in the labors of government, she soon showed a quickness of
apprehension, a ready wit in emergencies, and a tact in dealing with
difficult questions that rendered her aid indispensable. Step by step
the emperor yielded his power to her more skilful hands, until he
retained for himself only the rank while she held all the authority of
the imperial office.
Under her control China retained abroad the proud position which
Taitsong had won. For years war went on with Corea, who called in the
Japanese to their aid. But the allies were defeated and four hundred of
the war-junks of Japan given to the flames. The desert nomads remained
subdued, and in Central Asia the power of China was firmly maintained.
Now was the era of a mighty commotion in Southern Asia and the countries
of the Mediterranean. Arabia was sending forth its hosts, the sword and
the Koran in hand, to conquer the world and convert it to the Mohammedan
faith. Persia was in imminent peril, and sent envoys to China begging
for aid. But the shrewd empress had no thought of involving her
dominions in war with these devastating hordes, and sent word that
Persia was too far away for an army to be despatched to its rescue.
Envoys also came from India, but China kept carefully free from
hostilities with the conquerors of the south.
Kaotsong died in 683, after occupying the throne for thirty-three years.
His death threatened the position of the empress, the power behind the
throne. But she proved herself fully equal to the occasion, and made
herself more truly the ruler of China than before. Chongtsong, son of
the late emperor, was proclaimed, but a few days ended his reign. A
decree passed by him in favor of his wife's family roused Wou to action,
and she succeeded in deposing him and banishing him and his family,
taking up again the supreme power of which she had been so brief a time
deprived.
She now carried matters with a high hand. A nominal emperor was chosen,
but the rule was hers. She handled all the public business, disposed of
the offices of state, erected temples to her ancestors, wore the robes
which by law could be worn only by an emperor, and performed the
imperial function of sacrificing to Heaven, the supreme deity of the
Chinese. For once in its history China had an actual empress, and one of
an ability and a power of maintaining the dignity of the throne which
none of its emperors have surpassed.
Her usurpation brought her a host of enemies. It set aside all the
precedents of the empire, and that a woman should reign directly,
instead of indirectly, stirred the spirit of conservatism to its depths.
Wou made no effort to conciliate her foes. She went so far as to change
the name of the dynasty and to place members of her own family in the
great offices of the realm. Rebellious risings followed; plots for her
assassination were formed; but her vigilance was too great, her measures
were too prompt, for treason to succeed. No matter how great the rank or
how eminent the record of a conspirator, death ended his career as soon
as her suspicions were aroused. The empire was filled with her spies,
who became so numerous as largely to defeat their purpose, by bringing
false accusations before the throne. The ready queen settled this
difficulty by an edict threatening with death any one who falsely
accused a citizen of the realm. The improbable story is told that in a
single day a thousand charges were brought of which eight hundred and
fifty proved to be false, those who brought them being at once sent to
the block. Execution in the streets of Singan, the capital, was her
favorite mode of punishment, and great nobles and ministers died by the
axe before the eyes of curious multitudes.
A Richelieu in her treatment of her enemies, she displayed the ability
of a Richelieu in her control of the government. Her rule was a wise
one, and the dignity of the nation never suffered in her hands. The
surrounding peoples showed respect for her power, and her subjects could
not but admit that they were well and ably ruled. And, that they might
the better understand this, she had books written and distributed
describing her eminent services to the state, while the priesthood laid
before the people the story of her many virtues. Thus for more than
twenty years after the death of Kaotsong the great empress continued to
hold her own in peace and in war.
In her later years wars broke out, which were handled by her with
promptness and success. But age now weighed upon her. In 704, when she
was more than eighty years old, she became so ill that for several
months she was unable to receive her ministers. This weakening of the
strong hand was taken advantage of by her enemies. Murdering her
principal relatives, they broke into the palace and demanded her
abdication. Unable to resist, she, with unabated dignity of mien, handed
to them the imperial seal and the other emblems of power. In the
following year she died. For more than forty years she had been the
supreme ruler of China, and held her great office with a strength and
dignity which may well be called superb.
