ration of the national drink ; but an infusion of some kind of leaf was familiar to the Chows, and its name occurs in the Erh Ya. E 2 Digitized by VjOOQIC 59 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. m > j ■■i iLiifi n ii w ! ■ ■ < [ I . I ■ I ■ I I ■ ■*! ■ Pa Hsien now performed his marvellous journey from China to India across the Central Asian deserts, and back by Ceylon and the Straits of Malacca. He had remained away fifteen years, and had returned with a practical kn6wledge of Sanscrit and with a large con- signment of Buddhist books. The further impulse thus given to the spread of the religion was very widely felt ; and in the history of a petty dynasty one hundred 3rears later, we read, ^*The emperor wholly devoted himself to the worship of Shikyamunl Far and wide the religion extended, until there were none who did not sarve Buddha." Previous even to this, the con- struction of Buddhist temples had been gomg on, while the ranks of the priesthood had already been largely recruited. It was at the close of this transitional period that we first detect traces of the art of printing, still in an embryonic stage, and not destined for many years to displace altogether the tedious labours of the scribe. It seems, however, to be quite certain that before the end of the sixth century the Chinese were in possession of a method of reproduction from wooden blocks ; but, as far as we can learn, the work was of the roughest description, and made a poor show side by side with the calligraphic triumphs of the day. The written character had already been modified to its present shape, and the old forms were now only seen on seals or on ornamental scrolls. One of the last emperors of the period was a strange mixture of enterprise and vicious excess. While Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'AKOS* $3 committing every imaginable act of folly and extra* vs^ance, he nevertheless succeeded in adding largely to the empire by annexation towards the west He joined the Yang-tsze and the Yellow River by a canal, thus anticipating in some measure the Grand Canal of Kublai Khan. Embassies reached his cornt from various nations — ^among others from Japan and Cochin China — ^and helped to add to the lustre of his reign. But the end came at last; and it was practically over his murdered corpse that the T'angs rose to Imperial power. The three centuries during which the T'angs sat upon the throne form a brilliant epoch in Chinese history; and just as the northerners still delight to style them** selves 'good sons of Han/ so are the more southern people still proud of the designation which has des* cended to them as 'men of T'ang.' The empire waa now once more undivided against itself; and although wars and rebellions were not wanting to disturb the even tenor of its way, the general picture presented to us under the dynasty of the T'angs is one of national peace, prosperity, and progress. One of the chief political events of the period was the usurpation of power by the Empress Wu; at iirst^ as nominal regent on behalf of a step-child, the son and heir of her late husband by his first empress, but afterwards on her own account The Empress Wu ruled with a rod of iron, and with much actual ability so long as her great intellectual faculties remained um'mpaired ; but in her old age she was deposed and Digitized by VjOOQIC 54 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. relegated to private life, the rightful heir being replaced upon his father's throne. She had altered the name of the dynasty to • Chow,' which change, like many others she had sought to introduce, was swept away at her deposition from power. Her title of * Empress,', as signifying independent sovereignty, is more a sobriquet than anything else. The Empress Wu does not occupy a real* place among the sovereigns of China, such as has been accorded to the Empress Lii of the Hans. But unquestionably the most attractive portion of the whole of the T'ang dynasty is that covered by the forty- four years during which the Emperor Hsiian Tsung {pr Ming Ti) lapsed from the height of a wise and virtuous ruler to the depth of a corrupt and sensual debauchee. One of his first acts was to publish an edict against the prevailing extravagance in dress ; and in order to point the principle by personal practice, he caused all his own valuable wardrobe to be destroyed by fire. He was the founder of a dramatic college, to which purpose he devoted a large section of his Imperial residence, known as the 'Pear Garden,' where male and female actors in great numbers were trained to their respective parts. An enthusiastic patron of literature, he sur- rounded himself with the wits of the day, among whom are specially noticeable the poets Li T*ai-poh and Tu Fu, the Byron and De Musset of China. The former of these, a poet at the early age of seven, was admitted to an intimacy as unparalleled as it was objectionable in character. On the strength of the beauty of his verses, the Emperor waited upon him with wine and Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANGS. SS food, while the Imperial favourite handed him paper, pencil, and ink, the usual outcome of these s3rmposia being the general inebriation of all parties. No wonder that such over-familiarity ended in mutual contempt The favourite became arrayed against the poet, because of some alleged satirical allusions to her in his poems, and Li T*ai-poh closed his days in the retirement and obscurity of private life. The T*ang dynasty is otherwise inseparably associated with the highest flights of Chinese poetry. About one hundred