MYTHICAL AND LEGENDARY KINGS
Pʼan Ku as the Divine Ancestor—The Mythical Age—Gods as Kings—The
Prometheus of China—Fu Hi as Adam—Doctrine of World’s Ages in
China—Links with Babylonia and India—Legendary Kings—The Chinese
Osiris—Reign of the “Yellow God”—Empress and Silk-worm
Culture—Royal Sons of Star-gods—Yaou, Son of the Red Dragon—Shun,
Son of the Rainbow—The Hea Dynasty—The Emperor Yu—Star Myths—Yu and
the River God—Yu as Pʼan Ku—The Flood Myth in Legends of Yu—The
Dynasty of Shang—Moon and Egg Myths—The Wicked Wu—A Hated Queen—The
Dynasty of Chou—A Chinese Gilgamesh—The Pious King Wen—Divination
by Tortoise and Grass—The Chous as Invaders—Historical
Dynasties—Ancient Iranian Traders—Trade and Civilization promoted
by the Dread of Death.
Pʼan Ku, the first “man” or “god”, was the ancestor of three
families—the rulers of Heaven, Earth, and Mankind. In Tibet, as we have
seen, the first man had three sons, who divided his body between them,
and they were the ancestors of the three human races. Like the
Babylonians, the Chinese had dynastic lists of antediluvian kings. Pʼan
Ku’s descendants ruled the nine divisions of the prehistoric empire or
world. There were ten dynastic periods, the first being that of the
“Nine Heads” (kings), the second that of the “Five Dragons”, and so on.
The five dragon kings were connected with the five planets: Venus,
Jupiter, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn, and therefore with the five
elements, for Venus was the Star of Metal, Jupiter that of Wood,
Mercury that of Water, Mars the Star of Fire, and Saturn the Star of
Earth. Thus every part of the terrestrial surface, when identified with
one or more elements on account of its shape, is under the influence of
the corresponding metals, and also under that of the constellations
through which these planets move. [434] As we have seen, the spirits of
dragon swords appeared in the sky as stars. The star-gods, like the
dragons, were fathers of some of the famous kings of China.
Towards the end came the period “Having Nests”, which indicates that
houses were built. Then came the period of Sui-zan, “the
Fire-producer”, who has been referred to as the “Prometheus of China”.
A new age was ushered in by Fu Hsia or Fu Hi, the so-called “Adam of
China”. He is the first monarch of China’s legendary history, and was
supposed to reign from 2953 till 2838 B.C. Some regard him as the
leader of a colony which settled in Shensi. But he is more like a
mythical culture hero. He was the offspring of a miraculous conception,
and had dealings with dragons. Like the Babylonian Ea he instructed the
people how to live civilized lives. Before Fu-hi came, they lived like
animals; they knew their mothers but not their fathers, and they ate
raw flesh. They kept records by means of knotted cords, and he
instructed them in the mysteries of lineal figures, which had a mystic
significance. These were eight in number—the eight kwâ or trigrams,
which represented: (1) the sky; (2) water of lakes and marshes; (3)
fire, lightning, and the sun; (4) thunder; (5) wind and wood; (6) water
as in rain, springs, streams, clouds, and the moon; (7) a hill; (8) the
earth.
Fu-hi also instructed the people to worship spirits, and he instituted
sacrifices. He kept in a park six kinds of animals, and sacrificed
twice a year at the two solstices, causing the days to be regarded as
sacred, so that the people might show gratitude to heaven.
According to the Taoists, Fu-hi disturbed the primal unity, and caused
the people to begin to deteriorate.
Here we touch on the doctrine of the World’s Ages. Like the Indians of
the Brahmanic period, the Chinese Taoists believed that the first age
was a perfect one, and that mankind gradually deteriorated. In the
Indian Krita Age “all men were saintly, and therefore they were not
required to perform religious ceremonies.... There were no gods in the
Krita Age, and there were no demons.” [435]
Lao Tze, who will be dealt with more fully in the next chapter,
exclaims: “I would make people return to the use of knotted cords”. His
disciple, Kwang Tze, lamented that the paradisaical state of the early
ages had been disturbed by law-makers. Decadence set in with the
“Prometheus” and the “Adam”, and continued until the people became
“perplexed and disordered, and had no way by which they might return to
their true nature, and bring back their original condition”. [436]
“It is remarkable”, says Legge, “that at the commencement of Chinese
history, Chinese tradition placed a period of innocence, a season when
order and virtue ruled in men’s affairs.” This comment is made in
connection with the following passage in the Shu King (Book XXVII, “The
Marquis of Lu on Punishments”): “The King said, ‘According to the
teachings of ancient times, Khih Yu was the first to produce disorder,
which spread among the quiet, orderly people, till all became robbers
and murderers, owl-like and yet self-complacent in their conduct,
traitors and villains, snatching and filching, dissemblers and
oppressors’”. [437]
In some accounts of the early period, Fu Hi is succeeded by his sister,
the Empress Nu Kwa, the heroine of the Deluge.
