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WESTERN ORIGIN
OF THE
EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
Other Works of Prof. Dr. Terrien de Lacouperie on ::
Oriental Archæology.
EARLY HISTORY OF THE CHINESE CIVILISATION. A Lecture. London,
1880.
THE LANGUAGES OF CHINA BEFORE THE CHINESE (with Researches on
the Arrival of the Chinese and the Sources of their Civilisation).
8vo., 148 pp., 1887; French edition, 1888, 210 pp., greatly en-
larged. (Laureated by the French Institute.).
FORMOSA NOTES, on Mss., LANGUAGES, AND Races, 1887, 82 pp.
.
THE OLD BABYLONIAN CHARACTERS AND THEIR CHINESE DERIVATES, 1888.
CATALOGUE OF CHINESE COINS FROM THE VIIth CENT. B.C. TO A.D. 621,
including the series in the British Museum, 1892, cr. 4to., lxxi.,
443 pp. (Laureated by the French Institute.)
THE OLDEST BOOK OF THE CHINESE, THE YH KING, AND ITS AUTHORS.
Vol. I. History and Method, 1892, 8vo,, xxvii , 121 pp.
TY
BEGINNINGS OF WRITING IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN Asia. Notes on
· 450 Embryo-writings and scripts. 1894, 8vo., 207 pp.
ASIATIC STUDIES (8 mem.) 8vo.
BABYLONIAN AND CHINESE RESEARCHES (10 mem.) 8vo.
ACROSS ANCIENT ASIA (16 mem.) 8vo.
And over 120 papers and original articles on separate subjects (Sinology,
Assyriology, Chaldeo-Chinese, Ethnology, Linguistics, and Numis-
matics of the East.)
In Preparation.
HISTORY OF THE CIVILISATION OF CHINA.
2 Vols.
INDO-CHINESE PHILOLOGY, AND ITS PLACE IN THE SCIENCE OF LANGUAGE.
WESTERN ORIGIN
OF THE .48716
EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION
OF THE
FROM 2,300 B.C. TO 200 A.D.
1
OR, CHAPTERS ON THE ELEMENTS DERIVED FROM THE OLD
CIVILISATIONS OF WEST ASIA IN THE FORMATION
OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE CULTURE.
IS
albut Strine Jean Baptiste
BY
TERRIEN DE LACOUPERIE
LONDON :
ASHER & Co., 13, BEDFORD STREET, COVENT GARDEN,
1894.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
ACHE:
25
Chapters.
Pages
Introduction ... .
ix-xiii.
1 A RESUME AND A SURVEY ...
3 GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM
» 5 TRACES IN CHINA OF A WESTERN
ORIGIN AND ITS DATE ..
13 (Preliminary List of) ELEMENTS OF CULTURE
RECEIVED BY THE CIVILISERS OF CHINA
FROM BABYLONIA AND ELAM
9, 378
13 Sciences and Arts...
9, 334
19 Writing and Literature
14, 346
Institutions and Religions ...
19, 348
27 Historical Traditions and Legends
21, 349
32 SPECIAL PROOFS OF AN ELAMITE ORIGIN 25, 348
34 ITEMS OF ASSYRO-BABYLONIAN AND OTHER
CIVILISATIONS ENTERED INTO ANCIENT
CHINA THROUGH LATER CHANNELS 29, 85,3 50, 357
36 Ancient Dynasties of Western Origin ... 30, 350
37 Eastern Jade Traffic
81, 351
Ancient Route of the Eastern Sea-trade ... 36, 353
46 Ancient Routes by Land, South and
South-west
... 38, 353
52 Trade of Shuh-Szetchuen, and the routes 46, 196, 354
, 81 A Resume of the two periods, 2000-770
B.C.
... 69, 354
VII. „ ITEMS OF BABYLONIAN, PERSIAN, INLIAN,
EGYPTIAN AND GREEK CIVILISATIONS EN-
TERED INTO CHINA FROM 770 B.C. TO 220 A.D. 85
97 Retrospects
... : ... 85, 357
Fourth Period, 770-481 B.C.
102 The Ages of Wonderism
88, 358
104 Erythræan Sea-traders and Chinese
Wonderism ...
... 96, 359
130 Influences from the South-west and begin-
nings of Taoism...
... 117, 361
147 Tartar Influences in the North-West, Bar-
barous Customs ...
... 131, 361
,, 155 Internal Reactions, Confucianism
... 138, 363
Fifth Period, 480-221, B.C. .
„ 163 Formation of Neo-Taoism or Tagszeism 145
Ratononects
...
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
.., 155
... 178
207
196
VIII.
174 West Influences by the North-east
„181 Innovations concerning Fire ...
... 159, 364
„184 Same continued ...
164
„187 Other Innovations ...
169
,, 191 Innovations of Hindu Origin ...
... 171, 365
„197 Northern Influence...
... 176, 365
198 Western Influence by Southern channels ... 178, 366
191 Hormuz Navy in South-east China
The Great Semi-Chinese State of T'su ... 190, 367
212 The Non-Chinese State of Shuh
Sixth Period, 221 B.C. to 220 A.D.
219 The Empire ...
203, 367
227 · Introduction of Buddhism
210, 267
234 Private Intercourse with the West ... 213, 368
„, 239 Official 1
" .
... 218
,,246
229, 269
with South-east and South 232, 269
259 Changes and competition in the Sea-trade ... 239, 370
269 Official Intercourse with the South-west ... 249, 370
280 Foreign and Chinese Trading Navies ... 259, 370
EXCURSUS
... 264
,, 284 The Si Wang Muhs and Muh Wang's Ex-
pedition to Turkestan in c. 986 B.C. 264, 370
297 On some old Geographical Knowledge of
the West ...
... 275, 371
299 On the Gnomon and Sundial ...
277
302 On the Clepsydra ...
305 Origin of the South-pointing Chariots and
Marine Compass...
309 Foreign Historical Sources of Ancient
Chinese Astronomy
286
MEETING OBJECTIONS .
... 291
312 Southern Origin
291
313 Self-growth and Development ...
291
„, 315 Monosyllabic Theory ...
293
316 Astrognosie
294, 371
321 On Bak as a Name of the Earliest Civilised
Chinese
330 Alleged difficulty of the Journey from West
to East Asia
338 Silence of Western Antiquity ...
314
ESSAY OF HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL RECON-
STRUCTION FROM TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS OF
THE MIGRATIONS OF THE CIVILISED BAK SINGS
FROM WEST ASIA TO CHINA 2332-2285-2283 B.c. 316
240 Sources of Information .
... 316
,,343 From their original seat to the Jade Mines... 317, 372
,,351 From the Jade Mines to South-west
Kansuh
... 325
354 From South-west Kansuh to South Shansi... 328
279
.... 283
-
302
.. 308
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
vii.
... 338
... 376
XI. ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS TO THE PRECEDING
CHAPTERS, $$ 367-379...
XII. CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE PRE-CHINESE
AND IMPORTED CIVILISATIONS OF CHINA IN
ANTIQUITY ...
...
... 373
I. $$ 380" Native Civilisation of the Pre-Chinese ... 373
II. „ 383 Imported Civilisation by the Chinese Bak
Sings
Of their own
... 376
386 Acquired in South-west Asia
... 378
, 390 Chronological List of Western Relations
with China and their Importations from
2283 B:0. to 220 A.D ... ... 381
, 390 From Hwang-ti to the Hía dynasty, c.
2280-1954 B.C.
391 From the Hia to the Shang, C. 1954-1686
B.C.
392 During the Shang-Yn dynasty, c. 1686.
1111 B.C.
393 During the West Tchou dynasty, 1110-
770 B.C. ...
... 383
394 During the East Tchou dynasty, 770-481
· B.O.
.
107
395 During the Contending States, 481-221
B.O.
386
,396 Chinese Empire, 221 B.C. to 220 A.D. ... 389
, 397 Concluding Remarks
.
400 Comparative Chronology ...
ALPHABETICAL INDEX ...
898
LIST OF IMPORTANT ERRATA ...
... 381
385
395
396
1
1
N
INTRODUCTION.
The just claims of the civilisation of the Chinese, the largest family of
mankind, to a high antiquity uninterrupted to the present day, which
makes it the young contemporary of the old civilisations, now dis-
appeared, of the Egyptians, Babylonians, Elamites, Assyrians, Egæans,
and Pseudo-Hittites, alone invest it with an unusual interest for the
student of history, notwithstanding its remoteness from our western
activity. While scanty remains and scattered survivals are all that
have been preserved of the former glory of all these civilisations, long
swept away, the case is altogether different with that of China, which
is still alive, with its immense advantage, for general history of an un-
interrupted continuity since its beginning.
That civilisation has long appeared unaccountable, and its similarities
and dissemblances as compared with our own have caused it to be taken
as evidence of most conflicting theories otherwise unsupported. But the
science of history has now shown, in all known instances, that centres
of civilisation never arose elsewhere than amid a conflict of races, when
sparks, coming from a more enlightened quarter, have brought in an
initiating and leading spirit, under the form of one or several men, or
of immigrating tribes, incited by trade, religion, or in search of safety.
The same science has shown moreover that man has always travelled
more extensively than was formerly supposed, that "there is no such
thing as the history of one country,” and that intelligent nations always
borrow fresh elements of civilisation whenever they have the opportu-
nity of doing so. And it has come to be the object of the present work
to show that China has been no exception to the rules here formulated,
X.
INTRODUCTION
0
but is on the contrary an important instance of the general fact
gradually disclosed by the process of historical research, that in all in-
vestigated cases, culture is the result of an introduction from abroad,
and not of a spontaneous development.
It was the trade by which were imported into Chaldea lapis-lazuli,
rubies, turquoises, silver, tin, asbestos, and nephrite jade, dark and
white, from Khorasan, Badakshan, and Eastern Turkestan, which led
western civilisation to China after 2,300 B.C. And it is also
trade, alone at first, with religion afterwards, which has caused com-
munications, although irregular and occasional, to take place uninter-
ruptedly between the West and East of Asia, as shown for the first
time in the present work, since 2,300 B.C. by land, and after 700 B.C.
also by sea. Thus it has happened that notwithstanding its geographi-
cal distance, which always required time to traverse, China has never
remained without knowledge of the progress of Western civilisation,
and of this knowledge has taken advantage.
Intelligent, but lacking originality and creative power, deeply
imbued with reverence for the ancients, and specially for those who
had introduced civilisation in their land, blindly conservative and re-
specting precedents and routine, somnolent still in their worship
of olden times, the Chinese in their living past, have preserved to this
day in their literature and civilisation many remains and survivals
from the ancient civilisations with which they happened to have had
some relations. Of course no absolute proof of this fact would rest
on single traits of agreement; but it is the mass of the coincidences and
similarities, their appearance by groups, and the homogeneity of these
groups, the historical and material circumstances agreeing, that enforce
conviction due allowance being made for the idiosyncrasy and adaptive
process of the borrowers. In all the cases where verification is possible
we have found that innovations and changes in Western Asia have
made their mark in China some time afterwards. The reverse circum-
stance did not happen, and the influence of one side on the other re-
mained unreciprocated, because China in antiquity had very little to give
to West Asia, with the exception of her silk, long undesired because of
the Indian article, and of some of her fruits which were duly carried
by the ancient trade to Persia. Staple goods were not worth the diffi-
culties of the journeys, and for many ages trade made by pedlars could
consist but of rarities and curios.
.
INTRODUCTION
TT
IN
Let us remark here that the Chinese authorities themselves claimed
an origin from the north-west for a large part of their civilisation,
and did not hesitate in olden times to recognise an exotic source where
such was the case; and that it is only the modern native writers,
authors of large compilations and mirrors of history, more patriotic
than 'trustworthy, the only ones with whose works convenience made
the ancient sinologists acquainted, who have systematically attributed
every progress and innovation to their sages of antiquity, without
having regard to statements to the contrary.
The problem has long attracted the attention of scholars, who have
attempted with the inadequate lights of their time to find the solution
it required. The oldest explanation offered has been necessarily the
missionary solution of a migration from the plains of Sennaar
(Jesuits, J. Edkins, 1871), McClatchie (1856). There was the sug-
gestion of a late Egyptian colony by Deguignes in 1758, which sur-
vived in the Egyptian parentage put forward by Goodwin, the
Egyptologist, 1869. Under the pressure of the progress made in the
deciphering of cuneiforms appeared the suggestion of a Scythic
origin in common with Babylonia, held by Pauthier, De Rosny, Fr.
Lenormant (1868). The field was enlarged in subsequent suggestions,
including Egypt in the scheme, favoured by Hyde Clarke (1878) and W.
St. Chad Boscawen (1879). G. Schlegel in 1875 claimed in an
elaborate work a native antiquity of 19,000 years for Chinese astron-
omy of the stone age; while in 1890, E. Faber, in a special paper asked
only 4000 years for a similarly independent origin. James Legge in
1865, John Chalmers in the following year in a little book, Wells
Williams, and in1 877, Freiherr von Richthofen, have on the other
hand given as their decided opinion a western origin undiscernible or
by way of East Turkestan. Other scholars and sinologists, over-
whelmed by the intricacy of the historical literature of China-inter-
woven as it is by numerous generations of native commentators and
thinkers, who have each improved upon the work of their predecessors
-find themselves unable to throw over the yoke, and not seeing
through this fictitious atmosphere, stand apart, and incline towards a
blind and dangerous scepticism which goes so far as to doubt of
everything, the historical existence of Confucius included.
The most recent investigator, C. J. Ball, 1890-1893, à collabor-
ateur of The Babylonian and Oriental Record, in several papers,
i
IN
TT
xi.
INTRODUCTION
published in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology,
starting without acknowledgement from my own disclosures, has
concluded in favour of a close relationship of the Akkadian and Chinese
language, à derivation (established by me in 1888) of the Chinese
characters from those of Babylonia between Gudea and Khammurabi,
and a migration of civilised Akkadians to China at that time. !
SA
. In 1880, after twelve years' labour (ten of them spent in testing
the inefficient solutions hitherto proposed), and the help of the discoveries
in Assyriology, I was enabled to launch à first and approximate
sketch of my views concerning the origin in the twenty-third
century of the civilisers arrived in China from South-west Asia, which
fact is the first of the instances of intercourse between the West and
China. examplified in the present work. This was the first time that
this solution was proposed, and nobody had ever even suggested it before
: me. Approved by a few, misunderstood by many, maligned by others,
unknown to most, I have continued my researches with the growing
conviction that I was at last on the right path, and that
the Chinese, fated as they are to have a great influence on the
material future of mankind, were not apart of the concert
of civilised nations in antiquity. Strong in the early appro-
bation of such eminent scholars as the late W. S. W. Vaux and
Francois Lenormant (1880), Sir Henry Rawlinson (1884), my friends,
Prof. R. K. Douglas (1879) and the lamented Colonel H. Yule, I
could hear the regretted Georg von der Gabeleñtz tell me at Vienna
in 1887, that it would not be surprising if fifty years elapsed
before that Routine, the overwhelming Ruler of Sinology, could climb
down under the glaring light of my discoveries. Since then however
some more confirmatory evidence has come down from several sides,
and I may be permitted to say that my views have now received the
approbation of no less than four scores of scholars of eminence, in-
cluding some of the leading Sinologists, Assyriologists, and Orientalists
of the day. Moreover my works have been laureated on two occasions
by the Academie des Inscriptions et Belles-Liettres. However, vested
interests, prejudices, indifference to new views, and unacquaintance
with the evidence put forward-not so much probably as the clumsy
way in which my disclosures have appeared piecemeal before the
world, spread as they have been during the last fourteen years in
some one hundred and fifty different publications (books, pamphlets,
INTRODUCTION
xiii.
and original articles)-have not permitted as yet many other scholars
to judge of the question with a fair knowledge of the case. This
work, I hope, will help them to do so.
I candidly confess that when the present book was begun (writing
and printing in 1889), I did not know what its conclusions would be.
My object was simply (1) a resumé of a certain number of previous
articles, monographs, and even books in which I had studied separate
points of Chinese archæology, whose western origin from the Chaldea-
Elamite civilisation had come out clearly to me and to many of my
readers ; and (2) a continuance of the enquiry into such other sources as
had subsequently contributed to the formation of Chinese culture. But
during the five years of continuous research which have elapsed since then,
I have found gradually that a few of the western elements enumerated
in the first lists (pp. 9-27) had been pushed up too early on insufficient
grounds, while a large number of others had been overlooked. These ·
faults have been successively corrected by cross references as the work
advanced towards its completion and specially in the chapter of Additions
and Emendations (pp. 338-372). Pages 2-258 are reprinted from The
Babylonian and Oriental Record, 1889-1894. The two most important
disclosures in the interval have been the ascertained journey of Muh-
wang in 986 B.C., and the arrival of Erythræan sea-traders on the
coasts of China as early as the VII. cent.
One side only, limited to ancient times, of the history of Civilisation
This volume has been written and produced under unusual difficul-
ties of a material nature, and requires every possible indulgence from the
reader, who is invited to read first the pp. 373-397 before proceeding with
any other part.
TERRIEN DE LA COUPERIE.
Doct. of Philosophy and of Letters (Lovan.); Laureate
of the Institut de France (Académie des Inscrip-
tions, 1889-1893) ; M. c. Philological Society ;
M. hon. Royal Asiatic Society; M. C. Académie de
Stanislas, Nancy; M. hon. Société Orientale, Lou-
vain; M. C. Peking Oriental Society; M. C.
Académie des Sciences, Marseilles ; M. Ć. Sociéte
d'Archéologie, Bordeaux; M. Société de Linguistique,
Paris; Prof. of Indo-Chinese Philology (formerly
of University College, London); Director of "The
Babylonian and Oriental Record,” &c.
FULHAM, June, 1894.
WESTERN ORIGIN
OF THE
EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
PIT TO
CHAPTFRS ON THE ELEMENTS DERIVED FROM THE OLD CIVILISATIONS
OF WEST ASIA IN THE FORMATION OF THE ANCIENT CHINESE
CULTURE.
CHAP. I.-A RESUME AND A Survey.
In beginning the following chapters I propose first to summarise,
Ch. III., IV., and V., in order to grasp them with greater facility, the
whole series of evidences (including probably a few immature cases
which will be confirmed or replaced by better ones in the course of our
enquiry), on which rests chiefly at present my own discovery,
made since 1879-80, that the early civilisation and writing of the
Chinese were simply derivations from those of Elam and Chaldæa,
about and after the time of "Gudea and Dungi,1 derivations carried
eastward later on to the Flowery land, namely in the XXIII. century
before our era. Searching the solution of the Chinese problem has
been a labour of love and duty and the work of years. For long my
researches were unavailing. As explained elsewhere, I had worked
on a wrong . path. I was prejudiced by the speculative views of
several eminent scholars, who, misguided by the false notion of an
UTC
plausible a common descent of that civilisation with those of Western
Asia, and especially with that of Chaldæa from an imaginary centre of
activity in Upper Asia. As a result of my investigations. I was com-
pelled to give up all these views in succession. The comparatively late
beginnings of the Chinese civilisation showed themselves to be the out-
come of an importation, not a distinct growth from common seeds, but
simply a loan, a derivation, an extension eastward from a much older
form of culture in the west. I was led slowly by overwhelming
evidences, direct and circumstantial from the Chinese and W. Asiatic
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY .
astonishing they may appear to those who have not followed the
gradual advance of my researches, are now proved to be an assured
progress of our knowledge and solid discoveries of historical facts.
The inferences drawn from my investigations in the true path, as
put forth in my pamphlet of 1880 on the Early history of the Chinese
civilisation, have been to my great satisfaction, slowly but surely con-
firmed in their main lines, rectified and made precise in their details.
The proofs I have collected, or which have been brought in the mean
time to my workshop as confirmative evidence by the advancement of
knowledge and the works of several enquirers, are rather scattered in
an inconveniently large number of books, papers, and periodicals, and
often hidden from view in the notes of some tractates. Though fre-
quently alluded to and not yet completed in the series of monographs
which I devote to them, they have not been arranged together with
sufficient clearness. The provisory resumé of Ch. III., IV., and V. is
intended to make up this deficiency and to show that, marshalled to-
gether, they constitute under every respect, notwithstanding its insuffi-
ciency, the most irresistible array of facts ever put forth in support of
a historical discovery. But this first resumé will have to be taken as
a starting ground, open to revision, as the exact date of introduction
of several items of civilisation, inscribed therein, cannot be determined
but by the forthcoming survey of the relations of West Asią with
China in antiquity. The expected results of this survey will be two-
fold, viz.: a sifting of the provisory lists which deprived of a few en-
tries cannot fail to be increased by numerous additions; and disclosures
of many subsequent importations. At the end of our task, after having
answered to objections past and future, we shall have to gather from
these researches any conclusions that may be suggested by facts dis-
closed in the course of our enquiries.
NOTES. —
1) The exact date of Dungi and Gudea is not yet ascertained, and
Assyriologists' opinions vary between the 25th and 28th century.
One of the most learned antiquarians of China, Hwang P’u-Mi, of
the third century, mentions an old legendary tradition, attributing
to the Empire of Shennung-Sargon an extension of 900,000 li from
west to east, and telling how Hwang-ti made boats and carriages to
traverse this mighty territory. This looks like a forgotten souvenir
of the great distance of Sargon-Shennung's, domains in the west,
and of the journeys of Hwang-ti and his followers to the other end
in the east.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
2) In connection with the building up of the philosophy of history.
Cfr. my explanations pp. vii--viii. Introduction of Les langues
de la Chine avant les Chinois, (Paris, 1888).
3) Babylonia ànd China, p. 1 (B. Š. (. R., I, 113).
4) The number and certitude of proofs increase with the advance of
knowledge and progress of research. In Babylonia and China (1887)
I had enumerated some sixty itens of Chaldæan and Elamite civilisation
among the early Chinese; in the present paper mcre than one hundred
items are indicated.
II, GENERAL CONDITIONS OF THE PROBLEM.
rather simple. Four distinct civilisations appear in ancient history. The
oldest hitherto known is that of EGYPT, for which a length of 5500 years
before. Christ is required as a minimum by the Egyptologists of the
present day. Next to it is the CHALDÆAN culture of unknown antiquity,
though not yet enabled by the most recent research to claim on documental
evidence more than 4500 years before our era. A connection of the two,
either by common descent, or by development into the latter of
a rude and incomplete derivation from the former, is an open ques-
tion now under investigation. The peculiar civilisation of the HITTITES
is the most recently discovered; its origin is still unknown, its writing
undeciphered, and its age unascertained. It is undoubtedly ancient,
though not as old as the two others, and may be either an independent
offshoot from the same seeds which would have lingered in those quarters, or
the regional development of partial loans and influences from the two older
foci of culture. Its geographical proximity favours equally the two views5.
O
Egypt and in Chaldæa, we find the fourth civilisation of antiquity, that of
CHINA. It appears, since its beginnings, in a curious state of relative
completeness, among mongoloid races renowned for their character ultra-
conservative and non-progressive. Discarding all the greatness of political
power and universal knowledge, attributed to their early leaders by Chinese
traditions and comments of later growth, and sifting all fabulous accounts,
we find as a residue a few undisputable evidences showing a small num-
ber of familes arriving in the N. W. of present China, and in possession
of a comparatively advanced civilization which explains the enthusiasm
of after ages for these men, and has left a deep impression surviving
to the present day in the mental habits of the whole people. The ex-
istence of these feelings and beliefs would have been difficult and even
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
impossible, should traces or traditions of savage beginnings, slow dev-
elopment of civilization, pictorial rudiments of writing, and successive
progresses of knowledge by self-growth, have ever existed among the
Chinese, but nothing of the kind exists in their early souvenirs.
Therefore, at a first glance at the problem, the probabilities are in favour
of an importation from S. W. Asia or Egypt, the only parts of the
world endowed with civilization at that ancient time.
Notes. 5) The best résumé on this civilisation is that of Prof. A. H.
Sayce : The Hittites. The story of a forgotten Empire. (By-paths of
Bible knowledge XII. London, 1888.) Also Dr. W. Wright,
The Empire of the Hittites. London, 2nd edit. 1886); Perrot and
Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art dans l'Antiquité, 7ol. IV. Paris, 1887.--
On these questions of origin cfr. some views in my paper : The K2-
shites, who were they? (Bab. & Or. R. I, 25. 31.)
6) We allude here, among other features, to the Ancestral worship,
so prominent in all times in China, and still now the very basis
of all their cult.
III. TRACES IN CHINA or A WESTERN ORIGIN AND ITS DATE.
Everything in Chinese antiquity and traditions points to a western
origin. No Sinologist who has studied the subject has been able to
ascertain any other origin for the Chinese than one from the West?,
It is through the N.W. of China proper that they have gradually invaded
the country, and that their present greatness began from very small
beginnings some forty centuries ago. This alone would be sufficient, but
,tliere are a few traditions pointing to the same fact further west.
Nakhunte (modern : Nai Hwang ti). the first leader of the Bak
tribes who reached China, had led his people into Chinese Turkestan,
and then along the Kashgar or Tarym river, reaching after a time
eastward of the Kuenlun, “the Flowery land," a pame which its great
fertility had long merited to the lands of future China'. Such is the
lesson we le arn from a comparison of the Chinese traditions about the
wanderings of Nakhunte and the identification of the geographical fea-
tures and names mentioned therein.
The Bak tribes though under the general command of one chief, were
divided into several branches which did not reach China at the same
time, as shewn by the contemporaneity of several chiefs, and their re-
lations with the tribes of Northern Tibet among whom matriarchate was
the rule10.
Nakhunte (Nai Hwangti) having reached N. W. China did not go
i
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
further than westward of the southern bent of the Yellow river, and
dies to be buried, says the traditional legend, at Ning on the borders
of the present Kansuh and Shensi.11
During their advance towards the east, some of the Bak tribes must
have separated from the whole body, and travelled northwards near the
upper course of the Yenisséi, where inscriptions apparently in the writing
of the time have been found 12; but we must expect some more exact
copies than those we hitherto possess.
• Sieh, the official scribe and officer of the Divine Shun, at the beg-
inning of the Shu King, was a descendant from the tribes- of the West,
and an ancestor of the Shang dynasty.13
It is the opinion of some native scholars, that their writing was in-
vented elsewhere, not in China, but in the west.14 On the other hand
it has been attempted to show that the symbol for west occupies à
prominent place in the writing:15 Whatever may be the value of this
proof which I am not ready to support, the western origin of the
Chinese writing rests now on a sounder basis than any of these views.
There are however in the ancient Chinese traditions several allusions
which point in so precise a manner to the cuneiform writing, that
we must mention them here. Shen-nung=Sargon was reputed to have
used signs like tongues of fire to record facts, at a time when the an-
cestors of the Chinese were not yet acquainted with the art of writing,
and Dunkit (modern Tsang hieh) whose name has the same meaning
as that of the Chaldean Dungi of which it was a rendering and under
whom the Bak tribes were taught to write, made marks on clay like
claws of birds and animals. The primitive writing was also compared
to drops of rain finely drawn out and freezing as they fall.16 It is
difficult to mistake in all this, most distinct descriptions of the cun-
eiform writing of south-western Asia. We shall speak again of the
peculiarity of the old Chinese writing further on, but then on doc-
umental evidence.
Routine has been for so long the rule in Chinese studies, in imitation of
the Chinese habits, that anything done in despite of this time-honoured
and most conrenient method is by many looked upon with suspiciun, as
unworthy of attention, uncalled for and revolutionary. The contempt for
independent investigations, shown by the generality of those, who residing
for a time among the Chinese, have acquired there a large dose of their
routine and some tincture of Chinese knowledge and language has produced
this most hindering effect. For instance, hoever difficult to believe it
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
may appear to the non-initiated, it is a fact that modern books are written
by soi-disant authorities on Chinese matters, where Chinese chronology is
given us genuine and trustworthy, though its fictitiousness for ancient
times has been exploded since the last century by European scholars. It
was proved to have been calculated backwards upon false astronomical data,
imaginary periods and fictive epochs.17 The application of the well-known
cycle of sixty to computation of historic events was only made in 104 B.C.
by Szema Tsien, the author of She-ki. As a matter of fact the ancient
Chinese had no more chronology than any other of the ancient nations.
Dates and times were computed by the lengths of reigns, or the number
of year3 elapsed of such a reign, or between such and such an event
of great notoriety.18 Unhappily there are some discrepancies between the
amounts of the respective lengths of reigns, previously to 846 B.C.,
a date on which the various authorities agree. These discrepancies
amount to three centuries or there about, making the calculations of
the dates of Yao vary from the XXIst to the XXIVth century and
those of Nai Hiyang ti from the XXIV th to the XXVIIth century B.C.
The chronology generally received among the Chinese placing Hvangti
in 2697 B.C. is a work of the XIth ceutury A.D. based upon the false
basis ve hare spoken of.
Therefore other sources must be referred to for ascertaining the general
outlines of the chronology in ancient times. These we find in computations
and statenients made by ancient writers and in a few astronomical data,
which, however vague, are not without importance. The times of Hwangti
and his successors, Yao and Shun among others, were followed by the
dynasties of Hia, Shang, and Tchôu, during which last Confucius flourished
(B.C. 551-479). Various statements of Yü Hung (circa B.C. 1100)
Wang-sun Mwan (B.C. 606) and Mengtze (B.C. 372-289) permit to refer
the period of Yao and Shun to circa 2100 B.C. The different astronomical
data in the first chapter of the Shu-king19 and in the calendar of the Hia
dynasty are applicable to the same epoch.20
Now Hirang-p’u Mi, a celebrated scholar21of the third century (A.D. 215-
282) called the “book debauchee" from his ardour in study, who had
specially examined the historical traditions independently of any astro-
nomical speculations, has come to the conclusion that Nai Hwangti's date
was a year which corresponds to our 2332 B.C. This figure, which cannot
be far from the truth, is one of the links of my identification of the
Chinese Nakhunte of Elamite=Nai Hwangti with the Kudur Nakhunte
of Elamite history. On the other hand, in removing an obvious in-
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
♡
terpolation in the mythical list of kings preserved in ancient China,
the date of Shen-núng, Chinese form of Sargon, agrees with the 3800
B.C. indicated for this ruler in the cuneiform documents22.
• It appears from all the comparative evidence and the break in the
traditions and social connection that it is in the XXIIIrd century
B.C. that the Bak tribes, future civilisers of China, branched off from
the vicinity of Elam and Babylonia, and migrated eastwards.
NOTES. 7) For a sketch of this important fact of history, cfr. my.work The
Languages of China before the Chinese (London, 1887), $ $ 13–19 and
187—201; edition française, pp. 7--10, 109–126, and 146–148.
8) Among the most important let us quote:-Dr. Wells Williams, The
Middle Kingdom, vol. II, p. 144; Prof. James Legge (Introduction
Chinese Classics, vol. III, p, 189); Dr. J. Edkins, China's place in
Philology (London, 1871); Dr. J. Chalmers, The origin of the Chinese
(London, 1868); Prof. R. K. Douglaș, The Language and Literature
of China (London, 1875); Chinc in the Encyclopædia Britannica;
China (London, 1882); Baron F. von Richtofen, the well-known
geographer of China, in the first volume of his great work, China,
Ergebnisse eigener Reisen und darauf gegründeter Studien, pp. 48, 317,
319, 422-425, and 428, who has been able to trace back the Chinese
westward as far as the Taryu basin, Chinese Turkestan.
9) The Chinese Mythical Kings and the Babylonian Canon (The Academy,
Oct, 6, 1883), This is developed in a special monograph, still in MS.
10) The Tree of Life and the Calendar Plant, p. 6 (B. Š. O. R. II, p. 153).
Also developed in a monograph, still in MS.
11) The Languages of Chince before lhe Chinese, $ 13, n.
12) Ibid., n. 1, Prof, J. R. Aspelin, of Helsinfors, is now engaged in a
regular study of these and other inscriptions of Siberia, as he has kindly
informed me.
13) Cfr. Shu-King II, i, 17-19; Shih King IV, iii, od. 3 and 4; K’ang hi
tre tien, s. v. 37 +6, f. 17.
14) J. Chalmers, The Origin, p. 23, quoting the Shwoh wen.
15) Deka, The Origin of the Chinese, pp. 152-154, of Notes and Queries
on China and Japan, vol. I, (Hong-Kong, 1867); Hié, Analysis of
Chinese Characters (I'he Chinese Recorder, 1871, pp. 90-93, and
119-123).
16) All the texts are referred to in The Old Babylonian Characters and
their Chinese Derivates, pp, 12-13 and 26 (B. d. 0. R, II, pp. 34-35
and 97).
17) Cfr. P, Souciet, Observations Mathematiques, Astronomiques, &c.;
Paris' 1729-1732; vol. I, p. 6, vol. II, pp. 2, 9.
18) Cfr. J. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. V, p. 101.--T. de L. Traditions
of Babylonia in Ancient Chinese Documents, s. f.
19) Dr. G. Schlegel, in his important work, Uranographie chinoise
(La Haye, 1876, 929 pp.), and Réponse aux critiques (La Haye, 1880,
23 pp.) where he claims an antiquity of 16,108 years B.c. for the astro-
nomy he describes (a part of which may, I think, have been carried to
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
China from the West) has started from the famous statement of Yao to
his four astronomers reported (perhaps inexactly) in the first chapter of
the Shu-king). Now the learned Professor has understood this state-
ment as implying some peculiarities which may require the length of
time he has calculated, but which are not of absolute necessity for the
intelligence of the text. Other scholars have understood it differently,
and are satisfied that about 2000 B.c. the statement of Yao was not far
from truth. Cfr. the following note.
20) Cfr. Discussion of Astronomical Records in ancient Chinese Books, by
Prof, S. M. Russell (Journal, Peking Oriental Society, Peking 1888,
vol. II, pp. 187-200); Notes on an ancient Chinese Calendar, pp. 1-7,
by E. C. Knobel, Hon. Sec. Royal Astronomical Society, London, 1882;
Early Chinese Texts, The Calendar of the Heu Dynasty, by Prof. R. K.
Douglas, pp. 1-60; Orientalia Antiqua, edit. T. de L., London, 1882,
vol. I); Chart of the principal Stars chiefly Zodiacal, &c., by Prof. C.
Pritchard, of Oxford (Sacred Books of the East, vol. III, p. 27);
Astronomy of the Ancient Chinese, pp. 90-102 by Dr. J. Chalmers,
(Legge's Chinese Classics, vol. III.) ---Also, T. de L., Introduction
to Historical Catalogue of Chinese Money (London, 1889).
21) W. F. Mayers, Chinese reader's Manual, I. 215.
22) Traditions of Babylonia in ancient Chinese documents, s. f.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
IV. ELEMENTS OF CULTURE RECEIVED BY THE CIVILISERS OF CHINA FROM
BABYLONIA AND ELAM.
The remains and loans of Chaldean culture, which we can still now
discover in the early Chinese civilization, are so numerous and bear
clearness; their number increases with the progress of research, and not a
few will remain behind. For the sake of convenience we shall enumerate
them in their relation to: a) Sciences and arts; b) Writing and Literature;
e) Institutions, Government, and Religion ; d) Historical traditions and
Legends; reserving for a special chapter those which show that the source of
all these loans was in Elam=Susiana.
a) Sciences and Arts.
The ancient Chinese, through their civilisers, had learned from Chaldea23:
the solar year,
its duodenary division, with the system of an intercalary month,
its sub-division into twenty-four parts,
and into periods of five days ;
also the division of the day into double hours,
and a certain use of a period of seven days. 25
They preserved from their early teachers
the same fourfold division of the year into seasons;26
and they had not entirely forgotten the symbolism of the names of
the twelve months.27
10
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Nor had they forgotten
the allusions in the names of the planets 28
· and their symbolical colours29
the special colours affected to the points of space ;
the superstitions relative to the lucky and unlucky days; 30
the Babylonian words for lucky and unlucky31 and other superstitions ;32
the hidden properties and harmonies of numbers ;33
a ruling idea in the repetition of events after every period of 12
years ;34
the practice of divination,35
and the use of eight wands of fate like those in the hand of Marduk;36.
the conception of Yin and Yang, principles derived or diverged from
the Babylonian Anu and Anat 137
the sacredness and mysterious value of personal names ; &c.38
It is also to them that must be traced back
their ancient knowledge of 24 stellar points 39 afterwards increased to
28 at the beginning of the Tchou dynasty ;40
many names of stars such as those of the Pleiades and Polar star;
the Babylonian standard measures and weights such as the heavy mina, 41
the twelve scales of music 42
the gnomon43 ; the clepsydra, &c. ;
their cycle of ten, the names of which are obvious corruptions of
the ten Akkadian numerals ,44
the cycle of twelve, of which the full names, preserved from antiquity
in the Erh-ya and the She-ki, stand in the same plight with reference to
the names of the twelve Babylonian months ;45
the notion of a cycle of twelve years :46
the knowledge of the astronomical period of nineteen years, that which
was supposed to have been discovered by the Greek Meton in B.C. 432,
but which existed in China long before that time, and in Chaldea much
earlier still 147
the use of periods of 432 and 72 in their calculations, 48
and that of 60 as a cycle and a divisible unit;49
the decimal notation and local value of the figures;50
the use of some astronomical instruments, such as one for observing
the meridian passage of stars, so as to fix the time of the four seasons
of the year 361
the conception of the sky as a convex vault ·52
many terms from the Babylonian vocabulary of civilisation, Akkadian
and Semitic,
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
such as those for the great year,53
and for the intercalary month,54 &c;
the motion that the full length of human life ought to be 120 years; 56
the shifted cardinal points ; &c.
The latter was the occasion of
the most remarkable of the confirmatory evidences of the genuineness of
my disclosures: it came from the decipherment of cuneiform inscriptions
in February 1883. Three years previously, in May 1880, I had been
able to state from my investigation of the Chinese documents, that the
early Chinese names of the four cardinal points and the symbols to
write them, were much like those of Chaldea, with the difference that
they displayed a shifting of the quarter of the circle.56 My statement,
based chiefly on Chinese evidence, was splendidly confirmed at the later
time at the date quoted above by the decipherment of a Babylonian
tablet,56 since then confirmed by several others, where it was shown that
the Akkadian orientation was leaning to the West, their north being
the north-west and so forth.58
In arts the ancient Chinese owed to their early civilisers :
the art of making fire by gyration 59 (fire-drill) in contradistinction to
fire by friction-along so well-known in the Eastbo ;
the arts of clay-brick building in substitution for stone;61
of making canals,
of embanking rivers, and of works of irrigation
and agricultural pursuits, to which they applied themselves as -soon as
settled in their new country, with a determination of purpose which dis-
plays an experience and knowledge of long standing ;63
the culture of the wheat which was indigenous only in the N. and
N. E. of the Persian Gulf and which they carried away with them 63 ;
the use of metals and the arts of casting them 64 ;
the erection of lofty terraces for astronomical purposes,
and of large square altars ;65
the extensive use of personal seals 166
the use of war chariots
and of harnessing horses abreast;67
the use of special emblems on their ruler's dress ; 68
the making of coracles or skin-boats69 and many others.
NOTES. 23) Cfr. for the statements about Chaldæa: A.H. Sayce, Babylonian
Literature, pp. 54-55; The Astronomy aud Astrology of the Babylonians,
12
ÓRIGIN OF THE EARLY
pass. (Trans. Soc. Bibl. Archæol., vol. III, 1874).
24) On the 24 tsieh ki cfr. Wells Williams, Syllabic Dictionary. p. 974;
on the 12 tchen (J. Doolittle, Vocabulary and Handbook, t. II, p. 669;
J. Fergusson, Chinese researches, p. 165.
25) F. Porter Smith, A Chinese Sabbath ( Notes and Queries on China
and Japan, vol IV, p. 15); C. D., A Chinese Sabbath, ibid. p. 38);
A. Wylie, On the knouledge of a weekly Sabbath in China (The Chinese
Recorder and Missionary Journal, vol. IV, Foochow, 1871, pp. 4-9 and
40-45) cfr, especially p. 44 b.
26 This had been already guessed by Fortia d’Urban, Histoire Ant. de la
Chine, vol. II, p. 85; Fergusson, Chinese Chronology, p. 170; cfr. p. 136.
27) Cfr. Sayce, The Astronomy, p. 162, and R. K. Douglas, Babylonian.
and Chinese literature, p. 8; China, p. 232.
28) Cfr. Sayce, Astron. and Astrol., pp. p, 167-175.---R. K. Douglas,
Bab, and Chin. Lit.. p. 7; China, p. 3.
29) Cfr. J. Chalmers, Orig. Chin., p, 25.
30) Sayce, op cit,; N. B. Dennys, The folle-lore of China, (Hong-kong,
1876) pp. 27-32.
31) Early hist. Chin. civil., p. 25; Old. Book Chin., p. 262.·
32) R. K. Douglas, op. cit.
33) F. W. Mayers: Chinese Reader's Manual, p. XI.
34) Tcheou-li. XXVI, 23, trad. Biot, vol. II, p. 115.---Sayce, Astronom.
and Astrol., p.151.
35) Shu-king. Îa Yu mo, II, (2) 18.
36) Early history of the Chinese civilisation, pp. 29-30; Beginnings of
writing around Tibet, § 28.
37) Cfr. François Lenormant, Les origines de l'histoire, vol. I, p. 494.
38) A. H. Sayce, Lectures on the religion of the ancient Babylonians,
pp. 304-305.
39) On these points in Babylonia, cfr. A. H. Sayce, Astron. and Astrol,.
p. 176.
409 J. B, Biot, Etudes sur l'astronomie Indienne et Chinoise (Paris, 1862
p. 247.---I think most probable that the systematisation of the 24 stellar
points of antiquity into the 28 siu was the work of the founders of the
Tchou dynasty in imitation of what they had learned from the astronomy
of Karism, where, according to Albiruni's statement, great progress had
been made in that science since 1304 B.C., and among others the
harmonization of the solar and lunar cycles.
41) Babylonian and old Chinese measures (The Academy, Oct. 10, 1885),
243-244.
42) This has been pointed out repeatedly by several writers on the subject
43) Tchöu-li, k. 9, ff. 16, 17, 22; k. 20, f. 40; k. 33, f. 60; k. 42, f. 19;
ki 43, f, 20.
44) The iffinity of the ten stems of the Chinese cycle with the Akkadian
numerals (The Academy, Sept. 1, 1883,
45) Babylonian cycles, numbers, and names in ancient China (still in MS.)
For instance cfr. Chinese Shept:=Shebat Babyl.
Tamot=Tamus ,
, Teb-tu=Tebit ,
, Tih-fan-noh=Si-va-nu , &c. Several of
the other names are Akkadian.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
13
.
146) The great year of the Chinese.---A. H. Sayce, Astron, and Astrol.,
p. 151.
47) J. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. I, introd., p. 22.--A. H. Sayce,
Astron. and Astrol., p. 216.
48) Cfr. Fergusson, Chin. Chron. Cycl., pp. 82-86; cfr. also pp. 103, 105,
and 136.
49) All this is demonstrated in the monograph above quoted.
50) Cfr. The old numerals, the counting rods, and the Swan pan in China,
p. 312 (The Numismatic Chronicle, 1883, vol, III, pp. 297-340).---
Dr. J. Edkins, who does not seem to have known the latter paper of
mine, wrote Local value in Chinese arithmetical notation (Journal of
the Peking Oriental Society, 1886, vol. I, pp. 160-169), where he
claims a Babylonian origin foran old Chinese notation supposed tobe from
left to right; but I have shown in the above paper with the help of the
ancient coins (ibid., p. 315) that this notation was from right to left;
besides, the writer did not know that at the time of the transmission of
writing to the civilisers of China, the characters were arranged from top
to bottom.
51) Shu-king II, i. 3.---J. Edkins, Science and Art in China to the
Ming dynasty (Journ. Peking Or. Soc., 1888, vol. II, p. 142).
52) François Lenormant, Chaldean Magic, p. 152.---Alex. Wylie,
53) Cfr. Old Chinese sut (modern suy) and the Assyro-Babylonian šattu.
54) The Akkadian words or their cognates which are found in the Chinese
vocabulary may be arranged in three series: 1) those received at the
beginning with the civilisation in which they were current terms; 2)
those which were the common inheritance of the two languages from
the remote and original stock Turano-Scythian to which both of them
belonged, and from which they have separately and greatly diverged.
On this divergence cfr. for the Akkadian : T. de L., Akkadian and
Sumerian in comparative Philology (B. & 0, R., I, 1-7); and for the
Chinese: The Languages of China before the Chinese, sec. 20-26.
55) Tso-tchuen, Hi kung, 32nd year.
56) Journal of the Society of Arts, 1880, vol. XXVIII, p. 733.---T. de
L., Early history of the Chinese civilisation (London, 1880), p. 29.
57) By M. Theo. G. Pinches, in the Proceedings of the Society of Biblical
Archæology, Feb. 5, 1883, p. 74.
58) Since then I have written a monograph on the subject with the addition
of new evidence from the Chinese sources. The shifted cardinal points
from Elam to early China, of which the first part has appeared in the
B. & 0. R. II, pp. 25-32.
59) W. St. Chad Boscawen, The pre-historic civilisation of Babylonia
(Journal Anthropological Institute, 1879, vol. VIII, pp. 21-36.
60) Oscar Peschel, Races of Man, p. 140; Ch. Letourneau, La Sociologie,
p. 538.---For instance the gtsub in Tibet (Jaeschke, Tibetan English
Dictionary, p. 433) not quoted in these works.
61) A peculiar fact is that the Chinese and their kindreds of Tibet are the
only ones in the East who build houses in bricks, and that everywhere;
so much so that their quarter in a foreign town is always recognisable
by that feature.
62) Wheat carried from Mesopotamia to Early China, p. 1 (B. 8. 0. R.,
II, 134).--cfr. R. K. Douglas, China, p, 5.
14
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
62) Wheat carried, &c., ibid. pp. 184-191; and the letter of Prof. Alph.
de Candolle, The wheat indigenous in Mesopotamia, ibid. p. 266.
64) The sole traces of the stone period of civilisation belong to the un-
civilised populations of the country when the Chinese came successively
in contact with them. There is no souvenir of such a state among the
Chinese traditions. Metals are mentioned since their beginning, and
the casting of vases with maps and figures is spoken of under the great
Yü, with all the appearances of truth, Cfr. J. Legge, Chinese Classics,
Pol. III, p. 421, vol. V, p. 293. M. Aspelin has pointed out a probable
influence of Assyro-Babylonia on the bronze art of Siberia. Cfr. J. J.
A. Worsae, Des âges de pierre et de bronze daus l'ancien et le nouveau
monile, p. 206 (Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires du Nord, 1880,
---Cfr. also: Virchow, Trans-Kaukarische und Babylonisch-Assyrische
Alterthümer aus Antimon, Kupfer und Bronze (Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie,
1887, IV, 334-337).
65) J. Edkins, China's place, pp. 3-5,
66) This feature is too well known to require any demonstration,
67) J. Edkins, Chura's place ; "at present in N. China horses are not
harnessed abreast. The farther we go back, the nearer are the re-
semblances (with Western Asia)," p. 7.
68) Shu-King yih and tsih II, 4. 4.- This item will be specially noticed
in a future paper,
69) Cfr. the Chinese authorities in G. Schlegel's Uranographie Chinoise,
p. 347.---On the Kufas cfr. Herodotus, T, 194, Ker Porter, Layard,
Chesney, in G. Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. I, p. 318 ; W. F. Ains-
worth, The Euphrates expedition, vol. II, p. 196.
b) Writing and Literature.
As the best sign of civilisation and the great vehicle of knowledge,
Writing deserves more attention than any of the items we have hitherto
enumerated.
The Bak tribes future civilisers of China, on the border lands of Sus-
ana, at the times of Dungi King of Ur, (as shewn by their own
traditions)70 and of Gudea Priest King of Sirpulla-Lagash, learned the
art of writing as spread from Babylonia,71 and afterwards they carried
away with them eastwards this knowledge, with many other elements
of the Chaldean culture.72
When on clay as was most always the case, this writing was niade
of cuneiform strokes (like claws of birds, say the Chinese) the shape
of which was owed to the implement used to impress them ; when
engraved on stone, the big apex of the strokes was not yet developed, as
it came to be later on, in more complete imitation of the clay writing. 73
The Bak-s, instead of baked clay74 tablets and cylinders, were compelled
by their natural surroundings and by the unsteadiness of their settle-
ments to make use of slips of bamboo bark, on which they cut incuse the
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
15
signs of the writing with a graving-knife75; and though this material
obliged them to write in more roundish shapes, they preserved as much as
possible the system of making strokes thick at one end and thin at the
other. This peculiarity, which is a most salient feature of the specimens
of the oldest Chinese writing or Ku-wen preserved to this day, and also
called Ko-tu76.
The forms of the Babylonian characters, not drawn in obedience to strict
rules as it became the case later on in Assyria, were far removed from a
pictorial stage77. Some of them, however, still preserved traces of hiero-
glyphical antecedents generally facing the reader in contradistinction to
the Egyptian and Hit:ite hieroglyphs. which were generally drawn in
profile78. This feature was preserved in their derivates, and the Chinese,
far from forgetting this small pictorial side of their written characters,
· have enlarged upon it, notably in 820 B.c.79, and have never been able to
improve and advance their writing out of the limbo of ideographism and
imperfect phonetism, in which it was lingering when they learnt it.
They have preserved as well the other various characteristics of the
Chaldeo-Elamite antecedent of their writing at the times of Dungi and
Gudea, 80 such as the disposition of the characters in vertical columns
and then from right to left, their meanings and not a few of their phon-
etic and polyphonic values, their imperfect systen of acrology and phon-
etism, their limited use of determinative ideograms which they increased
afterwards, and several other important peculiarities. 81
A few hundred form the basis of this writing in the Chinese derivate
as in its Babylonian antecedent. About three hundred 82 archaic forms
are now known from the Babylonian side, out of which two hundred
are pretty well ascertained in their respective meaning.
There are also a few peculiarities which must be noticed as not un-
important. The early Chinese writing has no simple symbol for river,
but it possessed peculiarly shaped signs for a boat, for wind (an inflated
sail); all characteristics of the Babylonian script. In the oldest texts the
The identifications with the primitive Chinese, their derivates, bear
already on nearly every one of these 200.83
The identifications hitherto published are much more important
than their numbers would suggest, because they do not bear on such
symbols as those which in the case of writing derived from hiero-
glyphics may be drawn in a similar fashion, as for instance the water,
the sun, the crescent of the moon,84 &c., they bear on the contrary
16
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
on signs which are most arbitrary in their form, and could not be twice
drawn in the same way. There is no doubt that the early Chinese char-
acters,85 branched off as they were from the ancient Babylonian writing,
and carefully preserved in the same traditional surroundings since forty
centuries, however fragmentary and altered this tradition may be in the
present day, contain a large number of valuable data which will prove
useful to the Assyriologist-paleographs, when they appreciate their source
of information. Some proofs have already been given in support of
this statement.86
With respect to Literature, we have the following entry to make.
A critical examination of the text, and a partial restoration of some
parts of the Yu-king has led me to the conclusion, that the basis of
that remarkable and most unintelligible among sacred books, consisted
of old fragments of early times in China, mostly of a lexical char-
acter 987 the primitive meaning of them became lost, and they were
afterwards adapted, through the changes in the writing and graphical
interpretations, to other purposes. 88 Many of these changes and sub-
stitutions of characters are well known. The original lists are so much
like the so-called syllabaries of Chaldea, and in some cases the identity
is so close, that it is impossible not to believe that their authors
were acquainted either themselves or by tradition with these syllabaries,
and that the questiin arises whether sone of these were not actually
carried in China by the leaders of the Bak tribes civilisers of the country.88
The similarity under that respect was not confined to phonetic lists
like those of the Yh king; in China as in Chaldea they were acquainted
with the system of vocabularies 90 arranged by classes of objects. 91
Notes. 70) Cf. suprà, part II.
71) Chips of Babylonian and Chinese palceography, III.
72) Cfr. notably The old Babylonian characters and their Chinese deri-
vates, London 1888; (B. & 0, R., pp. 73-99); Chips of Babylonian and
Chinese palceography, (B. & 0. R., pp. 257-263, to be continued).---
Prof. A. H. Sayce, Babylonian and Chinese characters (Nature, June 7,
1888 and B. O. R. II, 218-220), accepting for Assyriology my discovery.
Prof. R, K, Douglas had accepted it for Sinology long before. Cfr. his
papers at note suprà.
73) Cfr. the facsimile of the stone and clay inscriptions in L. de Sarzec,
Découvertes en Chaldee, part I. and II.
74) The clay tablets and cylinders were baked afterwards, in Assyria only.
75) Old Bab. char. and Chin. deriv., pp. 20 and 25.
76) Now K’uh tör, transcribed with two symbols meaning ideographically
so tadpoles," because of the analogy of shape of the latter with that of the
strokes. This is a play on the name which, formerly transcribed "grain-
measures," was so altered in the second century B.c. by King Ngan-
CHINESE CIVILIZATION,
17
Kwoh. The name was probably the original one of the writing. A further
resemblance has been sought for by later commentators between the wa-
ving of the tadpole's tail and the appearance of the strokes of charac-
ters eaten up and worn out on ancient inscriptions, such as the Inscrip-
tion of Yü, which is, however, a forgery made about a few centuries
from the Christian era. The Ku-wen characters are those of high
antiquity, with which has been written the oldest of the canonical books;
other characters of the same style and period which were used in other
works are called Ku-wen-Ice-tze in contradistinction to the former. All.
the K2-wen and Ki-tze characters known to-day have been preserved
from the monuments and traditional copies of the original works by the
Chinese palæographers of whom the works, collections of inscriptions,
comparative dictionaries and others, are almost in every case done with
a precision and care worthy of European science. The mere list would
be a long one; a few only of the most valuable may be quoted here: such
as the Luh shu t'ung of Min Tsi-kih, 10 bks. 1661 (which must not be
mistaken for an inferior production of nearly the same title by Yang
Hüen, of the Yuen dynasty); Luh shu fun luy by Fu Lwan-siang, 12
bks in 1751; Tchuen tze wei by Tung Wei-fu in 1691; Ku-wen Ki-tze
by Tchu Mou-wei in 1612; and others quoted in my paper on The old
Babylonian characters, &c., sec. 8. The work of the palæographers has
been much easier and more certain in their identifications by the
preservation of a large number of ancient inscriptions, which permitted
the verification of the calligraphical exactitude of the Archaïc characters
transmitted through manuscript tradition. On the other hand the text
of the canonical books have been engraved in several instances, notably
under the Han, Tang, Sung and actual dynasties, and in several styles
of writing, the original Ku-wen text among others in the beginning
(cfr. P’ang Yung-mei's Shih king l’ao wen ti yao), In A.D. 175 Tsai-
yung, on the command of Ling-ti of the Eastern Han dynasty, engraved
on stone tablets, tight feet high, on the two sides the five classics : Yh
King, She King, Shu King, Li Ki and Tchun tsiu, in three styles of
writing (cfr. Höu Han Shu, biogr. of Tsai-yung ; Tai ping yü lan,
Bk.589, f. 2). During the years 240-249, Ti Wang fang of the Wei
dynasty had them repaired. In 518 the remaining tablets, 46 in number,
were employed in the building of a Buddhist temple; but they were
rescued by special order of the Emperor, and 35 tablets found unbroken
were placed in the Kwoh tze tang or University. These tablets contained
the texts of the Shu King and of the Tchun tsiu. At the time of
the author of the Si tcheng Ki (a work quoted in the Tai ping yü lan
of 983 A. D. Bk. 589, f. 7), eighteen tablets only were still in exis-
tence. About the year 1050, under the Sung dynasty, Sü-wang was
enabled to take squeezes of the inscriptions and engrave 818 char-
acters which Sun Sing-yen has published in fac-simile in his work
Wei san ti shih king y tze k'ao. On this matter cfr. also the L suh
of Hung Kwoh published in 1188. We know that the text Ku
wen of the Yh-King was once in Pauthier's library. The tex.
tchuen of the Yh-King, Shu King, She King, Tchun Tsir, Tchöu-li
and y-li exists in the Bibliothèque Nationale Fonds Chinois, No. 183,
Paris.
77) Old Bab. char, and Chin. der., sec, 11.
78) The oldest Book of the Chinese, sec. 111; Early history of the Chinese
civilization, p. 22.
-18
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
79) On this remarkable revival of ideographism, cfr. Early history, pp.
15-17; The oldest Book of the Chinese, sec. 24.
80) The great advance I have made in my disclosures, besides the multi-
plication of proofs, bear on the derivation of the written characters
by the pre-Chinese Bak tribes, and on the historical certainty of the fact.
They are not so much the result of my own efforts as the outcome of
the progress of knowledge. In my first publication, when I felt a solid
ground under my feet, Early history of the Chinese civilisation (1880),
I could only claim a community of origin and a probable derivation
from the Akkado-Chaldæan (pp. 22 and 32). In The oldest Book of
the Chinese, sec. 110 (2nd part, April, 1883), I was still claiming
for the writing of the Pre-Chinese Bak tribes a derivation from the pre-
cuneiform characters, and I endeavoured from an examination of the
early Chinese characters to discover some particularities of this antecedent
or pre-cuneiform writing (ibid., sec. 111). But in Nov. of the same year
I could point out that the derivation had taken place from thie archaic
cuneifurm and not from the pre-cuneiform characters (Traditions of
Babylonice, p. 3). Since then the matter has received confirmatory
evidences, direct and circumstantial, from all sides and is now definitively
settled.
.81) Old Babyl. Char., part III.
82) Cfr. A. Amiaud et L. Méchineau; Tableau comparé des écritures
: Babylonienne et Assyrienne archuiques et modernes, avec classement des
327 signes d'après leur forme archaïque, Paris, 1887.
83) On these 200, fifty and odds have already been published; the others
will follow as soon as leisure ani lealth permit.---The old Bab. cher, and
their Chinese der., part IV; Chips of Bab. and Chin. palæog., pass. ;
The Tree of life and the Cirlendar plant of Babylonia and China,
n. 38, p. 10; Wheat carried from Mesopotamia to early China, p, 5;
Early hist. of the Chin. civil., p. 23 and plate, &i.
84) This argument, however, is not very good, as simple objects of nature
are often represented differently. Cfr. the remarks and plates in Adolphe
d'Assier, Essai de Grammaire Générale (Paris, 1872).
85) I have explained how and by what means these ancient characters
have been preserved, in Les langues de la Chine avant les Chinois
; (Paris, 1888), pp. 176-177; some bibliographical references are given in
The old. Bab. char. &c., pp. 4-5. See also note 76 suprà.
.86) Cfr. The oldest Book of the Chinese, sec. 115.
87) T. de L., Early history, pp. 23-26; The Yh King (The Athenæum,
21 Jan. 9 and 30 Sept., 1882; The oldest Book of the Chinese and its
Authors, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1882, vol. XIV, pp.
237-289 and 484.-Rob. K. Douglas, The progress of Chinese
linguistic discovery in The Times April 20, 1880, reprinted in Trübner's
Orientul Literary Record, vol. I, pp. 125-127; Chinese and Babylonian
Literature, in Quarterly Review of July 1882; two letters in The Academy
July 12, 1882, pp. 121-122, and Oct. 7, same year: China (London,
8vo, 1882), pp. 358-359, 2nd edit. 1887, pp. 391-392.- Clement
F. R. Allen, The Chinese boolc of the Odes, in J. R. A. S., 1884, vol.
XVI., p. 460.---Stanley Lane Poole, Sacred books of the Chinese, in
Saturday Review, 30 June, 1883.---Ch. de Harlez, Le tecte originaire de
Yih King, sa nature et son interpretation, in Journal Asiatique de 1887,
reprint pp. 6-7.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION..
19
:
88) Dr. De Harlez, studying the ancient text as it became after all these
changes, has recognized in it an attempt at grouping under each word “
an enumeration of the ideas proper to the Chinese philosophy. Cfr.
his remarkable paper, Le teste originaire du Yh-King, 0.c.
89) Cfr., for instance, the comparison made § 115 of my paper The
Oldest Book of the Chinese, 1.c.
90) Cfr. § 117, ibid.
91.) I must mention here the suggestion (Ferguson, Chinese Reserrches
p. 74) that tlie Shan hai King the Classic of the Mountains and Seas,
contains a translation of the ancient work of Berosus, though it is devoid
of any foundation and must have come from some one who had never
read the book itself. As I have paid some attention to this work,
which I have seen no where faithfully described, I may as well state
that it is composed of six different works successively incorporated and
forming now 18 books. The first five, Wu tsireng, are the older part
in which short interpolations only have been made ; it is a geographi-
cal description of the hills and mountains of the country known under
the Shang Tynasty. The Hai wai and Hai nei forming the 6-9 and
10-13 books respectively are two separate works describing maps of
Romantic geography written under the Tchou Tynasty and added as a
continuation of the former work by the editor Liu-hiang in B.C. 80-9.
Liu-siu who died in 57 A.D. arranged another edition of the work with
the addition of the Ta huang Bks. 14-17, and of the Hai nei Bk. 18,
two compositions of similar character as the two preceeding, but still
more romantic, if possible. Finally Kwoh-poh the celebrated com- .
mentator of the IIIrd, century, inserted the Shui King a small com-
position of the Ts'in dynasty on the rivers, in the XIIIth. book..
Such is the work which has reached the present time; it contains a
mass of rubbish mixed up with important data. Excepting the first
five books, the work was originally illustrated with pictures of many
fabulous beings, men and animals. In the VIth. century new pictures
were added because the old ones had been lost. The late A. Bazin has
inexactly noticed the work in the Journal Asiatique of 1840, t. VIII.
M. Emile Burnouf has translated a portion of it in Congrès provincial
des Orientalistes Levallois, 1875, p. 131. Prof. Leon de Rosny has
begun a complete translation in Mémoires de la Société des Etudes
Japonaises, vol. IV. pp. 81-114 (1885).
c) Institutions and Religion.
The early Chinese were indebted to the Bak-s their civilisers for the
following items of culture from S. W. Asia, which may conveniently be
enumerated under this heading :
the institution of an imperial system of government92;
the concept of four regions or four seas, which is meaningless in
and a title of chief of the four mountains, which seems to be a sort
of adviser to the early Chinese ruler and disappears soon afterwards ; 84
it was certainly a yet recent reminiscence of the famous title of the
20
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
King of the four regions, which was borne by the Chaldean sovereign
and suzerain95;
the title of pastor for their twelve leaders 96 ;
the appellatives of Middle kingdom for their country,
and of Black-headed people for themselves, both names as in Assyro-
Babylonianºr;
the custom of prefixing the divine symbol character to the names of
rulers and princes, a custom which was short-lived after their arrival in
China98;
the institution of public astronomers99;
and many minor customs, such as the right hand side as the place of
honour, 100 &c.
Several entries in the two preceding sections might as well have been
included in this list.
The Ancient religion of the Chinese exhibits various traces of im-
portation from S. W. Asia by their civilisers. The singular dualism of
supreme divinities which differentiates so entirely this religion from those
of the other Mongoloïd races of high Asia is most worthy of attention.
Besides the worship of Trien the Sky-Heaven so general among these
races, we find in China the cult of a supreme and personal god Shang-ti
specially reserved to the rulers themselves. I have not yet published the
monograph I have written on the subject to demonstrate this fact101,
and explaiu how the worship of the supreme god for the time being 102,
when the Bak tribes migrated from the North of Elam developed among
them into the cult of Shang-ti. There are besides, some other features
pointing distinctly to a Chaldeo-Elamite origin. In the second chapter
of the Shu-King (II. 1, 111) it is said that Yao venerated the six tsung ;
these celestial spirits bear names which correspond word for word with
the six minor gods of Susiana103. In the Annals of the Bamboo Books,
Nai Hwang-ti (1, 3) is said to have taken advice from three beings whose
names turn out to be those of Chaldean deities. Those points are
demonstrated in the monograph spoken of.
Notes. 92) J. Edkins, China's place in philology, p. 6.
93) Obviously transferred from other horizons.
94) The title is mentioned in the Shu-King and only during the reigns
of Yao and Shun. (Yao tien 1.1, 12; Shun tien, 7, 15, 17, 23). It is
alluded to by the King Tcheng of the Tchôu dynasty as one of the
appointments of officers made by Yao and Shun after having studied
antiquity. (Tchou Kwan 3).
95) Cfr. The Assyro-Babylonian shar Kibratim arbaim (W. A. I., I. 3,
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
22
11, 12 ; 4, 14, 15 ; 5, 19, 21) a survival of the old tetrapole of Nimrud,
(Francois Lenormant, Essai de commentaire des fragments cosmo-,
goniques de Berose, Paris, 1871, pp. 27 and 323) and a nsual title from
the days of Naramsin, according to documental evidence (Fritz Hommel,
Die Semitischen Volker und Sprachen (Leipzig, 1883) p. 485), and
most probably older.
96) Same references as note 94. We shall have to refer to it as a souvenir
cf Suziana
97) The shifted cardinal points ; from Elam to early China, p. 1 (B. Š. 0. R.
II, p. 25).
90) An, originally an eight-pointed star in Chaldæa.—Ti originally derived
from the same eight pointed stars in China: for instance Ti Lai, Ti Ming,
&c. of the mythical canon, Ti yao, Ti Shun, in Chinese history.
99) Shu King, Yao tien.
100) Now it is the left hand side. Cfr. Chalmers, Origin of the Chinese,
p. 28.
101) My task on this point has been lately lightened by the remarkable
tractates of Prof. Ch. de Harlez, Les Croyances religieuses des premiers
Chinois, 60 pp. (Académie de Belgique, 1888, vol. XLI) and La
Religion en Chine, à propos du dernier livre de M. A. Réville, Gand;
1889, 33 pp., where this distinguished Sinologist, analysing all the
ancient texts on the subject, has come independently to the same view
of a complete distinction in the beginning between Shang-ti and T'en,
and an importation of the cult of Shang-ti. Cfr. Les Croyances, pp. 36-
37, Lii Religion, pp. 20, 21, That which gives to these papers a much
greater authority. than any other recent work on the subject, is that
the author being himself an eminent Sinologist has been able to col-
lect together the original passages of the Chinese sacred books which
refer to the matter, and to draw from their respective weights and com-
parison his own conclusions.
102) It has been remarked by Prof. A. H. Sayce that in the Chaldean
civilisation of which that of Susiana was an offshoot, it was customary
for a new dynasty to impose over all the other cults that of their own'
god which they used to worship before in their native place or
region.
103) Their names were found on ancient documents at the time of the
renovation of literature under the Han dynasty,
d) Historical Traditions and Legends.
In Historical Traditions and Legends, the evidences are
most peculiar and striking.
They could be ascertained only since a few years, because the historical
data which they represent were not known before, and because some of
them, though corresponding to certain facts already known, and being
somewhat isclate in the east, had not as yet attracted the attention of
any scholar.
· The most immediate testimony, which the Chinese Bak tribes brought.
eastwards of their origin was their own name of Bak, which they not.
2:2
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
only kept for themselves but which they gave to several of their first
capitals.104 Bak was an ethnic of Western Asia which appears there
in not a few geographical names as we shall have occasion to show
further on,105
The peculiar names of Middle Kingdom for their country and
Black heads for their own people, were doubtless souvenirs of the
same appelatives which as we know were used in Assyro-Babylonia 108.
with the same acceptations or nearly so.107
Many proper names of S. W. Asia might be adduced here in Geography
and Personal surnames. For instance, in Geography:
Su-init for Sumir; E-ket for Akkad; Din-tih for Dintir ki or
Babylon ; Tam-tum for Tamdin, north of Persian Gulf ; Let-sam for
Larsam; Sohsha for Susa; An-teng for Anzan; Sut-ki for Su-
sik; U-luk for Uruk; the Tök-luh river for I)iglat, the Tigris, 108 &c. &c,
And among surnames, such as :
· Mat-t-ki for Marduk; Hot-Bak-Ket109 for Urba- u otherwise U r-
bagash; Dun-kih for Dungi ;110 Limhu for Rimaku; Shen-nung
for Sarg onlll; Nak-khun-te for Nakhunte,'12 and so forth.113 The
difference between the Chinese and the original forms of all these
names being in most cases that which result from the much limited or-
thoepy of the Chinese.
These two lists of dames might be greatly lengthened, should we quote
those of the royal canon of Babylonia which appears in the ancient Chinese
documents as referring to a time anterior to the existence of the Chinese
as a nation.
The list of mythical kings we refer to is doubtless an early version of
the Babylonian canon which existed in China from remote antiquity114,
though I am not prepared to deny the probability of the view that the rulers
of the Bak tribes did carry it with them in their migration toChina. Distinct
allusions to names of the list and to peculiar events of the traditions
concerning them are found in the Classics; the principal names are often
referred to, such as those of the great Hao- Fuh hi, Shen-nung, &c.116.
But the traditions or, better, the legends which are joined to the list have
been swollen by much extraneous matter and marvellous details; there has'
been combined with them some legendary souvenirs referring to the Bak
tribes previously to their being civilised116; and the original text has been
Bo much altered in the course of centuries by ignorant copyists through
the various changes of writing, that it must be carefully sifted and critically
edited. The comparison could not have been made of the Chinese documenť
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
23
with the Babylonian lists, and their identity, though different in treatment,
could not have been recognized until recent years. It is only since the
discoveries of the cuneiform lists of kings117, that the Babylonian and
Chinese fragments may have been studied together. Though only 27
complete names remain on the fragments of the list of Babylonian kings
covered by the traditions preserved in China, the identity of the names is
most remarkable118. Nothwithstanding the subsequent rearrangement
of the Chinese fragments by later mythographs in the Flowery land, it
is obvious that the original data when communicated to the early
Chinese, and as I have said, somewhat mixed towards the end with
their own beginnings, had not been yet systematized, as they appear in
the Assyro-Babylonian tablets of late date recently discovered which we
alluded to.
As they stand, the Chinese fragments are divided into ten Ki i.e.
periods or dynasties. Ki appears on the Assyro-Babylonian docu-
ments with the same meaning ; their number ten reminds us of that of
the antediluvian period ; but the fragmentary state of the cuneiform lists
does not permit us to ascertain if they were or not divided also into
ten K..