and eighty years ago, a Complete Collection oj the Poetry of the Twangs was published by Imperial command The work consists of 48,900 diflerent pieces of all kinds, arranged in 900 books. And it may not be out of place to mention here that Chinese prosody is of an extremely complicated nature. As a rule, poems are written in so many columns, with either five or seven characters to each, as previously determined upon, though other metres are in use. The first, second, and fourth columns rhyme ; while intricate rules prevail as to the * tones ' of characters in certain places, these being made to correspond rhythmically one with another according to a fixed system. Antithetical collocations, and historical or m3^hological allusions, must also be of frequent occurrence ; figures of speech still more so, it being an almost unpardonable fault to call a spade a spade. Chinese poetry, as may now perhaps be under- stood by the reader, is precisely that part of the literature which has always been least appreciated by Europeans. It possesses inmiense attractions for their own scholars Digitized by VjOOQIC $6 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. and the art of making verses holds an important position in their educational curriculum. The elaboration of 'tones,' or those modulations of the voice by which any given vocable may be pro- nounced in several different ways according to the meaning required, is usually referred to this period. Mr, Edkins says, " The number of tones increased fronx two to three by the time of Confucius, to four in the sixth century of our era, and so on to their present Anfte." The subject will be further alluded to when we come to speak of the dialects of modem times. Meanwhile, Buddhism was fast striking deep roots into a favourable soil The founder of the dynasty published, indeed, a severe edict against the growing faith ; and, towards the close of the T*ang period, another Imperial thunderbolt of the kind was launched at the ^en firmly established and almost universally-popular religion. Confucianists, rejecting without discrimination all beliefs in supernatural existences, were arrayed among its most bitter enemies ; and professors of Taoist mum- meries, finding their receipts diminish in direct ratio to the spread of Buddhistic doctrines, joined warmly in the hue and cry. In the other camp were found several weak emperors, and whole seraglios of silly women and crafty eunuchs ; the Imperial favour thus lavished on an alien superstition reaching a climax with the determina- tion of his Majesty Hsien Tsung to receive with public honours a bone of Shikyamuni which had been conveyed with immense care from India overland to China. A lofty tower was prepared, from which the Emperor was Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANOS. 57 to view a gorgeous procession formed to conduct this precious relic of the world-honoured Buddha within the {Mrecincts of the Imperial palace. There was one man, however, the most accomplished of the poets, philoso* phers, and statesmen of his day, who was unable to look unmoved on this degradation of intellect and of the Imperial dignity. The name of Han W^n-kung is a household word in every Chinese home upon which the light even of a mediocre education has fallen. An ardent student of Confucianism, as seen from the stand- point of the Han scholars, he had succeeded in introdudng a theory of his own with regard to the much-vexed question of man's original disposition. He contended that men were bom with natures belonging to one or other of three classes. Their tendencies were either innately good, or innately evil, or they occupied a mean place between these extremes. But not one of his efforts attracted so much attention at the time, or has excited so much interest since, as his famous remonstrance to the Emperor regarding the undignified step his Majesty was about to take in the matter of the bone. This protest was conceived in a strain peculiarly Chinese. Han W6n-kung travelled back to the palmy days of Yao and Shun, and showed how happy were the people, and how long-lived were the rulers of old, centuries before any one had ever heard of the Lord Buddha. He passed in review the intervening dynasties, and pointed out that those emperors who had been most inclined to the faith had enjoyed the least share of worldly prosperity. He protested against going to Digitized by VjOOQIC S8 DYHASTIC SKETCHES. baibarians in search of the rule of life, and r^retted that the Son of Heaven, the master of all beneath the canopy of the sky, should stoop to be taught at their hands. "Supposing, indeed," he argued, "that this Buddha had come to our capital in the flesh, under an appointment from his own State, then your majesty might have received him, with a few words of admo- nition, bestowing on him a banquet and a suit of clothes, previous to sending him out of the country with an escort of soldiers, in order to avoid any dangerous influence upon the minds of the people. But what are the facts ? The bone of a man long since dead and decomposed, is to be admitted, forsooth, within the precincts of the Imperial palace 1 And yet Confucius said, ' Pay all respect to spiritual beings, but keep them at a distance.' " In conclusion, Han Wdn-kung prayed that the bone might be handed over for destruction by fire or water, adding, "Should the Lord Buddha have power to avenge this insult by the infliction of some mirfortune, then let the vials of hb wrath be poured out upon the person of your majesty's servant, who now calls Heaven to witness that he will not repent him of his oath." The