Fu Hi’s usual successor, however, is Shen-nung (2838–2698 B.C.), the
Chinese Osiris, who introduced the agricultural mode of life and
instructed the people how to make use of curative herbs. He was
worshipped as the god of agriculture. Thus an Ode sets forth:
That my fields are in such good condition,
Is matter of joy to my husbandmen.
With lutes, and with drums beating,
We will invoke the Father of Husbandry,
And pray for sweet rain,
To increase the produce of our millet fields,
And to bless my men and their wives. [438]
Shen-nung was not content with two annual sacrifices, and fixed two
others at the equinoxes, “that in spring to implore a blessing on the
fruit of the earth, and that in autumn, after the harvest was over, to
offer the first fruits to the ruler of heaven”.
After Shen-nung died the emperor Hwang-Ti (“The Yellow God”) ascended
the throne. He was in the literal sense the “Son of Heaven”, for his
real father was the thunder-god, and he had therefore “a dragon-like
countenance”. As in the case of Osiris, who was reputed to have reigned
over Egypt, it is difficult to conclude whether he was a deified
monarch or a humanized deity. He belongs, of course, to the mythical
period of the “five Tis” in Chinese legendary history.
The account of his origin sets forth that one night his mother
witnessed a brilliant flash of lightning which darted from the vicinity
of the star chʼoo in the Great Bushel (the “Great Bear”) and lit up the
whole country. Her Majesty became pregnant, but did not give birth to
her son until twenty-five months later. Hwang Ti was able to speak as
soon as he was born. When he ascended the throne, he possessed the
power of summoning spirits to attend at the royal palace, and his
allies in battle included tigers, panthers, and bears, as those of
Rama, the hero of the Indian epic, the Rámáyana, included bears and
gigantic monkeys. Hwang Ti was a lover of peace, and because he caused
peaceful conditions to prevail, phœnixes nested in his garden, or, like
swallows, perched on the palace roof and terraces and sang in the
courtyard. Other spirit-birds haunted the residence of the “Yellow
God”.
He built a large temple so that he might not be prevented by bad
weather from offering up sacrifices and performing other religious
ceremonies at any season of the year, and he instructed the people in
their duties towards the spirits, their ancestors, and himself. He
fixed the holy days and introduced music in temple worship. His wife
undertook the duty of nourishing silk-worms and producing silk. An
enclosure on the north side of the temple was planted with mulberry
trees, and in this grove the Empress and the ladies of her court
attended to the silk-worms specially kept for the silk required for
religious ceremonies. Her Majesty was the goddess as her husband was
the god, and had therefore to promote reproduction and growth. She
therefore visited also the enclosure on the southern side of the temple
in which grew the cereals and fruits offered to the deities.
Hwang Ti was specially favoured by the goddess known as “the heavenly
lady Pao”, who on one occasion stopped the heavy and destructive rains
that had been caused by the enemy.
When the Emperor was in his seventy-seventh year, he retired from the
world, like an Indian ascetic, to practise austerities beside the Jo
water. He died in his one hundredth year. Some tell that when he was
ascending to heaven an earthquake occurred; others hold that he never
died but was transformed into a dragon. After he passed away, either as
a soul or dragon, to associate with the immortals, a wooden image of
him was made and worshipped by princes.
His successor is said to have been the Emperor Che, whose dynastic
title was Shao-Hao. This monarch was the son of a star god. One night
his mother beheld a star, which resembled a rainbow, floating on a
stream in the direction of a small island. After retiring to rest she
dreamed that she received the star, and, in due course, she gave birth
to her son. Phœnixes visited the royal palace on the day that he
ascended the throne. This monarch had some mysterious association with
the west—probably with the goddess of the west—and is said to have
commanded an army of birds.
