[Illustration: FIG. 9.--TEMPLE VASE (c. 1200 B.C.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 10.--WINE VASE (c. 1000 B.C.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 11--WINE VASE (c. 600 B.C.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 12.--INLAID VESSEL (C. 500 B.C.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 13.--WINE VESSEL (c. 100 B.C.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 14.--INLAID VASE (c. 200 A.D.). In possession of
C.J. Holmes.]
[Illustration: FIG. 15.--VASE (c. 1450 A.D.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 16.--WINE VESSEL (c. 1450 A.D.).]
[Illustration: FIG. 17.--TEMPLE VASE (c. 1700 A.D.).]
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.--Knowledge of the ancient history of China is
necessarily derived from the native writers on the subject.
Fortunately, the Chinese have always regarded the preservation of the
national records as a matter of supreme importance. Confucius set an
example in this respect, and has preserved for us in the _Spring and
Autumn Annals_ and the _Shu-king_, or _Book of History_, records of
his country's progress during the past and then present centuries. The
celebrated emperor Shih Hwang-ti, in establishing the empire,
attempted to strengthen his cause by destroying all works on the
national history. But so strongly was the historical sense inculcated
in the people that immediately on the death of the tyrant the
nation's records were again brought to light, and have been carefully
preserved and edited since that time. Prof. Legge's translation of the
_Spring and Autumn Annals_ and the _Shu-king, or Book of History_, in
the "Sacred Books of the East" series, have opened for students the
stores of historical knowledge which were at the command of Confucius,
and European writers on Chinese history have found in the dynastic
annals a never-failing source of valuable information. It was from
these works and epitomes of these that de Maillac gathered the facts
for his celebrated _Histoire generale de la Chine_, and it is from
similar sources that all other writers on Chinese history have drawn
their inspiration.
The following works on ancient and modern Chinese history may be
specially mentioned: J.A. de Moyria de Maillac, _Histoire generale de
la Chine_ (1777), &c.; J B. du Halde, _General History of China_ (4
vols., 1736); M. de Guignes, _Voyages a Peking ..._ (3 vols., 1808);
D. Boulger, _A History of China_ (3 vols., 1881); Valentine Chirol,
_The Far Eastern Question_ (1896); E.R. Huc, _The Chinese Empire_ (2
vols., 1855); T.T. Meadows, _The Chinese and their Rebellions_ (1856);
G. Pauthier, _Histoire des relations politiques de la Chine avec les
puissances occidentales depuis les temps les plus anciens jusqu'a nos
jours ..._ (1859); Sir George Staunton, _Notes of Proceedings and
Occurrences during the British Embassy to Peking in 1816_ (1824);
_Chinese Expansion historically reviewed_, a paper read before the
Central Asian Society by Baron Suyematsu on January 11, 1905; F.
Hirth, _Ancient History of China_ (New York, 1908); Prof. Herbert A.
Giles's _Chinese Biographical Dictionary_ (1897) is a storehouse of
biographical detail and anecdote.
For Chinese relations with foreign powers see H. Cordier, _Histoire
des relations de la Chine avec les puissances occidentales, 1860-1902_
(3 vols., Paris, 1901-1902); _Hertslet's China Treaties. Treaties,
&c., between Great Britain and China, and between China and Foreign
Powers, and Orders in Council, &c., affecting British Interests in
China_ (3rd ed., revised by G.G.P. Hertslet and E. Parkes, London,
1908); J.O. Bland and E. Backhouse, _China under the Empress Dowager_
(London, 1910). More general works are Sir R.K. Douglas, _China_,
history since the time of Marco Polo (London, 1899); E.H. Parker,
_China; Her History, Diplomacy and Commerce_ (London, 1901); _China,
Past and Present_ (London, 1903); A.J. Sargent, _Anglo-Chinese
Commerce and Diplomacy_--mainly in the 19th century (Oxford, 1907).
For current affairs see the authorities cited in the footnotes.