Ancient China Simplified
by
Edward Harper Parker
Part 6 out of 7
clear, however, whether Confucius visited the old or the new
capital. After a year's stay here, Confucius went further
westwards to a certain Ts'u town (near Nan-yang Fu in Ho Nan),
passing, on his way, near the place in which Lao-tsz was born. He
soon returned to Ts'ai, where he stayed three years. It will be
observed that ever since 700 B.C. it had been the deliberate
policy of Ts'u to annex or overshadow as many of the orthodox
states as possible, so that Ts'u's undoubtedly high literary
output, in later years, is easily accounted for: in other words,
Ts'u's northern population was now already orthodox Chinese.
Moreover, it must not be forgotten that, even before the Chou
conquest, one of the early Ts'u rulers was an author himself, and
had been tutor to the father of the Chou founder: that means to
say Ts'u was possibly always as literary as China.
Meanwhile Ts'u and semi-barbarian Wu were contesting possession of
Ch'en, and the King of Ts'u tried to secure by presents the
services of Confucius, who had prudently transferred himself to a
safe place in the open country lying between Ch'en and Ts'ai The
ministers of these two orthodox states, fearing the results to
their own people should Confucius (as he seems in fact to have
contemplated) decide to accept the Ts'u offer, with a police force
surrounded the Confucian party; they were only able to escape from
starvation by sending word to the King, who at once sent a
detachment to free the sage. He would have conferred a fief upon
Confucius, but his ministers advised him of the danger of such a
proceeding, seeing that the Chou dynasty conquered the empire
after beginning with a petty fief, and that the great kingdom of
Ts'u itself had arrived at its present greatness after beginning
with a still smaller fief. Accordingly the sage decided to return
to Wei (489), where several of his disciples received official
posts, and where Confucius himself seems to have acted as
unofficial adviser, especially in the matter of a contested
succession. All this competition for, or at least jealousy of,
Confucius' services proves that his repute as an administrator
(not necessarily as a philosopher) was already widely spread. The
following year the King of Wu appeared before the Lu capital, and
one of Confucius' former disciples holding office there (the one
who went in advance in 492) just succeeded in moderating the
barbarians' demands, which, however, only took the comparatively
harmless "spiritual" form of orthodox sacrificial victims.
[Illustration: Map
1. The dotted line shows the present Grand Canal; the part between
the Yang-tsz and Hwai Rivers was made by the King of Wu. The part
north of the Hwai is chiefly the channel of the River Sz, flowing
from the Lu capital into the Hwai.
2. The old Hwai embouchure, running from the Lake Hung-tseh to the
sea, no longer exists; it dissipates itself in canals and salt
flats.
3. From 1852 the Yellow River has flowed north as depicted in the
other maps. For several centuries previous to 1851 it flowed as
shown by the long-link-and-dot line, and took possession of the
now extinct Hwai embouchure.
4. The crosses mark capitals. Ts'ai (two marked) and Hii (one
marked) frequently shifted capitals.]
In 484 Confucius was still in Wei, for in that year he is stated
to have declined to discuss there a question connected with making
war. In the year 484 or 483 the disciple sent by Confucius to Lu,
as stated, in 492 conducted an expedition against Ts'i: this was
the shameful period when orthodox Lu, in compulsory league with
barbarous Wu, was playing a double and treacherous game under
stress, and the question of recalling Confucius to save his native
country was on the _tapis_. Hearing of this, and despite the
heavy bribes offered him to stay by the ruler of Wei, Confucius
started with alacrity for Lu, where he arrived safely after
fourteen years of wandering. He is often stated to have visited
over forty states in all; but it must be remembered that each of
the important countries he visited had in turn a number of
satellites of its own; as, for instance, the extremely ancient
"marquess state" of Ki, or K'i, subordinate to Lu, which, though
possessing great spiritual authority, had no weight in lay policy.
An interesting point to notice is that Confucius' travels almost
exactly coincide with those of the Second Protector 150 years
earlier (see Chapter XXXIX); both of them ignored the Emperor, and
both of them visited Ts'i, Ts'ao, Sung, and Cheng on their way to
the Ts'u frontiers; but Confucius was not able to get much farther
west so as to reach the Ts'u capital; nor was he able to get to
Tsin; not to say the still more distant Ts'in. In other words, the
limited centre of orthodox China remained for many centuries the
same, and the vast regions surrounding it were still semi-
barbarian in the fifth century B.C. Now it was that Confucius,
seeing that the imperial power had diminished almost to nothing;
that the Odes and Book, the Rites, and the Music no longer
possessed their former influence; employed himself in making
systematic search for documents, in re-editing the Book (of
History), and in endeavouring to ascertain the exact ritual or
administration of the preceding dynasties. "Henceforth the Rites
could be understood and transmitted,"--from which we may assume
that, up to this time, they had been practically a monopoly of the
princely caste. He did not go further back into the mythical
period than the two emperors who preceded the Hia dynasty, nor did
he bring the Book farther down than to the time of Duke Muh of
Ts'in, which practically means the time of the first Protectors.
He really did for rites and history what he had blamed Tsz-ch'an
for doing with the law: he popularized it. He also attempted with
persistent study to master the Changes, to which incomprehensible
work he added features of his own--very little more understandable
than the original texts. As to the Odes, 3000 in number, he used
the pruning knife much more vigorously, and nine-tenths of them
were rejected as unsuitable for the purposes of good didactic
lessons or conservative precedents. If we substitute, as we are
entitled to do, the vague word "religion" for the equally vague
word "rites" (which in fact were the only ancient Chinese
religion); if we substitute the empty Christian churches of to-
day, and the too little scrupulous ambitions of rival European
Powers, for the neglected _tao_ of the Chou ideal, and for
the savage rivalry of the great Chinese vassals; we obtain an
almost precisely similar situation in modern Europe. If we can
imagine a great Pope, or a great philosopher, taking advantage of
a turn in the European conscience to bring back the simple ideals
of Christianity, we can easily imagine this European Confucius
being universally hailed in future times as the saviour of a
parlous situation; which, in Europe now, as 2000 years ago in
China, entails on the people so much misery and suffering.
Confucius was, in short, in a way, a Chinese Pius X. declaiming
against Modernism.
Confucius' only certain original work was the "Springs and
Autumns," which is practically a continuation (with the necessary
introductory years) of the ancient Book edited or, as some think,
composed by him. He brought the former, this history of his, down
from 722 to 481 B.C. and died in 479. His pupil Tso K'iu-ming,
who was official historian to the Lu court, annotated and
expounded Confucius' bald annals, bringing the narrative down from
481 to 468; and Tso's delightful work forms the chief, but by no
means the sole, basis for what we have to say in the present book
of sketches.
CHAPTER XLV
CONFUCIUS AND LAO-TSZ
Apart from the fact that reverence for rulers was the pivot of the
Chou religious system, or, what was then the same thing,
administrative system; official historiographers, who were mere
servants of the executive, had to be careful how they offended the
executive power in those capricious days; all the more had a
private author and a retired official like Confucius carefully to
mind the conventions. For instance, two historians had been put to
death by a king-maker in Ts'i for recording the murder by him of a
Ts'i reigning prince; and Ts'i was but next door to Lu. Hence we
find the leading feature of his work is that he hints rather than
criticizes, suggests rather than condemns, conceals rather than
exposes, when it is a question of class honour or divine right;
just as, with us, the Church prefers to hush up rather than to
publish any unfortunate internal episode that would redound to its
discredit. So shocked was he at the assassination of the ruler of
Ts'i by an usurping family in 481, that, even at his venerable
age, he unsuccessfully counselled instant war against Ts'i. His
motive was perhaps doubtful, for the next year we find a pupil of
his, then in office, going as a member of the mission to the same
usurper in order to try and obtain a cession of territory
improperly held. This pupil was one of the friends who assisted at
the arrangement made in Wei in 492. Confucius' failings--for after
all he was only a man, and never pretended to be a genius--in no
way affect the truth of his writings, for they were detected
almost from the very beginning, and have never been in the least
concealed. Notable instances are the mission from Lu to Ts'u in
634; Confucius conceals the fact that, not courtesy to barbarian
Ts'u, but a desire to obtain vengeance against orthodox Ts'i was
the true motive. Again, in 632, when the _faineant_ Emperor
was "sent for" by the Second Protector to preside at a durbar;
Confucius prefers to say: "His Majesty went to inspect his fiefs
north of the river," thus even avoiding so much as to name the
exact place, not to say describe the circumstances. He punishes
the Emperor for an act of impropriety in 693 by recording him as
"the King," instead of "the Heavenly King." On the other hand, in
598, even the barbarian King of Ts'u was "a sage," because, having
conquered the orthodox state of Ch'en, he magnanimously renounced
his conquest. In 529 the infamous ruler of the orthodox state of
Ts'ai is recorded as being "solemnly buried"; but the rule was
that no "solemn funeral" should be accorded to (1) barbarians, (2)
rulers who lose their crown, (3) murderers. Now, this ruler was a
murderer; but it was a barbarian state (Ts'u) that killed him,
which insult to civilization must be punished by making two blacks
one white, _i.e._ by giving the murdered murderer an orthodox
funeral. Again, in 522, a high officer was "killed by robbers"; it
is explained that there were no robbers at all, in fact, but that
the mere killing of an officer by a common person needs the
assumption of robbery. It is like the legal fiction of lunacy in
modern Chinese law to account for the heinous crime of parricide,
and thus save the city from being razed to the ground. Once more,
at the Peace Conference of 546, Ts'u undoubtedly "bluffed" Tsin
out of her rightful precedence; but, Tsin being an orthodox state,
Confucius makes Tsin the diplomatic victor. We have already seen
that he once deliberately broke his plighted word, meanly attacked
the men who spared him; and, out of servility, visited a woman of
noble rank who was "no better than she ought to have been." There
is another little female indiscretion recorded against him. When,
in 482, the Lu ruler's concubine, a Wu princess (imperial clan
name), died, Confucius obsequiously went into mourning for an
"incestuous" woman; but, seeing immediately afterwards that the
powerful family then at the helm did not condescend to do so, he
somewhat ignominiously took off his mourning in a hurry. All
these, and numerous similar petty instances of timorousness, may
appear to us at a remote distance trifling and pusillanimous, as
do also many of the model personal characteristics and goody-goody
private actions of the sage; but if we make due allowance for the
difficulty of translating strange notions into a strange tongue,
and for the natural absence of sympathy in trying to enter into
foreign feelings, we may concede that these petty details, quite
incidentally related, need in no way destroy the main features of
a great picture. Few heroes look the character except in their
native clothes and surroundings; and, as Carlyle said, a naked
House of Lords would look much less dignified than a naked negro
conference.