He was followed by the Emperor Chuen-Heugh (Kao-Yang). He, too, was the
son of a star-god. It chanced that his mother witnessed the Yao-Kwang
star passing through the moon like a rainbow. She gave birth to her son
in the vicinity of the Jo water. There was a shield and spear on his
head at birth, a tradition which recalls that when the Indian princess
Pritha gave birth to Karna, son of Surya, the sun-god, he was fully
armed.
Chuen-Heugh was a great sage. “He invented calendaric calculations and
delineations of the heavenly bodies,” and composed a piece of music
called “The Answer to the Clouds”.
Next came the Emperor Kuh (Kao-sin) who, like Richard III, had teeth
when he was born. He similarly rose from the rank of a State prince to
the Imperial throne. The State of Yew-Kae was conquered by him. His
son, named Che, proved to be unworthy, and his younger son, Yao, was
selected as his successor.
The Emperor Yao was the son of a red dragon, as well as of the Emperor,
and was not born until fourteen months after conception. He is said to
have been ten cubits in height when full grown. There were two pupils
in each of his eyes. He was a great sage and wonderful happenings
occurred during his reign.
A mysterious grass grew on the palace stairs. It bore a pod on each day
of the month. He selected as his colleague and successor the sage Shun,
who had held an undistinguished position. It is told that this
selection was approved by five star-gods whose spirits appeared as five
old men and walked about among the islands of the River Ho. On another
occasion a bright light came from the river; then beautifully-coloured
vapours arose and a dragon-horse appeared, carrying in its mouth a
scaly cuirass for Shun, whose appointment was thus definitely approved
by Heaven. Thirty years later a tortoise rose from the water and rested
on the altar. On its back was an inscribed order instructing Yao to
resign in favour of Shun. This divine command was duly obeyed.
Shun’s mother had conceived after seeing a rainbow. As has been stated,
a rainbow was believed to emanate from the gigantic oyster that lay in
mid ocean. When the child was born his mother and father detested him,
because his body was black and his eyes had double pupils, and because
he had a dragon face and a large mouth. When he became a youth he
reached the height of six cubits, and was thus like the Egyptian Horus
and the Norse hero Sigurd, a veritable giant. His parents endeavoured
on more than one occasion to cause his death by giving him difficult
tasks to perform, and acting treacherously towards him. On one occasion
they ordered him to plaster a granary, and when he was engaged at the
work they set fire to the building. But Shun was clad in “bird’s work
clothing”, which seems to indicate that he had power to assume bird
form, and he flew away. He was next ordered to deepen a well. He went
to work obediently, and while engaged in his task the well was suddenly
filled up with stones. But Shun had “dragon’s work clothing”, or was
able to assume a dragon form, and contrived to escape through the side
of the well. Like Hercules, he performed all his difficult tasks and
escaped without injury.
Although Shun is usually said to have been selected by Yaou as his
successor, a vague tradition states that he dethroned Yaou by force and
kept him a prisoner. Before long, however, he degraded the young ruler
and took his place.
On ascending the throne, Shun publicly worshipped the spirit of Shang
Ti (Ruler of Heaven, the personal god). He enacted new laws, so that
the government of the Empire might be regulated and strengthened, and
he was the first monarch to create Mandarins. Shun is credited with
selecting his successor Yu.
The Emperor Yu was the first monarch of the Dynasty of Hea. According
to tradition he was the son of a star-god. It is told that one night
his mother saw a falling star and became pregnant. She afterwards
swallowed a pearl that had been dropped by a spirit. In due course she
gave birth to Yu.
A similar myth is attached to the memory of the Irish Christian saint
Ciaran of Saigir, which was probably taken over from some ancient
Celtic hero, the son or grandson of Sirona (the aged one or
star-goddess). A Gaelic poem, believed to have been composed in the
ninth century, sets forth:
Liadaine (his mother) was asleep
On her bed (a saying not wrong).
When she turned her face to heaven
A star fell into her mouth.
Thence was born the marvellous child,
Ciaran of Saigir who is proclaimed to thee
And thence (a saying without pride)
Luaigne (Liadaine’s husband) said he (Ciaran) was not his son.
[439]
Osiris, as the son of the cow-goddess, was a son of the moon, from
which fell a fertilizing ray of light. The Egyptian deities had star
forms. As stars, they rose from malachite pools and perched in
swallow-shape on the branches of the world-tree of the Great Mother.
