THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618
A. D.
_The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh--A Popular Historical
Romance--Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius--The "three P's," Pen,
Paper, Printing--The Sui Dynasty_
After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready
to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp
authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor
aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a
conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived
dynasties.
The noble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the
Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of
existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities,
each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei
was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat
of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace,
of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the
house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu,
Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of
distinguished ability
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who secured his full share of the patrimony. The third state was
founded by Liu Pi, a scion of the imperial house whose capital
was at Chingtu-fu in Szechuen. The historian is here confronted
by a problem like that of settling the apostolic succession of
the three popes, and he has decided in favour of the last, whom
he designates the "Later Han," mainly on the ground of blood
relationship.
Authority for this is found in the dynastic history; but reference
may also be made to a romance which deals with the wars of those
three states. Composed by Lo Kwan-chung and annotated by Kin Sheng
Tan, it is the most popular historical novel in the whole range
of Chinese literature. Taking the place of a national epic, its
heroes are not of one type or all on one side, but its favourites
are found among the adherents of Liu Pi. It opens with a scene
in which Liu, Kwan, and Chang, like the three Tells on Grütli,
meet in a peach-garden and take vows of brotherhood--drinking of a
loving-cup tinged with the blood of each and swearing fidelity to
their common cause. Of the three brothers the first, Liu Pi, after
a long struggle, succeeds in founding a state in western China. The
second, Kwan Yü, is the beau-ideal of patriotic courage. In 1594 he
was canonised as the god of war. The gifted author has, therefore,
the distinction, beyond that of any epic poet of the West, of having
created for his countrymen their most popular deity. Chang-fi, the
youngest of the three brothers, is the inseparable henchman of
the Chinese Mars. He wields a spear eighteen feet in length with
a dash and impetuosity which no enemy is able to withstand.
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Other characters are equally fixed in the public mind. Tsao Tsao,
the chief antagonist of Liu Pi, is not merely a usurper: he is a
curious compound of genius, fraud, and cruelty. Another conspicuous
actor is Lü Pu, an archer able to split a reed at a hundred paces,
and a horseman who performs prodigies on the field of battle. He
begins his career by shooting his adopted father, like Brutus perhaps,
not because he loved Tung Choh less, but China more.
All these and others too numerous to mention may be seen any day
on the boards of the theatre, an institution which, in China at
least, serves as a school for the illiterate.[*]
[Footnote *: The stage is usually a platform on the open street
where an actor may be seen changing his rôle with his costume,
now wearing the mask of one and then of another of the contending
chieftains, and changing his voice, always in a falsetto key, to
produce something like variety.]
Liu Pi succeeds, after a struggle of twenty years, in establishing
himself in the province of Szechuen; but he enjoys undisturbed dominion
in his limited realm for three years only, and then transmits his
crown to a youthful son whom he commends to the care of a faithful
minister. The youth when an infant has been rescued from a burning
palace by the brave Chang-fi, who, wrapping the sleeping child in
his cloak and mounting a fleet charger, cut his way through the
enemy. On reaching a distant point the child was still asleep.
The witty annotator adds the remark, "He continued to sleep for
thirty years."
The minister to whom the boy had been confided, Chu-koh Liang,
is the most versatile and inventive genius of Chinese antiquity.
As the founder of the house of Chou discovered in an old fisherman a
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counsellor of state who paved his way to the throne, so Liu Pi
found this man in a humble cottage where he was hiding himself in
the garb of a peasant, _San Ku Mao Lu_, say the Chinese. He
"three times visited that thatched hovel" before he succeeded in
persuading its occupant to commit himself to his uncertain fortunes.
From that moment Chu-koh Liang served him as eyes and ears, teeth
and claws, with a skill and fidelity which have won the applause
of all succeeding ages. Among other things, he did for Liu Pi what
Archimedes did for Dionysius. He constructed military engines that
appeared so wonderful that, as tradition has it "he made horses
and oxen out of wood."