_THE TARTARS AND GENGHIS KHAN._
In the northern section of the vast Mongolian plateau, that immense
outreach of pasture-lands which forms the great abiding-place of the
shepherd tribes of the earth, there long dwelt a warlike race which was
destined to play an extraordinary part in the world's history. The
original home of this people, who at an early date had won the
significant name of Mongol, or "the brave," was in the strip of
territory between the Onon and the Kerulon, tributaries of the upper
Amur River, the great water artery of East Siberia. In this retreat,
strongly protected from attack, and with sufficient herbage for their
flocks, the Mongols may have dwelt for ages unknown to history. We hear
of them first in the ninth century, when they appeared as a section of
the great horde of the Shiwei, attracting attention by their great
strength and extraordinary courage, characteristics to which they owed
their distinctive title. For two or three centuries they were among the
tribes that paid tribute to China, and there was nothing in their career
of special interest. Then they suddenly broke into startling prominence,
and sent a wave of terror over the whole civilized world.
The history of China is so closely connected with that of the nomad
tribes that one cannot be given without the other, and before telling
the story of the Mongols a brief outline of the history of these tribes
is desirable. China is on three sides abundantly defended from invasion,
by the ocean on the east, and by mountains and desert on the south and
west. Its only vulnerable quarter is in the north, where it joins on to
the vast region of the steppes, a country whose scarcity of rain unfits
it for agriculture, but which has sufficient herbage for the pasturage
of immense herds. Here from time immemorial has dwelt a race of hardy
wanderers, driving its flocks of sheep, cattle, and horses from pasture
to pasture, and at frequent intervals descending in plundering raids
upon the settled peoples of the south.
China in particular became the prey of these warlike horsemen. We hear
little of them in the early days, when the Chinese realm was narrow and
the original barbarians possessed most of the land. We hear much of them
in later days, when the empire had widened and grown rich and
prosperous, offering an alluring prize to the restless and daring
inhabitants of the steppes.
The stories we have already told have much to say of the relations of
China with the nomads of the north. Against these foes the Great Wall
was built in vain, and ages of warfare passed before the armies of China
succeeded in subduing and making tributary the people of the steppes. We
first hear of Tartar raids upon China in the reign of the emperor Muh
Wang, in the tenth century B.C. As time went on, the tribes combined and
fell in steadily greater numbers upon the southern realm. Of these
alliances of tribes the first known was named by Chinese historians the
Heung Nou, or "detestable slaves." Under its chiefs, called the Tanjous,
it became very formidable, and for a thousand years continued a thorn in
the side of the Chinese empire.
The Tanjous were dominant in the steppes for some three hundred years,
when they were overthrown by a revolt of the tribes, and were succeeded
by the Sienpi, who under their chiefs, the Topas, or "masters of the
earth," grew formidable, conquering the northern provinces of China,
which they held for a century and a half. Finally a slave of one of the
Topa chiefs, at the head of a hundred outlaws, broke into revolt, and
gathered adherents until the power of the Sienpi was broken, and a new
tribe, the Geougen, became predominant. Its leader, Cehelun by name,
extended his power over a vast territory, assuming the title of Kagan,
or Khan.
The next revolt took place in the sixth century A.D., when a tribe of
slaves, which worked the iron forges of the Altai Mountains for the
Great Khan, rebelled and won its freedom. Growing rapidly, it almost
exterminated the Geougen in a great battle, and became dominant over the
clans. Thus first came into history the great tribe of the Turks, whose
later history was destined to be so momentous. The dominion of the Khan
of the Turks grew so enormously that in time it extended from Central
Siberia on the north to Persia on the south, while he made his power
felt by China on the east and by Rome on the west. Ambassadors from the
Khan reached Constantinople, and Roman envoys were received in return
in his tent at the foot of the Altai range.