Hathor and Isis were personified as the star Sirius, from which fell
the tear, or drop of dew, that caused the low Nile to have increase and
rise in flood. As the morning star, the goddess was the mother of the
rising sun. Much star-lore surviving from ancient times remains to be
gleaned.
When the star-deity’s son, the Chinese Emperor Yu, was born, he had the
mouth of a tiger. “His ears had three orifices; his head bore the
resemblance of the star Kow and Kʼeen. On his breast seemed a figure in
gem of the Great Bear.” When he grew up he reached the height of 9
cubits, 6 inches. [440]
The Irish hero, Cuchullin, was likewise a marvellous youngster. He had
“seven toes to each foot, and to either hand as many fingers; his eyes
were bright, with seven pupils apiece”, and so on.
Yu was probably a historical character, to whose memory many floating
myths and legends were attached. He figures as the hero of a deluge.
One night, during his youth, he dreamt that while bathing in the Ho
(the Yellow River) he drank up the water. He also beheld a white fox
with nine tails—a particularly good omen. This was during the reign of
Yau. Shun came to know about him and showed him special favour, causing
him to be promoted until he became an influential man in the Empire.
The gods were well pleased because he was loved by them. One day, as Yu
stood on the banks of the River Ho, gazing at the water, a god appeared
as a tall, white-faced man, with the body of a fish, like the
Babylonian Ea. He addressed Yu and said: “I am the spirit of the Ho.
Wan-ming shall regulate the waters.”
The god then gave Yu a plan of the Ho, which gave full details
regarding the regulating of the waters, and sank into the river.
A good deal of controversy has been engaged in as to what Yu was
supposed to have done. In the Shu King (“The Tribute of Yu” chapter) it
is stated: “Yu divided the land, following the course of the hills, he
cut down the trees. He determined the highest hills and largest rivers
(in the several regions).... The (waters of the) Hang and Wei were
brought to their proper channels.” Other rivers were similarly
controlled. [441]
In another section Yu says: “When the floods were lifted to the
heavens, spreading far and wide, surrounding the hills and submerging
the mounds, so that the common people were bewildered and dismayed, I
availed myself of four vehicles, [442] and going up the hills I felled
the trees.... After that I drained off the nine channels, directing
them into the four seas; I dug out ditches and canals and brought them
into rivers.” [443]
In the fourth book of the Shu King, “The Great Plan”, it is said: “I
have heard that in old time Khwan dammed up the inundating waters, and
thereby threw into disorder the arrangement of the five elements. God
was consequently roused to anger, and did not give him the Great Plan
with its nine divisions, and thus the unvarying principles (of Heaven’s
method) were allowed to go to ruin.” [444]
In one of the Odes it is stated that “when the waters of the Deluge
spread vast abroad, Yu arranged and divided the regions of the land”.
[445]
It has been suggested by some that Yu constructed a great embankment to
prevent the Yellow River changing its course—a task even greater than
constructing the Great Wall, and that he formed dams and opened
irrigating channels. It may be that he did much work in reclaiming land
and regulating the government of the Empire. But there can be little
doubt that the traditions surviving from his age were mixed with the
older traditions regarding the Babylonian flood. Yu is no mere canal
cutter. He hews the rocks and forms chasms between the mountains, like
Pʼan Ku, the Chinese Ptah or Indra, he constructs the embankments of
lakes, and makes channels for the great rivers, and he drains the
marshes. The grounds are made habitable and fit for cultivation. There
are even faint echoes of the Osirian legend in the stories regarding
his achievements.
After Yu had finished his work, Heaven presented him with a
dark-coloured mace. [446] He was destined to become Emperor of the nine
provinces, we are told, but it is doubtful if the Empire was really so
large during his reign. After Shun resigned, Yu ascended the throne.
The vegetation then became luxuriant, and green dragons lay on the
borders of the Empire. Yellow dragons rose from the rivers when Yu
crossed them. His reign lasted for forty-five years.
The sixth Emperor of the Hea Dynasty was another famous man. This was
Shao-Kʼang. His father had been murdered, and his mother took flight
and concealed herself. She gave birth to her son during her reign in
Shan-tung, when he became a herdsman. Like Horus, he was searched for
by the monarch who had usurped the throne, and he had to take to flight
and become a cook. In time he was able to collect an army and win a
great victory, which enabled him to regain the throne of his father.