As a philosopher, Confucius in his own time had scarcely the
reputation of Tsz-ch'an of Cheng, who in many respects seems to
have been his model and guide. Much more is said of Tsz-ch'an's
philosophy, of his careful definition of the ritual system, of his
legal acumen, of his paternal care for the people's welfare; but,
like his contemporaries and friends of Ts'i, Tsin, Cheng, Sung,
Wei; and even of Wu and Yueh; he was working for the immediate
good of his own state in times of dire peril; whereas Confucius
from first to last was aiming at the restoration of religion
(i.e., of the imperial, ritualistic, feudal system); and for this
reason it was that, after the violent unification of the empire by
the First August Emperor in 221 B.C., followed by his fall and the
rise of the Han dynasty in 202 B.C., this latter house finally
decided to venerate, and all subsequent houses have continued to
venerate, Confucius' memory; because his system was, after Lao-
tsz's system had been given a fair trial, at last found the best
suited for peace and permanency.
Not only is Lao-tsz not mentioned in the "Springs and Autumns" of
Confucius, as extended by his contemporary and latter commentators,
but none other of the great writers and philosophers anterior
to and contemporary with Confucius are spoken of except
strictly in their capacity of administrators. Thus the Ts'i
philosopher Kwan-tsz of the First Protector's time, 650 B.C.; the
Ts'i philosopher Yen-tsz of Confucius' time; and the others
mentioned in preceding chapters, notably in Chapter XV. (of whom
each orthodox state of political importance can boast at least
one); based their reputation on what they had achieved for the
state rather than what they had taught in the abstract; and their
economical and historical books, which have all come down to us in
a more or less complete and authentic state, are valued for the
expression they give to the definite theories by which they
arrived at practical results, rather than for the preaching of the
counsels of perfection, We have seen that Yen-tsz expressed rather
a contempt for the (to him) out-of-date formalistic ideals of
Confucius, though Confucius himself had a high opinion of Yen-tsz.
Lao-tsz is first mentioned by the writers of the various "schools"
brought into existence by the collapse of Tsin in 452 B.C., and
its subdivision into three separate kingdoms, recognized as such
by the puppet Emperor in 403 B.C. The diplomatic activity was soon
after that quite extraordinary, and each of the seven royal courts
became a centre of revolutionary thought; that is, every literary
adventurer had his own views of what interpretation of ancient
literature was best suited to the times: it was Modernism with a
vengeance. There is ample evidence of Lao-tsz's influence upon the
age, though Lao-tsz himself had been dead for a century or more in
the year 403. Lao-tsz is spoken of and written about in the fourth
century B.C. as though it were perfectly well known who he was,
and what his sentiments were; but as, up to Confucius' time, state
intercourse had been confined to traders, warriors, and officials
of the princely castes; and as books had been unwieldy objects
stored only in capitals and great centres; there is good reason to
assume that philosophy had been taught almost entirely by word of
mouth, and that something must have occurred shortly after his
death to cheapen and facilitate the dissemination of literature.
Probably this something was the gradual introduction of the
practice of writing on silk rolls and on silk "paper," which
practice is known to have been in vogue long before the discovery
of rubbish paper A.D. 100. Confucius himself evidently made use of
the old-fashioned bamboo slips, strung together by cords like a
bundle of tickets; for we are told that he worked so hard in
endeavouring to understand the "Changes," that he "wore out three
sets of leather bands"; and it will be remembered from Chapter
XXXV. how the Bamboo Books buried in 299 B.C., to be discovered
nearly 600 years later, consisted of slips strung together in this
way.
Confucius' movements during the fourteen years of his exile are
very clearly marked out, and there seems to be no doubt that his
visit to the Emperor's court took place when he was a young man;
firstly, because Lao-tsz ironically calls him a young man, and
secondly because he went to visit Lao-tsz with the son of the
statesman who on his death-bed foretold Confucius' future
distinction; and there was no Lu mission to the imperial court
after 520. In the second century B.C., not only are there a dozen
statesmen specifically stated to have studied the works of Lao-
tsz, but the Empress herself is said to have possessed his book;
and a copy of it, distinctly said to be in ancient character, was
then stored amongst other copies of the same book in the imperial
library. The two questions which the Chinese historians and
literary men of the fifth, fourth, third, and second centuries
B.C. do not attempt to decide are: Why is the life of Lao-tsz not
given to us earlier than 100 B.C.? Why is that life so scant, and
why does the writer of it allude to "other stories" current about
him? Why is it that the book which Lao-tsz wrote at the request of
a friend is not alluded to by any writer previous to 100 B.C.?
As not one single one of these numerous Taoists or students of
Lao-tsz expresses the faintest doubt about Lao-tsz's existence, or
about the genuineness of his traditional teachings, it is evident
that the meagreness of Lao-tsz's life, as told by the historian,
is rather a guarantee of the truth of what he says than the
reverse, so far as he knows the truth; otherwise he would have
certainly embellished. The essence of Lao-tsz's doctrine is its
democracy, its defence of popular rights, its allusion to kings
and governments as necessary evils, its disapproval of luxury and
hoarding wealth; its enthusiasm for the simple life, for absence
of caste, for equality of opportunity, for socialism and
informality; all of which was, though extracted from the same
Odes, Book, Changes, and Rites, quite contrary in principle to the
"back to the rites" doctrine of Confucius. Therefore, there could
be no possible inducement for Confucius, the pruning editor of the
Odes, Book, etc., or for his admirers, to mention Lao-tsz in
either his original work, the "Springs and Autumns," or in the
other works (composed by his disciples) giving the original words
and sentiments of Confucius. Besides, during the whole of Lao-
tsz's life, the imperial court (where he served as a clerk) was
totally ignored by all the "powers" as a political force; the only
persons mentioned in what survives of Chou history are the
historiographers, the wizards, the ritual _clerks,_ the ducal
envoys, now sent by the Emperor to the vassals, now consulted by
the vassals upon matters of etiquette. Lao-tsz, being an obscure
clerk in an obscure appanage, and holding no political office, had
no more title to be mentioned in history than any other servant or
"harmless drudge." That his doctrines were well known is not
wonderful, for Tsz-ch'an, his contemporary, and this great man's
colleagues of the other states, also had doctrines of their own
which were widely discussed and, as we have seen, even Tsz-ch'an
was severely blamed for the unheard-of novelty of committing the
laws to writing, both by Confucius of Lu and by Shuh Hiang of Tsin
(imperial clan states). It is reasonable to suppose, therefore,
that the traditional story is true; namely, that Lao-tsz's
doctrines were never taught in a school at all, and that he had no
followers or admirers except the vassal envoys who used to come on
spiritual business to the metropolis. We have seen how these men
used to entertain each other over their wine by quoting the Odes
and other ancient saws; when consulting the imperial library to
rectify their own dates, they would naturally meet the old recluse
Lao-tsz, and hear from his own mouth what he thought of the coming
collapse anticipated by all. He is said to have left orthodox
China in disgust, and gone West--well, he must have passed through
Ts'in if he went to the west. At the frontier pass (it is not
known precisely whether on the imperial frontier or on the Ts'in
frontier) an acquaintance or correspondent on duty there invited
him to put his thoughts into writing, which he did. Books being
extremely rare, copies would be slowly transmitted. This was about
500 B.C., between which time and 200 B.C., when a copy of his book
is first reported to be actually held in the hand by a definite
person, the great protecting powers, and later the seven kings,
were all engaged in a bloodthirsty warfare, which ended in the
almost total destruction throughout the empire of the Odes, Rites,
and the Book in 213 B.C. Remember, however, that the literary
empire practically meant parts of the modern provinces of Ho Nan
and Shan Tung. The "Changes" were not destroyed; and as the First
August Emperor himself, his illegitimate father, several of his
statesmen, and his visitors the travelling diplomats, were all
either Taoists or imbued with Taoist doctrines (their sole policy
being to destroy the old ritual and feudal thrones), there is
ground to conjecture that Lao-tsz's book escaped too, and was
deliberately suffered to escape. We know absolutely nothing of
that; assuming the truth of the tradition that there was a book,
we do not know what became of the first copy, nor how many copies
were made of it during the succeeding 300 years. No attempt
whatever has ever been made by the serious Chinese historians
themselves to manufacture a story. It is, of course, unsatisfactory
not to know all the exact truth; but, for the matter of that, the
existence, identity, and authorship of Confucius' pupil and commentator
Tso K'iu-ming, the official historian of Lu, is equally obscure; not to
mention the history of the earliest Taoist critics who actually mention
Lao-tsz, and quote the words of (if they do not mention) his book.