The Turks were the first of the nomad organizations who made their power
felt throughout the civilized world. On the eastern steppes other tribes
came into prominence. The Khitans were supreme in this region from 900
to 1100 A.D., and made serious inroads into China. They were followed by
the Kins, or Golden Tartars, a tribe of Manchu origin, who proved a
terrible foe, conquering and long holding a large section of Northern
China. Then came the Mongols, the most powerful and terrible of all, who
overthrew the Kins and became sole lords of the empire of the steppes.
It is with the remarkable career of this Mongol tribe that we are here
particularly concerned.
The first of the Mongol chiefs whose name is preserved was Budantsar,
who conquered the district between the Onon and the Kerulon, the
earliest known home of the Mongol race. His descendants ruled over the
clan until about the year 1135, when the first step of rebellion of the
Mongols from the power of the Kins took place. This was under Kabul, a
descendant of Budantsar. The war with the Kins continued under later
leaders, of whom Yissugei captured a powerful Tartar chief named
Temujin. On returning home he learned that his wife had given birth to a
son, to whom he gave his captive's name of Temujin. This child, born
probably in 1162 A.D., afterwards became the famous conqueror Genghis
Khan.
The birthplace of the future hero was on the banks of the Onon. His
father, chief over forty thousand families, died when he was still
young, and many of the tribesmen, refusing to be governed by a boy,
broke loose from his authority. His mother, a woman worthy of her race,
succeeded in bringing numbers of them back to their allegiance, but the
young chief found himself at the head of but half the warriors who had
followed his father to victory.
The enemies of Temujin little knew with whom they had to deal. At first
misfortune pursued the youth, and he was at length taken prisoner by his
enemies, who treated him with great indignity. He soon escaped, however,
and rallied his broken forces, shrewdly baffling his foes, who sought to
recapture him by a treacherous invitation to a feast. In the end they
attacked Temujin in his own country, where, standing on the defensive,
he defeated them with great loss. This victory brought the young chief
wide renown, and so many allies gathered under his banner that he became
a power in the steppes. "Temujin alone is generous and worthy of ruling
a great people," was the decision in the tents of the wandering tribes.
The subsequent career of the Mongol chief was one of striking
vicissitudes. His power grew until the question of the dominion of the
steppes rested upon a great battle between the Mongols and the powerful
tribe of the Keraits. The latter won the victory, the Mongols were slain
in thousands, and the power which Temujin had gained by years of effort
was in a day overthrown. Nothing remained to him but a small band of
followers, whose only strength lay in their fidelity and discipline.
Yet a man of the military ability of Temujin could not long remain at so
low an ebb of fortune. In a brief time he had surprised and subdued the
Keraits, and next met in battle the powerful confederacy of the Naimans,
whom he defeated in a stubborn and long-contested battle. This victory
made him the unquestioned lord of the steppes, over all whose
inhabitants the Mongols had become supreme.
And now Temujin resolved to indicate his power by some title worthy of
the great position he had gained. All the Mongol chiefs were summoned to
the grand council or Kuriltai of the tribe, and around the national
ensign, composed of nine white yak-tails, planted in the centre of the
camp, the warriors gathered to hear the opinion of their chief. It was
proclaimed to them that Temujin was not content with the title of Gur
Khan, to which its former bearers had not given dignity, but would
assume the title of Genghis Khan (Very Mighty Khan). It may be said here
that there are almost as many spellings of this name as there are
historians of the deeds of him that bore it.
Genghis made princes of his two principal generals, rewarded all other
brave officers, and in every available way cemented to his fortunes the
Mongol chiefs. He was now about forty-five years of age, yet, instead of
being at the end, he was but little beyond the beginning of his career.
The Kins, who had conquered Northern China, and whose ruler bore the
proud title of emperor, were the next to feel the power of his arms.
The dominions of the king of Hia, a vassal of the Kin emperor, were
invaded and his power overthrown. Genghis married his daughter, made an
alliance with him, and in 1210 invaded the territory so long held by the
Kins.