The enumeration of the ten Ki is preceded by the mythical reigns of 13
Heavenly Kings and 11 Terrestrial Kings, each haring ruled 18,000
years, or 5 sari of 3600 years. The total makes 432,000 years, which is
precisely the number of years attributed to the antediluvian kings by the
Babylonians119. It is still more remarkable that the unequal division of
432,000 years into 234,000 for the Heavenly Kings and 198,000 for the
Terrestrial Kings (or 65 and 55 sari) should correspond to the zodiacal
basis which has been shown to underlie these speculations120, And besides,
the first of the Terrestrial Kings is reported to have began to rule with the
zodiacal sign of the bull, in the same way as the first antediluvian reign.121
The first of the ten Ki is the reign of nine human kings, followed by
five other dynasties or Ki of which no names of rulers have been preserved122,
then come the seventh Ki of Sumit (for Sumir)with 22 rulers; the eighth-
Ki of D ntih (for Dintir Ki) with 9 rulers123 ; the ninth Ki of Tamtun
(for Tamdin) with 24 rulers124. The tenth Ki begins with Na-kbunte
the Nai Huangti of the Chinese. The names of the seventh, eighth, and
ninth Ki are given, and their comparison with the cuneifcrm lists shows
the most remarkable identities125. The last name of the Chinese list is that
of Dumang, which is said to have been killed by Nakhunte; it is the
Duma-an of the cuneiform list.
24
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Some special traditions are most remarkable as obvious remnants of
what the Bak tribes future civilisers of China, were taught previously
to their migration. For instance among those already published, we
find legendary souvenirs.
of a great Cataclysm which seems to refer to the flood ;126
of Sargon and the peculiarities of his life, under the altered form
of Shen-nung ;127
of Dungi, as Dunkit (modern Tsanghieh) teaching the art of writ-
ing to the Bak tribes ;128
of Nakhunte, as Nai Hwangti, with peculiarities which point to the
history of Kudur Nakhunte and his conquest of Babylonia in 2283 B.C.129
of successive apparitions of beings half-fish, half-men at the begin-
ning of civilisation and in connection with the introduction of writing ;130
of the symbolic tree of life and its calendaric features ;131
of a neighbouring people, subdued by Nakhunte and having a year
of ten months (an ancient Semitic feature) ;132
of the life of ancient men lasting 120 (or two sosses). 133
NOTES. 104) The Lang. of China before the Chinese, sect. 201.
105) Cfr. below chapt. V, and note 136.-The unjustified translation of
Bak sanh, modern Peh sing by Hundred families has long hindered
all investigations on the subject. According to K'ang-hi's great
encyclopædia there are in China 4657 sing, or surnames, out of which
says Prof. R. K. Douglas (China, 2nd edit., p. 251) 1619 are double
ones. Cfr. also addition 203 to Les langues de la Chine avant les
Chinois, p. 160.
106) The shifting of the card. points, init. (B. & 0. R, II, 26).
107) Cfr. ibid, note 2, p. 31.
108) All these names are quoted in the papers referred to, note 113.
109) This is the old form of the name which has been abraded into the
modern great Hao- Fu-hi. Cfr. my demonstration in Trad. of
Babyloniu in early Chinese documents, l. c.
110) In the Chinese transcription carver of wood, in the Babylonian
the man of the reed tablet. Cfr. Early history of the Chinese
cirilisation, pp. 27-28; The old Bab. char. and their Chinese deriv.,
note 47 (B. & C. R. II, 97).
111 The corruption of Shen-nung for Sargon is equivalent to that
of Shinaar for Singar, &c. Cfr. The wheat carried, &c., note 11.
112) On this name, cfr. below, chapt. V, note 137.
113) For all these names cfr. The Chinese mythical Kings and the
Babylonian Canon, l. c.; Trad. of Bab., &c. 1, c.:. The Wheat carried
from Mesop. to early China, l. c.; W. St. C. Boscapen, Shen-nung und
Sargon, B. & O. R. II, 208-209).
114) I have prepared for publication a comparative list derived from the
following authorities: San Huang ; Sun Kia; Wai-Ki ; Lo-Pi; Kang
Kien tcheng she-ti ; and K'ang-hi's great encyclopædia. My first
CHINESE
CIVILIZATION.
communications on the subject appeared in The Academy of Oct. 6
and Nov. 17, 1883. Mr. Pinches will supply the cuneiform text.
115) Cfr. R. K. Douglas, Further progress in Chinese studies (Tne Times,
Aug. 4, 1884).-. Louis Rioult de Neuville, Les origines de la civilisation
Chinoise, pp. 240-249 of Revue des questions historiques, Juillet, 1884.
116) Such, for instance, by an obvious interpolation of the names of four
savage chiefs at the end of the eighth Kr of Dintih or Babylon.
117) By the late George Smith, and by Mr. T. G. Pinches.
118) As recognized by Prof. R. K. Douglas, Further progress, l. c.
119, According to Berosus, Abydenus, and Syncellus. Cfr. Fr. Lenormant,
Les origines de l'histoire, I, 232 sq.
120) By François Lenormant, ibid. I, 269 sq.—Cfr. also : Robert Brown,
jun., The early Bab. Kings and the Ecliptic (The Academy, May, 1884,
pp. 386-387.-And also W. Drummond, Origin of the Bab. Empire,
p. 9; Th. Fergusson, Ch:nese chronology, p. 84.
121) Cfr. Fr. Lenormant, Biblical Genealogies (Contemporary Review,
April, 1880); Fergusson, 0, C., p. 183.
122) They are said to have reckoned respectively 5, 59, 3, 6, and 4 rulers.
123) Four rulers are here interpolated, cfr, note 116.
124) Two names of Bak chiefs are placed besides at the beginning.
125) Cfr. my reserves however in The Chinese mythical kings and the
Bab. Canon, s. f.
126) Cfr. The shifted Card. points; from Elam to early China, pp. 29-30
(B. O. R. II. .
127) Cfr. The Chinese mythical kings and the Babylonian Canon, p. 5
(The Academy, Oct. 6, 1983; Wheat carried from Mesopotamia to early
China, pp. 1-2 (B. 0. R. II, pp. 184-185). And the confirmation
from the side of Assyriology, by Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen, Shen-
nung and Sargon, B. & O. R. II, pp. 208–209.
128) Early history of the Chinese civilisation, p. 27; The Old Babylonian
characters and their Chinese derivates, pp. 13 and 25 (B. O. R. II. 85-
97); Tradit ons of Babylonia in early Chinese documents, p. 5 (The
Academy, Nov. 17, 1883).
129) The Chinese mythical kings, p. 6 (1. c.); Early history, p. 27.-
Cfr. the date of the Chinese ? Nai Hwangti in 2332 B.C. suprà.
130) The fabulous fishmen of early Bab. in ancient Chinese legends,
pp. 1-6 (B. & O. R. II, pp. 2–1-226).
131) The Tree of life and the Calendar plant of Babylonia and China,
pp. 1-11 (B. & O. R. II, 149-159).
132) I'he Chinese mythical Kings, p. 6.
133) Ibid., p. 6.
V. SPECIAL PRUOFS OF AN ELAMITE ORIGIN.
Since the beginning of my publications on this subject, I have repeatedly
pointed out that the elements of the Chaldean culture they possessed,
had been acquired, by the leaders of the Bak tribes who civilized China,
west of the Hindu-Kush, south-east of the Caspian Sea, and in the
26
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
vicinity of Elam=Susiana. The reasons for my statement were and are
still the following:
went to N. W. China, was in existence and was best preserved, e.g.
Bakhdi (Bactra), B a k h tan, Ba kthy a ri, Bagdad, Ba gis-
tan (Bag or Bak+stan,) i.e., land of Bak,134 Bak mes na gi, i.e.,
country of the Baks135.
2. It was there also, that Kutthi or the like, another appellative of
the Bak tribes, met with cognate names 136
3. The name of the ruler of the Bak tribes when they arrived in the
N.W. of China proper was, Nakhunte, modern N a i Hwang ti,137 which
i was evidently taken in imitation of the kings of Susiana, whose generic
appellative, at least for many, was Nakhurtel88, in honour of their " chief
v
4. The six tsung of the early Chinese were a souvenir of the six
minor gods of Susiana139, as shown by their names.
5. In the govermental arrangements of the early Chinese they had
twelve pastors, and the country divided under their rule.140
6. In ancient Chinese nam is the South, and with the common equiva-
lence n=l, it sounds like an old sourenir of Elam as a southern country,
7. In the Chinese synchretic legend of Shennung, which is now
proved to be an alteration of that of Sargon of Chaldea, 141 and in that
of Nakhunte, several geographical names point to the same country of
Susiana-Elam.142
8. It was in 2295 B.C., that Kudur Nakh unta, King of Susa, con-
conquered Babylonia, and that the former order of things in Llam was
disturbed therefrom ; now this date corresponds with the requirements of
the skeleton of chronology in China, and the immigration of the Bak
9. In comparing some affinities of terms borrowed by the civilisers of
China, I have pointed out that the loan could not have taken place from
Chaldea, but from a cognate and intermediary country.143
All these reasons, as may be seen, were based chiefly on Chinese sources
and excepting the indirect evidence I had drawn from an examination of
the inscriptions of Susiana, it was not known when the Chaldean culture
had been introduced there. A double confirmation of the correctness of
my views, or better of the Chinese statements, has come from the cunei-
form inscriptions. The celebrated Gudea in one of his inscriptions
(statue B) states that he conquered the town of Anzan (Elam.145) Now
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
as Gudea was older by two or three reigns than one of his success-
ors who was contemporary with Dungi, and that Dungi, the Dunki
(mod. Tsang hieh) of the Chinese tradition, taught the Bak tribes
the art of writing, this disclosure and indirect confirmation is most
important. On the other hand, a mention of the Bak tribes has been
found in the inscriptions of Elam.146
To resume; it is difficult to ask more evident confirmations from the cun-
eiform inscriptions than these statements, as the Bak tribes, being bar-
barians, occupying apparently a conterminous region, could not be looked
upon as very important,
135) marts 120-121 china,
NOTES. 134) The oldest Book of the Chinese, $ 112; Wheat carried from
Mesopotamia to early China, n. 2; Les langues de la Chine avant les
Chinois, pp. 120-121 and 159.
135) In the Susian Inscriptions. Cfr. Addit. 201 to Les langues de la
Chine avant les Chinois, p.159.
136) The oldest Book, ibid., Les langues de la Chine, $ 202.
137) The full name may be yu Nai Huang Ti, old Ku-Nak-Khun-te,
but yu may be a prefix, and Nakhun appears written in one single
group in the Ku-wen style of writing. Cfr. Fu-luan-siang, Luh shu
fun luy, s. V.; and Tung Wei-fu, Tchuen-tze wei, s. v.
138) Early history of the Chinese civilisation, p. 27.
139) Cfr. suprà IV, c, n. 103.
140) Early history, p. 29.
I41) Compare Shen-nung=Sargon to Shennaar=Shingar.
142) T, de L.,- The Chinese mythical List of Kings and the. Babylonian
canon (The Academy, Oct.6, 1883); Traditions of Bab. in early Chinese
documents (ibid. Nov. 17. 1883; Wheat carried from Mesopotamia to
early China, p. 2 (B. & O. R. II, p. 185).---W. St. Chad Boscawen,
Shen-Nung and Sargon (B, & O. R. II, pp. 208-209).
143) The affinity of the ten stems of the Chinese cycle with the Akkadian
numerals (The Academy, Sept. 1, 1883): Trad. of Bab, in early
Chiuese documents (ibid., Nov. 17, 1883).
144) Chips of Bab. and Ch. palæog., p. 6 (B. & O. R. II, p. 262.
145) Arthur Amiaud, Sirpourla, d'après les inscriptions de la collection de
Sarzec, p. 13 (Revue Archéologique (1880).---T. de L., Les langues de
la Chine avant les Chinois, 159-160.
146) By Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen (B, & O. R., II, p.189, n. 2). Cfr.
also my note and the reference to a passage of the Nimrod epos, in Les
langues de la Chine, addit., p. 159.
VI. ITEMS OF ASSYRO-BABYLONIAN, EGYPTIAN AND OTHER CIVILIZA-
ENTERED INTO ANCIENT CHINA THROUGH LATER CHANNELS.
"The leaders of the Bak tribes do not seem to have kept up any com
munications on their rear with the west after their arrival in the N.W. of
China proper.147 It was only in later times, that further items of western
civilisation have entered into the country. The matter is enshrouded in
difficulties, because hardly anything has been preserved of the history of
the conterminous states, encircling the Chinese on the east, south, and
west, and through which any intercourse or communication with the
outside world had to pass before reaching the royal domain, where it could
be noticed by the stylus of the official recorders. On the other hand, the
wretched state of the old literature of ancient China, and the preser-
vation of many features of antiquity in compilations as late as the ages
before and after the Christian era, especially after the renaissance of
literature, whose authors had access to documents and traditions now lost
to us, does not permit us to ascertain the respective antiquity of the
entrance of not a few items of western culture. And it is not at
all improbable that some minor items of the fourfold list given in this
paper, may have been introduced in the country through one or the other
of the later channels described in the present chapter. Every case how-
ever must be judged on its own merits, and in the absence of direct
testimony, the authority of circumstantial evidence, in the west as in
he east, must be resorted to. For instances, the mythical list of Kings,
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
and the twelve names of the Babylonian months, bear intrinsic and cir-
cumstantial evidences that they most probably belong to the early strata of
imported knowledge by the leaders of the Baks, although they were
afterwards mixed up and combined with other data of later introduction.
The late and successive introduction ie refer to, may have taken place,
and to a certain extent did take place, through the trade-routes by land
and by sea, west, south, and east, of which we shall speak further on,
and through the arrival and conquest of the Slang and of the Tchôu
peoples, whose leaders founded important dynasties of the same names.
NOTES. 147) It is most probable that some displacement of populations,
perhaps hostile, stood in the way,
a) Ancient Dynasties of Western Origin.
The Shang whose name might suggest that they were formerly traders,
while their traditions indicate a western origin near the Kuen-lun range
and probably a kinship with the Jungs, 148 do not seem to have imported
any progress of importance. Sieh the official scribe of Shun, was
reckoned as their ancestor and this implies a certain amount of culture
among them.149 The tabooing of proper names is said to have begun
under their rule. The T chöu who drove them away, and succceded them
in the sway of China, (XIth century B.c.) with some greatness and
brilliancy for several centuries, were also intruders from the west. They
were most probably red-haired Kirghizes, with some mixture of Aryan
blood. Several of the explanations added to the olden texts of the
Yh king by their leader Wen-wang were certainly suggested by the
homophony of Aryan words,150 and to their influence is due without
doubt the entrance into the Chinese vocabulary of a certain number
of Aryan words more or less crippled and altered. They were acquaint-
ed with some notions derived from the Aryan focus of culture in
K arism, probably through the route of the Jade traffic151 which they
introduced into their new country.152 Such forinstance the 28 lunar
mansions instead of the 24 stellar points of older times.153 But nothing
from Assyro-Babylonia seems to have been imported by thens, some im-
portant rites and regulations were established by the founders of their
dynasty, who seem to have been gifted with extraordinary capability,
in that respect, and have systematized in a durable manner not a few
ideas and institutions which, before their time, were loose in the coun-
try. During these two dynasties, it is the Jade traffic which may have
been the Channel through which Western ideas and notions have reached
China.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
NOTES. 148) On the Jungs and their language, cfr. Thelanguages of China
before the Chinese, sec. 2, 150, 151.
149) Ibid., sec. 210.
150) On the baseless theory of a supposed affinity between the Chinese
and the Aryan languages, cfr. The lang. of China before the Chinese,
sec. 208, n. 2, and the additions p. 161 of the French edition.
151) On the trade route of Jade, see further on.
152) The invention of the boussole or compass has been attributed to
one of them, Tchou kung, uncle of Tching-Wang, first king of the
dynasty, and a justly celebrated man. Dr. J. Legge, (Chinese Clas-
sics, vol. III, pp. 535-7), has exposed the baselessness of this story,
when Tchôu kung was said to have presented south-pointing chariots
to some envoys of the Suh-shin of the North or of the Yueh-shang
of the South. (Cfr. below in the present chapter, and note 209.
153) On the astronomy of Karism, an Aryan focus of civilization,
east of the Caspian sea, from 1304 B.C., cfr. Albiruni, Chronology
of Ancient nations, pass., trad. Sachau, London, 1879.
b) The Jade Eastern traffic.
Jade so-called, i.e., nephrite, which was not found by the Chinese in
China, notwithstanding some unfounded statements to the contrary, 154pas
in all times known and highly prized by the Chinese, who looked upon it
as symbolizing power and authority.155 It is not at all unlikely that
the Bak tribes had been made acquainted with the Nephrit by the
trade which used to bring the articles of Jade to the West. Per-
haps the route of this trade was an incitement for their shaping
their way eastward. Anyhow, should they have been still ignorant
of that precious stone, they had occasion to hear about it when on their
route to China,
With the exception of unimpcrtant beds, in the Caucasus, and in
the rivers of the Yablono and Saiansk mountains, East and S. W.
of Lake Baïkal,156 which were not known in olden times, the true
jade or nephrite exists only in what is known as Chinese Turkestan.
Mount Mirdjai reputed to be a mass of jade, and famous in the
geographical romances of ancient China, 157 mount Sertash, both at
74 miles from Yarkand, and the rivers Ulgunkash and Karakash
near Ilchi, 158 were the principal if not the sole source from where
nephite jade was exported in the west and in the east.169 This jade
traffic was, according to all probabilities, of a second- and third-hand kind,
which could not provide a regular channel for the introduction of S.W,
Asiatic civilisation into the East. Its importance, however secondary,
under that respect, must not be overlooked. There is no positive evidence
32
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
-
that the Bak tribes in their old country were engaged in such a traffic,
but the following fact is rather suggestive that they were. The excava-
tions at Uru=Mugheïr, the old town of Dungi, whuse name has been re-
ferred to in connection with the early conquest of Anzan by Gudea, and
their teaching of the art of writing to the Bak tribes, have revealed the
use or trade of nephrite-jade.161 As this jade could not come from any
other region than that of Turkestan through the country of the Bak
tribes, the connection, borne out as it is by the circumstantial evidences of
the case, shows the Bak tribes to hava been already at that time long pre-
viously to their migration to China, intermediary already between S.W.
Asia and the East. The extension of Nephrite-Jade traffic further west,
to Nimrud, Hissarlik, the Helvetian palafittes, the megalithic monuments
and other places of the same period, does not belong to our field of
enquiry. 162
Once in China, the Chinese Bak tribes received nephrite-jade from
their rear. The legendary accounts on the subject are not all inventions,
and there is doubtless some truth underlying the magnified and fabled re-
ports. In the ninth year of Shun, Si Wang Mu sent envoys with pre-
sents consisting of white jade rings, or archers thimbles in jade, a tube of
white jade, and topographical maps.163 Si-Wang-Mu, whatever unknown
personage the name may have described originally, became the impersona-
tion of the queen rulers, whose princedoms lay on the North of Thibet along
Kuenlun, and who have had occasionally some intercourse direct and indirect
with the Chinese states.164 A Si-Wang-Mu was reported to have pre-
sented Huang-ti with topographical maps. 165 And it is near a Si Wang
Mu that the great Yü is reported to have studied.166 A Si-Wang-Mu
appears again in connection with a journey which King Muh, fifth ruler
of the Tchou dynasty167 made in the West of China, along the Kuenlun
range, where he was presented by her with some jade objects,168 and some
skilful workmen and where he examined their calendar and books ! This jour-
ney169which I am inclined to look upon as more important than is commonly
believed,170 has been made the theme of all sorts of fables, extravaganzas
and marvels, among which the historical truth and its particulars are
probably lost irretrievably to history. Muh Wang's expedition is reported
in the seventeenth year of his reign. On the following year the Si Wang
Mu came to the Chinese court with presents and was lodged in the Tchao
palace. In all that concerns Si Wang Mu and the mysterious travels of
Muh Wang :of Tchồu it must be remarked that jade-stones play great
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
33
(
7
part, 171 and therefore the whole is so narrowly connected with the route
of jade traffic that we had to mention it here, inasmuch as, there are in
the traditions on the subject, some references to a transmission, however
slight and shadowy it may have been, of Western knowledge, to China.172
But there are some other proof of jade traffic from Turkestan. Some
of them are found in the Yu Kung or Tribute of Yu,173 a work of the
Shang dynasty, where it is recorded that the W. provinces of Yung-
tchôu and Ysiang-tchôu, corresponding to Shensi and Kansuh and to N.
Szetchuen respectively, produced to the Chinese court, jade stones
of several forms,174 This jade, since it is not found in China proper, 175
could only reach these provinces through the trade from Turkestan.
Tchou Sin, the last ruler of the Yn Dynasty (circa 1120 B.C.) received as
present from the Tan-tchi country, probably through the Tchôu people who
made him some presents from the West in several instances, a pillow in
Jade shaped like a tiger.176 This was undoubtedly procured by the same
traffic.
Kuan-tze, an important writer of the seventh century B.C., states that
Jade comes to China from the Yü-she monntains, in the far West,
where the sun sets. 177
All the information we possess here on the Jade traffic shows it to be a
second-hand one; and however ancient it may have been, the amount of
knowledge which has reached the Chinese through this channel cannot
have been of importance, and must have consisted only of partial, incom-
plete notions, sometimes transmogrified on the way.
Now let us enquire about the other trade routes through which have
been imported some elements of foreign civilizations.
NOTES. 154) There are two principal sorts of jade, the nephrite and the
Jadeite which differ one from another by their chemical composition.
155) We allude to the references made to the provinces of Shansi and
Yunnan as producing jade,
Abel de Remusat in stating that jade was found at Tai T’ung (Northern
Shansi), a statement repeated from him nearly everywhere and sometimes
in a faulty manner, was mistaken by the late and loose meaning of the
symbol yü, which has often been used for gems in general, and equally
applied to Jasper. Now Jaspər and not jade figures amongst the
products at Tai tung in the descriptions of the province, in Grosier.
Description de la Chine, Wells Williams, The middle kingdom, and
other trustworthy works.---As to the reference to Western Yunnan, it
is simply a geographical error which has arisen from the fact that the
Jadeite from Mogung in Upper Burma arrived in China through
that province.
However Ralph Pumpelly, Geological Researches in China, Mongolia,
34
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
and Japan, p. 118 (Smithsonian contributions to Knowledge, 1886)
has indicated some blue Jade? at Tungsan, distr. of Wu-ting. N. Ć.
Yunnan, green and blue Jade? at Mount Mo-fu near Li-king, and black
jade? at Maumtoz (Mungman tu sze?=) near Yung-bchang.
156) The symbol yü jade has that meaning. It was formerly ok and its
pristine form was derived from the ancient Babylonian uk having the
same meaning Cfr. The Tree of Life and the Calendar plant, note 38.
Prof. Max Müller ( Febr. 3, 1880) has some interesting remarks which
explain (that connection of meaning apparently unknown to him) and
show how important and powerful among uncivilised was a man possessing
a jade-chisel which could cut iron nails and any other thing with facility.
Cfr. his work Biographies of words (London, 1888), p. 222.
157) The Amoor in the far North rolls down jade pebbles from the Yablono
Monntains of the Trans-Baikal district of Siberia (Nevil Story Maskelyne).
T. W. Atkinson, Oriental and Western Siberia (London, 1811) has
found some in the river beds among the Saiansk Mountains, S.W. of
Lake Baikal, and therefore west of the preceding.
158) The Yü shan of the Shan Hai King, Bk. II, fol. 29.
159) Cfr. S. Blondel, Le Jade, Etude sur la pierres appelée yu par les
chinois, sect. II. (Paris, 1875). --G. Schlegel, Uranographie chinoise,
p. 787.--Notes and queries on China and Japan, 1868, vol. II. pp, 173,
174 and 187 ; vol. IV. 1870, p. 33.--An exhaustive treatise on Jade
is that of Fischer : Nephrite und Jadeit, Stuttgard, 1875.---Cfr.
also for the geography Capt. Trotter in Forsyth's Account of the mission...
to Yarkand and Kashgar, 1873-74, p. 154.
160) Of course we leave aside the jades of New Zealand and America.
161) I have proposed to recognize in the Uk-nu stone of the East, of the
cuneiform inscriptions the Jade of Tarkestan. (Cfr. The Tree of Life,
uote 49). Four articles of nephrite-jade have been found in the ruins
of Ur, and one at Nimrud, as described by Dr. O. Schoetensack in the
Zeitschrift fur Ethnologie, Berlin, 1887, pp. 125-126. At Nimrud it
is a cylinder, at Ur, celts. Unless it be for a special use because of
their toughness, the nephrite axes in this civilised country could only be
there for trading purposes. The British Museum possesses a cylinder
of ancient work from Babylon in Jade.
162) The precious nephrite worked in the forms wrongly known as celts
neatly polished, with edges sharp and intact, is found along the route
from Khotan in Turkestan, its starting point, to the Jaxartes, to the
Oxus, then south of the Caspian sea, in Babylonia and Assyria, along
the Northern Asia Minor shores, bordering upon ancient Troy, then
passes to the Peloponnesus, where it directs its course to Crete, and,
not touching Egypt, passes from Greece to Italy, whence it is distri-
buted among the Helvetian lakes, the Megalithic monuments of Armorica
&c., &c. Cfr. Valentine in Prof. Howard Osgood, Prehistoric Com-
merce and Isracl, pp. 168-169 (The Baptist Quarterly Review, 1885,
vol. VII. pp. 163-184).---Prof. Nevil Story-Maskelyne, pp. 211-214
in Max Muller's Biographies of Words.---Alex. Bertrand, La Gaule
avant les Gaulois (Paris, 1884) pp. 130-131.—G, de Mortillet, Le
Prehistorique. pp. 537-539.
163) Tchuh Shu K’i nien Shun, IX year.-----Shang shu ta tchuen-----
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
35
Ta Tai Li; San tchao ki ; Kung-tze tchi yen; Li töu wei y; Tsih sien
luh ; Fung suh tung ; all ancient works quoted in the Kin ting ku kin
· t'u shu tsih tcheng.
164) Si Wang Mu has absorbed the little that was known of other
names of female rulers. The Shan hai King Bk. II, speaks also of a
Yng Mu, cfr. note 91 of the present paper. On Si Wang Mu, cfr.
The Tree of Life and the Calendar Plant of Babylonia and China,
part IV. Ancient Missionaries wanted to identify Si Wang Mu with
the Queen of Saba ; this fancy has been refuted by G. Pauthier,
Chine, p. 94.
165) Tsih sien luh, J.c.
166) According to Siun-tze, a writer of the IlIrd century B.C.------
Shan Hai King (gloss) Bk. II., fol. 19,
167) B.C. 1001-947 according to the usual chronology ; B.c. 962-907 in
the Annals of the Bamboo Books,
168) Jade is a most important factor in all that concerns Si-Wang-Mu,
and Muh-Wang's journey.
169) The journey which began as a punitive expedition against the Ki-
uen Jung tribes of Naga race on the North-east of Tibet, cfr. The Lang.
of China before the Chinese, (sect. 150, 151) who five years before had
presented-some asbestos cloth &c. (Lih taï ki she; G. Pauthier, Chine,
p. 96),---As to the details of the travels, cfr. Ki tchung T'chou shu ;
Lieh-tze 400 B.C.; Muh Tien-tze tchuen, 350 B.C. ; Siün tze, 300 B.C.;
Shi tze, 280 B.C. ; Poh wuh tchi by Tchang Hua, 250 A.D.; Shih y
Ki by Wang Kia, 400 A.D., Bk. III. ; Shuh y kci by Jen Fang, 500
A.D. ; Höu Han Shu ; Tai pig ga , 983 A.D., Bk. 85, fol. 2-3 ;
and many more recent compilations.
170) Cfr. for instance, The Tree of Life, sect. IV., and notes.
171) Though not so important as would imply the legend of the ancient
Iranian King Djamshid having married a daughter of Mahang King
of Matchin. Cfr. Lassen, Indische Alterthumskunde, I. 619-622.)
And the contentions of Abdal-lah Beidawy, in his general history
that Mu-Wang went to Persia. Cfr. Pauthier, China, p. 94, as well
as that of M. Paléologue, L'art Chinois (Paris, 1888), p. 102, who, in
order to explain the Assyro-Babylonian affinities which were glaring to
his eyes, wants Muh Wang in his one year journey to have gone to
Media, Susiana, Chaldea.
172) It is very curious to mention here that the first enactments in
which ring-weight-money hwan are spoken of, i.e. in 947 B.C.
should have been issued under his reign, and may be the result of
what he learned in his journey. The system was Egyptian and was
especially in use for trade with the Asiatics, at the time of the military
supremacy of Egypt, but it was not used in Assyro-Babylonia. Cfr.
Fr. Lenormant, Histoire ancienne de l'Orient, vol. III. p. 58 ; and E.
Babelon, ibid, vol. V. p, 114.
173) In the Shu-King. It is a description of all the engineering works
made by the Chinese (and their allies under their supervision) in China
to regulate the rivers and their floods. It contains also a description
the products of the same geographical division of the country da
known under the Shang dynasty.
36
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
174) Shu King, part III. Bk. I., 69 and 81.
175) Cfr. what is said above on the subject.
176) It was discovered during some excavations made in 159 A.D.. Cfr.
Shih y ki; G. Schlegel, Uranographie Chinoise, p. 789; a real mine of in-
formation and where several archæological finds of jade implements
are noticed.
177) Kuan tze ; G. Schlegel, ibid. p. 787. K'ang-hi tze tien, 114+4,
fol. 49 verso.
c) Ancient trade-route of the Eastern sea trade.
On the East and South-east is the sea. The Chinese, advancing
from the West, did reach the sea-shore, and this near the Shantung pen-
insula, five centuries only after having tntered China, i.e. in the XXIIIrd
century B.C. They were not themselves fully established near the sea
for many centuries afterwards, and the borders were in possession of
non-Chinese states semi-civilized, and even less than that. On two geo-
graphical points some exceptions are important to notice, north and
south of the said peninsula, as the channels through which an Egyptian
influence brought in by the sea trade was introduced into China.
surrounding country of Shantung, has played a prominent part in the area
development of current metallic money.178 The first enactments on cur-
rency,170 those concerning the weights which have proved to be based
upon the mina of Carchemish,180 in 680 B.C., are all connected with that
region of Shantung reached by foreign trade.
Lang-nga,182 an important town in that same region, was founded be-
fore the Vlth century B.c.:183 its name is singularly suggestive of an
ka pura of Ceylon, Lanka-Balus (Nicobar), Lang-nga-siu of the north
of Java, marking their route.184
It is there that Ts'in She Hwang-ti, the founder of the
Chinese empire 221 B.C., resided for some time previously to that
date. It was in these surroundings, permeated as they were by
fcreign ideas, that he prepared some of the important innovations,
that made his name famous, and which seem to have been suggested
by reports of Western ideas, institutions and events ; such, for instance,
as the division of his dominion into 36 kiun-s, which remind us of
the 36 nomes of Egypt, 185 and perhaps also the Burning of the
books (213 B,c.)186. It is in the same vicinity that sculptures have been
discoveed, whtch, though of rather late date (147 A.D.), bear the impug-
nable testimony of an influence of Egyptian art, which the Chinese are
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
37
unable to explain,187 and which is mixed up with Chinese data. The
wixed influences from Western Asia and Egypt through the sea-trade is
so much the more remarkable that this sea-trade cannot have been import-
ant in ancient times, and grew up only in the centuries which preceded the
Christian Era. Anything from the West could not reach China except in a
hand to hand manner, having to change several times on the way. At
the time of the Christian era, hardly anything had as yet been heard in
China of the outside world by the eastern188coasts, and even at the time of
the East Han Dynasty (A.D. 25 - 220) it is positively stated in the
dynastic annals, and this by hearsay, that the seafarers did not go further
than some vaguely indicated countries which canuot possibly be further
than the Malacca peninsula, if so far.189 And so late as the beginning of
the fifth century, A.D., Fa-hien, the Buddhist, coming back to China from
Ceylon, was compelled to make the journey in two different boats, from
Ceylon to Java, and from Java to China.
NOTES. 177) Kuan-tze ; G. Schlegel, ibid., p. 787.---K"ang-hi tze tien,
111+4, fol, 49v,
178) Lat. 34° 15' in the modern Lai tchou fu. cfr. G. Playfair,
The Cities aud Towns af China (Hong-Kong, 1879) No. 663.
179! Cfr. T. de L., Historical Catalogue of Chinese Money, Vol. 1,
pp. 4, 131-132, 213, 319, &c. Metallic money was not established
in Western China before 337 B.C.
180) Cfr. Historical Cutalogue, p. 1.
181) Brbylonian and Old Chinese Measures. (The Academy, Oct. 10,
1885.)- The regulations were made by Kwan Tze, a famous minister
of Huan, Duke of Tsi. N. W. Shantung) at proximity of this sea-
trade influence.
182) Referred to the present department of Tchu tchong (Lat. 36º Leng.
119058) in Tsing tchou, Shantung.
183) It was conquered in 468 B.C. by the sea-border state of Yueh and
became its capital until 379 B.C.
18+) The lung. of China before the Chinese, sec. 214.---Col. H. Yule,
Notes on the oldest records of the sea-route to China from Western Asia
(Proc. R. Geogr. Soc., Nov. 1882); Alfred Maury, Des anciens rapports
de l'Asie occidentale avec l'Inde transgangetique et la Chine (Bullet
Soc. Geogr., Paris, 1846).
185) As pointed out by Thomas Fergusson, Chinese Researches, I. p.
59.-- According to ancient authors tlie number of the nanies was re-
ported to be 36, though as a fact, the number varied. Cfr. G.
Maspero, Histoire Ancienne, 4e edit. p. 19.
186) It has been suggested (Fergusson, Chinese Researches, I. 41-59),
that the idea of suppressing all ancient history and literature has been
impressed on the mind of the founder of the Chinese Empire by reports
of similar measure for the same object in the West. Berosus (Cory's
Ancient fragments, p. 36), who lived in 340-270, B.C., states that
Nabonassar collected all the mementos of the Kings.privr to himself,
and destroyed them, that the enumerativn of the Chaldean Kings
38
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
might commence with him. It is just what did Ts’in She-Hwang-ti
as remarked by W. F. Mayers (Journ. North China Branch, R. A. S.,
December, 1867, p. 162).—Moses of Khorene has told the same tale
of the fabled Ninus, (H st. Armen, ch. 13, p. 40), and so did Albirnni
his lieutel, P. 58), and Chorasmiansen: 1,3, p. 40).
tr. Sachau, p. 58), and also of the Persians by Alexander-the-Great or
his lieutenants (ibid, p. 157-).
187) Dr. S. W: Bushell of Peking has shown me the squeezes taken on
the monument, which he exhibited at the Berlin Oriental Congress.
Cfr. his notice on Inscriptions from the Tombs of the Wu family from
the Tzü-yun shan=Purple-cloud hills, 28 li south of the city of Chia-
hsiang hsien in the province of Shantung; pp. 79-80 of Ost-asiat,
sect., Berlin Orient. Congr., 1881). Chia-hsiang hsien or Kia-siang
hien, is in Tsi ming tchou, by Lat. 35°32' and Long. 116°30'.—Prof.
Robert K. Douglas, Ancient sculptures in China, and nine plates,
(J. R. A. S., 1886, vol, XVIII.) has reproduced several characteristi-
cal parts of these sculptures, from the Kin Shih Soh collection (1806),
· with their Egyptian models. They are most remarkable.
188) Should this trade have been active or regular, the Chinese would
have learned earlier than they did anything about the Peng-lai islands
said to be fire by Lieh-tze (IV th cent., B C.) and coly three at the time
of She-Hwang-ti, under whose reign they were still mythical. Is Peng-
lai=Polo, island' in Malay ?
189) Namely the Naked (men) kingdom and the Black-teeth men king-
dom. Höw Han shu, Bk. 115 ; tr. A. Wylie, History of the Eastern
Barbarians, p. 81 (Revue de l' Extreme Orient. t. I., 1882). It was
only in the sixth century that the Chinese acquired some knowledge of
Jaya, Sumatra, &c. Cfr. W. P. Grueneveldt, Notes on the Malay
Archipelago and Malacca (Batavia, 4to, 1872 ; also, Prof. Leon de
Rosny, Les peuples orientaux connus des anciens chinois, 2nd edit.
Paris, 1886.
7
The oldest information we possess of any intercourse with the South and
West in ancient times goes back to the beginning of the Tchồu dynasty,
i.e. XIth century B.C. In the Tchou Shu, a work saved from the
wreck of literature, and a production of that dynasty,190 which is probably
more trustworthy191than was formerly supposed, the arrival of some
trading parties, magnified as ambassadors, is reported. 192 One of them
comes from Shou Mi or Tchou Mi, a place which has been identified
with Ta-yao, in the prefecture of Tsu-hiung west-centre of Yunnan.193
This party brought to the court of Tcheng Wang, the second king of the
dynasty, as a tribute, say the Chinese account, à monkey from a country
where it is called Kudang, which is the Dravidian name for this animal;
The explanations show that country to be N. E. India. No other in-
formation has been preserved about this curious and interesting event,
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
.3,9
of the same languages learned by the trade of Solomon with Ophir (Kings
I. 11, 22).
Notes. 190) A large part of the following is abstracted from my paper On three
embassies from Indo-China to the Middle. Kingdom 3000 years ago, read
before the Royal Asiatic Society on June 16, 1884, and still un-
published.
191) Prof. S. M. Russel, Discussion of Astronomical Records in Ancient
Chinese books. 1. c. p. 196, has been able to verify an eclipse of the moon
in the year 1136, which is mentioned in that work on the 35th year of
Wen Wang.
192) Yh Tchou shu, sect. 59, fol. 8.-It is also mentioned in the Shan
hai King (edit. 1783), sect. X., fol. 2-3, sect. XVI., f. 5, and sect.
XVIII., fol. 31 and in the Shwoh-wen (edit. 1598), sect. VIII.,
fol. 24,
193) It became in the IV th century B.C., part of the famous state of
TSEN (331 B.C.-. 100 A.D. which monopolized the trade with the south,
and whose name through the sea traders furnished the west with the
name of CHINA. Cfr, ny notices in Col. H. Yule, Glossary of Anglo-
Indian words (London, 1886) p. 157 ; Beginnings of uriting, sect. 80 ;
B. & O. R., I., The Sinim of Isaiah not the Chinese, sect. 3 and below.
OS
In a much later work194we find that another party came to the court of the
same king, Tcheng of the Tchôu dynasty, from a country called Nêlê, or
Nêrê,195 which I have proposed to identify with the old country of Norai, on
the west side of the Irawadi, between Manipuri, and Momien of S. W.
Yunnan. No mention is made of anything they brought, a fact
most remarkable, as their country became afterwards the Shan state of
Mogaung, famous for its mines of amber and jadeite, which from thère
All ancient allusions to Jade referred to the north-west, and it is only
in later times that we find the first allusion in literature to this jade of
south-west.196 The mines were probably not worked as yet, at the time
of the two mercantile expeditions spoken of, and it is not improbable
that the great prices which they saw put upon the jade stones at the
Chinese Court has awakened their attention to the value of similar
kinds of stones found in the country of the Noras, one of them.197
The references by various authors indicate an old trade route from the
district of the mines, i.e. Mogaung, by Wainmo and Kakhyo, passing
through Momien 198 where jade work has long been going on,199 Yung
tchang a famous mart for western products, Ta-li fu and Ta-yao to Szet-
40
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
chuen by Tung-tchuen and Tchao-tung, the Kin-sha Kiang and the
Min river, a route of which we shall have to speak further on again,
or by Ning-yuen, Tsing-Ki and Ya-tchou to Tcheng-tu, the capital
of the province.200
The identification of the Nêrê country with that of Norai=Mogaung
is further supported by statements of the Chinese record on the geo-
graphical and curious features of the country which cannot leave any
doubt on the matter. And about some astronomical knowledge possessed
by the traders, knowledge for which the Nora people have long remained
famous. This knowledge, however, being the same as that of the
Chinese themselves with reference to the calendar was no gain for them,
but seems to be an indice of an earlier influence of Chinese civilisation in
the Nora country, through the Szetchuen traders of whom we shall speak
further on.
The ascertaining of the comparatively late working of the jadeite mines
of Mogaung is an important feature for the date of ancient trade of this
stone, as jadeite in the east is found nowhere else than there, and is
foreign to the geognostic structure of the Chinese Turkestan, where
nephrite comes from. As jadeite has been found in the lacustrian dwellings
of Switzorland and also in not a few places of remote times, perhaps 1500
more or less B.C. of the neolithic period, it has been rather prematurely
assumed that, as in the case of the nephrite-jade, the jadeite implements
had been brouglit from the Mogaung mines. If such had been the case, it
would tend to demonstrate the existence of trade with Indo-China at that
remote periud:02. But the whole is moonshine. Attention has been
called to the fact that the jadeite implements of Europe belong to several
varieties which are located in their respectire areas, and therefore must
have been brought from short distances, where their origin will be traced
one day or other203. The difficulty has been settled from another side;
chemical analysis has shown that the composition of the jadeite implements
found in Europe is not the same as that of the jadeite of Upper Burma 204.
Therefore all speculations and inferences drawn in relation to an ancient
trade of jade stones between that part of the world and the west are put to
naught by these conclusions 205,
Notes. 194) In the Shih-i-ki by Wang Kia (IVth cent. A.D.), with many
other souvenirs and legends of olden times saved from oblivion.
.195) It is this country in which the late Pauthier wanted to recognize
the name of the Nile! and therefore Egypt. Stan. Julian proposed
afterwards an identification with the Indian town of Nala, but this towa
CHINESE CIVILIZATION. H.
was founded by Asoka, thus eight centuries after the event reported in
the text, and its name is differently transcribed in Chinese.
196) In the Süh Han shu by Sié Tch'eng (250 A.D.) it is stated that
the Ngai-Lao (West of Yunnan) brought forth some Kuang-tchu and
amber (112-pch) during the Han dynasty. In the Po wu tchi by Tchang
Hwa (A.D. 232-300.) Amber is said to come from Yuug-tchang,
the great mart of W. Yunnan. Cfr. Tai ping yü lan, Bk. 88, fol. 1.--
The Green jace called pik (cfr. W. Williams, Syll. dict. p. 691) was
known to the Romantist geographers of the IV th century, Lieh-tze
and Tchwang-tze, but only in the case of the latter with reference to
the country of Shuh, then part of Szetchuen, and this in a fabled way.
It was only. under Suan-ti (73-49 B.C.) of the Han dynasty that pih.
stones were heard of more positively as found in, or better arriving
through, Yh tchou i.e. parts of Yunnan and Szetchuen (Han shu.) The
word was then applied to Jadeite which is still now one of its accepta-
tions. The product is mentioned in the San-tu-fu of Tso-sze (111rd
cent. A.D.), in the Wei-lioh (250 A.D.) The Kwang-ya dictionary
(227-240 A.D.) states that two sorts of pik, one "p’iao i.e. azure; the
other luk, i.e. green, come through Yueh-sui which corresponds to a
part of the modern prefecture of Tsu-hinng, West center of Yunnan.
The Tai Kang ti ki (circa 300 A.D.) states that the pik stones come
through Tsing ling hien (later Tayao in the same prefecture of Yunnan;
cfr. G. Playfair, Cities and towns of China, 1167, 6893), which curiously
enough as an identication of trade route is that same country of Shou
Mi from where traders had come to the Chinese court of Tcheng Wang
as reported in the text. (Cfr. Tai ping yü lan, Bk. 89, fol. 2.) The
proper word for "jadəite' is now fei-ts'ui W, W. 0.c. 140 ; Geerts,
Les produits de la nature Japonaise et Chinoise, II, 465), and that for
Jasper ' is the above word pih-(yüh).
197) Tchuh shu ki nien, Tchồu y wang, year II.
198) The country was visited by Capt. Hannay, Dr. Griffith and Dr.
Bayfields in the years 1835-1837.---Cfr, C. H. Yule, A Mission to
Ava, 1858. On the mines and work, cfr. also some informations in Dr.
John Anderson, A Report on the Expedition to Western Yunnan via
Bhamo (Calcutta, 1871), pp. 63, 65, 66, 67, 327, 328 ; Mandalay to
Morien, London, 1876), pp. 201-202.
199) Anderson, Report, pp. 67, 328 ; Mandalay to Momien, p. 201
The author says that the trade in his time had greatly diminished in
importance. Capt. W. Gill in 1877, and A. R. Colquhoun in 1879,
who passed through the town do not mention the jade industry. E.
Reclus, Asie Orientale, p. 748, states that jade is sent through Man-
dalay to Canton. The Mohammedan rebellion has for long and in
some cases disturbed for ever the old state of things.
200) The latter route to Burma is probably older than the other. Marco-
Polo followed it as shown by Col. H. Yule, Geographical Introduction
to Capt. W. Gill's journey, 2nd edit., p. 93, and Travels of Marco-
Polo, 2nd edit, vol. II, p. 57.
201) “Ils observent le soleil et la lune pour connaître la direction ou la
position des royaumes étrangers ; ils comptent les alternatives de froid
et de chaud pur connaître les années et les mois. En examinant les
$9
GEOGRAPHY FROM THE NILE
.
époques des premières lunes dans ce royaume en trouva que leur cal-
endier était d'accord avec celui de la Chine.” (Transl. Stan. Julien,
Simple exposé d'un fait honorable, p. 204.) --- For the Noras (the
aboriginal population of the region) were a comparatively civilised
people, and the few who remain are still regarded in Mogaung, Khamti
and Upper Assam as a learned class, and are generally employed
among the Buddhist priesthood and others as astronomers and writers.”
(Ney Elias, Introd. sketch of the history of the Shans, p. 39).
202) Fischer, Neuen Jahrbücher für Mineralogie, 1881, p. 131 ; Dr.
Howard Osgood, Prehistoric Commerce and Israel, p. 169.
203) G. de Mortillet, Le Prehistorique, (Paris, 1883), p. 539.
204) Damour, Compte Rendus de l'Academie des sciences; 'Th. Morel, Les
differentes especes de Jades et leur classement au point de vue min.
eralogique ; Catalogue du Musée Guimet, 1883, I., 309-315.
205) No inference can be made on the same matter from the use of Jade
in India, as the introduction of Jade into the country dates only from
the early Mogul Emperors of Delhi, Cfr. N. Maskelyne in Max
Muller's Biographies of words, p. 213.
*
*
*
· The most renowned party of foreigners who reached the Chinese court
in ancient times from the south, were those who came from Yueh-Shang,
a name which in its ideographical rendering means trail of the outside
borders. It has been identified with the southern part of Tungking.206
The unsophisticated legend207 says that in the sixth year of the regency of
Tchôu Kung, uncle to the young King Tcheng of Tchôu, they presented
three elephants and a white pheasant.208 Nothing is said of any other pre-
$ents nor of their bringing any book or calendar with them, as was the
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.
case with some other parties; they are chiefly known from the spurious
statement that the Duke of Tchộu presented them with five south point-
ing chariots to facilitate their return to their remote country. But this
account has been shown to be baseless. 209
Like the travelling parties from Shổu-Mi and from Nêrê, the mission
from Yueh-shang was of no importance for the increase of Chinese civilisa-
tion. None of them had anything to teach, while they had everything to
learn; their respective countries were still uncivilised, and so far as we
can judge210 they only knew what chance had permitted them to get
from Chinese culture. A fabling inference which has been dereloped into .
a regular tradition, and though unknown to the oldest statements about
the journey of the Yueh-shang people has been eagerly adaptated by the
doers of Annamite history, attributes to the latter trading party magnified
as ambassadors, the knowledge of a writing proper to their own country.211
This spurious story must have been concocted in putting together, the
inference drawn from the statement that interpreters were employed by
the travellers, and the genuine existence in Annam of a phonetic writing
of unknown date which was suppressed in 186 A.D.212 This writing
may have been introduced from India, cr have consisted in a syllabic
derivation and simplification of the Chinese characters introduced by the
trade of Shuh, but in either case it must have been several centuries
later than the journey referred to.214
All these three trading parties had been attracted to the Chinese court
by the rising fortune of the House of Tchou just beginning its rule over
the Chinese dominion, and the expectations which its wealth gave to
foreign commerce.
N
NOTES. 206) The Hoang viet dia du chi of Annam (1829), states that the
old country of Yueh-shang is now covered by the provinces of Nghe-
an, Thuan-loa and Quang-nam, cf. I, 9, II., 31.
207) In the Tung kien kang muh of Tchu-hi (trad. de Mailla, vol. I. p.
316-318) and in the An nan tchi lioh by Li-tsih' of the Ming period
Kong, 1884), the story is told at great length, being swollen with
extraneous matters, which show how the Chinese compilers succeed to
expand the terseness of the original reports.
208) These envoys are represented among others on one of the ten sculp-
túred stones of Hiao t'ang shan in Shan tung which date of the second
century B.C. They are given in facsimile in the Kin shih soh (quoted
nute 187 above), but do not exhibit the same Egyptian influence as
those of the Tzü yun shan, which were probably a survival of some of
the Egyptian data carried thcre by the sea trade several centuries earlier.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
45
M. Paleologue has reproduced a few of them in his recent work L'art
chinois, pp. 133, 135, 137, 145, and 309.
- 209) Cfr. suprà note 152. The matter is full of interest as it concerns at
the same time the invention of the mariner's compass. The late W.
F. Mayers, in an interesting note on The Mariner's Compass in China
(Notes and Queries on China and Japan, Hong-Kong, 1870, vol. IV. pp.
9:-10) has shown that such a knowledge in China canbe reported only to
the time of Ma-Kiun, a famous mechanician who flourished at the court
of Ming-ti (A.D. 227-240) of the Weidynasty. The lamented scholar
thought that "several reasons exist for believing that Ma-Kiun may
have derived his knowledge of the properties of the magnet from Ind-
ian sources, as he probably did of the water-wheel and other inventions
which are laid claim to in his behalf.” These Indian sources would then
be Buddhist missionaries whose propaganda was very active under that
Northern dynasty. However the mariner's compass was not known on
board Indian ships as late as the Vth century. In 413 A.D. Fahien
travelling from Ceylon to Java on a large merchant ship carrying about
200 men, wrote: it is impossible to know east or west except by obsery-
ing the sun, moon, or stars, and so progress. It is dark, rainy weather
the only plan is to steer by the wind without guide.” (Foh kwoh-ki, ch.
-XL. tr. Beal). And afterwards on board another ship of same size,
from Java to China, the weather being also bad, they were in the same
uncertainty as to their proper route. Dr. J. Edkins, on the other hand
thinks (On Chinese names for boats and boat-gear, J. N. O. B.R. A. S.
1877. XI. 123-142) that magnetic iron was known in North China at
the time of Kiei Kutze in the IVth century, B.C., who speaks of the
south pointing chariots, and probably also known to Confucius, as the
load-stone district was not far distant from the capital of the state of
Lu, where the great philosopher was. Both learned writers have over-
looked a most interesting statement of Liu-hiang, (80-9 B.C.) in his work
Hung fan wu hing tch'uan, which I resume here. The Duke Hien of
Tsin(822-811B.C.) tried unsuccessfully to make south pointing chariots.
Later on the Duke Huan of Tsi (N. W. Shantung, 687-6+2 B.C.) found
out the mistake and was successful in making some, in which limself
and his minister Kuan-tze (note suprà 177) drove. The statement is
very suggestive of a slow progress, perhaps under foreign influence which
reached there by the sea-trade (cfr. sect. C. of the present chapter) and
210) For instance the calendar of the Nêrê.
211) Truong Vinh Ky, Cours d'histoire innamite, vol. I.. p. 11 and 27.
Curiously enough the statement is not found in the highly embellished
Tungking by William Mesny, pp. 10-13, (Hong-Kong, 1884). On
the falsification and making up of the Annals of Annam, cfr. The
languages before the Chinese, sec. 89-91, and add. p. 152, of the French
edition.
212) And superseded by the Chinese characters. Ofr. my Beginnings of
writing around Tibet, sec. 44.
213) Several such writings have been made in South-western Asia, such
as the Lolo, the Shuikia, and a third one, the name whereof is not
known to me, but a specimen exists in a bilingual manuscrit No. 24898,
Musée d'Ethnographie du Trocadéro, Paris : Musso and ?- On the
46
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Lolo writing, cfr. below sec. c. of the present chapter. On the ,
Shui-Kia characters, cfr my notice A new writing from S. W. China,
in The Academy, 19 Febr., 1887, and Langues de la Chine, p. 150.
214) By a singular perversion of fables, a story has been made in the
VIth century of our era, of Ambassadors from Yueh-shang sent to
subject in The Land of Sinim, not China, pp. 184-185 of B. & O.R., I.;
and below Chapt. VII. answer to objections.
e) The Trade of Shuh=Szetchuen.
We must come to several centuries later than the beginning of the
Tchồu dynasty to find the most important trade routes through the South
and South West and West, which have really exercised a great influence
on the development of China. Curiously enough this trade was
LU
the time.
The traders of Shuh, i.e., Sze-tchuen, belonged to those well gifted
populations of an initiative spirit, who did not shrink from being on
friendly terms with the civilized Bak tribes soon after their arrival in North
West China, and to avail themselves of the benefit which an acquaintance
counts relate that Tchang-y, a son of Nai Hwang-ti went forward to settle
in that direction,215 and that several people of the Po’ng tribe brought
books to Shao-Ha0216 a successor of Hwang-ti, who had remained in the
West and did not rule in China. Arriving at more modern times, it is
probable that the Shuh people had made use of their knowledge and en-
tered into some intercourse with the outside world. The history of the
country had been written by Yang-hiung (B.C, 53 - A.D. 18), the celebrated
philologist217who was himself a native of Shuh, but his work is apparently
lost and now known only through a few quotations in other works 218, which
we shall refer to further on. The traders of Shuh remained for long con-
fined to the North of the Szetchuen province, and there are reasons to
believe that they did participate to the Jade traffic by the W. route which
we have described. (VI, b). Their country was included in the Liang-
tchou, of the Yu-kung, which had to pay a tribute of jade; or at least from
where or through which Jade articles did come, at the time of the Hia and
Shang dynasties as recorded in the Yü Kung.219 Much later, in 860, B.C.
some of their presented Jade articles to the King Y of Tchôu,220 and the
sort of Jade indicates that it was Nephrite of Turkestan. It is appar
ently to this trade extended from hand to hand westwards, that western-
f
CHINESE CIVILIZATION,
Asia and afterwards Europe was indebted for the introduction of Chinese
fruits such as the peach, the abricot, the jujube, and some others. The
carrying westwards and eastwards of the famous mastiff-dogs of Tibet was
also due to the same trade, at least for a part of the route, as we shall see
directly.
The Peach is certainly originary from China221, where it is cultivated
since high antiquity, and where it so became a symbol of marriage and of
- longevity222. In the Brief Calendar of the Hia dynasty, which was com-
piled not long after the twentieth century B.c.223, it is noted that on the
sixth month the "peaches are boiled for preserves : 224. The wild peach
tree is also spoken of therein as putting forth blossoms on the first month,
and forests or groves of peach treus225 are mentioned in ancient literature226,
such as the T'ao-lın, or peach-forest in Shensi W., the oldest one known,
and afterwards others in Honan 227, in Kiang-si228, &c. Now the peach in
antiquity was not known in the west229, nor was it known to the Sanskrit-
speaking people migrating into India. It must have been imported from
China between the time of these migrations, and the relations of the
Persians with the Greeks. It was first spoken of by Theophrastus
(332 B.C.), who mentions it as a Persian fruit, and it did not reach Italy
until the Christian era. It is therefore probable that this importation did
take place before the fourth century230 from China, through the route of
the Shuh traders and their intermediaries.
Abricot (prunus armeniacus) is also indigenous in Chins231, and may
have been brought to the west by the same channel. The hing232 is men-
tioned along with the t'ao=peach in the Brief Calendar of the Hia
dynasty233, but it was not so much appreciated as the latter fruit, and the
references to it in ancient literature are not so numerous 234. In the west
it was not known at the time of Theophrastus, but it must have been
brought before the first century as Pliny mentions it, unless it should have
been already there unknown of the Greek writer. The jujube, tsao, was
carried to the west, or at least to Persia, at a much earlier period than the
peach and the abricot, though after the Aryan migration to India 235. It
is a native of the north of China 236, and it is mentioned in the Hia calendar
already referred to.237 The list will probably be increased by further
researches on the subject.
The celebrated mastiff dogs of Tibet have been carried in antiquity
in Babylonia as well as in China. Marco-Polo spoke of them as “big
as donkeys."238 François Lenormant has reproduced a slab from Baby-
lonia where such a dog is represented with a precision which makes the
$8'
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
identification certain. 239 In China their presentation to the King of
Tchôu by some people of the West, after the overthrow of the Shang-
yu dynasty has given a name to a book of the Shu-king:240 Modern
travellers have repeatedly spoken of these famous dogs.241 The case is
interesting in our enquiry as instancing communications at least 0c-
casional between a medial country, Babyloniaon the West and China on
the east. In the case of China it may have been due, like the arrival
of the trading parties of Shöu-Mi, Nêrê and Yueh-shang, to the rising
fame of the conquest of China, then very small, by the Tchou with
the help of their neighbours, the non-Chinese tribes of the West and
South West.242 Although the name of the Shuh traders do not appear,
and that the party who presented the mastiffs is not given, as they are
described only as travellers from the West, it is quite clear that coming
from Tibet, they must have passed through the country of the Shuh
traders ; therefore their journey cannot but be connected with this western
trade, should they not be themselves simply a trading party from Shuh.
NUTES, 215) He dwelt near the Joh water. Tchuh shuh Ici nien, I, Hwang-
ti, year 77.-On relations with the Chinese in 1970 B.c.? cfr. The lang..
of Chin. before the Chin., sec. 113.
216) R. K. Douglas, Chinese and Babylonian literature, I. c. ; note 87
suprà.—This legend is one of those which have been combined into the
fabulous account told in the Tso-tchuen, Tchau kung, year XVII, 3;
edit. Legge. Chinese classics, vol, V, p. 667.- Tradition speaks of the
Pongs as the first rebels subdued by Hwang-ti, and afterwards friends
with the Chinese, They belonged to the same family as the Mungs
(Môn-Taſ race). cfr. Tai Ping yü lan, Bk. 915, ff. 1-9; and my Lang.
Chin, before Chinese, chap. IX,
217) I have analysed his Comparative dictionary of dialects” in the last-
quoted work, chap. VII.
218) Shuh wang pen-tsi in Tai ping yü lan, Bk. 166, ff. 3 and 10 v.
219) Shu-king, part III, Bk. I, 69. Cfr. text suprà and note 174.
220) Tchuh shu k'i wien, Tchou Y wang, year II. The expression used
is Kiüng yuk the finest sort of jade, that which is mentioned in the legend
of Muh Wang and Si Wang Mu, cfr. The Tree of Life, pp. 5, 10, n. 35.
221) As shown by Prof. A. de Candolle from various evidences; cfr. his
Géographie Botanique raisonnée, 1855, p. 881, and his recent smaller
work Origin of cultivated plants, 1884. pp. 221, 229.
222) Cfr. W. F. Mayers, Chinese R. M., sub. voc. T'ao, p. 213.
223) Cfr. E. C. Knobel, Notes on an ancient Chinese calendar, 1882.
Above note 20.
224) Tchu tao y wei töu shih; in the Ta Y-li, Hia siao tcheng, VIth month.
The same calendar as edited and translated by Prof, R. K. Douglas,
The calendar of the Hia dynusty, p. 41 (Orientalia Antiqua, I, 1882)
says only Tchu tuo · Boiled are the peaches '; the other words y wei tou
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
shih, litterally to make dishes of fruits' are not there.
225) Called to tac or y-tao, the first character having the two readings.
Prof. Douglas, 1.c. p. 26, translates mountain peach tree.
226) Spoken in the Shu-king, Part, V, Wú tcheng 2. It was situated
about the hill of Kw'a fu in the S.C. of the present department of T’ung-
tchöu. Cfr. J. Legge, Chinese classics, vol. III, p. 309, note. The
same statement is found in the Shan haï King. In the Tai ping yü
lan encyclopedia of 983, in Bk. 967 ff. 1-8, there is no less than 73
references to the peach from ancient literature.
227) G. Playfair, The Cities and Towns of China, No. 4400.
228) Tại pimg alu lam, Bk. 967, fol. 3.
229) The present statement and the followings are derived from Dr. A.
de Candolle, Géographie botanique and Origin of cultivated plants, 1.c.
230) We have spoken below of the introduction of the China peach into
India at a later date.
231) De Candolle, origin, pp. 215-218..
232) Not sing as by misprint in Bretschneider, on the study and value of"
Chinese botanical works, . 10.
233) Hia siao tcheng, 1, 21, and IV, 54; R. R. Douglas, O.C.
pp. 26, 37.
234) Tai ping yü lan, Bk. 968, ff. 1-3. Among the quotations given
there, one of the Vth. cent. refers to apricut trees in Khotan, and
another supposed to be earlier, speaks of an island where apricots grow,
in the sea south of Shantung.
235) A de Candolle, Origin, pp. 194-196.
236) A de Candolle, ibid. p. 196.
237) Hia siao tcheng, VIIIth month 93 ; R. R. Douglas, 0.c. p. 48.
238) H. Yule, Marco-Polo, 2nd edit., vol. II, p. 41.
239) In his work : La langue Primitive de la chaldée, pl., p. 383, from
a terra cotta fragment found at Babylun. At the time of the Akhæ-
menides, similar dogs were brought up in four villages of Babylonia,
according to Herodotus, who calls them 'Indian, I, 192. Ktêsias
has described them, 5 and fragm. VI. Cfr. Ancient India as des-
cribed by Ktésias the Knidian, by J. W. McCrindle, (1882), pp. 9 and
36. Also W. Houghton, Mammalia of the Assyrian inscriptions,
Tr. S.B.A., 1877, vol. V.
240) Liü ngao. Part, V, BkV. in J. Legge, Chinese classics, vol. III, p. 345.
241) Such as G. Bogle in 1774, Manning in 1812, (Mar-kham, Tibet,
pn, 88, 224); T. T. Cooper, P. Drand, (H. Yule, Marco Polo,
1.c.) Capt. W. Gill, The River of Golden Sand, (1880), vol. I, p.
382 ; vol. II, pp. 151. 247.
242) These tribes are enumerated in the Shu-king, Part, V, Bk. II
The Tchộu were represented in China with red hair. On their foreign.
origin, cfr. Les langues de la Chine, addit. p. 160.
243) Si Liü. The latter word (3837 of Basile) is not the proper name
of a · tribe, and means simply in that case, stranger, traveller, as in
Mencius. Cfr. W. Williams, S.D. p. 559; J. Eitel, Ch. C.D., p.
390 ; sub, voc.
50
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
1
The traders of Shuh in their mercantile expeditions followed three
routes going to the west, to the south-west and the south.
There was a route to Tibet and the west or south-west which, ap
parently starting from Tcheng-tu, passed through Darchiendo (Chinese T'a-
tsen-lu), as in the present day, 244 and then bifurcated to the N. W. and
to the Si W. The North route thither must have bent its direction to the
N. W. and following South of the Kuenlun range crossed to the country
of the Jade, the Khotan region. This is a mere inference from the data
we have just enumerated. We have no other evidence to add in its favour
nor' as to the date when it ceased to be used, after the presentation
to the Chinese court of Jade articles from Turkestan in 860 B.C. which
we have described. The S. W. route starting from Darchiendo west-
wards passing through Litang, Batang, Kiangka, and then in a S. W.
direction probably through Ræma, Sadiya, a45 and the course of the
Brahmaputra, reache:l on the Ganges the important mart of Pataliputra
(or Patna) which became the capital city of the celebrated Asoka (263—-
224 B.c.) This is the road spoken of afterwards by Tchang-Kien 123
B.C., 246 and by the unknown author of the Periplus 247 two hundred
years later.
Tchang-kien vas sent in 135 B.C. by Han Wu Ti on the track of the
Yueh-ti, former neighbours in the N. W. of China, who had migrated
westwards in 165 B. C., 248 in order to secure their alliance against the
common foes the Hiung-nus ; he arrived in the Ta-Hia country, 249 or
Bactria in 125 B.C., after being a prisoner among the latter for over ten
years, and there he saw, some cloth from Shuh, otherwise silk-cloth from
modern central Szetchuen, and some bamboo staves from Kiung, 250 a
western part of the same modern province ; both articles, he was told
were brought in Ken-tu, i.e. Hindu=India,251 by their own traders when -
going to that country which lay several thousand li to the south-east.
The acute Chinaman was unaware of the existing intercourse between
Shuh and India, but he estimated rightly that with reference to the Middle
kingdom, India was situate in the South-west, and therefore that some
communication could be established in that direction as we shall see further
on. It is to be remarked that Tchang-kieng does not allude at all to
any trade of any sort through Tibet and Badakshan, which existed no
more in his time, as otherwise he would undonbtedly have mentioned it,
and his views would not have been solely directed to the establishment
of an intercourse between Bactria and China through India, as we shall
gee further on. The scanty trade which as we have seen, the Shuh traders
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
51
did carry in olden times by the North had long died out from the difficulties
of the way, and the opening of new markets in India through the South
western routes. It was after the return of the Chinese minister and his
reports on the wealth of the countries West of the Tsungling mountains;
that trade by the North began only to be regularly carried.
The anonymous writer of the Periplus, A.D. 80-89, has a remarkable
passage on this trade.252 “Beyond this region (Khrusê, i.e. Indo-China),
immediately under the North, where the sea terminates outwards, there
lies somewhere in Thîn a a very great city;--not on the coast, but in the
interior of the country, called Thîna, from which silk, whether in the raw
state or spun into thread and woven into cloth is brought by land through
Bactria to Baruga za (Bharoch), or by the Ganges river to Limurikê
253 (Dimyrikế, the Tamul country, Malabar).” The author speaks of
perion sērikon and of nēma sērikon ; and in another passage he mentions
furs dérmata sērika as exported from Barbarikon, a mart on the middle
and only navigable branch of the Indus,254 where they must have been
brought from the same country as the other articles, i.e. from the Serica.
Pliny, somewhat carlier, mention 9255 the Sères sending their most ex-
cellent iron along with restments and furs.256 Ptolemy, is his turn, a
century later, says257 that there was not only a road from the country of
the Seres and of the Sina to Bactriane by the Stone Tower, (i.e. by
Kashgar and Pamir), but also a road to India which came through Pal- .
inabothra (i.e. Patna). The latter route is therefore that which was
followed by the merchants from Shuh for their trade with India, and until
the reopening of the North route, was during several centuries the way some
of communications between the West and the non-Chinese Szetchuen, and
by rebound the Middle Kingdom. I am not in a position to say that
this West-south route, or another South route whereof we shall speak
further on, was opened shortly after the time of the mercantile expedition.
to the court of Tching Wang 258 It is probable, but we shall not see any
influence coming through them before the sixth century ;258 as to historical
facts we do not find any before the fourth century.
At that time the wealth of Szetchuen had accrued considerably in con-
sequence of its foreign trade and made it a desirable acquisition for its
powerful neighbours, in the North the state of Tan, modern sound Ts'in,
in Shensi, future conqueror of the whole Chinese dominion, and on the
East the non-Chinese state of Tsu, probably old Tser u, which was not
yet half-sinicised in Hukwang.
The history of the kings of Shuh by Yang-hiung260, which I have
ORIGIS OF THE EARLY
already alluded to, gives the names of sereral rulers who had establishep
their power in the capital 261. After the lapse of three periods called
Ts'an tsung, Tcheh kuan and Yü y, a certain Kai ming was ruling in
the latter part of the fourth century262. His successors were Peh yung
Yü-wei, and T'u-y ü. The latter, who had come from India263, assumed
the title of king, and was ruling circà 255 B.C.264, but he was induced to
resign, according to probabilities, under the increased pressure of the kings
of Ts'in, then all powerful. The latter had begun long before to show
their strong hand in these regions. Prince Hwuy, who did not assume
the Royal dignity before 324 B.C., had conquered in 328 B.C. the region
called Patchung, corresponding to the modern prefecture of Tchung
King in E. Szetchuen. Five years afterwards, as king of Ts’in, he sends
his prime minister, Tchang-y, to attack the Shuh265. Kai-ming, who was
then on the throne, tried vainly to resist, and being vanquished, withdrew
to W11-yang, the modern Kia-ting fli, where he was made a prisoner soon
afterwards. It was only later on 266, namely, about 218 B.C., and in order
to facilitate their communications, that Ts'iy She Huang-ti, the founder
of the Chinese Empire, constructed the famous fire-feet causeway through
the Tsing ling range, which hitherto had been a natural barrier, pre-
venting any serious extension towards the South 267. Previously to the
establishment of this route the supremacy of the kings of Ts'in, which was
only temporary, in those regions was nothing more than a sort of pro-
tectorate, the gorernment remained in the liands of the native cliefs, who
preserved their hereditary rights 268, and were entitled to receive royal
princesses in marriage 269.
But it gave to the Ts'ins the right of passage for their traders and for
their troops ; and it permitted them to thwart the projects of the non-
Chinese 270 great State of Tsu, the kings whereof had been attracted like
themselves towards Ssetchuen and the south-west, and began their move-
ments in that direction sometime earlier, They hall gradually absorbed
several minor states which lay on their western borders. About 330 B.C.
the king Wei of Tsu271 sent Tchwang-Kiao with troops up the (Yang-
tse) Kiang to settle the boundaries of the several tribes from Pa and
Kien tchung 272 testvard, and attach them to his kingdom. The gallant
general proceeded further on and reached the lake of Yunnan which was
then called the Tsen marsh 273; he overawed the inhabitants of the country
by his military strength, and attached them also to the kingdom of Tsu.
But the army of Ts'in cut his communications in the rear, seizing, as we
have said above, the districts of Pa and Kien-tchung, which he had sub-
mitteil, and prerented his return to his native country. “ The highway
D
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
53
being thus rendered impassable, Tchwang-kiao remained with his followers
and established himself as king of Tsen, assuming the garb of the
barbarians and adopting their customs, he was accepted as their chief 274."