When we read Renan's masterly examination into the origins of our
own Gospels, and when we reflect that even the origin of Shakespeare's
plays, and the individuality of Shakespeare's person, are open to
everlasting discussion, we may not unreasonably leave Chinese
critics and Chinese historians to judge of the value of their own
national evidence, and accept in general terms what they tell us
of fact, however imperfect it may be in detail, without adding
hypothetical facts or raising new critical difficulties of our own.
No such foreign criticisms are or can be worth much unless the
original Chinese histories and the original Chinese philosophers have
been carefully examined by the foreign critic in the original Chinese text.
CHAPTER XLVI
ORACLES AND OMENS
Consulting the oracles seems to have been a universal practice,
and there are numerous historical allusions, made by statesmen of
the orthodox principalities, to supposed interpretations attached
to this or that combination of mystic signs or diagrams from the
"Changes," together with arguments as to their specific meaning or
omen in given circumstances. Doubtless the Chinese of those dates,
like our own searchers for religious "analogies" and mysteries,
examined with perfect good faith combinations of the Diagrams
which to us appear arrant nonsense; and there can be no doubt of
Confucius' own individual zeal, though the fact that he thought
fifty years' study at least would be necessary for full
comprehension points to the tacit confession that he had totally
failed to understand much of the mystery. The Changes are supposed
to have been developed by the father of the Warrior King when
(about 1160 B.C.) he was in prison under the tyrannous suspicions
of the last Shang emperor; and we have seen that the ruler of Ts'u
_was_ his tutor, at a time when Ts'u was not yet vassal to
Chou. Like the Odes, Book, and Rites, the Changes were Chou
literature, though possibly the unwritten traditions of earlier
dynasties may have contributed to that literature; which, indeed,
seems very likely, as Ts'u was already able to teach Chou.
Another form of augury was the examination of the marks on the
carapax of a tortoise; thus the Martial King in 146 consulted, and
found unfavourable, such marks--this was before attacking the last
Shang emperor; and it was only at the earnest instigation of his
chief henchman (afterwards vassal king and founder of Ts'i) that
he was prevailed upon to proceed. Possibly he borrowed Eastern
ideas from this founder of Ts'i too. Later on, the Martial King's
younger brother, the Duke of Chou, consulted the oracle along with
the same Ts'i adviser: this was done before the three ancestral
altars of their father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, in
order to ascertain if the Emperor (_i.e._ the Martial King)
would recover from a sickness. In 1109 the Martial King's son and
successor sent one of his uncles or near relatives to examine the
site of modern Ho-nan Fu, with a view to transferring the
metropolis thither, and, the oracles being favourable, the Nine
Tripods were removed to that place, and it was afterwards called
the "Eastern Metropolis" (the original or western capital was not
moved for over 300 years after that). It was at the same time
foretold that there would be thirty more reigns, of 700 years in
all: this was "Heaven's decree." On the other hand, when the Duke
of Chou died during a tempest, the young Emperor was advised not
to consult the oracles as to what the storm signified, because his
uncle's virtues were so manifest that Heaven itself had, by the
agency of a tempest, spontaneously announced the fact.
Astrology was another form of soothsaying. In 780 B.C. the
imperial astrologer (one of those two men, by the way, whom
erroneous tradition 1000 years later confused with Lao-tsz)
foretold the rise of Ts'i, Tsin, Ts'u, and Ts'in, upon the ruins
of the imperial power; in 773 the same astrologer repeated the
prophecy to the imperial prince then recently enfeoffed by his
relative the Emperor in the state of CHÊNG. In 705 the imperial
astrologer, when passing through the orthodox state of CH'ÊN,
foretold from the diagrams that a scion of the CH'ÊN house would
obtain the throne of Ts'i (which actually took place when the
_maire du palais,_ to the horror of Confucius, assassinated
the last legitimate duke in 481 B.C.); this particular prophecy is
doubly interesting, because the diagrams from the Changes, thus
cited in detail in Confucius' history, correspond exactly with the
diagrams of the Book of Changes as we have it now, since Confucius
manipulated it--proof that no change has taken place in this part
of the text at least.
The ruler of Ts'in in the year 762, nine years after receiving the
western half of the Chou imperial domain, and being recognized as
a first-class vassal, consulted the oracle as to whither he should
move his own capital. In the year 677 the oracles once more
decided the then reigning ruler to shift his capital to (the
modern) Feng-siang Fu in West Shen Si; the oracles added: "And
later you will water your steeds in the Yellow River"; which came
to pass after the conquests and annexations of 643 B.C., as
already related. In 374 B.C. the imperial astrologer (the second
man whom tradition, 300 years later this time, erroneously
confused with Lao-tsz) then on a visit to the now royal Ts'in
court said: "After 500 years of separation Ts'in is reunited to
our imperial house; in 77 years more a domineering monarch will
arise." Seven years later the "raining down of metal" (probably
some natural phenomenon not clearly understood at the time) was
considered a good omen in connection with the new capital, now
placed on the south bank of the River Wei. After Ts'in had
conquered China, there are numerous other instances of oracles,
omens, and so forth, all supposed to have had political
significance.
In 645 the ruler of the neighbouring state of Tsin consults the
oracles in order to ascertain who will be the most suitable war
charioteer. A few years before that the court diviner foretold the
future success of the petty Ngwei sub-principality of Tsin, which
in 403 B.C. actually became a separate vassal kingdom. In 575 Tsin
dared not, at the moment, accept the battle challenge of Tsu,
because the particular day was a dies _nefas,_ being the last
day of the moon. Meanwhile the spies of the Ts'u army discerned
that the Tsin leaders were consulting the oracles before the
tablets of their ancestors in the field tent. In 535 the Ts'in
administration consulted its own astrologer upon the point: "Will
the state of Ch'en survive?" The answer was: "When it secures
Ts'i, it will perish." As just explained, a scion of the Ch'en
house did practically obtain Ts'i in 481 B.C., and the very next
year Ch'en was annexed by Ts'u. In 510 the Tsin astrologer
prophesied the destruction of Wu by Yiieh within forty years, and
also the predominancy of the Lu private family so intimately
connected with Confucius' troubles. There were not lacking
sensible men, even in those days, who ridiculed the science of
astrology: for instance, Shuh Hiang of Tsin--the man who so
strongly disapproved Tsz-ch'an's written laws, and the man who
discussed with the Ts'i envoy, the philosopher Yen-tsz, the
worthlessness of their respective dukes--said on one occasion when
the "course of the heavens towards north-west" was supposed to
indicate a success for Tsin: "The course of the heavens, as that
of our success, lies in the qualities of the prince, and not in
the situation of the stars."
Tsz-ch'an of Cheng himself pooh-poohed oracular warnings, and said
that he preferred to do his best, and leave omens to do their
worst. On one occasion, outside the south gate of the Cheng
capital, two snakes (one from the city, one from outside) were
observed fighting; the one from the inside was defeated. Sure
enough! the exiled duke six years after that returned to his own.
So, in the state of Lu, the children sang: "When the thrushes come
and make their nests, the ruler will go to a place on the Tsin
frontier; when the thrushes settle here, the duke will be abroad"--
in allusion to the future ejecting of the reigning prince by the
powerful family above referred to. And, again (480 B.C.), in the
state of Sung, whose terrestrial position was supposed to be
"invaded" by the then peculiar celestial position of the planet
Mars: it was suggested, however, to the ruling prince that he
might "pass on" the threatened disaster to his ministers, to his
people, or to their harvests--a solution the duke declined to
avail himself of. 'Yours are indeed the words of a sage,' said the
astrologer.