The last few Emperors of the Dynasty of Hea were weak and licentious
men. It is told of Kʼung-Kea, the fourteenth of his line, that he was
the cause of much misfortune, and caused the government to decay. Among
the terrible things he did was to eat a female dragon which had been
slain and pickled for him. Kwei, the seventeenth Emperor, was the first
to introduce men-drawn carriages, but the omens of his reign foretold
the approaching doom of the dynasty; the five planets wandered from
their courses, and stars fell like rain in his tenth year. He was
overthrown by Tʼang, the founder of the Dynasty of Shang.
Tʼang had seven names, one of which was Li. He was descended from the
Empress Keen-tieh, who, having prayed for a son, entered a river to
bathe. A dark swallow came nigh and dropped a variegated egg from her
mouth, which the Empress swallowed. She became pregnant, and gave birth
to a son named See, who, when he grew up, was appointed by Yao,
Minister of Instruction, and was given the principality of Shang.
Thirteen generations later the wife of one of See’s descendants gave
birth to Tʼang, the future Emperor. She had become pregnant after
seeing a white vapour passing through the moon. The child had whiskers
at birth, and his arms had four joints. He grew to the height of nine
cubits.
Wonderful things happened to prove that Tʼang was the chosen by Heaven
to reign over the Empire. When he visited the altar of Yao, he dropped
a jewel into the water. “Lo! yellow fishes leapt up in pairs; a
blackbird followed him, and stood on the altar, where it changed into a
black gem.” There also appeared a black tortoise, which had on its back
characters intimating that Tʼang was to become the Emperor. A spirit
appeared on Mount Pei at the same time. “Another spirit, dragging a
white wolf, with a hook in his mouth, entered the court of Shang. The
virtue of metal waxed powerful; silver overflowed from the hills.”
Tʼang himself dreamed that “he went to the sky and licked it. After
this he became possessor of the Empire.” [447]
When the Dynasty of Shang began to decline, the rulers became weak and
profligate. It is told of Wu-Yih, who reigned for only four years
(1198–1194 B.C.), he was “without any right principle. He made an image
of a man, and called it ‘the Spirit of Heaven’. Then he ‘gamed with it’
(played dice, or at chess), causing someone to play for the image. ‘The
Spirit of Heaven’ was unsuccessful, on which he disgraced it, and made
a leather bag, which he filled with blood, and then placed aloft and
shot at (the image was probably in the bag as well), calling this
‘shooting at Heaven’.... In the fourth year of his reign, while hunting
between the Ho and the Wei, Wu-Yih suddenly died. Tsʼeen says that he
was struck dead by lightning; and people recognize in that event the
just and appropriate vengeance of Heaven which he had insulted.” [448]
The Kafirs of Africa “play at a game of chance before their idols, and,
should chance be against them, kick and box their idols; but if, after
this correction, on pursuing their experiments they should continue
unsuccessful, they burn the hands and feet off them in the fire; should
ill fortune still attend them, they cast the idols on the ground, tread
them under foot, dash them about with such force as to break them to
pieces. Some, indeed, who show greater veneration for the images,
content themselves with fettering and binding them until they have
obtained their end; but should this not take place as early as their
impatience looks for, they fasten them to a cord and gradually let them
down into the water, even to the bottom, thus trusting to force them to
be propitious”. [449] It may be that Wu-Yih (Wuh-I) was engaged in some
such ceremony when he disgraced and tortured his god.
A successor is remembered as the first man who used ivory chop-sticks.
The Viscount of Ke admonished him, saying: “Ivory chop-sticks will be
followed by cups of gem; and then you will be wanting to eat bears’
paws and leopards’ wombs, and proceed to other extravagances. Your
indulgence of your desires may cost you the Empire.” This was Chou-sin,
an intemperate and extravagant tyrant. He came under the influence of a
beautiful but wicked woman, called Ta-ke, whom he married. “The most
licentious songs were composed for her amusement and the vilest dances
exhibited.” A park was laid out for her amusement. “There was a pond of
wine; the trees were hung with flesh; men and women chased each other
about quite naked.” Drinking bouts were common in the palace, and when
the princes began to rebel, new and terrible tortures were introduced.
The queen had constructed a copper pillar, which was greased all over.
It was laid above a charcoal fire, and culprits were ordered to walk on
it. When they slipped and fell into the fire, Ta-ke was “greatly
delighted”.