Notes. 24+) Routes die hard in mountainous and 'unexplored lands, and
the route here indicated is still said to be the only one permitted by the
orography of the country. Therefore it was probably that which was
245) The route is indicated by the geographical conditions of the country,
and that which has been severally attempted by European travellers
who could not go through because of the war-like and savage disposi-
tions of the native tribes.
246) Szema Tsien, She ki, Bk. 123, fol. 6 ; Pan ku, Tsien Han Shu,
Bk. 61, Biography of Tchang kien.
247) Peripl, Mar. Erythr., 64. J. W. McCrindlc, The Commerce and
Navigation of the Erythrean Sea (Bombay, 1879), pp. 12-13
and 148.
248) Cfr. my paper The Yueh-ti and the Early Buddhist Missionaries in
China, p. 5.
Herodoktérib vahed before in Fine
and ethnology in the cuneiform documents and the Chinese annals.
The l'ahia of the Chinese are the Daoi of N. Persia mentioned by
Herodotus I, 125 : the Deaye of Ezra, IV, 9: the Da hae whom
Sennakhérib vanquished in 697, he seized their capital Ukku, aud their
King Maniya fled before him. Cfr. E. Norris, Assyrian dictionary, I,
212; Prof. E. Schrader in F. von Richt)fen, Chinu, 441 n.; G. de
Vasconcellos-Abreu, De l' origine probable des Toukhares, pp. 176-179
(Le Muséon, 1883, t. II.)-The Tahia or Daai must be carefully
distinguished from the Tokha ri and from the Yueh-ti as shown by
the latter scholar. Richtofen 1.c., and A. Cunningham Coins of the
Indo-scythians (Numismatic Chronicle, 1888, vol. VIII) have not
avoided these confusions of ancient osientalists. Sennaherib had sub-
Loc.
to the North,
250) Kiung was properly the name of a hill, producing bamboos with
long joints and solid hearts, fit for making staves. A. Wylie.
251) The primitive text of Tchang-kien gare that spelling accordingly
with the name as he heard it pronounced in the N. of Persia. It was
corrected afterwards into Shen-tu under the influence of Buddhist
priests from India. Cfr. the gloss in Szema Tsien's Sheki, 1.c.
252) The connection of the Greek report with that of the Chinese minister,
not general, of Han Wu-ti, has been shown by Col. H. Yule in his
most valuable Essay introductory to Capt. Gill's journey - The River
of Golden Sand' (1880), p. 32.
253) Peripl. Mar. Erythr, 64; McCrindle, 0.c. pp. 147-148.
254) Ibid. 39; McCrindle, 0.c. p. 109, note. Some nēmu sērika was
also brought to Barbarikon as sta ted in the same passage.
255) Plin. Hist. nat. xxxiv. 41. Dr, J. Edkins has recently published
in the Journal of the Peking Oriental Society, 1885, vol. I, pp. 1-16,
a paper on Allusions to China in Pliny'snatural history.
256) In the Mahâbhârata, II, 50, quoted by Lassen, among the presents
54
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
sent to Yudhishthira by the Sa ka, Tushâr a, and Ka åka skins
are enumerated.
257) Ptolem. I, 17, circá A.D. 150.—McCrindle, Ancient India as des-
cribed by Ptolemy, (Bombay, 1885), p. 30.---Col. H. Yule, Cathay and
the w.y thither, vol. I, introd. pp. 146-153 has collected from Ptolemy
and annotated all that concerns this subject.
258) Which we have reported above.
259) Cfr. below, sect. ***** of the present chapter.
260 i Shuh Wang pen ki. I quote it from some extracts in the Tai ping
yü lan (A,D. 983), Bk. 166, ff. 3, 10. As the matter has never been
treated, as far as we know, in any European work, I am compelled to
speak at a greater length than I would do otherwise.
261) The unodern Tcheng-tu as called since 221 B.C. and then prononnced
Thanh-tu. It was previously Kwei-tcheng or the Tortoise city
according to the Lung Shuh siu in the Shwoh ling collection,
Bk. II, f. 9.
262) The same name appears in the Shan haž king, Bk. XI, ff. 2-4, but
so mucli fabled, that historical truth has disappeared under the be-
wildering garb.
263) The text says that he was originary from the Tien t'o mountains.
The name (1798-1716 of Basile) is one of the many Chinese equiva-
lents for Shindu or India.
264) A short notice of him is given in Mayer's Chinese R.M., I, 685,
where it is said that he was styled Wang Ti. He resigned his
throne and retired in the Wu mountains of the West, in consequence
of fabulous circumstances reported in his legend, but more probably for
the reason put forth in the text above,
265) Shuh Wany pen ki, 1.c. Bk. 166, f. 10 v. The date of this event
is pretty well ascertained from a concatenation of circumstances. Prince
dwuy made himself king in the year 324; and the officer he sent
against Shuh was Tchang-y who was in his service between the years
330-33 ; therefore it must be in 324-3.23 that the campaign took place
Tchang-y on whose life cfr. W. F. Mayers, Chinese R.M., I, 17.
266) Szema Tsien, She ki, Bk. 116, fol. 2.- Panku, Tsien Han shu,
Bk. 95 ; transl. A. Wylie, History of the South Western Barbarians,
p. 4 in Journal of the Anthropological Institute, August 1879.
267) The entire route is a work of tremendous engineering, says Baron
von Richtofen, in Col. H. Yule, Marco Polo, vol. II, p. 26. It ex-
tended from the river Hwai opposite the district city of Pao-ki, to
within a few miles of the Han river, near the prefectural city of Han-
tchung, (A. Wylie). It is curious that local tradition should attribute
the authorship of this great work to wrong men. In Shensi, it is Liu
pang the founder of the First Han dynasty in :06 B.C. ; in Szetchuen
it is the great man of the country, Liu-pi the founder of the Third
Han dynasty at Tcheng-tu in 226 A.D. It is possible that Liu pang
had it repaired but he did not establish it, as the statement of Szema
Isien is quite precise, and it existed previously ten years or more.
268) For instance in 255 B.C. King Tch’ao siang made a treaty with
some chiefs of the Pa region, modern Tchung king, which was engraved
on stone. Cfr. Hou Han Shu, Bk. 116, Pan Tun ;, transl. A. Wylie,
History of the Southern and South Western Barbarians, p. 222, in
Revue de l'Extreme Orient, 1882, t. I.
269) Hou Han Shu, Bk. 116, Pa Nan; A. Wylie, ibid. p. 220.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
270) On this state and its non-Chinese linguistic characteristics, .cfr.
in the French edition, addition p. 148.
271) Szema Tsien, She Ki, Bk. 116, f. 2.--King Wei ruled from 339
to 328 B.C.
272) Corresponding to W. Hunan, E. Szetshuen and N. Kueitchou
provinces.
273) This name which is now decayed into Tien is still the litterary ap-
pellative of the province of Yunnan.
274) Szema Tsien, She lci, 1.c. ; in Wylie's translation J.A.I., 1.c. p. 4.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
55
e) The trade of Shuh=Szetchuen.
III.
After 320 B.C., the subjects of the Than, modern T's'in, rulers had
therefore a footing in the Shuh country, and could have a hand in the
foreign commerce which was carried there; but we do not know how far
they availed themselves of their opportunities. They certainly did so to a
certain extent, and were enabled to get some geographical information on
the regions of the south, and especially the region of the modern Burma.
Some documents have existed about a route or routes from Ta Thanh,
modern Ta Ts'en, as it was called at the time of its dominion275, and
Indo-China, compiled apparently at the beginning of the Kan dynasty;
but they have been misunderstood by a Chinese compiler of about 350 A.D.
who has applied them to another purpose, and they have reached us in
such a garbled and mixed up condition that it would be an invidious and
dangerons task to draw any inference of positive geography out of them.
It is one of the nost curious cases of misgivings in the system of mosaic
literary work known as Chinese composition 276,
As we have just said, a clear indication of this trade route is the
geographical knowledge which was gained through it. In the Xth book
of the Shan hai King277, an interpolated passage of circà 210 B.C, mentions
the Kwei-lin region 278 and afterwards the Peh-lu country, the Li-ni
country, the Tibo-ti country, and the Peh-ku country, all southwards of
the Yu river, which is a southern affluent of the Canton river279. Now
all these names are, descriptive of peculiar customs; Li-ni=Parted-
years, Tiaoti=tattoed foreheads, or ethnic names, Peh-lu=Pray
and Plow, Peh-ku=Pgho and Pegu, all formerly of the country which
is now Burma 280. A later work mentions tin as one of the products of
the country of Peh-lu, sold to foreigners 281; and this Peh-lu is ap-
parently the same as that we have just quoted from the Canon of the
Hills and Rivers or Shan Hai King.
56
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.
Therefore at the time of the preponderance of the Than or Ts'in, i.e.,
after 320 until 209 B.o., and probably earlier, a trade-route bad existed
towards the south-west, passing through the principalities of Szetchuen
and Yunnan, notably through Yung-tchang in the W. of latter province,
and hence by one of the two rivers, the Salwen or the Irawaddy, arriving
to the smporia on the coast of Pegu282. We know from several tes-
timonies, concurring to the same statement, that the coast of Pegu, was
for centuries a seat of commercial activity, An ancient Hindu colony,
Hinduic, not Buddhist, of merchants from Orissa under the lead
of Ta p hussa and Bhallik a had been founded in the Vth century
B.C., in U k ka la ma ndal a283, which comprised the region S. and
8.W. of the extreme Pegu yoma range 284 The foundation of the
Shwe Dagon pagoda of Rangoon is attributed to them.
According to the Mahâ Râjâweng or Royal history of Burma,
with all reserve due to its trustworthiness, the upper part of the country
had been colonised from India even before that time. Abhirâjâ, ruler of
Kapila vastu285, abandoned his country and crossing the mountains
eastward, founded about 300 years before the time of Gautana, a new
kingdom with the capital at Tagoung, on the left bank of the
Irawaddy, in about 23° 30' N. lat. While Gantama Buddha was
alive, i. e. circa 515-435 B.C., a second band of Kshatriyas from Gangetic
India arrived led by Daza Râjâ, and settled east of the Irawaddy286 The
thirty-second successor of Abhirâjâ, named Bhiennakâ, and the last king
of his dynasty, who lived about the commencement of the religious
Buddhist era, was driven away by invaders from his capital, the old
Pagan, which they destroyed, near Tagoung, and compelled to take refuge
at Malei, on the right bank of the Irawaddy, and nearly opposite the
present remains of Lower Tsampenago 287. These invaders had come from
a country to the east called Gandala ri t288, in the land of Tsin or
Sin, which corresponds with Yunnan.289 Should the last name be con-
temporary of the event, and the “ about the commencement of the religious
era” indicate as it seems probable a somewhat later date, 2 90 namely the
third century before the Christian era, if not later, we might have in this
record a link with the genuine history of Yunnan which we have recorded.
The Kingdom of Tsen had been established in 330 B.C., and it is rery
probable that the rulers of that state, enterprising as we know they were,
have attempted if not succeeded to establish their sıray towards the south-
west of their dominion, and therefore have advanced eventually as far as
the Old Pagan. This place, in some accounts was a iso called Tzinduè,
1
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
57
291 and it seems that this name was known to the traders of S.W. China
in the second century before our era.2 92
Anyhow, in the third century B.C., the region of modern Burma must
have been largely occupied with Hindu colonists ; it was deemed of suffici-
ent importance to be numbered aniong the nine realms where Buddhist
missions ought to be sent; and after the great council held about 2+1
B.c. in the monastery of Açokârâma at Patna, Sona and Uttara were dis-
patched to Suvan na bhumi, 293 and according to probabilities, they
landed at Golan a gara, 234 north of That un.
We have now carried our historical investigation abont the possi-
bilities of intercourse between Shuh and the South and South-west, as
late as the third century before our era. This period ought to be later
than is required for the immediate purpose of the present work. The
events of the two centuries which follow, are however so important in lis-
torical results and in clearer and more precise information on the matter,
that we are compelled to examine them, before proceeding to our survey of
the importation of western notions and ideas which have reached the Mid-
dle Kingdom through the S.W. channels.
Notes. 275) In the Shan hai king, we find Tu Thanh, i.e. Ta Ts’in, Ta
T'su, &c.
276) I refer to the description of Tr 'Tsin in the We lioh by Yü-huan
of the IV th century, a large part whereof refers distinctly to the old
Ta Than (Ta Tsin) of N. W. China, and to Thitun near
Martaban, and dates from the short period of the Than=Ts'in supre-
macy ; it was mixed up with data of later date concerning Dakshina or
nothing of Ta Ts'in. The description I discuss contains whole state-
ments from the Shan hai king, (cf. II. 20, XIII, 1 anıl XVI, 4 of this
work with sect. 77 of the description) which have crept into all the
notices subsequently compiled, from the Höz Han Shu downwards.
The symbol Tusin, which as I have shown in another paper (B & 0.R.,
1, 46), was formerly Than and in that capacity had been used to trans-
cribe the names of T a Than, later Ta T's'in, of N.W. China, and of
Thatun, later Sadun near Martaban, was gradually decayed to Tsin
and in the latter value, was employed in the fourth century, with the
same other sign t, great, for the notation of the name of Dakshina
or S. India. Cfr. the Chinese version of the Samantal-prabhâsa-sútra,
early work like the Lalita vistara, by Tchu Fâhu or Dharmaraksha, Pir-
yao k 129, in 308 a.d., III, 7, fol. 5.- Another transcription for the same
name was employed (Eitel, Sanskrit-rhinese dictionary, sub. voc.)
afterwards, by Fang-yen and others but in that concerns the earliest
reports the evil was done, and a case of error existed henceforth for
future compilers. Much confusion has been brought about in Chinese
58
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
latives for names netyly-heard of, because of a temporary and approximate
sirnilarity in sound, fancied by the transcriber according to his time and
liis own dialectal peculiarities. In the descriptions of Ta T'sin which
the Chinese compilers have wrongly looked upon as that of one and
unique country, there are several cases of such confusions and the result
has been an inextricable entanglement. Dr. F. Hirth in his learned
work China and the Roman Orient, Researches into their Ancient and
and Mediæval relations as represented in old Chinese records, Shan-
ghai, 1885, lras published all these texts with translations and comments;
but he has not recognized the extracts therein from the Shan hori king;
he has premised that Ta T'sin applied to the Roman Orient only,
and was shifting in the records according to the geographical knowledge
of the time ; with a considerable amount of learning and ingenuity
which deserved better subject and success, he has attempted the im-
possible task of making many names fit countries and towns of Anterior
Asia.— I find in my own notes that the name Ta T"sin refers to five
different countries' ; Ansih to two ; Tiao-tchi to three ; Li-icien to three;
and so forth. With reference to the old south trade-route and the
documents about it which have been merged with later data concerning
the Roman Orient or Ta T'sin in the Wei lioh, I remark the following
names : Tsih-s hih (Shan hni king, II, 20, X1, 3 ; Legge, Shu
king, pp. 127, 134 ; M. Guelny, Description de la Chine occidentale,
Muséon 1885, IV, 618-9); Hien aud Tu in S. Szetchuen (cfr.
Matouanlin, Ethnographie, transl. D'Hervey, I, 37, 56, 21, 175);
Ki-fu, not Sze-fu,K o-f u, in Yueh sui S. Szetchuen (Matouanlin, 1.c.
147); Sze-tao in W. Kueitchou; Tsie-lan, E. of Tsun-y, Kueitchou
(Matouanlin, 1.c. 124); A-man-Ho-man of W. Yunnan (Matouanlin,
1.c. 195); T'ian-tchi=Tia o-t i of Upper Burma; Li-kien=R a k h aing,
modern Arakan (A. P. Phayre, History of Burma, p. 41); Sze-lo=
Sada, S. of Rakhaing; (Col. H. Yule, Oldest Records of the sea
route to China, p. 5; Proc. R. G. S., Nov, 1882); Sze-pin=S a bona
of Ptolemy=Suvarna (Lassen, in McCrindle's Ptolemy, p. 199); Tv
Than later Ta Tsin,=Tha tun, a local form (Phayre, 0.c, p. 24)
of Saddhamma (Dr. Em. Forchammer, Notes I, The Shwe Dagon Pagodão
pp. 3, 17); drsih, at proximity of Tun-snin=Tennasserin (Liang shu,
Bk, 54)=Andhra on the East coast of India ; Ankú=Ang ha
of the same region ; l'ü-lo=U dra, modern Orissa ; Lu-fen=T a p-
roba ne or Ceylon and its flying bridge of 230 li across the sea, =
the Bridge of Rama ; and some others.—On The Chinese name of the
Roman empire, cfr. my note in The Academy, 1 Oct., 1881 ; and Prof.
Henri Cordier, in Mélanges Graux, 61884, pp. 719-721, De l'origine
des noms que les ch nois ont donnés à l' Empire Romain.
277) Shun hai king, Bk. X. fol. 1 2. On this curious work cfr. note
91, suprà.'
278; The entry of this name which existed as a geographical appellative
after 214 B.C. until the year 204 3.c when it was conquered by the king
of Nan-yuel, who was recognised as such and as a vassal of the Han
dynasty in 196 B.C. The years 214-204 B.C. or little afterwards' are
· therefore the period of the composition of the notice.
279) A. R. Colquhoun, Across Chrysé, vol. I.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION,
5.9
280) All names and customs found still among the Karengs. Cfr. Major
Spearman, The British Burma Gazetteer, vol. I. pp. 162-173 ; also
281; 43 $q. Am Mahon, Burma Cotill among
P. 43 sq. And my Lany, before Chin., sect. 145-149.
281) The Funan tu hu by Kang-tai, quoted in the Tai ping yü lan
(983) Bk. 789, fol. 3 v.
be The Funny Lang. beforens of the Golden; pp.
·
era, as described in F. Hirth. China and the Roman Orient, p. 179.
In the Hou Han Shu Bk. 116, (transl. Wylie, Rev. Extr. Orient, p.
234; also F. Hirth, 0.c., pp. 36, 179) a state of Thar or Tan, pro-
bably not distant from Yung-tchang, is recorded as having relations
with the Chinese court in A.D. 97, and presenting to the Emperor in
120 A.D. some musicians and jugglers, whose feats are described, from
Thatun (written Ta Thun) a country in the S.W. with which the
Shan or Tan had intercourse. M. Talboys Wheeler, the historian of
India, has told me that the natives of South Burma are still most
clever in tlie same tricks as those described by the Chinese annalist. On
Thatun, cfr. note 276.
283) Utkalas was the classical name of the inliabitants of Orissa, E.
India.
284) Cfr. En. Forchhammer, Notes on the Early history and geography
of British Burma, I. (Rangoon, 1883), pp. 6, 11, 12, 14 and 16. The
author mentions, p. 6, that names occur in the geography of British
Burma which are originally not Pali but Sanskrit, and suggestive more
hism. Col. H. Yule has long before made the same renark. Cfr. his
Sources and authorities in Dr. Smith's Atlas; and his Notes on the oldest
records of the sen route to China (Proc. R.G.S. 1882) p. 11. Both
scholars have remarked the transfer which has taken place of many
Indian names to Indo-China.
285) Or Ka pila na ga ra, the birth-place of Buddha Gautama, identified
by Gen. Alex. Cunningham with Nagar on the Upper Manurama or
Cuni tributary of the Gogra. Cfr. lis Ancient geography of India, p.
414 sq.---Abhiraja is said to have fled before the invasion of his country
by the king of Kauthala or Oudh. (Dr. J. Anderson, Mandalay to
Momien, pp. 26-27.) The Maha Rajaweng says, the king of Peng-zi-
la-riet (Major Spearman, British Burma Gilzetteer, I, p. 236.)
286) On the ruins of Tagoung, cfr. Sir A. P. Phayre, History of
Burmi, 1883, pp. 1-15, and Dr. J. Anderson, Report on the EC-
pedition to Western Yunnan, 1871, p. 206. Little of them is apparent
at first sight, but explorations and excavations there would discluse
certainly some most important data. Dr. Em. Forchhammer, archæo-
logist of the government of Burma, has just made an exploration of the
magnificent ruins of New Pagan, and discovered some wonderful
antiquities. Cfr. Col. Yule Remains of Pagan, and Dr. Forchhammer's
letter in Trübner's Record, 1889, II Ird s. No. 1, pp. 3-4; also Yule's
Mission to su, 1858, p. 33; Howard Malcom, Travels in the Burman
Empire, June 27, 1836. Though Pa ga n is reported to have been
built a long while after T a goung, namely in the seventh century of
our era, (Burmet Gazetteer, p. 219 ) we may expect from Dr. Forch-
hammer's explorations some important disclosures on the inflation of the
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
• Mahâ Râjâweng in respect to the date of foundation of the first town.
287) Cfr. Burmm. Gazetteer, I, p. *:36 ; Phayre, 0.c. p. 8; Ney Elias,
· Introductory sketch of the history of the Shans, p. 12. W
288) Gandalar it is one of the many instances of transfer of the
classical localities of Indian Buddhism to Indo-China, which is current
in Burma. For the Buddhist horizon in the latter country, Yunnan
represents Gand hâra, the country about Peshawar, and is still so
styled in state documents of Burma (Gandalarıt). Cfr. Col. H. Yule,
Marco Poło 2 ed., II, p. 59, and An endeavour to elucidate Rishiduddin's
geographical notices of India, J.R.A.S. N.s., vol. IX, p. 356. Cfr. also
note 284 suprá.
289) Same authorities as note 287 all quoting the Maha Râjâweng.
290) Bhiennakâ was the 32nd ruler after Abhirâjâ who lived 300 years
before Gaudama, let us say about 775 B.C. Now 33 reigos at an
· average of 15 years each make a total of 495 years, learing 280 B.C.
as a possible date for the recorded expedition from Tsen.
291) Thind u ë with the Burmese th is nearly Trinduë which we have
quoted in the text in order to avoid any misconception, cfr. Ney Elias,
0.C. p. 11.
292) Cfr. below, end of section IV.
293) T. W. Rhys Davids, Buddhism, p. 227.
294) Em. Furch hammer, Notes I; The first Buddhist Mission to Suvanna
bhumi, pp. 1-6, and 10.
e) IV.
which ensued, the allegiance to the Chinese government ceased to be
recognised in the W. and S. W. of modern China proper ; these countries
were released and the ancient roads through Shuh were reopened,"
and “by this traffic the communities became wealthy and prosperous. 295
Barbarians in the south and west, and by the interchange of com-
modities, were able mutually to supply their respective wants."2 96
The Han dynasty which had succeeded that of Than=Ts'in was too
much engaged in repelling the attacks of the Hiung-nus iu the North
to take any interest in the S.W., and they had left everything there go
adrift. It was only after 130 B.C., under the powerful rule of Wu-ti,
that some efforts were made in that direction ; the Kiun of Kien-wei
was established or supposed to be so on the country connecting modern
Hunan, Szetchuen and Kweitchou with its centre near the modern Kia-
ting fu, and the regions of Kiung and Tsoh W.of Szetchuen 297 recog-
nized the Chinese supremacy, the meagre resources of the Empire not
permitting to do anything further.298 At that time it was learned by the
Chinese that a country named Shin-tuh was situated about 2000 li to
the West of Kiung.299 When Tchang Kien returned in 123 B.C. from
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
. 61
.
his mission to the Yueh-ti, he urged his government to establish com-
munications with Bactria through India. The North route was stopped
by the Hiung-nus, and it was not possible to pass through the Kiang300
i.e. the Tibetan tribes, who were inimical ; so that he recommended to go
straight through from Shuh.301 Delighted with this suggestion, the
Emperor Wu-ti gave orders that exploring parties should be sent out from
Shuh and Kien-wei, by the four roads starting from there, with instruc-
tions to find their way through the S.W. barbarians, and endeavour to
discover India.302 These roads passed through the territories of Man g, 303.
Jen, Sé anu P'o of Kiung, and each advanced one or two thousand li;
304 which is certainly a gross exaggeration of the Chinese record. At that
time, the Mang and Jen,305 both unsettled tribes, were located near the
N.W. borders of Szetchuen, in what is now Mutchou.306 The Chinese
envoys who went North of these routes were stopped by the Ti tribes in
modern prefecture of Lung-ngan in N.N.W. Szetchuen, and by the Tsoh
tribes, S.W. of Ya-tchou in the N.W. of the same modern province.
The southern routes passed through the Se, within the modern prefecture
of Sutchou in C. Szetchuen,307 and though the Po of Kiung, cor-
responding to the territory of Yueh-hi or Yųeh-sui, W. of the same pre-
fecture. The exploring parties through the latter routes were stopped on
the W. of the state of Tsen by the Ku en-ming and Sui tribes,
in the modern prefectures of Tali and Likiang of W. and N. W. Yunnan.
The Kuen mings were savages and they murdered the envoys. So
that all the attempts had failed 309
Some knowledge however had been gained. Several of the envoys had
heard of a country about 1000 li to the West, named Tsen yueh, litt.
Beyond Tse n.310 where the inhabitants rode on elephants, and
where the Shuh traders who carried a clandestine commerce with them,
occasionally went,311
These statements which we take from the She Ki of Szema Tsien, 163-
85 B.C., like all that we have reported on the subject, is interesting and
important. We must understand that the travelling merchants of Shub
had remained apart and refused to reveal the secret of their route S.W.
towards India, which they could not reach however without some private
arrangement with the tribes who had stopped the Chinese envoys; and
this explains how it happened that the exploring parties sent by the
Chinese Emperor did not, in their expeditions, hear anything about the
country of Shin-t u h which they had vaguely heard of before, as lying
about 2000 li W. of the Kiung territory. The latter rumor which had
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
come to the Chinese previously to their attempts referred to the trade
route of Shuh to Patna through the S.E. corner of Tibet. The region
Beyond-T sen of which they heard in their southern exploration, was
northern Burma, as I have shown elsewhere, 312 and specially the region
of old Pagan named also Tzind u ë,313 but they did mistake it for India,
because of the common habit of elephant driving which had been heard of
by Tchang-Kien in Bactria as a peculiarity of India. Therefore they en-
deavoured to pass through the state of Ts e n, central Yunnan, which as
we have seen, had been conquered and established by a general from T s iz
two centuries previously.314
. On reaching the Kingdom of Tsen after having for four years vainly
attempted to pass through the territory of the Kue n-mings who had
closed the highways, the Chinese envoys were received by the King Tang
Kiang who detained them on the gronud that they were searching out the
roads, anà prevented them to pass. “Is the Han a greater Kingdom
than ours ?” said he haughtily to the astonished Chinaman. Other envoys
sent with the same purpose to the ruler of Y e-lang, a country extending
along the South of Kien-wei had a similar reception. No passage was
possible ; and to use the words of the Chinese annalist : “ each of these
princes considering himself sovereign in his own domain, was unconscious
of the magnitude of the Han empire.315 Nothing therefore could be done
for the time being.
About twelve years afterwards, the Han Emperor, reliered of some of
his harassments in the North, was euabled to act more vigorously in the
South West and the South.
In 111 B.c. he put an end to the state of Nan-yueh which established
in 209 by Tch’ao T'o, a refractory general of the Ts’in dynasty had ex-
tended along the South from Fuhkien to Tungking, and he occupied a
part of it, i.e. Kuangtung and the eastward, which were divided for
administrative purposes into nine regions.316 Then the various popula-
tions of whom we have quoted the names, and some others, all in the
West and South-west, were admitted as vassals and Chinese officers were
appointed as official overseers among them.317 The territories received
special names in the Imperial dominion, and in the absence of Chinese
residents among them, special officers were appointed, with residences
generally on the borders to superintend their intercourse with the Empire.
The treatment of the rulers of Y e-la ng and of Tsen was, however,
different. The former received the Chinese investiture of ruler in his own
Kingdom without much resistance ; but the latter objected more strongly,
CHINESE CIVILIZATION..
63
S
and he yielded only when he saw himself at the eve of being attacked. In
109 B.c. he received the royal seal from the Han Emperor, and in the
Words of the Chinese annalist,318 i his people was still entrusted to
his rule."
By these arrangements which with a few alterations and interruptions
lasted until the third century, access and egress were secured in that
direction for foreign trade with the Middle Kingdom. But the state of
Tsen (now read Tien), then feudal, preserved by its geographical position
its command over the trade routes towards the South, while the S.W.
route to India through the S.E. corner of Tibet was also available to its
people:319
The Isen Kingdom for all that, deserves some attention. Its influence
is still visible in the name of China itself which is derived from it, and
thus far has won an everlasting fame. T'sen was the indigenous name of
the region around the lakes of Yunnan fu and Tch'eng · Kiang, of the
town between them, and of the principal lake itself, 320 and its meaning in
the native languages was simply the waters, as the said lakes
are the largest expanses of water in the country.521 For the Han dynasty
this feudal state was included into the great circumscription called Yh-
tchou Kiun whose administrative centre was at the ancient capital city
of Shuh, the modern Tch'eng-tu. Its king was under the immediate pro-
tectorate of the Han officer residing in the latter city. The Tsen
Kingdom extended East and West of the lake region, but not at first as
far in the West as the lake of Tali which was in the hands of the Kuen-
mings, but in 109 B.C. this region itself was added to the domain of the
king of Tsen in compensation of some territory on the east which was
withdrawn from his authority. In the South its frontiers are not known,
and we are not in position to state how far they advanced in the direction
of the modern Shan states. The tradition quoted suprà from the Maha
Râjuweng of Burma refers most probably to an expedition made by the
King of Tsen against Old Pagan on the Irrawaddy.522 And we may
recognize perhaps a survival of the same name in that of the Shan state
Tsen pho as called by the Laocians, not very far distant from the pre-
sent Chinese frontier in a N.E. direction from Mandalay.323 Referring
to the Kingdom of Tsen in Yunnan, it was widely known under its
f
turies. Established in 330 B.C., it lasted through some changes of fortune,
in a state of submission to the Han dynasties or rebellion against them,
until 224 A.D. Tchuko-liang, a general of the Minor Han dynasty324,
· 64
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
IM
.
conquered the country and put an end to the old state of things, in
redistributing the land to several native chiefs under the suzerainty of
the Chinese.325 The Tsen country could be reached 3 26 by the trade-
a; from India: though the old route up the Brahmaputra to Sudiya, Roma
crossing the Lu-tze and Lan-tsan Kiangs, 327 and thence descending
the Kin-Sha-Kiang;
b; from Burma and the coast : by the Salwen river and perhaps the Kiu-
lung into Tchieng-hung=Tcheli, and hence westward through Sze-
mao (S. Yunnan).
C:; from Tungking ; by Kattigara, the Portus Sinarum of Ptolemy,328
and as a fact the nearest to and the real port of the Tsen country
modern Kesho or Ha noi,329 upwards the Red River unto Man hao,
and hence straight north by land.
Let us remark that the foregoing sketch, simple as it is, gives us
the solution of a long vexed question, that of the origin of the name
of China which has been a puzzle for the inhabitants of the Middle
kingdom as well as for many European investigators. All sorts of specu-
lations have been made on the subject, 330 but it has been ascertained
finally in recent years 3 31 that the first knowledge and the spread of the
name China, did begin only in the first century of our era 3 32 through the
southern sea trade, and not through the North and South at the same
time. The arrogant and not unimportant state, then named Tsen had
long been in existence at the time, and for centuries occupied a com-
manding position over the trade routes to the Middle Kingdom' from
Indo-China S.W. and S.E. Its name was spread far and wide under
several cognate forms Thin, Sin, &c., and preserved for ever its predo-
minance in the mouths of foreigners 333 as an appellative for the greatest
empire of the East. 3 34
The general survey we have just achieved in the present section of the
historic evidence concerning the trade routes as means of communication
from, through and beyond Szetchuen in antiquity, to the West, South
West and South may be briefly resumed. We have thus been able to
find indications of the six following routes :
1) From Szetchuen, to the Jade country in the Khotan region, from
1500 B.C, or earlier down to the ninth or eighth century B.C.
2) From Szetchuen to Patna in India, after that time and with inter-
missions.
3) Through Szetchuen from Shensi to Pegu, temporary, end of third
century B.C.
·
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
65
4) Through Yunnan, from Szetchuen to India, third century B.C. and
afterwards.
5) Through Yunnan, from Szetchuen to Burma, third century B.C. and
afterwards.
6) Through Yunnan, from Szetchuen to Tongking, second century B.C.
and afterwards.
The words however are bigger than the things and no illusion must be
entertained with reference to these routes. None can be understood as
having ever been regularly followed by caravanes going to and fro, and
therefore as the means of steady interchange and intercourse between
their extremes and along their courses. A thorough passage from one
and to the other of any of these routes cannot have taken place except
in isolate cases unknown to history in the ancient times. Trade was done
in a second or third hand fashion, the goods passing from one to another,
and being either blackmailed or increased in price along the way. In
these conditions which are vouchsafed by the personal interests of the
intermediaries, and the general laws of offer and demand in trade, it was
only in the long run that something from one end of the route could be
heard of at the other end, mangled and altered through the successive
interpreters. The strictness of these observations applies of course more
forcibly to the older than to the later times.
Let us now enumerate which items of western civilization did reach,
and those which miay have reached the Middle Kingdom through these
secondary and imperfect channels. Material objects and goods may
travel by them, but notions and ideas could not do so without the greatest
difficulty ; and besides the supply depended upon the state of knowledge
in the countries which were reached by these routes.
Notes 295) Szema Tsien, She Ki, Bk. 116, fol. 2 v.; Wylie's translation
p. 5.-Cfr. also on this traffic, the Bk. 129 on trade in the She Ki,
fol. 7.
296) She Ki, Bk. 116, fol. 3v, ibid ; Wylie, p. 7. The traders of Shuh
were carrying their commerce also with the east ; for instance in 135
B.C. it was ascertained that they used to trade with the south east
by the Si-kiang or Canton River, the Tsangko of the time. Cfr. ibid.
fol. 3, and Wylie p. 5.
297) The name has been met with reference to the bamboo staves carried
from there to India by the S.W., as learned by Tchang Kien in Bactria
Cfr. suprā.
298) She Ki, Bk. 116, fol. 3; Li tai Ti Wang rien pias, Tsien Han, fol.
6 v.--These arrangements lasted only a short time, as a few years after-
Fards, the Tsoh stopped the Chinese envoys,
299) She Ki, Bk. 116, fol. 4 v.
66
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
300) This must refer to a road through the Tsih shih (cfr. note 276)
and the South of the Kokonor.
301) Tchang Kien's biography, in Pan Ku's Tsien Han Shu, Bk. 61.
transl. A. Wylie, p. 48, J.A.1. August, 1880.
302) She Ki, Bk. 116, fol. 4 v.; Bk. 123, fol. 6 v.
303) It is the country misread Long in Matouanlin's Ethnographie
IÍ, p. 166.
304) She Ki, Ta wan lich tchuen, 123, fol. 6 v.
305) In 111 B.C., until 67 B.c. the Han organised these two named
tribes into a Kiun which received the name of Wen shan. The Jen
moved eastwards later on, and in the sixth century they used to intercept
the passages of the San Hia i.e. the three Yang-tze-Kiang gorges.
Their descendants the Jen Kia Man are now at Shihtien and Yien-ho in
· the prefecture of Se-nan, in N.E. Kueitchou.
306) She Ki, Si Nan y tchuen, 116, fol. 1 v.
307) Cfr. G. Playfair, The cities and towns of China, N. 7635, and the
other names sub. voc.
308) These savage tribes were probably kindreds of the Kumongs
Mishmi tribes of the present day, who are still preventing free com-
munications between Assam and China. The Kuen-ming seem to
have been tribes of the same stock as the Hiung-nu, who had moved
from N.E. Tibet southwards about the third century B.C., along the
great exit of northern tribes to the South, which has been frequented
in the same way from olden times to the present day.
309) She Ki, Ta-wan lieh tchuen, 123, fol. 7.
310) Or still more literally “the Beyond of Tsen."
3111 She Ki, ibid. fol. 7.
312) In two articles of The Acadeny, May 2, and Sept. 5. 1885 : T'in-
yật not India, and India from China, which I confirm here. After
the publication of my first article I saw that Baron von Richtofen,
China, I, 427, had come to the same conclusion as myself. Prof. S.
Beal, Some remarks on the narrative of Fâ-hien, J.R.A.S. XIX, 1887.
p. 192 has suggested that this name might be Champa, but this is
impossible because the Champa began only after 806 A.D.
313) Cfr. sect. e) III of the present chapter, and note 291 suprà.
314) Cfr. sect. e) ** and note 274 of the present chapter.
315) Szema Tsien, She Ki Bk. 116, f. 4 v.
316) She Ki, Nan yueh tchuen, Bk. 113, ff. 1-9.
317) She Ki, Si nan y tchuen, Bk. 116, f. 4.
318) She Ki, ibid. fol. 5 v.
319) For instance in the Periplus, 63 and 65, transl. McCrindle, p. 146-
148, we see that the Thinæ obtained from the Sesatai, malabathrum
which was exported to India ; conveyed down the Ganges to Gangê
near its mouth; and also conveyed from the interior of India to
Mouziris and Nelkunda, on the W. coast, for export.
320) It was transcribed by the Chinese with the symbol of their writ-
ing which is still used for the literary name of the Yunnan province,
and in that acceptation is now read Tien. But the symbol with the
reading Tren has the meaning full, a bundant and it is very pro-
bable that the significant sound has attracted the meaningless name in
the subsequent corruption of the language. The K’ang hi tze tien
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
67
sub. voc., 85 +11 gives some ancient authorities to show that the
symbol was also read tchen, in the name of a district T che n-yang.
On the other hand the Chinese dialect which has preserved the most
archaïc phonesis, with exceptions, the Sin.-Annamite, corresponding
generally to 200 B.C., as shown in my historical scheme of the Chinese
family of languages (the lang. of Chin., sec. 05) has still the reading
tchan for this symbol. It is composed of the determinative 85 water
and the phonetic, 674 of Callery's Systema phoneticum which has kept
the reading tchen The same phonetic as shown by a rapid examina-
tion in Dr. Chalmer's Concise Kang-hi's dictionary, enters into the com-
position of 54 derivates as follow : 15 tchen, 17 tchen and tien, and 22
tien. Such are the reasons which show that the Chinese symbol now
read Tien for Yunnan, must have been used at first for the same pur-
poise with the reading tchen or tsen. The latter was probably the
original sound which has diverged into tien and tchen. Cfr. following
note 321-M. G. Deveria, La Frontière Sino-Annamite, 1886, p. 119,
gives X an=Shain as the Annanite name of l' i en
321) This native word for water was connected with the following
which have the same meaning: Tchung Miao djen, Singpho netsin,
Kakhyen int zi 12, Munnipuri ishing, &c., cfr. Beginnings of writing
around Tibet, sec. 80.--The name Tchen has survived largely in the
geographical ononiasticon of the province of Yunnan and its central
part, and is variously transcribed in Chinese ; such as Tchen-hiung,
Tchen-K’ang, Tchen-nan, Tchen-yuen, Tch’eng-Kiang, Tch'eng-
Kung &c.
32.) Cfr. end of last section e. III and notes 287-291.
3-3) The Mung Siuen-wi, i.e. the state of Siue n-wi, the Thein-ni
of the Burmese and the Mupang of the Chinese. M. Ney Elias has
given a brief sketch of the history of that state from the Zabu-Oke-
Saung, a Burmese work. Cfr. his Introductory sketch of the history of
the Shans, 1876, pp. 47-51.-And perhaps also the name of Kiang
Tsen. Cfr. Holt S. Hallett, Report on the Railway Connexion of
Burmah and China, p. 117.
324) Also called Shuh Han dynasty (221-263 A.D.) as called from its
capital at Tcheng-tu in Szetchuen. Its dominion was one of the three
kingdoms into which the Empire of the Eastern Han dynasty was di-
vided after its fall.
325) Shuh tchi ; Tai ping yü lan, 791, f. 5; cfr. also Ethnographie de
Matouanlin, transl. D’Hervey de St. Denys, Fol. II, pp. 153, 186.
326) All the modern researches as to the possibility of trade routes to
China, from India and Indo-China have been carefully studied by M.
M.. Archibald R. Colquhoun and Holt S. Hallett. cfr. A.R.C., Across
Chryse, vol. II, pp. 219-240; H.S.H. and A.R.C., Report on the
Railway connsæion of Burmah and China, 1887.
327) Kiu-lung is the name in the Shan states of the river which is called
Lan-tsan Kiang in the North, and Mekong in the South.
328) Ptolem, Lib. I, cap, 11, § 1; Lib. VII, cap. 3, § 3; J. W. Mc
Crindle, Ancient India as described by Ptolemy, Bombay, 1875, pp. 9
and 245.
329) The modern name Kesho is most likely a corruption of the ancient
appellative of the country which the Chinese transcribed K a )-ti corz,
68
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY. .
rupted into Kiao-tchi, with two symbols which are still read in Sino-
Annamite Ka 0-tje. The use of the sign Kiao has led to fabulous
accounts as to a supposed antiquity of the people, 2000 B.C., which
the Chinese, sect. 89 and 90, and the addition p. 152 in the french
edition.—Dr. F. Hirth, in his paper Zur Geschichte des Antiken Orient
handels, G. f. E. 2. B., Berlin, 1889, which refers chiefly to the trade
after the Christian era, has pointed out in the Tcii-ping-huan-Yü-tch,
K. 171, f. 6, a Chinese transcription Kao-teh which makes Kao-duk
in the archais sounds of the Sino-Annamite dialect, and therefore
would be a nearer approach to the Kattigara of the ancients.
330) The most plausible suggestion was that which derived the name of
China from that of a great state of N.W. China which from small be-
ginnings about 909 B.C., reached the supreme power and having absorbed.
all the other states of the Chinese agglomeration, became the Chinese
Empire in 221 B.C. The name was represented by a symbol which is
read Tsin since the fourth century of our era in the N.W. As the
same name was read Tan previously to that late time, there is an end;
on purely philological grounds, to the suggestion, as I have shown in
The Sinir of Isaiah, not the Chinese, III, in B. O.R. I, pp. 46-47..
The ground being untenable for historical reasons as rell (cfr. following:
note), another suggestion was made that the name way hare originated.
with the frequent use of jen for man in Chinese ; but this is another
philological impossibility as the word is a recent corruption of an ancient
man or lan (The land of Sinim not China, III, uncorrected, ibid. pp.
186-188), and is opened to the same geographical objections as the
previous one. The latest suggestion was made by Baron von Richtofen;
it is only objectionable on philological ground, but the objection is.
altogether fatal to the proposal. The learned geographer thought,
that the commercial relations with the Middle Kingdom having taken
place through Tung-King, the prototype of the name of China which
be found ihere, and he suggested the name of Jill-nan as the antecedent.
wanted. The name indicated by tliis modern Chinese reading was really
that of the southern most province of Annam as divided aſter the
Chinese conquest in 111 B.C., and corresponds roughly to the modern
pruvince of Nghệ-An. But at that time it was read Nitnam, and it is
still read Nhütnam in Sino-Annamite. This simple fact puts an end for
ever to the suggestion,
331 The identification of Kesho-Hanoi with the old Kattigara has.
been established in a masterly way by Baron v. Richtofen and Col. H.
Yule. cfr. B. v. R.'s papers in the Trans. of the Berlin. Geogr. Soc..
for 1876, and China, vol. I, 1877, pp. 504-510; Col. H. Y., Notes on.
the oldest Records of the Sea-route to China from Western Asia 1882,
colloquial words and phrases, sub. voc.
332) The name of Thin i appears for the first time in the Periplus Maris..
Erythrcei, 65, 66, dating about 80--9 of our era. Cfr. J. W. McCrindle,
The Commerce and Navigation of the Erythrcean Sea, Bombay 1879,
pp. 147-149.
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
f) A Résumé of the Chapter.
§ 1. -
The present section, as a conclusion to our long survey of the un-
satisfactory, though various and successive, routes which permitted the
to the great importations by the Baks in their migration to the East,
and have proved to be altogether ill-fitted if not impossible for anything
strictly Assyro-Babylonian, must necessarily be little else than a rapid.
sketch and a short résumé.
The history of China in ancient times may be divided into six periods
which we shall refer to for the convenience and clearness of our researches
as follows:
1st period. From the settlement of the civilised Bak tribes arrived from
.. the N. W. circà 2250 B.C. to the Hia dynasty circà 2000 B.C.
Though interspersed with native populations, the Chinese do not extend
beyond the basin of the Yellow River, nor do they reach the sea,
2nd period. From circa 2000 B.C. During the Hia and Shang-Yn
dynasties to circa 1100 B.C. Friendship with the native populations,
and in some moments united strength, secure to the Chinese the pre-
dominance they are entitled to by their superior civilisation. A slight
knowledge is gained of the whole country as far South as the Yangtze
Kiang. The settlements are strengthened, some advance is made east-
wards and the sea is reached about 1777 B.C. But there is no great
extension of power through intercinal difficulties, and the seat of the
central government is shifted from place to place eleven times during the
Hia and eight times during the Shang-yn dynasties. During the latter
dynasty, the various principalities of the dominion, withdrew no less :
than six times from their allegiance to the Royal authority,335
3rd period. From circà 1100 B.c. to 770 B.C. ; the W. Tchou dynasty.
An energetic and powerful race from the N.W. conquers the country
70
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
and ensures respect everywhere. Its dominion is firmly established
West and East from Sheni to Tchihli and W. Shantung, and south-
wards at mid-way between the Hwang-ho and the Yang-tze Kiang.
4th period. From 770 to 481 B.C.; the E. Tchou dynasty so called be-
cause in 770 they were compelled by native tribes to remove their
capital westwards. The various states forming the Chinese dominion
are growing gradually independent and the central power is declining.
The border states grow in importance.
5th period. From 481 to 221 B.C. The contending states. The declining
-uthority of the E. Tchou is a mere shadow, and is put to an end by
the W. state of Than–Ts’in. The period is one of struggle for the
supremacy between the various states ; they are successively. conquered
by the state of Than which succeeds in 223 B.C. to overthrow its
last and most powerful competitor, the half-Sinised and southern state
of Tsłu.
6th period. From 221 B.C. to 25 A.D. Establishment of the Chinese
Empire by Ts’in She Hwang-ti over two-thirds of the modern China
proper. This short lived dynasty disappears in 209 B.C. and the
Former Han dynasty begins in 206 B.C. The Han succeed after a
century of struggle to uphold the integrity of the Empire and rule
gloriously; they are followed in 25 A.D. by the After Han dynasty
which ruled until 220 A.D.
Let us resume our enquiry in the progress of the ancient Chinese and
their outside relations, with reference to these six periods.
NOTE 335) Under Yung-ki, 1649 or 1487 B.C.; Ho-tan-kia, 1534 or 1381;
Yang-kia, 1408-1319 ; Siao-sin, 1373 or 1287; Tan-kia, 1258 or 1204;
Ti jh, 1191 or 1111 B.C. The two dates are those of the chronology
DOW usual in China, and of the Annals of the Bamboo Books. Under
Yang-kia, the princes had not come to court for nine generations.
Cfr. Szema Tsien, She Ki, K. III, ff. 6, 7, 7 v, 8v and 9.
$ 2.
The object of chapters III, IV and V of the present summary has been
to resume the various items of civilisation during the first period in
sciences, arts, writing, literature, institutions, religion, historical legends
and traditions, forming with a few exceptions, the important culture of
Babylonian and Elamite Origin, and which they had acquired in S.W.
Asia, through their relations with the country of Elam. This civilisation,
nearly complete as it was, could not have reached China, otherwise than it
did, i.e. through the immigration of civilised tribes and in a wholesale
manner, as no successive imports, like those which took place afterwards,
CHINESE CIVILIZATION,
71
of shreds of western knowledge, could have produced such an homogeneous
ensemble of obvious borrowing 336 from the most important civilisation of
S.W. Asia. The demonstration, which is conclusive, refers chiefly to the
first of the six periods we have just enumerated.
The first part of the present chapter in its five divisions and seven
subdivisions (VI, a, b, c, d, i, ii, iii, .e, i, ii, iii, iv), has been occupied
with a survey of the various channels through which notions of civilisation
from foreign countries may have reached the Middle Kingdom in times
suisequent to the establishment of the civilised Balc tribes in the Flowery
Land. We have been compelled by the difficulties of the case to go
more deeply into historical details than in the former parts, because we
had no longer any special papers previously published to refer to on the
subject. Though eliciting not a few historical facts little known and of
interest, and having to call attention to circumstances hitherto neglected
or not yet extracted from their Chinese limbos, we have not been able to
discover any regular channel or constant intercourse for the ingress of
western knowledge in the principal state of the Far East. The results
of our enquiry so far have been most important for the purpose we are pur-
suing, since none of the various channels we have studied have proyed to
have permitted the introduction of anything better than mangled bits and
bungled notions of civilisations from Central Asia (Khorasmia), India,
Egypt, Oman, &c. Without entering fully into the details of acquisitions
and progresses made by the civilisation of the Middle Kingdom during
its third and successive periods, and therefore without benefiting of all
that they will teach us, we have found historical evidences of six occasional
and unsatisfactory inlets for foreign knowledge to have been brought in.
NOTE 336) In my fourfold list of these, I have omitted references to the
artistic influence of Babylon and Elam on the early Chinese art. A
few words only can be said here on the subject. On the most ancient
bronze sacrificial vases still preserved, this influence is clear. The
chief figure is the head of a horned monster, made as repulsive as
possible and subsequently distorted in an ornamental manner so as to
be past recognition. It was called two-tiet, or the “glutton," and it
is now explained as intended to be admonitory against inordinate
feasting at the annual sacrifices. Cfr. P. P. Thoms, Ancient vases of
the Shang, dynasty, London, 1851, p. 7. The t-ao-tiet occurs on 23
out of the 42 vases reproduced in this work from the Poh-ku-tu, and on
9 out of the 20 vases reproduced in Pauthier's China, pl. 38-13 from
the Si-tsing-ku-kien. As a fact the original object of the hideous
figure was to frighten away a devouring demon. In the Tchun-tsiu of
Lu shi (250 B.c.) it is said that on the ancient vases the t'ao-tiet had
a head and no body, to intimate that in devouring persons, before even
they can be swallowed, destruction comes upon it. Cfr. K'ang-hi tze
ORIGIN OF THE EARLV.
.
tien, 181–9, f. 85. The design of the monster' was traditionally pre-
served from that frequently represented in Chaldæa to scare away the
demion of the south-west wind which was greatly apprehended there,
because, coming from the deserts of Arabia, its burning breath dried up
and devoured everything; the head was that of a skeleton but half
decayed, and adorned with horns, and the cyes still remaining. The
general idea was "to represent the demons under such hideous forms
that it was sufficient for them to be shown their own image, to cause
them to flee away alarmned," Cfr. Fralıçois Lenormant, Chaldæan
Magic, pp. 50, 52, The Chaldæan name of this demon is unknown as
yet, so we cannot carry the comparison further than the resemblance of
design and object. Cfr. for the figure: Lenormant, Hist. Anc. de 1*.
Orient, t. V, p. 213; Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art, t. II, p. 496.
Other creatures on a very small scale are also represented on ancient
.
entirely distorted. Their peculiarity is that they go generally by pairs
fronting one another, a feature originally peculiar to the Assyro-
Babylonian art, according to Von Sybel and to Perrot-Chipiez, 0.C. II,
pp, 747--748. Another of the chief ornaments on the Chinese vases
is that of buds, leaf-shaped, in rows, which appear on Chaldæan
ornaments (cfr. Layard, Monuments I, fl. 6, 9, Perrot-chipiez, 0. C. II,
pp. 70-, 771-2) of bronze dîshes and embroideries. It is a conventional
design of the cone-fruit wbich is reprǝsen'ed on the monuments in the
hands of genii and others, and which has certainly a symbolical meaning.
F. Lenormant, Origines de l'histoire, 1, 84, has pointed out a pre-
scription of Ea to Marduk (Cun. Inscr. W. A. IV. 16, 2 and 29, 1)
where the cedar-fruit is specially mentioned, cfr. T. de L, The Tree of
life and the Calendar plant of Babylonia and China, n. 5, and B. & O.
R. II, 156. On the other hand Dr. E, Bonavia, The cone-fruit of the
Assyrian monuments, B. & O. R. II, 138, 170, and 173, has shown
reason to believe that in some cases at least, the represented cone-fruit
was a citron. And quite recently, Dr. E. B. Tylor, The feriilisation of
the date-palm in ancient Assyria, Academy 8 June 89, p. 396 has
date-palo, a suggestion wliich seems to me to be confirmed in some
other cases, such as on the alabaster bas-relief of the Louvre, fig-
gured in Perrot-Chipiez, 0. C., Il, p. 64. A classification must con-
sequently be made of the monuments. Returning to the early Cei-
nese art, the chief ornament is a sort of scroll, grecque or méandre,
which is employed ererywhere in all sorts of varicties, and seems con-
genial to the taste of the Chinese. They call it yun-lei-wen, ie.,
cloud-thunder ornament. and explain it as derived from an ancient
form of the symbol for cloud, as it appears duplicated in the com-
position of some ancient forms of the character for thunder. Cfr.
Min-Tsi-kih, Lu shu tung, II. 9, and Tung-Wei-fu, Tchuen-tze-wei,
siv. Though we may refuse to accept this explanation, there is no
reason to discountenance the originality of this scroll in China, inas-
much as it is so very simple a pattern that it has occurred in sev-
eral instances independently elsewhere. Curiously enough, it is al-
most unknown in Assyro-Babylonian Art, but it occurred frequently
in ancient Egypt, Judea, Hissarlik, Greece, and in & curved form ou
· the early bronzes of Denmark.-- peculiar form of hair-dress, repre-
sented by a small black stone object in the British Museum, Nimroud
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
73
Gallery, H, which has attracted the attention of Perrot, 0. C., II, 595n,
which is exactly similar to that of important men in ancient China,
Cf. with Pauthier's Chine, pl. 22, 36 and 51.
$ 3.
During the Second period there was no other channel than that of the
eastern traffic of nephrite-jade originally from the Khotan region, this
region.which was to be Aryanised3 7' from Khorasmia and Bactria through
the passes of the Badakshan country, 338 about the end of that period,
was yet uncivilised and could not be a source of knowledge to borrow
from ; moreover, its nephrite jade did not apparently reach the Middle
kingdom otherwise than after passing through several hands. And should
the trade of that precio’s gem have been carried without intermediary,
the information and notions available to be carried to the East were only
those of Irano-Indian source, as the Indo-Aryans were then in occupation
of the lands on the West side of the Badakshan passes and the Tsung-
ling range. The Assyro-Babylonians had not reached them, and the
influence of their civilisation on the latter has been nil or nearly so;
even in India in later historical times, Babylonian influence has been
at a minimum ; an interesting peculiarity which however is easily ex-
plained bythe geographical conditions of the respective countries.339 Any
Assyro-Babylonian notion, to make its way eastward, had to pass through
the Irano-Indians' mouths and minds, who were too highly spirited a
race to have acted the part of middlemen and faithful transmitters of
foreign ideas without stamping them anew. .
The foreign relations of the Middle Kingdom, unimportant politically
as the latter was at that time, were limited to native and border bar-
barian tribes, 340 with only two apparent exceptions, during the reign of
Tai Mvu of the Shang dynasty about B.c. 1466, and under the reign of
Wu-ting, about B.c, 1269. In the tenth year of his reign, Tai Mou of
Shang is said to have been visited by envoys of distant states, seventy-
six in number according to one authority, and only sixteen according to
another. No information whatever has been handed down, by tradition
or documents concerning these foreign comers. They may have been
trading parties magnified as is usually the cage, into ambassadors from
some remote countries or simply representatives of foreign tribes beyond
the pale of Chinese influence. The same remarks apply to the six foreign
envoys who came to the court of Wu-ting. Now one must not forget
that the Chinese dominion, then within narrow limits, was surrounded on
til sides by a great many communities of indigenous and independent
tribes ; in the N.W. on the borders of Tibet, the Kiang tribes, some of
whom submitted afterwards, numbered more than 120; and within
74
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
modern China proper, the number of non-Chinese tribes was over 400.
On the other hand the records of the Hia and Shang dynasties are often
', and not much more than mere lists of rulers aud inter-reigns ;
they were preserved indifferently in the states of Ki and Sung which had
charge of them, and we know from the words of Confucius himself, that
in his time they were already in a very dilapidated condition.341 It is not
at all impossible that at the above dates some notions from the West
should have reached the Chinese through some trading parties, by the Jade
traffic route ; perhaps some calendaric and astronomical knowledge, inas
much as Wu-hien prime-minister to Tai Mou, the king who received
foreign envoys, is reputed to be the author of the first catalogue of stars, 349
This, however, is a mere hypothesis which no side lights support in the
present state of our knowledge. No progress of importance, nor any new
acquisition of civilisation seems to have been made by the Chinese at
that time besides this catalogue, should it be so considered. 343 With the
sole inlet we have mentioned, the reverse would be surprising, with re-
ference to knowledge of foreign origin, and as regards the internal pro-
gress, the shaky condition of governmental affairs was not favorable to
promote any advance. Astronomical studies were pursued, and the
ancestral worship was extended to that of departed great men at the ex-
pense of the state. 343 The proper names of the living ruler were also
tabooed for the time being ;344 the two latter features, which tradition has
preserved in use, are rather suggestire of a lower standard of mind among
the rulers at the time of their introduction than was formerly the case.
337) The region of Khotan has been looked upon by several scholars as
one of the oldest centres of metallurgic trade, (cfr. D'Eckstein, De
quelques légendes Brahmaniques qui se rapportent au berceau de l'espèce
humaine, in Journ. Asiat., Oct. Dec. 1855.– Fr. Lenormant, Essai de
commentaire des fragments cosmogoniques de Berose, p. 315; Origines
de l'histaire, vol. II, pp. 151-154). But the evidence collected in sup-
port of this view is very slight, and in my upinion cannot bear such a
mighty construction. Legends of after time were fostered there because
of its geographical positiun quite central. A bél Remusat has derived
his Histoire de la ville de Khotan tirée des Annales de la Chine, Paris,
1820, from Chinese sources, and J. Klaproth, has followed a Turkish
geographer in his Histoire de la ville de Khotan, in Mém. Rel. à l'Asie,
Vol. II, pp. 281-301 ; and these two works are the sole authorities on
the subject referred to by D'Eckstein and Lenormant. The 'fertile
imagination of D'Eckstein has gone too far in his inferences from the
· simple fact that Kuvera, the god of wealth of Brahmanic pantheon,
corresponding to the Avestic Khshathra-Vairya (on which cfr. C.
de Harlez, Avesta, II edit. p. xciii) and also called a Vis Ra vana
or Vaisrava, moreover Ruler of the North, and described as a magni-
ficent deity residing in the splendid city Alakâ (cfr. Edw. Moor, The
Hindu Pantheon, ÎN. Ed., Madras, 1864, pp. 180, 183, 192), otherwise
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
76
Khotan-Kustana. He was supposed to be a local deity of pre-
Aryan origin, and was worshipped by the first king spoken of, in the
Legends, whose date, according to Buddhist sources, was 234 years
after the Buddha's Nirvana, or about 233 B.C. The same sources either
collected from Hiuen Tsang's report or from Tibetan documents, make
this king contemporary and victorious of a son of Açoka who had been
sent there. (Cfr. Si-yu-ki, Buddhist Records of the Western World,
early history of Li - yul (Khoten) in his Life of the Buddha,
fror. Tibetan sources, pp. 230 sq). It is usual with Buddhist sources
to reckon the beginning of anything with or about the time of the
Buddha, but in the present occasion as it begins with a failure of a son
of Acôka, the information may be trusted to a certain extent, since it
does not record a success in the extension uf Buddhism. And it is no
proof as to the Aryanisation of the country which seems to have taken
place about the XIIth century.—Baron F. von Richtofen (China 1877,
I, p. 48a) previously to our disclosures, has put forth the view that
the Klotan region was the original seat of the civilised ancestors of
the Chinese, but this temporary hypothesis has fallen short of what we
have shown to have been the case. The civilisation which these an-
cestors were acquainted with was the Babylonian-Elamite which nerer
reached in the time of its greatest extension beyond the Zagros and
Paropamisus ranges.
838) The direct route from Tokharestan to the Tarym basin, passing
through Badakshan, was an important trade route from early times.
Ofr. É. Bretschneider, Mediæval Researches, vol. II, p. 65.
339) Cfr. infrà Ch. VII.
340) Here with the necessary résumé of these foreign relations. In
these seven fullowing statements except when otherwise stated--
I follow the words and dates of the T'chuħ shu ki nien (a work of 400
B.C.)---(I) In his 8th year, i.e. 1845 B.C., 'T chu the VIth ruler of the
Hia dynasty, went on a punitive expedition towards the eastern sea,
as far as Sun-show (central Shantung) and caught a fox with nine tails.
As an instance of the magnifying and embellishing system of late
Chinese compilers, here is the same event as reported in the Ting
Kien Kang Muh drawn by the too celebrated Tchu-li id. 1130-1200),
transl. De Mailla, vol. I, p. 152 : “ Pendant tout son règne, Ti Chou
jouit d'une tranquillité si grande que les peuples voisins se faisaient
gloire de se soumettre à ses lois. Les insulaires même de la mer
orientale, qui n'avaient pas paru depuis le grand Ya, vinrent lui offrir
leurs hommages et se reconnaître dépendants de l'Empire." As many
lies as words.- II). In his 21st year i.e. 1710 B C., the same ruler
conferred Chinese dignities on the chiefs of six tribes of Y barbarians
of the East.—(III). Fah the XVIth of Hia, in his 1st year, i.e. 1596
B.C. ; various tribes of the same barbarians came and made their sub-
mission.--(IV). Kwei, the XVIIth and last of Hia, 6th year, i.e.
158+ B.C. ; some Jung barbarian tribes of West China submit.---(V).
T'ang, the first of the Shang dynasty, i.e. 1575 B.C., at bis accession
is visited by all the feudal princes, or chiefs of families and native
tribes, to the number of 1800 with eight interpreters. At the beginn-
ing of the Tchou dynasty, which was much more powerful, their
has been magnified with the tenfold intation so frequently met in
Chinese literature, and therefore must be reduced to 18C. The T'ung
1557 B.c., thération-(VI) conaissait a posse s'etendit
76
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
Kien Kang Muh, says : "sa réputation de sagesse s'etendit si loin que
les quarante royaumes que l'on conaissait alors avaient pour lui la
plus grande vénération."-(VI). In the 19th year of the same king,
1.e., 1557 B.C., the Ti-Kiang people (in Kansuh) made their submission.
(VII). In the 10th year of Tai Mou, the IXth of Shang, i.e. 1466 B.C.,
76 states from distant regions ( Yuen fang) sent messengers with in-
terpreters to his court, in admiration of his virtue. The statement is
no part of the text, and is the object of a gloss. Other sources are at
yariance with it. The Kang Kien y tchi luh, a compilation of A.D. 1711
gives their number as 67 (Medhurst's Ancient China, p. 354. The
7"ung Kien Kang Muh mentions 76 feudal princes of the empire and
besides envoys of sixteen foreign countries (De Mailla, I, p. 192).---
(VIII). In the 28th year of the same king, (i.e. 1450 B.C.) some
West-Jung tribes (W. Shensii made their submission, and he sent
Wang Mong as his envoy with presents to these hordes. In his 61st
year, i.e. 1414 B.C., nine Y i.e. eastern tribes made their submission.--
(IX) under Wu-ting, the XXII of SHANG-Yn, in his 6th year, envoys
from six states, using interpreters came to court; since that time
feathers of wild birds were much used on court dresses. The first of
these two statements only I find in De Mailla, t. I, p. 221, while the
two are made in the Kang Kien y tchi luh, 1.c. p. 358, and none in the
I'chuh shu ki nien.-G. Pauthier, Chine, pp. 67-8, and M. Paleologue,
Art Chinois, p. 100, in his trail, have attributed by far too much im..
portance to this fact. Pauthier was led to do so by a misapprehension.
The mythological and unhistorical character of the legend reported by
Greek writers concerning a conquest of central Asia by Sesostris, had
not yet been proved in his time (1839), and the French scholar thought
that this arrival of fureigners in China was a result of the supposed
Egyptian conquest.
341) Lun-yu, II, 23, cfr. below ch. VII, $1.
342) On Wu hien, cfr. Shu King, V, Xvi, 7; She Ki, III, f. 6.--And
Mayer's Chinese R.M., No. 861.---Tcheou-li, R. XXIV, fol. 19 gloss;
transl. Biot, vol. II, p. 77.
343) In the li Ki, XX, 9 we hear of Kaosin-Tikuh (who was chief of the
Baks before Yao) as able to define all “ the zodiacal stars and exhibit
their times to the people.” The T'chuh shu Ki nien, Part I, ii, states
that Kao-Yang Tchuen-hiuh, predecessor of Ti-kuh, win his 13th
year invented calendaric calculations and delineations cf the heavenly
bodies.
Chap. VI. f) A Résumé. $ 4.
During the third period i.e. the Tchou dynasty (circà 1100-770 B.C.),
the situation is quite different. An important focus oí astronomical and
astrological lore had been established by a branch of the Aryan races in
Khorasmia about 1304 B.C., and it is only what could be expected to find
that the Tchou a people of Kirghize.origin346, who had settled for centuries
on the N.W. borders of China, were acquainted with some shreds of
knowledge from that source. The success of the Tchou may have been
an incitement to the Jade traffic ; some more notions from the same
quarters, in a more or less dilapidated condition, have reached the Middle
Kingdom at a subsequent date, through the route of Khotan then Arya-
1000 B.c.) who made an expedition westwards348, was presented with
nephrite-jade (of Khotan), and asbestos-cloth349 (of Badakshan); the
possibilities of intercourse, however, were partially stopped by the rising
in the IXth century, of the then semi-Chinese and uncivilised state of
Than,---later Ts’in on the N.W. of China, that same state which we
had so often occasion to mention in the preceding sections of the present
chapter. The Jade-traffic was carried on nevertheless, with increased
difficulties and through Tibet, by the merchants of Shuh or Sze-tchuen,
but not for a long time. Their attention was soon attracted towards the
south-west by a greater facility in the communications and trade, Although
no regular intercourse was established with the South, some parties of
traders from Yunnan West and South, enticed no doubt by the reports of
78
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.
intermediary tribes about the power and wealth of the rising dynasty,
came to the Chinese court with a monkey of India350 and probably some
goods of the same country, which fact seems to show that intercourse be-
tween the Malabar coast and Burnah had already begun. These trading
parties were the real openers of the communications which we shall have
to mention during the following perioả.
The sea trade through the Arabian sea and the Bay of Bengal, which
later on, was extended to the Chinese seas, and imported a few western
notions to the native states of the East in Shantung, through which they
passed to the Chinese, seems to have begun about that period.851 The
first enactments concerning currency were issued about 1032 B.C. by a
prime minister named T'ai Kung of Ts'i, an eastern barbarian less
fettered to tradition than a native Chinaman, while some rules mention-
ing the ring-weight money were established about 947 B.C. ;352 it seems
difficult not to connect this remarkable progress with the influence of
foreign trade which began about this time.
Under the guidance of the founders of the Tchou dynasty, a thorough
organisation and systematization took place. Some advance and certain
changes were made under the combined influence of newly-imported no-
tions and internal progress, difficult to distinguish as to their respective
importance.353 The use of the sexagenary cycle and that of the Jupiter
cycle of twelve, both of ancient date, 354 was improved ; so were those of
the clepsydra, the stile of which was divided into 100 ki for a day, and
of the sun-dial, the gnomon of which was pierced at the top. The latter
permitted circà 1100 B.C., some observations to be made at Loh-yang
with such accuracy that they have been verified by Laplace and Biot in
the present century, 355 and found exact, without any possibility of being
the result of any retrospective calculations. The knowledge of the 28
siu or stellar mansions and their use for prognostication, was also an ac-
quisition made at the beginning of the period, 356 grafted, npon former
notionsof astronomy ; their close similarity with the 27 or 28 Nakshatras
of India, and the 28 manazils of the Arabs is not gênealogical in one di-
rection or the other, but simply one of common descent from an older
system, 357 now known to have been systematized in Khorasmia,368 for
astrological purposes, and made to begin with the Pleiades, features which
have survived long in China. The beginning of the day was fixed at
midnight, while under the Shang dynasty it was at noon, and under the
first dynasty at sunrise, as in Chaldæa358. The beginning of the year wa
also altered; the Baks had brought with them the Chaldæan habit of
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
7797
commencing the year at the vernal equinox;, under the Shang, the last.
month, and under the Tchou, the second month of winter were made the
first month 360 ; but the irregular system of intercalary months seem to
have somehow brought them into confusion. In arts they became also
acquainted with the process of tempering iron 361.
In religion we see them adding Earth to Heaven in the denomination
of the Supreme deity 362, and among other customs we remark the sacrifice
of a dog which is run over by the king in his chariot when he goes out of
the kingdon 363. Both features may be due to the Indo-Aryan influence
which had undoubtedly reached the mass of the Tchou people, notwith-
standing the alliance and sinicisation of their leaders reported in their
legendary history.
We have also to mention the development of the use of proper nanies
a practice due apparently to a similar influence. The notion of the five
elements, which appears at the beginning of the dynasty was, however, an
old idea which must be traced back to a different source 364
344) Here are two facts from the Tchuh chu Ki nien, in support of my
statement concerning the extension of ancestral worship to departed great
men : Yuh-ting, the Vth of SHANG, in his 8th year i. e. B.C.
1521, appointed sacrifices to Pa o-hang, temple name of Y-yn chief
minister to the founder of the dynasty. A notice of this eminent
man is given by Mayers, Chinese R. M., No. 233. Later on, Wu-ting,
the XXIInd ruler of Shang, in his 12th year, i.e. 1262 B.C. offered
a sacrifice of thanksgiving to Shang-Kiah Wei, a former minister of
Sieh, the Xth king of Shang.---Under the Tchou dynasty the royal
temple of ancestors was seven - shrined (Shu King IV vi, 10;
T'chung yung, sec. 4), and there is no intimation in any writings of high
antiquity that the practice was different under the Hia and Shang
dynasties. But in the second century, J. C. Wen Yuen-shung put forth
the view that under the Shang dynasty, the shrines were only five; cfr. J.
Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. III, p. 218 notes,
315) The custom of tabooing proper names has arisen among not a few com-
munities in a low stage of mental development from the difficulty for the
undeveloped mind to separate, the subjective meaning from the objective
value of a name, or in other words, the thing from its term. Appear-
ing among the Chinese at that time, we take it as an influence of the
pre-Chinese populatiun yet in occupation of the greater part of the coun-
try. Its name is pi-hway, which in the archaic phonetism of the Sino-
Annamite dialect is still pronouncedti-bi, and bears a resemblance to
tapi of Tahiti, a similar custom. Cfr. the notes 2, 3, and 4 § 8 of my
paper on The Djurtchen of Mandchuria, J. R, A. S. 1889, vol. XXI.
Prof. R. K. Douglas in his useful Chinese. Minual, just published, has
a specialsection, pp. 372--376 on the tabu-ed characters of the present
dynasty of China, and a few others.
346) We must remark about that name which was afterwards explained
by mythological legends ) Girard de Rialle, Mémoire sur l'Asie Centrale
vi, hvor
nt under in any writih
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
really historical ancestor of Wu Wang was ki-lik (for Ki-rik, Kirk, &c.,
which cfr. to Kirgh-iz.).
347) We have already mentioned this expedition ; above ch, VI, sect. 6.,
and notes 167-171. In the Kwoh-yu, Part I, and in the Annals of
the after-Han dynasty, it is reported that Muh Wang made a puni-
tive expedition in the West against the Jung Tek barbarians and
smashed their five chieftains. He seized four white deers and four white
wolves, and afterwards pursued the Teks to the great source or Tai-
yuen, perhaps in that case the sources of the Huang-ho. Cfr. Tai ping
yü lan, R. 792, fol. 2 v.--E. Reclus, Asie Orientale, p. 146, records.
that the Mongols sacrifice every year seven white spotless animals at
the sources of the Huang-ho.
348) P. Gaubil was of opinion that some new notions of astronomy
from the West had reached China at the time of king Muh. Cfr.
his Histoire de l'Astronomie Chinese, p. 381.
349) As recorded by Lieh-tze, 400 B.C. Cfr. Tai ping yü lan, K. 820,
f. 8, also suprà VI, 6 and notes 168-169. On the asbestos of Badak-
shan, cfr. Aboulféda, Geographie, p. 474. Badakshan is the moun.
tainous region including the upper part of the valley of the Oxus, on
the N. of the Hindu-kush. Ofr. note suprà, and the following
chapter.
350) Cfr. suprà, ch. VI, d, I.
351) This sea-trade was carried on from remote times along the shores
of the Erythræan sea, (i.e. Red sea, Arabian sea, and Persian gulf) by
the Kushites, a Caucasian l'ace (une race blanche, says G. Maspers,
Histoire ancienne, ed. IV, p. 105) brown skinned, (ibid. p. 196)
which in course of time lost of their unity by intermingling with popu-
lations negroïd or lower in type were they settled. They have left
their name in many places as land marks of their settlements between
Ethiopia and Gedrosia, but this name has been subsequently altered
by folketymology in the various localities. (Cfr, my paper The Kushites,
who were they ? $6 and for a completion of these land marks, J. S.
Stuart Glennie, Î'he traditions of the Archa'an white races, $5.) They
liad reached S. Egypt and repelled the negroes to the South' at the
time of the VIth dynasty, but their seats were in South Arabia where
they had several emporia, which multiplied in course of time were the
points of departure and arrival of their trading ships, with Egypt,
Babylonia India, &c. On the history of this trade and its extension
eastwards, cfr. a special section in ch. VII.
352) Cfr. suprà, note 172.
353) Dr. Stern, Göttinger Gelehrte Anzeigen 1840, p. 2026, in his
in the knowledge possessed in Chaldea and China.
354) The supposition of the Rev. Dr. J. Chalmers that those notions
were introduced into India from China, has no basis, since India did
possess them only in the Christian era, as we shall have the occasion
to see further on.
355) On the sun-dial, gnomon and clepsydra, cfr. a special section in
the next chapter.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
81
3600 inde forhande gelen
356) Cfr. G. Schlegel, Uranographie Chinoise, p. 391.
357) Long discussions have taken place on the subject, cf. Ed. Biot.:
Journal des savants, 1837-40 ; Etudes sur l' astronomie Indienne et
chinoise, 1862, pp. 249-388.-Prof. A. Weber : Die vedischen Nach-
richten von den Na.catra (Mondstationen), I, II, Berlin, 1860-62.-
Prof. W. Whitney : On the views of Biot and Weber respecting the
relations of the Hindu and Chinese systems of Asterims, pp. 1-94 of J.
Am. Oriental Society, 1866, vol. VIII, and pp. 382-398.
358) Cfr. Albiruni, Chronology of the ancient nations, pp. 342. and 227,
359) Already pointed out by Dr. Stern, 1.C.--It was so in the calendar
fixed by Tchwen-hiuh, second successor of Hwang-ti, but we do not
know how it was under the last named and former ruler,
360) Under the Ts'in it was the 1st month of winter. For the Chinese
changes, cfr. J. Legge, Chinese classics, t. II, p. 162, t. III, pp. 41,
154, 215,
361) Under Muh-wang at the time of his expedition beyond the western
borders. It was not an Indo-Iranian notion at that time ; cfr. Wilh.
Geiger, La civilisation des Aryas, p. 635, in Muséon, 1884, vol. III,
pp. 430-438, 627-652.
362) They said Tien Ti, Heaven and Earth. Cfr. Shu-king, V, I, 1, 3.
Cfr. the Indo-Aryan Dyâvâprithivy au, from dyr the sky, and
prithivâ the broad earth, when invoked together.. And also the
hymn to the Earth in the Rig-Veda, I, 22, 15. Cfr. Max Müller,
India, what can it teach us? p. 158. And also A. Pictet, Les Aryas
primitifs, t. I, pp. 666-7.
363) Le Tchéou-li, XXXVII, 1 ; t. II, pp. 364-5. The sacrifice seems
to have originated to propitiate the two monstrous dogs, guardians of
the road from which there is no return, a belief, we hear of among
the early Indo-Aryans. Cfr. A. Barth, Religions of India, pp. 22-3.
On a mythological-notion of the same kind in Assyro Babylonia, M.
W. St. Chad Boscawen kindly communicates to me the following note:
“ The double headed dug often represented on the boundary stones was
the emblem of the god Tutu or Merodach as the god of the morning
and evening dawns, “the begetter and restorer of the gods, like the
Indian Yama or dog-headed god of death and the dawn."
364) In the counsels of the great Yu forming the third chapter of the
Shu-king, water, fire, metal, wood, earth and grain or the six
stores, are specially enumerated together, $ $. 7, 8, as requiring regu-
lations for the welfare of government and people. In the Ts'o tchuen,
Wen Kung, year VII, 10, where the statement is quoted, they are
also called the six fu or stores (of nature). It has been stated by
the Rev. Dr. J. Chalmers that this six fold list must have come from
the Avesta (Origin of the Chinese, p. 26) where according to his state-
ment, the six Amesha Çpentas rule over a somewhat similar arrange-
ment. And pursuing his remarks the same writer, dropping one of
the six, finds a closer agreement with the five elements of the Chinese.
These hasty comparisons and derivations cannot, however, stand cri-
ticism, notwithstanding the Rev. Dr. J, Edkins, The five elements in
Persia, in China Review, 1888, vol. XVII, pp. 49 sq., who has up-
held the same views, and some more such as an identification of the
six Amesha Çpentas with the six tsung of Shun whom we have found
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
simply, as proved by their names to have been a survival of the six
great gods of Susiana. The two writers of China, above quoted, falling
into the fault usual to Chinese authors, have neglected tie strict con-
ditions of accuracy and chronology required in historical research. .
Now the notion of the five elements, Wu heng as usually translated
from the Chinese by Europeans, iś mentioned in the Shu king, III, ii,
3 under the reign of K'i the successor and a son of the great Yü.
Later on at the accession of the Tchou dynasty, Wu Wang the first
ruler was presented by Ki-tze, a follower of the former dynasty, with
the Hung fan or great Plan, a combination of numerical categories in
which were embodied the doctrine of the times of the great Y12. (Shu-
Icing, V. iv). The five heng enumerated therein are the following:
water, fire, wood, metal, and earth. Therefore the theory of
the six fu and of the five heng is reputed, apparently with some reason,
to be as old as 2000 B.c, in China, a date much earlier than anything
Avestic and Persian and which would reversedly suggest a derivation
from China to Persia, should any close identity exist; such, however,
is not the case. Herodotus I, 131, says that the only deities whose
worship had come down to the Persians from ancient times were :-
the vault of heaven to which they offered sacrifices without images,
temples or altars on the loftiest mountains ; the sun and moon, the
earth, fire, water, and the winds. At the time of the Greek
historian the Persians were still a new nation, and he iduly remarks how
eager they were to embrace foreign notions of civilisation. Modern re-
search confirms these comments; the Persians have added successively
to their native Aryan notions, ideas and beliefs, others from the Magi,
from Khorasmia, from Elam, from Assyro-Babylonia, from Asia-Minor
and eren from Egypt. Such, for instance, in the latter case is the
remarkable threefold head-dress of Cyrus on the monuments, which cf.
in G. Rawlinson's Herodotus, vol. I, p. 256; Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de
l' Art, vol. I, p. 723 ; M. Marcel Dieulafoy, L'art antique de la Perse,
1884, vol. I, has pointed out the Græco-Lycian influence ruling the
Persian architecture which originated after the overthrow of Croesus
about 554 and the conquests of Cyrus ; although the workmen were
Persian, the architects were originary from Asia-Minor. Media had
been organised towards 700 b.č. and transformed into the Persian
kingdom in the VIth century. Zoroastrism had begun long before at
an unknown date and was flourishing among the Hyrcanians and Cas-
pians S.E. and S. of the Caspian sea with its chief seat at Ragha, and
not at Bactra as stated in a tradition of the middle ages. It triumphed
in Persia only after the accession of the Sassanides, i.e. 226 A.D. Cfr.
C.de Harlez, Le calendrier Persan et le pays originaire du Zoroastrisme,
1881 ; and introduction à l'étude de l' Avestit et de la religion Maz-
déenne, 1881, The Magi, the inheritors of Zoroaster formed a part of
the Persian nation, but their doctrines and the numerical categories re-
ferred to above had not yet at the time of the compilation of the Aresta
i.e. probably between 700 and 200 B.C., reached their final develop-
ment. (Cf. Fr, Spiegel, Eranische alterthumskunde, vol. III, p, 787; -
also Ph. Keiper, Les noms propres Perso-Avestiques, Muséon, 1885,
vol. IV, pp. 211-229, 338-358, C, de Harlez, Observation sur l'age de
l'Avesta, ibid, pp. 230-1 ; and Origines du Zoroastrisme, Paris, 1879;
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
83
J. Darmesteter, Haurvatât et Ameretât ; Paris, 1877; Ormazd et
Ahriman : leur origines et ler histoire, Paris, 1877, The six' Amesha
Cpentas are creations of the Mazdeism, and at first were only personi-
fications of moral notions, such as is yet the case with four of them in
the Gâthàs, (cf, C, de Harlez, Introduction, p. 90), which forms the
oldest part of the Avesta, and whose special date of composition later
by several centuries than that of the Rigveda, is fixed at the utmost by
some between 1500-1200-900 B.c. (cf. L. H. Mills, The Zend Avestā.
part III, 1887, Introd. p. 37.) Even in later times, when the Amesha
Cpentas and the Yazatas were attributed a more precise control on
parts of nature, no regular categories of the five elements, as in China,
is apparent, Cfr. C. de Harlez, Avesta, Introd, pp. 88-111, where their
attributes are described at length, Therefore there is no relationship
between them and the six and five Chinese categories, and the simi-
larity claimed by Dr. J. Chalmers and the Rev. J. Edkins rests only
on misconceptions and misinformation. It is more likely a fact that
the six fu and five heng were part of the Elamo-Babylonian categories
and notions received by the early civilisers of China. We must wait
for further light on the subject, when more inscriptions of ancient
amalgamation of Chaldean and Elamite views, and be the same that
afterwards made their influence felt in Mazdeism. We may expect also
some further information from the decipherment of the cuneiform in-
scriptions relating to numerical categories.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
85
CHAP, VII, ITEMS OF BABYLONIAN, PERSIAN, INDIAN, EGYPTIAN
AND GREEK CIVILISATIONS ENTERED INTO ANCIENT CHINA FROM 770
B.C. TO A.D, 220.
I.
97, In the previous chapter365 we have successively examined the var-
jous channels through which influences of the civilised Western world may
have entered and in reality did enter, into Ancient China, viz.: section a)
Ancient dynasties of Western origin; b) the Jade eastern traffic; c) An-
cient trade route of the eastern sea-trade; d) Ancient trade routes inland,
South and South-west, and e) the trade of Shuh (Sze-tchuen).
The second part of the same chapter (called section f) was occupied
with a rapid survey of the general advance in foreign knowledge which was
made in China, during the three first periods of its history, namely, 1) from
C. 2272, Arrival of the Bak families, who were most probably a blue-eyed
ruddy faced and not black haired race, 366 from the West, to the His dyn.
asty; 2) from the time of the great Yü to the end of the SHANG-Yn dyn-
asty, and 3) from the beginning of the Tchou dynasty to their removal to
Loh-yang in 770 B.C.
98. There are several additions which further researches 367 enable me to
make. The Bak families when they established their settlements in N.W.
China, knew gold, silver, copper, and tin (or antimony), whose
symbols are all traceable to their antecedents in the mother writing of
Western Asia.368 They had great difficulty in finding silver in their
new country, and the discovery of the obstinate metal(silver=Y n
made of ken, o b stinate and (kin) metal) under the Hia and Yn dyn-
asties has remained historical. They owe their knowledge of iron at the
time of the great Yü, to the native populations of North Szetchuen, who
were well acquainted with it, and they called it accordingly the Barbar-
jan metal, (tiet, iron, written at first Y, barbarian, and kin, metal), as
well as by other names, tiet and lou, borrowed from the native dialects,
In the middle of the eighteenth century, the Chinese became acquainted
86
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
with the art of Bronze. In 1741 B.C. a branah of the Kun-wus coming
from the Kokonor, settled at Hiu (Honan, N.), introducing with them
the western art of bronze (invented in Asia Minor about 2500 B.c.), which
had been carried eastwards through the tin stations of Moshed (in Khoras-
san), of Kiu-tse (in Eastern Turkestan), and Kokonor. The initial pro-
portions of tin to copper, which increased in the east, and diminished in
the west, was 15 per cent. 370
99. The introduction of the western art of tempering iron, which I
thought to have taken place at the time of the expedition of Muhwang to
the west, in the third period (supra VI. f. 4.), did not happen then.371
A due consideration given to the texts on the matter has convinced me
that they refer to the Assyrian art of inlaying metal, which was then
brought to the knowledge of the Chinese, 372 while the other art was not
learned by them before several centuries had elapsed. 373
100. As we have not already done so, we must here notice the great
literary and political event which had happened towards the end of the
third period. It was due to the energy and foresight of Siuen the King
of Tchou and of his able minister Sze-tch'ou in 820 B.C., during a tempo-
rary revival of the power of his throne,874 The ancient Ku-wen writing,
introduced from the West by the Bak families, had diverged to some extent,
in the course of centuries, from its original forms and modes of composi.
tion; the language had varied, the area of the Chinese dominion was larger
than in former times, aboriginal tribes had been absorbed and assimilated,
regional variants of the spoken language had arisen, and in consequence,
the phonetic spelling of ancient times suggesting a spoken term, uri- or
poly-syllabic in one monogram only, simple or complex, which was largely
resorted to in the written language, had ceased to be adequate with the
requirements. Therefore Siuen Wang and Sze-tch’ou felt the necessity of
obviating possible misunderstandings of the written commands and instruc-
tions from the Crown in any part of the Chinese dominion, and they made
a bold attempt to do so. Although successful only in a small limit at the
time, from want of continuity of power and recognized authority in their
hands and those of their successors, the principle they laid down remained,
and, followed in later centuries by powerful rulers, 375 has given to China.
her present wonderful writing which is understood everywhere, even in non-
Chinese countries, notwithstanding the variety of the spoken languages,
and has thus greatly contributed to the unity and greatness of the Chinese
Empire. The principle followed by Siuen Wang and Sze-tch'ou in their
recast of a large number of the written characters, was to make them more
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
87
ideographic, even more pictorial, and thus to make them more significant
to the eyes than before, at the expense of the phonetic suggestion, if ne-
cessary, The original number of characters, beyond the wanted additions
required by the progress of knowledge, had increased from various sources:
10) variants resulting from the gradual neglect of the primary rules of
spelling and composition, and the actual ignorance and carelessness of the
scribes; 20) local variants of the standard forms, entered into the vocabu-
lary with an acquired shade of meaning; 30) pictorial equivalents, of diffi-
cult or little known standard characters, actually created among the less
cultivated part of the Chinese dominion. These various causes of diver-
gencies continued to act after the reform of 820 B.C., and the new standard
forms were not regularly obeyed, because of the weakness of the central
.authority; but as the principle of ideographism, by its suitableness to the
environment, had become paramount, the written documents could hencc-
forth be understood everywhere without great difficulty.376 It is only in
the sixth period, that we shall have to refer again to the transformation of
the written characters.
101. The present chapter is practically the continuation of the second
part of the preceding, since we shall continue now our survey of the evo-
lution of Chinese civilisation, began therein for the three first periods. But
the importance of the events which occurred after 770 B.C. downwards, the
greater supply of documentary evidence, and the everlasting influence
which these events have exercised on the subsequent history and present
.condition of the country, make it necessary to deal with them in a new
.chapter,
whing; the ind phe Black 246.
NOTES-
365) The numbers of the paragraphs which have been omitted in printing
the previous parts of the present work may be easily ascertained by re-
ferring to the final table of contents.
:366) A black-haired girl amongst them was looked upon as an extraor-
dinary being at the time of Shun; the ruddy faces of the men and the
whiteness of the women's complexions are severally praised in the Shi
King; the indigo plant was denominated by them the eye-like plant. Cf.
my paper on The Black heads of Babylonia and Ancient China: B. &
O, Ř, vol. V., pp. 233-246.
:367) Contained in my Monograph on The Metallurgy of the Ancient Chi-
nese, which, prepared as a chapter of my Introduction to the Catalogue
of Chinese Coins in the British Museum, was one of the chapters left
aside for want of funds (unprovided for in the estimates).
368) In Gold and Tin, cf, B, & O. R. vol. V. pp. 38-39, in T. de L.,
From Ancient Chaldæa and Elam to early China, $ 16.-Silver was
white metal as in the west; Copper, tung is derived from the
88
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
original symbol for crucible as in the west. The Rev. C. J. Ball has:
found independently the derivation of the symbol for gold, Cf. his:
Ideogram common to Accadian and Chinese, P.S.B.A., Dec. 1890.
369) This date like that of 2282, for the settlement of the Bak sings un-
der the leadership of Yu nai hwang-ti (Hu Nakhunte) on the banks of
the Loh river in Shensi, in the 50th year of his rule, is calculated from
the statements of the Annals of the Bamboo Books; the date of 2332,
for the first year of Hwang-ti, verified by Hwang-p’u-mi (supra, Ch. III.
$12); and that of 3904 B.C., lately verified by astronomy (G. Schlegel,
F. Kühnert, Die Schu-King Finsterniss. Amsterdam, 1889), together
permit a scheme of chronology much more satisfactory than the common
scheme built in the XIth century on false astronomical data, or the
chronology calculated from the Bamboo Books which has been frequent..
ly followed in the previous chapters. I have given a comparative table
of the three schemes, so far as the history of money is concerned in my
Numismatic Chronology of Ancient China, forming the Ch. I. of my In-
troduction, referred to, note 367.
370) The use of special ores of copper led to the discovery of Bronze.
For the proofs and details, cf. my Monograph on the Western discove
ery of bronze and its introduction in Ancient China. The various pro-
portions of tin to copper according to the object required are stated in
the Tchou-li, Kiv. 41 (ed. Biot, t. II. pp. 491-492). The Analyses
of Chinese bronzes hitherto published concern bronze objects of com-
paratively recent make. Assyrian bronzes contained from 15 to 10 per
cent tin.
371) It occurred only in the sixth century, as shown below,
372) For all details and proofs, cf. my paper on The Metallurgy of the
Ancient Chinese.
373) A few of the items included in the lists forming the fourth chapter,
which progress of research has proved to belong to importations of the
fourth period will be indicated below.
374) I have called again, after several ancient writers, the attention of
scholars to that great event, one of the most remarkable which could be
quoted in the general history of writing, in several of my publications:
Early history of the Chinese Civilization, 1880, p. 15, sq.; On the his-
tory of the Archaic Chinese writing and texts, 1882 p. 6; Beginnings
of writing around Thibet, part I., $55; Le non-monosyllaðisme du Chi-
nois Antique, l'écart entre les langues écrite et parlée d'aujoud'hui, et
l'histoire de la langue écrite, 1889, p. 14; and elsewhere.
375) In 227 and 212 B.C., in 165 and 379 A.D.
376) The own written characters of Sze-tch’ou are generally called ta-tchuen,
Great tchued, and those framed according to his principles tchuen,
in contra-distinction to the same style reduced and simplified in 227 B.C.,
which was called siao tchuen, i.e., Small tchuen. The word tchuen
means literally curved, and the usual term seal character is only
an appropriate rendering.
II. FOURTH PERIOD, 770-481 B.C.
a) The Ages of Wonder-ism.
102. The IVth period begins in 770 B.C, when the capital of the
CHINESE CIVILISATION,
89
Tchou dynasty was transferred eastwards to Loh-yh (Loh-yang, Honan),
after the death of the previous king through the hands of the Kiuen-
jung, 377 western barbarians, side ancestors of the Burmo-Nagas tribes of
the present day, and it lasts until 481 B.C., when began the internecine
wars of the various states of the Chinese dominion contending for the
Imperial supremacy. It is one of the most important in the history of
Chinese civilisation. Importation by the east and by the south-west of
numerous foreign ideas and notions which have had an everlasting influ-
ence on the evolution of the Chinese views, moral and religious, and the
beginnings of Wonder-ism, Taoism Confucianism and Tao-sze-ism, took
place during that period.
The various states and especially the border ones in contact with the
outside word, less fettered than previously to accept anything new but
through the authoritative channel of their suzerain the King of Tchou,
were henceforth open to initiative of their own as well as to innovations
introduced by foreigners.
103. The eastern sea-trade which we have noticed in the first part
of the present chapter, section c, as one of the channels of introduction
of foreign items of civilisation has exercised a most remarkable influence378.
It was carried by sea traders from the Indian Ocean, who, opposed un-
successfully after 680 B.C.379 by the small Chinese state of Kiü (in S.E.
Shantung) founded around the present gulf of Kiao-tchou, (on the South
side of the peninsula), Lang-ga which they called after the old Ceylonese
Lanka 380, S. of the gulf, and I'sih-mieh, afterwards Tsih-moh, their part
andmint-place on the North. They reckoned among them sea-farers from the
Arabiaa sea 381, but their chiefs were Hindus. One of them named Kut.
lu, i.e. Gộtra, as shown by the story of a cow connected with his visit,
was the object of a grand and unusual receptiou at the Court of the prince
of LU (S. Shantung) in 631 B.C. 382. They were friendly with the Chin-
ese states and carried on with them extensive relations; their introduc-
tíon of coinage about 675 was soon imitated by the Prince Hwan of
Ts’, and his able minister Kwan-y-wu. And in later times they estab-
lished monetary unions for the issue with joint names of coins between
themselves and inland Chinese cities 383. They recognized the suzerainty
of the Ts'ı state in 550 B.C.
104. Astrology and sorcery 384 from Chaldæan source, (about 665 B.C.)
tinged with Indian views, Elamo-Persian notions, mythological imagery
of Egypt, India, and Babylon, 385 ideas of transmutation and alchenıy, 386
amongst other innovations; and besides coinage and measures 387 in
90
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
675 B.C. several material progresses such as the western art of tempering
iron 888, known in 540 B.C., or perhaps before, importation of foreigu pro-
ducts such as the Quince-fruit indigenous from Media, circà 660 B.C389,
were successively introduced, (more or less inaccurate and altered as the
case may be) by them into China during that period. The charactet of
their knowledge was not refined, and belonged properly to the wonder-
mongering spirit that could be expected from sea-traders of that age.
105. It is through their channel that the following data came into the
Chinese literature.
-A hybrid list of names of the twelve Babylonian months390 ;
-A list of ten names which may be that of the old Semitic months391 ;.
A Babylonian list of twelve Zodiacal names392 ;
These three items were chiefly used for astrological purposes and they
do seem to have been adopted to that service by the sea traders in ques-
tion previously to their introduction into China.
All these lists communicated orally to the Chinese scribes were trans-
literated by them as approximately as they could. They differ in their
outwards aspect from the data of early date imported by the Bak families
about 2282 B,C., such as the cycles of 10 and 12, and many others noticed
in our chapter IV, a) sciences and art, which are thus disencumbered of
several of the suspicious items which have crept among them.
106. We must also ascribe to the same influence ;
-One peculiar superstition, such as the idea of exposing in the sun rays
to the mercy of heaven, in time of draught, an emaciated person dying
of thirst and hunger393; known in the state of Lu in394, 639 B.C.;
-The annual practice of “ giving a wife in Marriage to the river god
Ho-peh" in throwing in the river a well-favoured Maiden, which well cs-
tablished at Yeh 395 (pres, Tchang-teh fu, N. Honan) in the state of WEI,
was suppressed after 424 B.C., by a new governor named Sî-men
Pa0396 ;
the state of Sung397 (Honan, E.) where it was connected with astrology898,
-The remarkable dualist worship which was established in Tcheng
(Honan, E.) in 399, 524 B.C., to Hwei-luh, god of light and fire, and
Hiuen-ming, god of darkness and water400, then known in Chinese my-
thology for the first time101,
107. Several men of importance are mentioned in history as having
promoted the astrological doctrines introduced and propagated by the ac-
tive traders of the Lang-ya colony. Four of them are conspicuous ; .
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
91
namely : Sze yoh, whom we see giving astrological explanations to the
duke of Tsin (Shansi S.) in 564 B.0,402 ; Tze Tch’ang who died in 521
B.C., a younger son of duke Tch'eng (reigned 584-571 B.c.) of the state
of TCHENG (Honan C.) where he occupied a high position and became
finally chief Minister for 26 years before his death403 ; Tze Shen, in Sung
(Honan E.) in 545 and 522 1.0.404. And Tch'ang Hwang in TCHOU
(Honan W., Shensi S.E.) who flourished in 550-492 B,C. ; Szema-Tsien
says of him that he was acquainted with all matters concerning the gods
and spirits, and that the sayings about the wonderful amongst the people
of Tchou date from his teachingg405,
108. These four men may be looked upon as the real founders of the
Tao-sze-ism406, and were the immedate predecessors of Lieb-tze and
Tchwang-tze whom we shall have to refer to in our survey of the next
period. We must now examine where was the fountain head of the sin-
gularly mixed influence introduced by these foreigners of Lang-ya, influ-
ence which continued for several centuries and displayed later on a curious
and instructive transformation. But during the sixth century, while this
activity was going on in Shantung and the states in the vicinity, another
influence of a higher standard had reached the Middle Kingdom by the
South-west route, and introduced several innovations ; the most striking
was a certain amount of Hindu thoughts which have deeply tinged the
great philosophical work of the period, i.e. the Tao teh king of Lao-tze
(604-520 B.c.). We shall have to enquire on the important subject of
the beginning of Tavism in a subsequent section, and afterwards on that
of Confucianism.
NOTES-
377) On the Jungs, cf. J. H. Plath, die fremden barbarischen stāmme
in Alten China, München, 1874, pp. 477-495 ; and T. de L., The
Languages of China before the Chinese, par. 28, 150, 172. .
378) The Rev.J. Edkins was, I think, the first to point out the introduc-
tion of Babylonian astrology and imagery in China about that time
and the great movement of thought which ensued, through the ancient
navigation in the Indian Ocean, and I am indebted to him for several
suggestions. But he was mistaken in several of his premises which he
had not worked out ; he knew nothing of the opening vf the Shan.
tung sea-trade about 680 B.C., nor of the Hindu colonies in Pegu about
500 B.C. He assumed without proof that a Babylonian sea trade to
Indo-China had existed from remote date, which assumption is against
scientific evidence. On the other hand he wants to begin astrology
in China about 806 B.C., without any serious proof, which is too early
by far, and he thinks that it could have reached the Chinese in the
South of China, where they were not, inland through Indo-China,
92
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
not sure that the following list of Dr. Edkins papers and communica-
tions on the matter is complete : Babylonian Origin of Chinese astron-
omy and astrology, China Review, 1885, XIV, 90-95 ; Babylonian
Astronomy, ibid., 104 ;. Astrology in Ancient China, ibid. 345-52 ; The
introduction of Astroiogy in China, ibid. 1886, XV, 126-29 ; Chinese
Mythology and Art, The Academy, July 12, 1884 ; Ancient navigation
in the Indian Ocean, J.R.A.S. 1886, XVIII, 1-27; When did Baby-
lonian Astrology enter China, Pr. S.B.A., Dec. 7, 1886, 32-39; The
relations of the Persian and Chinese Calendars : China Review, 1887,
XVI, 95-93; also The Th king as a book of divination, J.R.A.S.
1884, XVI, 360 sq.
379) Cf. Tso tchuen, 2, 1: 4.-Hoh Tchih, Tsih moh hien tchi, 1763,
Kiv. I, f. 3.
330) Vide suprá par. 44 ; and note 25 of my paper : How in 219
B.C, Buddhism entered China. B.&O.R. V, 105,
381) Tsih-moh, seems to have been called after the emporia of Safar,
Sophar, Zabar, of the coasts in the Arabian sea, Suppara of the w.
Coast of India, Zabaj of N.W. Jara, Zabai of Indo-China, all names
surviving or locally adaptated from a common original. Moreover we
find a proof of that in their Babylonian astrology,
side, Cf. Tso-tchuen, 5, xxix, 1 and 5.
383) Cf. my introduction to the Catalogue of Chinese coins in the Brit-
ish Museum, ch. I and VII.
384) This sorcery appeared I think for the first time in 662 B.C, (cf. Tso
tchuen, 3, XXXII, 2). Astrology was not known in China, in. 710,
669, nor even in 661 B.C., all dates where it should have been re-
sorted to, if known then Cf. Tso tchuen, under these years. Besides
divining by the tortoise shell or the millfoil, the chief means of fore-
casting events were onomancy and palmistry. Astrology appears rather
abruptly in 655 B.c, when Yen the state diviner of Tsin quotes as
childish ditties (t'ung yao) an astrological answer concerning a project
of his Prince, given by some adept of the new doctrines. The native
exegetes in taking the expression tung yao as meaning "the children
have a sang which says" are certainly at fault here, as children could
not have made such a thing. Astrology took gradually its place as a
mode of forecasting events. An instance occurs in 564 B.C. in the same
state of Tsin (Shansi); it was followed by subsequent statements in
545, 540, etc., which show that the belief had become well established in
the above state and in those of TCHENG (Honan C.) SONG (Honan
E.), and in others. The twelve principal states of the Chinese domin-
ion were, each, placed under the superintendance of one of twelve
-zodiacal signs whose names appear then for the first time as we shall
see below (note 392), Amongst these states are those of TCHENG
which begin in 806 B.C., and of TsI'N (Shensi) which began in 770
B.C., while the name of the state of YUEH which did not appear be-
fore 537 B.C, was added either to that of YEN under Tcheh-muh, or to
that of Wo, under Sing ki. As the latter state appears for the first
times in history in 584 B.C. amongst the states the astrological ar-
rangement must have been made between 584 and 564 B.C.At the
time of the Han dynasty some gaps have occured and the attribution
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
93
of several names forgotten ; they were restored by Tcheng-hiuen (A.D.
127-200) in his commentary of the T'chou-li, xxvi. 20; and also in
the T'ien-yuen lih li of Siu-fah (A.D. 1682), with slight differences,
Dr. J. Edkins, Ancient Navigation in the Indian Ocean, J.A.R.S.
1881, XVIII, 12, has quoted only the latter's list, and holds the view
that the astrological attribution of the states may have taken place in
806 B.č. because the list begins by TCHENG, but this is no proof since
we have not the original list, and the later writers have began it as
they used to do in enumerating the 28 siuh; cf. also a rejoinder made
on other grounds in the China Review,
385) As the mythological imagery became prominent only during the
next period we shall postpone till then our enquiry on the question,
386) These notions came into effect at the end of the next period; they
were too crude and vague before..
387) The coins were cast on the double basis of the light Babylonian
Mina as unit of weight, and of the Babylonian empan of 27 mm, as
unit of length. Of, the chapter VI on Weights and Measures, in the
Introduction of my Catalogue of Chinese coins in the British Museum,
388) This art was known in Shantung about 540 B.C. but not yet in
the states more south ; cf. my monograph On Ancient Chinese Metal-
lurgy.
389) An ode of the Shi-king I, 5, X.) composed about 660 B.c. in WEI
(Tchihli S.W.) praises the Muh Kua or quince fruit (not the papaya
now so called in South China and introduced from America). The
quince tree, indigenous in Media, is highly valued all over the east
for its cardinal virtues, and its fruits are to this day the object of an
important traffic from the Persian gulf to the Bay of Bengal. It was
then introduced in the China by the sea trade of Lang-ya. Cf. for
the details and proofs my monograph on The Quince-fruit from Media.
to China, 660 B.C.
390) The names of the cycle of twelve, which were part of the knowledge
of the Bak sings, were those of the Babylonian Zodiac, on which cf.
my letter in the Afcademy, Oct. 11, 1890, The Zodiac and cycles of
Babylonia and their Chiness derivations ; while the full names which
appear in the Erh-ya and She lci are those of the twelve Babylonian
months. The entry of ch. IV, section (6, and note 45, must be altered
and completed as above. See next note.
391) This is the list which appears, with the preceding, in the Erh-ya,
and in the She ki, but with greater divergences which however are not
too broad not to be explained as transliterations from oraldictation. Mr.
E. Chavannes, in his interesting paper on Le Calendrier des in
(Journal Asiatique, Nov.-Dec. 1890) about the terms of the duodenary
series, simple formula of good Omen, remarks p, 479, that the oldest
instance of their use occurs in the Kwoh-yu, in the ninth year oi Kou
tsien of Yueh (496-165 B.C.) i.e. 488 B.C. (not 479 as he states errone-
ously.)-The duodenary list has been applied in a clumsy way to the
duodenary cycle of Jupiter, and Dr. J. Chalmers in his paper on the
Astronomy of the Ancient Chinese (append, in J. Legge, Chinese Classics,
vol. III, 1865) has remarked that the term sheht'i-lcoh, ancient Shepti
and Koh, which Shepti is said by Szema-Tsien to be Jupiter, in Sanskrit
Vrishaspati, may be an approximate transcription of the Indian name.
On the other hand, I have pointed above, ch. IV, a, note 45, the ob-
94
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
12.
12
4,
9
vious derivation of these names from a hybrid list of those of the Baby-
lonian months, and the clear identity of SHEPTI with SHEBAT. Since
they have been introduced into China in the sixth century only, and as
astrological terms through the lndianised sea-traders of Lang-ya, the
two statements are easiy reconcileable. The outwards resemblance of
shebat with vrishaspati may have been one of the reasons which induced
these astrologers to apply the full list to the cycle of Jupiter.
392) This list is that of the twelve ts’e, otherwise zodiacal signs which
appear in Chinese literature in connection with the astrology beginning
in the seventh century and not otherwise. Seven of them are mentioned
in the T'so-tchuen, six of these seven, and four more are given in the .
Erh-ya. The Shun ho, i.e. the eleventh of the Chinese list, is men-
tioned in the T'so tchuen in 655 (5, VI, 9).-Compared with readings
of the twelve Babylonian signs of the months, they present the follow-
ing concordance :
Bab, 1. shara, chief = show, head, 10. Chinese.
, 2, gu,
= ho
11,
» 3. mur,
= wi
» 4. shu,
shou
5. bil, fire
ho, fire,
6. gi, look = ki, annals, 3.
7. du,
= tche
8. emga, digging = bauem hao, dark hole,
9. gan (Kislivu) = kiang lou 7.
, 10. (Tebitu) = TSÜ TZE 6. ,,
, 11, ash
= ta liang 8.
» 12. she kin = shi tchin
The concordance fails only for the 8 and also for the 6 of the Chinese
list : the latter's names for 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 11, 12 are double instead
of simple but the the additional symbol does not impair the value of
the other symbol.
393) The first instance is mentioned in the state of Lu, in 639 B.C.
(1'so tchuen). In the Li-ki, II, 11, ii, 29, the Duke Muh of Lu
(409-377 B.C.) is said to have made a similar proposal which was.
reproved.
394) The practice however does not seem to have ever obtained any hold
there, and is not known in any other part of the country.
395) She-ki, kiv. 126, ff. 14-16.-W.F. Mayers, Chinese R. M., I, 172.
-The god was represented as a man with four faces driving in a
fairy chariot drawn by two dragons. Cf. Shan hai king, (text and gloss)
kiv. 12, f. 3. His name has been assimilated to that of a certain Ho-
peh, spoken of as an ally of the Chinese in that region, under the reigns
of His Ti Mang, Ist year, and his successor Ti Sieh, 16th year, in the
T'chuh shu ki nien; i.e, about 1813 and 1781 according to the rectified
scheme of chronology. Ho-peh, i.e. Ho-pak was perhaps a local sub-
stitution of Oh-pak, a god of fire and whose worship we hear in 540
B.c. in the Tso tchuen in connection with fire worship, introduced in
the state of Sung, apparently not long before, from the foreign source
we are studying.
396) The exact year of the suppression is not stated ; as Szema-tsien
says simply that Şimen-Pao, was the chief officer of Yeh during the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
95
reign of the Marquess Wen of Wer who ruled from 424 to 387 B.C.
398) Tso tchuen, under those dates.
399) Tso-tchuen, 10, XVIII, 2.
400) Hiuen-ming, 'litt, : Dark-obscurity.-Once entered into their pan-
theon, this deity has been connected with a certain Siu or Hi said to
have been a son of Shao Hao, and Superintendent of Water under
Tchuan-hiu (2227 B.C.) by the authors of the Han dynasty. Cf, Khang
hi tze tien, s.v. ming, 14+8, f. 22 v., and Sacred Books of the East,
XXVII, The Li ki, vol. I, p. 296.
401) It is difficult not to be struck by the outward resemblance of these
two names, as far as permitted by the Chinese orthoopy with those
of Ahura-Mazda and Anro-Mainyus. Cf. Huei-luh which has no meaning
in Chinese ; cf, also Anro-Mainyus, with Hiuen ming, anciently hun-
meng. The Persians were ruling in Babylonia since 538 and on the
eastern shores of the Persian Gulf for some time previously.
402) Tso tchuen, 9, IX, 1.
403) Cf. Tso tchuen, Ann, 565, 543, 541, 538, 532, and pass.-A short
biography of this clever man is given in W, T. Mayers, Chinese R.M.
I, 730, and more fully in T. Watters, A guide to the Tablets in a
Temple of Confucius, Shanghai 1879, pp. 35-37. His tablet was ad-
mitted in the temple in 1857, which is rather surprising if we consider
his astrological performance of 541 B.C. Szemga Tsien, She ki, kiv. 129
has written his biography.
404) Tso tchuen, Ann. 545 and 522 B.C.
.405) There are several references to this man in history. Szema-Tsien,
She-ki, kiv. 28, f. 7 v. says that Tch'ang-Huang gave his services to
the king Ling of TCH00 (whose reign ended in 544 B.C.) At that time
the Princes used to come no more to the court of Tchou, whose power
was on the wane. Tch'ang-Hwang who was proficient in all matters
concerning gods and spirits, shot arrows on a pu-lai's head, other-
wise a fox's bead which symbolised the pu-lai, or non-coming of
the Princes. He hoped that this ceremony would have contrived them
to come, but they did not yield. Afterwards a man of Tsin seized
Tch'ang-Huang and killed him. The wonder sayings of the people of
Tchou began with Ich'ang-Huang.-In the T 80 tchuen, Ann. 492,
par. 5, it is stated that he was put to death in that year by the people
of Tchou.—Tchuang-tze says : X, 2, Tch'ang-Huang was ripped open;
and in XXVI, 1 : “ Tch'ang-Huang died in Shu, where the people
preserved his blood for three years, when it became changed like
green jade."
406) Tao-sze-ism which has already been used by several continental
scholars is used here as a convenient designation of the wonder-mon-
gering school which has absorbed and transformed the philosophical
Taoism of Lao-tze.
ORIGIN OF THE BARLY
b) The Erythræan sea-traders and the Chinese Age of Wonderism.
109. The results of the researches resumed in the foregoing paragraphs
(103-107), throw some interesting light on the state of things that existed
during the 8th, 7th, and 6th centuries B.c. in the Arabian sea, the Persian
gulf, and the intercourse between Babylonia and India. They suggest
also that an important event must have taken place, which gave to the
Erythræan Sea trade a greater impulse than before, and incited the mari-
ners and merchants to go much further than previously in search of new
lands for their commerce, and thus reach the Southern shores of Shantung
about 675 B.C. Such an event had really happened, as we shall see ($116)
below, by the introduction of the Phænician navy in the Persian gulf, in
697-695 B.C,, but its influence upon the extension of eastern sea trade had
not hitherto been suspected.
110. Commercial relations by sea had existed from the earliest times
between the Red Sea and the Aromata or Somali coast 107with several em-
poria of South Arabia, and between the latter and the Western, Northern,
and North eastern shores of the Persian gulf.408 Modern disclosures go far
to vindicate the tradition, handed down by the Chaldæan historian Berosus
(c. 340-270 B.c.), that the civilizers of Babylonia had come by the Ery-
thræan sea, and the Black-headed race, which in the old cuneiform texts
was the traditional expression denoting originally their dusky skin,409 have
been discerned, from the later arrived Sumero-Akkadians and from the
Semites, on the neatly defined statues and monuments of olden times.410
Since the reign of Gudea, i.e. about 2500 B.C., if not previously, Kushite
tos 412, the Sinaitic peninsula, the Midian coast, and the Bahrein islands
to Babylonia 413; but in the inscriptions of his statues where these names of
stations are given, no reference is made to trade with any place of the In-
dian coast. And an alleged proof of teak wood which would have been
discovered in ruins at Eridu of 4000 B.c. has turned out to be the result
of a misconception. 114
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
97
111. Commercial relations between the Kushite emporia of South Arabia,
the West coast of India, and the South as far as Ceylon, were perhaps
already opened 115 at the time of the XIIth dynasty of Egypt, i.e. circa
2400 B.C. This sea trade was certainly active in the seventeenth cen-
tury, as shown by the Indian products brought back by the Egyptian feet
of the queen Hatshopsitu 116, and later on they seem to have established
colonies on the Indian coast, which they probably denominated by names
which recall to mind those of their trading places 417 westwards. The Indian
Ophir seems to have been one of them. 418 Ancient India owes a great
deal to the Sabæan traders, 419 and by rebound to Egypt, but the matter
requires a special enquiry, and can only be alluded to in these pages.
112. At the time of Shalmanasar II., 828-835 B.C., commercial inter-
course existed inland between India and the east of Assyria. On his
Black Obelisk, a rhinoceros, a yak, and Indian animals, such as an elephant
and apes 420 are brought as tribute by the inhabitants of Mutsri, which lay
to the north-east of Khorsabad, in the mountainous district now inhabited
by the Missouri Kurds, and was therefore on the route of communication
with India. The caravan road from the east must have passed through
it, 421 The name of the monkeys seems to be the same as that of the same
animals brought from South Yunnan by the traders of Shou-mi to the
Chinese court about 1097 B,C., 422 and both represent the Dravidian name
of the monkey.423 More direct communications inland between Assyro-
Babylonia aud India were established afterwards, and the Aryan-Indians
of the Sapta-Sindu became acquainted with the legend of the deluge 124
the armlet-weight mana 425, and perhaps other things. 426
NOTES~~
407) Aromata from there were used by the Egyptians as early as the
Iỹth dynasty (Birch), i.e., following Mariette, 4235-3951B.C.
408) Cf.on that question my paper on An unknown King of Lagash $13-
29; B. & 0. R. Aug. 1890, vol. IV. pp. 193-207,-Mr. T.G, Pinches
has treated of sereral points of the subject in his Notes upon some of
the recent discoveries in the realm of Assyriology, with special reference
to the private life of the Babylonians, I. Principally from an inscrip-
tion of King Gudea, about 2500 B,C. (Victoria Institute, Jan, 19, 1891.)
409) Cf. the first part of my paper on The Black-heads of Babylonia
and Ancient (hina; B. & O. R., vol. V. pp. 233-237.-On the name of
their leader, cf. my suggestion on The name of Oannés in the Cuneiform
texts, (The Acad. June 9, 1888), and on his half-fish form in mytho-
logy: The fabulous fish-men of Early Babylonia in Ancient Chinese
legends, Sept. 1888: B. & 0, R., II., 221-226.
410) The Semitic Assyro-Babylonian type is well known. Cf, amongst
others: J. Menant, Remarques sur les portraits des rois Assyro-Chaldéens,
1882.-The Black-headed civilizers of Babylonia, were neither long nor
98
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
round headed, with the forehead straight, the jaws orthognathous, the
cheek bones prominent, the nose large and straight, the hair curly, and
a dusky complexion.--The Sumero-Akkadians of Northern origin were
round headed, with the nose prominent, the chin and forehead receding,
and probably an olive complexion.-Of, my paper on The Blaclc heads,
0.C., and besides the monumental evidence, A. H. Sayce, The races of
the Old Testament, 1891, pp. 137-140; and T. G. Pinches, Upon the
types of the early inhabitants of Mesopotamia: Journ. Anthropol. Instit.
Nov. 1891.
411) On the name of the Kushites as a general appellative for the early
populations of the sea-borders of the Arabian Ocean, cf. my paper on
The Kushites, who were they? B. & 0, R., Dec. 1886, I., 25-31, and
suprà, n. 351; also, An unknown King of Lagash, n. 48.-Prof. Sayce,
Lectures on the Religion of the Ancient Babylonians, p. 434-435, and
Races of the Old Testament,, pp. 43, 51, 143-4, objects to the applica-
tion of the name at so early a date, because its antecedent Kash, which
was only the name of a part of Ethiopia, was transformed into Kush by
the Egyptians at a later period, and still later, extended to the region
of Punt. As however he admits that the Kush, father of Nimrod, ac-
cording to the old tradition, preserved in Gen. X, 6, 7, presents but a
similarity of name with the first (cf. Lectures, p. 435-6), and as this
tradition shows an early use of the name in the sense we attribute to it,
early use which may have suggested the Egyptian alteration, I think
that the name Kushite may remain as a convenient, and not altogether
inaccurate appellative. Let us remember that the leading tribes of
A frica, now so called, (cf. The Black heads, $4), are for the most part
immigrated from South Arabia.
412) The foreign commerce reaching Coptos (mod. Kopf) was already so
important in his time, that Pepi I., the second king of the sixth dyn-
asty, had a special route made between it and the sea. Cf. G. Maspero,
Histoire Ancienne, edit. IV., p. 81, The sixth dynasty, following
Mariette, 3703-3500 B.C.
413) For these identifications, cf. An unknown King of Lagash, par. 1%-
23, and the references. Also T. G. Pinches, Upon the types, 1.c.
414) Two logs of alleged teak wood discovered in the ruins of Ur in 1854,
and hitherto unconfirmed by any other find, had been too readily assum-
ed to date from the foundation of the town, some 4000 years B.C., and
thus have given rise to considerable speculation; but this was a mis-
conception, as the said logs were simply the supports of cylinders of
Nebuchadnezzar (B.C. 605-562), after that maritime communications
with India had been opened, as we shall see directly. Cf. J.E. Taylor,
Notes on the ruins of Mugeyer, p. 264; J.R.A.S., 1855, vol. XV.,
and B. & 0. R., vol. IV., pp. 205-207.—On sindy cloth, cf. below, n.
428.
415) The proof is not above suspicion. It consists of a shell of mother of
pearl, such as those of Ceylon, which, inscribed with the cartouche of
Usurtasen, was bought in Egypt in 1883 by Prof. Sayce. It may
have been engraved long after the reign of that sovereign, Of. B, & 0.
R., I. 29 n. 28 and 1V. 202, n. 58.—I have not seen Mr. Emile Du-
jon's L’Egypte dans l'Inde 4000 ans. av. J.C., Paris, Marpon, 1984,
and I do not know if he has been able to support his theory with any
substantial proof.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
99
H
416) This comes out from the fact that when the Egyptian queen Hatsepsu
(or Hatshopsitu) of the eighteenth dynasty made her expedition of five
ships to the Land of Pun, the following things were brought back from
there: all kinds of precious woods, Anti-Gummi, Blooming Ana Syca-
mores, Taas-wood, Khesit-wood, Aham-metal, Balsam, Meslem or col-
lyrium red, two kinds of monkeys, and leopard skins. J.D.C. Lieblein,
Handel und Schiffart auf dem rothen Meere in alten Zeiten (Christiania,
1886), p. 24-35, from whom I take the previous list, shows that this
expedition, and the products brought back must be distinguished from
other products brought by another expedition which had just arrived
from Nubia and Ethiopia, and consisted of living giraffes, leopards, ox-
en, and ostrich eggs. And he refers to pl. 6 of Mariette's Der-el-
Bahari, upper row for the first expedition's products, and lower row
for those of Pun (including the monkeys), and blames this scholar as
well as Lepsius and Maspero for having overlooked the distinction. Cf.
also Dümichen, Die Flotte einer Ægyptischen Königin in dem 17. Jahr-
hundert, 1868, table II. p. 17; B. Graser, Das Sewesen der alten
Ægypter, in Dümichen, Resultate, I. 1-27; G. Maspéro, De Quelques
navigations des Egyptiens sur les côtes de la mer Erythrée: Rey, Histor.
1879, t. IX. p. 1-17. The name of these monkeys of Pun is given as
Kap or Gafi or Kufu, which seems to be the same word as the Hebrew
Koph, Ape, in I. Kings, X. 22. The latter has long been looked upon
(erroneously, as we shall see directly), as no other than Kapi, the San-
skrit name for monkey because it is among the products that were
brought to Solomon from the Ophir lands by his Tarshish navy. (Cf.
note 4:17). The names in the Hebrew text for ape, peacock, ivory, and
sandal wood, were supposed to be derived from Sanskrit words, with the
exception of the sandal wood which was recognized as Dravidian. This
was looked upon as a proof that at the time of Solomon (c. 950 B.C.)
Sanskrit had penetrated southwards to the mouths of the Indus. But
this inference was premature. The name for peacock has certainly a
Dravidian etymology (Caldwell, Dravid, Gramm., 1875, p. 91), while the
name of Ivory is now traced through Egyptian to an Assyrian source
(cf. Schrader, in Z, d. D. M.G., xxvii. 709). I am of opinion that
the name for Monkey must also desert the Aryanists, as its source is
most probably that of the Egyptian word previously cited, which is a
very old one in the language (as old as the language itself, says M. Le
Page Renouf). Cf, the Egyptian cognate words ap and Keften for
cynocephale, in P. Pierret, Vocabulaire Hiéroglyhique, pp. 20, 618,
653 - Max Muller, Physical Religion, 1891, p. 25, says: "Here then
the single word Kapi may possibly indicate the route of commerce from
India to Judæa and Phenicia, and from thence to Egypt, in the seven-
teenth century b,c." But we have no evidence anywhere of such a route,
and the ape gafi in question, was brought from Punt, or S. Arabia, and
not all from the North.-The late Miss Amelia B. Edwards has given
an interesting chapter on Queen Hatasu, and her expedition to the land
of Pun in her last work, Pharaohs, Fellahs, and Explorers, 1892, pp.
261-300,
417) E.g, Muziris (mod. Cranganore) on the Malabar coast, and Muza,
their own emporium in the Red Sea, or perhaps better, Mitzër, Egypt.
Suppara, imod. Wasai, North of Bombay), and Zafar, in Yemen,
Zabara in the Persian gulf, Sofala on the African coast, all probably
..
..
.:
100
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
colonies from Zafar, the Safar of Gen. X. 30.--Minnagara, near the
mouths of the Indus, was perhaps à survival of the once famous name
of the Minæans, the leading power of Arabia in olden times. The latter
is only a suggestion. Generally the onomastic resemblances of this
kind are mere pit-falls, and individual cases cannot be insisted upon.
per names local etymologies, must not blind the enquirer upon genuine
cases which have become transformed by the regional vernacular.
418) I refer to the Abiria of Ptolemy (VII.), the Abhîra of the Hindu
geographers, near the mouth of the Indus, which Lassen, Indisch. Al-
The solution here suggested would solve many difficulties.—The Ophirs
of Sumatra, &c. are names given by the Portuguese, as showņ by J.
Crawford, Descriptive dictionary of the Indian islands, s.v. OPHIR.
419) It received from them the Egyptian standard of weight. Cf, my In-
troduction to.... Chinese coins, ch. VI.-But it did not receive from
them the art of writing; the error spread by Tylor and others must be
given up because it has no basis, as done by M, Philippe Berger, in
his Histoire de l'Ecriture dans l'Antiquité, 1891, p. 229-233 ; cf. Re-
vue Critique, 4 Avril, 1392.
420) Cf. the remarks of W. Houghton, Mammalia on the Assyrian sculp-
tøres, Part II, Wild Mammalia, Tr. S.B.A., yol. V, pp. 319-320; and
those of François Lenormant, Les norris de l'airain et du cuivre, 1879,
S.B.A., VI. pp. 40$-409, Cf. below, note 413. Mr. Houghton identi-
fies the monkey in question with the Presbyter entellzs, the Hamman of
India, or some closely allied species.
421) Cf. A. H. Sayce, Records of the Past, N.S., vol. I. p. 109, and
vol. IV. p. 52, n. 2. The same country had been once laid waste by
Tiglath-Pileser I., according to his own statements. Ibid. vol. I. pp.
109-110.
423) Udumi seems to be their name (cf. F. Lenormant, 2. f. egyptische
Sprache, 1875, p. 21; Schrader, Keilinschr. Geschichtsfors, p. 273; F.
Vigouroux, La Bible et les di couvertes mo lernes, 4, ed. III. p. 599).
In the Chinese text Kudang is given (Cf. supra, ch. VI. section d, par.
46). Both correspond to the Dravidian word for monkey: cf. Tamil
anc. Kaduvan; Malayalma Kuranga; Karnataka Kodaga; Toduya Ko-
dan; Badaga, Kurumba, Irula, Korangu; Malabar Kurangku; &c, in
W. H. Hunter, A Comparative dictionary of the languages of India
and High Asia, 1868, p. 140.
423) This little fact would tend to show that the traffic was not then pas-
sing through the Aryan Indians, if there was not the word baciati for
elephant, which has been traced to the Sanskrit vâsitâ (by Finzi,
Ric. p.l, stud. del ant. Asira, p. 291), a name for female elephant
cf. Pott, Ueber die Namen des Elephanten, in Hoffer, Zeitschi, II.
36).—The yak is called alap n'ar Salceya, i.e. river ox of the country
of the Saka, following Lenormand, ibid. It would be the oldest men-
tion of this people of western Turkistan, whom the Chinese called Sak,
anil not Sze as erroneously stated by some writers.
424) Lenormant, Origines de l'histoire, I. 421-429, has shown that it is
the Chaldean legend of the Deluge and not the Biblical, which has been
the source of the story of Man and the fish, in the Satapatha Brah-
mana, of the VIIIth century, B.C. (ibid. p. 52) and later works. The
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
101
latest translation is that of Julius Eggeling, The Satapatha Brâhmana,
• I. Kanda, 8 Adhyâya, 1 Brahmana; S.B.E. XII., 1882, pp, 216, 19.
425) The Assyro-Babylonian standard unit of weight, mana, is written
phonetically ma-na, as if a foreign word, although sometimes by the
first character only, in some contracts of the time of Khammurabi. The
golden manâ of the Rig-Veda, VII., 78, 2, is looked upon by some
scholars as a trace of Babylonian influence, but this view is strenlousld
opposed by Max Müller, India, what can it teach us ? pp. 125-6, any
Biography of words, p. 115, who argues that the word does not mean
a weight (of gold), but an armlet (of gold). Is this not on the contrary
a proof in favour of the other view, considering that such was the shape
given to gold and bronze currency in Syria, North Assyria, and the
East, just at the time when this influence, which would be that of trade
from these regions and not from Babylonia, could have been felt among
the Vedic Aryans. Cf. also the paper of Prof. Johannes Schmidt, and
the remarks of Prof. A. Weber at the Eighth Oriental Congress of 1889.
426) Cf. De Harlez, Introduction de l'etude de l'Avesta, p. CCIII.-In the
mythical geography, in the Vishnu Puranas and the Mahabarata; P.
Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, 1890, pp. 178-184,--Mr.J.F.
Hewit, Notes on the Early History of Northern India, in J.A.R.S. vol,
XX., 321-363; XXI., 138-359; 527-582; XXII., 319-481; 527-606,
claimed a connexion between the Akkadians and the Ancient Indians,
but he has not established his case.
113, Direct Trade by sea began early in the VIIth century and the
older trade by land became active between India and Babylonia. It is
probable that the goods were no more transhipped to ascend the Persian
Gulf. Teak wood was brought and used at Ur during the reign of Nebu-
chadrezzar,427 but a sort of textile called Sindhu, in which it has been
suggested to recognize Sindu the Aryan name of India, 4 28 appeared earlier
in a list of the time of Assurbanipal (668-648 B.c.) and on a contract
dated in the 30th year of Nebuchadrezzar, i.e. 576 B.C.429 It seems
however that the tablet of Assurbanipal's time was a copy of another
document, and that the Sindhu cloth may have been known some time
before; moreover its definition, cloth of the mountains, indicates an in-
portation by land, and not by sea.430 The Buddhist Jataka Bâveru gives
evidence, as far as it goes, circa 500 B.C. of sea merchants from India
going to Babylon and in the second occasion bringing there the first pea-
cock for sale.431 These maritime relations were not easy and therefore
could not be frequent, because of the difficulties of navigation by the
dangerous and tempestuous straits at the entrance of the Persian Gulf,
$32 and along the inhospitable coasts of Gedrosia.
Therefore communications by sea between Chaldæa and India
began directly after the time of Sennacherib's Maritime campaign in
695 B.C.
102
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
114. The Babylonians had never been a sea-faring people, and their
navy of their various places on the banks of the Euphrates were only
river boats, unfit to run on the high seas 483, Hence was it that the
trade had remained in the hands of the sea-farers of South Arabia. The
Kushites of old had disappeared 434 in the Xth century and their inheri-
to run on the biobanks of the Eu people, and their
jealously endeavoured to keep up the Monopole enjoyed by their prede-
cessors. They may have carried it further east than the latter and have
reached Arrakan and Pegu, but there is no clear evidence of the fact, 435
although they may have been incited to do so by the competition which
they began to feel in the navy of Hiram, the Phoenician king, and of Solo-
mon, from Cizion-gaber in the Red Sea.
115. Such was the state of things when the Assyrian Monarch Sen-
nacherib II was confronted by a revolt which compelled him to reach by
sea the district of Nagit of Elam, on the shores of the Persian gulf, where
his former subjects the people of Bit-Yakîn had taken refuge when they
fled from his dominions. For that purpose, shipwrights from Syria
(Hatti') built for him, at Nineveh on the Tigris, and at Tul-Barsip
(opposite Karkemish) 436 on the Euphrates, sea-faring ships like those of
their country, and he manned them with Tyrian, Sidonian and Cyprian
sailors "whom he had made prisoners with his own hand 437. He was
thus enabled to embark with his army on board his own fleet, and invad-
ing thus by sea his powerless foes, destroyed their towns and removed
the inhabitants 438. Seven years later Babylon itself was partly destroyed
by the same conqueror and remained waste until it was partly rebuilt in
680 by Esarbaddon, Nineveh, the great capital of Assyria, was de-
stroyed and disappeared for ever in 606 B.C. In the following century,
539 B,0., Cyrus conquered Babylon, and the Assyro-Babylonian domin-
116. The appearance of Phoenician sea-going ships on the Persian gulf
(Narru Marratu), was, over the crafts hitherto used there, a great im-
provement, which we may easily appreciate from the figures represented
on the Monuments of the period 439. They presented most probably also
a serious advance, vouchsafed by 250 years of maritime experience, on the
larger ships which had been employed by Hiram and Solomon. And
they were probably also better fitted, as sea-going vessels for long journeys
and rough weather, than those of the Sabæans, In any case they have
proved to be a wholesome competition to the long enjoyed Monopoly of
the latter, which the Assyrian Monarch seems to have had the project of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
103
superseding. The attempt at an expedition in Arabia which was made
in the last years of his reign, and was successful as far as it went, was
a first effort to that effect, and show plainly that such were his inten-
tions for the future, His submission of Addumu and Hagar (Hedjar) in
the district of Bahrein, was the result of that campaign 440.
117. After the naval expedition of 695, and the prisoners carried back
to Bab-salimeti, the sea-going ships of Sennacherib are heard of no more;
then useless otherwise they must have been engaged in commercial pur-
suits in concurrence to the Sabæans, perhaps on the command of the
Assyrian Monarch himself. It appears evident that these new competitors
brought a good change in the sea-trading routine of the South Arabians. 441
Being partly deprived of their old trade, though nut crushed since Sen-
nacherib was prevented by death from pursuing his projects, but in fear
of what might happen in the future, and unable to dislodge the new-
comers, they made them their partners. The result was a great impulse
to the previous navigation, and a large extension to the area within which
they used to move. They vied between themselves for the discovery of
new markets, and of places well fitted for the stations which Greek authors
tell us it was their custom to establisha52. The remotest station estab-
lished by the Sabæans when they were alone, and which was probably
Lanka (Ceylon) could henceforth be looked upon, but as a resting place
which enabled them to start anew further in the East +42
118. The disclosures from the Chinese side, described in our previous
section, with their positiveness, permit us to complete these informal in-
ferences derived chiefly from the western facts known to history. They
show how far these daring traders and sailors less than twenty years
afterwards had carried their enterprises. As a fact they did reach as
far as it was possible to go. The Shantung peninsula 14 4 and its rough
South coast stretching eastwards was a sufficient barrier to prevent them
going further for about three centuries, and the gulf of Kiao-tchou,
which we have noticed, (§ 103), was the best sea-port which could be
found at proximity of the civilised part of China.
119. The character ethaɔlogically mixed of these sea-merchants and
sailors, should we not be aware of it otherwise, would he disclosed by
the singular medley of innovations and items of western culture they intro-
duced. Their influence in China continued for several centuries, but the
nature of the notions they introduced altered gradually in course of time,
and this change corresponded to that which had occurred at the fountain
104
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
head, as we shall see during the following period. At first the notions
introduced were Syrian, such as that of stamping the currency and the
use of the Mina of Kar Khemish 145 ; and Assyro-Babylonian, consisting
bined afterwards 446 with the stories preserved amongst them from the
traditional heir-looms of the ancient Bak families ; the most important
were numerous notions of Babylonian astrology, made of former scientific
data direrted from their original purposes, often corrupt and fragmentary,
with a strong tinge of Indian views 447.
And finally, i.e. at the end of the sixth century when the Persian had
superseded the Babylonian empire, some notions of Mazdeism ap-
peared. 448
This transformation in the influence of the sea-traders in Shantung,
resulting from and following the great events which happened at the
fountain head of their trade, is certainly a most remarkable fact which
deserves the attention of historians 449, and shows its veracity and
genuineness.
NOTES
427) Cf. note 414.—No other specimen of the same wood has been found
in any other excavations in Assyro-Babylonia ; but in a tomb on the
same spot, a truncheon made of bamboo, was discovered by the same
Mr. J. E. Taylor, 0.c.
428) A, H. Sayce, Hibbert Lectures, 1887, p. 138.--The matter is I think
open to a great deal of suspicion, Sadin of the Old Testament is
not derived from the name of Sindu, India, as long supposed on in-
sufficient grounds. Cf. chapter VIII, below, the excursus on Sadîn
and Satin.
429) Cf. W. St, C. Boscawen, Notes on some Babylonian texts : B.&
O.R. IV, 57-59, where it is suggested to be some unwoven silk. Was
it not some tusser silk from India ?
430) Cf, below, the excursus on the Sindu cloth, in chapt. VIII.--Cf,
on Sindu, W.A.I. V, 28: 19, 20 and 14 : 30 C; II, 29 : 50 g; and
in Brunn,'s List, 1799, 1951, 5500; and on Parsindu, W.A.I. I.
21 : 69, 70,
431) Cf. T. W. Rhys Davids, Jataka Baveru. Translated from the
original Pâli. No. 339, and my additional note, in B.&O.R. Dec,
1889, vol. IV, pp. 7-9.-Prof. Minayeff thinks that the verses of the
Jâtaka date from the beginning of the Christian era, while the prose
text is attributed to Buddhagosha. Cf, Bullet. Acad. Imper. d. Sciences
d. St. Petersburg, t. XVII, col. 77.
432) Cf. E. Rehatsek, Emporia, chiefly ports of Arab and Indian inter-
national commerce, before the Christian era, p. 134: J.B.B.R.A.S.,
1881, vol, xy.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
106.
Origineer Sonne
433) Cf T. G. Pinches, The Babylonians and Assyrians as Maritime
inations': B.&O,R., I, 41-42 ; T. de L., An unknown king of Lagash,
par. 20-25 and notes 48-52, 75: ibid. IV, 198-203.
431) Cf. G. Maspero, Histoire Ancienne, p. 451-2,
435) Cf. suprà, ch. VI, f. 4, § 93.
436) For this improved spelling of the name of Carchemish, Garga mish,
&c. cf. Joachim Menant, on Karkemish, in the Mém. Acad. Inscript.
et B.L., 1890, t. xxxii, p. 201, sq.
437) “ Mila’hê Çurrai Çidunna: Yavnai Kisidtai Qatâya ;" G. Smith,
History of Sennacherib, p. 91, 1. 59-60, and p. 92-95; F. Lenormant,
Origines de l'histoire, III, 11.—The ships being still empty passed from
the Tigris, through the Araktu canal to the Euphrates which they
floated down to Ubua where the king and his army went on board, and
by the Bab-salimeti mouth of the Euphrates they entered in the Gulf.
The king offered from his ship a sacrifice to Ea the god of the ocean,
and threw in the sea, as offerings, little figures of ships and fishes in
gold. Of. G. Smith, History of Babylonia, p. 128-131.--There are
some doubts about the decipherment of the word yavnai which Mr.
Boscawen reads as one of the names of Cyprus.
438) The place of landing and embarking on the sea shore are now all
embedded by the alluvions of the rivers. Sennacherib's fleet went from
the Euphrates to the sea in order to ascend the Ulai or Enlæus river
of Elam, which at present disembogues in the Euphrates. Cf. W.
K. Loftus, Chaldæa and Susiana, 1857, p. 281-232, 424-426.-J.R.
G.S., 1855, p. 55.-W. F. Ainsworth, Travels and Researches in
Asia-Minor, Mesopotamia, Chaldca and Armenic!, 1842.-F. R.
Chesney, The Expedition for the Survey of the Rivers Euphrates and
Tigris, 1835-37,--H. C. Rawlinson, J.R.G.S., vol, XXVI, p. 186.-
Rud. Credner, Ergängzungsheft zų Peterman's Mittheilungen, No. 56.
-Fr. Delitzch, Wo lag das Paradies ? 1881.-E. Reclus, Geogruphie
Universeile, vol. IX, p. 406-408,-Eberh. Schrader, Die Namen der
Meer in den Assyrischen Inschriften : Ak. d. W. z. Berlin, 1877.-
W. F. Ainsworth, A personal narrative of the Euphrates expedition,
2 vol. 1888; The River Karun, 1890.
439) Cf. the ancient boats of Chaldea in J, Menant, Glyptique Orientale,
vol. I, pp. 65-99, from the gems and cylinders, and in Lenormant-
Babelon, Histoire Ancienne, edit. IX, Vol. IV, p. 231, and vol. V, p.
105 and F. Vigouroux, La Bible et les decouvertes modernes, edit. IV,
vol. III, p. 574, from the Sargon palace of Khorsabad; with those
of Syrian built as figured at Nimroud, in Layard Monuments, vol. I,
pp. 71,-On the small size of the ships, cf, my paper on An Unknown
king of Lagásh, n. 49, where I have neglected to notice the great
maritime event of 697-695 B.C.-Let us remark that in the list of
maritime terms of olden times published by T, G. Pinches in his paper
on The Babylonians and Assyrians as maritime nations, 1.c., there are
no words referring to the sails of the ships, and therefore that the lists
did not concern sea-going vessels, -Moreover it is well known that
the Babylonians had no timber, and in case of extensive buildings, the
timber required was brought from the outside,
410) Cf. G. Smith, History of Sennacherib, p. 167. The Assyrian suzer-
ainty was extended by Esarhaddon. CF. E. Budge, The history of
106
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Esarhaddon, p. 54-65.--Fox Talbot, The Second inscription of Esar-
haddon : Records of the Past, III, 116-117.-G. Maspero, Histoire
Ancienne, p. 453-4.
441) In 601 B.C. Neko II of Egypt sent Phænician ships around Africa,
from the Red sea, a feat which could be more easily accomplished
there than from the other side. On the credibility of the fact, cf. E. H.
Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, 1883, vol. I, p. 259-291 and
296.-G. Rawlinson, Phenicia, 1889, p. 175-180.
442) Ex. Agatharchid. 102.-E. Rehatsek, 0.C., p. 120.
443) It is not impossible that they had yet reached Pigu from Lanka
and the sea-coasting of West India. Cf. suprd § 114, and references.
444) It is not unlikely that the Chinese navy of later years has preserved
some of the peculiarities of their ships, such for instance the two
sculls at the stern. Another curious particularity is that of painting
two eyes on the bow of the ship. We know that it was a frequent
habit in the Phoenician navy, as shown by the figures of boats in terra
cotta found at Amathonte and now in the New-York Museum (cf.
Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art, vol. III, p. 517, fig. 352). A late
term in Assyro-Chaldæan written : wood teye + boat, and read pan
elippi (Brunn. L'st. 9314) shows that the habit had been extended to
the Erythræan sea-navy, probably in 697-695 B.C. The boats of the
traders and colonists from the Erythræun sea, at Lang-ga and Tsi-
moh had apparently such eyes, as we find these eyes spoken of inthe
fuurth century B.C., and such boats designated as dragon boats. Cf.
the Muh Tien tze tchuen, a work attributed to Lieh-tze, if not to one
of his disciples. Huai-Nan-tze in his Pen king hiun, (150 B.C.).
speaks of the bow of the ships as made like a fish-h a wk's head,
yh shou. Yang hiung, about the Christian era confirms the statement,
and so does Kwoh Poh (A.D. 276-324). (Cf. T'ai ping yü lan, kiv.
769, f,i ; Khang hi tre tien, 196+10, yh, f. 74). On the modern
practice in China, cf, John Barrow, Travels in China, 1804, p, 37;
W. Williams, Middle Kingdom, I, 753.--The practice existed also in
Egypt. Cf. G. Maspero, drchéologie Egyptienne, p. 285, fig. 265 re-
presenting a sailing boat of Ramses IIL (c. 1200 BC).
445) Cf. T. de L., Weights and Measures, forming the ch. VII, of the
Introduction to my Catalogue of Ancient Chinese coins.
446) We shall hare to deal with this aspect of the question and endeavour
to show some of the visible points of junction in their combined mythology
and traditions, before the final conclusion of the present work. The
fusion of the two sources of legends, and the points of contact which
they had, but which have been the occasion by the Chinese historians
of many unsupported assimilations, is an interesting but at the same,
time a very difficult question.
447) Cf. supri, $ 105-6, and infrà,
448) Cf. suprà, § 107, and infrà.
449) Not a few items ought perhaps to have been entered during this
period, but as in some cases the evidence is not dated on the Chinese
side, they will be noticed further on.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
107
*
120. No record in any form, historical or fabulous that I know of has
been preserved of the route they followed 450. The myth of the Five for-
tunate islands which we find connected with their sea-trade on the coast
of Shantung, is the only legend which conceals some vague indications
on as many stations where they used to land, and on which it was their
wont451 to give as little indications as po ssble.
. 121. But this fable is not the only source from which we may derive
information on the matter. These sea-traders have left the name of
Lanka in several places on their route from Ceylon to Shantung, a fact
which we have already mentioned 452, and it is not unlikely that the name
of their emporium Tsih-me or T'si moh has preserved under its folk ety-
mology of the region a souvenir of another name dear to them452. That
they were a mixed party from West Asia, S. Arabia and India, is ascer
tained, as we have shown from the hybrid character of the notions they
introduced into China454. In our survey of the next period this will come
still more prominently, and we shall have to record traces of their influ-
ence which perhaps belong to the present period, but are not as yet suffi-
ciently ascertained as to their date,
122. The legend of the Five Fortunate isles, is a combination of the
Hindu fable of the Kurma avatára,454b with some other Brahmanical no-
tions, and a memory of five places where the traders of the Indian Ocean
used to put up before reaching the coasts of Shantung. The story is
told by Lieh-tze455, who gives the names of the five islands as follows:
1) Tai gũ ; 2) Yue ciao ; 3) Fang ; 4) Ing-tchou ; and 5) Pềmg-
laž 456, east of Puh-hai (which is the gulf of Pehtchihli), 457 inhabited by
Rishis (sien shing) whom an elixir of immortality, called tze-maż458 (or
Sona) preserved from old age and death. Through the machinations
of giants from Lungpak, who were at proximity of the Fairy isles, and
as a subsequent punishment were reduced to dwarfishness, two of the isles
drifted northwards and sank in the sea.--The story is full of historical
memories as we shall see further on..
123. The Maritime intercourse, which by the sailors' tales, had given
rise to this fable, seejas to have come to an end before the middle of the
fourth century at least so far as the Shantung coasts are concerned ;
but it may have lasted some time longer with the Southern region of
Tchehkiang coasts which were then in possession of the state of Yueh,
who had her capital city at Lang-ya from 472 until 380 B.C., where it
108
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
withdrew southwards, because of the internecine wars then raging. This
cessation is shown by the fact that after that time, Chinese rulers made
tëpeated efforts to discover the three fairy isles remaining and their elixir
of immortality. But having no navy, their maritime expeditions could
never go far from the Chinese coasts 459, Szema İsien records that these
expeditions began under the reign of King Wei of rs'who ruled until
332 B.C. and were continued under his successor Siüen of Ts’, 332–313
ti himself yielded to the temptation461, as we shall see in a later page, and
the folly continued during the Former Han dynasty 462.
124. Although no identification has hitherto been attempted with the
names mentioned in the above legend, we may venture to remark that,
considering the circumstances of the case, namely that having been
spoken of by the foreign traders of the Indian Ocean, with Brahmanical
references otherwise unheard of in China, they ought to have preserved
the memory of early settlements of Brahmanical Hindus in the Indian
séas, or at least of places where the Hindu traders who told the story.
pärt that maritime expeditions from the eastern coast of India were al-
ready made circà 500 B.C. and perhaps earlier 463
125. We may recognize in Fang-hu the name of Bangla, which is still
at present applied with an epithet to several places about the South-
eastern end of Sumatra, and is preserved alone in that of the Banca
island, in the same region 464. A variant was Fang-tchang, (anciently
Bañ-tan) which reminds us of Bantam for Bantan, a name of the Wes-
tern end of Java, 465 The other of the Chinese names Pêng-lai is so
much alike that of the country called Poli (Pali, Pari or Bari) which is
said by all the Chinese geographers to be the Northern coast of Sumatra,
and its neighbourhood to the Nicobar islands 466, that we have only to
register it. Yng-tchou, which means literally "island of the great sea'
cannot be identified by the same process of onomastics, and a suggestion
as to what place it was applied, may only result from further researches
in all the circumstancial evidence of the case 487.
NOTES-
450) A proof that sea-traders were going in high seas considerably south,
is given by the astronomical statements coming from them, which
Nearchos and Onesicritos have reported. Of. on this interesting ques-
tion, the just remarks of E. H. Bunbury, History of Ancient Geogra-
phy, vol. I, p. 535.
CHINESE CÍVILISATION.
109
Soma, the ancient intoxicating beverage of the Vedic Rishis. which
451) We know that such was the case with the Phoenicians for their
journeys to the Cassiterides.
452) Of. supru VI, c, $ 44.-On the coins which they issued there about
675 B.C. cf. my Catalogue of Chinese coins, p. lxv, 214.
453) Cf, the following series where the ancient names are in italics :
Sephar (Geñ, X, 30); Saphir regia, Sapphar methopolis, Sabe regia,
Safar (near Sara) Zafar (Mahra), Zafar (Mirbat), all in S. Arabia ;
Sofala (E. coast of Afriea); Suppara (W. coast of India); Sumatra
(Indian Archipelago); Samaradê (E. Malacca peninsula); and Tsi-
moh (Shantung). The latter was written at first Tsieh Mo (Bas. 1026-
50).
454) The mountain near the gulf of Kiao tchou is and was called Lao
shan (Bas, 907-2275). The Shan hai king, last additions, kiv. 9, f.
3 v., states that near it were Black people. Does not this refer to the
swarthy complexion of the settlers and sea-traders of the Indian
Ocean ?
454b) The Kurma Ayatâra as well as the Matsya Avatâra originally belonged
to Brahma. Cf. Muir, Sanskrit texts, IV, 923. Afterwards to
Vishnu.
455) Lieh tze, V, 3, who wrote (c. 397 B.C.) to the following effect : In
the east of Puh-hai,......were five mountains ;-As they were not fixed
by their base, they were floating up and down with the tide. The
holy men inhabiting them, annoyed, petitioned to God (Ti) who, in his
displeasure had left the islands float loose to the extreme west with all
their occupants. Then he ordered Yü Krang ( à god on which cf. 8
178) to send fifteen huge turtles which raising their heads supported
the islands each three times alternately for 60000 years at every change.
The five islands then did not move away. But in the country of
Lung-peh (Lung-bak) were men of so enormous a stature that with a few
steps they could reach the five islands, and take them at one fell swoop.
They attached together six of the turtles and carried them away, Two
of the islands Tai yü and Yüen Kiao drifted towards the extreme North
and sank in the high sea. The immortals who were thus carried away,
were more than 100000 individuals. God dissatisfied and in anger
reduced the people of Lung-peh to the size of dwarfs. Since the days
of Fuh-hi and Shen-nung these men had been some ten tchangs high
....On the islands, from the observatories one can see birds and beasts
in gold and jade, also trees of pure white coral, all growing and living;
there also is a juicy dainty (tze-wei, Bas. 5161-1191, anc, tze-mai) which
as a food prevents old age and death. (Instead of dying) the rishis
(who have taken it) fly and wander for a day and a night and then re-
turn (to their body). -Cf, Shan har king, kiv. 12, f. 4, gloss ; T.P.
Y.L., kiv. 38, f. 8.
456) Tai yü, Bas. 2293-10937.-Yüer Kino, Bas. 1246-2358.-Fang-
huBas. 3826-1764.ẨYmgtchou 5338-4968.JPền g-hai, 9127-9092.
457) Eastwards because the starting was made in that direction. For
instance India, by the sea-route, was east of the Chinese coast. Cf.
Shan Hai king.
458) The Chinese expression which is difficult to translate by itself,
juicy-tasty, in its sound tze-mai seems to me a clear rendering of
110
THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
was believed to bestow immortality.' Rig-veda, VIII, 48, 3: We
drank Soma, we became immortal, we went to the light, we found the
gods ;' VIII, 48, 12. Cf. F. Max Müller, India, What can it teach
us ? p. 234,- Careful and hitherto unsuccessful researches have been
made in the Hindu-kush and the Oxus valley after the modern repre-
sentative of the divine Soma plant " which the priest knows," Cf, R.
Roth, 2.&D.M.G. XXV, 680-692; M-Müller, Biographies of words,
p. 222 sq.; 0. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan peoples;
p. 326.
459) In the second century, Chinese ships could not go much beyond
the extreme point of the Shantung peninsula. Of. She ki, iv. 28,
f. 38.
460 She ki, kiv. 28, f. 11 7.— The King Wei of Ts'i had begun his
reign in 378 B.C.-M. Edouard Chavannes, in his translation of this
chapter, Le traité sur les Sacrifices Fong et Chan de Se ma Ts'ien,
1390, p. 25 n. has mistaken the first Siuen of Ts'i, for the second,
and therefore given wrong dates.
461) She ki, kiv. 28, f. 12.
462) Namely in 133, 111, 109, 104, &c. B.C.
463) Cf. supri, ch. VI, sect. e, div. 3. par, 64, 93, 114, 117.
464) Cf. J. Crawfurd, Descriptive Dictionary of the Indian islands, p.
31. Meaning of the name unknown.
465) Cf. J. Crawiurd, 0.C., p. 38.
466) Cf. W. P. Groenereldt, Notes on the Malay Archipelago and Mal-
accu, compiled from Chinese sources, Batavia, 1876, p. 80-84, for
the statement that all the Chinese geographers maake it to be the
Northern coast of Sumatra, and its neighbourhood to the Nieobar is-
lands. In the Lang shu A.D. 502-556, the kingdom of Poli is said
to be 50 days broad aud 20 days from North to South, So large a
country cannot be the present island of Bali as proposed by Prof. L.
de Rosny in Les Peuples Orientarea connus des Anciens Chinois, 1386,
p. 141.–Lombok, near Bali, has been so called by Europeans, cf. J.
Crawford, Descriptive Dictionary, p. 219.
467) Wang T'ai, of the third century, in his geographical work Kwah
ti tchi bas suggested the island called Tan tchou i,e, the isle of Quel-
paerts, south of Corea.- There are however some variants of the name
which are quoted in the San fu hwang tu, kiv. 4. f. 5: Hwan-tchou
(Bas. 6024-968) and Hwen tchou (Bas. 12751-4968) which suggest
an imitation of a foreign name. There are also in the same work some
variants for the two other islands : Fang-hu or Fang-tchang is also
called Lwan-wei (Bas. 2375-7296); Pêng-lui is also called l'un-shuh
(Bas, 11952-4099) and Fang kiu (Bas. 11756-17) but these names are
descriptive. Pêng-lui is also said there to have on its east the Yü-Y
(Bas. 12732-1808) or Barbarians of Kwangsi, suggesting thus an iden-
tification with the isle of Hainan,
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION. .
111
· 126. The ascertained presence of Negrito-Pygmies in Indonesia from
the Andaman to the Philippine islands, in juxtaposition to other races of
men, is certainly a further point showing the truth of the story. No-
where is the contrast more striking than between the Nicobarese and the
Andamanese, living as they do in islands not very far distant in the Bay
of Bengal. In the Lung-pak of the Chinese legend with its giant in.
habitants, we recognize without difficulty an approximate rendering of
the old name of the Nicobar468 islands and their tall sized occupants-169;
while the dwarfs of the story are the Negrito-Pygmies 470 of the two
Great and Little Andaman islands in the north. And in the denomina-
tion of Agathou daimonos nêsos or Isle of good fortune, which the latter
bear in Ptolemy, it is difficult not to recognize an echo of the same legend
of the Fortunate islands which have reached the Chinese171. The part
of the story which concerns the disparition of two of the fortunate islands
in the North, through the machinations of the Lung-pak people, refers
most probably to the behaviour of the Nicobares e472, skilful as they are in
the management of their canoes, who used to cut off many sailing ships.
The two islands, Andaman and Nicobar, which form really two groups
but appear as only two islands in Ancient relations 473, were thus lost as
revictualling places for their ships, and the Ancient sea-traders were com-
pelled to sail direct to Pêng-lai, i.e. Pali, the North of Surgatra. Hence
they proceeded to the China sea through the strait of Malacca, the only
one opened to them, since the Sunda strait which hus been erroneously
called the great portal of the Eastern Archipelago in Antiquity, be-
tween Bangla, or S. Sumatra, and Bantam or W. Java, and the Alas
strait, were not yet opened, according to the Javanese records 174 recently
published. Such is undoubtedly the truth or very nearly the truth which
underlies the Legend of the Five fortunate islands, which was already
known in China in the fourth century B.C.475.
127. The remarkable feats of energy and bold enterprise which carried
the sea-traders from the Arabian sea and the gulf of Bengal to the
Shantung shores, during three centuries, disappeared without leaving
ein in China in the a ts of energy and bold calf of Bengal to the
F
112
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
many more traces of their passage, than those we have recorded $76. Their
scanty tales concerning their route were passing to mythology in the
middle of the fourth century, and no sea-faring crafts acquainted with their
art of navigation seem to have remained behind them. The more conven-
ient route through Indo-China had diverted the traffic.
128. The civilised Chinese, consistently with their inland habitat, before
and after their settlement in the Flowery land, were not a maritime na-
tion. They were well acquainted with river boating 477, but at the time
we have reached in their history, the sea-shores included in their domin-
ion had not permitted them as yet to develop a navy ; and when the
sea-farers of the Indian Ocean created their establishments on the Shan-
tung coast, they deprived them of the opportunity of doing so. Thus
when after the cessation of the maritime intercourse by the latter, the
Chinese princes wanted themselves to send expeditions in search of the
Fortunate islands, they had no sailors nor ships at their disposal to sail
on the high sea. Their river boats could only crawl along the coasts 478.
129. The truth became apparent when at the end of the second cen-
tury B.C., the extension of the Chinese empire towards the sea shores of
Tehehkiang, and the non-submission of the native states of these parts,
called the attention of the great Emperor HAN Wu-ti to the matter.
The native populations of the S.E. coasts were practised in aquatic
warfare and skillful in the management of boats479 ;" they had sea-going
ships which the Chinese had not ; perhaps had they learned something
country did not succeed to make it an attractive and lasting market for
them. In order to incite maritime skilfulness and adventure, the Em-
peror who had placed in an artificial pond of Tchang-ngan his capital in
119 B.O., some figurations of the Fortunate islands each supported by its
huge turtle 180, placed in another a sea-going ship of the model known in
the S. East, about which all sorts of wonderful stories have been told481,
This circumstance denotes the beginning of the Chinese navy. Maritime
enterprise developed afterwards 482, and we hear no more of the Fortunate
islands, which only ignorance and incapacity could have maintained in
the common belier until that time.
Notes-
468) Cf. Long-pak with Lanka Barusae of Ptolemy, Lanka Bâlûs, of
the Arabs, Láka vâram of Rashid-eddin, Necu veram of Marco Polo,
On these names cf. H. Yule, Marco Polo, vol. II, 290, and Notes on
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
113
the oldest Record of the sea Route to China, 1882, p, 7.
469) There are several races of them, but no Negritos. And they are
somewhat like populations of Pegu and Burma.
470) On these Negrito-pygmies, known as Mincopies, the best work is
that of E. H. Man, The Aboriginal Inhabitants of the Andaman is-
lands, 1884. —A. de Quatrefages, Les Pygmées, 1887, has analysed
all the data concerning them, pp. 98, 129-308.
471) Col. Yule lic. has suggested that the name of Andaman unknown
on the spot, may have been adopted from a transcript of the same
name in Greek Ag-daimon.
-472) We might perhaps detect in the legend, a fainted recollection of
the occupation of the Nicobar islands by some settlers of the continent,
who being skilful mariners as they are still at present interfered with
the foreign ships, while the Negritos who have little knowledge of
seafaring were not pirate rovers,
473) Cf. H. Yule, Marco Polo, vol. II, p. 290.
474 The straits of Malacca, which were still unknown to Ptolemy
were thus passed through by these early travellers.-Prof. J. W. Judd,
in The Eruption of Krakatao (Royal Society, 1388), p. 7, has called
attention to an important statement of the Pristaka Raja, i.e. the
“ Book of Kings ” of the Japanese, which work containing the chron-
icles of the Island, and kept secret during centuries in the Royal
Archives, was only recently made public. lt describes a tre nendous
eruption which occurred on the same spot in the year 338 Saka, i.e.
A.D. 416, and it concludes by the following statement: "This is the
origin of the separation of Sumatru aud Java.'— The fact explains away
many difficulties, in the geographical history of the region.-J. Craw-
furd, Descr. Dict. p. 184, had noticed a favourite notion with Javanese
chronologists that the islands of Sumatra, Jara, Bali, Lombok and
Sumbawa formed at one time a continuous land, and they Assign pre-
cise dates preposterously modern, to the separations, viz. Sumatra from
Java in 1192, Bali from Java 1232, and Lumbok from Sumbawa in
1350. The dates therefore require correction.
475) We have thus been led far in advance of any disclosure of Arche-
ological research in the Iudian Archipelago, The oldest colony from
Kalinga, in Java, is spoken of in B.c. 75, but the fact is ill ascertained
although extremely probable. The old Kalinga country embraced
Orissa, and we have seen by the researches of E. Forchhammer, that
the colonists in Pegu about 500 B.c. had come from there. (Cf. suprd
VI, e, iii, 64). Some other sources existed in Ancient Chinese lit-
erature, than the legend of the Five fortunate islands, about the route
of the old sea-traders who came to Shantung. This is shown by the
variant Fang-tchang or Fang-hu, two distinct names, and by the fol-
lowing fact. In 104 B.C. Han Wu-ti among other extravagances built
the palace of Kien tchang at Tchang-ngan (cf. San-fu hwang tu, kiv.
4, f. 5) north of which he made a large pond called Ta-yh (Bas.
1797-5020) where the Fortunate islands were figured, supported each
by their large turtle (suprà note 455), Four names are given by Sze-
ma Tsien (She ki, kiv. 28, f. 44), viz. the three named (suprà, § 122),
3, 4, 5, and Hu-liang (Bas. 1764-4257). The latter is too much
alike the name of Ho-ling, Chinese transcription of Kaling, the name
114
ORIGIN OF T&E EARLY
given to Java by its Kalinga colonists, not to suggest an acquaintance
with that name in the Chinese traditions of the period, either from
the colony in question or from the mother-land in India.
tung have found a place in the later books of the Shan hai king. For
instance in the sixth book concerning the Maritime south. (f. 3) we are told
that every one in the Cross legged's state was one of the Puh sze min, or
People of Immortals, who were of a black colour and lived for ever
without dying. In the fifteenth book concerning the remote south, we
hear again of the same people (f, 2v.) anl we are told that their name
was 0. - In the Khang hi tze tien, s.v. sze, death (78+3, f. 33 v.)
other quotations refer to the same myth. One about the yuen lc'
shan, probably a corruption of the name of the second of the Fortunate
islands (suprà § 122), where a shrub of immortality grew, which state-
ment is completed by a gloss of Kwoh poh. Another refers to a
T'su tchou (Bas, 7017-2381) an island of the sea where grows a grass
of immortality (Liu mêng Kwei).-Other passages of the Shan hai
king refer to Sheng-tu (India) in the East (cf. note 497), for the big
bamboos of Indonesia (cf, 110te 477); kiv. xv, 2v., refers to a race of
spirit-men called Puh-ting-hu-yü, in the Southern Ocean ; they had a
human face, wearing as earrings two green serpents, and treading on
two red serpents, obviously a notion of Indian imagery. Cf. beluw.
477) They were acquainted with the skin-boats, Kufas or coracles of An-
terior Asia. Cf. supra, ch. IV, a, 18.- For a definition under the Han
dynasty. Cf. Tung iwan Han ki of A.D. 170. T.P.Y.L, kiv. 769, f.
1.-Numerous inventors of the Wood-boat are mentioned: Hwang-ti,
Yao and Shun hollowed trees to make boats; and they cut others long

ku and Ho-tih, Officers of Hwang-ti hollowed trees to make boats
(Shi pên).-Kung-tchui (Meh-tze), Yü ko (Lu she Tchun tsiu), l'an-
yü (Shan-hai king 1, 8,5), Hwa Kwa (Wuh li lun), Peh yng (Shuh sih,
Fei Mêng ki), are each mentioned in these authorities as the first maker
of boats. Cf. T.P.I.L.; kiv, 763, f. 7 and 769, f. 2 ; Khang hitze
tien, S.P.-I'hese fabulous statements suggest that hollowing a tree was
the process of making boats among the natives of China like in early
Europe, but there is no other statements to that effect than those
quoted here. In the Shan haz king, kiv. 9, f. 1, it is said that in the
794) boats ; but this fabulous country was somewhere along the
eastern coasts of Corea. In Northern Tibet, M. G. Bonvalot, Across
Thibet, vol. I, 1891, has seen such boats. In the Shan hai king kiv.
17, f. 1, an allusion is made to bamboos large enough to make boats,
growing in the fields of the Wei hills which are not identified and
belong to romantic geography. The notion of such bamboos had come
to the author from the sea-traders of Indonesia, where it is a fact, that
boats are made of a section of bamboo between two knots. Ctesias
had already spoken of them. C. Acosta in his Tractado de las Dro-
gas....de las Indias Orientales, (Burgos, 1573) f, 296 mentions those
of Malabar. And Clusius had seen two large specimens brought from
the Indian Archipelago in the University of Leyden. (Cf. Yule-Bur-
nell, Glossary of Anglo-Indian Words, p. 41-42). But such boats have
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
115
never been made in China (because bamboos wide enough do not grow
there), and the statement to the contrary in G, Schlegel, Uranographie
Chinoise p. 347, is based upon the fanciful work of Ogilby, who has
applied to China, the very words of Christ. Acosta referring to Mala-
bar.River boating is mentioned by the Chinese records since their
beginnings. Neglecting the references to single boats, there are some
interesting cases worth noticing. When Wu Wang, founding the
TCHOU dominion, invaded the country then ruled by the Yn dynasty, he
crossed the Ho river on forty-seven boats provided by Liu Shang. (Cf.
Tai kung luh tao ; T.P.Y.L., kiv. 778, f. 6). And when Ts'in made
its campaign against ts’u, one thousand river boats large and small,
were built for that purpose. Shuh wang pên ki ; (T.P.Y.L., kiv.
769, f. 2).
478) The expedition of Siu fu seems to have reached unwillingly the
Corean island of Quelpaert.
479) Memorial of Yen-tou to the Emperor in 134 B,C. (cf. I'sien Han
sħu, kiv. 64; Trsl. Wylie, p. 37). Concerning the populations of
Min Yueh, i.e. Fuhkien.
480) Cf. note 455.
481) It was called a Yü tchang (Chinese name of the S, E. region) boat
and was said to carry a myriad of men (Miao k'i). The San fu kao
sze says that there were several of them, battle-ships and ten storied
boats, in the pond of Kwen-ming. Of. San fu hwang tu, kiv.
4, f. 3-4.
482) The progresses of this navy were however very slow. During the
first Han dynasty, one thousand kin, i.e. about fifteen tons, was enor-
mous for a boat. Cf. T.P.Y.L., kiv. 768, f. 7, v. In the third cen-
tury, according to the statements of the Wei tchi (San kwoh tchi)
Maritime intercourse was carried from the gulf of Petchili to S. Co-
rea and Japan ; from then to the Liu kiu islands (the country of the
Pygmies or Tchu ju); hence in the S.E., after a year of navigation,
the ships reached as extreme limit the Lo or naked men country (Ni-
cobar) and the Heh-tchi or Black teeth country (where they chew betel).
Beyond the sea of Kwei-ki, i.e. Tchebkiang, were the Tong-ti jen form-
ing more than twenty (not 2000 as wrong in Ma Tuanlin) states (the
Philippine islands, &c.) From Kwei-ki and from Tung-ye (Fuh kien)
one could not reach Tan tchou i.e. Quelpaert, and Y tchou, i.e. Japan?,
except when carried away by the winds, and coming back was difficult;
but people from there used to come to Kwei-ki for trade purposes.-
The statement of the Hou Han shu, that Japan situated in the east of
Kwei-ki and Tung-ye, was near Tchu-yai and Tan-erh (i.e. the Hai-nan.
island), can thus be understood, since it was by way of Japan that the
ships used to sail south. The part played by Japan under this respect
is interesting, as the navy in question was foreign to the country, and
Prof. Basil Hall Chamberlain, in the introduction (p. XXV) of his trans-
lation of the Kojiki, has remarked that even so late as the middle of
our tenth century, navigation was in a very elementary stage and the
art of sailing was but little practised by the Japanese. Mr. E. Bonar,
On Maritime enterprise in Japan : Trans. As. Soc, Japan, 1887, XV
103-125, has concluded from his special researches that, until a fai
later period than the end of the IXth cent., rowing was all the Japan.
ese knew about navigation. The attention paid to the ships of Tu-
nam (Cambodge and Siam) which visited the Chinese Coast in our third
116
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
century, and are noticed in the Wu shi Wai kwoh tchuen is interesting
under that and other respeets. They were wooden ships of twelve sin2
long (about 96 feet) and six feet wide ; having in front and behind
the form of a head and a tail of a fish; cramp irons made them stronger,
and they were large enough to carry one hundred men ; the men had
oars long and short, and also poles; and they were thus fifty, or more
than forty, from stem to stem on each side of the ship ; they used
their oars according to the necessities of their course ; when seated
they, used their shorter oars ; in case of shallow waters they all used
their poles, and in pushing off, they all sang together as a single man,
(Cf. Î.P.Y.L., 769, f. 5.)
c) Influences from the South West and the beginning of Taoism.
130. We have seen in a previous part that Shou-mi traders of the west
centre of Yunnan, who came to the Chinese court about 1100 B.C., had
relations with India ; 483 but nothing whatever is known of the frequency
and nature of these relations. From the Burmese sources, 484 we have
learned that Hindu colonists under the leadership of the Indian prince,
Abhirâja, coming through the inland Route, had settled at the old
Tagoung on the Irawady, three centuries before the time of Gautama,
therefore about 800 B.C. ; and also that a second colony, about 500 B.C.
had come by the same route and settled like the first on the banks of the
same river, but on the eastern side and at another place ;485 while the
first colonists by sea did not come from Orissa to Pegu previously to 500
B.C.486 There is decidedly no evidence that any outside communications
have been established there by the sea trade487 previously to that time, and
any speculation based on the existence of such an early trade, as we made
once, before, is unsafe and probably wrong.488
131. The important and well stated fact is that inland communications
existed between the central North of India and Burma in the eighth cen-
tury, and communications from them, directly or indirectly through the
itinerant traders of Shuh, became henceforth possible with central China,
where was the great and Semi-Chinese state of rs'u. There is no historical
record thatsuch latter communications took place, but we are justified in
assuming that they did, by the influence produced in philosophical litera-
ture, superstitions and practices,489 and perhaps also on some archæo-
ogical remains in the South-west,490 influence which could come but from
118
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
India direct or through them. This influence was one from Brahmanism,
and beginning about 600 B.C. lasted until the last quarter of the third
century B.C. when it was superseded by Buddhism, as we shall have
occasion to show farther on. As the symptoms of archæology and
superstitions appear more clearly during the next period, we must refer
to that time our survey of their historical and ethnological character.491
132. On two distinct points, the S.W. influence came to its full effect
during the fourth period, one concerning material progress, the other phil-
osophy. The sea-traders of the Indian Ocean settled at Tsih-moh, had
introduced about 675 B.c. the western system of stamping the actual
currency, 492 which in China happened to consist of small bronze imple-
ments of daily use, while in the West it consisted of ingots of useless
shape. Some seventy-five years later, more precise notions of the Western
System of coinage than heretofore, reached China ; but then it came
through from the inland south and reached the state of rs', where small
ingots of bronze, bean shaped as the old Lydian coins, and stamped,
were issued by Sun Shuh-ngao for his prince Ts’u Tchwang wang, about
600 B.C. They are known in native numismatics under several sonbri-
quets, the best appropriate being that of Metallic cauries (Ho pei tsien),
because their shape suggested that of the once useful little shells they
superseded. 493 This precised notion differing from that introduced and
entertained in the east of China, cannot have reached the southernmost
of the Chinese states otherwise than from the south, and most apparently
from the best through the Indian route, inasmuch as it seems probable
that the earliest cast copper coins of India, cut bits and bean shaped date
from that time.494
133. A western contrivance which was introduced about the same age
is that of the Ka 0195 to draw yater from a well. What it was exactly
must be inferred from the description handed down by Tchwang tze of
the fourth century B.C., quoting the words of Confucius -and of one of his
disciples about it,496 which correspond exactly to the shaduf as we see it
figured on a slab of Sennacherib, «97 and on Ancient Monuments of
Egypt.498
NOTES--
483) Ci, supre, ch. vi, sect. d. § 46, and also note 422 on the name of
the monkey they brought with them.
484) The historical writings of the Burmese have been pronounced by
the great authority of Lassen " to deserve on the whole the praise of
credibility." (Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. IV, p. 369); a judg-
ment fully endorsed by Sir Arthur P. Phayre, in his History of Bur-
ma, 1883, p. vii.
119
VI
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
119
485) Cf. supra, ch. VI, sect. e, div. 3, § 65.
486) Cf. suprad, ch. VI, sect. e, div. 3, $ 64, and references there to
the researches of the lamented Dr. Em. Forchhammer. We shall see
later on, that it was this inland route which in the IV th century sup-
planted the sea-trade to Shantung.
487) Of course there is no impossibility to the fact, but we do not find
any traces of it, and the statement suprà (ch. VI, sect. f. div. 4, $
93) that the sea-trade of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal seems
to have begun during the third period (1100-770 B.C.) is far too posi-
tive, I have now found that the Ring money of China referred to there
was a western notion most probably introduced by the TCHOU and
established by them in 1091, (or the 1032 B.c. of the Bamboo Annals)
and probably heard of again by Tchou Muh wang during his expedi-
tion in the West of China. (Cf. Intro luction to the Catalogue of
Chinese Coins, ch. I, Ann, 1103-1032-1091). It was not due to the
sea-trade neither of the South nor of the East.
488) Dr. J. Edkins, in the papers noticed supra, note 378, had assumed
the existence of such maritime communications since an early date,
and the presence of the Chinese in the South of China proper at the
same time, but both these assumptions are historical errors, unsup-
ported by any evidence of any kind. .
439). It might be asked if the Shindu cloth or textile which is mentioned
in the Assyrian inscriptions since the time of Assurnatsirpal (883-
858 B.C.) does not refer to silk and to the name of India, hence to
Chinese silk imported through India. We shall examine the question
in a special excursus of chapter VIII.
490) Let us mention here:-10, the horse-shoe shape of the tombs which
spread from the south up to Corea, and which is clearly a figure of
the Yoni. It was already practiced in the time of Confucius, but not
as a general custom. (Cf. Li ki, T'an kung, I. (3) 26). On those
of Corea, cf. W. R. Carles, Life in Corea. 1888.-29) the Wa kan
pillars, on which more below.
491) Below, part III, sect. B of the present chapter,
492) Cf. supru. § 104.
493) Cf, my paper on The Metallic cauries of Ancient China, 1888 ;
J.R.A.S., vol. xx, p. 428-439; -Catalogue of Chinese coins from the
British Museum, 1892, p. xii, liii, and Nos. 1575-8.
494) Cf. Sir Alex. Cunningham, The Ancient Coins of India, 1891, p.
54-60.-Edward Thomas, Ancient Indian weights, 1874, had remarked
that in numismatic finds, these Indian coins were old and worn, while
the Greek coins found with them look quite fresh, Cf. p. 55, sq.-
According to V. A. Smith, Greco-Roman influence on the civilisation
of Ancient India : J.A.S.B., 1890, vol. lviii, they were thought at first
to belong to a much older period.
495) Bas, 4452.--In Khang-hi tze tien, 75+11, f. 89: a machine to
draw water from a well.-Šhwoh wen, id.-Medhurst, Chin. Engl. Dict.
p. 396 : An implement for drawing water by pulley.--The preceeding
description is perhaps somewhat stretched. Joined with another word,
Kieh-kao (Bas. 4236-4452) it is translated in Basile : Putei machina
seu cylindrus,-In W. Williams, Syll. Dict. p. 325 : A well-sweep:
they are much used in irrigating lands near rivers in the Northern
120
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
provinces. Also a water-wheel worked by the feet.-J. Eitel, Chin.
Dict., p. 268: A windlass over a well. These various descriptions
show that the original Kao, was different.--The water-wheel now so
extensively used in China, and which is much like those of Syria, and
the North of Persia, is said to have been invented by Ma Kiun of the
fourth century, who is supposed to have heard about it from India.
Cf. suprà, note 209. An accurate drawing of one of these wheels is
given in Stanton's account of Earl Macartney's embassy, Pol. II, p.
480. There are two appliances of that kind used in China, the chain
pump, and the bamboo water-wheel. Cf. J. F. Chinese, The Chinese,
1844, vol. III, p. 80-84.--John Barrow, Travels in China, 1804,
p. 540.
496) Cf. Tchwang tze, kiv. xii, § 11 : Tze kung coming from T's'u and
arriving North of the Han river where it was not known (therefore in
Honan W.) describes it to a gardener : "It is a lever made of wood,
heavy behind, and light in front.' And in kiv. xiv, $ 4, Confucius
says : "When it is pulled, it bends down; and when it is let go, it
rises up." Cf, Sacred Books of the East, vol. xxxix, p. 320, 353.
497) Cf. G. Rawlinson, Herodotus, 1875, vol. I, p. 315,--Layard, Nin-
eveh and Babylon, p. 109.
498) The Egyptian shaduf. An early Akkadian collection of agricul- .
tural proverbs say: The irrigation machine he puts together ; the
bucket he hangs, and the water he will draw up.' A. H. Sayce, Her-
odotus, p. 111.-In Akkadian it was written ad-lal s y hand-
balance, in Assyrian dulati. Cf. W.A.I. II, 14, 1, 17. Also Brun-
now, List 6624,— Wilkinson, Manners and Customs of the Ancient
Egyptians, I, p. 53, and II, p. 4.
134. It was by the same route that Hindu thought and philosophical
speculations were brought to the cognizance of the Chinese, in the VIth
century, B.C. Li Lao Tan or Lao-tze, “the old one," once Keeper of the
Royal Archives of the Tchou dynasty, worked undoubtedly upon Hindu
ideas and suggestions499 when he taught to his disciples, his Tao teh King,
a work unique in character, and the most abstruse of Ancient Chinese lit-
erature. Established at first in the state of Ts’u, the southernmost of the
Chinese states, whose geographical position was commanding all intercourse
with the South-west, he had every facility to be acquainted with the above
ideas; and as suggested by the late journey to India attributed to him in
his legend, he may have travelled westwards, at least as far as the Shuh
country, which was in direct communication with the land of the Brah-
mans, or travelled to India himself, unless he be himself a foreigner from
those parts, 500 which case, if established, would solve many difficulties. He
quotes himself from older works, but not in the usual Chinese way of re-
ferring to Antiquity.501
135. Several copies of his teachings, varying in accuracy, completed-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
121
ness, and subsequent additions, out of which has been edited the present
work about the third century B.C., seem to have circulated at first between
his disciples. The text has obviously suffered in the transcriptions of one
style of writing to another, 302 but on the whole, the work can be safely
looked upon as authentic.503 It has been translated a dozen of times into
European languages.504 But the literature of the work, both Chinese and
European, appears to indicate505 that a knowledge of the language and a
philosophical training do not suffice to gain a correct understanding of it.
136. According to probabilities Lao Tan was of foreign extraction,
and the Chinese writers of later ages have been unsuccessful in their at-
tempts at putting a clearly Chinese complexion on the few statements
which posterity has handed down about him. He was an exceedingly
clever man, already grey haired when he appeared, in the state of Ts'o,
the great principality which was then commanding all possible intercourse
with the South and South-west. Since 604 B.C. was the date of his birth
(probably following his own statement), he ought to have appeared not
before 540 B-C., and his designation of Lao-tze, the old one' was de-
rived from that. He was besides qualified of Tchung erh or · Doubled
eared,' and also of Tan or · Flat eared,' from the circumstances that he
had long ears pierced in the fashion of the Shans and Burmese), a pecu-
liarity which suggests that he may have come from the region in Burma
where Abhirrja had established his Brahmanical settlement two centuries
before506 and where this custom obtained 507. His alleged surname Li
(plum) may also be argued as suggesting the southern origin of Lao
Tan ; he selected it himself and it was not a Chinese surname before his
time 508
137. Szema Tsien in his short biography of the great philosopher,
knew nothing of his birth, and about his death says that it was not
known when and where he died.509 He states however that he was a
man of Ts'o, who become keeper of the Archives of TCHOU (at Loh-yang)
where he was visited by Confucius in 517 B.C. ; he relates the conversa-
tion of the two great men, 510 and how, when he had resigned his post,
and going away through the (Han-ku) passage (of S.W. Honan, there-
fore going westwards) he left with the keeper of the gate his work of a
little over 5000 words in two parts on the Tao and Teh.511 Therefore
there is sufficient ground to assume that Lao Tan, the Old long eared
man, was a foreigner who came and settled in China for a certain time.
Considering the facilities offered to Szema Tsien and his father for collect-
ing their information, and the interest which Szema Tsien himself dis-
122
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
plays for Taoism, it cannot be admitted if Lao Tan was a Chinese born
and dead man, that they should have been unable to supply more data
to their readers, on so remarkable a man.
138. The details furnished from later sources have a tinge of wonder-
ful, but the sober statements which they contain, confirm rather than
infirm the probability that Lao Ian was a foreigner of the South. The
Yü li of Tchu Han,512 in the IIIrd cent., said that he had a yellow com-
plexion, beautiful eyebrows, long ears, large eyes, a wide forehead, parted
teeth, a square mouth and thick lips, therefore a rather un-Chinese ap-
pearance.513 He was reputed to have travelled extensively, as far as Ta
Tsin, i.e. Dakshina or South India, and Ken-tuh, i.e. Hindu or North
India. These statements, however valueless they may be so far as they
relate to real facts of Lao Tan's life, show certainly the feeling that ex-
isted amongst his followers about a connection of his with India, and are
interesting to notice in support of the views we have expressed.
139. His work shows that he was acquainted with Chinese notions as
well as with Brahmanical speculations of ontology.514 He started from
the notion of the Right Way or Tao of the Shu king, and expatiated it
as the Reason of nature and the first principle subordinating all creation.
The treble aspect of the Tao, described in the fourteenth chapter, which
was the object of the funny view that it might be a reference to Jahve,
is most clearly a Hindu notion connected with similar views in the Rig-
veda and the Brahmanas.515
f
NOTES—-
499) Prof, Ch. de Harlez says rightly : “ La doctrine de Lao-tze resem-
ble en bien des points à celle des brahmanes; le T'ao-te-king concorde
d'une manière frappante avec l'exposé philosophique qui commence les
Manuel Lao-ïen ait cherché des inspirations dans l'Inde; mais à ce
qu'il y a puisé, il a imprimé le caractère de son génie et en a fait un sys-
tême à lui qui porte à bon droit exclusivement son nom.” Les Re-
ligions de la Chine, Aperçu historique et critique, Leipzig, 1891, pp.
177-8.-Cf. also, but with caution. G. Pauthier : Memoire sur 1
Origine et la Propagation de la doctrine du Tao, fondée par Lao-tsou;
traduit du Chinois et Accompagné d'un commentaire tiré des livres
Sanskrits et du Tao-te-king de Lao-tson, établissant la conformité
de certaines opinions philosophiques de la Chine et de l'Inde,....suivi
de deux Oupanichads des Védas, Faris, 1831, 80 pp.-Dr. E.J. Eitel,
Outlines of a history of Chinese philosophy, states that Lao-tze's
ideas of transmigration and annihilation show that he had some con-
nection with India. Cf. Travaux du IIIe Congr. Internation. Orient.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
123
St. Petersbourg, 1376, vol. II, p. 7.-Prof. R. K, Douglas, in The
Academy, Apr. 25, 1885, favours also an Indian origin for his sources,
and suggests that his name Li being that of a non-Ohinese tribe may
shor his foreign origin. Anyhow we may remark that Li, plum, is
said also to have been given to the child because he was born near
such a tree, and that such a custom is not Chinese.—The XIVth chapt.
of the Tao teh king contains the description of three ontological con-
ceptions, I, hi, Wei which have given rise to a great deal of controversy.
Several of the Ancient Jesuit Missionaries,—Abel de Rémusat, mé-
moire sur la vie et les ouvages de Lao-tseu, 1823, (Mém. Academ. d.
Inscript. tom. XII) p. 23,—V, v. Strauss, Lao-Tse Táo-Te-king,
Leipzig, 1870,-P. Perny, Grammaire Chinoise, II, 1876, p. 311, 315,-
Julius Grill, in Ztschr. f. Alttetsam. Wissens., V, 1, 15.-support the
extraordinary view that the three words are a transliteration of the
name of Jehovah. On the other hand, G. Pauthier, Mémoire.....du
Tao, 1831, pp. 32-37, who makes it an Indian notion,-Stan. Julien,
Le Livre de la Poie et de la Vertu, 1842, pp, iv-viii, -J. Chalmers,
l'he speculations on Metaphysics, polity and Morality of Lao-tze, 1863,
C. de Harlez, Lao-tze, Bruxelles, 1885, p. 10 ; Le nom de Jehovah
a-t-il été connu des Anciens Chinois, Sc. Cathol, $39, Ayril.-H. A.
Giles, The Remains of Lao-tze, Re-translated, 1888,-G. v, d, Gabe-
lentz, Life and leachings of Tao-tze : 1589, China Review, vol. XVII,
p. 139, sq., who says that wei being anciently pronounced rii, the
name of Jahveh cannot be recognized in T-hi-mi, -and J. Edkins, on
sq., who thinks that Lao-tze may have got from India a notion of
a (?) Babylonian trinity,—all refuse to accept the Jehovah theory which
ought never to have taken so much time before being dismissed for
ever. The three terms I, hi, wei, which in olden times were dzet, ki
Vedci, X, xi, and it is most probable that Lao-tze had been acquainted
with it,
500) In the following paragraphs 136-138, I have collected the reasons
that make to believe that Lao Tan was an Indian.
501) Ku, ancient, is the usual word used in classical literature when re-
ferring to the Ancients or Antiquity of China, in the Shu king, as in
the writings of Confucius, Mencins and others. In the occasion referred
to, Ch. XLI, Lao-tze says : Ku kien yen yu tch!, litt, therefore es-
tablished words there are.' This peculiar mode of quoting another
work seems to me to suggest a foreign source. See below a. 515.
502) I am thoroughly convinced that if we had the original text of the
Tao teh king in ta-tchuen in full, instead of isolate characters, we could
give a better and clearer edition in modern text than is at present
known. I have already pointed out discrepancies of transcription in
the text,
503) The authenticity of the Tao teh Icing had never been challenged
until Mr. Herbert ... Giles, one of the best translators of modern Chi-
nese, assailed it vigorously and in an unmeasured manner, l'he Remains
of Lao-tze retranslated : Chin. Rev. 1886-1888. The translator wanted
the work to be undoubtedly a forgery, containing much that Lao-tze
said, but more that he did not. His canons of criticism are as follows;
124
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
he considers as gibberish, rigmarole or nonsense all passages that he
cannot understand, and as forgeries all those which in a non-exhaustive
enquiry he has not found quoted in later authors of the following
centuries. He brought on his work two crushing rejoinders of Dr. John
Chalmers, ibid. vol. XIV, p. 323 sq. and of Prof. James Legge, ibid.
vol. XVI, p. 196 sq., as well as another one in several articles of Dr.
J. Edkins, and an interesting one of Prof. G. v. d. Gabelentz, ibid. vol.
XIV, XVI, XVII, and others.
504) Notably by Paš, J. F. Foucquet (1723) mss. (Cf. H. Cordier,
Bibliot. Sinic, col. 520); Stan. Julien, 1842 ; J. Chalmers, 1868; T.
W. Watters, 1870 : Rheinhold von Planckner, 1870 ; Victor von
Strauss, 1870 ; H. Balfour, 1885; H. A. Giles, 1886-1888; Ch. de
Harlez, 1891 ; L. de Rosny, 1892; J. Legge, 1892. A latin trans-
lation mss. made in China, given by P. de Grammont to Mr, M.
Rapper who presented it to the Royal Society in 1788, is now in the
India Office. (Cf, J. Legge, Teacts of Taoism, I, xii).
505) This is the judgment passed by Prof. G. v. d. Gabelentz, ibid. vol.
XVII, at the occasion of Mr. H. A. Giles' work.
506) But whether (the account is) true or false, he is said to have first
seen the light in ihe year 604 B.C. at the village of Kiuh-jen, or Op-
pressed benevolence,' in the parish of Li or Cruelty,' in the district
of K’u or ·Bitterness,' in the state of Ts'u or 'Suffering.' R.K. Dou-
glass, Confucianism and Taoism, 1879, p. 175.-The concatenation of
the meanings is highly suggestive of a fabulous statement, inasmuch as
divergences of opinion have existed on the identification of the above
named localities, because they could not be found exactly. There were
also differences of spelling in the names, Cf. the various comments
added to the text of Szema Tsien, edit, of the T'ang dynasty (Kiv. 62,
f. 1); the Kwa ti tchi, a geographical work of the third cent., the Shen
sien tchuen of the fourth century, &c. In the third century, the dwel-
ling and temple of Lao Tan were shown at Ku yang hien in Poh tchou
(Ngan-hwei). Afterwards under the Tsin dynasty (IV th cent.,) they
were shown as at present near Kwei-teh fu (Honan). The simple fact,
which no assimilation can disguise, is that the village of Kiuh jen, or the
Li, or the district of Ku. referred to in the above statement, were and
are still unknown in positive geography,
507) Supra, $ $ 122 and 65.
508) Cf. Shway Yoe, The Burman, 1892, vol. I., p. 571 sq.-The custom
of piercing and lengthening the ears was extensive in the South In
111 B.C when Southern China was organised by the Han, the island of
Hainan formed the district of Tan-erh (Bas. 510-8337) i.e. of the 'ears
falling on shoulders,' and part of that of Tchu yai, or Red Cliffs. (Cf.
She ki, Kiy 113, f. 9.)-Let us remark however that Wen, Duke of
Tsin (B.C. 696-628) was called Tchung erh (Bas. 11373-8337) like
Lao Tan.
509) The taking a name from a tree near which one stands, is not a Chi-
nese but a Himalayan custom.--Li, (Bas. 4076) the name in question
is said by the Fung su t’ung of the IInd cent, A.D. to be the name of the
descendants of Peh Yang, a name given also to Lao Tan, but it does
not mention any one before bearing that surname. A feeble attempt
was made after the Sung dynasty, in the Peh Kia sing, to create an
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
125
ancestry to the surname, by an assimilation with another surname, Li
(Bas. 5936) of the Yn dynasty, otherwise unsupported. It is now a
regular surname in China. It is also that of one of the Hua Miao, ab-
original tribes of Kwei-tchou, as stated in G. Playfair, The Miaotze
of Kweichou, No. 8, Prof. R.K. Douglas, The Academy, April 25,
1885, thinks that the surname of Lao Tan was connected with the latter.
510) Reported in Tchwang tze, Kiy. XIV., par. 6; also XIII., 6.
511) She Ki, Kiv. 63, f. 20.
512) This document is older than the biography written by Ko-hung
about 350 A.D., in his Shen sien tchuen, and which has been translated
by Stan. Julien, Le livre de la Voie et de la Vertu, 1852, p. xxii-xxxii.
513) The historical dates of Lao Tan are not ascertained. We have al-
ready stated that Szema Tsien knew nothing of his years of birth and
death. Tchwang tze (Kiv. XIV,, par, 5) states that Confucius knew
nothing of the Tao, until his 51st year, when he called on Lao Tan at
Pei (a place which has not been identified, although it was the name of
a region near Su-tchou, Kiang-su, which cannot be the same). This
would be in 501 or 500 B.C., and Lao Tan should have been then 104
years old, which is most probably too much, if there is any truth in the
alleged date of 604 B,C., given as that of his birth by some of his late
biographers.
514) Cf. supra, note 469,-Also, D’Eckstein, Journal Asiatique, XIV.,
Sept., Oct., 1842.-Rev. J. Faber's article on Taoism in China Review,
vol. XIII., deals also wiht the question.
515) Cf. supra, end of note 469.-The Sanskrit tad and svad corres-
pond pretty well to the Chinese tzet and ki (vi), but the third k ama,
Skr., and mi, Chin., differ more widely as to their sense, In Skr. it is
Love, and in Chinese it is subtle. Was this difference that of a
special Hindu school with which Lao Tan was acquainted? Prof. Leon
de Rosny, in his recent work, Le Taoisme, 1892, introd., has remarked
that the absence of the great idea of love in Lao-tze's system was the
greatest shortcoming of his philosophy.
140. Lao Tan makes in his work frequent quotations from sources
which he does not indicate with precision 516; although some of these quota-
tions were not unknown to writers of the following century, it is not
possible save in one case to trace them to their sources, and it is probable
that for these writers the sources was the teachings of Lao-Tan himself
who had derived them from his acquaintance with Hindu thoughts and
views. In his capacity of Librarian at Loh-Yang, he had access to all,
the relics of the past which were treasured there, includng many remains and
fragments handed down from remote ages and the first introduction of the
Chaldeo-Elamite culture. But he did not share the Chinese worship for
Antiquity, and his great contempt for all the ancient traditions is shown
by his statement to Confucius. With regards to Cosmogony, the notion
of the In and Yang, the female and male activity of nature, which existed
126
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
in the Archives could not satisfy him, since the concept of love had no
place in his Ontology. Now another notion which he found most cer-
tainly there agreed with his views, and he gave it a standing in his work
without quoting his source, which however, we know, was some docu-
ment attributed to Hwang-ti, from where Lieh-tze has himself quoted it
in his teachings during the following century.
141. As it is one of the most remarkable relics of foreign and remote
Antiquity in Ancient Chinese literature, 517 let us quote it verbatim, with
a word for word translation :
The Book of Hwang-Ti says518:
1. Kuh s hen puh se
(The) deep's spirit not dies ;
2. She wer hiu en p'in
It is called (the) dark-abyss's female.
3. He wen plin tchimen
(The) dark-abyss female-ox's door,
4. She wei 7"'ien ti tchi ken
It is called the Heaven (and) Earth's root;
5. Mien mien joht s'uen
Perpetually as if preserved
6. Yung tchi puhleh
Its activity is not restrained.
We read it correctly as follows : “The spirit of the deep dies not ;-
It is called the Animal-mother of the dark-abyss.--The door of the An-
imal-mother of the dark-abyss. It is called the Root of Heaven and
Earth ;--As if it was perpetually preserved,- Its activity is not re-
strained,"
142. Some remarks are required on this noteworthy fragment of Cos-
mogony. The 'spirit of the deep’ is the rendering of Kuh shen, i.e. the
spirit of the Kuh, which Kuh materially means 'a valley' but which the
sequence of the text requires to take in a wider sense such as an earthly
deep or abyss. The two following words imply its eternal character
which is furthermore described by the two last verses. Hiuen p'in of the
second line has been variously rendered, viz. femelle mysterieuse (Julien),
female mystery (Legge), generatrice de l'abîme infini (De Harlez), Hidden
mother (Chalmers), Abyss mother (Eitel);519 the third and fifth of these
renderings show that their authors have understood the cosmogonic
character of the text. The word p'in has however a peculiar significance
which is an important feature of the notions here expressed ; it is ideo-
graphically an .0 x-female and it has become a generic term for the
female of animals. Its acceptation of mother in the present case is
CHINESE CIVILISATIONS
127
.
pointed out by the twenty-fifth chapter of the same work, where the same
concept is described as the mother of the Universe.520
The euphemism of the third verse is clear enough not to require any
comment, and as explained by the words following is that from where
sprung heaven and earth ; the figure of speech is befitting to the general
standpoint taken by Lao Tan.
ter of this fragment; it is glaring to the eyes of any one engaged in anti-
quarian researches. It is not connected with any Indian views on cosmo-
gony (where the dual element, male anıl female, by the incitement of love
(Karma) are always prominent) and this is rather striking, should we
consider how much Lao Tan was indebted to Hindu thought under seve-
ral other respects. Moreover, it does not belong either to Assyro-Baby-
lonian cosmogonies of later date, --where also the male and female powers
are the chief actors,521—which might have been introduced by the sea-tra-
ders of the Indian Ocean. But curiously enough it is much older than
that period. It is a strikingly exact description of a Babylonian cosmo-
gonic conception of remote Antiquity, which has no similar anywhere else,
and which therefore cannot be mistaken for anything else.
144. In this old Babylonian cosmogony, “the mother that has begotten
heaven and earth” is Zik uv,522 (the spirit of the immanent),523
described as the Apsů, the primordial a byss or deep, out of which both
earth and heaven were produced. She was "the great mother," and in the
era of totemism, in early times, was known as “the pure heifer."524 Zi-
kuv, and Zigaruv or Zikura, are also the names of Gurra, when regarded
as the whole body of chaos, out of which the heaven and the earth were
formed ; 525 and it is possible that Zi-kum was originally considered also as
the spirit of the earth alone, 526 and therefore as the spirit of a primordial
terrestial deep, 527 or simply the spirit of the hollow.528
145. The identity is so close between this cosmogonic conception and that
of the fragment inserted in his work by Lao Tan, that we have no choice in
the explanation it forces upon us. In the archives of Tchou, he had found
a work or a collection of fragments of olden times, concerning the teach-
ings of Yu Nai Hwang ti, leader of the Bak families in China, and the
Babylonian notions which he had received in the West. This collection
was known as the Book of Hwang-ti, as stated by Lieh-tze when quuting
the same fragment. It is a new confirmation, as remarkable as unexpected,
of the existence of such documents in Ancient China, 529, which we have
suspected all along this work, for many reasons explained therein.
128
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
146. The sixth chapter is not the only part of the Tao teh King, which
shows that Lao Tan had come across some fragments of Babylonian lore.
In his twenty-fifth chapter, he has grafted upon a description of the sort,
his conception of the Tao: "There was something undefined and complete,
-Before Heaven and Earth it existed. It was still and formless!-Stand-
ing by itself and undergoing no change,Reaching everywhere and not
in danger!—It may be regarded as the Mother of the Universe.—I do not
know its name,—and I give it the designation of Tao."
Let us substitute Tiawat, the primordial chaos, of the earliest Ba-
bylonian cosmogonies, to Ta o, and we could easily imagine that the above
text is a direct translation from an ancient cuneiform text, instead of being
a fragment inserted in Lao Tan's work.
;
NOTES ,
516) Such for instance in the following passages: 2, 9; 7, 3; 8, 4; 12 ,6;
34, 7; 57, 7; 58, 6; 73, 5; 77, 5; 78, 5; 79, 3, and others.--Stan. Ju-
lien, Le Livre de la Voie et de la Vertu, p. 22, quoting the commen-
tator T'u T'ao-kien of the XIIIth eentury, on the chap. VI, says: “On
sait que Lao-tsen cite beaucoup de passages des livres appelés fen tien."
But he does not give any information on the latter. Dr, J. Legge, The
Texts of Taoism, 1892, I., 2, quotes the same Chinese writer to the fol-
lowing effect: Lao tze was accustomed to quote in his treatise, passages
from earlier records, -as when he refers to the remarks of ‘some sage,'
of 'some ancient of the sentence-makers,' and of 'some writer on war.'
In all these cases he is clearly introducing the words of earlier wise men.
The fen tien in question were the san fen and the Wu tien which
Confucius threw over, with the exception of two of the five tien (Wu
tien) when he selected the documents which composed the Shu King.
Cf. below, $150.
517) It occurs in the Tao teh King, Kiv. 6, and in Lieh tze, I., 16,-
The statement was so satisfactory to Lao Tan, that he enlarged it in
his Kiv. 25. But it is Lieh-tze only who refers to the original work.
518) Cf. the following translations: 1º by Stan. Julien: "L'Esprit de la
vallée ne meurt pas; on l'appelle la femelle mysterieuse.—La porte de
la femelle mysterieuse s'appelle la racine du ciel et de la terre.--Il est
éternel et semble exister (materiellement).-Si l'on en fait usage, on
n'eprouve aucune fatigue.”-Cf, Le Livre de la Voie, p 21.-20 by Prof.
J. Legge: "The valley spirit dies not, aye the same; The female mys-
tery thus do we name.--Its gate, from from which at first they issued
forth,_Is called the root from which grew heaven and earth, Long
and unbroken does its power remain, --Used gently and without the
touch of pain.” Cf. The texts of Taoism, I., 51.--39) By Prof. Ch, de
Harlez: L'esprit de l'immensité ne meurt point.--C'est lui que l'on ap-
pelle la génératrice de l'abîme infini.—Sa porte est appellée la racine du
ciel et de la terre.-. Elle subsiste éternellement, et les êtres en usent
sans jamais la fatiguer." Of. Textes Taoistes, p. 292.-It is clear that
in the first and second of these translations, the real object of tho state-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
129
ment has not been clearly understood. Mr. H.A. Giles, The Remrins
of Lao-Tze Re-translated, does not believe this chapter composed by
Lao-tze; he does not attempt to translate it, and as he has no idea
what it means, he declares it a self-evident forgery! It was difficult for
this translator to give a greater proof of his incompetency in ancient
matters.
519) In his Chinese dictionary, s.v. pïn.
520) see below, $139.
521) François Lenormant, Origines de l'histoire, vol. I, pp. 493-570
has reproduced numerous versions of this latcr cosmogony, where the
notion of the animal mother las disappeared.
522) W.A.I, II. 48, 26; 50, 27.--A.H. Sayce, Rel. Anc. Bab. p. 375. n.,
remarks that Zik um, Zi-garum, Zi-kura, are all compounds of Zi,
"a spirit,' and are explained by Zi(E)kura, the spirit of the lower
firmament.'
523) Cf. Kum=Kuv with Kuuma=Kuuva, rest, peace, in F. Lenor-
mant, Etudes Accadiennes. III., 142, 17; E. Chossat, Répertoire Su-
merien, p. 116.
524) Cf. A. H. Sayce, Rel. Anc, Bab. p. 375.--The coniplex ideogram
Brunn. 4991, read parů, cow, and written ideographically (anshu-mul)
beast #trebly-divine or starry, is perhaps a surviring embodiment of
these views. - Or is it a survival of the notions introduced by the ma-
ritime civilisers and the “snow-white hornless cows” spoken of in the
fabulous reports of South Arabia by Agatharcides (De Rubro Mari,
Oxon., 1698, p. 64). .
525) W.A.I. II., 48, 26, 27.-A.H. Sayce, O.C., p. 202.-Cf. also F.
Hommel, Die semitischen Vülker, p. 38.
526) A. H. Sayce, 0. C., p. 375.
527) Perhaps it was neither terrestrial nor oceanic,—and thus be a clear
vestiye of the early time when the abyss was not yet looked upon as
'watery. The remark is import..nt because it stamps the remote date of
the notion embodied in the document.
528) Cf, also P. Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, p. 5, 491.
529) In my paper on the Oldest Book of the Chinese, 1883, I expressed
the opinion, then looked upon as rather bold, that the Bak families had
been acquainted with lexicographic documents like the so-called sylla-
baries, and I am now more than ever of the same opinion, which is at
present already supported by many facts. Cf. supra, ch, IV., sect. 5, $24.
530) Stan, Julien, Le Livre de la Voie, p. 91, translates: ne périclite
point; J. Legge, Taoist texts, l., p. 67, translates: in no danger (of
being exhausted). The text says: erh puh tai, and not is-in-danger.
531) Julien: l Univers;' Legge: ‘all things; the text: tien hia, ben-
eath of heaven.
532) Cf. A. H. Sayce, Rel. Anc. Bab, p. 370-374.
Chap. VII. PART II.-FOURTH PERIOD : 670-481 B.c.]
Sect. d) Foreign influence in the North West. Barbarous customs.
147. In the North-west the influence from the outside was the reverse
of being beneficial or progressive. The region was properly at that time
the west of the Chinese duminion, and it was occupied by the state of
Than, niod. Ts'in, whose population was greatly composed of non-Chinese
tribes, the Jungs, whom it gradually subdued and absorbed. Although
recognized as an independent fief of the Middle Kingdom in 770, when
the seat of the latter was forcibly removed eastwards, it did not horever
take part in the concert of the other states previously to 645 B.C.533 We
have already remarked that by its position it stopped the way to any in-
tercourse on that side between the other states and the foreign lands of the
West, 534and the little intercommunication which existed had to be carried
out by a more southerly route.535 The history states that from the time of
Muh-wany's punitive expedition in the west, in 967 B.C., 336those who dwelt
in the wild regions came no more to court, 537 and we have no evidence that
the communications were renewed with the Ts'in state. The statement
is interesting to notice, in face of the changes which we shall record in the
next paragraph, and the important movements which were taking place
during that period in the East and South of the Chinese dominion.
148. The innovations introduced in Ts'ın denote barbarity and av im-
provement nor enlightenment. Its princes established new worships, such
as that of the Regents of the points of space 538 and others. In 756, Ts’ın
Wen Kung, having discovered on a hill a large stone shaped like a bird,
instituted a regular worship to it, and its spirit was alleged to come from
132
ORIGIN OF THE EARMY
time to time.539 Teh Kung in his second year, i.e, in 676 B.C., offered
for the first time the sacrifice fuh, i.e., the body of a dog torn asun-
der at the four gates of the tourn to avert the calamity of worms.540 All
these matters were of little importance. The worst innovations have yet
to be noticed. In 746 the barbarous punishment of destroying
the relatives of criminals was resorted to for the first time.s tl. Also
the practice of human sacrifices, of which the two first notable in-
istances occurred in 678 and 621 B.C., when 66 and 177 persons follow-
ed (tsung) their prince to the grave, 642 have been severally mention-
ed in European literature.548 This was obviously a satisfaction given
to the Tartar element of the population, probably supported by a new
influx of the same race. The next instance in the same country was that
of the funerals of She Huang Ti, the founder of the Chinese Empire, when
a large number of persons were buried with him in 210 B.C.114
149. The question arises to know if these hnman sacrifices were not
simply a revival, in favourable surroundings, of an ancient practice which
had become obsolete in the more civilized parts of the Chinese dominion,
instead of being an innovation unheard of before. And the custom of
placing puppets in the graves, which existed in the time of Confucius, and
is at present still followed, 545 has been put forward as proof that such
sacrifices existed amongst the most ancient Chinese.546 The matter re-
evidence we shall adduce here placing the question on a different footing,
disproves this premature conclusion. Although the Chinese chiefs
and officials have never been over-scrupulous about the life of others, even
for sacrificial purposes, let us remember, that there is no evidence what-
ever that they had ever practised human sacrifices previously to the events
and circumstances which concern us here. 547 Notwithstanding their per-
manent influence on some superstitions and practices, the human sacrifices in
China were only tempyrary, and under foreign influences of a passing
character.
150. These human sacrifices belonged to two classes which must be
clearly distinguished one from the other : 1° the sacrifices by self-devotion
or supposed self-devotion of living persons to the departed ; and 20 the
:slaughter or burning of unwilling persons for sacrificial purposes.
The first class comprehends suttis m, and the siün.
151. Self-sacrifices of the widows518 is a widely spread practice, 549 and
as they result from the natural feeling of devotion of the derelict towards
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
133
pulse from the outside. It is needless therefore to trace the Chinese sut-
tism to its source, although it does not seem to have begun before Indian
influence was strongly felt in the land. Suttism has never been a regular
institution in China, and until 1729, when it was discountenanced by an
Imperial edict, 5:0 it was limited to personal convenience and isolated cases,
which nevertheless had become too frequent about that date, because of
the honour which was paid to them.
152. The Siün practice was another affair.551. It began in 678 B,c. in the
west state of Ts'ın, as we have already seen $ 148, undoubtedly under
Tartar influence. The great instance of 621, was the prelude to its ex-
tension in others of the Chinese states. The next occasion recorded in
history is that of 589, at the burial of the Duke Wen of Sung (Honan E.)
when the Siün practice was followed for the first time there;552 such is
the precise statement of Tso Kiu-ming. Afterwards we find an instance
in 581 in Ts'ın, when a servant of the defunct Duke Nou was buried
alive with his master.553 Then at Su-tchou (Kiangsu) in the state of
Wu, about 500 B.C., the Prince Ho.lü (514-496 B.c.) having lost a fav-
ourite daughter, ran undescribed number of men and women were buried
alive with her; but the act was reprobated by his subjects.55€ There is
also the would-be instance amongst private people which was disproved by
Tze K'ang, a disciple of Confucius, who said that “to bury living persons
in the grave of the dead (siün) is contrary to the rules of propriety."565
However the siün was a well known and rather extensively practised cus-
tom in the fourth century B.C., as shown by the words of Tchwang tze,
who was writing about 379-330 B.C.556 The last instance of notoriety
was that of the funeral of She Hwang Ti in 210 B.C. when it was com-
pulsory. The practice had changed in character, and seems not to have
been followed again by the Chinese. Such were the beginning and end of a
barbarous influence in China, 557 at a time when the whole country was, to
some extent, anxious to adopt any novelty. It has left some survivals,
as we shall now see. 558
153, To imitate the new and peculiar custom of the Siün of the lead-
ing state, such was the position of Ts'in at the death of Duke Muh, the
fourth of the five Pa, in 621—was not within the reach of every one. We
may easily assume that the required self-willing victims, by devotion,
thirst of fame, or for a consideration, could be only the exception, and
never the rule. Moreover, the practice was objectionable to the human feel-
ing of the people at large, and was not sanctioned by the traditional rites.
An ingenious device was resorted to. There was an old custom- a widely
134
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
spread one559—of placing in the tomb mock implements, which they called
ming-ki, i.e. light objects,460 imitations in bamboo, clay, or cloth of
things which might be useful to the departed ; and also that of represent-
ing the defunct at the funerals by a straw effigyłól (tsao-ling). 562 These
led undoubtedly those who could not through impecuniosity, human feel-
ing or otherwise practice the siün custom, to substitute for living persons,
yung, or little wooden figures. 563 We can thus understand how it hap-
pened that Confucius could praise the first, and reprobate the second, as
there was a danger of its leading to taking living men.564 The departed
is still represented at his on funeral, sc5 and little human figures are
placed in the coffin at the feet of the deceased in some parts of the land. 566
The substitution of puppets for human victims has taken place in several
countries 567 and notably in Japan.568
154. The second class of human sacrifices in China presents only a few
and occasional records, since the custom of slaughtering or burning un-
willing persons as offerings was not congenial with them. They did do so
only under another foreign influence, shown by the first instance here
reported. In 641 B.c. the Duke of Sung, (the state where we have noticed
so strong an influence from the foreigners of Lang-ga and Tsih-moh)
y shuh Tung y).569 Now as these eastern barbarians were the foreigners
in question, the case of their influence is clearly established. The name of
the deity to whom the sacrifice was made is not mentioned, but pre may
remark that it was on the bank of a river, and this peculiarity makes it
similar to the human sacrifices at Yeh which we have noticed previous-
ly, 570 and were due to the same influence. In 531, another human sacri-
fice is reported, by the Prince of Ts'u on mount Kang, but there is not
perhaps in it any connection with the other, 571 although it was also a religi-
ous sacrifice.572 Therefore all that we had to say here on the second class of
human sacrifices might have been placed in our previous sect. 6 of this
fourth period ; but the affinity of the subject required it to be dealt with
here.
NOTES-
533) Its first appearance during the Tchun tsiu period was in that year.
Cf, l'so tchuen, Hi Kung, Ann. XV.
534) Supru, ch. VI. f. div. 4, par. 92.
535) Suprd, ch. VI., sect. e, div. 1, par, 52.
536) It was not the same as that already noticed (suprú, ch. VI., sect. 6,
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
135
$ 39, and note 165), which occurred in 985 B.C.
538) In 769 the Prince of Ts'in established a raised altar (tchi) for sacri-
fices to the White Ti, the Regent of the West quarter (with whom the
early Ruler Shao Hao had been identified as a set-off against the
Shang Ti worship of the King of Tchou. This lea to the worship of the
Five Tis as Regents of the five points of space. In 672, a similar altar
was raised to the Tsing Ti, the Green-blue Regent (identified with
Tai Hao or Fuh-hi) At the beginning of the Han dynasty four Tis of
the four quarters only were worshipped as yet, and the series of five
was completed by Han Kao tsu in 201 B.C.-Cf. Szema Tsien, Kiv.