We now come to the semi-civilized state of Ts'u, which seems to
have had its oracles with the best of them, at all events after
560 B.C. At that date it was explained to the King that "the
ancient emperors would at times consult the oracles for five years
before deciding upon an expedition, or fixing the date of it; they
were content to await patiently the decrees of Heaven." In 537 the
Ts'u king, having a prince of Wu in his power, sent to ask him
ironically if he had duly consulted the oracles. "Yes," said the
prince, "every ruler has his tortoise, and it is easy to
demonstrate by our oracles how injurious it will be for you if any
harm comes to me." This presence of mind saved his life. In 528 a
Ts'u usurper invited a man who had once assisted him to name any
post he would like. The man chose that of diviner, which, it
appears, was an office of the first rank. The father of this king
had secretly arranged with a concubine, notwithstanding the Ts'u
rule (or possibly in accordance with it) that one of the youngest
sons should succeed, to "sacrifice from a distance to the gods in
general, and ask of them which of five sons should sacrifice to
the spirits of the land"; then he buried a jade symbol of rule in
the ancestral temple, and ordered the five sons to enter after
proper purification; the three sons who happened to touch the spot
reigned one after the other. In 489 the King of Ts'u, then engaged
in assisting the orthodox state of Ch'en against the attacks of
Wu, interrogated the imperial astrologer (who must have been there
on a visit): "What is the meaning of that halo, like a bird's
wings, on each side of the sun?" The astrologer replied: "It
presages calamity, but you can transfer it to your generals." The
generals then offered to consult the gods themselves, and even to
sacrifice their own persons if necessary; but the King declined
(on the same ground as the Duke of Sung above mentioned) because
"my generals are my own limbs." It was then proposed to transfer
the calamity to the Yellow River. "No, the Yellow River has never
played me false: ever since we received our fief, we have never at
full moon sacrificed beyond the River Han and Yang-tsz." Confucius
registered his approval of this answer. It will be remembered that
just at this time Confucius was hanging about Ch'Ün and coquetting
with Ts'u, so that possibly this approval had something to do with
his own prospects.
In recording these instances of prophecies and omens (which might
be multiplied tenfold), it is desired to show how one main set of
ideas pervaded the whole. We should not be too ready to ridicule
them, or to hint at "after the event." Our own Scriptures are full
of similar prophecies, and what is good for us is good for the
Chinese. If the celestial movements can be foretold, why not
corresponding terrestrial movements, each corner of the earth
being on the meridian of something? In the infancy of science, it
is rather a question of good faith than of truth; and even the
truth, if we insist on expecting it, was rudely guessed at by such
great thinkers as Tsz-ch'an and Shuh Hiang.
CHAPTER XLVII
RULERS AND PEOPLE
A feature of the times was the remarkably personal character of
the wars, and the apparent utter indifference to humble popular
interests; _Quidquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi;_ stress
is laid upon this point by the democratic philosopher Lao-tsz, who,
however, in his book (be it genuine or not), is wise enough never
to name a person or place; probably that prudence saved it from
the flames in 213 B.C.
In 684 B.C. the ruler of Ts'ai (imperial clan) treated very rudely
his own wife's sister, married to a petty prince (imperial clan)
close by; the sister was simply passing through as a traveller;
the result was that this petty prince, her husband, induced Ts'u
to make war upon Ts'ai, whose reigning prince was captured, and
died a prisoner. In _657_ the ruler of Ts'ai had a sister
married in Ts'i. The First Protector, offended at some act of
playful disobedience, sent her back, but without actually
divorcing her. Her brother was so angry that he found her another
husband. On this Ts'i declared war, and captured the brother, who,
however, at the intercession of the other vassal princes, was
restored to his kingdom. In 509 and 506 B.C. Ts'ai induces Tsin to
make war on Ts'u, and also assists Wu in her hostilities against
Ts'u, because a Ts'u minister had detained the ruler of Ts'ai for
refusing to part with a handsome fur coat. It is like the stealing
of the Golden Fleece by Jason, and similar Greek squabbles. In 675
B.C. the Emperor, for the third time, had to fly from his capital,
the immediate cause of the trouble being an attempt on his part to
seize a vassal's rice-field for including in his own park--a
Chinese version of the Naboth's vineyard dispute. Nothing could
better prove the pettiness of the ancient state-horizon; no busily
active great power could find time for such trifles.
When the Second Protector came to the throne, the orthodox states
of Wei, Ts'ao, and Cheng (all of the imperial clan), which had
treated him scurvily as a wanderer, had all three of them to pay
dearly for their meanness. In 632, when the Protector had secured
the Tsin throne, the ruler of Ts'ao was promptly captured, and
part of his territory was given to Sung (where the wanderer had
been well treated). The same year Tsin wished to assist Sung, and
accordingly asked right of way through the state of Wei, which was
curtly refused; the Tsin army therefore crossed the Yellow River
to the south of Wei: as a punishment for this refusal, and also
for the previous rude treatment, Wei also had to give part of her
territory to the favoured Sung. In 630 Tsin induced Ts'in to join
in an attack upon Cheng, the object being, of course, to revenge
similar personal rudenesses; however, Cheng diplomacy was
successful in inducing Ts'in to abandon Tsin in the nick of time:
this was one of the very few cases in which Ts'in interfered, or
was about to interfere, in "orthodox" affairs. In 592 Tsin sent a
hunchback envoy to Ts'i; it so happened that at the same time Lu
sent one who was lame, and Wei a third who was blind of one eye.
The Ts'i ruler thereupon appointed an officer mutilated in some
other way to do the duties of host to this sorry trio. The Tsin
envoy swore: "If I do not revenge this upon Ts'i, may the God of
the Yellow River take note of it!" Reaching his own country, he
tried to induce the ruler to make war on Ts'i; but the prince
said: "Your personal pique should hardly suffice for ground to
trouble the whole country": and he refused.
The principle of the divinity that doth hedge a king was early
established, but there are certainly more numerous evidences of
royal absolutism in Ts'u than in orthodox China, where responsibility
of rulers before Heaven and the People (symbolical of Heaven also)
was an accepted axiom. For instance, in 522 B.C., an officer, knowing
that the King of Ts'u was sending for him in order to kill him, said to his
brother: "As the king orders it, one of us two must go, but you can
avenge me later on." When the next Ts'u king was a fugitive, and it
was a question in a subject's mind of killing him because his father
had taken a brother's life, it was objected: "No! if the king slays one
of his officers, who can avenge it? His commands emanate from Heaven.
It is unpardonable to cut off the ancestral sacrifice of a whole house
in this way."
In still more ancient times, when the last Emperor of the Shang
dynasty was being warned of the rising popular feeling in favour
of the rising Chou power, he remarked: "Have I not Heaven's
mandate? What can they do to me?" When the Martial King achieved
his conquest, he smeared the god of the soil with the sacrificial
victims' blood, and announced the crimes of the dead tyrant to
Heaven. In the war of 589 between Tsin and Ts'i, the ruler of
Ts'i, who had changed places with his charioteer in order to
escape detection, was hotly pursued; but his chariot caught in a
tree. Seeing this, the Tsin captain prostrated himself before the
chariot, and said: "My princely master's orders are to assist the
states of Lu and Wei" (i.e. not to attack your person). Meanwhile
the disguised charioteer ordered the disguised king to fetch a
drink of water, and the king thus escaped even the humiliation of
a favour from his generous victor. When in 548 a worthless Ts'i
ruler was assassinated, the philosopher Yen-tsz said: "When the
ruler dies or is exiled for the gods of the land and its harvests,
one dies or is exiled with him; but if he dies or is exiled for
private reasons, then only his personal friends die with him." He
therefore contented himself with wailing, and with laying his head
on the royal body. The same Tsin captain who was so tender to the
Ts'i duke in 589 had an opportunity fourteen years later of taking
prisoner the ruler of CHÊNG in battle; but he said: "Evil cometh
to him who toucheth a crowned head! I have already committed
sacrilege once against the ruler of Ts'i; preserve me from
committing this crime a second time!" And he turned promptly back.
During the same fight, the King of Ts'u's body-guard was attacked
by the Tsin generalissimo, who, when he discerned the king in the
centre of the guards, got out of his chariot, doffed his helmet,
and fled in horror, "such was his respect for the person of
royalty." It was a ritual rule in China for the distinguished men
not to remove the official head-covering in death; for instance,
in 481, when one of Confucius' pupils was killed in war, his last
patriotic act was to tie his hat-strings tighter. Though rulers
were supposed to owe duties to the gods in general, yet the power
of the gods was limited. Thus when Tsz-ch'an of CHÊNG was sent as
envoy to Tsin in 541, the sick Tsin ruler asked him: "How can the
two gods who, they say, are responsible for my malady, be
conjured?" Tsz-ch'an replied: "These particular gods cannot injure
you; we sacrifice to them in connection with natural phenomena,
such as drought, flood, or other disaster; just as in matters of
snow, hail, rain, or wind we sacrifice to the gods of the sun,
moon, planets, and constellations. Your illness is the result of
drink, over-feeding, women, passionate anger, excessive pleasure."