The Dynasty of Shang was overthrown by King Wu, the founder of the
Dynasty of Chou. Wu was descended from the famous lady Kian Yuan,
already referred to (see Index). After treading in the toe-print (or
foot-print) made by God, she gave birth to her son, Hau Ki, suffering
no pain. Like Gilgamesh, Sargon, Romulus and Remus, Karna, and other
famous heroes, the child was exposed after birth, the lady’s husband,
according to one Chinese commentator, having been displeased with what
had taken place. In the Shih King the ode, which relates the legend of
Hau Ki, says:
He was placed in a narrow lane,
But the sheep and oxen protected him with loving care.
He was placed in a wide forest,
Where he was met by the wood-cutters.
He was placed on the cold ice,
And a bird screened and supported him with its wings.
When the bird went away,
Hau Ki began to wail.
His cry was long and loud,
So that his voice filled the whole way. [450]
The ode goes on to tell that when Hau Ki grew up he promoted husbandry
and founded the sacrifices of his house. Some of the Osirian-Tammuz
traditions were attached to his memory, but, as Legge says, “he has not
displaced the older Shan-nung, with whom, on his father’s side, he had
a connection as ‘the Father of Husbandry’”. [451]
Before Wu became Emperor, a red man came out of the river to secure the
support of allies, and phœnixes brought messages to the effect that the
reigning dynasty was doomed. The empire could not be enjoyed by the
Shang King; “the powerful spirits of the earth have left it; all the
spirits are whisked away; the conjunction of the five planets in Fang
brightens all within the four seas”. [452] King Wen, the father of Wu,
to whom this revelation had been made, was a ruler in the west, and
knew that his son’s mission in life was the regeneration of the empire.
The dynasties of Hsia (Hea) and Shang
Had not satisfied God with their government;
So throughout the various States
He sought and considered
For a State on which he might confer the rule.
God said to King Wen:
I am pleased with your conspicuous virtue,
Without noise and without display,
Without heat and without change,
Without consciousness of effort,
Following the pattern of God.
God said to King Wen:
Take measures against hostile States,
Along with your brethren,
Get ready your engines of assault,
To attack the walls of Tsʼung. [453]
After Wu became the Emperor the worship of ancestors was promoted, and
dragons, tortoises, and phœnixes made regular appearances, while
vegetation flourished, and the mugwort grew so plentifully that a
palace could be erected from it.
After Wu died spirit-birds appeared, and a mysterious bean, which was
an elixir, grew up. The Crown Prince was still a minor, and for seven
years the Duke of Chou acted as regent. Accompanied by the young king
the duke visited the Ho and the Lo. The king dropped a gem into the
water, and after day declined “rays of glory came out and shrouded all
the Ho (Yellow River), and green clouds came floating in the sky. A
green dragon came to the altar, and went away. They did the same at the
Lo, and the same thing happened.” A tortoise appeared, and on its shell
were writings that told of the fortunes of the empire till the
dynasties of Tsʼin and Han. [454]
The tortoise-shell and stalks of a variety of grass were long used in
China for purposes of divination. What the tortoise and the grass
revealed was supposed to be the will of the spirits. Nowadays lots are
drawn, spirit-writing is believed in, and revelations are supposed to
be made when a bean symbol is tossed in the air, as is a coin in the
West; when the flat side is uppermost the tosser is supposed to receive
a refusal to his prayer.
The Chou Dynasty was founded, according to Chinese dating, in 1122
B.C., and lasted until 249 B.C. It has been suggested that although the
Chous claimed to be descended from one of Shun’s ministers, they were
really foreigners partly or wholly of Tartar origin. King Wu introduced
the sacrifice of human beings to the spirits of ancestors, and favoured
the magicians, whom he appointed to high positions in his court. His
empire consisted of a confederacy of feudal states, and its strength
endured so long as the central state remained sufficiently powerful to
exact tribute.
After holding sway for about eight hundred years, the Chou Dynasty, and
with it the Feudal Age, came to an end. The State of Chin or Tsʼin,
which had been absorbing rival states, became so powerful that, in 221
B.C., its king, Shih-huang-ti, became the first Emperor of China. He
resolved that the future history of China should begin with himself,
and issued a decree commanding that all existing literature should be
burned, except medical and agricultural books, and those dealing with
divination. Those who disobeyed his order and attempted to conceal the
forbidden books were put to death. Fortunately, however, some devoted
scholars succeeded in preserving for posterity a number of the classics
which would otherwise have perished. This extraordinary decree has cast
a shadow over the fame of the first emperor, who was undoubtedly a
great man.