XIV; and Kiv. XXVIII., ff. 3, 5, 17,-Tchuh shu Ki nien, s, d. .
539) It was called the Jewel of Tch’en (7'ch'en pao) because it had
been discovered on the north side of the Tch'en tsang (in Pao ki hien,
pref. of Fung tsiang in Shensi,.-Cf. Szema Is’ien, she Kı, Kiv. 28,
f. 4-4v.
540) Shi Ki, Kiv. 28, f. 5.
541) Tchuh shu Ki nien. Tchou Ping wang, ann. 25.-She Ki, Kiv. V.,
f. 6. .
part I., Bk. XI., Ode Hwang Niao.
553) Notably by W.F. Mayers, On the Stone figures at Chinese tombs
and the offering of living sacrifices, p, 13, 14 : J.N. Ch. Br. R.A.S.,
1878, XII., 1-18.
544) She Ki, Kiv. VI., f. 28.-W.F. Mayers, On the Stone figures, 1.c.
545) Cf, below § 153 and notes 560, 564,568.
540) J.J.NI. de Groot, Les Fêtes Annuelles d Emoui, p. 647. The author
uses wrongly the term suttism for all human sacrifices at funerals
(p. 645), while the term can refer only to the self-sacrifice of the widows.
Öf. Yule-Burnell, Glossary of Anglo-Indian terms, p. 666-671, s. v,
Suttee).-A. Reville, La Religion Chinoise, 1889, p. 200-2 12. The
latter scholar, working only second hand, cannot be referred to as an all-
thority on the matter, except for his own views, which have been under
several respects the object of a damaging rejoinder by Prof. C. de
Harlez in his paper on La Religion en Chine, 1889. noticed suprà,
note 101. The facts and the texts side with the learned Orientalist of
Louvain.
547) It has been rightly remarked that nothing in all that we know of the
ancient state religion of the Chinese has ever countenanced human sac-
rifices. Cf W. Williams, The Middle Kingdom, II., 192, and De Groot.
Les Fêtes, p. 281, 785.
548) Suttism is a Brahmanical rite; its Sanskrit name is saha-gamana,
or keeping company. It was known by the Greek writers since 317 B.C.,
as an Indian practice (Diod. Sic., XIX., 33-34). Suttee is properly
the Skr. sati, a good woman, a good wife. Cf. Yule-Burnell, Gloss-
ary, 1.c.
519) Cf, Herbert Spencer, Principles of Sociology, ch. xiv., par. 101, -
De Groot, Les fêtes, p. 557-558, and Yule's Glossary, p. 667,
550) Translated in Self-Immolation in China : Notes and Queries of
China and Japan, vol. II., 1863, p. 3-4 ; partly reproduced in De Groot,
Les Fêtes, p. 559-560.
551) Siüs (Bas. 4 98) means 'to bury the (self-willing) living with the
136
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
dead ; but we may be sure that compulsion and force were often resorted
to, as in the cases of c. 500 and 210 B,C.
552) The text says : she yung siün. Cf. T'so tchuen, 8, II, 5.
553) Ibid. 8, X. 5.-There is a story there, that the servant had dreamed
that he carried his master on his back to heaven.
554) Wu yueh tchun tsill.— Yuan. Kien lui han, Kiv. 181, £. 5; W.F.
Mayers, On the Stone figures, p. 15.
555) Li Ki, T'an Kung, 2: II. 15.
556) "Small men for the sake of gain have sacrificed (siün) their persons;
scholars for the sake of fame have done so; great officers for the sake
of their families ; and sagely men for the sake of the kingdom. These
several classes, with different occupations, and different reputations,
have agreed in doing injury to their nature, and sacrificing their persons.”
Cf. Tchwang tze, Bk. VIII., Pt. II., sect. I., par. 4; Sacred Books of
the East, XXXIX., 272-3,--The term siün is repeated in each case.
557) We must make an exception for the Tartar families who have ruled
over part or the whole of China, and may have followed a custom con-
genial to them, when not softened as yet by Chinese influence. Even
the present dynasty of Mandshu Tartars followed it at the beginning ;
the only case was that of Shi Tsu, the first Emperor, who had thirty
persons killed on the grave of his Empress. His son, Shang Tsu, or
K’ang hi, put an end to the custom.-Cf. also below, note 572.
558) The present enquiry does not pretend to be exhaustive, and some
question as now stated.--In the l"ang shu, Kiv. 122, notice of the
Eastern Kingdom of Women, Tung niu kwoh, also called Suvarna
Gotra, “Golden family," situated in N. Tibet, it is stated that when
the Sovereign is buried, several tens of persons followed the dead into
the tomb. Cf. William Woodville Rockhill, The Land of the Lamas,
1891, p. 340.
560) On the Ming Ki, cf, the rituals : I li, XII., 8-16 ; trad. C. de
Harlez, 1890, p. 298-305,-Li Ki 2 ; I: ii., 3 and 44 ; Sacred Books
of the East, XXVII., p. 118, 172. They consisted of vessels, vases, V
lutes, pipes, bells, according to the statement of Confucius in the latter
work (par. 3 cited). It will be remarked that there is no mention made
here of human figures, chariots, &c., on which see below. The imita-
tions of musical instruments represented the real instruments which were
employed at the cereniony according to the rites reported in the Tchou-
li, Kiv. 22, 1, 39, 51; Kiv. 23, l. 2!, 29, 45, 48, 57, (tr. Biot, vol. II.,
p. 40, 45, 51, 51, 61, 63, 68.-The statement of the 120 tchuen con-
cerning the funeral of the Duke of Sung, in 589, referred to in the text
($ 152), gives some interesting information on another custom. It says
that the departed Duke was the first to whom they gave a great inter-
ment, using mortar made of ashes of burnt frogs for the vault in the
grave, with more than the usual number of carriages and horses (yh Iciü
ma). Some commentators want to see there the (earthen) carriages and
! straw) horses, which it became customary at a certain time to put in
the grave. But there is no necessity of stretching the meaning of the text
as far as that, since we know by the Li Ki, Tan Kung, 2, II., 4, that the
ritual number of carriages (carrying the offerings to be put into the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
137
grave) was seven for the ruler of a state, five for a great officer, and
one for private individuals. The text of the Chronicle refers to that
undoubtedly.-Confucius does not refer to earthen carriages in speak-
ing of the Ming Ki, and therefore we may assume that in his time, the
custom was not yet accepted and current. It is however mentioned in
the Li Ki, ibid, I., 45, as an ancient practice; and it is so much like
the regular Phænician custom, that we may venture to suppose that it
was introduced to the Chinese by the foreign traders of Lang-ga and
Tsih-Moh, (Cf. the figure of such carthen carriages found at Cyprus.
in Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de l'art antique, vol. III., fig. 145, 524, and
the remarks on pp. 202, 212, 468, 582, 713),--At present figures in
paper and bamboo slips, of sed .n chairs and coolies. horses, and even
boats are burnt at funerals for the use of the departed in the other
world. Cf. J. Doolittle, Social life of the Chinese, ed. 1868, p. 131:
De Groot, Les fêtes " Emouy, pp. 432, 580, 655, 673; The Religious
system, vol. I., p. 28, &c.—There was no sacrifice of horses amongst the
ancient Chinese at funerals except for the Emperor, but it was the custom
to send horses to take part in the funeral procession. The horse was
the first of the six sacred victims, the five others being the ox, sheep,
pig, dog, and hen. According to the Tchoul-li, ONE was sacrificed and
buried at the Emperors' funerals (Kiv. xxxii,, 50, 59); but not at
any others' funerals. A yellow horse was offered by the Emperor at
the Sacrifices to the Mountains and Rivers of the Empire (Kiv. xlii.,
23). When in travelling, the Emperor happened to pass near a famous
Mountain or River, the Great Prior in his name sacrificed a horse
(Kiy. XXV., 5) Cf. also the L: Ki, Kiv. xii., 17.
561) In the Tchou li, ch., XXI., 46, the official in charge of the funerals
(Tchung jen) notifies the approaching burial to the human figure (siang
jen) placed on the Lwan-bird-ornamented-chariot. (Cf. trad., Ld. Biot,
vol. II., p. 23) and which was a tsao ling.
562), According to Kia Kong yen of c. 700 A.D., a celebrated commenta-
tor of the T'chou li, this custom dated from remote antiquity.- Lao Tan
(ch. V.) Tchwang tze, and also Hwai-nan-tze mention the grass-dogs,
made of straw tied up in the shape of dogs, and used in praying for
rain ; after the sacrifice, they were thrown aside and left uncared for.
Of. Stan. Julien, Le Livre de la Voie, p. 19 : J. Legge, Texts of Tao-
ism, p. 50, On an ancient sacrifice of a dog, cf. suprà, $ 95, note 363
and also $ 148.
563) We are told that the yung were made with a figure, two eyes, and a
spring, having thus the appearance of living persons. Cf. Tai ping yü
lan, Kiv. 552, f. 3, (Comm. of the Li ki).
564) Li Ki, 2 : II. 1, par. 45. This opinion of Confucius was not un-
derstood before, because there was a confusion about the real purpose
of the tsao ling, which confusion Kia Kong yen (suprà 12.562) has cléared
off by his statement that the tsao-ling (single not several) was carrie.d
at funerals. Cf. the conflicting views of Legge, Chinese Classics, II,
9, n. 6 ; De Groot, Les fêtes, p. 645, Albert Réville, La Religion
Chinoise, p. 201, which would not have been put forth without it.
565) Cf. Julius Doolittle, Social life of the Chinese, ch. VI.-J.J.Md.
Groot, The Religious system of China, vol. I., 1892, p. 173, 85.
566) Notably at Amoy. Cf. De Groot, Les Fêtes, p. 646 ; The Reli-
138
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
gious system of China, p. 24, 93.
567) ('f. Sal. Reinach, Philologie Classique, II. 224.
568) Our information on the subject is derived from the Ko-ja-ki or Re-
cords of Ancient Matters (712 A.D.) and from the Ni-hon-gi, or Chro-
nicles of Japan (720 A.D.). The exact date of the introduction of the
Chinese practice of the Siün is not known, but an important instance
is quoted under the reign of Sū-jin of the ancient custom of burying
retainers up to their necks in the neibourhood of their lord's grave.
Under his successor Sui min (r. 200 A.D.), on the suggestion of Nomi
no Sukune little clay figures were made as substitutes. Cf. Basil
Hall Chamberlain, tr. of Ko-ji-ki, pp. 174, 200; Ni-hon-gi in Satow's
transl., Trans, R.A.S., Japan, VIII., 329-330. Representations of
these clay images (tsuchi-nin-giyo) are given in Henry von Siebold,
Notes 02 Japanese Archæology, pl. xii., and in E. Satow, Ancient se-
pulchral mounds in Kandzuke, in Trans. VII., 313 sq. ; B.H. Cham-
berlain, Ko-ji-ki, p. xli.- For a verification of the ancient Japanese
dates, cf. the excellent paper of W.G. Aston, Early Japanese history:
meaning once more here, and we find in Legge's translation: "to awe
and draw to him the wild tribes of the East." Ch. Cl. V. 277, which is
not countenanced by the words of the text.
570)) Of. supra, par, 106.
571 ) In 531, the viscount of Ts'u extinguished Ts’ai, and sacrificed the
Marquis's eldest son Yn on mount Kang. Cf. Tso tchuen, 10: xi., 9.
572) W.F. Mayers, in his paper on the Stone figures at Chinese tombs.
p. 16, has quoted from the Yun luh mao tchao of Tchao Yen-wei (
1175 A.D.) an instance of human sacrifice in 1131 by the Kin or Djur-
tchen Tartars when besieging Tang t'u (mod, Tai ping fu); they drove
their victims to the banks of the river, ripped open their bodies, and
tore out their hearts to offer them in sacrifice for a change of wind.
Sect. e) Internal reaction. Confucianism.
147. We have seen thus far the Chinese community assailed, east
south and west, by various influences, and the introduction of novelties
in ideas, notions and superstitions, which it was but too ready to accept.
The freedom enjoyed by the States since 770, (suprà $102), the develop-
ment of writing (§ 100), and the spirit of competition which arose be-
tween them and was the prelude of the period of civil wars which ensued,
are largely responsible for the facility with which ideas hitherto strange
to the Chinese mind were in some cases hailed with favour in some parts
of the dominion. But when these Un-Chinese notions began to spread,
when ministers of state were seen professing openly wonderism, 573 a keeper
of the Royal Archives teach Taoism, 574 and Princes of States adopt bar-
barous practices, 575 a reaction of the Chinese natural character was un-
avoidable. It came to effect in the last part of the sixth century, and
CHINESE CIVILISATIONS
139
.
was represented for the time in the teachings of Confucius to his friends
and disciples. Fall of the traditional spirit of respect to ancestors, rit-
ualism and propriety, he sternly opposed all the novelties which from the
east, south and west, and from pre-historic times, were invading the old
domain of Chinese thought and tradition.
156. No new conception, no creation of his genius, can be found in the
teachings of Confucius, 576 who claimed for himseif to be 'a transmitter
and not a maker, believing in and loving the Ancients.577 He was a
Chinese amongst the Chinese, and professed with their short comings all
that was best and most noble578 in the traditions of his country. He
upheld the traditional respect for the good deeds of the Ancestors, but
as a rationalist, and in a limited sense as a positivist, 579 the subjects
on which he did not speak, were-extraordinary things, feats of strength,
disorder and spirits. 580 He professed however respect to the spirits,
mixed with a sort of fear, and he believed in Omens,581 He was a firu
believer in Shang-ti, the Supreme God, as shown in several instan-
ces, but he often preferred to speak of Heaven.582 He discount-
enanced all that he could not clearly understand, and deprecated the
teachings of Lao Tan,583 while on another occasion he declared that 'to
go for strange doctrines is injurious indeed.584 We have seen pre-
viously that he condemned the recently introduced practice of human sac-
rifices. 585 With reference to Ancestral worship the Great philosopher of
Lu has a firm hold on all his race, although his ethics, always were
befitting more to the class than to the mass, because they do not give
satisfaction to the emotional side of human nature, and they lack of a
sanction drawn from a future life. Nowhere else has any man personi-
fied his race to the same extent, and as a natural consequence exercised
so permanent an influence, as Confucius on the Chinese nation.
157. As a historian, Confucius has not deserved from posterity an
unqualified gratitude. Numerous instances in the Spring and Autumn
Annals, or T'chun tsiu of the state of Lu from 722 to 481 B.C., 586 his own
acknowledged work, that by which he wanted the after generations to
pronounce their judgment upon him,587 make the western student think
very doubtfully of his merits and truthfulness.988 His most recent edi-
tor and translator in English has shown repeatedly that he has willingly
ignored, concealed and misrepresented the truth in hundreds of cases. 589
158. There is no doubt that we are indebted to him for a mangled
preservation of the Shu King which has come down to us still more di-
lapidated, but which otherwise might have been entirely lost, between
140
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
his time and the Fire of Literature in 213 B.C. Nothing has been found
which throws any suspicion on the statement made on the matter by his
kinsman and descendant Kung Ngan Kwoh,590 who re-edited the classics,
circa 150 B.c. “ He (Kung-tze) examined and arranged the grand monu-
ments and records, 591 deciding to commence with Yao and Shun, and to
come down to the times of Tchou. When there was perplexity and confusion,
he mowed then. Expressions frothy and unallowable he cut away. What
embraced great principles he retained and developed. What were more
minute and yet of importance he carefully selected. Of those deserving
to be handed down to after ages, and to supply permanent lessons, he
tions, Announcements, Speeches and Charges.592" One third of these
documents have been lost since Confucius' time, but they have never been
intended to form a continuous Record. It was not a history of China
which he compiled, but a collection of texts countenancing his views. “Any
how besides later suppressions he has deliberately left aside and ignored
any thing from old traditions, such as those which were preserved in the
San fen or "Three eminences' concerning Fuh-hi, Shen-nung and Hwang-
ti, and in the Wu Tien or · Five causes,' any thing concerning Shao ·
Hao, Tchwen Hiüh and Kao-sin, keeping only extracts from those of
Yao and Shun."593 This method has deprived us of many a valuable
tradition which in their capacity of state documents and mementos would
have permitted to check the exuberancy or supply the insufficiency of the
accounts which have been transmitted to posterity from irregular sources.
159. Besides the mowing, cutting away, and developing processes of
editorship, the pruning pencil of the sage had recourse to another means
to insti? his views; this consisted in changing a word for another, or in
the alteration of an ideogram by the additivn or change of one of its
component parts, 594 a process impossible except with an ideographic
writing like that of the Chinese. 595
160, With reference to the Western foreigners, founders of the Chinese
civilization, let us understand the position assumed by Confucius. His
almost complete silence towards them can be explained as the natural
feeling of a Chinese among the Chinese, such as he was, and thus would
confirm our discoveries about their foreign origin. The traditions of the
Honan E.).596 Those of the His dynasty were preserved in the principal-
ity of K’i which, established at first in Kai-fung fu (Honan), had been
removed to the East, and in 646 B.C., had its centre. at Yuen-ling in
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
141
modern department of Tsing-tchou, C. Shangtung),597 Confucius com-
plained of the insufficiency of their records of the two dynasties just
named. 598 He had therefore studied them. We are told that when the
Tchou dynasty was founded, the traditions of Yao were preserved in
Ki-tchou (i.e. Tchihli), and those of Huang-ti amongst the Tchuh, i.e.
the priests !599 Those of Shao-Hao were in Kiü (S. E. Shantung), while
those of Shun were in Tchen (S. E. Honan).600 Confucius may not have
had access to all of them, although we know that he was not unacquain-
ted with some of them, 601 and therefore his silence was voluntary,
161. Hwang-ti and his son Shao-Hao were foreigners, born outside of
China ; their immediate successors Tchuen-hiüh, Kao-yang and Ti Kao-
Sin were yet too much of strangers; Yao was more of a Chinese, but he
was still too closely connected with his foreign forefathers.602. Such was
not the case with Shun, who was a descendant of native princes, 603 and
his association in the government by Yay has placed the latter on a diff-
erent fouting than his predecessor in the eyes of the patriotic Chinese.
Hence it has happened that Yao and Shun have almost always been spo-
ken of together. And it is a 'fact that the really Chinese history can
hardly be said to begin before them. As to the myths and legends which
Huang-ti and his Bak families had brought from the West, they were no
part of the Chinese heirlooms, concerning as they did foreign folklore and
traditions, or the past history of the Baks themselves. The consideration
of these facts ought to justify the silence of the great philosopher of Lu,
towards the myths, legends, and traditions anterior to the age of Yao and
Shun, which were found in the ancient literature.
162. The objections of Confucius to all that was unclear to his mind,
or unsatisfactory to the sternness of his doctrines, and to all recits tinged
with fables and wonderism, has thrown uselessly a discredit on ancient
fragments of early ages. These early documents, which as natural in the
case, could be but mixed up with stories of extraordinary feats and events, .
have not received the care and attention which would have secured for
several centuries, at least to some extent, their safety and transmission
to after ages.
Such of these early statements as have come down to us, have been
preserved by writers independent of Confucianism, and by Taoist writers
who instead of shortening and softening them have on the contrary
erabellished and enlarged them by the addition of their own wonders and
conceptions. They have not so much edited them as distinct works,
than quoted from them, and inserted fragments in their own elucubra-
142
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
tions. And so it has come to pass that for many a statement concern-
ing remote antiquity, it is only in the Non-Confucianist authors than
we can find them. These circumstances are extremely important for all
researches on Chinese origins and must be taken into account by western
scholars, as they explain the exaggerated views of remoteness or modern-
ness in Antiquity entertained by some Sinologists according to their
leaning on Non-Confucianist or on Confucianist documents, while the
truth which is neither on one side nor the other, is between the two. The
first section of our next part will concern the formation of Taoszeism.
NOTES—
573) Cf. suprà, § 108
574) Cf, supro, $ 126.
575) Cf. suprà, $$ 106, 144.
576, B. 551-D. 479 B.C.
577) Lum, ga, 7, I.
578) Not do to others as you would not wish done to yourself.' Lun yü,
12, II.
579) This side of his character is upheld hy P. Laffitte, Considerations.
generales sur la civilisation Chinoise, 1861.
580) Lun yü, 7, XX.-Cf. also, 13, III, 4 : 'A superior man, in re-
gard to what he dues not know, shows a cautious reserve,'
581) Cf. T'chung yung, xvi, 1, 2, 4.-Cf. Luin yü, 6, XX: 'While re-
specting the spirits (Kwei shin), to keep also from them, may be
called wisdom.
582) Cf. specia’lly i'chung yung, xix. 6 ; Ta-hioh, x, 5.-C. de Harlcz
Le Religions de la Chine, p. 160-162.-D'Hervey-Saint-Denys, Mé-
moires sur les doctrines religeuses de Confucius et de l'école des let-
trés, p. 22 (Mém. Acad. Inscript., tom, xxxii, 1887). — And J. Legge,
Chinese Classics, vol. I, introd., p. 99.
583) Tchwang tze, xiv, 6.-It seems however that Confucius derived
some idea from his meeting with Lao Tan. Cf, the Tchung yung, xvi,
2, with the I hi wei of chap. xiv, of the Tao teh king.
584) Lun yü, 2, xvi.
585) Suprà, § 145.-On Confucius and his doctrines, between other
works. Cf. J. Legge, Chinese Classics I, introd. p. 12-113.—E.
Religions : China, Bostun, 1881, p. 571-633.-R. K. Douglas, Con-
fucianism and Tavism, 1876, p. 25-153.-Martin Hang, Confucius,
der Weise China's, Berlin, 1980.-Ch. de Harlez, Les Religions de la
and teachings, 6th edit. 1887. -J. H. Plath, Confucius und Seine
schüler, 1867.
586) It consists simply of a dry ephemiridis of facts or incidents, with-
out a single practical observation. The sole peculiarity consists in the
occasional selection of an ideogram instead of another, in order to show
in a subrepstitious way the opinion of the writer on the recorded
event.—Cf., for instance, T. de L., The Oldest Book of the Chinese, p.
CHINESE CUILISATION. :.
143
22.-However difficult it may be for us to conciliate our expectations
and the reality concerning this work, it cannot be doubted that it was
lookeil upon as very important, since three writers have commented
upon it and supplemented it soon after the death of the sage. These are
Kung-yang, Kuh-liang, and Tso Kiu-ming, whose respective works
lave been included among the classics under the Sung dynasty. Their
remarks on the special words used by the Master in such and such cir-
cumstances must be noticed as an answer to possible doubtson the au-
thorship of Confucius in the case of that work,
587) As reported by Mencius, III, 2, ix, S.
588) Cf, J. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. V., p. 34.
589) Cf. J. Legge, ibid., p. 5, 6, 14, and especially, 40-49, introd. ;
34, E4, 210, 283, 404, 466, &c._ Arthur H. Smith, Chinese charac-
teristics, 1892, p. 32.
590) And confirmed by Szema Tsien, She ki, kiv, 47, in general terms.
text.
592) Cf. Chin. Class., III, intr. p. 4.
593) Kung Ngan-kwoh, in his preface, gives this information on these
lost two works, which existed yet at the time of Confucius Lao Tan,
Lieh tze, &c. The present work called San fen by Mao Tsien in 1084,
is a made up composition which perhaps contains a few fragments of
the old work, but is certainly not the lost book recovered as it pre-
tends to be. --A San fen shu, with a Commentary by Yuen Han of
the Tsin dynasty (400 A.D.), is included in the Han-Wei collection
of reprints. On some archaisms which cannot be a forgery in that
work, Cf. R. K. Douglas, The Calendar of the Hia dynasty, introd.
594) Cf. T. de L., The oldest Book of the Chinese, $ 37, n. 2.
595) The Book of Poetry or She King existed before Þis time (cf. Chin.
Class. V, 4), and the work of Confucius in editing it, consisted in
the suppression, (and alteration in words or composition of ideograms)
of that he did not find serviceable for the incalculation of propriets
and righteousness, (Of. She Ki, kiv. 46).
596) Cf. however the Hi-tse (II. 15) great appendix of the Yh King.-
Tso tchuen, 10, XVII., ann. 525, and another passage of the same
chronicle.
Ichuh, 7024 Bas.-- Kiü, 8959 Bas.-Tchen, 11783 Bas.
598) Cf. l'so tchuen. s, xiv., 1.
599) Lun yu, iii., 9.-In the Tchung yung, xxviii., 5, he makes a dis.
tinction between the two, and says that ceremonies of the Shang-yı
dynasty were still continued in the State of Sung.
600) Cf, Kang kien y tchi luh.--Medhurst, Ancient China, p. 370.-
Cf. also Li Ki, XVII., iii., 19, for slight variants.
601) Cf. Tso tchuen, 10, XVII.
602) According to the rectified chronology, the dates of the reigns of thes
founders were the following: Huang-Ti, 2282-2232 B.C. - Shao Ha
2276-2213. -Kao-Yang Tchuen hiün hiüh, 2225-2147.--Kao Sin I
Kuh, 2160-2085.--Ti Tchih, 2086-2076.-Yao, 2076-1976.–Shun
2022-1955 B.C.
603) Shuh belonged to the Princely family of the native State of Yii, i
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
S.E. Shansi, which he had left, and which was conquered by the Chin-
ese in 2018 B.C. Cf. Szema Tsien, She hi, I., 12 v. --T.P. 64, JV.;
135, 9 v.-Mêng-tze's (iv., 2, ii., 1) statement that Shun was a tung y
tchi jen, a man of the Eastern Barbarians, is thus explained satisfacto-
rily; the barbarians here being the native tribes who had not yet ac-
knowledged the government of Yao.
[Char. VII. PART III. FIFTH Period : 481-224 B.c.]
Səct. A, General Survey. Formation of Neo-Taoism and Taoszeism.
163. During the period which embraces the evolution of Chinese civi-
lisation, from the beginning of the internecine wars between the states.
contending for the final supremacy, to the foundation of the Empire,
there was a great disorder everywhere. Each of the principalities was.
independent, and had ceased to take any care of the general welfare and
of the time honoured habits and customs. Therefore we cannot be sur-
prised that notwithstanding the political troubles, religious innovations.
and material progresses of foreign origin should characterise this period.
The two channels, through which they were imported into China, were
that of the sea-traders of the Indian Ocean in Shantung which ceased
about 375 B.C., and the south-west route from India and the West. In
the North-west the state of Ts'in whose fate it was to become the
nucleus of the Chinese Empire at the end of the period, grew more and
more civilised from its contact with the other states of the agglomeration,
and the barbarous elements in its population were greatly softened away.
No intercourse seems however to have been renewed with the further
west, and there was no change in the stoppage in that direction which
we have mentioned during the last period ($ 147) for outside rela-
tions.
164. The number of states forming the Chinese dominion was reduced
to six important ones besides that of Ts'IN604, and the period is often
called from this fact in Chinese history, Period of the six kingdoms..
Some states once important, disappeared altogether605, such as that of
Ts’AO (P.--866-487), Tcr’EN (?-854-479), WO (?-656-473), Ts’al
146
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
(1110-447), Tsin (?-858-376), Tcr’ENG (806-375 B.C.). Others were re-
duced to the rank of attached states 606, such were LU (1110-409), WEI
(1103-414) and SUNG (1001-404 B.c.) Moreover a very large number
of small principalities were absorbed and their territories contributed to
enlarge those of their conquerors. The six states which survived were
the following, Ts'ı (1091-221); YEN (?-564-222); and Ts’(?-1078-
223) amongst the ancients, and three new ones : TCHAO (517-457-228
cap. Han-tan ; WEI (453-408-231) cap. Ta Liang ; and Han (453-
423-225 B.c.) cap, Tcheng. The independance of the states from the
traditional allegance to the House of Tchou, is best shown by the
respective dates when their rulers assumed the dignity of Wang or king
007, which belonged to the Ruler of the Central state : Ts'o in 671 ;
Ts'i in 375; Wei in 370; Yen and Han in 382; Tchao and Ts'ın
in 325 B.C.
165. As to the Central Kingdom of Tchou, its fortune had fallen, and
until its disappearance in 249, when the last King of this ouce glorious
dynasty was reduced to the condition of a private man by the King of
Ts'o, it had hardly any political standing during the period. It was
however in charge of the traditional rites, and the famous Tchou-li or
Ritual of the Tchou dynasty was then completed, probably about the year
430 B.C.608 The Official Book of Tchou or Tchou Kwan, as such
was its title at the time, was based upon the list of officers of the State
administration organized by Tchou Kung609 when regent of the Kingdom
(1103 B.c.) and of which the first scheme forms one of the chapters of
the Shu King (V, xx) also called Tchou Kwan. It grew by subse-
quent additions of offices and functions during the following centuries
down to the latter part of the fifth century, when the descendants of Wen
Wang and Wu Wang had fallen too low to be able to make any furthe
regulations. It may be looked upon as the political will of the vanishing
dynasty, in which was embodied the administration of the country as they
had dreamed it, but not such as it ever was at any timeblo.
As the Tchou-li contains many references to innovations introduced
during the Tchou dynasty, the story of its composition required to be
noticed here611.
166. The condition of general disorder which prevailed during that
period was unfavorable to the extension throughout the Chinese dominion
of any uniform system of views. Lao Tan and Confucius were gone612,
sadder if not wiser men, without seeing the success of their doctrines,
although the former was perhaps less unfortunate under that respect.
L
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
147
than his younger contemporary. Soon after their disparition their teach-
ings flourished. The school of wonderism, which had grown out of the
influence of the trader-colonists of the Indian Ocean settled at Lang-ga
and Tsih-Moh who had taught Astrology and an overrated conception of
tha transforming powers of nature, amalgamated with the pure Taoism of
Lao-tze, and formed henceforth what may be called the Neo-Taoism
or Tao-szeis m613, while Confucianism remained in opposition to it,
such as his founder had conceived it against the encroachments of Won-
derism, Taoism, and Shamanism. It was indeed the rising of Confu-
cianism which led to the fusion of these various elements.
167. This important transformation deserves all attention. Indifferent
and matter-of-fact by nature, the Chinese had hitherto shown little
curiosity and interest in all questions of historical origin and ontology,
with their usual accompaniment of fabulous reports. They had neglected
to investigate these problems, and the legends of early times imported
from the West by Hwang-ti and his Bak tribes, and preserved in the
Royal Archives, had received little care and attention. With the ex-
ception of the Kuei-tsang of the Hia and SHANG dynasties 6 14, and of the
In-cing which had been edited from slips bearing the various meanings
of some ideograms 6 15, little seems to have been done, and they remained
as unused documents known only of the very few. But when arose the
feeling of curiosity and taste for wonders, which the foreigners of Lang-
ga and Tsih-moh had awaken among them, and were keeping up by their
continuous flow of novelties, many Chinese found a national satisfaction
in studying the old fen and tien records of their Archives, which Lao
Tan had made use of in writing his lao teh king (suprà, note 516). The
School of Wonderism, if it deserves to be so-called, was thus led to lay
hold of the pure teaching of Taoism by itself too abstruse by far, as a
peg for their elucubrations. From the fusion of these two movements so
different and so opposed one another, and its absorption of the natural
shamanism617 disallowed by Confucianism, resulted the mixed school of
philosophy, religion and superstition known as Ta 0 - sze-ism which
has survived to the present day, and has become one of the grossest as-
semblage of superstitions which have ever existed.
168. The Ancient traditions and texts were eagerly sought for, and
all sorts of incidents, stories and marvellous accounts were brought to
light by the writers of the new school, such as Lieh-tze, Tchwang-tze and
others, in support of their views and theories ; the new ideas which were
reaching China at that time were joined to old traditions 618, so as to
148
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
f
make new combinations illustrating their own conceptions, and every frag-
ment of primitive legends in China became embellished with new circum-
stances. Romantic and wonderful accounts hitherto little known in the
realistic Chinese literature of former ages began from that time. Tso
Riu-Ming in writing his precious chronicle parallel to the Tchun tsiu
of Confucius, although fettered to some extent by some Confucianist
prejudices, could not himself escape entirely the influence of this remark-
able movement,
169. Lao Tan having taken his cosmogony, as we have seen in the
previous part (§ 133-137) from some old texts where teachings of Hwang-
ti were preserved the name of the first leader of the Chinese was asso-
ciated to that of the old philosopher, to denominate the new school, and
Hwang-Lao appears as a name to that effect under the Han dynasty619,
but after that period, instead of Hwang, the use of which had become
awkward since it was part of the imperial title, the name of Tchwang
(tze) was used in its stead, and the appellation disappeared afterwards.
170. The old texts in which were embodied the traditional lessons of
Hwang-ti were edited and commented; and thus enlarging upon the really
important part occupied by the early leaders in the history of the civili-
sation of the country, all that was considered as fundamental and the
principle of every thing, was by a regular extension of views 620 attributed
to them. Shennung shared with Hwang-ti the suggested authorship of
some ancient fragments, and the catalogue of Literature in the Annals
of the Former Han dynasty gives evidence to that effect. The name of
Hwang-ti appears in the titles of fourteen works, on philosophy, the yn
and yang principles medecine, and spirits. Fire works concerning Shen-
nung, are on husbandry, the five elements, omens and spirits, and a work
on diet bears the joint names of Shennung and Hwang-ti. Some of
these works are stated to have been compiled during the Period of the
six states, i.e. the period we are studying at present (cf. § 164), while
others were older621. Compositions embodying alleged views and priu-
ciples of Tchwan-hiub, Yao, Shun, &c. were also written about that time.
171. The philosophical and literary activity of the Tao-szeists became
very great during the fourth and third centuries B.c., in the states of WEI
and Ts’, and still more so in the state of YEN (Petchili) which was less
disturbed by the internecine wars. The descendants and disciples of Lao
Tan who preserved less unsullied the teachings of their master had come to
the state of WEI (N. Honan). 622 Lang-ga itself, which had been for a
long time the most important centre of the new movement had become
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
149
· involved in the wars.623
So numerous are the names of these philosophers which history has
preserved, and whose writings are in some cases still existing that this
activity must have been very great.
172. Among the disciples of Lao Tan, gradually diverging from his
teachings without however passing to Taoszeism, let us remember the
names of Wen-tze, 624 Yang tchu625 (c. 450 B.c.), Wing hü otherwise
Kwei kuh tze (c. 380), Tchang-y (0.312), Su Ts'in (. 318), Hoh kwan
tze (325-378 B c.) and others. Meh-tze626 (c.100) and Mêng-tze (372-
289 B.C.) known of all as Mencius, deserve to be mentioned separately
as having stated views of their own more divergent than the others,
173, Among the Taoszeists, we must mention On Kihien, and Hu-tze
of TCAENG ; the latter was the master of Lieh tze; Lieh Yu-kou or Lieh
tze (c. 400 B.c.) who himself had many disciples, and from his native state
of TCAENG went to that of WE1 ;627 Tchwang-Tchou or Tchwang-
tze of War in the I Vth century ;628 Tsou-hien of Ts'i (c. 378-300),
who created an important school. After visiting the King Hwei of WEI
at Liang, and the Prince of Tchao at Ping-yuen, he went, specially in-
vited, to live near the King Tchao (311-278 B.c.) of YEN, who built the
palace called Kieh-shih Kung (near the present Peking) for him and his
followers.6 29 Among his disciples the most famous were the following :
Sun-K’ing of Tchao, who was fifty years old when he adopted his doct-
rines, and who became later on the teacher of Li-sze, the famous prime
minister of Ts’in She Hwang-ti ; Shun yü Kwan and Tien ping Tsieh
tze of Tsi, Hwan-yuen of Ts'u, Shen Tao and Sün king of Tch
who were all famous for their profession of the Hwang-Lao doctrines. 630
In the state of Yen, Sung Wu-ki, Tcheng-pe Kiao, and Tch'ung shang,
have also their names preserved in history,631_But the most famous of all
were Lieh-tze, Tchwang-tze, and Tsou-hien, whom we shall have to men-
tion again further on.
NOTES-
60+) Since the time of Hiao Kung in 361 B.c., the Ts'ın state gave up
the Rites of Icuoo to follow those of the Suang dynasty. This was
done to show its independence. In 336 B.C., the King of TCHOU
transferred to the Prince of Ts’in the privilege of issuing the imperial
coinage, i.e. coins without name of the issuer. Cf, my catalogue of
Chinese coins, introd. p. xiv,
605) The query shows that there is some uncertainty on their exact be-
ginning, although it is claimed that they all began with the Tchou
dynasty, i.e. in 1110 B.C.
150
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
606) They were respectively extinguished in 219, 209 and 286 res -
pectively.
607) Wang, Ruler or King was the usual title of the Rulers of China
since the SHANG dynasty, when it took the place of Hou, Sovereign
which was used during the His dynasty. Previously to that time
since Yu Nai Hwang ti, the name of the ruler was preceeded by Ti
divine, such as Ti Yao, Ti Shun, which was used alone when adress
ing them or speaking of them. (Cf. Shu king, Part I). At the be-
ginning of the Hia dynasty, I"ien tze, Son of Heaven appears for
the first time instead of Ti (ibid. III, iv. 5). Hwang, an emphasized
furm of Wang, king, and written ideographically self+king was
used in speaking of the Royal Ancestors, during the same dynasty
(ibid. III, iii, 4), and begin to be employed for the living sovereign at
the end of the Yn dynasty (ibid. V, iv, 9, 10, 11, 15). The coin-
bination Hwang Ti, Divine self-Ruler, appeared for the first
time in 950, in speaking of the ancient Ti Yü (ibid. V, xxvii, 5, 6)
and seems to have been seldom used until the foundation of the Chin-
ese Empire in 221 B.C. wlien it was adopted as the designation of the
Emperor. It has remained in use since then. The outcome of this
note is that to speak of the early Emperors of China is a misnomer.
In some historical works such as the Bamboo Annals, the prefixing
of 7'c was continued until the end of the His dynasty.-The statements
on the subject in L. de Rosny, La civilisation Japonaise, p. 134, are
not based on ancient authorities.
608) The inference is drawn from the following statements : "Tohou K'ao
Wang (140-426 B.c.) has appointed his younger brother to the south
of the Ho. He is Hwan Kung ; ; suh T'chou kung tchi kwan shih,
' for supplement to Tchou kung directions of officers.” She ki, Kiv.
4, f. 27-Hwang Fu-mi, Ti wang she Ici, says : Kao Tcheh wang
appointed his younger brother Kieh to the south of the Ho; Suh Tchou
kung tchi kwan, litt.? continne (or supplement) Tchou kung's officers.
(09) The observations made with the Gnomon about 1100 B.C. at Loh-
yang and mentioned (supra § 94 as verified by Laplace and Biot, are
reported in the Kiv. ix, 17 of the Tchouli, Cf. trad. Biot, rol. I, p.
201, and introduction, p. x.
610) The Kingdom of Tchou was an aggregate of principalities under
the suzerainty of the successors of Wu Wang : and each of these
principalities had their own administration imitated from that of the
Central Kingdom bnt on a smaller scale. Now this Central Kingdom
never did cover a large area, and after the Compulsory transfer of the
Capital to Loh-yang, it was indeed a small affair. Eveu in the palmy
days if the first period, the revenue and populations of the state would
not have been sufficient to keep up so numerous a staff as that des-
cribed in the l'chou-l2, The figures are enormous. Here they are for
five of the six Ministries : (i) 3920; (ii) 9609; (iii) 3633 ; (iv) 5080;
(v) 3787; total 20029 persons in (59, 64, 58, 65 and 58) three
hundred and four administrative sections. If as prob.ble the sixth
Ministry was on the average of the others. the staff of the Government
of the Central Kingdom would have included about 31235 individuals,
611) It has been preserved in its entirety, save the last of its six books,
for which another one said to be of Ancient date has been supplied
during the Han dynasty. The work has been assailed in several in-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
151
stances, by the Hwang-ti, in 213 B.C, who wanted it to be destroyed.
and afterwards because of its regulations which displeased later rulers
For this history cf. Ed. Biot, Introduction to his translation, pp. ix-
xxx . J. Legge, introd, to his translation of the Li ki, p. 4-5 ; Alex.
Wylie, Notes on Chinese literature, p. 4.
612) Lao Tan had gone away long before the demise of Confucius which
happened in 479 B.C.
613) This convenient terni, as a distinctive from Taoism has been hap-
pily coined by Prof. I. de Rosny, more than twenty years ago. Should
not the word Taoizcism have been already in use, I would have pre-
ferred myself that of Neo-Taoism.
614) The Kuci-tsang contained a certain number of the primitive legends
quoted as used in divination by HiA Hou Ki (1946-1937 B.C.) the
son and successor of the Great Yii. Unhappily the work is lost, and
is known to us but through quotations by ancient writers. On this
work. Cf. T. de L., The Oldest Book of the Chinese, 1892, pp. xi-
xiii, xxi, and 29. And some extracts in Tai pirg yü lan, Kiv. 35, f.
1 ; 373, 2 ; 914, 3 ; 929, 1 ; &c.; and în Shan hai king, edit. Pih
Yuen 1781, Kiv. », f. 14, 14v, ; 7,1; 17, 3 ; &c.
615) Cf. suprà, ch. IV, sect. b, 24.
616, Besides the Kuei-tsung and the Yh King, we may refer also to the
fragments of Yü-hiuny of the XIth century, and of Knan Y-wu of
the VIIth. Other works concerning them have existed in antiquity
but they have not escaped the wrecks of literature in the course of
centuries.
617) The New-Taoism has gradually absorbed the gods of the aboriginal
populations of the country as well as all novelties from the outside.
· The oldest information we possess on the native worship is given by
the Shan-hai king, but it has not yet been investigated. It consists
of descriptions of local gods niade apparently by some writers of the
Neo-Tavist school.
618) Cf, the excellent remarks of Dr, J. Edkins on this precise point, in
his short paper on Ancient Navigation in the Iudian Ocean, 1.c. p.
23.-Cf. also by the same scholar on early Taoism : Phases in the de-
velopment of Tauism : Trans. China Br. R.A.S., 1885, v. 4 ; On early
T'awist Alchemy : Shanghae Miscellany; Steps in the growth of early
Tauism : China Review, XV., 176-190.
619) For instance in Szema Tsien, She Ki, Kiv. 28, f. 21 v. : Hwang-
Lao yen ; and Kiv. 74, f. 4: Kiai hioh Hwang Lao tao teh tchi shu,
they all studied the Tao and Teh of Hwang Lao. The author refers to
several writers uf that school.--It also occurs in the l'sien Han shu,
Biographies, 32.—In the list of works existing in 983A.D. (infru note
621) appears a Hwang Lao King.
620) Cf. with reference to Hwang-ti, J. Edkins, Place of Hwang-ti in
early Tauism : China Review, 1887, p. 233-239.
621) Tsien Han Shi, Kiv, 30. Herewith the list of these works. Class 11,
On Tao: Hwang-li and four Kings, 4 piens ; Hwang-ti's princes and
ministers, 10 p.; Miscellanies ou Hwang-ti, 58 p.; (all said to have
been written at the time of the six Kingdoms).--Cl. 18, Husbandry:
-Shennung, 20p,--Cl. 19. Talks :-Hwang ti's talks, 40 p.
Cl. 31. Five elements: Hwang ti's Yn and Yang, 25 Kiv, ;
Discourses of the time of Hwang-ti on Yn and Yang, 25 Kiv.; Shen-
162
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
nung's Great mystery of the five elements, 27 Kiv.--CI. 33. Divin-
a tion:-On auspicious husbandry according to Shennung.- Ci, 35.
Medicine: -- Hwang ti nei King, 18 Kiv. - Cl. 36. Local Med-
icine:-The tablets of Hwang-ti, 3 Kiv. (said to be a genuine
work); Shen-nung and Hwang-ti on diet., 7 Kiv. Cl. 37. Dom-
estic Medicine:-- A work on the principles of Hwang-ti, Yao, Shun,
and Yü. ---Cl, 3.-Spirits and Genii:_Four works concer-
ning Hwang-ti and one Shennung.-- In the list of 1690 works from
which extracts are quoted in the Tai ping yü lan Cyclopedia of 983
A.D., ten bear the name of Hwang-ti.--In the Han Wei literatuce,
a work called Hwang-ti Shu on divination is quoted. Al. Wylie in
his Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 77, says that the oldest medical trea-
tise extant (in China) is probably the Hwang-ti su wen, which, with-
out admitting its claim to be the production of Hwang-ti, there is rea-
son to believe it to have been written several centuries before Christ, and
to contain a summary of the traditional knowledge of medicine handed
down from the most remute times. The Hwang-ti su wen form the first
half of the modern Hwang-ti nei King, of which the first European
translation has been given abridged by Prof. Ch. de Harlez, in his
l'extes Taoistes, p. 341 sq.
622) She Ki, Kiv. 73.
623) Lang-ya was for the first time, submitted to Ts'ı in 547, then to
Wu in 493, to Yuxu in 472 of which it reunained the capital until
' 380 B.C. when it was given up because of the civil wars, which made
the place unsafe.
624) Wen-tze was the most remarkable, His literary remains are en-
bodied in the later work which bears his name and has been translated
in C. de Harlez, Textes T'aoistes, p. 83-161.-Cf. also G. v. d. Gabe-
lentz, das taoistische Werk Wên-tsi : Dec. 1887.
625) On Yang tchu's opinions, cf. J. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. II,
p. 95-108 of introduction.
626) Meh-Tih or Meh-tze, who taught Universal love. On his opinions
cf. J. Legge, ibid., p. 113-125, and E. Faber, die Grundgedanken des
alten chinesischen Socialismus, oder die Lehre des Philosophen Mucius
Elberfeld, 1877. Also G. v. d. Gabelentz, Ueber den Chinesischen
Philosophen Meh Tilc : B. d. K. Sachs. G. d. W. Jui. 1888.
627) Lieli-tze aas flourishing in 397 B.C, as shown in China Review,
N'ay-June 1885, p. 409.-His full name was Lieh Yü-K’ou. The
name Yü-k’ou was known in Ts'ı in 550) B.C. Cf. Tso tchuen, 9, xxiii,
.8.–Lieh tz: quotes Tze-tch'an, a famous minister of TCHENG,
who lived in 575-496 B.C. He was himself belonging to the same
principality which was destroyed in 375 B.C. by the Han state.--In
the literary catalogue of 9 B.C., there is an entry of a work in 8 books
under his name. Cf. Tsien Han shu, kiv. 30, sect. ll.--The work
which exists at present under his name, also in eight chapters, was
apparently written down by his disciples, and “vay yet be accepted as
a fair specimen of his teaching.". Cf. J. Legge, Texts of Taoism, 1,
p. 5,--His work has been abridged and translated by C. de Harlez,
Textes Taoistes, pp. 180-339, with evidence of the existence of Lieh-
tze which had been doubted by some writers, such as F. H. Balfour,
Leaves from my Chinese Books, p. 83 sq., and others. Cf. also on
Lieb-tze, E. Faber, Der Naturalismus bei den alten Chinesen, oder die
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
153
sämmtlichen werke des Philosophen Licius, Elberfeld, 1877.
628) Tchwang-tze was flourishing in 368 and also after 339 B.C. He
quotes Lieb-tze. His writings have been translated in full by : Fred
eric Henry Balfour. The Divine Classic of Nanhua ; being the works
of Chuang tze, Shangbai, 1881.-Herbert A. Giles, Chuang trí,
Mystic, Moralist and Social reformer, 1889.-J. Legge, The Texts of
J'aoism, 1891, yol. I, p. 125-392, vol. II, p. 1-232,-And partly by
C. de Harlez, Textes l'aoistes, 1891. - Cf. also Georg von der Gabel-
entz, Die Sprache des Cuang-taī, Leipzig, 1888 ; Der Rauber Tschik,
ein satirischer Abschnitt aus Tschuang-isī; April 1889.
629) A short resume of his views is given in She-ki, kiv. 74.
630) For the explanation of this term cf. suprà par. 169 and note.
631) Nearly all the information we possess about them comes from Sze-
ma Tsien, Shu Ki, kiv. 28 and 74.
.
[CHAP. VII.--Fifth PERIOD : 481-221 B.c.]
Sect. B) Influences by the North-East.
174. The two emporia of Lang-ya and I'sih-moh on the gulf of Kiao-
tchou in S. Shantung, which the foreign traders of the Indian Ocean and
Erythræan sea had established about 680 B.c. had various fortunes. In
547 B.C. they had acknowledged the suzerainty of the great state of Ts's,
and in 493, had been conquered by the state of Wu. In 472 the latter
state was destroyed by its southern neighbour, the kingdom of Yueh
156
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
2
which transferred the seat of its capital at Lang-ya where it remained for
92 years. In 380 the war raging between the states of Ts'ı, of Ts'u,
and of Yurh compelled the latier to withdraw from its advanced position
in the North,632 Lang-ya was evacuated 633 and remained waste until
220 ben it was rebuilt by Ts'iN she Hwang ti.634 Tsih-moh, for several
years previously had supported in his gradual encroachments Tien Ho, a
grandee of the state of Ts'ı, who finally in 386 overthrew his legal Prince,
and assumed for himself the supreme authority with the title of Tai
Kung H0,635 The result of that support was felt all over the princi-
pality of Ts'ı by the establishment of the worship of the Eight Hindu
Vasus, as we shall see below. In the year 370 the native governor of
Tsih-moh was rewarded by the erection of his authority into a Chinese
ta fu.686 But the foreign sea traders came no more, as a shorter and
more convenient route had been discovered for their commerce, as we
shall see further on (sect, c),
175. Numismatics furnish monumental evidence of the great influence
exercised by these Emporia. Their Monetary Unions with several in-
land places testify of the activity of their commercial relations. We have
already noticed (f 103) that the first stamped money in Chinese lands
had been issued by the mint of Tsih-moh in 675-670 B.C., and we need
not insist here again on this most important fact. Between 580 and
550, the same mint, in connection with guild-merchants of An-yang and
of Kai-yang belonging to their next neighbour the state of Kıv, issued
à currency of large knife-money similar to that issued before at Tsih-
moh only. Between 547 and 493, the merchants of the latter place in
connection with guild-merchants of Yng-ling capital city of Ts'i, and of
Kai-yang, issued also a currency of the same kind. Lang-ya, between
the years 472 and 380, in connection with merchants of Yang yh and
Lu, in Shansi C. and S. issued a currency of large plate (pu) coins.
These various issues are illustrated 637 in my Catalogue of Chinese coins,
from the VIIth cent. B.C. to A.D. 621, including the series in the British
Museum (1892).
176. We have already remarked, in a previous paragraph (108) of the
fourth period, that the influence in East China, of the sea traders of the
Indian Ocean having their emporia on the South coast of Shantung, dis-
played transformaticns which, after the lapse of time required by the
gerigraphical distance, corresponded or ought to correspond to changes at
the fountain head of their trade. Three successive waves somewhat differ-
ent in character can be discerned during the three centuries that this
CHINESE CIVILIZATION.
157 .
influence existed.
During the seventh century, epoch of the first ware, the chief notions
which radiated from their Shantuny emporia were chiefly Sabæo - Phæni-
cian, with few Babylonian and Hindu elements which they had adopted
hitherto. This we have shown in our paragraphs 104 and 105. It re-
sulted from the introduction of the Phoenician navy in the Erythæan sea
(suprui, 113-119), which we have described.
177. The second wave. began much later in the seventh century,
nnd consisted chiefly of pyrolatric notions, occasionally mixed with a
sort of dualism, which we enumerate further on (§ 181-186). But these
notions, rather varied, cannot be ascribed in any definite manner, as far
as I am aware, either to. Mazdeism as described in the Gâthas, or to
the Persian creed shown on the Behistun inscription. They may have
been related to the variety of Zoroastrianism that was practised by the
Akhæmenians when they conquered Elan under Tchaispaish (Teispês)
some time about, probably before, 600 B.C. 63$, for the Avestic character
of several of these notions is clear and cannot be mistaken. Now we
know that ships could go there inland, for Nearchus was able to take to
Susa his fleet when arriving from India, 639 and therefore some of these
peculiar and ancient Mazdæans may have taken part in the eastern sea-
trade640. The more southern ports of Siraf and of Omana were not yet
opened at that time 641.
The third wave of influence is more Hindu than anything else, as shown
below, in the paragraphs 191-195. It began in the fifth century and does
not seem to have been altered until that same foreign sea trade of the
Gulf of Kiao-tchou came to an end,
178. On Wednesday, the 28th day of October 539642, the Persians
under Cyrus had conquered Babylon and thus put an end to the Baby-
lonian Monarchy. In 525, the conquest of Egypt increased the facilities
for international exchange of views and noticns.643 After 512 B.C.
Darius anxious to know where the Indus emptied itself into the sea 644,
sent a maritime expedition under the command of the Karian Greek
Skylax with orders to sail down the river from a certain point in the
Paktyiea region on the upper course of the Indus. They followed the
stream eastwards and westwards until they reached the sea ; two years
and a half altogether of navigation led them to the head of the Red
Sea645. The expedition therefore did not attempt to ascend the Persian
Gulf. Herodotus. (IV, 44) says that when this voyage was completed,
Darius conquered the Indians and made use of the sea in those parts,
158
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
An Indian influence must therefore have been felt for a time afterwards
among the Erythræan sea traders. At first mixed with the previous
influence which obtained among them, it gradually becaine prevalent,
but some time inust necessarily have elapsed before it could be felt, and
some longer time still before it produced a distinct and tangible effect
as far as the most distant stations of the trade, such as those of the
coast of Shantung.
179. When, less than two centuries later (i.e in 325 B.c.) Alexander
sent out the expedition of Nearchus to explore the course ef the Indus-
all memory of the similar and previous voyage of Skylax would seem to
have disappeared. 846 Maritime trade was in the hands of Hindus, and it
is doubtless from them that Nearchus and Onesicritus647 got the curious
astronomical statements which they hare reported, and which shows that
those who made them used to travel in the Indian Ocean, and advanced
far enough to the South to be well within the tropic.658 We may there-
fore conclude that the Northervers, i.e. the inhabitants of Northern In-
dia and the region of the Persian Gulf had then little interest, if any,
left in the Southern Sea trade,
180. With the removal of the capital of Yueh from Lang-ya, the sea-
trade of the Gulf of Kiao-tchon in S. Shantung seems to have come to
an end. The traders of the Indian Ocean and Erythræan Sea ceased to
frequent the emporia of Tsih-moh and Lang-ya. They may have frequen-
ted for a certain time afterwards the entrance of the Yang-tze Kiang at
the proximity of the new capital city of Yuen, which was the modern
Su-tchou, but we have no evidence in the present state of our researches.
in favour or against this probability About 375, the scanty knowledge
which these sharp seafarers had in parted of their route, among endless fa-
bles, had hardly anything left to substantiate it, and the whole had passed
to mythology and fables. Difficulties on their route which arose from the
hostility of natives against the revictualling of their ships, had most pro-
bably for some time before diminished the frequency of journeys made by
these bold adventurers. This is suggested by circumstances related in the
fables concerning the Five (afterwards Three) Fortun-te islands which we
have examined before. .49 The route through Indo-China saved a great
deal of sea-faring, and, frequented since in the previous century, it took
the place of the former and longer journey.
NOTES--
632) The capital was removed to Wl, whose name has survived as that
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
159
of the prefectural city of Su-tchou, in Kiang-su.
633) On these events cf. Szema Tsien, Kiv. 32, fol. 27.- i'chuh shu ki
nien, V, 30, ann. 23.— Wu yuch tchun tsiu ; T.P., Kiv. 160,: fol. 6
v.-T. de L., Catalogue of Chinese couns, p. liv, lxii, lxiii.
634) He established there a population of 20 or 30 thousand families,
cf. Szema Tsien, kiv. 6, fol. 14 V., 26; kiv. 28, fol. 12,
635) The T'cen family since the days of Tien Tchang had been by them-
selves a state in the State. Tien Tchang put to death Duke Kien
in 481 and placed Ping Kung on the throne. In 386 his grandson
Tien Ho removed the reigniny Duke K’ang from his capital, anıl
placed him in the city of Hai-pin (60 li E, of Fui-ning hien in Tchihli,
N.) where he might maintain the sacrifices to his ancestors, and where
he led an inglorious life until his death in 379. Cf. Szenia Tsien,
kiv, 32, fol. 27.
636) Cf. Hoh thi, T's mole tchba, 1753, kim, i, f. 3.–She k2, Tien tai
kung she kia.
637) Cf. pp. 215-219, 224-226 ; 105.
638) Cylinder oj Cyrus, Inscript. 1. 21.- Cf. Sir Henry Rawlinson, Notes
on a Clay Cylinder of Cyrus the Great : J.R.A.S. 1380, XII, 70-97.
-A. H, Sayce, Herodotus, 1183, p. 439, 482.
639). Arrian. Irodrca, c. 42.-Bunbury, Ancient Geography, I, 539.
640) The inland trade with Media and its connection with the Erythræan
sea trade existed some time earlier as shown by the quince fruits which
the sea-farers of Shantung introduced in China before 660 B.C. This
date night require confirmation from another source of evidence
than that of the Chinese critics in their classification of the odes, which
is the only one on which it rests at present. Cf. suprá n. 389.
641) None of them is mentioned by Nearchus in his journey along the
coasts.
642) According to the calculations of Dr. J. Oppert, communicated to
the Academic des Inscriptions, Dec. 23, 1892.
643) Cf. supru on Egyptian „nfluences ip Persia, N, 364.
644) Herodot. IT, 44. The report of the journey of Skylax of k.ari-
anda, was still existing at the time of Aristotle (Politic. VII, 13, 1).
645) E. H, Bunbury, History of Ancient Geography, I, 227.
646) Bunbury, 0.C. I. 227.
647) Arrian, Indica, c. 25.-.Pliny, VI., 23, $ 98.
648) They found the shadows not to follow the same rules as in other
countries, but either the sun was vertical at noon, or the shadow was
cast to the south. He added that the constellations and stars, which
liad usually been high in the heavens, now were only just above the
horizon, and those i hat were elsewhere constantly visible, rose and set
again after a short interval.'—Bunbury, Q.C., I., 534-5, 543, and 548-
549.
649) Supra $122-126.
Innovations concerning Fire.
181. We l'ave briefly in a previous paragraph (106) alluded to the
new notions concerning fire, which made their appearance in the Chinese
160
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
states of the East in proximity with the foreign settlements of S. Shantung
in the sixth century. As they continued to develop or at least to be more
known during the present period, and as their influence and importance
are considerable for history, we take here again the subject from the begin-
ning, in order to enumerate the various points it concerns, although the
evidence about them is not strictly in chronological order. It belongs
however to the same period.
182. We may notice among other innovations:
- A state sacrifice every year at the yérnal equinox for the renewal of fire;
€ 50 all fires had to be extinguished for three days previously and food ta -
ken cold. The rule was established for the first time in Tsin (Shansi) 651
by the Marquess Wen (636-627 B.c.) who had taken as a wife Ki-Wei,
one of the chief's daughters of the Non-Chinese barbarians Tsiang Kiu
ju.6 52
-A new worship of a deity of Fire named Hwei-luh, and of a deity of
Water named Hiuen Ming, previously mentioned § 106. We hear of it
in 524 in Tch'eng (S. Honan) once only, as if it was but a local affair,
but it seems connected with the pyrolatric views mentioned earlier, nota.
bly in 564, 541, and 533, in the state of SUNG (E. Honan) which as we
know was in close relation with the foreigners of Lang-ya and Tsih-Moh.653
-A female and male character attributed respectively to fire and water,
which are distinctly stated, the fire to be the fei or wife of water, and the
water to be the mou or husband of fire, in 533 and 525 B.C.651
183. The worship of the Fire Goddess Hwei-luh is highly interesting,
because transformed by the ancestral and euhemeristic prejudices of the
Chinese it has become the worship of the Spirit of the Hearth, the
household Fire-god, commonly called the Kitchen-god653. It was sacri-
ficed for the first time by Hia Fu-tchi Keeper of the Ancestral temple
of the state of Lu, about 600 B.C., who burnt in his honour, and right in
the teeth of sacrificial orders' a pile of fire-wood. Confucius whose opin-
ion was asked in after times on the matter disapproved that mode of
sacrificing in that occasion, at present, said he, that sacrifice is paid to
a wife of old time; the materials for it might be contained in a tub, and
the (ritual) Fase is the common wine-jar656 .' A popular saying quoted
in the Lun-yü : 'It is better to pay court to the kitchen fire than to
the south-west corneró 57,' shows that this worship was not yet an ancient
institution at the time of Confucius. As a fact it was then worshipped
only in some parts of the land; in 533 it existed in Honan E.658 and
in the third century B.C., it was also flourishing in Kiang-su and in
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
1550
Shansi859. It assumed gradually a more and more importa nt position
in the popular religion of the country, and was adopted by the Emperor
himself under the Han dynasty (133 B.c.)660 ; at present it has become
the most extensively worshipped divinity of China. The various names
given to it show the successive and different aspects under which it
was considered. That of Hwei-luh, its historical antecedent which
has been already described, was shortened into the name of We2661,
from that of Ki Wei, the Chinese lady of barbarian birth, wife of the
Duke Wen of Tsin in 636-627 B.C., doubtless because her husband
had made some innovations in the annual ceremony of the renewal
of fire, as noticed § 182. Another denomination used in the IVth
cent. B.C., for Ki Wei, was Ki which is the tuft or coiffure of a Chinese
lady ; the deity was then represented as a beautiful woman dressed in
red 662. Her worship as that of the First Cook, Sien tch'uei, was recog-
nized as a regional one in Tsin, i.e. North half of Shansi, by Kao-tsu,
the first Emperor of the Han dynasty in 206 B.C.663. The names of
T'suan shin, Spirit of the furnace,' and of Tsao shin, Spirit of the
hearth' were and have remained the most common names of that divin-
ity864. Its female character was generally acknowledged and remained
undisputed until the second century of our era, when it passed to the
stronger sex 665.
NOTES--
650) Fire was looked upon since early times among the Chinese as a
great purifier, and large state fires were kindled at the beginning of
each season to ward off the evil influences of the incoming period, Spe-
cial wood fuel was selected for that object. The management of these
fires was in the hands of a Director of Fire. The first appointment of
the kind dates from the reign of Ti Kuh Kao Sin, the fourth ruler of
the Bak Sings in China (2160-2085 B.C.). It was given to T'chung-
li, who thus became Tchuh-Yung; but sent by his master against Kwan,
intendant of public works ( Kung Kung) who was disobedient, he was
unsuccessful and fell into disgrace.
651) Cf. Si King tsa ki by Liu-hin (Han dyn.)-Yeh tchung kcr by Luh-
hwei (Tsin dyn,)-King Tsu suy she ki by Ts'ung-lin (6th cent.) -
T.P. 31, 2-3.—De Groot, Fêtes à Emouy, I. 212.
652) The Tsiang Kiu ju, 2572-1213-1852 Bas ; the first word also writ-
ten 2196 or 5619 Bas.) are mentioned in the T'so tchuen in 637, and in
of the Reche Stäm before they we
they belonged to is not known although they were settled on the pre-
sent frontiers of Shansi and Shantung. They have been reckoned as
a tribe of the Red Tih or Teks (Legge, Ch, Ci, V., prol. 127 ; Plath.
Fremde barbarische Stämme im alten China, 465; on the Teks, cf. T. de
L., Languages of China before the Chinese, 167) because they were in
proximity with the latter, but as they were attacked by them in 637, it
156
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
76.2
seems to me very doubtful that they should belong to the same race.
They were finally dispersed in 588 by the states of Tsin and WEI, at
the same time as the remnants of the Red Teks.
653) Cf. Tso tchuen under these various years, and 5, xxix,, 1-5.
654) Fei, 1853 Bas.-Mor, 5647 Bas.--780. tchuen, 10, ix, 3 ; xvii. 5.
655) At present, there are two objects of worship, as the Chinese aver,
to be found in every family, viz. the Ancestral tablet and the kitchen
god. J. Doolittle, Social life of the Chinese, 1868, p. 417.
656) Cf. Li Ki, VIII, i, 23 ; Legge's translation, vol. I, p. 403-4.--
The expression used is Ngao shin (Bas, 1834-1025) litt. spirit of the
South-west corner (of the house) which commentators say is there
equivalent to Tsuan shin. (Bas. 5688-1025) Spirit of the hearth. Cf.
*Khang-hi tze tien, s.v. Ngao.---In Ancient Chinese houses the door
was always on the South-west side, as stated in the Shi king, II, iv.
Ode 5. Še Kan, and the Ngao was inside, next to it.---At present the
houses are so planned as to face southwards or at least to have their
chief entrance on the south. Cf. Dr. O. A. Gordon, Remarks on cer-
tain points relating to public health in China, p. 9, and Dr. John
Dudgeon, Diet, dress, and dwellings of the Chinese, p. 200 (London,
1885).
657) Lun yü, III, xiii, 1 ; ch. cl., I, 23. The famous philosopher Tchu-
hi has remarked on this subject : 'The kitchen-fire was comparatively
a mean place, but when the spirit of it was sacrificed to, then the rank
of the two places was changed for the time, and the proverb was in
vogue.'---Sign Carlo Fuini, Le Culte des génies tutelaires, I, § 1, thinks
that it refers to a preference of sacrifice ó à l'Esprit du Foyer plutôt
qu'aux lares domestiques.' But this is stretching too far the meaning
of the Chinese text,
658) This is shown by the name of a man from Tcheng, called P'i I'san,
i.e. attending the kitchen god, spoken of in the T'so tchuen, 10, ix, 3.
659) Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv, 28, f. 17 v, --Lü she Tchun tsiu.-Gloss
to Shan hai king, XVI, 5 0.—The name of Hwuí-luh was that given
to the deity in Wu as stated by Lü Pu-wei.
660) Szema Tsien, K. 28, f. 23 v.
661) Wei, 11832 B., "hill-ghost'.--Ki Wei, 2072-11832 B. Cf. Yu
Yang tsah tsu, by Twan sheng shih, d. 863 A.D.-T.P. 186, 4.-
Tso tchuen, Duke Hi, 23rd year ; Ch. Cl. V., 186, 191, and prol. 127.
—Shan hai king, ii., 21; vii., 2 ; xvi., 5.
662) Ki, 12683 B.-Tchwang tze, xix.-Tze tien, s.v. ki, 190+6, fol. 49.
663) Sien tch’uei, 590-5399 B, - Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. 28, f. 17 v.
664) Tsuan shin, 5588-7025 B.--Tsao shin, 7352-7025 B.
665) Tcheng hiuen (127-200 A.D.) was I think the first who challenged
the female character of the deity, and who put forward the view tbat
the kitchen god was no other than the Director of Fires of Antiquity,
rulers. - Hewas followed in his views by several scholars who attempted
to establish a connection between the Fire god of the hearth, and one
or other of the early fire-makers, Sui-jen, Shen-nung, or Hwang-ti.
And the deity in question became a god whose worship absorbed that
of a god of fate Se-ming. How this has come to pass is still an open
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
257
163
579 sq, has not solved.---In some parts of China the Kitchen god is
male and female. For instance at Fuhtchou the Chau Kung, Prince
of the Hearth,' and Chau Ma, Mother of the Hearth are worshipped
together. The ideographic spelling of Tsao in Tsao shin has given
rise to a curious case of Mythography. This I'sao (7352 B.) in the
tchuen style of writing just anteriorbut one to the present, is composed of
three symbols meaning the Cave's red toad ;' the popular belief has
'made it a wife of the house cricket (Chou Ma). Cf. Baldwin-Maclay,
Dict. Foochow dialect, pp. 36, 100 ; Wells Williams, Syllab. Dict.,
P. 954.
Chap. VII.-FIFTH PERIOD : 481-22 1 B.C.
Sect. B. Influences by the North-East.
Innovations concerning Fire,
184. Among other innovations concerning fire introduced through the
Sea trade of Shantung, let us describe :
-The peculiar notion of five sorts of fire. They are enumerated in full,
for the first time by Sun-Wu666 of T'si, who became a commander in the
service of Hoh-liu, prince of Wu (514-495 B.C.), and is the author of
the famous treatise on the Art of war, Ping fah, which has been preser-
ved entire to the present time. Herewith his statement:
All fires classified are five in number :
the first is the ho jen 667 or fire in man';
the second is the ho tsih or ‘fire accumulating';
the third is the ho tche or ‘fire which travels' (the lightning);
the fourth is the ho k'u or 'fire in store';
the fifth is the ho sui or 'fire in the wooden fire-drill'.
The resemblance between this list668 and that of the five fires in the
Zend-Avesta is so close, so nearly identical, as shown in the note8 69 be-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
165
low, that Sun-Wu must have been made acquainted with some Mazdean
views in his native land which was in close relationship with the foreign
tea-traders of Shantung,
185.---A remarkable superstition connected with metallurgy 672 which is
recorded about 500 B.C. is perhaps another innovation due to the same
source.
*Ran-tsiang, a man of Wu (Kiang-su) was, like Ngou-ye of YUF# 673,
a master in the art of making swords. Having once presented a sword
to the King Hoh-liii (511-494 B.C.),67: he was commissioned to make
two others which were called Kan-tsiang and Moh-ya675. Kan-tsiang had
collected, to make these swords, the best ores from five mines which he
mixed together with the addition of some fruitless blossoms, in order that
the Yn and Yang, the breath of Heaven and Earth, should unite in he
operation, but the essence of the Gold and Iron did not flow. Moh-94676
then said: 'A child should please to make the swords.' The King
hearing this sent his son who worked at the swords for three years with-
out success. Kan-tsiang then remarked : 'I do not understand his deport-
ment.' Ansiered Moh-ya; “for the transformation of human and spiri-
tual things, a human being is necessary and then perfection will be
obtained ; at present the workmen make swords and find them not
suitable, let them get a human being and their work will be perfect.'
Kan-tsiang said : Formerly, in the foundry work of my master, the
force of gold and iron was not exhausted, man and wife together did not
enter the blast-furnace. Moh-ya then added : 'the ancient masters them-
selves melted away their own bodies to get perfection in their work, as
sacrificing a concubine would only result in sending down calamities 677.'