Shuh Hiang approved this common-sense view of the situation.
ANCIENT CHINESE LAW
APPENDIX I
In the spring of the year 536 B.C., Tsz-ch'an, one of the leading
statesmen in the Chinese Federal Union, decided to publish for
popular information the Criminal Law which had hitherto been
simply "declared" by the various rulers and their officers
according to the circumstances of each case. At this time the
different premiers and ministers used to visit each other freely,
generally in the suite of the reigning prince who happened to be
either receiving or paying a visit from or to some other vassal
prince. The Emperor himself, now shorn of his power, was only
_primus inter pares_ amongst these princes. Shuh Hiang, one
of the ministers at the neighbouring court of Tsin, addressed the
following remarkable letter to the colleague above mentioned who
had introduced the legal innovation. It is published in
_exteso_ in Confucius' own history of the times, as expanded
by one of his pupils:--
"At first I used to regard you as a guide, but now all this is at
an end. Our monarchs in past times were wont to decide matters by
specific ordinance, and had no prepared statutes, fearing lest the
people should grow contentious. Yet even so it was impossible to
suppress wrong-doing; for which reason they employed justice as a
preventive, administration to bring things into line, external
formality to secure respect, good faith as an abiding principle,
and kindness in actual treatment. They appointed certain ranks and
emoluments with a view to encouraging their officers to follow the
course thus sketched out for them, and they fixed certain stern
punishments and fines in order to fill these officers with a dread
of arbitrariness, fearing that otherwise they might fail in their
duty. Thus admonition was given with every loyalty; fear was
inspired by personal example; instruction was conveyed as occasion
required; employment in service was accompanied by suavity;
contact with inferiors was marked by a respectful demeanour; the
executive arm was firmly applied; and decisions were carried out
with virility. Yet, with all this, it was never too easy to secure
wise and saintly (vassal) princes, clever and discriminating
ministers, loyal and trusty officials, or kind and affectionate
instructors. Under these circumstances, however, it was possible
to set the people going, and China was at least free from
revolution and misery.
"But when the people themselves become cognizant of a written law,
they will cease to fear their superiors, and, moreover, they will
acquire a contentious spirit. Having book to refer to, they will
employ every device to elude the letter of the law. This will not
do at all. It was only in times of anarchical rule that the
founders of the Hia and Shang dynasties (2200 B.C. and 1760 B.C.)
found it necessary to issue (to their officers) the collections of
laws which still bear their two respective names; and it was also
only in anarchical times (1000 B.C.) that one Emperor of our
present dynasty found it necessary to publish (for his officers)
the so-called Nine Laws. In other words, the advent of written law
has on all three occasions connoted a decay in government. You,
sir, are the chief minister of _CHÊNG_ state (part of modern
Ho Nan); you made a few years ago some new regulations about the
parcelling of land; next you placed the system of your taxation on
a fresh basis; and you now proceed to embody the three special
collections just cited in a new popular code, which you have had
cast in metal characters. If you are doing it with a view to
pacify the people, surely you will not find this an easy matter?
The 'Book of Odes' says: 'King _Wên_ (the virtual founder,
2200 B.C., of the then reigning Chou dynasty) took virtue as his
guide, and thus gradually pacified the four quarters of the
world.' It also says: 'The methods of King _Wu_ (son of the
virtual founder) secured the confidence of all the other
countries.' Where were the written laws in those times? When
people begin to get the contentious spirit upon them, they will
have done with the principles of propriety, and only stickle for
the letter; they will haggle upon every tiny point accessible to
knife's edge or awl's tip. We shall witness a flood of litigious
accusations; bribery and corruption will be rampant. Do you think
the state of _Cheng_ will last out your life? I have heard it
said: 'When a country is about to collapse, there are many
conflicting administrative changes.' Will this apply to present
conditions?"
The reply returned was:-
"With regard to what my honourable friend has been pleased to say,
I am afraid my humble capacities are not sufficiently great to
take the interests of posterity; my action has been taken in the
interests of the state as I find it, and as I have to govern it.
Though, therefore, I cannot accept tour commands, I shall be
careful not to forget your kindness in proffering advice."
Though the exact words of the above-mentioned Code in Brass have
not come down to us, they are (like the Twelve Tables of Rome,
eighty years later in date, were in relation to Roman jurisprudence)
the foundation of Chinese Criminal Law as it exists to-day, modified,
of course, dynasty by dynasty. At this time Confucius was a mere
youth; but later on, as minister of a third vassal state, that of Lu, he
also expressed his disapproval of a written code, much though he
respected the author, whom he knew personally. Shuh Hiang's letter
is of interest as showing the pitch of philosophy, common-sense, and
international courtesy to which the statesmen of China had attained
2400 years ago.
APPENDIX II
In 539 B.C. the Ts'i statesman and philosopher Yen-tsz was sent on
a mission to Tsin in order to negotiate a political marriage. At
this period Han K'i, also called Han Süan-tsz, was the premier of
Tsin, and he despatched the minister Shuh Hiang with a complimentary
message to the Ts'i envoy, accepting the offer of a suitable wife. At
this time the diplomatic relations of the Chinese states were particularly
interesting, because, apart from the fact that intellectual premiers ruled
all the great states, most of them were personal friends, acquaintances,
or correspondents of Confucius, who has left on record his judgment
upon each. After the official marriage negotiations were over, Shuh
Hiang ordered refreshments, and he and Yen-tsz sat down to a nice
quiet little chat by themselves.
_Shuh Hiang_. How is Ts'i going on?
_Yen-tsz_. These are bad times. I don't know what I can say
about Ts'i, except that it appears to be falling into the hands of
the CH'ÊN family. The prince neglects his people, and consequently
they turn to the CH'ÊN family for protection. In former times Ts'i
had three grain measures, each a four multiple of the other--etc.
four pints, sixteen pints, sixty-four pints--and finally there was
a large measure containing ten times the last, or 640 pints (or
litres); but the three measures of the CH'ÊN family have each been
raised by one unit, so that three successive fives multiplied by
ten give 800 pints, and their plan is to make loans of grain with
their private 8oo-pint measure, and then to take back payments in
the prince's measure. The wood from the mountains is sold in the
market-place as cheaply as on the mountains; fish, salt, clams,
and cockles are sold in the market-place as cheaply as on the
shore. On the other hand, two-thirds of the produce of the
people's labour go to the prince, whilst only one-third remains
for the sustenance of the producers. The prince's stores rot away,
whilst our old men die of starvation. False feet are cheaper than
shoes in the market-place (owing to the number of people punished
with amputation of a foot); the people are smarting with a sense
of wrong, and are longing for the advent (of the CH'ÊN family),
whom they love as a parent, and towards whom they tend, just as
water runs downhill. Under these circumstances, even if they did
not want to gain the people over, how can they avoid it? The last
surviving member of that branch of the CH'ÊN family who traced his
descent to previous dynasties has still left his spirit in the
land of Ts'i, though the representatives of the family are
nominally subjects of Ts'i.
_Shuh Hiang_. Yes. And even our ruling house of Tsin has
fallen on degenerate times. Armies are no longer equipped, and our
statesmen are not ready for war. There is no one to lead the
chariots, and our battalions have no competent commanders. The
common people are utterly exhausted, whilst the extravagance of
the palace is unbounded. The starving folk line the roads, whilst
money is squandered upon female favourites. The commands of the
prince are received by the people as though they longed to escape
the clutches of a bandit. The representatives of the eight leading
families who have served the state so long and faithfully are
reduced to the most insignificant offices. Government is
administered in certain private interests, and the people have no
one to whom to appeal. The ruler shows no sign of amendment, and
endeavours to drown his cares in excessive indulgence. When did
the ruling house ever before reach the low depths of to-day? The
warning oracle inscribed on the tripod says: "However early you
may get to zealous work, your descendants may be lazy." How much
more, in the case of a man who will not reform, is disaster likely
to be impending soon!
_Yen-tsz_. What do you propose to do?
_Shuh Hiang_. The ruling house of Tsin is about exhausted. I
have heard it said that when a ruling house is about to fall, its
family members drop off first, like the branches and leaves of a
stricken tree; and the ruler himself, like the trunk, follows
suit. Take my own stock, for instance, which formerly contained
eleven family or clan names. The Sheepstongue (_cf_, English
Sheepshanks) clan is my clan, and the only one now left; and I
myself have no son fit to be my heir. The ruling house is
arbitrary and capricious, so that, even if I am fortunate enough
to die in my bed myself, I shall have no one to perform the
_sacra_ for me.