The Great Wall, which had so often proved useless as a barrier of
defence, failed to check the march of the great Mongol host, the chief
who should have defended it being bribed to desert his charge. Through
the opening thus offered the Mongols poured into the territory of the
Kins, defeated them in every engagement in the field, overran the rich
provinces held by them, and obtained a vast wealth in plunder. Yet the
war was now waged against a settled and populous state, with strong
walled cities and other fortified places, instead of against the
scattered clans of the steppes, and, despite the many victories of the
invading horde, it took twenty years of constant fighting to crush the
Tartar emperor of Northern China.
In truth, the resistance of the emperor of the Kins was far more
stubborn and effective than that of the nations of the south and west.
In 1218 Genghis invaded Central Asia, conquered its oases, and destroyed
Bokhara, Samarcand, and other cities. He next subjected the whole of
Persia, while the westward march of the armies under his lieutenants was
arrested only at the mountain barrier of Central Europe, all Russia
falling subject to his rule. In four years the mighty conqueror, having
established his rule from Armenia to the Indus, was back again and ready
to resume his struggle with the Kins of China.
He found the kingdom of Hia in revolt, and in 1225 assembled against it
the largest army he had ever employed in his Chinese wars. His success
was rapid and complete. The cities, the fortresses, the centres of
trade, fell in rapid succession into his hands, and in a final great
battle, fought upon the frozen waters of the Hoang-ho, the army of Hia
was practically exterminated. This was the last great event in the life
of Genghis Khan. He died in 1227, having by his ruthless warfare sent
five millions of victims to the grave. With his last words he deplored
the wanton cruelty with which his wars had been fought, and advised his
people to refrain in future from such sanguinary acts.
Thus died, at the age of about sixty-five years, one of the greatest
conquerors the world has known, the area of whose conquests vastly
exceeded those of Caesar and Napoleon, and added to the empire won by
Alexander a still greater dominion in the north. The Chinese said of him
that "he led his armies like a god;" and in truth as a military genius
he has had no superior in the history of the world. The sphere of no
other conqueror ever embraced so vast a realm, and the wave of warfare
which he set in motion did not come to rest until it had covered nearly
the whole of Asia and the eastern half of the European continent.
Beginning as chief of the fragment of a tribe, he ended as lord of
nearly half the civilized world, and dozens of depopulated cities told
the story of his terrible career. He had swept over the earth like a
tornado of blood and death.
_HOW THE FRIARS FARED AMONG THE TARTARS._
The sea of Mongol invasion which, pouring in the thirteenth century from
the vast steppes of Asia, overflowed all Eastern Europe, and was checked
in its course only by the assembled forces of the German nations, filled
the world of the West with inexpressible terror. For a time, after
whelming beneath its flood Russia, Poland, and Hungary, it was rolled
back, but the terror remained. At any moment these savage horsemen might
return in irresistible strength and spread the area of desolation to the
western seas. The power of arms seemed too feeble to stay them; the
power of persuasion, however, might not be in vain, and the pope, as the
spiritual head of Europe, felt called upon to make an effort for the
rescue of the Christian world.
Tartar hordes were then advancing through Persia towards the Holy Land,
and to these, in the forlorn hope of checking their course, he sent as
ambassadors a body of Franciscan friars composed of Father Ascelin and
three companions. It was in the year 1246 that these papal envoys set
out, armed with full powers from the head of the Church, but sadly
deficient in the worldly wisdom necessary to deal with such truculent
infidels as those whom they had been sent to meet.
Ascelin and his comrades journeyed far through Asia in search of a
Tartar host, and at length found one on the northern frontier of Persia.
Into the camp of the barbarians the worthy Franciscan boldly advanced,
announcing himself as an ambassador from the pope. To his surprise, this
announcement was received with contempt by the Tartars, who knew little
and cared less for the object of his deep veneration. In return he
showed his feeling towards the infidels in a way that soon brought his
mission into a perilous state.