During the early years of the Chin or Tsʼin Dynasty the Great Wall to
the west and north of China was constructed, so as to protect the
empire against the barbarians who were wont to raid and pillage the
rich pastoral and agricultural lands, and impose their sway on the
industrious Chinese. “The building of the Great Wall”, says Kropotkin,
“was an event fraught with the greatest consequences, and one may say
without exaggeration that it contributed powerfully to the premature
downfall of the Roman Empire.” The Mongolian and Turki peoples who had
been attempting to subdue China were forced westward, and tribal and
racial movements were set in motion that ultimately led to the
invasions of Europe by nomadic fighting pastoralists from Asia. [455]
The Great Wall is said to have been built in ten years in a straight
line of about 1200 miles, the average width at the base being 25 feet,
and the average height 30 feet. Strong “block-house” towers were
constructed in the wall for the accommodation of bodies of troops.
It was during this Dynasty that China and related forms of that name,
based on “Tsʼin” or “Chin”, came into use in the west. The dynasties
that followed the Chin or Tsʼin (221–200 B.C.) are as follows:
The Han Dynasty 200 B.C. – 200 A.D.
The Minor Dynasties 200 A.D. – 600 ,,
The Tʼang Dynasty 600 ,, – 900 ,,
The Sung Dynasty 900 ,, – 1200 ,,
The Mongol Dynasty 1200 ,, – 1368 ,,
The Ming Dynasty 1368 ,, – 1644 ,,
The Manchu Dynasty 1644 ,, – 1900 ,,
The evidence afforded by Chinese archæology, and Chinese religious
beliefs, symbols, and customs tends to emphasize that the early
inhabitants of Shensi province were strongly influenced by
culture-drifts from the mid-Asian colonies of the ancient
civilizations. Hunting and pastoral peoples adopted the agricultural
mode of life, and with it the elements of a complex civilization which
had its origin in those areas where grew wild the cereals first
cultivated by man.
The Chinese are a mixed race. In the north the oblique-eyed,
yellow-skinned element predominates. Like the Semites, who overran
Sumeria and adopted Sumerian modes of thought and life, so did the
Mongoloid tribes overrun northern China and became a sedentary people.
Petty kingdoms grew up, and in time found it necessary to unite against
the hordes who invaded and plundered their lands. The invaders included
Siberian nomads, Manchus, Mongolo-Turki peoples, the Sacæ (western
Scythians), and the blue-eyed Usuns or Wusuns who are believed to have
been congeners of the kurgan-builders of southern Siberia and southern
Russia. It was against Manchus and Mongols that the Great Wall was
erected, after northern China had been united as a result of those
conquests which made petty kings over-lords of ever-widening areas.
During the Han Dynasty southern China was subdued. There the
brownish-skinned Man-tze stock is most in prominence. Ancient
Indonesian intrusions have left their impress on the racial blend.
Along the sea-coasts of China the sea-traders exercised their
influence, and in time their mode of life was adopted by the conquerors
from the inland parts of the growing empire. The types of vessels used
by the ancient Egyptians, the Phœnicians, the peoples of the Persian
Gulf, the Indians, Burmese, Indonesians, and Polynesians became common
on the Chinese coast and rivers. Maritime enterprise was stimulated, as
we have seen, by the Far Eastern Columbuses who searched for the elixir
of life and the fabled “Islands of the Blest”. “The Chinese,” writes
Mr. Kebel Chatterton, “in their own independent way went on developing
from the early Egyptian models (of ships), and have been not inaptly
called the Dutchmen of the east in their nautical tendencies.” [456] It
is believed that they were the inventors of the rudder, which took the
place of the ancient steering-oar.
Along their coastal sea-routes the Chinese were brought into touch with
southern peoples, with whom they traded. Chinese records throw light on
the articles that were in demand at markets. “In Nan-čao”, [457] an
ancient text reveals, “there are people from Pʼo-lo-men (Burma), Pose
(Malay), Še-po (Java), Pʼo-ni (Borneo), Kʼun-lun (a Malayan country),
and of many other heretic tribes, meeting at one trading-mart, where
pearls and precious stones in great number are exchanged for gold and
musk.” [458] The early traders by sea and land attached great
importance to medicines and elixirs, and precious stones and metals,
and pearls.