In 513 B.C. two generals of the Tsin state carried their arms into
the Luh-hun reservation (in modern Ho Nan province), whither, in
638 B.C., the Tartar tribe of that name had been brought to settle
by agreement between the two Chinese powers whose territories
(Ts'in and Tsin) ran with the Tartars; "and then they drew upon
Tsin state for four cwt. of iron, in order to cast a punishment
tripod upon which to inscribe the law-book composed by Fan Süan-
tsz (a minister)." Confucius said:--
"It looks as though Tsin were about to perish, as it has made a
mistake in its calculations. The state of Tsin ought to govern its
people by maintaining the ancient laws and ordinances received by
their ancestor who was first enfeoffed there (in 1120 B.C.), when
the officers of state would each observe the same in their degree.
Thus the people would know how to respect their superiors, and the
ruling classes would be in a position to maintain their
patrimonies. The proper balance between superior classes and
commoners is what we call 'ordinance.' The ruling prince W&n (who
assumed the Protectorship of China in 632 B.C.) for this reason
established an official body of dignitaries, and organized the
annual spring revision of the laws of his ancestors as Representative
Federal Prince. Now Tsin abandons this system, and makes a tripod,
which tripod--will henceforth govern the people's acts. How can they
now respect their superiors (having book to go by)? How can the
superiors maintain their patrimonies? If superiors and commoners
confuse degree, how can the state go on? Moreover, Süan-tsz's
punishments date from the spring revision (of 621 B.C.), when confusion
and change was going on in Tsin state; how can they take this as a
fit precedent?"
APPENDIX III
About twenty-five centuries ago--in 546 B.C., to be precise--the
Chinese Powers had a "Hague Conference" with a view to the
reduction of armaments. This is how Confucius' pupil, Tso K'iu-
ming, tells the story in the "Tso Chwan," or expanded version of
Confucius' "Springs and Autumns" (for convenience the names of the
ancient States are changed to those of the modern provinces
corresponding with them):--
"A statesman of Ho Nan, being on friendly terms with his
colleagues of Shan Si and Hu P&h, conceived the idea of making a
name for himself by proposing a cessation of armaments. He went
first to Shan Si, and interviewed the Premier there; the Premier
consulted his colleagues in the Shan Si ministry, and one of them
said: 'War is ruinous to the people, and a fearful waste of
wealth; it is the curse of the smaller Powers. Although the idea
will come to nothing, we must consent to a conference; otherwise
Hu P&h will consent to it first, in order to gain favour with the
Powers, and thus we shall lose the predominant position we now
occupy.' So Shan Si consented.
"Then (the narrative continues) Hu Pêh was visited, and also
consented. Then Shan Tung (the German sphere now). Shan Tung did
not like the idea; but one of the Shan Tung Ministers said: 'Shan
Si and Hu P&h have agreed, and we have no help for it. Besides,
the world will say that there would be a cessation of armaments
were it not for our refusal, and thus our own people will vote
against us. What is the use of that?' So Shan Tung consented. Next
Shen Si was notified. Shen Si also consented. Then the whole four
great Powers notified the minor States, and a great durbar (of
fourteen States) was held at a minor court in Ho Nan."
The curious part of it all is that the representative of the
Emperor (whose political position was not unlike that of the Popes
in Europe since 1870) did not appear at the Conference at all,
though all the Great Powers maintained the fiction of granting
precedence to the Emperor and his nuncios, and even went through
the form of accepting investiture from him and taking tribute
presents to the Imperial Court-when it suited them.
This celebrated Peace Conference closed the seventy-two years of
almost incessant war that had been going on between Tsin and Ts'in
(Shan Si and Shen Si), apart from the subsidiary war between Tsin
and Ts'u (Hu Pêh).
INDEX
Absorption, Chinese
Accadian. See Babylonian
Adams, Will
Address, forms of
Advisers, Chinese
Advisers, Tartar
African parallels
Agriculture
Ainus, people
Alexander the Great
Alienation of fiefs
Alliances
Alphabets, imperfection of
Altars
Altars, private
Ambassadors. See Envoys; Missions
American parallels
Analects of Confucius
Ancestral feeling
Ancestral sacrifices
Ancestral tablets
Ancestral temples
Anglo-Saxon civilization
An Hwei, province
Annals (see History and Bamboo Books)
Annam, King of
Annamese race
Appanages, ducal
Aquarius
Archives
Area of Ancient China
Army organization
Army provision
Army, standing
Arrows
Arsenals
Assassinations of princes
Assyria. See Babylonia
Astrology
Astronomy
Atlantic
Augury. See Oracles
Augustus, title
August Emperor (see First); Second); (Both); (Third)
Authorities consulted
Axes as emblems
Axles
Babel, Tower of
Babylonian civilization
"Babylonian women,"
Baghatur, the Khan
Bamboo Books
Banner garrisons
Banquets, imperial
Barbarian influences
Barbarian kings (see King)
Barbarians
Barbarians, Eastern
Barbarous gods
Barbarous vassals
Barons
Bastards
Battles, gigantic
Beards
Bears' paws
Bells as music
"Bible" of China
Bismarck
Blackwater, river
Blood-drawing
Blood-drinking
Blood-smearing
Boat travelling
Boiling alive
Book of Chou
Book of Hia
"Book, The"
Books, wooden
Bows and arrows
"Boxer" troubles
Bridges
Britain
Bronze documents
Bruce, Major
Brush for writing
Buddhism
Buffer states
Builders, Chinese as
Burials. See Funerals
Burma
Cadastral surveys
Cadiz
Cæsar, title
Calendars
Cambodgia
Camels
Canal, Grand
Canals, early
Canton
Capitals, imperial
Capitals, vassal
Capricorn
Caravans
Cardinals
Carlyle
Carthage. See Phoenicians
"Cash"
Caste, none in China
Caste, royal
Caste, ruling
Castration
Casuistry
Cattle trade
Cavalry
Cave-dwellers
Celtic migration
Celtic races
Centralization
Central Kingdom
Ceremonial. See Rites
Cessions of imperial territory
_Chan-Kwoh Ts'êh_
Ch'ang, personal name
Chang, river
_Ch'ang-chon Fu_
Chang I, diplomatist
Ch'ang-sha, modern
Ch'ang-shuh, city
Changes, Book of
Chao, state
Characters. See Writing
Chariots
Charities
Charlemagne
Chavannes, Professor Edouard
Chefoo, port
Chêh Kiang, province
Ch'ên Ch'ang (_tabu_ form of Ch'ên or
T'ien H&g)
Ch'ên family and state
Ch'ên-chou Fu
Chêng, imperial name
Chêng, state
Ch'éng-tu, city,
Chih Li, province,
China, ancient nucleus of,
China, old name for, (_see_ Hia),
China, south,
China unified,
Chinese advisers,
Chinkiang, port,
Chivalry,
Choh Chou, locality,
Chou, collapse of, house, See Emperor
Chou, Duke of,
Chou dynasty,
Chou dynasty, end of,
Chou principality,
Chou, Rites of, (see Rites),
Christianity,
Chronology, definite,
Ch'ung-êrh, prince,
Ch'unghou, Manchu envoy,
Ch'ung-k'ing, modern,
Church, the,
Churches, none in China,
Chusan Island,
Chwang, King of Ts'u,
Chwang-tsz, philosopher,
Cities,
Citizenship,
Civilian King,
Civilization, advance of,
Clan, or gem,
Clan, imperial,
Classic of poetry,
Classic, Law,
Classics,
Classification of the people,
Clay documents,
Clerks, See Archives and Historiographers