On this Kan-tsiang and his wife cut off their hair and nails and threw
them with a child678 in the blasting furnace.'— The story goes on to state
how the most complete success crowned the operation, and how the two
swords were presented to the king-679.
Moh-ya, whose name is perhaps Indian, in this story has all the ap-
pearance of a foreigner who, suggests the necessity of a human sacrifice
in the furnace for success680, instead of the elaborate arrangements which
had been previously taken by Kan-tsiang, according to the geomantic
views of the Ancient Chinese.
186.-The West Asiatic process of making fire by a concentration of
the Sun rays with a concave metallic mirror was also introduced in China
in the fifth century. It was not yet used in 617 nor in 506 B.C., as
shown by statements of the Teo tchuen under these dates 681, and Confu-
166
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
cius knew nothing of it682. As the Tchou-li, ch. 37, 1. 27, mentions the
implement under a foreign name683, fu, it must have been introduced
little after the time of the great sage, and as it is mixed up with one of
these wonderful notions 684, which are connected with their influence in
Shantung, the sea traders of Langga must have imported it from the
West thrvugh the Indian Ocean1685. In the second century B.C., when
the Li ki was edited, the metal fire-implement, or Kin-sui as it was then
called, had become a household utensil of general use, which was hung
at the girdle86. The older system, the sui or fire-drill, which had been
imported by the Bak families 687 remained in se, until its supplanting
by the flint-process688 (huo-kwun) which was well known to the Jews
who went to China in the first century 689.
NOTES--
666) The subdivision of Fire was carried further in the Avesta than in
the Veda. In the Veda ve can distinguish three fires, sometimes called
Agni nirmath ya, fire obtained by rubbing, Agni a usha sya,
fire rising with the dawn, solar fire, and Agni vaidyuta, the fire
of lightning. In the Avesta (Yasna XVII) we meet with five fires.
Cf. Max Müller, Physical Religion, 1891, p. 229.
667) On Sun Wu, commonly called Sun Tze, cf. Szena T'sien, Kiv. 65,
fol. 1-2; Kiv. 31, fol, 13, rho praises his work.--The really oldest
work of this military class which has reached us entire, is that treatise on
military tactics in 13 sections by Sun Wu, during the 6th cent. B.C.
A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 72.-Mayers, Chinese R.M.,
I., 635.
668) Ping fah, Kiv. 12.-Tchou Ts’in shih yh tze, Sun-tze, fol. 20 (edit.
Hwang Hai-ngan).---Tai ping yü lan, Kiv. 869, f. 5v,
669) Ho jen, 5381-91 Bas.--Ho tsih, 5381-7236 Bas.--Ho tche, 5381-
6181 Bas.; the last symbol is sometimes written 6187, and at first
10905 Bas. with the meaning of travelling. —Ho li. 5381.25-4 Bas.
-Ho Sui, 5651-5.152 Bas.; the latter symbol is sometimes written
11822 Bas.
670) The notion is entirely un-Chinese. In the l'so t hucn in the years
593, 564, 545, 533, and 524 we hear unly of a distinction between the
human fire called Ho-jen and the fire from heaven, ho tsai, 5381-5393
Bas., i.e. the fire calamity.—The five fires have not received a place in
the numeral categories of the Li Ki, and have remained a foreign and
temporary notion,
671) Cf. the Avestic Vohu-fryana, the good and friendly fire that dwells
in the bodies of man and beasts, with the ho-jen, the fire in man ;-
the Avestic Spénishta, the bountiful, increasing fire, with the ho-tsih,
the fire accumulating ;--the Avestic Vâzishta, the most active fire, or
fire of lightning, with the ho tche, the fire which travels, or of lightning ;
-the Arestic Berezisaranh, the fire highly useful or that of the
earth, with the ho k'u, the fire in store.—the Avestic Urrâzishta, the
fire in the plants, kindled by friction, with the Ho sui, the fire in the
Woden igniterebrator.- Cf. Zend-Avesta, Yasna xvii.-C. de Harlez,
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
167
Introduction i l'Etude de l'Avesta et de la Religion Mazdéenne, po
xcvii.-L. H. Mills, The Zend-Avesta, part III, p. 258 ; Oxford,
1887.-James Darmesteter, Le Zend-Avesta, vol. I, pp. 149-150;
Paris, 1.92.
672) We have previously pointed out that the art of tempering iron bad
been introduced into China by these foreign traders about or before
540 B.C. A local legend near the gulf of Kiao-tchou attributed a
special virtue for this operation to the water of a river near the set-
tlement of their leader Kut-lu in 631. Cf, suprà § 103-104.
673) His siords were famous, as shown by the following extract from
Ichwang-tze, XV, 3: Now he who possesses a sword made at Yueh
preserves it carefully in a box and does not care to use it, it is con-
sidered the perfection of valuable swords.
674) Hop-liü, 11718-11691, or 11718-2577 Bas.
675) Kan-tsiang, 2479-2196 Bas. — Moh-ya, 5975-8341, also written
11552-11393 or 11552-11370 Bas.
676) A version of the story says that Moh-ya was the wife of Kan-
tsiang, but the narrative seems to show the contrary. And the two
Chinese symbol perhaps conceal an Indian word such as Daha, great
677) Tchwang tze, VI, 10 makes probably an allusion to the human.
sacrifice recorded here in the following passage : Here was a well-
known caster of metals, in whose crucible the molten metal bubbled and
spurted up, saying: I am destined to be made into the Moh-ya sword.
673) One version says 'a girl,' another 'a boy.'
679) We Fueh tchun tsiu. –T.P. 343, 2.-Of. also l'ung T'chou Lieh
kwoh tchi, kiv. 74,-A similar story is told about the casting of the
great bell at Peking in the 4th year Yung-loh or 1406. An officer
named Kiyan-yu commissioned with the operation had failed twice in
the attempt. His daughter Ko-ngai, then 16 years old, hearing from
a soothsayer that the metals would not melt in the third attempt un-
less the blood of a virgin be mixed in the alloy, threw herself in the
furnace to secure the success of her father, and the bell was happily
cast. Cf. La Piété filiale en Chine, by Dabry de Thiersant, 1877, p.
217--19.-N. B, Dennys, The Folklore of China, p. 133.
680) As many superstitions of ancient times have been found to be con«
nected with some crude notions suggested by experience, is it not
possible that there should be under this a vague idea of cementation
of the metal. It was an old practice with the founders to throw horns
and bones in their melting furnaces.
6'31) In 617, at a great hunt organised by the Duke of Sung and the
Earl of Tch'eng, every one is instructed to take his sxi or fire-drill.
In 506, the King of Ts'u orders his men to take their sui or fire-drill
and to light torches at the tails of the elephants which are sent for-
ward against the army of Wu. (f. Tso tchuen, 6. x, 7 ; lī, iv, 15.
682) Lun yu, xvii, 1, 3. He speaks only of the boring-wood im-
plement,
683) It Wils called fu, variously written (Bas. 1800) in the T'chou-li, and
(Bas. 7429) elsewhere, cf. T.I.Y.L. 717, 3 1. The translation · Mir-
oir Mâle' proposed by G. Schlegel, Uranographie Chinese, p, 612,
is therefore not acceptable.
684) There were two mirrors; one to receive the Yung or heat from the
168
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.
sun, the other to receive dew or water or Yn from the moon for the
sacrifices. Cf, Tchou-li kiv. 37, l. 27.--T.P.Y.L., Kiv. $63, f. 2; kiv.
869, f. 8.
685) I am not aware of the date of the invention in the west, and I am
not sure that it was unknown in Babylonia. Cf, the compound ideo-
grain sun +fire +enlarge. (W.A.I. II, 27, 51 a; Brunn, 7864).-
They were known to the Greeks.
686) Cf. Li ki, 10, I, 2, 3.-Another name, for it was Yang-sui, or so-
lar fire-implement, which has been used instead of the older fr-sui.
687) Cf. supra § 18 note 60,- The oldest forms of the symbol sui sug-
gest its object, the fire-stick and drill, as it was ideographically com-
posed of it pointed stick + to go. Cf. Min Tsi kih, Luh shu tung, kiv.
VII, f. 47.-The Chinese term represents the Babyloniąn savul, fi r e-
stick (Brunn. 1652) on which cf. A. H. Sayce, Rel. Anc, Bab,
p. 181.
688) The various processes of making fire were by 19): Gyration of fire-
stick by bow-drill or pump-drill ; 9) Friction of wood sticks by
sawing or plowing ; 39) Percussion of flint, pyrites and steel,
40) Concentration of solar Rays by a concave mirror or a lense ;
50) Condensation, as by the fire-syringe.—On the thiree first pro-
cesses cf. the excellent paper of Mr. Walter Hough, Fire-making
apparatus in the U.S. National Museum, pp. 531-597 of The Smith-
sunian report of the U.S.A. Museum, for 1883.–The fire-syringe or
besiapi of the Saribus-Dayaks of Borneo, and of the Kachins of Upper
Burma.—The friction process by sawing which was and is perhaps
still known to the Pre-Chinese populations of China, was described by
Tchrany-tze in the IV th cent. B.C. Cf. 7.P.1.L., kiv. 869, f. 2.-
The fire-drill seemis me to have been known to the Ancient Egyptians;
in Paul Pierret, Vocabulaire Hieroglyphique, on 30 words for fire, six
are written with the determinative spt, flame, while twenty two are
written with the determinative ua which is said to represent a sort of
cord, like a fishing line. Cf. B.&O.R. Aug, 1892, pp. 42-13, my
note on fire making in Ancient Egypt.
689) Cf. on the arrival of the Jews in China, H. Cordier, Les Juifs en
Chine (L'anthropologie, Sept.-Oct., 1890, p. 547-551), and T. de L.
On the Entrance of the Jews into China during the first century of our
era: B. &0. R., June 1891, vol, V, p. 131-134. - They knew to produce
fire by striking steel against flint (2 Macc. X, 3). Cf. O. P. Keil,
Dlanual oj Biblical Archæology, 1888, vol. II, p. 126.
Other Innovations.
187,--Lieh-tze690 and Tchwang-tze691 of the fourth century B.C., in
their teachings, have often given vent to sailors' yarns learnt from the
foreign sea-traders of the Shantung coast. For instance we may refer
amongst others to :
-the myth of the storm-bird €92, which they called pêng 693 ;—when this
ird rouses itself and flies, its wings are like clouds all round the sky,--
In the dark and vast Ocean, the Pool of Heaven, ......on a whirlwind it
mounts upwards, ......it bears on its back the blue sky, and then it shapes
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
169
its course for the south, and proceeds to the Ocean there694." _This is
clearly a storm myth in its inception, and perhaps the oldest version of
the mythological statement which has become the Rukh of the Arabs, the
Gryphon of Marco-Polo, the Garuda of the Hindus, the Simurgh of the
Old Persians, the Bahr Yukhre of the Rabbinical legends, the Gryps of
the Greeks, &c.695.
-a fabulous notion of the whale696 ;
188.-An innovation which dates from the same time is the habit of
writing on skins which is, and always was, not Chinese. It began to be
practiced in the state of sung and remained a local peculiarity 697,
189,-An acquaintance with a religious imagery such as could only be
known in the emporia of the Erythræan sea 698. The fabulous fishmen
civilisers and writing carriers of the legends of Babylonia, the philacteries
of Egypt, and some figures of Hindu gods were brought to this knowledge,
and were made use of by the Taogzeists dealers-in-the-marvellous, when
they amplified the ancient Chinese traditions. This acquaintance which
had begun towards the end of the last period, was largely incieased in
the fifth and fourth centuries, and stamped henceforth many of the le-
gends and fabulous reports which they compiled.
The creatures half-fish half-men who springing out of the water,
brought successively written tablets to Hwang-ti, Yao, Shun, Yü, Tcheng
Tang, Wu Wang and Tcheng Wang, as stated in the glosses, not in
the text, of the Annals of the Bamboo Books, are an echo of the first
named of these Western notions 699. Such is also the notion of
the mythological hippo-centaurs. Lieb-tze700 speaks of Fuh-hi, Nu
Kwa, Shennung and Hia Hou (i.e. the Great Yü) has having bodies of
serpents, human faces, heads of oxen and muzzles of tigers, although
they had all the virtues of Saints. This conception hitherto unknown
in Chinese literature is undoubtedly Egypto-Indian in character.
190.-Interpolations made in the five first books of the Shan hai king,
and the thirteen subsequent books which with some later exceptions,
belong to the period we are now studying; numerous descriptions are
made of demi-gods and genii special to the regions described 701. The
most common types are those with or without animal limbs, either hold-
ing serpents in their hands, or having serpents for earrings, and tread-
ing on or driven by two dragons or two serpents. Now we cannot take
these deities as those actually worshipped in their respective countries
indicated, but as those which the travellers were induced to venerate in
order to be preserved from the spirits and evils of the land. They are
170
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
in many cases almost so identical with Egyptian phylacteries702 and Hin-
du figures 703 of deities, that the compilers of the Romantic geography we
are speaking of, cannot but have seen pictures of these phylacteries and
figures when they wrote their descriptions. Perhaps that the Shantung
traders were not the sole channel through which the latter views have
reached the Chinese states, and that some of them came in by the South-
west and through the Semi-Chinese state of Ts’u.704
NOTES---
690) On Lieh-tze, cf. Note 627.—He was contemporary of Tze Yang
who was prime minister in TCHENG. Cf. Tchwang-tze, xxviii, 4.
691) Tchwany-Tchou or Tchiang-tze was a native of the state of WEI
also called Liang from its capital city (after 361 B.c.). He was born
at Wêng once near Kwei teh, E, Honan), and was flourishing under
the reigns of Kings Hwei of Liang (370-361-334 B.C.) and Siuen of
i s'i (332-313 B.c.). He declined the offers of King Wei of Ts'2 (339-
333 B.C.). Cf. Szema T'sien, kiv. 64, fol, 3 7.- He is said to have
lived in 368-319 B,C.- On the translations of his works, cf. suprà,
N. 628.
692) Lieh-tze, V, 3.-Tchwang-tze, I, 1.-Lieh-tze quotes it in his al-
leged dialogues between two imaginary individuals, in one of which
called In lang, some wanted to recognize Tcheng Tang, the founder
of the Shang dynasty, because the latter's name pas changed into Yn
when it was transferred there under the reign of Pan-keng nearly 400
years later, -Tchwang-tze quotes from "a book called I's'i Hiar, i.e.
Talks of Ts'i (13239--10857 Bas.) which treated of strange and mar-
vellous things, where all these sailors' tales seem to have been col-
lected. Quotations from this work appear in the Tai ping yü lan cyclo-
pedia of A.D..983, as if it was yet in existence. Cf. Kiv. 825, f. 4v,
693) Bas. 12952. Cf. also W. F. Mayers, Cainese R.M., p. 174.
694) Cf. the translation in J. Legge, Texte of T'aoism, I, 164-167 ; S.
B.E. xxxix.
695) My lamented friend Sir Henry Yule, has paid a particular atten-
tion to this myth, and to the partial support it may have received in
the middle ages from the past existence of enormous birds such as the
Æpyornis of Madagascar, the Harpagornis of New Zealand, and the
would be wings of the same represented by the immensely long mid-
rib of the rofia palm, sent as such by traders of the Indian Ocean,
Cf. The Book of Ser Marco Polo, ed. 2, vol. II, p. 409-414, 552 ; A
glossary of Anglo-Indian words, p. 578-579,--Cf. also, L. C. Casar-
telli, Cyêna-Simurgh-Roc, un chapitre d'évolution mythologique et phil-
ologique, 14 pp. Paris, Picard, 1891 ; and the correspondence in the
Academy, on l'he Garuda and the famous giant-birds, reproduced in
the J.R.A.S., xxiii, 344-6.
696) Called Kwun (Bas, 12827) in Tchwang-tze who supposes that the
pêng comes from its transformation, Inc., while its real name is K'ing
(Bas. 12828). It may have been known some time earlier iſ the latter
symbol in the lso tchuen 7, XII, i.e. in 597 B.C. had the same mean-
ing, although employed there in a figurative sense. Cf. T.P.1.L.,
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
171
kiv. 938, f. 1.
697) Cf. I'sien Han Shu, kiv, 30.—Let us recall here the Diphtherui
Basilikai or Royal Archives of Persia, and the tradition that the writ-
ings of Zoroaster were preserved on cow's skins,
693) In the cosmogonic speculations of Babylonia, the first beings were
chaotic creatures in which were combined the limbs of every species of
animals. Cf. Berosus, in Euseb. Chronic. i, 4.-In Egypt the ani-
mal worship was officially established by Ka Kou, the second king of
the second dynasty, following Manetho; and the figures of gods as
half animals are supposed to have come later, Cf. A. H. Sayce, Her-
odotus, p. 262, 364.-G. Maspero, Histo re Ancienne, p. 28; Revue des
Religions, 1880.-F. Lenormant, Histoż re Ancienne, t. III., p. 211.
-As to the Egyptian worship of animals cf. A. Wiedemann, Le Culte
des Animaux en Egypt: Le Museon, 1989, pp. 211-225 and 309-318,
tom, viii.
699) I have reprodced the Western and the Chinese statements in my
paper on The fabulous fishmen of Early Babylonia in Ancient Chinese
documents, 6 pp.; B. & O, R., Sept. 1888. Cf. also my note on the
Centaurs and Hippocentaurs of Western and Eastern Asia, B. & 0.
R., VI, 167-168.
700) Lich tze, Kiv, II. Cf my paper on The Deluge tradition and its
remains in Ancient China, note 60.
701) The purpose of the descriptions of countries, such for instance as
those inscribed on the ancient vases which were supposed to have been
reproduced in the Shan hai King, was to enable the traveller to avoid
any injury. Cf. l'so tchuen, 7, iii., 4,
702) Cf. for instance the Egyptian phylactery of Hor on the crocodiles,
in the British Museum, engraved in F. Lenormant, H stoire ancienne,
tom. III. p. 133.
703) Cf. Edid, Moore, Hindu Pantheon, p), 6, 16, 23, &c.
704) In 548, according to the l'so-tchuen 9, XXV., 9, Wei Yen Grand
Marshal of Ts'o, 'set about describing the different lands, measuring
the forests ; defining the meres; marking out the higher lands and the
downs; distinguishing the pocr and salt tracts; enumerating the bound-
aries of flooded districts ; &c.,' Although this was done chiefly in Ts'u's
interest, it may have been the ground work of a part of the Shan hai King.
Innovations of Hindu Origin.
191.—the worship of the Pah Shen705 or Eight Demi-gods which are
simply the Hindu Eight Vasus. It was established all over his state,
probably if not before, by Tai Kung of Ts’who ruled in 390-384 B.C.706
He was the founder of the Tien dynasty, the second one in Ts'i, and owed
much to the foreign element of the sea-shore population of his state, which
supported him as they had done his fathern in their encroachments
against the regular authority of the lineage of princes founded in the XIth
century by Kiang Tai Kung whose last descendant was d eposed by him.
This circumstance explains partly his adoption of the foreign worship of
172
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
T'i
Ping »
Yang ,
In
the Pah Shen, which it will be sufficient to enumerate in comparison with
the Hindu Vasus to establish their identity and unquestionable deriva.
tion,
Eight Vasus (Hindu)
Eight Shens (Chinese)
Dhruva.--Sky
Heaven (Lord of), Tien Tchu
Dhava,--Earth
Earth »
Dhanu, -Arcitenens
= War
Pratyusha, — Dawn
Light
Prabhasha,--Twilight
Darkness
Soma - Moon
Moon
Yueh .,
Anala, --Agni
Sun
Jeh ,
Anila,– Wind
= 4 Seasons , Sze she
The respective places of worship of each of these deities which are indi -
cated by Szema Tsien are all within the limits of the state of Ts'ı, and
principally in the North of the Shantung peninsula.707 The Hindu origin
of these Demi-gods cannot be doubted,
In India they are a class of semi-divine beings impersonations of nat-
ural phenomena belonging to the Vaidic period; they are alluded to bod-
ly708 in the Rig Veda, and described individually in other works.709
NOTES--
705) Pah Shen, 611-6173 Bas.- These must be clearly distinguished from
the Puh Sien or Eight worthies of Chinese legend and art.
706) Szema Tsien, She ki, Kiv. 28, f. 10, recording tlat She Hwang ti
offered sacrifices to the famous mountains, great rivers, and to the Pah
shen, says that the latter "were acknowledged since antiquity, and that
it was said also that they had been introduced by Tai Kung. The state
of T's'i (Bas. 13239) was so called because of the navel of Heaven,
Tien ts’i (Bas, 1798-13239). The sacrifices had been interrupted, and
I do not know when they were begun again.”—The pun on the sound
of Ts'ı (Bas. 13239) Regulated, name of the state, with that of
Ts'i (Bas. 8628) navel, (same character with det. flesh) because of a
pool near the capital which was thus named, does not deserve criticism.
As to the Tai Kung or Great Duke, the one referred to cannot be
Kiang Tai Kung the founder of the state in 1091 B.c. (Rectified Chron-
ology) who had no knowledge of such matters, and who is always called
Kiang Tai Kung in history; while the other Tai Kung Ho, also a
founder or dynasty (the second) is certainly the one referred t.o, although
the author does not speak positively on the point.
707) As the authority of the Princes of T's'z was not established there
before the middle of the sixth century, the cult of the eight gods in
T's'i, could be but of a later date.
708) Rig Veda, X., 98, 1. -Atharva Veda, XVIII., 2, 49.-Satapatha
Brahmana, IV, 5 ; 7: 2.--Trsl. Julius Eggeling, II., 411; S.B.E.
timana, 17, 98, later date.
709) Vishnu Purana, trsl. Wilson, p. 120,-Nala, trsl. Monnier-Williams.
p. 215.-Bhagavad Gita, p. 145.- Maha Bharata, Adi Parva, xcix..
P. 295-297, trsl. Pratapa Chandra Ray.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
173
192.-A monster god of the North, called Yü-Kiang,710 i.e. Kiang of
the remote corner, also called : Kiang-liang, 711 which was represented
with the face of a man the body of a bird; as earrings it has green serpents,
and it treads on two other similar animals.712 Its description vouchsafes
its Hindu origin.713
193. -A notion of thirty three superior beings, as in the Rig Veda, 714
and the Avesta.715 They were in India deities of the Sky, the Larth, and
the Waters, eleven for each.716 The result was that when the Chinese
compiled their information about the fabulous period, and found amongst
their earliest relics, statements concerning the existence of thirteen and
eleven Kings or periods of 18000 years each, according to astrologico-cos-
mogonic calculations once made in Babylonia and which they could not
understand, 717 they were by this later notion led to add nine more Kings.
or periods of 18000 years each, which as a computation of years, clash
with all the other calculations and have no raison d'être. But the number
of thirty three primitive beings was thus secured and took its place in their
cosmogony.
191.-Notions of Hindu cosmogony and cosmography, such as the
avatar of the tortoise, the Sumeru, and the Soma. Lieh-tze (c. 400 B.C.)
seems to be the oldest Taoszeist who has combined Hindu ideas and
conceptions learned from the foreigners of Shantung with legends long
before in possession of the ancient Chinese. In my special paper on The
Deluge-tradition, I have pointed out the influence of the avatar of the
tortoise on the flood legend which the Chinese had preserved 718, and
therefore it is needless to say here719 anything more on the subject.
The wonderful fancies of the Hindu poetical descriptions of the imag-
inary Sumeru and its four rivers were applied to the scarcely less imag-
inary Kwen-lun of the West of China ; and the scraps of positive know-
ledge about it, with the few traditions preserved about the expeditions of
TCHOU Muh Wang outside the W. borders in the Xth century 720, served
as a peg for all sorts of wonderful accounts, due for the greatest parts to
the immediate disciples of Lieh-tze, 72
The Soma, Chinese Tze-mai722 is the plant and elixir of immortality,
food of the Sien or Richis, which is spoken of in the fabulous reports
of the Five islands of the Genii (suprd § 122-126).
195.--By his adaptation of Hindu thoughts on Cosmogony and Cos-
mology, Tsou-hien (c. 378-300 B.c.) whom we have already mentioned,
las exercised a great influence on Taoszeism723. He began to teach to.
wards the end of the reign of King Wei of Ts'ı (d. 331 B.c.) And un-
174
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
work on supreme holiness724, and later on when established in the Kieh
shih palace, in YEN, he composed his treatise on the chief evolution of
the Yn and Yangi 25. He explained that by the influence of the Five
elements726 the world was formed, and proceeding from smaller things to
greater things, he described a scheme of cosmogony similar to the Sak-
wala of the Hindus.
196.-The seventh year (i.e. 305 B.c.) of King Tchao of yes, the
protector of Tsou-hien ($ 173 suprá) saw the arrival of a man professing
the doctrines of Tao(?), and called She-10727. His name recallss the Sans-
krit Sila, moral purity, usually transcribed by the same symbol728. He
said that he was 130 years old, and that he had come from the country
of Muk-t u729 or Ma ga å ha, also known as Shen-t u730 or India, which
he had left five years previously. He performed numerous magical tricks,
one of which is described in the traditional report of the event731.
Nothing is said of the route which the Indian Monk had followed ; it
may have been through the South-west, as we shall see further on that
certain circumstances suggest that relations with Burma and India be-
came active in the fourth century. The arrival of Sila was certainly an
important circumstance and he may have been the first of the Sramans
whom we shall hear of in N.E. China at the beginning of the next
period.
Notes---
710) Yu Kiang: Bas, 7107-2646.-Kiang liang: Bas, 2646-8203.
711) Shan Hài King, Kiv. 8 f. 4 v; Kiv, 17, f, 20.-t is mentioned in
Tchwang-tze, VI. vi., 7, and in Lieh-tze, V. 2.- Khang-hi tze tien s.v.
712) An old authority says also that it was figured, the body, hands and
These two descriptions are combined in its modern figure, where it is
represented with its human face and bird's body driving on two dragons.
Cf. for instance the fig. 58 in Charles Gould, Mythical Monsters, p. 241.
713) It is not without some resemblance to Garuda, or perhaps to Kuvera.
714) Rig Veda, I. 34, 11; 139, 11 ; VIII, 35, 3; IX, 92, 4.--Muir.
Sanskrit texts, vol. IV, f. 9.---Max Muller, India, whut can it teach
ts, p. 144-5.-Satapatha Brahmana, III, 5 ; 7:4; transl. Eggeling,
S.B.E. xxvi, p. 411. And in many other works such as the Aitareya
Brahmana, the Atharva Veda, the Mahâbhârat'ı, the Ramayana, the
Taithirya Sanhita, &c.
715) Avesta, Yasna I. 10, the 33 ratavas.--Transl. Mills, S.B.E. xxxi,
p. 198.-M. Hang, Essays, ed. West, p. 276.–
716) The thirty-three gods have been carried by Buddhists in Central
Asia. The Man-Han Si-fan tsyeh-yas, a Buddhist repertory in Sans-
crit, Tibetan, Mandshu, Mongol and Chinese, tr. De Harlez, gives sect.
xiv, 2: Trayastrinça. The group of the 33 gods ; Tibetani, sum c'u
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
175
gsum pu, id. ; Chin. Mandshu, the 33 heavens (abka); Mongol, the
33 tekin.-B.&O.R. IV, p. 168.-Of. also J. G. Schmidt, Forsch-
ungen in Gebiete der alteren religiosen....der Völker Mittel-Asiens, 1824.
.-C. de Harlez, La Religion Nationale des Tartares Orientaux, 1889,
p. 173.
717) Ci. supru, ch. IV, sect. d, 30, and notes 119-121.
718) Cf. The Deluge legend, $ 51, and note 120.-B.&O.R. iv, 108-109,
719) The sundering of the earth, mentioned in the Chinese legend is re-
ferred to in the Yh King, Kwa II, 1.- The five dragons of the first Ki
in the Chinese mythical list of Akkadian kings, are mentioned in the
same work, Kwu 1.-These two references in the oldest book of the
Chinese would be sufficient by themselres to show the existence of
ancient documents bearing on these subjects in early China and their
introduction by the Bak families of Nai Hwang-ti. But there are
some more proofs. The early Babylonian cosmogony quoted in the
Ta o teh king (supra, 133-137) is referred to in the same work: Kwa
1, 1.- The legend of Nu-hwa repairing the rent in the heaven, was al-
ready among the documents used for divination under the second ruler
of the Hia dynasty as shown by the Kuci-tsang.
720) Cf. suprà, notes 165-169, § 52, note 347.
721) 1.c. The story of Muh, the Son of Heaven, Muh t'ien-tze-tchuen,
is a most valuable relic of antiquity which has not received the attention
it deserves. It has not the glowing of a production of the Neo-taoist
school, and contains a great deal of geographical lore, which it seems to
me refers to a genuine journey to Khotan and Kashgaria. - Dr. E. J.
Eitel, who has translated it (China Review, 1889, XVII., 223-240,
247-258) “is convinced that the main po'tion of the narrative is of a
very ancient date (10th cent, B.C.)," and I agree with him in that
respect. I intend to make a special study of the work.
722) Suprá, notes 455, 458.
723) His works are now lost, but they were still existing in the Im-
perial library of the Han dynasty in B.C. 9. · Cf. Liu hiang pieh luh.
And an analysis of his views is given by Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv.
74, f. 2-3.
724) Ta sheng tchi pien, in more than one hundred thousand words,
Cf. She ki, kiv. 74, f. 2.
725) Called Yn yang tchu yun, chief permutations of the Yn and Yang.'-
Cf. supru, § 173.
726) His views on the five elements were followed by Liu Hiang in the
Wu heng tchi, and by Pan-ku in the Peh hu tung y, of the Han dy-
nasty. He is believed to have annotated the Tchou-li. Cf, Mayers,
Chinese R.M., i, 746 ; ii, 127.
727) She-lo, 2230-8176 Bas.
728) Eitel, Sanskrit Chinese dictionary, p. 127a.
729) Muk-tu, mod. Muh-sü, 4880-8476 Bas. The old sounds are given
by the Archaic dialects notably by the Sino-Annamite, the oldest of
all, on which cf. B.&O.R. V, 24.
730) Shen-tu, 6173-4772 Bas.
731) •One of his tricks consisted in causing a ten storied fou-t'u or pa-
goda, with images of people 5 or 6 inches long, walking and dancing
round it, to grow out of the tip of his fingers. Cf. Shih y ki, kiv. 4,
by Wang Kia of the fourth century.-Mr. Herbert J. Allen, Simi-
176
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY CHINESE CIVILISATION.
larity between Buddhism and Early Taoism : China Review, 1886-7,
vol. xv, p. 97, was the first to translate this interesting statement. But
the proposed identification of Milk-tu with Magadha is mine. As to
the trick described, I would suggest that it was an image seen through,
a magnifying glass which Sila was holding in his hand.
.
Northern Influence.
197) Towards the middle of the fourth century a new and rather
curious influence became apparent in the states of Tchad in Shansi, and
of yen in N. Tchihli732. We have seen that the Neo-Taoists were
flourishing in the latter Kingdom 733. North and West of these states
were the teritories of Lin-hu and Lou-fan belonging to the non-Chinese
Wu-hwan who were the west branch of the Tung-hu, the eastern branch
of whom were the Sien-pi or Coreans734. In the same region which in
the sixth century formed the N. of the state of tsin, there was a famous
breed of horses which it is reported in the Tse-tchuen had never been
taken advantage of for the benefit of the state. In 333, Su-Ts'inias the
famous statesman of Tchou went to yen to enlist it in his league of the
six states against the encroachments of rs'ın, then aiming already at the
Empire736. A result of his sojourn there was the organization of a body
of 6000 horsemen, being the first cavalry which had ever existed in the
Chinese states737. The first instance of horseriding astride had occurred
nearly two centuries before, but has never been put into practice for army
purposes738. Wu-ling, the King of the aforesaid state of Tobao, who
ruled in 325 until 298 B.C. conquered the Hu state of Lin-hu and Lou-
fan, in 307 B.C. and introduced from there several new customs and
habits. Horsemanship739 and archery were henceforth extensively prac-
tised, cont rily to former times, and the costume of the Hu people was
adopted740. Among these innovations may be noticed that of the hüe
large leather boots to go on horseback, which are worn to the present
day741
LIS
NOTES-
732) Suprà, $ 164.
733) Suprá, § 173
734) Lin-hu. 4136-8472 Bas.-Lou-fan, 4466-5491 Bas.- Wu-hwan,
5421-32 Bas., also written 54:1-4235 Bas.— Tung-hu, litt. Eastern
Hu, 4108-8472 Bas.-Sien-pi, 12813-1006 Bas.
735) Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. 43, fol, 22 v; kiv. 69, f. 2 V.
35) 3 Tsien , kiv, 69, f. 1, says that the Su-Ts'in was a native of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
177
Loh-yang, in the Tung Tchou or Eastern Tchou Kingdom. The
Kingdom of TCHOU was thus called since its transfer at Loh-yang in
770 B.C. and its fallen fortunes.--The league organised by Su-Ts'in
was between the YEX, TCHAO, HAN, Ts'ı and Ts'u states, but internal
strife destroyed the combination, and he was assassinated in 318 B.C.
The history fills the 69th book of the She Ki. W. F. Mayers has
given a short notice of this remarkable man in his Manual, I, 626.
737) Cf, She Ki, kiv. 34, f. 5. And below, nite 739.
748) Cf. She Ka, kim, 69, f. 2 vºl'eheng tắe tung.…Khung-hi tze tiem,
sv. K'i (12535 Bas.).
739) Cf. my notes on Earliest Horse-riding in Western and Eastern ·
Asia.
740) Tsien Han Shui, Kiv. 94.-She Ki, Kiv. 43, fol. 22 sq,
741) Hüe, 12067 or 121 2 Baš.-Khang hi Tze tien, S.V.--Kwang yun,
S.V.-T.P., 698, 6.-The Shih ming of the Han period says that hüe
is a word of the Hu language. Cf. the Corean wood hey.
w
f
.
CHAP. VII.-FIFTH PERIOD : 481-221 B.C..
Sect. C. Western Influences by Southern Channels.
a. Hormuz Navy in South-Eastern China.
198. The few double-eyed, dragon-like Merchantmen 742 of the Ery
thræan Sea which continued to carry an international trade notwithstand-
ing the temporary check caused by some unknown erent on their route, to
be guessed only through their fabled accounts of the Five. Fairy islands,
did not cease entirely to frequent the eastern coast of China after 380
B.C.743 The removal of the capital of Yuen to Wu (i.e. Su-tchou in
Kiang-su), and the internecinc wars in the vicinity of the Gulf of Kiao-
tchou ( S. Shantung) had ruined the foreign trade of the once great em-
porium of Tsih-moh. As we suspected, they shifted their arriving station
towards the South, in the Hang-tehou bay, near wlich Kon-tsien, King
of Yueh had began to start at Kwei-ki, a market town in 473 B.C., in
the rain hope of enticing to remain there his exminister Fan-li, the great
est Chinese merchant of his age. 7 44 But there was for a time a marked
slackening of activity.
199. In 334 B.C. the powerful state of Ts'u was finally successful in its
protracted struggle against its eastern neighbour of Yuen; Wu-Kiang
king of the latter state was killed, and ihe territory from Su-tchou (in
Kiang-su N.W.) on the S, borders of Ts'ı, to the Tchekiang river, near
Kwei-ki, mas absorbed by the Ts’u kingdom. The rulers of that state
1112
WE
CHINES 2
179
S CIVILISATION.
could thus get for themselves, the rarities which the foreign traders used
to import. Accordingly when Hwei, Duke of Ts’in, assumed for the first
time in 324 B.C., the title of King, Siang Wang of Ts’u could send him
some valuable presents. Besides a hundred of chariots, he presented him
with a large ring of ye-kwang, i.e. of the stone which shines at night,
otherwise of yakut ruby of Badakshan 715, and a hiaiki rhinoceros, i.e. a
Rh. lasiotis, ear-haired, of Northern India, two varieties usually imported
by these traders.7 46
200. Their influence made itself felt also by several material innovations;
for instance the curious system of casting coins in clusters shaped like
trees, which was then obtaining in the western world. 747 Some time
before important progress, traceable to the same source, in Astronomy
and Mathematics, is shewn by the Tchou pi swan king, which an as-
tronomical statement recorded therein proves to have been written within
the years 527-450 B.C.748, It is the only ancient work we have on the
Kai-tien system of Astronomy, in which the heavens are represented as a
concave sphere.7 49
201. The conquest of yueu in 334, did no tresult in the complete
extinction of her Royal house. Several princes fled further South along
the Coast and created centres of influence which developed into States
and Kingdoms. About the site of the present Ning-po, 750 grewa Marqui-
sate of Mou, which was a trading centre at the beginning of the third
century B.0,751 The south-west of this saw the rising of the Kingdom
of Tung-hai, whose centre was in the present prefecture of Tai-tchou in
Tchehkiang C., and which extended to the sea borders. South of the
preceding, with its centre at Tung-yeh, the present Fuhtchou of Fuhkien,
and its southern limit N. of the present Tsiuen-tchou, rose the Kingdom
of Min-yu eh, 7 52 The Month of the Min river was therefore a centre
of foreign trade in the first quarter of the fourth century B.c.
202. The state of Ts'o was then engaged in its deadly struggle with the
Te’rn of Shensi, and by its system of encroaching everywhere possible, was
rather disquieting its weaker neighbours. It became consequently the
policy of the small states to seek alliances wherever they could. We are
made aware of two instances of such a conduct by the king of the new
state of YUEH. In 312 B.C. he sent an ambassador named Kung-se Yu
to the king of Wel, which state by its commanding position in Eastern
Honan, between the Hwang-ho and the Hwai river, had acquired a politi-
cal importance. The envoy took away with him as presents 300 boats
laden with five hundred thousand arrows, 7 53 rhinoceroses (sze)754 horns
CU
180
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
and elephants siang, 755 tusks.56 On the other side of the Shantung : .
peninsula, in the present Tchih-li province was the state of Yen then ruled
paragraphs, 757 and holding a high position among their co-princes of the
Chinese agglomeration. In 310 B.c, perhaps at the occasion of his re-
cent accession to his throne, the King Tchao of yen was presented by the
same southern king with a Red ship; a la rge vase, carved and ornament-
ed, containing a rare sort of grease, lamps with asbestos wicks758 and a
peculiar sort of fish oil giving a great light ; and besides these objects,
two beautiful dancing girls.789 Tradition says that they had come from
the east of Fang-tchang, one of the Fortunate islands, which may be
identified with some island North of Sumatra, either Banca as already
suggested, 760 or more probačly Bintang at the eastern extremity of the
straits of Malacca. As Asbestos wicks could not be got from elsewhere
than Badakshan and the rainless plains of North India, where we know
that such wicks were made, 761 we have here as well as in a fable connected
with it some indications about the country which supplied these sea-
traders, and from the vicinity of which they used to come to the Chinese
Ocean, 762 i.e. the North-west sea borders of India, and the entrance of
the Persian Gulf. We shall see some other evidence to the same effect
in the following paragraph.
203. Sesa mum, introduced after Quinces by the same eastern sea
trade in the sixth century, oB testifies, by its earliest Chinese name Ku-
sheng ,764 obviously connected with the Persian Kundjud, Malay widjin,
and bendjam in Sumatra, of its route of importation. Le-kwang=Yakut
of c. 400 B.C. has been spoken of in a previous page.765 It was about
directly and little afterwards that cubehs of Java were known in western
Asia.766
The Chinese, contrarily to an oft repeated statement767 were not ac-
quainted with the p.earl before c. 400 B.C. They knew the thin and
nacreous fresh water mussels of the Hwai river since the days of the Yü
kung, and probably the seed-pearls from the Mouths of the Yang-tze since
the seventh century.768 The earliest references to the pearl occur in
writers of the fourth century Meh-ti, Lieh-tze, Tsou-bien, and others,
in such prizing terms that its novelty cannot be doubted.769 In some
cases it is coupled to the Ye-kwang.770 And the name of Ming-g wet,
a transfer and folk-etymology of the western word for it, shows moreover
its Western Origin,711 most probably from the pearl fisheries of the Per-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
181 :
sian Gulf, not of Ceylon.772 'o the second century B.C. we are told that
those who imported them were no other than the Hwang-tche, 773 or yel-
low-fingered traders of the Erythræan sea, at the entrance of the Persian
Gulf, and we know that there was the emporium for the pearl-trade.
The Chinese became thus acquainted with the pearl little after the
Western world.774
204. We may derive also from the statements of 310 B.C, a precious
indication on a part of the Sea joute followed by these merchantmen
which must have ceased to pass through the straits of Malacca. The loss
of two of their five stations about 400 B.C., drifted away in the North
by the wickedness of some neighbours, as told in the Fable of the For-
tunate Islands, 775 disguised most probably some event which had led to
a change of route and the adoption of a more southern course. The slack-
ening of their Activity which activity about 375 B.C. they did not transfer
bodily from their Northern Emporia in Shantung to another one in the
South,77€ shows an hesitation in their adoption of a new route. And
this new route is first indicated by the circumstances of the present event.
The route of these dealers in Asbestos we are told, led east of Fang.
tchang. Further more, the Shen y king777 of Tung-fang to (150-100
B.c.) says that this asbestos came from, i.e. through, Hwo-lin, otherwise,
Hu-liang778 in Szema Tsien, otherwise Ho-ling (in later times) a name
of the S. E. of Java as a Kalinga colony from Eastern India established
there about that time.779 As the Sunda straits were not opened before
A.D. 416, and the Bali, Lombok and Allas straits along afterwards,780 the
Merchantmen in question must have passed through the Sapy straits,
East of Sumbawa. This physical circumstances had a rather important
influence on the articles of trade in subsequent centuries as we shall see
further on, and led to the discovery of cloves and nutmegs.
205. No denomination bas appeared yet in any of the occasions re-
ferred to about these West Asiatic traders who had then frequented the
coasts of China for several centuries. A consenient name for them,
justified by the nature of their imports, for want of a more precise know-
ledge, might be that of Erythræans which covers all their possible
sea-coasts of departure, for the period preceding the fourth century, and
some time afterwards. In the absence of any written record of this cir-
cumstance,-absenceas much due to the fact of their emporia in China being
outside the Chinese dominion for the time being, as to the wrecks of
literature,—all that we have been able to say about them has come from
gathering chance allusions, isolate facts and scrap statements in various
•
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
182
works, which hitherto had neither been put together nor studied in a
comparative manner. As we advance in time, more statements have es-
caped the havoc of ages, and less curtailed they have been in the trans-
206. These foreign importers of Quinces, Sesamum, precious pearls; ya-
t
glass, and other rarities afterwards, were called the Hwang-tche.783 The name
means idzographically the yellow-fingered and refers to their practice of
dying the fingers tips with the henna, still at present followed by the
Arabs, Persians and people of British India 78.4 Their country was situ-
ated at 30000 li distance of South China.785 As there are variants in
the way of spelling it, we may be sure that it is a phonetic transfer, al-
tered by the limitations of Chinese orthoepy and ideographic rendering
of their own name. And taking these reservations into account, we re-
cognize in this Hwang-tche a distant imitation of Harmozia, later
Hormuz, the famous emporium which shifted several times its position
at the entrance of the Persian Gulf.785 This unexpected find, which
throws some more light on the whole subject, concurs entirely with all
the foregoing circumstances.
NOTES
742) Suprà, § 118, note 444.
743) Suprà, $ 180.
744) Cf. Szema Tsien, She Ki, Kiv. 41, fol. 11-12, and kiv. 139, fol 3
· vers,— Some circumstances of the biography of Fan-li are partly re-
sumed in F.W. Mayers, Chinese R.M., I., 127.-Fan-li had been a
minister in Yuel for over 20 years, when after the successes of his na.
tive state over the kingdom of Wo, in 472 B.C., probably sick of his
politics, he withdrew into private life and started a lucrative trade, pro-
bably at Kwei-ki; but he left the place and went to the Five lakes
( Kiang hu), and from there, under an assumed name, he went to Tao,
the modern Ting-t'an) of S.W. Shantung, which, placed in the centre
of the Chinese dominion, was more convenient for his commercial
purposes. -- According to the Wu yueh tchun tsiu: Tai ping yü lan,
Kiv. 935, fol. 7., it was at the instigation of Fan-li that pisciculture
was started at Kwei-ki. On the Chinese pisciculture, cf. Huc, L'Empire
Chinois, II., 433-4.-St. Julien & P. Champion, Industries de L'Empire
Chinois, 230.–J.H. Gray, China, 291-2.
745) They used to import yakut ruby stones since the fifth century. Cf.
my paper On Yakut precious stones from Oinan to N. China, in B, & O.
R., June, 1893, vol. VI., p. 271.
746) Let us remark however that, as far as I am aware, this was the first
case of importation of a rhinoceros, which, as shown by its curious
name, was different from those which were found in the South of the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
188
country. The words used are hiai-ki tchi se, 12514-11929-41-5671,
Bas., i.e. a chicken-frightening rhinoceros, or Rh. of Hiai-ki, if the
latter are the transfer of a proper name. It became an usual article of
importation by the sea-traders of Ta-tsin=Tarshish, and is described
in the commentaries of the Hou Han shu, as a Rh. that has something
hanging about him. (Cf. the quotation in F. Hirth, China and the
Roman Orient, p. 41, 73, 79, where no identification is suggested.)
Now the Rl.inoceros is rather an unwieldy animal, and there is only
one species of it which has anything unusual hanging about its body.
It is the Rh. lasiotis that has hair on the ears. The traders of olden
times in search of curiosities had hit upon this animal, and we see one
of them figured on the black obelisk of Salmanazzar with monkeys and
elephants of India. Cf, Perrot-Chipiez, Chaldee-dssyrie, p. 565; F.
Lenormant, Hist. Anc, IV, 191. The hair of the animal has sug-
gested several critics unaware of the particularity that, notwithstanding
the horn, it was not the figure of a rhinor eros. François Lenormant,
Noms de l airain, 1.c. p. 409, gives the name susu, rhinoceros. Cf.
the Chinese se. The explanation contained in the present note ought
to dispel any hesitation,
747) Cf, S. W. Bushell, Roman and Chinese Coinage : China Review,
I, Sept. 1882.-Alex. Cunningham, Coins of Ancient India from the
earliest tiines, 1881, p. 60.-T. de L., Catalogue of Chinese coins, 1892,
introd. xxix.
748) Cf. J. B. Biot, Astronomie Indienne et Chinoise, pp. 298, 304, &c.
749) A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 26.-On the nine tri-
gonometric propositions in the first part of this work which shows
an undoubted connection with Western Science, cf. A. Wylie, The Sci-
ence of the Chinese, Arithmetic: in the North China Herald, 1852,
and The Chinese and Jvpanese Repository, 1864, I, 411.7, 448-57,
491-500, II, 69-73. Also T. de L., The old numerals, the counting
rods and the Swan pan in China (Numismatic Chronicle 3, III, 1883)
p. 33, _Herodotus (II, 109) attributes to Sesostris (? Ramsès II) the
beginnings of geometry which statement can be but the risult of a
confusion, as Prof. Eisenlohr has discovered that mathematics were
studied at the court of the Hycsos princes, as the Rhind papyri con-
tain a work on geometry (written for Apepi I) which may be described
as a treatise on applied arithmetic.
750) Cf. for instauce the history of Tchu-tchung, a famous dealer in
pearls established at Kwei-ici during the reigns of Kao hou and of
King-ti of the First. Han dynasty, in the Lich sien tchuen of Liu-hiang,
B,C. 80-9: T P. 803, 6.- Tsou yen (378-300 B.c.) on whom cf. supra,
$ 195, could say that Pearls grow in the southern seas. Cf, T.P.
803, 20 and $ 2C3.
751) Called Moui hou (cl. 163 +10444-293 Bas.) territory. Cf. T.P.
171, 3. —Mou, 10414 Bas., means “exchange, barter."
752) Cf. Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. 114, fol. 1, and gloss.--Tai ping yü
2 0 Sa. 10 Tekei nien, by the ind in his the overtuing Wat
759) T'chuh shu ki nien, V, xxxiv, 3.--The mission went apparently
along the se.t-coast and by the Hwai river and an affluent.
754) Rhinoceros es existed in China in historical times, as shown by the
following evidence. A few years before the overthrow of the ShaNG-YN
dynasty by the Tchou-ites, 1110 B.C., Tai Kung Wang the famous
184
ORIGIN OF TAE EARLY
minister of Tchou, procured from Y-Kiü, modern King-yang fu in E.
Kansub, a rhinoceros-sze which he presented to Shou, the king of
Shang-yn. C. Han shi wai tchuen, by Han Yng, 178-156 B.C.-T.P.
890, 2.- A visible amplification of a slender truth says that when the
Duke of TCHOU, 320te the native state of YEN, correspondiug to the
present Yen-tchou of S.W. Shantung, he drove far away, from these
and other places tigers, leopards, rhinoceroses (si), and elephants.
(Cf. Mencius, 111, 2, ix, 6). This would have happened between the
years 1107-1099 B.C. (cf. Chin. Class. III, introd. 141-145. and p.
493).-In bis 16th year, i.e. 1025 B.C. King Tch'ao of TCHOU laping
crossed the Han river, N.W. Hupel, met with a large rhinoceros-sze.
· King y of the same dynasty, in his 6th year, i.e. 879 B.C., when hunt-
ing in the forest of Shay, Honan, captured a rhinoccros-sze, and carried
it home. Cf. Tchuh shu ki nien, s.a.-In 818 B.C., in the Royal hunt-
ing grounds near the Western Capital i.e. Hao king, modern Si-an,
S. Shensi, the King Siuen of Tchou hunded a large rhinoceros sze).
(Cf. Shi King, II, ïi, 6).— The King Tchwang of Ts'u, (613-590 B.C.)
while hunting at Yun-mêng, the present Teh-an fu in Hupeh E.,
killed a rhinoceros (sze). Cf. Lu she, T'chun tsiu : T. P. 890, 41.-
In the Er-ya vocabulary (C, 500 B.C.) Rhinoceroses-sze and elephants
are said to be pumerous in the mountains of Liang, i.e. of N.E. Sze-
tchuen.--The Shan hai king the celebrated Romantic geography of the
TCHOU period, mentions Rhinoceroses-si and elephants inthe Min shan,
i.e. N.W. Szetchuen (kiv. V, fol, 29), and in the S.W. of Kansuh (kiv.
II, fol. 6 v.), many rhinuceroses sze and si in W. Kwangsi (kiv. I,
fol. 8), rhinoceroses-sze in the south of the Siang river, S.E. Hunan,
(kiv. X, fol. 2), rhinosceroses-si in W. Hunan (kiv. X, fol, 2 vers.), .
and white (1) rhinoceroses-si in Hupeh (kiv. V, fol. 7 v.-- In the
T'so tchuen, Hi kung, xxiii, 4, i.e 637 B.C., we hear that the Irince of
Ts'o could get ivory and rhinoceroses' hides in his own dominion, i.e.
Hupeh. And in the same work, Siuen kung, II. 1, i.e. 607 B.C., a
popular song says that the want was not of rhinoceroses, si and sze, to
supply skins for buffcoats, but of courage to animate the wearers.--
The so-called Tribute of Yü, chapter of the Shu King, mentions (I, 40,
52 ) elephants teeth and hides (supposed to be rhinoceroses' hides),
among the products of Yang-tchou, i.e. the South of the Hwai river,
and of King-tchou, i.e. Hunan.- The outcome of all the evidenee piled
up here is that rhinoceroses were not unfrequent in Ancient China,
even in the Northern provinces, and that in course of time they grad-
ually receded to the Southern parts of the country. It is not certain
that the two words for rhinoceros, however promiscuously used in some
instances where they are quoted together, were not applied to two
different species of rhinoceros. Si would be a rh, with two horns of equal
length, and sze a rh. with one horn sometimes lung of three spans,
With one exception one in Meucing statement) where it may be a
clerical error, the two species are rather well distinguished by their geo-
graphical habitat, the si species in the West, not South-west, and the
sze species in the East and the South East.—In their original writing
of Western descent, the Chinese had no distinct character for rhinoceros,
and where they came across the animal they called it si-nir, 3255 Bas.
-cl, 93, the obdurate bull, by two characters which afterwards combined
together have made the symbol si, 5671 Bas. In the East they adopted
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
185
à pictorial modification of their symbol she-pig, cl. 152 which subs..
quently altered, bas become the special symbol sze, 591 Bas. Cf. the
successire forms of the two symbols in Miu Ts'i kih, Luh shu tung,
kiv. I, 23, 26, and V, 13. It seems that the symbol sze was one of
those which were framed for convenience, in iguorance of the principles
of composing new characters of the standard writing, by some fraction
of the Chinese community more illiterate than the others. Cf. on this
phenomenon my historical Catalogue of Chinese Coins, Early period,
introd. p. xxxiii ; and the oldest Book of the Chinese, vol. I, 1892,
par. 150.
756) The Chinese character, Siang, elephant is one of the most in-
teresting of the writing. It is one of the few bieroglyphics which
have been looked upon as indigenous evidence against the extraneous
origin claimed by us for the early written characters of China. Of
course we intend to speak of the usual character for elephant (10352
Bas.) and not of the rude picture which appears on some Ancient
vases as a special mark, and not as a character of the writing. -In
their stock of written symbols of Western Origin, the ancient Chin-
ese had no sign for elephant as happened with the rhinoceroses after-
wards. As they became acquainted with the elephant when crossing
Honan little after their entrance in China proper, they framed a new
symbol for it by combining together two actual symbols of their writ-
ing. In accordance with the traditional principles of the script, they
took into consideration the form of the object to be represented and
the sound to be expressed, in so far as permitted by the internal ar-
rangement of the strokes composing the signs at their disposal. The
native name of the great pachyderm was san, sham, tsam, sang, song,
&c. Consequently they selected their character she, pig, as recognized
by the first author of the Shwoh Wen, and they have written over it
a contracted form of Mien, effort, (586 Bas. Of, Min Ts'i kih, Luh
shu t’ung, k. vi, f. 24. By this process the scribes contrived to figure
the intended animal in a sort of clumsy way, and at the same time to
suggest the sound to be read, from bottom to top SHE+M, as is most
usual in ku-wen. A positive proof of this phonetic intention consists
in the variants of spelling which exhibit Mien, face (12039 Bas.) or
Muh, eye, cl. 109, instead of Mien, effort. These substitutes were
perhaps used afterwards, in the occasions where the compound symbol
was not intended for elephant, as the shapes uf these two characters,
though placed also above the character she, did not display the same
suggestiveness of an elephant's head. When in after times the old
mode of orthography was forgotten and disappeared under the encroach-
ments of the processes of ideo-phonetic formation, i.e. symbols made
either of characters having each their sound and their meaning, or of
an ideographic character mute joined to a phonetic character meaning-
less, such compounds as those made according to the old method like
those referred to, were no longer in harmony with the current views of
the scribes and were open to change. She was preserved as a silent
ideograph, and the sign tchem, to a bsorb (1013 Bas.) as a phonetic
was substituted to the M-characters of Antiquity. The Ancient
scribes have always displayed a considerable amount of ingenuity and
taste in their attempts at satisfying the various conditions here des-
cribed, and they have often attained better results than clumsy shapes
186
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
and approximative sounds. The phonetic system of orthography by a
rude process of Acrology and syllabism wils lost before the TCHOU
dynasty, but the scribes of after ages have been real worshippers of their
written cliaracters, and in their arrangements and combinations have
made of the Chinese writing a most remarkable art. On the early or-
thography in Ku-wen, of. The oldest Book of the Chinese, par. 23 and
n., 46-52; Beginnings of writing par, 50; Languages of China before
the Chinese, par. 167, n. 2, 185, n. 1; R. K. Douglas, Further pro-
gress in Chinese studies, &c.
756) Elephants were living as far as the north of Central China, when
the Chinese dominion first extended in the land. A younger brother
of the famous Shun (2004-1996 B.C. rect, chronol.).was sent away to
settle in Yü Pi (South Honan not Hunan) cf. Shu King, I, iii, 12;
Mencius, V, i, 3.- In the geographical and hydrographical survey of
the SHANG dynasty called the l'ü kung, the same South of Honan and
the adjacent lands were denominated Yü-siang tchou, (shortened into
l'ü tchou) which means province of the docile elephants. These two
names are clear evidence that elephants were then living in the region.
The same document, as shown in our note on Rhinoceroses, mentions
elephants teeth as products of N. Hunan, and of the S, of Hwai river.
-Elephants are spoken of in 1107, S.W.of Shantung, and about 500
B.C. in the N. E. and N.W. of Szetchuen, (Cf. preceding note).-
Elephants teeth could be procured from Hupel, in 637 B.C. (ibid.) -
In 506 B.c, elephants were used iu N. Kiangsi for war against Wo
by the state of Ts'o. (Cf. 7'so-tchuen, Ting kung, iv, 14).- Writing
in A.D. 89, the author of the Shwoh wen described the elephant as an
animal of Nan-yueh, i.e. Kwangtung and Kwangsi.-The name of
Elephants' province, Siang kiun was given in 215 B.C. by Ts'in She
Hwang-ti to the region including the South of Kwangtung, Kwang-
si, and part af Tungking (Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. 113, fol. 1)
covering perhaps the provinces of Tai nguyen, Son-tay, Hung hoa,
Nghe-an and Thanh Hoa, (Hoang Viet địa dau cha , II. 9 2. ; 1, 47 ;
II, 3, 31, 16), but the limits were rather undefinite and lasted only
ten years, –We may consider the Foregoing evidence as showing a
gradual retreat of the elephant in China from the North centre to the
S.S.W. borders. Liu-Sün, Ling piao luh y, of the 7th cent., says
that in the departments of Siun and Tch'ao, in the S.E. of the pre-
sent province of Kwangtung, wild elephants were still numerous, while
among the Mêngs (=Muongs, Shan districts) of southern Yunnan,
the elephants were employed to carry burdens like oxen and horses
in the Middle Kingdom. Cf. T.P. 890, 8.-
757) Cf, supra $ $ 173, 195.
753) These could come but from Badakshan and Northern India. Cf.
note 761, On Asbestos.
759) Cf. Wang tze nien, Shih a ka.…Tai nang vu lam, kim, 9°o, fol. 9
vers., and 816, 8. --The King is said to have received these foreigners
in his famous tang or Audience hall of Tung yun.
760) Cf. suprá, § 125-126.-On Bintang, cf. H. Yule, Marco Polo (2)
IT, 261.
187
Sect. C. Western Influences by Southern Channels,
a. Hormuz Navy in South-Eastern China.
NOTES continued-
761) Asbestos came to the knowledge of the Chinese during the reign
of T'ch'eng, the second king of the Tchou dynasty. Barbarians of the
West, coming by the Kukunor presented him with some asbestos
cloth. (Cf. Ki tchung Tchou shu).-The next instance in date is that
of Muh Wang who was presented also with asbestos by Kiutn-Jungs
inhabiting the same region, about 990 B.c. (Cf. supru, notes 169 and
249).- Badakshan near the source of the Oxus was the chief producer
of lapislazuli and of asbestos,-the stone for wicks--according to the
Arab travellers. Cf. M. Reinand - Stan. Guyard, Géngraphie d'
Abulféda II, ii, 203 quoting Ibn Haukal and the Lobáb of Ibn-el-Athir.
Cyprus was another country producer of Asbestos in Antiquity. Cf.
G. Maspero, Histoire Ancienne, p. 237.- Pliny was aware that the
asbestos cloth was produced in the rainless deserts of India, (xix, 1, 4).
-Silky amianthus occurs in flat beds or veins above the Khost valley
south of the Kurram, Afghanistan) where the hill people there twist
it still at present into ropes. (Cf. E. Balfour, Cycloped. oj India,
1585; I, 129).— We have just seen in our text an importation by
sea of asbestos wicks in North China, 310 B.C., which had been brought
by Hormuz Merchantmen, From the Han period down to the fift)
century, Asbestos cloth was reckoned among the Tats'in-or Tarshish-.
imports. (Cf. Hou Han shuh, k. 88; San Kwoh tchi, Wei lioh, k.
30; Tsin shu, k. 97; Sung shu, k. 97; F. Hirth, China and the
Roman Orient, pp. 41, 45, 46, 74.) Tung Fang-so of the second cen-
tury B.c. said that it was coming from (ĉ.e. through) the Southern
Ocean. (Sher y Icing ; T.P. 820, 8 v. ; 869, 7; Shih tchou ki, T.P.
86, 8).-In 381-3 A.D., Hindus from Cabul presented asbestos cloth
to the court of the FORMER Ts'ın at Tchang-an. (Cf. Tsien Ts'ir,
luh ; Shih luh kwoh tchun tsiu : T. I, 820, 8; Bunju Nanjin, Catal
Budd. Tripitaka, p. 403). It was probably from the same region that
in 2:35 A.D. had come the men from the Si-yü who accompanied with
double interpreter's presented asbestos cloth to the court of Wel at
Loh-yang (cf. Wei tchi : T.P. 820, 8),-In the 2nd cent, A.D. Asbes-
tos was discovered in China, in the Yü shan or Feathers'-hill, on the
common borders of Shantung and Kiangsu provinces. (Cf, Wang kia,
Shih y ki; T.P. 820, 9 v, and 12, 10). And the famous conspirator
Liang-hi who died in 159 a.D., was enabled to play the joke, practised
time of Pliny. (Cf. F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 250-
1), with an unlined garment made of Asbestos cloth from the Yü shan,
188
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
(cf. San kwoh tchi, Wei tchi; Wang Kia, loc. cit.) Some more as-
bestos cloth came from the same place to the court of the Tsin dynasty
at Lob-yang in the years Tai-l'ang 280-9 ..0. The local population
claimed to have presented some of their identical veined stone to Yao
and Shun, ainplified into a wowen cloth by later tradition. (Cf. T.P.
820, 9 v.) On the asbestos of Shantung and its use for stoves, cruci-
bles, and so forth, by the inhabitants there. (Cf. Alex. Williamson,
Journeys in North-China, 1870, I, 129.) Under the Yuen dynasty
asbestos was discovered in Szetchuen. (Cf. Yuen she ; Sheng ngan
tsih by Yang-shen, 1483-1559; G. Schlegel, Nederl, Chin. Woortl.
iii, 1066). Consul Alexander Hosie, Three years in Western China,
1890, p. 160, reports having seen some asbestos cloth there.
762) Fabulous account of the Asbestos, making it the hair of a burrow-
ing animal of volcanic (Sunda) islands, already current at the time of
Tung-fang So, circ, 150-100 B.C., and confirmed by later reports (7,
P.I.L., kiv. 820, 8; $68, 8; 869, 7; and 78, 8), refer most posi-
tively to East Java, where no asbestos is found any more than in any
other of the Sunda islands. The story of the Salamander passing
unhurt through fire is at least as old as Aristotle, but it was not known
when the fable arose that asbestos was a substance derived from the
animal. (H. Yule, Marco Polo, I, 217). The Chinese sources permit
us to say that it was current in the second cent. B.C. It was a Persian
story. Bakin says the animal is found at Ghur near Herat and is
like a mouse. Another author quoted by D'Herbelot, says it is like a
marten. Similar animals are found in the deserts of Chinese Turkes-
tan since antiquity between Kharo Khodjo and Khotan. They were
spoken of as yellow rats, hwang shü, in the old Muh ["ien ize tchuen
(China Review, 1889, xvii, 233) of the 10th cent, B.C. containing
Records of the Journey of Muh Wang in Turkestan. They were des-
cribed also in the Si yü tchu kwoh tchi of the 5th cent. (cf, T.P.Y.L.
911, 6; description of the Shü wang kwoh) ; in the Trang shu, (kiv.
258 b, Yü-tien) and later works. (Cf, Stan. Julien, Mél. d. Géogr.
A sixt., p. 99). Dr. E. Bretschneider says that they are jumping
hares or Gerboas (cf. Chinese intercourse wlth the Countries of Asia,
Art. Huo chou). Their presence gave rise in the middle Ages to the
location there of the old Afghan Myth, and Marco Polo has reported
at length a statement denying its veracity. Cf. Marco Polo, ed. Yule,
I, 215).-Another fabulous origin of Asbestos is that which made it
the bark of trees growing on a volcanic island East of Funam, in Java.
The story came to China through the trade with Funam=Phnom=
Cambodia, in the third and 4th cent. A.D. (cf. T.P.Y.L., kiv. 820, 8;
869, 8 v. ; 869, 5: 960, 9 v.
763) Liu Hiang, Lieh sien tchuen.--T.P.Y.L., 989, 5 v,
764) Ku-sheng, 114 20-90.j Bas.
765) Cf. supra, par, 199.
766) Cf. Kômakon in Theophrastes and the Javanese K um u ku s
as pointed out by Col. H. Yule, Marco Polo, II, 380.
767) Based upon the pin-tchu (9608-5917 Bas:) of the Hwai river in
the Yū kung, i, 35. Now these pin-tchu of fresh water could not be
pearl-oysters of the sea. They have been identified with the pang
(9401 Bas,) of later times, the Unionidce, fresh water mussels; the
addition of tchu was to indicate a selection of the best and most nacre-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
189
ous ones.
763) Cf. Kwan-tze : T.P. 803, 1 v.
769) Cf. Lieh-tze.--T'sou hien.-Tchwang-tze-Tchan Kwoh tsih..-T.P.
803 ; 2, 20., 4.
770) Cf. Meh-ti.-T.P. 941, 5.
771) Mcd. Ming-yueh, shining moon, (3890-cl. 74 Bas.)-Of. Sanskr.
marakata; Greek maragdos; Latin margarita ; Persian marwid ; &c.
772) Nearchus speaks of an island of the gulf, noted for its pearl
fishery which was carried there in the same manner as in the Indian
Ocean. (Arrian, Indica, 38, 3). Pliny is the first who spoke of the
Pearl fishery at Tylos, Bahrein islands. Hist. nat., vi, 28: 148) cf.
E. Bunbury, Hist, Anc. Geogr., I, 462, 53.9.-Tch'ang-teh, a Chinese
traveller has described those of Shiraz. in 1258. Cf. E. Bretsch-
neider, Medical Researches, I, 155. The Arab geographers, Masudi,
i, 328, Edrisi, i, 373.4, Ibn Batuta, ii, 246, have also described them.
Modern descriptions have been made by Col. D. Wilson, Pearl Fish-
eries in the Persian Gulf, J.R.G.S., iii, 1834, 283-286.--Brenner,
Report on Pearl Fishing in the Bay of Bahrein ; Peterm. Geogr. Mitth.
1873 ; 37 ; E. Bretschneider, Med. Res., I, 146, II, 130.-On the
history of the pearl fisheries of Ceylon cf. Emersen Tennent, Ceylon,
II, 561.
773) Tung Fang So, Lin yh Ice .- Kwang tchi.—T.P.Y.L., 803,
9, 10 v.
774) There is no world for p earlin P. Pierret, Vocabulaire Hierogly-
phique. I do not see any mentioned in Assyrian. The ancient clas-
sical authors, such as Herodutus do not speak of pearls. No mention
is made of it in Perrot-Chipiez, Histoire de l'Art Antique, vol. I-IV.
-The pearl-fisheries of the isle of Hainan were not opened before the
second century ; cf. below.
775) Cf. supra note 455.–Although Lieh-tze was living in 397 B.C.,
the legend may have been heard of by him 25 years later.
776) I have explained the political rcasons which have led to this change,
supra § 174.
777) Tai ping yŭ lan, kiv. 820, & v. ; 869, 7.
778) These various spellings belong to the time when an official mode of
writing the name in question had not yet been adopted. The same
difficulty occurs with the Muhlien tze tchuen anıl the Shan hai Icing
where geographical names are written differently of what they were af-
terwards.-Kalang was for long an ethnic in Java.
779) The native traditions indicate about 75 B.C. The Chinese evidence
suggests some fifty years earlier.-Kwoh-Poh the famous commentator
of A.D. 276-324, gives for the same region and the same story the
name of T'che-pu (8285-7622. Bas.), variant T'chu-pu (10173-7622
Bas,) which is oldest appearance of the name of Jaya.
780) Cf. supra, notes 474 and 475.
781) Many gaps remain at present in reconstructing the whole fabric,
but we may expect that some if not all of them will be filled up by
further finds in the fragments of ancient literature,
782) In the T'sien Han shu; T.P.Y.L., 785, 2 v.
783) There are several spellings which show the foreign origin of the
name, Hwang is the cl. 201 ; but the other character is tche, cl. 66,
branch, sometimes tche, 4140 Bas., same meaning, sometimes tche,
190
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
3345 Bas., finger.-In the second century they introduced in South
China the tche-kia hwa, the finger-nail flower, as we shall see later
on.
78.) Cf, Edw. Balfour, Cycion. of India, II, 37.
785) Tsien Han shu, 1. C. The same distance is given later on for the
country of Oman, said to be near the sea of Persia, in A.D.c. 250.
Cf. Kang-tai, Funan tu suh tchuen ; T.P, 787, 4.-Tsui Pao, Ku
kin tchu; T.P., 961, 9v.
786) It was spoken of by Nearchus, 325 B.C. who stopped there, but does
not mention its trade ( Arrian, Indica, 33-35). Perhaps was it on one
of the neighbouring islands. We have seen already that he and
Onesicritus were acquainted with reports of Mariners travelling far to
the South. Cf. supra, 179, n. 648.
-
b. The Great State of Ts'u (Hukwang, &c.)