result of this brilliant appeal was not of a nature to encourage further appeals in the same direction Han Wdn-kung was immediately ordered to take up the post of governor in a wild out-of-the-way r^on in a distant part of the empire, the district in which the Treaty Port of Swatow now lies. Thither he retired to occupy himself in attempting to civilise the turbulent Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANGS. S9 clans committed to his charge ; and there the memory of hi^ wise and just administration remains still fresh and green, though more than a thousand years have since passed away. It is pleasant to be able to record the hex that this quasi-banishment came eventually to a satisfactory end Han Wdn-kung was ultimately recalled, and died full of honours, being canonised after death under the title of a Prince of Literature. It was during the reign of the second emperor of the T*angs, and only six years after the Hegira, that the religion of Mahomet is said to have first reached the shores of China. Wahb-Abi-Kabcha, a maternal uncle of the Prophet, visited the country, and obtained per- mission to built a mosque at Canton, portions of which may perhaps still be found in the thrice-restored structure which now stands upon its site Nearly a century and a half later, an army of 4,000 Arab soldiers was] sent to China by the Caliph Abu GiafTar to assist in quelling an insurrection; and these soldiers, as a reward for thdr services, were allowed to settle in the country, where they married native wives. They held fast by the feith they had brought with them; but in every other respect, their individuality was soon merged in that of the Chinese people. The use of paper money was first introduced by the government towards the closing years of the dynasty; and it is near about to this time that we can trace back the existence of the modem Court Circular and daily record of edicts, memorials, and so forth, com- monly known as the Peking Gazette. Digitized by VjOOQIC 60 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. ■ I I I I I I m l I I I I I I able chiefly for the more extended practice of printing from wooden blocks, the standard classical works being now for the first time printed in this way, and admitted to a wider circulation than heretofore. The discreditable custom of cramping women's feet into the so-called 'golden lilies' belongs probably to this date, though referred by some to a period several hundred years earlier. How it originated there is really no sufficient or trustworthy evidence to show; but there is no reason why this, one of the most extraordinary and objectionable features of Chinese social life^ should be so thoroughly misunderstood, as is now the case« Even Mr. Herbert Spencer writes : " Obviously these [cramped feet] have become signs of class distinctioni because of the implied inability to labour." {Ceremonial InstituiionSi p. 202.) Now, a very common sight in China at the present moment is a small-footed woman^ of course of the poorer classes, toiling wearily along under a burden out of all proportion to her strength, even were her feet of the natural size and shape. The fact is, that small feet do not constitute a class distinction in the sense intended by Mr. Spencer. All women of Chinese origin have their feet cramped in infancy, without reference to their social standing, in Digitized by VjOOQIC THE t'angs; 6i opposition to the Manchu or Tartar women, who, from the empress downwards, are never subjected to this process; neither is the custom in force among the Hakkas, a race of ancient Chinese stock, said to have emigrated from northern to southern China some six hundred years ago ; nor among the hill-tribes of Formosa and other parts. The Manchus, as will be seen more fiiUy on a later page, are a people alien to the soil of China, who swept down from their home in Manchuria and made themselves masters of the empire in 1644, since which date they have continued in unbroken succession to occupy the Dragon Throne. We have mentioned above that the age of the T'angs was the age of Mahomet and his new religion, the pro- pagation of which was destined to meet in the west with a fatal check from the arms of Charles Martel at the battle of Tours, It was the age of Rome inde- pendent under her early popes; of Charlemagne as Emperor of the West; of Egbert, as first king of England ; and of Alfred the Great Digitized by VjOOQIC 63 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. A VISIT TO THE COUNTRY OF GENTLEMEN. (from the CHINESE.)* Imagine that, instead of preferring to buy things at low prices, men habitually preferred to give high prices for them ; and imagine that, conversely, sellers rejoiced in getting low prices instead of high ones.— Herbert Spencer. The year 684 after the birth of Christ was an eventful year for China. A woman, endowed it is true with a masculine natiure and an iron ¥rill, set aside with violence the rightful heir, and seated herself exultingly upon the Dragon Throne. She understood, moreover, the difficult art of keeping the empire she had acquired; and for nearly twenty years the Chinese people had no alter- native but to submit Yet the Empress Wu dktinguished her reign by a certain amount of folly and arrogance hardly compatible with the dauntless spirit which had carried her through to victory. For instance, she issued an edict, to be promulgated throughout the empire, commanding every species of flower without a single exception to be in bloom by a given day. Her frivolity, dbsipation, and extravagance, formed a common topic of conversation at the public tea-gardens, and tended to bring about a downfall even more rapid than had been her rise to power. With all this, however, we have now no concern. The story we have to tell is connected with this empress only * Translated from Vol. iv. of the Ching-hua-'yiioH. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANGS. 63 by the following link. Among her other whims she took it mto her head to establish examinations for women. With a view to selecting the successful candidates for posts m the service of the state which had hitherto been confined to men. From the possession of a vigorous intellect in her own case, she probably inferred that many of her sex would be found to be equally gifted if only the chance were given them of bringing their powers mto play. Whatever may have been the cause, it is only certain that this policy gave immediate and unbounded offence to all ranks and classes alike. To none more so than to a young and accomplished scholar, named T'ang Ao, who had just taken the third place in the great triennial examination. He declared that he saw through the hollowness of all earthly honours, and expressed his intention of throwing up a career as brilliant as it was certain, and of roaming abroad for some years in search of knowledge and amusement combined. It chanced that an uncle of his, named Lin, was just on the point of setting out on a long voyage with a cargo of mer- chandise which he intended to dispose of on his way, bringing back to China a goodly load of valuables from the countries he proposed to visit He gladly accepted the offer of his nephew's companionship, and introduced him to a third person, who, with his own wife and child, made up a party of five. This was no other than an old man of eighty, who had been travelling about the world ever since he was a boy, and was still hale and hearty enough to take his place with many a younger man. He Digitized by VjOOQIC 64 DYNASTIC SKETCHES. was called To, because he knew so much^* and every question of importance was invariably referred to him. They started with a fair wind in a tight ship, talking gaily of all the wonders they expected to seci And so they sailed along for many days until they arrived at the Country of Gentlemen, ^ere they went on shore and proceeded at once to the capital city. There, over the city gate, T'ang and his companions read the following legend : — Virtue is man's only jewel I They then entered the city, which they found to be a busy and prosperous mart, the inhabitants all talking the Chinese language Accordingly, T'ang accosted one of the passers-by and asked him how it was his nation had become so famous for politeness and consideration of others ; but to his great astonishment the man did not understand the meaning of his question. T*ang then asked him why this land was called the 'Country of Gentlemen,* to which he likewise replied that he did not know. Several other persons of whom they inquired giving similar answers, the venerable To remarked that the term had undoubtedly been adopted by the in- habitants of adjacent countries, in consequence of the polite manners and considerate behaviour of these people. " For," said he, " the very labourers in the fields and foot-passengers in the streets step aside to make room for one another. High and low, rich and poor, * To means 'much' in Chinese. Digitized by VjOOQIC THE T'ANGS. 65 mutually respect each other's feelings without reference to the wealth or social status of either ; and this is, after all, the essence of what constitutes the true gentlemaa" "In that case," cried T*ang, "let us not hurry on, but rather imi^rove ourselves by observing the ways and cus- toms of this people." By-and-by they arrived at the market-place, where they saw an official servant* standing at a stall engaged in making purchases. He was holding in his hand the articles he wished to buy, and was saying to the owner of the stall, " Just reflect a moment. Sir, how impossible it would be for me to take these excellent goods at the absurdly low price you are asking. If you will oblige me by doubling the amount, I shall do myself the honour of accepting them ; otherwise, I cannot but feel that you are unwilling to do business with me to-day." " How very funny ! " whispered T*ang to his friends. " Here, now, is quite a different custom from ours, where the buyer invariably tries to beat down the seller, and the seller to run up the price of his goods as high as possible. This certainly looks like the 'consideration for others ' of which we spoke just now." ITie man at the stall here replied, "Your wish. Sir,' should be law to me, I know; but the fact is, I am already overwhelmed with shame at the high price I have ventured to nsme. Besides, I do not profess to adhere rigidly to ' marked prices,'! which is a mere trick * A dafts very much dreaded by shopkeepers in China for their avarice and extortion. Usually called ' runners.* t Almost every shop in China has some such sign as 'prix fix^,' F Digitized by VjOOQIC 66 DYNASTIC SKBTCHES. of Ihe trade; and consequendy it sliould be the mini of ewtxy purchaser to make me tower my terms to due very smallest i^;ure. You, on the odntrary, are trying to raise the price to an exorbitant figure: and, although I fiilly appreciate your kindness in that respect, I must really ask you to seek what you re(|uire at some other estaMishment It is quite impossiUe for me to execute your commands.^ T'ang was agaun expressing his astonishment at this extraordinary reversal of the platitudes of trade, when the would-be purdiaser re^ed, ^For you, Sir, to ask such a low sum for these first