Clerks or precentors,
Clients,
Coast provinces,
Cochin China,
Cockfighting,
Coffins,
Colonization, Chinese,
Colours,
Comets,
Compass, the,
Concubines,
Conference, See Peace
Confucius,
Confucius, his birthday,
Confucius, his birthplace,
Confucius, his family,
Confucius, his History work,
Confucius, his liquor,
Confucius, his literary labours,
Confucius, his tampering,
Confucius, his wanderings,
Confusion of Tongues,
Conqueror (see Founder),
Conquest of China, See China
Constantinople,
Continuity of history,
Cooks,
Copper,
Corea,
Coreans,
Corpse mutilation,
Cosmogony,
Cotton,
Couches,
Country, definition of,
Counts, 29 (_see_ Earls),
Court duty,
Courtesans,
Courtesy titles,
Courts, vassal,
Creation, the,
Critics (_see_ Historical),
Croesus,
Cromwell, Oliver,
Cuba,
Cultivators,
Customs, foreign,
Cycles of time,
Cyclic dates,
Cyrus,
Dancing women,
Danube, the,
Dates, definite,
Dates, Julian and Gregorian,
Dead, the,
Democracy of Lao-tsz,
Descent, rules of,
Desert,
Destruction of literature,
Diagrams,
Dialects,
_Dies nefas,_
Diplomatic adventurers,
Diplomatic terms,
Disciples of Confucius, (see Tso K'iu-ming),
Divine right,
Diviners, _See_ Astrology
Documents,
Documents in bronze,
Documents in stone,
Documents in wood,
Documents on silk,
Dogs, zog,
Dog-flesh,
Dog Tartars,
Door-keepers,
Dress,
Drums,
Drums, stone,
Drunkenness,
Duke Muh of Ts'in (_see_ Muh),
Duke of Chou,
Duke of Shao,
Duke of Sung,
Dukes,
Dukes of Confucius, 35, 135
Durbars,
Dynasties, first (Hia),
Dynasties, inter-related,
Dynasties, second (Shang),
Dynasties, third (Chou),
Ears, amputation of,
Ears, piercing of,
Earls, See Counts
Eastern Barbarians,
Eastern metropolis,
Eclipses,
Ecliptic,
Eden, garden of,
Education, 89,
Egret fights,
Egyptian civilization,
Elephants,
Embassies, Japanese,
Emperor,
Emperor Above, or God,
Emperor and Tartar marriages,
Emperor's appanage,
Emperor, collapse of,
Emperor, early burial places,
Emperor, flights from his capital,
Emperor killed by barbarians,
Emperor killed by Tartars,
Emperor, suzerain,
Emperor, title of,
Emperor's court,
Emperors, dual,
"Empire," names for,
Empire, struggle for,
Empresses,
Empresses--Dowager,
Engineering,
England,
Envoys,
Equinoxes,
Etiquette, (_see_ Rites),
Eunuchs,
Europe and China, ancient,
European critics,
Euphrates, river,
Evidence, historical,
Exchange currency,
Exogamy,
Expanded Confucian histories,
Explorations, Early Chinese,
Expresses,
Exterminating punishments,
Facing north, south, east, and west,
Fah Hien, pilgrim,
Fah, personal name,
Fairs,
Families, branching off of,
Families, great,
Fan Süan-tsz, statesman,
Fasting,
Father of Chinese History, (_see_ Sz-ma Ts'ien),
Feasts,
Federal princes,
Fên River,
Fêng-siang Fu,
Feudal system,
Feudal system, destruction of,
Fiefs,
Fighting State Period,
First August Emperor,
Fish industry,
Five Tyrants, Dictators, or Protectors, See Protectors
Flags, use of,
Flooding cities,
Foochow,
Food,
Foot, length of,
Football,
Foot-squeezing,
Fords,
Foreign blood in China,
Foreign critics,
Foreign languages,
Foreign princes, (see Barbarian),
Foreign states (politically),
Forke, Professor,
Formosa,
Founder of Chou dynasty, See Martial King
Four seasons,
Fowling,
French, the,
Frontiers,
Frontiers, changing,
Fu-ch'ai, King of Wu,
Fuh Kien, province,
Funerals,
_Fu-yung_ vassals,
Games,
Genesis,
Geography, ancient,
Germans, (_see_ Prussia),
Germany, Emperors of,
Ghosts, _See_ Spirits
God, notions of,
Gods, _See_ Spirits
Gods of rivers,
Gods of the harvest,
Gods of the land,
Gold,
Golden Horn,
Gordon, General,
Gorges of Yang-tsz River,
Gospels, the,
Government, theory of,
Grain trade,
Grand Canal,
Grants, _See_ Fiefs
Grapes,
Great families, _See_ Families
Great River, (see Yang-tsz),
Great Wall,
Greece,
Greek civilization,
Guelph, the name,
Gulf of "Pechelee,"
Gutchen, locality,
Hauge Conference,
Hainan Island,
Hair, dressing the,
Hami, locality,
Han dynasty,
Han Emperor,
Han K'i, statesman,
Han, Pass of,
Han River,
Han, State of,
Han Süan-tsz,
Handicraft,
Handmaids,
Hangchow, modern,
Hankow, modern,
Harashar, locality,
Harems, _See_ Eunuchs
Hats, rank in,
Hawaii,
Head-covering,
Heaven,
Heaven, Son of, _See Tenshi_
Heaven, will of,
Hegemons, Five. See Protectors
Hegemony, official,
Heirs,
Helmets,
Hemp,
Hereditary offices,
Herodotus,
"Hia," meaning "Chinese,"
Hia dynasty,
Hiang Süh, statesman,
Hen city,
_Hien_, definition of,
Hien-fêng, Emperor,
Hien-yang, locality,
Hindoo trading colonies,
Hindu Kush,
Historical critics,
Historical manipulations,
Historiographers,
History, discrepancies in,
History, earliest dated,
History, early Chinese,
History, medieval Chinese,
"History," names for,
History, Japanese,
History of Shuh,
History of Sz Ch'wan,
History of Tsin,
History, romance of,
Hiung-nu,
Homage,
Ho-nan Fu,
Ho Nan Province,
Hong Kong,
"Horizontal and Perpendicular" Period,
Horses,
Horse-flesh,
Hostages,
House of Commons,
House of Lords,
Houses,
Hü, state,
Human origins,
Human sacrifices,
Hu Kwang, province, _See_ Hu Pêh
Hu Nan, province,
Hu Pfh, province, (_see_ Hu Kwang),
Hundred Yüeh,
Hungarian migration,
Huns, See Hiung-nu
Hunts,
Hwa, city,
Hwai-k'ing Fu,
Hwai-nan-tsz, author,
Hwai River,
Hwai savages, See Eastern Barbarians
Hwai valley,
Hwsn, Duke of Lu,
"I," the words for,
I, River,
Ich'ang, modern,
I-thou Fu,
Imagination and fact,
Immortality defined,
Imperial clan,
Imperial residences,
Imperial domain, _See_ Dukes and Emperor
_Imperator_, the title,
Imprecation,
Incest,
India,
Indo-China,
Infanticide,
Ink,
Inscriptions,
Intercalary months,
International Law,
Investiture,
Iron trade,
Irrigation,
Islands, South Sea,
Italy, See Roman civilization
Ito, Prince or Duke,
Ivory,
Jade,
Japan,
Japanese,
Japanese civilization,
Japanese history,
Japanese language,
Japanese types,
Jêhol, locality,
Jesuits,
Jews,
Jimmu, Mikado,
"Joints," twenty-four, of time,
Journey, in days,
Judge-made law,
_Julia, Lex_,
Jungle (see Ts'u state),
Jung-tsêh, city,
Jurisprudence,
K'AI, city,
Kakhyens,
Kan-thou Fu,
K'ang-hi, Emperor,
Kashgaria,
Keugu, country, (see Wu),
Khan, Supreme Tartar,
Khoten,
_Ki_ clan,
K'i principality,
Ki-chah, prince of Wu,
Kia-ting Fu,
Kiang Si, province,
Kiang Su, province,
Kiang-yin, locality,
Kiao Chou,
K'ien, River,
_King_ (see Ts'u state),
King, title of,
King-thou Fu,
King River,
Kings, Tartar,
Kitchen middens,
Kou-tsien, King,
Kruger, President,
Kublai Khan,
Kuché, locality,
Ku-ch'êng, locality,
Kumiss,
_Kung-tsz_, or son of reigning prince,
K'ü-pêh-yüh, Confucius' friend,
K'üh-fu, city,
K'üh Yüan, poet,
Kwa Chou, locality,
Kwan-tsz, philosopher,
Kwan-tsz, his death,
Kwei Chou, province,
Kwei-têh Fu,
Kwoh Hia, general,
_Kwoh Yü_, history,
Lai barbarians,
Lai-chou Fu,
Lakes of Hu Nan and Kiang Si,
Lakes of Kiang Su,
Lan-thou Fu,
Land, belongs to Emperor,
Land-owners,
Language questions,
Lang-ya, locality,
Laos tribes,
Lao-tsz, philosopher,
Lao-tsz's book,
Law,
Law, natural,
Leather chariots,
Leather trade,
Left and Right,
Legal fictions,
Legge, Dr.,
Legists,
_Lex Julia_,
Li, Emperor,
Li Hung-chang,
Li K'wei, lawyer,
Li Ping, engineer,
Li Tan, See Lao-tsz
Liang, state,
Liao River,
Liao Tung,
Lieh-tsz, Taoist author,
Lin-tsz, city,
Literary activity,
Literary pedants,
Literature, destruction of,