The overland trade-routes through Iran brought the Chinese into direct
touch with Lesser Fu-lin (Syria), and ultimately with Greater Fu-lin
(the Byzantine Empire). The vine and other plants with ancient
religious associations were imported into China, and the Chinese peach
tree reached Europe. With the peach went silk. “It is not impossible,”
says Laufer, “that these two gifts were transmitted by the
silk-dealers, first to Iran (in the second or first century B.C.), and
thence to Armenia, Greece, and Rome (in the first century A.D.).” [459]
As the cuckoos hatched in the nests of hedge-sparrows, meadow-pipits,
and wagtails overcome and eject the offspring of their foster-parents,
so did the vigorous nomadic peoples who absorbed the elements of
ancient civilizations overcome and eject the offspring of their
“foster-parents”. The Babylonian Empire perished, and Irania, which had
been stimulated by it to adopt civilized conditions of life, became, in
turn, the nursery of vigorous states. Recent discoveries have brought
to light evidence which shows that the Iranian peoples “once covered an
immense territory, extending all over Chinese Turkestan, migrating into
China, coming into contact with the Chinese, and exerting a profound
influence on nations of other stock, notably Turks and Chinese. The
Iranians were the great mediators between the West and the East,
conveying the heritage of Hellenistic ideas to central and eastern
Asia, and transmitting valuable plants and goods of China to the
Mediterranean area.” [460]
The laws of supply and demand operated then as now on the trade-routes,
which brought communities of regular traders into touch after they had
cultivated plants or manufactured articles to offer in exchange for
what they received. Before these routes could, however, have hummed
with commerce, a considerable advance in civilization had to be
achieved. States had to be organized and laws enforced for the
protection of property and property owners.
The Iranians, who obtained silk from China, were not the originators of
the culture represented by this commodity; they simply stimulated the
demand for silk. Chinese civilization dates back to the time when the
early prospectors and explorers came into touch with backward peoples,
and introduced new modes and conditions of life. These pioneers did not
necessarily move along the routes that were ultimately favoured by
merchants, nor even those followed by migrating tribes in quest of
green pastures. They wandered hither and thither searching for gold and
gems and herbs, sowing as they went the seeds of civilization, which
did not, however, always fall on good ground. But in those places where
the seed took root and the prospects of development were favourable,
organized communities gradually grew up with an assured food-supply.
This was the case in Shensi province, in which was settled the “little
leaven” that ultimately “leavened the whole lump” of northern China. It
was after the empire became united under the Tsʼin Dynasty that
organized trade with the west assumed great dimensions, and was
regularly maintained under assured protection.
Myths as well as herbs and gems and garments were exchanged by traders.
With the glittering jewel was carried the religious lore associated
with it; with the curative herb went many a fable of antiquity. Laufer
has shown in his The Diamond how Hellenistic lore connected with that
gem crept into Chinese writings. It is consequently possible to trace
in the mosaic of Chinese beliefs and mythology certain of the cultural
elements that met and blended and were developed on the banks of the
Yellow River.
Elixirs and charms were in great demand in all centres of ancient
civilizations. It can be held, therefore, that behind the commerce of
early times, as behind the early religious systems, lay the haunting
dread of death. Gems warded off evil, and imparted vitality to those
who possessed them, and curative herbs renewed youth by restoring
health. Even the dead were benefited by them. Progress was thus, in a
sense, increasing efficiency in the quest of longevity in this world
and the next.
In China, as elsewhere, the dread of death, as expressed in the
religious system, promoted the arts and crafts; artists, engravers,
architects, builders, jewellers, and scribes, as well as priests and
traders, were engaged in the unceasing conflict against the all-dreaded
enemy of mankind, the God of Death. The incentive that caused men to
undertake perilous journeys by land and sea in quest of elixirs, to
live laborious lives in workshops and temples, and to grasp at the
mythical straws of hope drifted along trade-routes from other lands,
was the same as that which sent the Babylonian Gilgamesh to explore the
dark tunnel of the Mountain of Mashu and cross the Sea of Death, and it
is found on the ninth tablet of the most ancient epic in the world:
Gilgamesh wept bitterly, and he lay stretched out upon the ground.
He cried: “Let me not die like Ea-bani!
Grief hath entered into my body, and
I fear death....” [461]