Entrusted by his dying master with the education of the young prince,
he has left two papers full of wise counsels which afford no little
help in drawing the line between fact and fiction. Unquestionably
Chu-koh Liang was the first man of his age in intellect and in such
arts and sciences as were known to his times. Yet no one invention
can be pointed to as having been certainly derived from Chu-koh
Liang. The author of the above-mentioned romance, who lived as
late as the end of the thirteenth century, constantly speaks of
his use of gunpowder either to terrify the enemy or to serve for
signals; but it is never used to throw a cannon-ball. It probably was
known to the Chinese of that date, as the Arab speaks of gunpowder
under the designation of "Chinese snow," meaning doubtless the
saltpetre which forms a leading ingredient. The Chinese had been
dabbling in alchemy for many centuries, and it is scarcely possible
that they
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should have failed to hit on some such explosive. It is, however,
believed on good authority that they never made use of cannon in
war until the beginning of the fifteenth century.
There are, however, three other inventions or improvements of the
known arts, which deserve notice in this connection, namely, the
"three Ps"--pen, paper and printing--all preëminently instruments
of peaceful culture. The pen in China is a hair pencil resembling
a paint-brush. It was invented by Mung-tien in the third century
B. c. Paper was invented by Tsai Lun, 100 B. c., and printing by
Fungtao in the tenth century of the present era. What is meant
by printing in this case is, however, merely the substitution of
wood for stone, the Chinese having been for ages in the habit of
taking rubbings from stone inscriptions. It was not long before they
divided the slab into movable characters and earned for themselves
the honour of having anticipated Gutenberg and Faust. Their divisible
types were never in general use, however, and block printing continues
in vogue; but Western methods are rapidly supplanting both.
The three states were reunited under the Tsin dynasty, 265 A. D.
This lasted for a century and a half and then, after a succession
of fifteen emperors, went down in a sea of anarchy, from the froth
of which arose more than half a score of contending factions, among
which four were sufficiently prominent to make for themselves a
place in history. Their period is described as that of the Nan-peh
Chao, "Northern and Southern Kingdoms." The names of the principals
were Sung, Wei, Liang and Chin. The first
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only was Chinese, the others belonging to various branches of the
Tartar race. The chiefs of the Liang family were of Tibetan origin--a
circumstance which may perhaps account for their predilection for
Buddhism. The second emperor of that house, Wu Ti, became a Buddhist
monk and retired to a monastery where he lectured on the philosophy of
Buddhism. He reminds one of Charles the Fifth, who in his retirement
amused himself less rationally by repairing watches and striving,
in vain, to make a number of them keep identical time.
It may be noted that behind these warring factions there is in
progress a war of races also. The Tartars are forever encroaching
on the Flowery Land. Repulsed or expelled, they return with augmented
force; and even at this early epoch the shadow of their coming
conquest is plainly visible.
In the confused strife of North and South the preponderance is
greatly on the side of the Tartars. The pendulum of destiny then
begins to swing in the other direction. Yan Kien, a Chinese general
in the service of a Tartar principality, took advantage of their
divisions to rally a strong body of his countrymen by whose aid
he cut them off in detail and set up the Sui dynasty, The Tartars
have always made use of Chinese in the invasion of China; and if
the Chinese were always faithful to their own country no invader
would succeed in conquering them.
Though the Sui dynasty lasted less than thirty years (589-618,
three reigns), it makes a conspicuous figure on account of two events:
(1) a victorious expedition in the north which reached the borders of
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Turkestan, and (2) the opening of canals between the Yellow River
and the Yang-tse Kiang. The latter enterprise only hastened the
fall of the house. It was effected by forced labour; and the
discontented people were made to believe, as their historians continue
to assert, that its chief object was to enable a luxurious emperor
to display his grandeur to the people of many provinces. We shall
see how the extension of those canals precipitated the overthrow
of the Mongols as we have already seen how the completion of the
Great Wall caused the downfall of the house of Ts'in.
Yang-ti, the second emperor of the Sui dynasty, though not wanting
in energy, is notorious for his excesses in display and debauch.
He is reported to have hastened his accession to the throne by
the murder of his father. A peaceful end to such a reign would
have been out of keeping with the course of human events. Li Yuen,
one of his generals, rose against him, and he was assassinated
in Nanking.
By wisdom and courage Li Yuen succeeded in setting up a new dynasty
which he called _T'ang_ (618 A. D.): After a long period of
unrest, it brought to the distracted provinces an era of unwonted
prosperity; it held the field for nearly three hundred years, and
surpassed all its predecessors in splendour.
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