Literature, early,
Liu Hia, person,
Liu K'un-yih, viceroy,
Livadia, Treaty of,
Loadstone,
Lob Nor,
Local customs,
_Loess_ territory,
Loh River,
Loh-yang (see Ho-nan Fu and Capitals),
Lolo, tribes,
Long Tartars,
Loss of rule,
Lu, extinction of,
Lu,
Lu stripped of territory,
Luh-fu, personal name,
Lunations,
Luni-solar years,
Macedon,
_Maire du palais_,
Males, Seven,
Manchu dynasty,
Manchuria,
Manchus,
Manes,
Maps,
Marco Polo,
Markets,
Marquesses,
Marriages, exogamic,
Marriages, imperial,
Marriages, Tartar,
Marriages, vassal,
Marseilles,
Martial King, the; (see Founder and Warrior),
Mats,
Meat eating,
Meat, gifts of sacrificial,
Medicine,
Memorizing books,
Mencius, philosopher,
Mêng, Ford,
Merchants, log
Mercury,
Meridians,
Mesne-lords,
Metals,
Meteors,
Metropolis, 279 (see Capitals),
Miao-tsz tribes,
Migrating birds,
Migration,
Mikado, _See_ Jimmu
Mining,
Ministers of State,
Missions, (see Envoys; Embassies),
Modern ideas,
Modernism,
Mon, people,
Monaco,
Money,
Mongolia,
Mongols,
Monosyllabic language,
Months and moons,
Moon, proclaiming the,
Moon, sacrifice at full,
Morals,
Mothers, quality of, See Wives
Mourning and War,
Mourning customs,
Muh (T'ien-tsz or) Emperor,
Muh, Duke of Ts'in,
Mulberry trees,
_Municipia_,
Music,
Mustard,
Mutilation,
Mutilation of corpses,
Names, ancient and modern place,
Names, Chinese proper,
Names, clan,
Names, personal,
Names, posthumous,
Names, Tartar,
"Naming" process,
Nanking, modern,
Nan-yang Fu,
Napoleon,
National colours, See Flags
Natural law,
Nature,
Naval fights,
Navigable rivers,
Navigation by sea,
Needles,
Nepaul,
Ngwei, state,
Nien-po, locality,
Nine Tripods,
Ningpo, modern,
Nomad horsemen,
Norman feudal system,
Nose-cutting,
Nosu. See Lolo
Nucleus of old China (see China),
Oaths,
Odes,
Odes, Book of,
Okuma, Count,
Omens,
Opium,
Oppolzer's dates,
Oracles, consulting,
Oranges,
Orthodox Chinese,
Orthodox courts,
Ouigours,
_Oviet_, See Yüeh
PA, state,
Pagodas,
Palaces,
Pao-ch'êng, locality,
Paper, invention of,
Paranymphs,
Pass, frontier,
Paterfamilias,
Patriarchal rule,
Peace Conference,
"Pechelee" Gulf,
Pedantry,
Pedigree,
Pêh K'i, General,
Peking, modern,
Peking plain,
Pelasgi,
People, the,
Period, Protector,
"Perpendicular and Horizontal" Period,
Persia,
Persian civilization,
Personal causes of war,
Personal names,
Philosophy,
Phoenicians,
Physicians,
Pigs,
"Piled Stones," locality,
Pilgrimages,
Pillars of Hercules,
P'ing-yang Fu,
Pisces,
Pivot points, historical,
Ploughed fields,
Ploughman Emperor,
Poetry, See Odes
Poetry, classic, See Odes
Police,
Politeness,
Political intrigue,
Pope, comparison with the,
Population,
Population, non-Chinese,
Posterity, importance of,
Posthumous names,
Posthumous titles,
Powers, great,
Prayer,
Precedence,
Premiers, _See_ Ministers
Presage, See Astrology
Presents from Emperor,
Priestly caste, no,
Princesses,
Principalities, (see Fiefs),
Prisons,
Prisoners of war,
Proclaiming the law,
Proclaiming the moon,
Proclamation,
Progress in China,
Promontory, Shan Tung,
Prophecy, (see Astrology and Oracles),
Propriety,
Prostitution,
Protector, First,
Protector,
Protector, Third,
Protectors, Joint,
Protectors of China,
Proverbs,
Prussia,
P'u-chou Fu,
P'uh, barbarians,
Punishment,
Punishments, barbarous,
Purification,
Pyrrhus,
Quelpaert, Island,
Quicksilver,
Race feeling,
Racing,
Railway, "British,"
Ranks of nobility,
Ranks, official,
Records, (see History),
Redwater, River,
Regency, See Duke of Chou
Reign periods,
Religion, none in ancient China,
Religion of Confucius (so-called),
Religious compromise,
Remains, ancient,
Rénan, Ernest,
Residences at the metropolis,
Revolutionary literature,
Rice,
Right and Left,
Rites, See Ritual
Rites, Book of,
Rites of Chou,
Ritual,
Ritual chivalry,
Ritual, Shinto,
Rivers and migration,
Rivers and navigation,
Road, begging,
Roads,
Roman civilization,
Royal caste,
Rulers, divine right of,
Rulers, tyranny of,
Russia,
Sacrifices,
Sacrifices, drum,
Sacrifices, family,
Sacrifices, human,
Sacrifices, spring and autumn,
Sacrificial meat,
_Saga_ literature,
Sagittarius,
Salary in grain,
Salt flats,
Salt trade,
Sanctions, solemn,
Savages, _See_ Barbarians
Scandinavia,
Sceptres,
Science and religion,
Scottish parallels,
Scripture,
Scythians, See Turks and Hiung-nu
Sea, little known,
Seal character,
Seals,
Seasons,
Semi-mythical times,
Septimius Severus,
Settled communities,
Seven States,
Sha-Shï, modern,
Shakespeare,
Shan-hai Kiwan,
Shan races,
Shan Si, province,
Shan Tung, province,
Shang dynasty,
Shang, principality,
_Shang Ti_, title,
_Shanghai_, modern,
Shao, Duke of (in Yen),
Shao-hing, modern,
Sheba, Queen of,
_Shên-wu_, Mikado (see Jimmu),
Shen Si, province,
_Shï-ki_, history,
Shintö ritual,
Shipbuilding,
Shipping, early,
Shou-mêng, King of Wu,
Shrines,
Shuh Hiang, statesman,
Shuh, state,
Shun, Emperor,
Siam,
Siang, Emperor,
Siang-yang city,
Siberia,
Sin, idea of,
Si-ngan Fu,
Sinim, land of,
Si-ning, locality,
Silk,
Silk industry,
Silk, writing on,
sisters as joint wives,
_Siwangmu_, country and ruler,
Six Kingdoms,
Six states (south),
slavery,
smearing blood,
smearing lips with blood,
Solstices,
Son of Heaven,
Songs, 154 (_see_ Odes),
Soochow city,
Soochow Creek,
Soothsayers,
Soul, the,
Söul (Corea),
South, facing,
South China,
South Sea,
South Sea Islands,
Southern Yüeh,
Sovereign quality,
Spanish parallels,
Spinning,
Spirits, (see Wine),
Spirits and ghosts,
Spiritual power,
Sport,
Spring and Autumn Annals,
Spring functions,
Standards, See Flags
States, size of,
Statesmen, intimacy of,
Statistics, absence of,
Stone documents,
Stone drums,
Struggle for empire,
Succession questions,
Sii Chou,
Suicide,
Sultans of Turkey,
Sun, facing the,
Sun, movements of,
Sung as Protector,
Sung, state,
Sung's diplomatic position,
Supernatural agencies,
Superstition,
Surnames,
Surveys,
Su Ts'in, diplomatist,
Swords,
Sz, the River,
Sz Ch'wan history,
Sz Ch'wan, province,
Sz-ma Kwang,
Sz-ma Ts'ien,
Tablets, ancestral,
Tablets, documentary, See Documents
Tabu,
T'ai Hu, lake,
T'ai-p'ing rebels,
T'ai-shan, mountain,
Ta-liang, capital,
Tan, historiographer,
Tan-yang, locality,
T'ang dynasty,
_Tao_, or the way,
Taoists,
Tarim valley,
Tartar advisers,
"Tartar," ambiguity of word,
Tartar cart-houses,
Tartar Emperors,
Tartar Empire,
Tartar-Generals,
Tartar kings,
Tartar pedigrees,
Tartar treaties,
Tartar wives,
Tartars,
Tartars annexed,
Tartars kill Emperor,
Tartars, Northern,
Tartars, Western,
Tartary,
Tattooing,
Taxation,
Tea,
Têh-an, locality,
Temple of Heaven,
Temples in China, See Ancestral
Têng, state,
_Tenshi_, or T'ien-tsz,
Territorial names,
Teutonic migrations,
Theatricals,
Thicket country, See _King_
Tho, people,
Three Miao,
Three Tsin,
_Ti_, the word, or Emperor,
Tibet,
Tibetans,
T'ien (disguised form of Ch'en) family,
T'ien H&g,
Tientsin, modern,
Tillage, (see Agriculture),
Tin Islands,
Titles of vassal rulers,
Tobacco,
Tombs,
Tombs, ancient,
Tombs, desecration of,
Tombs of Emperors,
Tones, Chinese,
Tonic languages,
Tonquin,
Tonquin, early relations with,
Tortoises,
T'ouman, personal name,
Tower of Babel,
Trade,
Traditions,
Treaties,
Treaties, Chinese vassal,
Treaties, faithlessness to,
Treaties, Tartar,
Tribute,
Tribute of Yii,
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