He was refused an audience with the Mongol general unless he would
perform the _ko-tou_, or three genuflections, an act which he and his
followers refused as an idolatrous ceremony which would scandalize all
Christendom. Finally, as nothing less would be accepted, they, in their
wise heads, thought they might consent to perform the _ko-tou_, provided
the general and all his army would become Christians. This folly capped
the climax. The Tartars, whom they had already irritated, broke into a
violent rage, loaded the friars with fierce invectives, and denounced
them and their pope as Christian dogs.
A council was called to decide what to do with these insulting
strangers. Some suggested that the friars should be flayed alive, and
their skins, stuffed with hay, sent to the pope. Others wished to keep
them till the next battle with the Christians, and then place them in
front of the army as victims to the god of war. A third proposition was
to whip them through the camp and then put them to death. But Baithnoy,
the general, had no fancy for delay, and issued orders that the whole
party should at once be executed.
In this frightful predicament, into which Ascelin and his party had
brought themselves, a woman's pity came to the rescue. Baithnoy's
principal wife endeavored to move him to compassion; but, finding him
obdurate, she next appealed to his interest. To violate in this way the
law of nations would cover him with disgrace, she said, and stay the
coming of many who otherwise would seek his camp with homage and
presents. She reminded him of the anger of the Great Khan when, on a
former occasion, he had caused the heart of an ambassador to be plucked
out and had ridden around the camp with it fastened to his horse's tail.
By these arguments, reinforced with entreaties, she induced him to spare
the lives of the friars.
They were advised to visit the court of the Great Khan, but Ascelin had
seen as much as he relished of Tartar courts, and refused to go a step
farther except by force. He was then desired, as he had been so curious
to see a Tartar army, to wait until their expected reinforcements
arrived. He protested that he had seen enough Tartars already to last
him the rest of his life; but, despite his protest, he was detained for
several months, during which the Tartars amused themselves by annoying
and vexing their visitors. At length, after having been half starved,
frequently threatened with death, and insulted in a hundred ways, they
were set free, bearing letters to the pope ordering him to come in
person and do homage to Genghis Khan, the Son of God.
At the same time that Ascelin set out for the south, another party,
headed by John Carpini, set out for the north, to visit the Tartars then
in Russia. Here they were startled by the first act demanded of them,
they being compelled to pass between two large fires as a purification
from the suspicion of evil. On coming into the presence of Bathy, the
general, they, more terrified perhaps than Ascelin, did not hesitate to
fall upon their knees. To heighten their terrors, two of them were sent
to the court of the Great Khan, in the heart of Tartary, the other two
being detained on some pretext. The journey was a frightful one. With no
food but millet, no drink but melted snow, pushing on at a furious
speed, changing horses several times a day, passing over tracts strewn
with human bones, and the weather through part of their journey being
bitterly cold, they at length reached the court of the Mongols on July
22, 1246.
They arrived at an interesting period. The election of Kujak, a new
khan, was about to take place, and, in addition to great Tartar lords
from all quarters of the Mongol empire, ambassadors from Russia, Persia,
Bagdad, India, and China were at hand with presents and congratulations.
The assembled nobles, four thousand in all, dazzled Carpini with their
pomp and magnificence. The coronation was attended with peculiar
ceremonies, and a few days afterwards audience was given to the
ambassadors, that they might deliver their presents. Here the friars
were amazed at the abundance and value of the gifts, which consisted of
satin cloths, robes of purple, silk girdles wrought with gold, and
costly skins. Most surprising of all was a "sun canopy" (umbrella) full
of precious stones, a long row of camels covered with Baldakin cloth,
and a "wonderful brave tent, all of red purple, presented by the
Kythayans" (Chinese), while near by stood five hundred carts "all full
of silver, and of gold, and of silk garments."
The friars were now placed in an embarrassing position by being asked
what presents they had to give. They had so little that they thought it
best to declare "that they were not of ability so to do." This failure
was well received, and throughout their visit they were treated with
great respect, the khan cajoling them with hints that he proposed
publicly to profess Christianity.