207. It was already one of the largest and most powerful states of the
Chinese agglomeration when it became part of it in the 7th century, and
for a certain time afterwards it was able to keep in check the Princes of
Ts'ın during their struggle for the Empire, Its area was very large, but
much of it was not Chinese, thinly inhabited and uncivilised. The reign-
ing house claimed to have been founded by a certaiu Ki-lien (meaning
• heaven in the Hiung-nu language), 787 himself alleged to be a great-
grandson of Tchuen-hiüh at the fifth generation, 788 Their surname was
meaning suggests.789 They were settled at first in the Tchung Kwok,
or Honan, and in Wei, or the west of Yun-yang fu of N. Hupeh, among
Taic-Shan populations. A certain Yi-Hiung is mentioned as instructor
of Tchou Wen Wang, 790 and it is probably to the influence of his family
that the Wei native tribes responded to the call of Wu Wang to over-
throw the SHANG-Yn dynasty and conquer the Chinese dominion.791 In
f
time.792 Their centre was between Y-tchang and King-tchou of S. Hu-
peh, on the banks of the Yang-tze kiang. Known at first by the old
name of King, famous for this region since the days of the Yü Kung, it
became Ts'o in 659 B.0.793 It extended its territory in every direction
until its extinction by its more powerful rival the kingdom of Ts'ın in
223 B.C. Ts'o Tchwang wang who ruled in 613-591 B.c. had indeed
reached already such a high rank that he was for the time being Leader
of the Princes, exercising therefore the part of Protector which the de-
cayed prestige and authority of the kings of Torou did not permit them
to occupy anymore.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
191
208. A few circumstances show the gradual extension of the dominion
of Ts’0,794 In 696 B.C., it extended east as far as Yen-ling (south bor-
der of Kiang-su).795 In 591, complimentary envoys 796 came to the
capital, near the present Y-tchang on the Yang-tze, from Hunan, which
was soon afterwards partly conquered. In A.D. 400, the region of Tsang-
wu (South Hunan) was subdued and the minister Wu-ki, was sent more
sonth to establish intercourse with the Barbarians there.737 This was an
important erent, as it is the first opening of relations with the South,
viz. the modern Kwang-tung province. Then in 334, the Kingdom of
Yuen (Tcheh kiang) was submitted, 798 and about 330 the important
Tsu-ite kingdom of Tsen in Yunnan was founded.799 Although the com-
munications between the new state and the mother country were not al-
ways easy and required a good deal of warfare, they were seldom interrupted
notwithstanding the efforts of the kings of Ts'IN.800 The new state of -
Tsen las played an important part in the history of the trade routes of
the South-west, which we have told in a previous part of this work.801
About 280 B.C.802 the Tsenites had made an expedition to the South and
according to the Burmese history destroyed the Old Pagan, the capital of
Burma. It is the first appearance in history of the name of Tsen for
Chin a, 803 and therefore it deserves a special notice.
209. Notwithstanding its inland position, the Kingdom of Tsd guc-
ceeded, in course of time as we have just seen, to open outlets and inlets
with the vutside world, East, South, West and South-west. We know
very little of its internal history, but that little is enough to show that
its political importance and its wealth attracted much from the exterior.
The competition of its various races made it a centre of activity which
had some ic.fluence on the civilisation of China in general, at that time,
Not a few foreign notions and things were half-sinicised therein and thus
became more acceptable to the Chinese minds of the central North. Such
for instance were the coinage of stamped lumps on the Lydian pattern
in 590-600 B.C., the hand-swipe or shaduf, in the same century, which
we have already mentioned.804 The horse-shoe shape of the tombs and
the wei-kan pillars, both reminding the natural worship popular in
India, 805 must also be added to the preceding.
210. It was undoubtedly through the Southern advance of the Tsu-
ites towards the South, that the Chinese became acqnainted for the first
time with the cinnamon tree806 of North Kwang-si, in the fifth century,
when Fan-li the famous merchant made a trade of it, s07 probably not
with foreigners.208
f
19:2
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Some other Southern and foreign plants came thus to be imported in
Central China. Kii-yuen, 314 B.c., in his famous poem Li sao809has enu-
merated several of them ; for instance the Kün kwei, a small sort of cin-
namon which grows in Tungking :810 he speaks also of the hu-tcheng or
foreign rope, which has not been identified. 811
As to philosophical advance we have only here to remind our readers
that it was in Ts'o that the famous Lao-tze is reputed to have flourished
at first.812
But it was not only in putting forward foreign things that the state
of Ts'o has played an important part in the history of China civilisa-
tion. Material progress was actually made in the land. The Kieh or
hooked spear was invented there about 690 B.C.313 A short time before
500 the cross-bow was invented among the Ki-tze a native popula-
tion, and soon attracted the attention of the Chinese.814
211. In 54€ B.C. a rather important thing had been achieved in Ts'o.
Wei-yen, Marshal of the Kingdom 816 had been commanded to make a
complete survey of the lands and their products. Nothing so important
had been done in the States since the days of the Yü kung and it was
looked upon as a great achievement. It is most probable that a large
part of it was embodied in the Shan Hai king 1816 and we consider as
more probable still that the survey imitated by the Great Yü being thus
recalled to mind and imitated, it was at this occasion that was erected
for the first time the (original of the) famous tablet known as the in-
scription of Yü.817 Comparative palæography permits to assign it to
about that age. The wriggling shapes of the characters increased in the
hand copies of subsequent times have nothing common with the Koh-tou
or thick and thin strokes of the early writing ;818 they were simply the
outcome of the ages on the inscribed stone.819 It was made partly of
sentences taken from the Shu King.820.
NOTES
787) Cf. Mayers, Ch. R.M. 309,
788) Szemia Ts'ien, She Ki, Ts'u she kis, 40, fol. 2.- I have just seen i.
a note of Dr. J. Edkins, On the chronology of the Chu kingdom (Chin.
Rev. xvi, 305-6) that Yuen Shao (A.D. 160) tells us, in his Fêng su
tung, that the sovereigns of Chu--or Ts’u, counted 64 generations from
the Emperor Tchuen Hiüh, to Fu-tchu, who was king when Ts’in Shi
Hwang conquered his kingdom (223 B.c.). Counting 30 years a gen-
eration as usual with the Chinese, it makes 2143 B.C. This is an un-
expected confirmation of my corrected scheme of chronology which
acknowledges the years 2223-2147 to Tchuen-hiüb. Cf. suprd note
602, and injrà : chronological sketch.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
193
789) Their language belonged to the Taic-shan family. Cf. Les Langues
de la Chine avant les Chinoise, $ $ 31-33, 96-97, and addition 31,
p. 148.
790) Cf. Mayers, Ch, R.M, 947,- There is a work existing still at pre-
sent under his name which probably contains some of his views.
791) Cf. She King, V, ii, 3.
792) Under the pretext that they were Man-y, i.e. Non-Chinese natives,
and that they did not bear Chinese appellations, he gave to his three
sons Royal titles, viz. K’eu Tan Wang, Ngo Wang, and Yueh tchang
Wang. Cf. She ki, 40, 3 v.
793) CÆ. Tchun tsiu T'so tchueu, Hi kung ann, 1.- In the Shi King, it
is called King Ts’u. Cf. Chin. Class, IV, 644 ; V, 134.
794) In 821, a brother of Hiung siang settled among the l'ung-pu, op-
posite Tchung king, south of the Yang-tze kiang. Cf. She ki,
· 40, 42.
795) Ci. Hou Han shu, kiv. 116 ; trad, Wylie, R.E.O., I, 203,-In 678,
it had become an important state. Cf. She ki, 40, 6.
796) Hou Han shu, ibid,
797) The future Van-yueh. Cf, Hou Han shu, ibid. On the extensiin
of Ts'u over 5000 li cf, Su-Ts'in, C. 333 B.c. in the She ki : T.P. 167.
lu,
798) Cf, supra $ $ 199, 202.
799) Cf, supra, par. 61 and seq., note 271 &c.
800) The Tsu-ites were thus compelled in 294 B.c, to destroy the native
state of Ye-lang which stood on the way,
801) Cf, supra, ch, VI, sect, e, div. III. par. 75.
802) Cf, supra, note 240.
803) I have given supra par. 75, 77 and notes 320, 321 the historical
origin of that name, which has had nothing to do with the state of
Ts'ın of Shensi.
804) Cf. suprá $ $ 13--133.-It is not uninteresting to remark here that
the first allusion abuut the three legged crow supposed to roost in the
sun occurs in the Li sao of Kiii-yuen, the poet of Ts'u 314 B.c. in China,
aud that a three legged bird in various forms was figured on coins of
Pamphylia and Lycia of older times, Comte Goblet d' Alpiella has re-
produced some of them in his interesting work on La Migration des
Symboles, 1891, p. 222.
805) Cf. supra, note 490. For figures of the wel kan pillars, cf. A.
Colquhoun, Across Chrysî, II, 162, 138, 156, 161, 172.
S06) The Kwei muh, 4212——cl. 75 Bas., or Muh kwei ; on which see E.
Bretschneider, Botanicun Sinicum. II, 247, 552.- Kwei or K'wei hwa
4222-85+4 Bas. was used for the Olea flagrans. (Cf. E. B., Bot. Sin
1.c.) and thus appears in the Shan hai king, I, 1, on the Tchao-yao
Mount which I suspect was near Hang-tchou. The Si hai of the text
(which has misled Prof. L, de Rosny, Chan Hai King, I, p. 5) is the
Si hu, as shown by the names of the neighbouring mountains.—The
Kwei muh, (like the Kwei) is unknown to the Great Classics. It ap
pears in the Shan Hai King, II, 7, v. about a mountain of N. Kwang-
si. It is spoken of in the Er-ya, in Tchwang-tze, Su ?'sin, Hwai
wan-tze, &c, The Kao-sia-forest, or Cinnamon-tree forest, Kwei-lin,
which has given its name to the site in 214 B.C.. is still at present
that of the capital of Kwang-si, is spoken of in a later book of the
194
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Shan Hai King, x, 1v.
807) Cf. Lieh sien tchuen, 1st cent, B.C.; T. P. 957, 5 1.-We have
had already occasion to speak of that remarkable man, cf. note 744
and text.
808) The question here is particularly interesting because of the Cinna-
mon of Exod. xxx, 23; Prov. vii, 17 ; Song of Sol. iv, 14, and of the
Cassia of Ps. xlv, 8, which had been erroneously supposed to have
come from China, while there is no doubt that they were imported from
the Malabar Coast and from Ceylon, where they grow naturally. The
Kassia as a cheaper and coarser kind would be that of the continent
which for long was wrongly supposed to be a distinct species, as stated
by A. de Candorle, Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 116. Fluckiger
and Hanbury hare thoroughly investigated the matter in their Phar-
macographia, or History of the Irincipal Drugs of vegetable Origin,
p. 467 sq.--The word Kinnamon is traceable to the Singhalese Ka-
kynnama. As to cussia it has come through the Septuagint from the
hebrew which means 'cutt off.
809) It has been translated into French by the late Marquess D'Hervey
St. Denys in 1970.
811) Cf. E. B., Bot. Sin., 11, 421).
812) Cf. supra, note 50j.
813) Cf. Tso tchuen, ann, 690.–Chin. Class, V, 77.--Fan-li, when min.
ister to Yueh, 4933-673 B.C., is attributed the invention of a catapulte
throwing stones of 12 pounds at 400 paces. (f. Khang-hi tze tien, s.v.
pao, l!! +16,-Pellet-bows had been invented about 607 B.C. Cf.
following note.
814) On Bow, Composite Bow, Pellet Bow, and Cross-bow. The Bow-
and-drrow are not a weapon so primitive in its character that it
may liave been invented anywhere. Comparative ethnography shows
to this effect that not a few nations and populations hav nerer been
acquainted with it. (Cf. Lane Fox, Catalog. Anthrop, Collect., 1977,
p. 41.15). Three different sorts of bows have appeared in Antiqnity.10
The Arcus, or plain Bow, made of a single piece in one bend : 20 the
Angular B:)w, apparently made of two pieces, of the Egyptians and
Assyrians, and probably the antecedent of the following ; 30 the Com-
posite bow, mide of wond, horn, glue and sinews, of which there were
two sorts, a the Greek bow, or Cupid's bow, forming a doub.e arch,
used by Parthians, Daces and generally near the Black sea ; not-
witlistanding the adverse opinion of Theocritus and Locropliron who
dis inguished them, it seems doubtful that when instrung the Greek
bow slould have differed much of the: 6 the Scythian buw, furming a
C in its backward curve when unstrung This peculiarity is noted in
Her clotus, vii, 69, of Arab's bows ; and may be seen at liarnak with
the bws of captives made by Sheshonk (Rawlinson, Her. iv, 64). The
Composite Bow appears on monuments of Anterior Asia as carly
as the old carved slabs of Telloh, and it was that same boim which the
civilised Bak Sings carried with them to Eastern Asia. It was that
sort of bow which was pictured by the old Babylonian symbol writing
Kung. (Cf. T'he old Chinese characlers and their early Chinese deri-
vates $ 42). The Arcus or plain bow was known in pre-Chinese China
CHINESE CIVILISATIONTY
195
.
among the natives of the East, the Y, whose name was written with a
symbol meaning pictorially the Great Bow-men. The most famous
makers of Arrows were the l-mou of Shantung, according to the She
pên. Curiously enough one of the mythical inventors of the Bow, in
the Shan Hai king, (xviii, 5 and gloss.), was named P'an which is the
word for Bow, in Akkadian, in Malay, &c.-A Kiüt, (4868 Bas.) sort
of thimble or ring fitted on the thumb was used to assist in drawing
the bow. (Cf. Shi King, II, iii, Ode 5, Kiu kung) as in Assyro-Baby-
lonia (cf. Perrot-Chipiez, Hist. Art. Antiq. II, fig. 5 of Assurbanipal)
must have been brought from the west in China by the Bak Sings
along with the composite bow. On the early knowledge of the im-
plement at the time of Hwang-ti and of Shun, cf. note 163 and its
add. in the present work).-Two improvements were made among the
Chinese and Non-Chinese, the t'an or pellet-bow and the Nu or
Cross-bow,-10The t'an (2645 Bas.) is a bow with a socket fixed
on the string for holding bullets or pellets, whence its name. It
was used in 607 B.C. at first as an amusement, by the Duke Ling
of TSIN Shansi) and was an introduction of Tung-tze, or Siu Tung,
his minister. (Cf. Tso tchuen VII, ii, 4; Han shi wai tchuen ; Shi
shwoh; Tai ping yü lan, kiv. 350, fol. 6 vers.; 655,. fol. 6 vers.)
Pan Tchao the famous general of the first century, sent in 74 A.D.,
36 men to Khotan to practise arrows and pellet-bows. (T.P.Y.L.
350-6). Besides China, it is now used by Afghans and others in the
North-west of India, where it is called gulel. (Cf. Wilbraham Eger-
ton, An illuslrated Handbook of Indian arms, 1880, p. 130, and Lane
Fox, Catal., p. 52).--20 The Na (2631 Bas.) ideographically the
enslaved bow, once called also Kiü-shu (10662-cl. 202, or 11420
cl. 202, Bas.), by the Non-Chinese, which is still preserved in the
Tibetan gzu. Its first appearance was made among the Ki-tze
man (10316-cl. 39-9633 Bas.) a native tribe of West Hunan
on the borders of Ts'u, in the sixth century B.c. Through Sun-
Wu the military author of 500 B.C. (suprce note 667) and subsequent
writers, it became soon famous because it permitted to shoot an arrow
at 600 double-paces. (Cf. 2.P.Y.L., 348, 1-82); She ki, 70, 2 ; 65,
2). -The crossbow does not seem to have been kuoin in Roman Europe
before the sixth century A.D. (Cf. E. B. Tyler, Anthropology, p. 196).
The Lateran council of 1139 forbade its use as being too murderous
a weapon for christians to employ against one another, and Anna
Comnena who described it said that " a truly diabolical affair it is."
Crossbows are still characteristic weapons of many of the wilder tribe)
of Chin-India and of non-Chinese parts of China. (Cf. W. Egerton,
0.c., pp. 85-87 for details, and also H. Yule, Marco-Polo, II, 67-68 )
815) T'so tchuen, Siang kung, xxv, 9.
816) Cf. suprci, note 91 and add.
817) On this tablet cf, in favour of its authenticity : Amiot, J. Hagir
(1802), J. Klaproth (13-11), G. Panthier (1868), and against it: is.
Legge. (1865), W, H. Medhurst (1868), Christopher T. Gardner
(1864). Nothing shows it to be the clumsy forgery of i Taoist under
the Han dynasty which Dr. J. Legge declares it to be. Copies and
copies of copies only exist at present, and they represent clearly in my
opinion a genuine inscription of circa 500 B.C., partly defaced and eated
up by ages.
196
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
818) On the Koh tou. cf. supra 1. 76.
819) Cf. the same effect on ancient texts, in the native collections of
inscriptions.
820) Cf, Shu King, II, iv, 8.
C. The State of Shuh (Szetchuen.)
212. We have had occasion in a previous part of the present work, 821
when enquiring about the channels of introduction of foreign civilisation, '
in China, to speak of the trade of Shuu822 and of the state of the same
name, the first king of whom claimed an Indian descent, and was ruling
in 475 B.C.823 He was succeeded by some other Kai-mings824 or Rulers,
the last of whom named. L'ze-kwei Kai-ming was on the throne in 324
B.C. when the king of Ts'in by superchery succeeded in conquering the
country, 825 or at least submitting it under his protectorate.82 6
The Indian descent here referred to deserves more than a passing re-
mark as previously done. Some more fragments of the native history of
the kings of Sze-tchuen, Shuh Wang pên ki by Yang-biung (53 B.C.-
A.D. 18), which had escaped my attention before, are most important on
these intercommunications, because they permit us to determine the date
when they began, and that of the cave remains of West China.
213. According to the native history, the oldest masters of the coun-
try were the Ts'an-tsung or gatherers of silk-worms, the Icħeh kewan or
Breakers of the Bushy-forests, and the Yü yh or Fish traders ; after-
wards the Kai-mings.827 Then came Peh yung, or Baron Yung, and
after him Yü wei and Wei tien who settled in the hills of the I'sien river
and lived there as the first Anachorets (sien). 328. After them there was
a king named l'u-yü coming from India.829 A daughter of the chief-
tain of Tchu-she,830 whose name was Li and who was coming from the
.sources of the Kiang, became his wife, and then he assumed the Royal
dignity with the title of Wang-Ti or Expecting Emperor, and estab-
lished his residence in Pi yh, or city of the tablet, (the later Tcheng-tu).
214. The foregoing statement about the anachorets is most interest-
ing as the first historical information about the once inhabited hermit-caves
of the Min river. The Tsien shan. lies near the upper course of the
Min, 831 in the neighbourhood of Li-fang which Capt. W. Gill visited in
1878 when travelling in N.W. Szetchuen, and where he saw a great many
. caves on the sides of the hills.832 Now as to the date. The history
says that these first anachorets came after Peh yung, one of the historical
rulers. It just happens that we hear of this Baron Yung in the class -
ics. 833 In 611 B.C., as he had led a conspiration of native Man tribes
CHINES.I CIVILISATION.
197
against the state of Ts'u, his state was destroyed, 834 and he was compelled
to flee westwards, in Shul where he established a new state as the native
history tells us.
And as to the arrival of these anachorets, the statement of the Shuh
wang pên ki is supported by some further evidence in the historical lit-
erature. For instance the Yü kwei king and the Yh tchou tchi, des-
!cription of Szetchuen, two ancient works, record that Recluses (sien) were
established in caves of the Mount of Tsing tcheng (in the modern pre-
fecture of Kia-ting, on the Min river) at the time of the six Kingdoms,
i.e. 481 B.0,835 The region of Tso, near the present Tatsienlu or Darchiendo
of W. Szetchuen was reputed in 97 B.c. to be since ages productive of
the shin-yoh, the divine drug (of immortality) on Mount Shantu which
was also inhabited by Recluses.836
215. Therefore we know, as the outcome of the previous paragraphs,
that in the first half of the 6th century B.C. some hermits, or Sien, i.e.
Richis, came and settled in N.W. Szetchuen, in the vicinity of the central
route of the Shuh traders with India.837 This date coïncides with a visi-
ble influence of India on China, and the same century saw the arrival of
Lao-tze with a certain baggage of Indian views, .
216. Several of these caves, cut in the hills in a remarkable manner
have been visited by European travellers. It seems that their former oc.
cupants were ignorant as yet of the art of writing : carved ornaments
representing the vadjra, the trisula, the sun, and the existence therein of
large water basins for ablutions purpose suggest and confirm the Hindu-
ism or Brahmanism of these Anachorets. They continued to be inhabited
thus for long and finally some of them and similar other ones were oc-
cupied by Buddhist, and by nativers. They are commonly called Man-
tze caves because of the latter circumstance and the Non-Chinese character
of their occupants.838
217. It is in the usual sequence of events that these anachoretes and
proselytisers should not have come and settled in the country of Shuh
otherwise than by a well known trade route and on the trail of traders.
Their arrival in the sixth century implies the existence of the trade route
through Patna, Sadiya and Darchien do some time earlier.839
We have been able in previous pages of the present work to adduce some
evidence of the activity of the merchants of Shuh in several directions
west and south-west. The import of Tibetan Mastiffs (ngao) by trav-
ellers, 840 about 1105 B.C., which concerns most probably the eastern por-
tion of that route, is the oldest instance known, and concurs with the
198
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
S
precited circumstances. Jujube, Peach, Abricot, &c. were carried by their
trade inland. (Suprà ch. VI, séct. a) to the N.W. of India. Wild-silk
and woollen cloth of Shuh, curious bamboo staves of kiung, precious furs-
of Hukwang, and special ironware of Liang (N. of Shuh) became grad-
ually regular articles of trade of these merchants of Shuh to West India
across the S.E. corner of Tibet.84.1 We have no precise data as to its
actual beginning, but it cannot be, according to probabilities much later
than 650 B.C. It was through their channel that were introduced in
the west and in the centre of China several innovations rather charactere
istic of their origin which he have previously mentioned. 8:2
218. While dealing with the imports and exports which took place
through this trade route between China and India during that period, we
must necessarily mention the question of the South Açóka or Mauriya
written characters. The North Indian writing, also called Bactro-Pali
is based undoubtedly on the Semitic writing, probably, on that which was-
employed in Ancient Persia, and was introduced by Cyrus in North-India
as tradition suggests. It was there subsequently brought to perfection
by the Brahmans. The South-Acôka, so-called, although brought like-
wise to perfection by the same systematizers, rests on a different basis.
Various attempts have been made to find this basis in South-Arabian and
others characters. But they have proved to be complete failures, which
further enlightenment from recent researches shows to be greater than
were supposed at first,843 Traders can ill afford to manage their business
without writing, and the travelling merchants of the country of Shuh,
where Chinese script was known, cannot have journeyed then into India,
where on the contrary the art of writing was still unknown, without hava
ing introduced for their business transactions, some of their own written
characters. This they could do easily with their most simple symbols and
the syllabic sounds inherent to them, as has been the case in China when
dealing with foreigners in later times. Such for instance the Tsuan or
Lolo characters framed in A.D. 9, or before, 844 the Yao Shuikia and Miao-
tze characters in the South-west 1845 the small characters of the Djur-
tchens, 8:6 and others. Now a classification of the Chinese characters in
the tchuen style8 47 current during that period, such as made in the Shwoh
wen vocabulary of the first century,848 shows that among the numerous
characters, most generally cumbrous and complicated in form, there was
a comparatively small number of them, about a hundred, quite simple and
most convenient for use. And a close comparison of the Indian charac-
ers, in shape and sound with these elementary Chinese symbols shows
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
199
in 32 cases out of 34 such resembla nces and similarities, that it is most
difficult to believe that the Hindu Brahmans have not availed theraselves
of the Rude writing of these merchants, as a material already known, to
make out of it, with improvements imitated from the Northern alphabet,
the so-called South Açôka characters.849
NOTES-
821) Cf. suprà pp. 46, 52, 55.
822) Shuh, Shulc, 9457 Bas., now written eye (cl. 109) bundle (cl. 20)
and warm (cl. 142) arranged in a single group-character, was originally
written worm, Tsung (cl. 142) under Kien, looking, thus making
a phonetic suggestion TS-K. Cf. Min Ts'i-kih, Luh shu tung, ix, 10.
823) As shown by the complimentary mission he sent to Li kung, Duke
of Ts'in, at the occasion of his accession to the throne in 476 B.C.
The year 255 of p. 52 was a misprint.
824) Kai-ming was a title, not a proper name as mistaken supra p. 52.
An its connection with the name of the Kuen-mings, cf, infra.
825) The superchery consisted in the offer by the king of Ts'in to that
of Ts'u, of five stone oxen about which the Tsinites had reported the
wonderful story that some gold (secretly placed there at night) found
every morning under their tail, was really made by them. The king of
Shuu invited to take them away if he choosed, was compelled to open
a route across the Kiu-lung range, to do it. The Ts'inites afterwards
availed themselves of the passage hitherto impracticable and their army
conquered the country.- Cf. Yang-hiung, Shuh wang pen ki : T.P.
900, 2. In 1868, Alexander Wylie las travelled through the same
road which he has carefully described in his Notes on a journey from
Ching-tao to Han-kow; Proc. Rog. Geo. Soc., June 7th 1870, p. 175-
9. It is known as the Shih niu tao, the Stone-Oxen Road,
826) As shown supra, p. 52.
827) This paragraph is intended to replace the lines 2-7 of page 52
which contain several misapprehensions.
828) The Chinese text there is extremely concise : Yü-wei Wei-tien Yü
Tsien shan teh sien, but I think the statement is clear enough. Cf,
T.P.Y.L., 166, 3v.
829) Cf. supra note 263.
830) Tchu she was the name of a locality famous for its silver mires.
S.W. of Y-pin hien in Szetchuen. (Cf. G. Playfair, The cities and
towns of China, Nos, 170, 8574) near Sin tchou. The Min river
was for long supposed to form the head waters of the Kiang, and is
marked Ta kiang on the ancient maps of the contending states period.
Cf. the Lih tai të li yen koh tu.
831) Cf. Khang hi tze tien, 9.V, Tsien, 85+9, fol. 77.-The 'sien Han
chu, Ti li tchi, says : In the Shuh province, district of Mien-se, the
T'sien river flows from the Yü lei hills...Mien-se is at present the dis-
trict of Wen tchuen, in Mou tchou of N.W. Szetchuen.
832) The River of Golden Sand, 1880, vol. I, p. 346-353.
833) The Shu King, Speech at Muh, v, ii, 3, enumerates the Yun
among the native tribes, who came to the help of the Tchou when the
200
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
conquered China. They were settled near the present Yun-yang, in
N.W. Hupeh, not far from the Kiu-lung range wnd the N.E. of
Szetchuen.
834) Tchun l'siu, l'so tchuen, Wen kung, xvi, 6.
835) Tai ping yu lan, Kir. 44, fol. 4 2.
836) Hou Hun shu, Kivi 116.–We shall hear of them under the She
Hwang-ti. Cf, below.
837) Their influx must have lasted for several centuries as they settled
also on the cliffs of the Kia-ling, and Wu rivers.
838) Ci. A. Wylie 0.C. (supra N. 825).-W. Gill, 0.C. (supra n.
832).-E. Colborne Baber, Travels and Resecırches in Western China,
1882, p. 129-141.-F.S.A. Bourne, Report of a Journey in South-
western China, 1888.-E. C. Baker has studied several of these caves
with his usual carefulness, and has published plans and drawings.
839) On this route cf. supra § 56 and notes 244-7; also $55 and
notes 238-243,
840) Cf. supra, note 243 on the meaning of liū.
841) Tchang Kien, in l'a-Hia, 128 B.C. (not 125), saw there only the
bamboo staves and the puh of Shub. (Sup. n. 249-251). The Chi-
nese word may be singular or plural, and the vagueness of the term, in-
stead of she easier precision if one sort of cloth only had been spoken
of, suggests that he meant the two well known sorts of cloth made
in the Shuh country. The woollen cloth was called mao-yü, litt. hair-
feathers (cloth). The wild-silk could not be the object of a great de-
mand because of the somewhat similar tusser (not tussah) silk of North
India. As to the fine silk cloth of the East of China, it could not
be exported at first by that route, and does not seem to have been so
before the Han period, Silk culture was introduced from the East
in the Ægean isle of Cos before the overthrow of Darius and seems
to have flourished until about 222 4.D., when it ceases to be spoken of
in history. (Cf. S. Reinach, Philo. Class. (2) I, 255, 4.-S. Sharpe,
History of Egypt, I, 263.-Edw. Balfour, Cyclop. Ind., I, 819). Their
silkworms fed en cypress-turpentine-, ash-, and oak-trees (Plin. xi,
14). On the silkworms of Cos, cf, also : Aristotle, Hist, An. v, 19,
17; 11, 6, and Plin, xi, 26 (22). It is said that their cocoons were
first wowen in the said island by Pamphile, daughter of Plates. (Of,
G. Birdwood, Indian Arts, 267).-Silk industry in the island has sur-
vived or has been revived to the present day, and is the object of a
yearly export of £50000_in Roman times, the insufficiency of
local production in quality and quantity led to the importation there
of plain silk-stuffs of China which were split and rewoven. (Cf. on
the latter question. F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, 256-60).---
The silk-worms of Cos did not belong to the mulberry-feeding, but
to the oak feeding sort; therefore to that which is still at present
abundant in Szetchnen, with an important market at Pao-ning fu ;
(cf. Silk-China, Imperial maritime Customs, 1881, p. 8). It was in
the vicinity of the head quarters of the Ancient trade route we are
speaking of. A sort of cloth, or textile stuff called Sindhu is men-
tioned in cuneiform inscriptions ; for instance on a list of cloths of the
time of Assurbanipal (B.C. 668-625), perhaps a copy of an older list,
and on a tablet of 576 B.c. under Nebuchadnezzar, were four manas
of sindhu are handed over to the workman (cf. B.&0.R., iv, 57). This
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
201
suggests an unwoven stuff, not necessarily valuable. Wool and Iron were
likewise weighed by Manas. (Cf. T. G. Pinches, B.&0,R., i, 9; and
Guide Nimroud, 119). The word is written ideographically “striped-
or ribbed-cloth," and thus far cannot be muslin of Sindhu, or India
(as suggested by Prof. A. H. Sayce, Relig. Anc. Babyl., p. 138)
where no such thing was made at the time. The industry began
much later in Muaslipatam. Moreover there are two fatal objections;
the Sindhu is desoribed as a cloth of the mountains (gurri) showing
that it came through an inland route, or more probably that it was
made inland. (Cf. Parsindu, a town of Namri in the inscriptions of
Assurnazirpal); the other objection is the equation h=s which could
not have been avoided by a land route from India, as shown by the
Hidu on the Darius inscription of Naksh-i-Rustam, Hoddu in Esther,
i, 1 and viii, 9.-The resemblance with Sindu, India, is a coincidence,
as the word is not isolated in the Assyrian vocabulary, (cf. Brunnow's
List, Nos. 1799,-1951, 4776, 5500, &c.) and is probably cognate with
the Egyptian sent sentu (cf. Paul Pierret, Vocab. Hierogl 512), - As
to a suggested connection with the sindon of the Bible, I think that
the latter is decidedly Egyptian in origin. Cf. Suten in P. Pierret
V.H. 564.-The forgoing reasons show an impossibility in interpreting,
Sindu by silk, as has been suggested also. (Cf. supra n. 428-30),
The sherilcoth of Isaiah, 19, 9, refers decidedly not to silk.
842) Cf, supra par. 209.
843) Cf. supra, note 419.-It is unnecessary to quote here the unsuc-
cessful essays of A. Weber, I. Taylor, J. Halevy, &c.-For the
Northern writing cf. T. de L., Did Cyrus introduce writing into In-
dia? (B. & O. R., Feb. 1887, I, 58, 4.
844) Of. Miao Man hoh tchi, ii, 2.-Yun-nan tung tchi : Nan Man
tchi, 31, i, 4 0.; 32. ii, 13.–Also, G. Deveria, Les Lolos et les Miao-
tze : J, A, 1891.--I have myself fourd 450 different signs on Lolo
Mss.---376 different characters were all those that a Loluman could
remember, at the invitation of Consul F. S. A, Bourne. Of. the list
in his Report of a Journey in South-western China; Parliamentary
Papers, 1888, China s.c. 5371. .
845) Cf, T. de L., A new writing from South Western China: The
Academy, 19 Febr. 1887..And G. Deveria, Les Lolos, p. 15.
846) Cf. F. Hirth, The Chinese Oriental College, Shanghai, 1887.-G.
Deveria, Examen de la stèle de l'en-t'ai ; dissertation sur les carac-
teres d'écriture employés par les Tartares Jou-tchen; 1832.-T. de L.,
The Djurtchen of Mandshuria : their name, language and litera-
ture; J.R.A.S. 1889. .
847) Cf. supra n, 376 on the tchuen styles of writing.
848) Compiled in A,D. 89-99 on Imperial Command, by the famous
Hü shen.
849) This question forms the object of a special paper of mine On Indo.
Chinese elements in the formation of the South-Acôka alphabet.
.
Chap. VII. -Sixte PERIOD : 22,1 B.C.-A.D. 220.
Sect. A. The Empire.
219. After over a century of uninterrupted war of a most sanguinary
character, the state of Ts’ın850 established at last its sway all over the
Chinese dominion851, and in 221 B.C. Wang Tcheng in the 26th year of
., his reign assumed the title of She Hwang-ti, intended to mean the First
Universal Emperor. The policy of general conquest 852had been initiated
by Tchao Siang Wang, 306-250 B,C., and it may be asked if the fame of
the extensive conquests of Alexander the Great did not give an impetus
to the natural ambition of the Ts'inite princes.853 Anyhow the unity of
government with a centralised administration, and the progressive assimi.
lation of the various parts of the country changed henceforth the condi-
tions in which foreign influences could be felt in the Flowery Land. The
personal character and turn of mind of the autocratic sovereign for the
time being could but have thenceforth a peculiar importance for outside
relations according to his sympathy or dislike for novelties and foreign
things.
220. Two great Emperors have shone and left an imperishable mark
during this period, the last that can concern the present work. Ts'in
She Hwang-ti founder of the Empire on principles somewhat differing
from those of respectful tradition which had hitherto obtained in Chinese
surroundings, anıl Ha'n Wu-ti who first opened relations with foreign
countries by all the means in his power.
It is interesting for us here to know from recorded history where from
She Hwang-ti derived the un-Chinese proclivities which he displayed more
204
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
specially after 257 B.C. on the counsels of his minister Li-sze, when the
latter was promoted to a higher rank than he occupied previously.554 The
king of Ts'ın, Wang Tchêng as he was then called, conceived an aversion
against foreigners, and in the aforesaid year issued an edict in order to
shut his kingdom to them. Li-sze himself a native of Ts'o and a pupil
of the knowo Taoszeist Sun-k’ing, protested openly against it and
the reasons put forward in his memorial to the throne convinced the
sovereign who cancelled his order,3 55
221. Li-sze began in reminding his sovereign of the useful services
which his predecessors had derived from foreigners, and of the precious
things and curios which he would not get anymore from foreign parts.
The list he gave of these things is peculiarly instructive. He said that
His majesty obtained: Jade from the Kwen mountains (i.e. from Khotan,
gloss.856); moreover that he had the jewel of Sui Ho (otherwise Pien
H0,857 which afterwards was made into the State Seal by She Hwang-ti
himself, gloss.) ; pendant pearls of Ming-yueh858, swords of Tai-ngos59,
which he wore, horses of Ts'ien-li 800 which he rode ; banners ornamented
with king fishers feathers.861and drums of the Kien, Shu and Ling patterns
in skin of iguana, 862 made on his command; all rare things which the
Ts'in territory did not produce. Continuing his enumeration, Li-sze
mentioned rings of Ye-kwang gem, 865 articles in ivory and rhinoceros horn,
864 nice girls from Tcheng and Wei (E. Honan), stately and good Kiüh-
ti horses of the North, 865 and gold and silver of the South of the Kiang,
which could not be got anymore ; vermilion and green paint of west
Shuh which it would no more be possible to gather, 86 6 hair-pins in pearl
from Wan (Honan), earrings in pendant-pearls, undyed silk cloth, and
embroidered ornaments,876 which would not be procurable as before.868 On
the eighteen articles enumerated there, it can be seen that no less than
eight were introduced by the trade from foreign and distant lands ; all
the others were obtainable in China proper though not in the Ts’IN
dominion,
222, Li-sze was then promoted to a superior rank and acquired a great
influence on his Royal Master, a prince of great energy and skill whom
he converted to his views.
It was with the help of liis able minister that Ts'ın Wang Tchêng
proceeded as much by the force of his well organized armies as by politi-
cal ability to complete the conquest of the six other Chinese States. One
of the most clever steps to that effect was the adoption within the
various parts of his actual dominion of an uniform style of writing the
CHINESS CIVILISATION.
205
Tchuen characters, 869abbreviated and simplified in a filiform way, This was
in 227 B.C., and Li-sze was himself the principal author of this new style
called Siao tchuen.870 Fifteen years. later, the hair pencil had been con-
siderably improved by the general Mêng-tien, and by the increase in the
number of characters, so many variants had occurred that it became neces-
sary to adopt a new style of writing which was the Li shu, 871 made of
strokes thick and thin according to the convenience of the brush pencil
for rapidity.
223. Acting on the advice and with the help of his faithful minister,
the king of Ts'in assumed in 221 B.c. the Imperial authority and selected
for his future denomination She Hwang-ti, probably in imitation (we do
not suggest it without diffidence) of the name of Iskander whose fame as
we know was echoed in the remotest corners of Asia,872 and whom he
seems to have imitated in several Ôf his deeds, He divided his Empire
in 36 provinces.873 In 214 B.C., to guard his dominion from Tartar in-
vasions, he decreed the building of a line of defensive works from Lin-tao
(S.W. Kansub) to Liao-tung in the N.E., utilising for the purpose such
previous works built successively since 359 B.C. by several of the Chi-
nese princes in the North, as well as the precipitous bills, water-courses
and ravines on the borders.874 General Mêng-tien, residing in Shang
Kiun i.e. N.E. Shensi, was put in command there for over ten years, and
built series of earth-works, which in later years, repaired and in some
places built in full became the Great Wall of China.875 It grew in repute
as in material importance and it became identified by a geographical
dislocation in the minds of western Orientals with the long famed Wall
of Gog and Magog. (Sadd Yádúd, wa Madjúdj),786
224. In 213, three years before his death, She Hwang-ti decreed the
Burning of the Books. In view of putting an end to the incessant com-
plaints of the literati that he did not follow the ways of Antiquity, he
approved of a report of his Premier Li-sze, of which the following is the
most important part : "I pray that all the Records in charge of the
Historiographers be burned, excepting those of Ts’ın ; that, with the ex-
ception of those officers belonging to the Board of great scholars, all through-
out the Empire who presume to keep copies of the She King or of the
Shu King, or of the discourses 877 of the various schools, be required to go
with them to the officers in charge of the several districts, and burn them;
that all who may dare to speak together about the She and the Shu
be cast away on the market place ; that those who make mention of the
past, 3023 to blame the present, be treated likerise with their relatives ;
206
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
that officers who shall know of the violation of those rules and not in-
form against the offenders, be equally guilty with them ; and that whoever
shall not have burnt their books within thirty days after the issuing of
the ordinance, be branded and sent to labour on the great walls. The
only books which should be spared are those on medecine and drugs,
divination and augury, seeds and trees.”
The decree was strictly put in force but not for long, 878 as it was,
Deither renewed nor repealed by the successor of She Hwang-ti, 210 B.C.
A great deal of harm was certainly done to literature, though not so much
as could have been feared, considering that the edict was not officially
cancelled before 23 years, i.e. in 191 B.C. Mnich of the Confucian litera-
ture against which it was specially directed, escaped through the reten-
tive memory of the literati and the numerous finds of hidden copies of
the forbidden books,879 In 209 B.C. a large part of the country had
ceased to recognize880 the yoke of the Ts’rn dynasty, and therefore its-
literáry proscriptions. The wreck of Chinese literature is due as much
if not much more to the havoc of ages and to the four great bibliotecal
catastrophes which occurred in the following centuries, 381 than to the
Burning of the Books.
225, Like Alexander the great with the Avestic Nasks on medicine and
astronomy (?) She Hwang-ti had excepted from the fire, the books on
medicine and astrology, 882. some 120 years after him. It can hardly be
doubted that the founder of the Chinese Empire was acquainted with
some circumstances concerning the Macedonian conqueror.
As we have said before She Hwang-ti had become deeply imbued with the
ideas and novelties of the Neo-Taoists. £83 In several occasions we hear
of his relations with them, and of their excentricities which he adopted-
In 219 he sent an expedition884 from Tsihmoh in search of the Three
fortunate islands and of the drug of immortality :885 and in 201 B.C.,
dissatisfied with the failure of886 the attempts made to that effect, he
went himself along the sea-shore and partly by sea in the hope of being
more successful, from Kiang-tch'êng837 to Lang-ya (Tsihmoh) and died
soon afterwards.
226. Disorders followed his death as could be expected after an imperial
reign of only twelye years, and no less than eighteeu different states888
arose on the ruins of the Empire he had founded for 10000 years, but
which his weak son and successor was unable to keep together. In 206,
but exactly in 202 B.c. the Han dynasty began to reign over the Empire
once again united under one sway, with a glory and power which have
CHINESE CIVILISATIOS.
207
not been surpassed. The Chinese dominion was extended in the west:
so far as Transoxiana, and in the south included Tungking, while con-
terminous states acknowledged its suzerainty. Intercommunications were
opened everywhere available, and the ancient history of China thus comes.
to an end.
1
NOTES-
850) As Ts'ın has long been supposed to have given its name to China, let.
us remark that in the Annamese history where archaic names are pre-
served, this state and its short lived dynasty are called Tan; and as
the name of China originated with the Southern trade as shown by
several scholars, the supposition must be given up for ever as contrary
to historical evidence, cf. suprà, n. 330 ; and P.J.B. Truong Vinh-ky,
Histoire Annamite, I., 16, for the sound of the name.
851) According to the figures given in the She K2 of Szema Tsien, kiv.
XV., the Ts'inites would have butchered some 1500000 people during
the struggle. Some of the figures making this total are obviously
exaggerated.
852) An Imperial spirit of general conquest is attributed to Huan Kung
of Ts'ı in the 7th cent. cf. an extract from Kwan-tze, in China Review
xviii., 196.
853) We give below reasons to believe that it was really so.
854) Li-sze was a native of Ts'o and a pupil of the famous Taoszeist.
Sun-k’ing disciple of Tsou-yen. (Cf. supra § 173). He went to
Ts’in before the accession of Wang Tchêng the future Ts'ın She
Hwang-ti. In 237 B.c. he was snccessful in deciding the king to with-
draw a decree of expulsion against foreigners. In his memorial he
mentions several instances where foreigners had proved useful to his
predecessors, notably that of You-yu (6171-170 Bas.) a Jung by birth
whose advices were followed by Muh Kung and enabled him to con..
quer vast lands over 20 tribes of Western Jung Tartars (She Ki,
87, 3, and 5, 1+) about 626 B.C.
€55) Cf. De Mailla, Histoire générale de la Chine, II, 383.
856) This is a direct confirmation of the Jade traffic which has often
been spoken of in the present work. Cf. p. 31 and pass.
857) On the history of this gem discovered in the 8th century B.C. Cf.
Mayers, Chinese R.M., I, 393, 551. It was probably a piece of Jade
which had come to Ts'o through the traders of SauH.-An alleged
figure of this seal is thoroughly Persian.
858) Cf, supra Note 871.
859) This was a name for swords made of iron tempered in the Lung
tsiuen or Dragon source (of Si Ping, Yli-ning fu, Honan). They are
enumerated in the biography of Su Tsin, 4th cent. B.C., (She Ki, 69,
9) with those of WEI made at Ming shar, the Moh-ya swords of Meih-
yang, and the deadly ones of the TENG state, all permitting to cut
across in two, at one blow, a bull or a horse. --On Moh-ya cf. supra
par. 185 ; oniSu Ts'in, note 736.
860) The horses of Ts'ien-li like those of Pu Shao, N. Shansi were a fine
breed of horses. Cf, T. de L., Earliest Horse-riding in Western anch
Eastern Asia : B.&O.R., 1893, vi, 200 and supra par. 197,
208
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
861) T's'ui fêng tchi ki, 8253-12393-41-3852 Bas.-The ts’ui or king
fisher a southern bird said to have been first seen when some were pre-
sented to TCHOU Tcheng Wang from the region later named Tsang-
wu. Cf, Kih tcheny Tchou shu, Wang Hwei : T.P. 924, 70.-It was
known in Ts'u in the 4th century as shown by the Li sao.- I'chao t'o,
of Nan yueh, sent a thousand of these birds to HAN Weh-ti, 179
B.C. Cf. T.P.).L., 924, 7 .
862) Kien Shu ling to tchi ku, 2515-4482-12020-131 34-41-c), 207 Bas.
The Kien drum iras the standard drum in metal of the Shang dynasty
of which the Ts'in state had adopted the rites when it repudiated
those of the Tchou. The Shu drum means the Wooden drum as made
with trees from ti-tchang, i.e. Kiang-si. The Ling drum sexangular
was used specially for the Earth sacrifice. Cf. la Tchou tcheng yoh :
T.P.Y.L. 532, 6 and 338, 3.-Skins of Aguanas were used especially
for drums. The to of the Ancient Chinese was probably an alligator,
whose species. has now almost disappearcd. Cf. Dr. A. A. Fauvel's
interesting article on Alligators in China : Journ. China Br. R.A.S.,
1879, xiii.---Two specimens of the Alligator Sinensis bare at last been
discovered and sent to the Zoological Gardens of London in September
of 1890.
863) Cf. supra § 199. One of these rings had been sent to Ts'ın in
324 B.C.
864) Cf. also supra $ 199.
8 5) Such horses are said by the Kih tchung Tchou shu to have been
presented to Tchou Tcheng Wang. -Tsiun liang kiüh ti, 12525-8803-
12490-12514 Bas.
866) The text of my copy of the She Ki, 87, 4 rers, has tchou-tsing, cl.
137- cl. 174, bat-green which is certainly a misprint for tan-tsing, 34-
cl. 174 Bas., red-green, which has become a currenti term for painting
in general.
867) Manufactured in eastern Olina.
868) The statement in the She Ki, 87, 4 and 4 vcrs, is interpersed with
remarks which had nothing to do with the description of tbe articles.
869) On the previous periods of the writing, cf. supra § 100.
870) Cf. She Ki, Ts'in She Hiang pên ki, 12, 15.-Hu Shen, Shwoh
wen, intr. fol. 3,- Tsien Han shu, kiv, XXX.-. Under the reign of HAN
Tchang-ti, A.D. 76-38, it was decided to make a dictionary of the
Tchuen characters. The task was performed in 1.1, 89-99 by Hii shen,
and the result of his efforts is the famous Shwoh-wen dictionary, the
standard work of its kind. He collected 9353 characters which in their
most sober and simple forms respected the old rules of Sze-tchou (supra,
N 100 and his introduction fol. 7), and he quoted occasionally some
441 characters of olden times which had been simplified afterwards. It
is therefore a mistake to suppose that the characters of the Shwoh
wen represent the oldest Chinese characters as some Sinologists have
done, such as done by Mr. L. C. Hopkins, Ancient writing in Baby-
lonia and in China : Acadeniy, May 18, 1889. Cf, my rejoinder on
The oldest Chinese characters : ibid. June 15, 1889.
871) Its invention is attributed to a certain Tcheng Mao.-Cf, same
authorities as in preceeding note. Also Tai ping yü- lan, 749, 3-4.
872) Iskander was the form of the name among the Persians through
whom it was spread eastwards. Cf. for instance my paper Sur deux
I
CHINEZE CIVILISATIONS
209
.
ères inconnues de L'Asie Anterieure, 330 et 251 av, J. C., d'après un
document Chinois, Muséon, 1891.
873) Cf. suprà note 185.
874) Cf. Tchuh shu ki nien, V, xxxii, 10, and the following. .
875) Cf. Tsien Han Shu, kiv. 94-She Ki, Meng tien lieh tchuen, kiv.
88, f, 1 rers. ; Ts'in She Hwang pên ki. Kiv. 6,1 fol 19v.-20.-The
Ku kin tchu of Tsui-Pao, c. 350 B.C. tells us that the great defensive
- works of the Ts'inites were made of earth, chiefly red in colour. Of,
T.P.Y.L. 19, 50,--Some parts of it were built in stone and earth-
works under the Han dynasty, cf. Hou Han shu : T.P. 334, 6 vers. —
It was rebuilt under the Ming dynasty.--Cf. O.F. van Mollendorf, Die
grosse Mauer von China ; Z. f. D.M.G., 1881, XXV.-L'Abbé Larrieu,
Rapport sur la grande Muraille de la Chine, où il est prouvé que cette
Muraille telle qu'elle est communément décrite non seulement n'existe
pas, mais même n'a jamais existé ; Rev. Estr. Orient, 1885, III., 347-
361.-J.S. Brazier, Analysis of brick from the great wall of China, J.
Ch. Br. R..S., 1937, xxi, 252.-H.N.Store, The Great Wall of China;
- Illustr. Naval aud Milit. Magaz. 1887, p. 227.-E, T C. Werner, The
Great wall of China: Archæolog., 1989, I, 45, 130, p. 379-389.-
E. Martin. La vérité sur la Grande Muraille : L'Anthropologie,
1891, II, 438-444.
876) Neither Marco Polo nor Odoric de Pordenone speak of the Great
wall, but Radshideddin and Albufeda do so.-Alexander the Great was
reputed to have erected ramparts of this sort (cf. Procop., Bell. Pers.,
i, 10) in the Caspian gates, the Gate of Gates, near Derbend, where
inscriptions in cufic of 1.D. 465, Pahlevi and Cuneiform have been
found. (Cf. E. Schuyler, in H. Yule, Marco Polo, II, 537 ; also
i, 55, 283-235.–Eichwald, Periplus des Kasp. M., i, 128.—Ker Por-
ter, Travels, ii, 520.-F. Lenormant, Origines de l'Histoire, ii, 425.)
-The cuneiform inscriptions would be Tannic of the viiith cent, as
those found in Georgia. Cf. A. H. Sayce, The Cunciform Inscrip-
tions of Van, J.R.A.S., 1888, xx, 1.-Another Sadd-2-Iskandar or
Rempart of Alexander at the S, E. Angle of the Caspian, has been de-
scribed by Arm. Vambery, Travels in C. Asia, 54 sq.
877) Cf. She Ki, vi, 21-21v. - I follow the translation of Dr. T. Legge,
Chin. Class., I, 8-9, except in the following cases. I translate " dis-
courses of the various schools" peh kia yü, hundred families phrases
or speeches, instead of his “the books of the Hundred schools."
Further on “ cast away on the market place " instead of his “be put
to death and their bodies exposed on the market place"; the Chinese
words are Ki-she, 4291-2406 Bas. which I have rendered word for word.
G, Pauthier, who in his Premier Mémoire sur l' antiquité de l'histoire
et de la civilisation Chinoises, J. A. Sept. Oct. 1867, has given a
translatior (rather inaccurate) of the same document, has rightly re-
marked that the punishment of the Ki she is described in the Li ki,
Wang tchi. kiv. 3 (sect, ii, 11), and did not imply death. Cf. Sacred
Books of the East, xxvii, 215. The culprit lost any post or situation
he occupied, nobody could come to his rescue and he was compelled
to live to go away from the country. Cf, also 7.P.Y.L., 646, 60.
878) We have evidence that the edict was strictly put in force by the
following circumstance. The year after, i.e, in 212, literati of the
Capital Hien-yang (mod. Si ngan) having continued to vilify the acts
210
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
of his government as contrary to the teachings of Confucius, 4.60 of
them were buried alive. (Kang, 11752 Bas.). Cf. She Ki, vi, 24.-
Cf. on this supplice, note 568 supra. .
879) In 26 B.c. by Imperial order a catalogue was prepared of all the
books saved from olden tinies and others, and when finished reached
a total of over 13000.-G. Pauthier, ir his pre-cited Memoire has
given an analysis of this catalogue, full of interest notwithstanding the
numerous mistranslations, from Pan Ku, lsien Har shui, kiv, 30. Of.
supra, note 621. The books were only those of the Imperial library.
850) Cf. below note 888.
881) On the fire bibliotecal catastrophes. cf. A. Wylie, Notes on Chiness
literature, p. iii-vii.
882) Cf. J. Darmestater, Le Zend Avesta, 1893, III, viii and xxviii.-
. Also C. de Harlez, Introduction si ľ Etude de l'Avesta, xyi and
xxxiii. —And supra note 186,
883) Supra $ $ 220 and 173.
881) It was an expedition made on the proposal and under the command
. of Siu-fuh of Ts'i, with a large number of young men and girls, rew
ported in the She Ki, vi, 16 v. and which was wrecked, according to
the Kwa ti tchi of the third cent, on the Tan tchou or Quelpaert Is-
land. The result may have been an unwilling colonisation, and some
of the ships may have been carried on the southern coast of some
Japanese island. Prof. L. de Rosny tells us that there is a temple
in thr honour of Siü-fuh at Kumano, province of Ki-i, Japan. Cf,
La civilisation Japonaise, 1883, p. 93-4.
885) The notion of such an elixir had come from the fabled reports about
the Soma, as we have shown supra § 132 and note 458.
886) Siu-fuh, saved from the wreck of his expedition, had reported
himself to the Emperor, and given some wonderful excuses for his fail-
ure, in that same year.
887) Kiang-tch’êng, the modern Shang-yuen, in Kiang-ning fu, Kiangsu
—The She Ki, 28, 12 tells us that he went himself on the sea,
888) Herewith a short list of these states :-i. T's'u, 20:9-205 B.C.-—ii.
Si T'su, 206-202 B.C.-iii. Hong-shan or ?'chang-Shao, 206-157 B.C. ---
iv. Liri Kiang, 206-20% B.C.-Y. Kiz-Ktang, 206-204 B.C.-vi. ?'chao
or Tri, 209-204 B.C.---pii. T'chang-Shan, 206 B.C. viii. T's'i, 209-
206 B.C.--ix. Lin-tchi, 206-204 B.C.--X. T's’i peh, 206 B.C.----xi. Yen,
209-201 B.C.-xii. Llao tung, 206 B.C.xiii. Wei, 209-206 B.C.
xiv. Si Wei, 206-203 B.C.—XV. Yn, 206-204 B.C._xvi. Han, 208–
205 B.C.-xvii. Ho-nan, 208-207 B,C.Xviii. HAN 206 B.C.
Sect, B. Introduction of Buddhism.
227. The religion of the Light of Asia was introduced no less than
three times in China, twice in an indistinct and unsuccessful manner, and
a third time under Imperial protection with permanent success. In the
two first instances the BuddhistShamans came on the trail of Brah-
manist ascets, and it is difficult to know from the Chinese side when
they began exactly. In the North-east after centuries of Indian influ-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
207b
ence through the Sea trade, we have heard of Sila, arrived from Magadha
after a journey of five years in 305 B.C.889 He is not called a Shaman
and although an amplified tradition makes him exhibit Buddhist images.
it is not at all probable that he belonged to the persuasion of Sakyamuni
unless the early Buddhism should have differed from what it became subse-
quently. After him flourished also in the Yen country, Sung-wu-ki
Tcheng-peh-k’iao, Tchung-shang890 and later on the Shaman T z e-k a o
who was a contemporary of Ts'in She Hwang-ti. All these men had
thus settled in the native land of Taoszeism. And Szema Tsien the
historian himself imbued with Taoist views does not separate them from
the school of Tsou-hien. He tells us that "they were skilled in the Path
of the Richis, divested themselves of their bodily frames, were dissolved
and transformed, and relied on the worship of saints and genii." These
ideas which did not belong to Tson-yen and look like a garbled view of
the mental condition of the Buddhist shamans, thus transformed into a
physical notion, were most probably proper only to Tze-Kao and his dis-
ciples. He is the first Buddhist bonze known with some probability, and
he was seen by She Hwang-ti, at Puh hai (guli of Petchili, near Lai
tchou) in 219 B.C.891 He seems afterwards to have gone and settled in
the Tchao hillis, in the North of Honan.892 Some years later, in 215,
the same Emperor being at Kieh-shih8 93 in Liao-si, near the present
Tcheng-teh, N, Tchihli) sent a certain Lu-sheng of Yen to fetch another
Shaman, named Ka 0-s h 4.894 Nothing more is known of these two nor
of any other Shamans there afterwards. In 112 B.C. the soothsayer895
Luan-ta persuaded Han W11-ti that he had travelled by sea, and seen the
residences of Ngan-ki sheng, a former magician, and of the Shamans.":96
His boasting shows in any case, if nothing more that Shamans had
ceased at that time to inhabit any part of the Chinese dominion, and
that their former presence in 219-2 15 B.C., in the east and in the west,
as we shall see directly, had been decidedly an unsuccessful attempt.
228. A remarkable incident occurred in 221 B.C. on the Western bor-
ders, in the town of Lin-tao (S.W. Kansuh, near the Tibetan frontier). 897
Twelve men of very high stature, dressed like Teks (barbarian Turks) ar-
rived there. The event was looked upon as so important that the Em-
peror had their statues cast in bronze, of an enormous size, weighing some
1500 kilos each,398 These were broken and sent to the foundry to cast
coins in 189 A.D. by order of Tung Tchoh, the destroyer of Loh-yang. 899
No accurate description of these statues seems to have been preserved
and we do not know what they exactly represented. It has been sug-
2086
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
gested that they may have been buddhist, but there is no evidence that
they were so, and the Buddhists have never clearly claimed them for:
their own, 900
229. On the other hand the following story which undoubtedly concerns
them shows that they were Hindus or at least that they were professing
Hindu views. " She Hwang-ti was very fond of all that concerned
spirits and genii, and he sought for marvels all over the empire. Now
at that time there were some people of Yuan-kiü901 (in N.W. Szetchven),
who floating upwards the Black River (a N.W. affluent of the Min
River) on li boats (or-coracles),902 thus reached the Yung region or pu
(i.e. the S.W. of Kansuh where was Lin-tao). She Hwang-ti had a long
conversation with them about the beginning and transformations of the
Universe ; they told him that the sun and moon were at certain times
sunk in the water 90000 lis deep, and that there were then a day and a
night of 10000 years each. They gave him some peculiar stone which
during that time was used as a substitute to give light, and which being
pierced or broken produced fire as large as grains of rice and illumined, 903
This was the first introduction of the pyrites in China, therfore older than
we supposed. 904
It is clear that these Brahmanists or. Hindus coming from the N.W.
of Szetchuen, belong to the same people that had settled as anchorets
and made caves in the cliffs of the Min and other rivers in the sixth cen-
tury and afterwards.905
230. The same ware of penetration of Brahmanic views must be looked
upon as the cause of the influences evidently Hinduic which had been at
work among the Hiungnus on the Northern borders of China 200 B.C.
According to the Annals of the First Han dynasty their horses were ar-
ranged according to symbolical colours of the points of space, pure white
on the west, white-faced greys on the east, black on the north, and bays
on the south ; a Hindu arrangement as far as could be.906
In 121 B.C., the golden statue of a god worshipped by the Hiung-nus,
was taken from the hiu-tu,907 i.e, ordo or residence of one of their princes,
in the northern vicinity of Liang-tchou, (Kansul) by the young Chinese
general Ho-Kiu-ping, and brought back at Yun-yang a district of Tchang-
ngan.908 It was apparently not a statute made according to the canons
of the Buddhists who have refused to acknowledge it, although the pro-
babilities are in favour of its Buddhist character. 909
231. On the other hand, a distinct mission of Buddhists is claimed by
them to have taken place in 217 B.C., when a Shaman Li-fang 910 and
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
2096
17
seventeen companions is reputed to have come from India to Lohyang. The
story has come to us through two sources, 911, both Buddhist and some-
what amplified with marvellous details, but all the probabilities indicate
that a genuine historical fact underlies the account in question. As was
the case with the Shamans of Shantung and Tchihli, they disappeared
altogether during the temporary collapse of the political edifice built up by
the She Hwang and the disorders which preceded the rise of the Han
dynasty.
232. It is rather remarkable that for three oenturies after the unsuc-
ceseful attempts we have just noticed, nothing should be known of the
Buddhist infiltrations, which considering the activity of Buddhist pro-
paganda everywhere else, must have reached China, one way or another, 912
Influences of foreign origin were possible at a time of separate states,
without much of them be known to the outside ; but in a centralised
Empire, as was that of the Han dynasty according to tbe written his-
tory, any fresh influence or activity of importance, such as a Buddhist
movement, could occur unknown only in the non-Chinese parts of China.
These were the west of Szetchuen until 110 B.C., the Teen state of Yun-
nan until 109 B.C., the Tung-hai and Min-yueh states of Fukien until
11l B.C., acd the Nan-yueh state of South Hunan, Kwang-tung, Kwang-
si and Tungking, until 111 B.C., which were all subdued either as
protectorates or as Chinese provinces, and more or less temporarily in
some cases. But as far as I am aware there is no available information
as yet on the matter.
233. At the beginning of the reign of Han Ming-ti, A.D. 58, tidings of
Buddhism had reached the Imperial court, and one of the brothers of the
Emperor, Prince of Tsu, was deeply interested with its doctrine in view
of comparing them with those of the Hwang-Lao or Taoszeist school.913
In A.D. 63, Ming Ti made his famous dream of a flying golden figure,
which the historiographer Fu-yh already acquainted with Buddhism, ex-
plained as connected with the Buddha. The outcome of the movement
was the expedition of an Imperial commission to India at the end of
A.D. 64914 to get proper information. It came back in the year 67 with
two shamans named Ka-siap Ma-tang, i.e. Kasiapa Matanga and Gap-
lan, i.e. Gobharana815 who settled at Loh-yang, in the Lan-tai or Orchid
gallery, where the Sutra in 42 sections was then for the first time com-
pleted, 916 The Peh Ma Se or White horse monastery, west of the
Capital, was built for them, and finished in A,D. 71, and they died there
not long afterwards,
2106
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
NOTES--
889) Cf. supra $ 196.
890) Cf. supra § 173 on the school of Tsou-hien.
891) Cf. Szema Tsien. She Ki, kiv, 29, fol. 10, 11.-Herbert J. Allen,
Similarity between Buddhism and early Taoism, China Review, 1887,
XV, p. 96-99.-T, de L., How in 219 1.c, Buddhism entered China :
B.&O.R., May 1891, p. 97-99 : The Introduction of Buddhism into
China : Acad. Oct. 3, 1891.-H. J. Allen, same subject, Acad. Sept.
12, and Nov, 14, 1891, The hypercriticism of the latter note, goes
beyond the mark,
892) 'The last book of the Shan hai king. which book as we know was
compiled by Liu-hin about our era from older documents, tells us
that, “ East of the Hwa mount and of the Tsing river, on the Tchao
hills, lived men called Peh and Tze Kao", whom the gloss says were
Recluses.
893) It was there that the king of Yen had built a palace for Tsou-
hien about 310 B.C. cf, supra par. 173.
894) Cf. She Ki. vi, 13v.
895) On Luan-ta and other magicians, cf. below par. 237.
896) Cf. She-Ki, kiv. xii, 6 v. ; xxviii, 28 v.
897) The town had been founded in 239 B.c. and populated with the
removed inhabitants of Tun-liu (in Shansi) by Tcheng Ts'in Wang,
the future She Hwang-ti. Cf. Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. vi, fol. 3,
And for the history of the latter town, cf. my Catalogue of Chinese
Coins, Earty period, p. lxiv.
898) Cf. She Ki, kiv, 6, fol. 1 - Tsien Han shu, Wu heng tchi:-She
Hwang-ti h .ving pacified the Empire, had collected at the capital,
Hien-yang, all the weapons and implements of war, which were then
made chiefly of bronze. The weight of each statue was of one thous-
and shih (She Ki), and therefore according to the weights list in my
book on Chinese coins, about 1500 kilos.-- In the Han annals, l.c. these
foreigners are said to have been 5 tchang (i.e. 50 feet) in height, with
feet six tch’ih or spans long, Of. also T. de L., The Introduction of
Buddhism into China : The Academy, 3 Oct. 91.--Four large bells
with their stands were cast at the same time with the same
material.
899) San fu hwang tu, kiv. i, fol. 4 vers. : kiv. v, fol. 4 vers.
900) (f. Herbert J. Allen in The Academy, and my rejoinder, 3 Oct.
91,--I had not yet found the story quoted in the text when I wrote
this rejoinder.—The T'sin shu or Annals of the Tsin dynasty (265-
419 A.D.) tells us that in a palace of Pêng tcheng (the present Siu-
tchon of Kiang-su) was preserved drawings of Buddhist statues, made
by the hand of a former Emperor, after the model of Lin-tao, which
the Tek barbarians had made, but which was found not to be accord-
ing to the Buddhist principles. Cf. T.P. 657, 2v.
901) Yuan-kiü, 2118-5078 Bas.- Also called Siü-kiü.
902) Li, 9618 Bas., litt. "calabash.” On the Coracles of West China,
cf. Noie 69 and add.
903) Cf, Wang tze nien, Shih y Ki : T.P.Y.L., 869, 1-2 for the full story,
904) Cf. supra $ 136 and note 689.-The legend concludes by a most
cúrious statement. It tells us that in the days of Shennung (Sargon)
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
211
the Arabs (Ta-shik) had presented similar stones to him.
905) Cf. supra, par. 215 and note 838.
906) White horses in the absence of yellow were s!ibstituted for the west-
ern colour, white-faced greys for white east, black for black north, bays
for red south.-C. Pan Kü, Tsien Han shui, Kiv. 9; tr. A. Wylie,
J.A.I., -1873, p. 412.-H. de Charencey, De la Symbolique des points
de l'espace chez les Hindus : Revue de Philologie, 1874, I., 174.
907) A gloss says that hiu-tu in the Hiung-nu language means town.
908) Cf. Han tchi.-T"ikiao kci tchi.
909) A commentator has suggested that it was perhaps Kai lo shen, the
God of the Roads, which was probably worshipped by this people, but
the suggestion is entirely gratuitous and contrary to probabilities.
910) Sometimes called T's'-li fang, which could represent Şrivana.
911) Cf, Po sie lun by Fa-lin, 624-640 A.D.-Fah wan tchu lin, by Hiuen-
yun, 668 A.D.--Kin ting ku kin t'u shnu tosih tch'eng, sect. 18, kiv. Shi
kia. Kwang poh wuh tchi, kiv. 16.-R. K. Douglas, China, 1887. p.
344.-S. Beal, Four lectures 01 Buddhist literature in China, p, 2 ;
Buddhism in China, p. 48.
912) The Wei livh of Yü-hwan (300 A.D.) in its article on Lệ m-12 i
(mod. Lin-er, 8660-588 Bas.), i.e. the Lumbini, birth place of the
Buddha, quotes an extract from a Fou-t'u king, relating the birth of
the great Sage, and the following circumstance. "In Middle India,
moreover, there existed a saintly man r.amed Sa 12 (mod. Shu-lin,
4888-2687 Bas. ; i.e. a Sâla, writ. Sha-lo, 4883.8176 Bas. ; a title
given to every Buddha ; of, Eitel, Slcr. Chin, Dict, s.v.) Formerly
in A.D. 2, a disciple of that Master, King-lu, on the advice of (tsung,
2700 Bas.) the Yueh-ti King, sent Y-tsun-kou with a Fou-t'u king,
or Buddhist Book (to China), Its contents agreed with that of Lao-
tze of the Middle Kingdom ; it went away and came back, for the rea-
son that Lao-tze went away from the Gate (the Han kuh kwan) to the
Tsen-tuh (inod, Tien tchu) of the Si-yü (W. Asia) to teach the Hu
(bearded barbarians) and become Fou-tu (the Buddha). Cf. Tai ping
yü lan, kiv. 797, 6v. A similar text, with additions and suppressions,
has often bee. quoted in various later works and compilations. I am
unable to follow either G. Pauthier, Examen méthodique des faits qui
concernent le Thien-tchu, 1839, p. 14-15, or Mr. E.J. Specht, Etudes
sur l'Asie Centrale, I., 1890, p. 34-40, in their disagreeing renderings:
of the text. Its impurtance lies in two points, viz., that the lucht
were rulers in India in 2 A.D. and that Buddhist teachings were then
sent to China. King-In is said to have been originally from Ts'in.
913) For this paragraph cf. Hou Han Ki by Yuen Hung of A.D. 100.
in T.P.Y.L., Kiv, 654, fol. 1.–Kao seng tchuen : ibid. 655, 2.-Sam.
Beal, Buddhist Literature in China, p. 3.
914) Or the beginning of the following year. Hence the frequent mis-
taken date of 65 for the Introduction of Buddhism in China instead
of A.D. 67.
915) Modern Kia yeh mo t'ung. In the archaic dialecte yeh, 9051 Bas.,
leaf, makesj iep, such as in Sino-Annamese.-- The full Chinese name
of the second bonze which is read at present Tchu Fah lan has been
variously rendered by European scholars, Dharmaraksha, Dharmananda,
and by the Tibetans, rightly I think Gobharana. The first Tchu is the
usual determinative prefix of all the names of Buddhist monks of In-
212
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
dian origin. (Cf. T. de L., The-Yueh-ti and the early Buddhist miss-
ionaries in China : Acad. Dec. 31, 87). The second character Fah,
Fap, 4917 Bas., Law. is made of the cl. water and the phonetic Ku,
Kop, 143 Call, a way, whence its use by the Buddhist transcribers
for the sound ku, ko, kup, as in the syllabary of Sangharama (cf. St,
Julien, Méthode pour déchiffrer les noms Sanskrits-Chinois, n. 274),
orin the name of Kashgar by Hiuen Tsang and others. (Cf. J. Eitel,
Sa nskrit-Chinese Dict. 3.V.)
916) The Chinese text says : tchu kien, 764-7932 Bas., first bound or
sealed up.-Therefore it was not in the White horse Monastery (which
was not yet built) that this famous Sutra was completed, as misstated
in Bunyu Nanjio. Catalogue of the Tripitaka, p. 376.
Chap. VII.-Sixtu PERIOD : 221 B.C.--A.D. 220.
Sect. C. Private trade and Official opening of inland intercourse with
the West.
234. Since the reign of Duke Hwei of Ts’ın (399-386 B.0.) the Ts'in-
ites used to go as far west as the present Kwa-tchou of Kansuh W.917
But they did not otherwise entertain or favour any foreign relations, 918
and the foundation of the Empire by their Princes did not attract traders
through the Kansuh N.W. Route. Commercial intercourse in the sec-
ond century B.C. was carried through the route of Lintao, (at present
Min tchou), also Wu-tu and Han tchung. Beyond Lin-tao 319 to the west,
the route followed is not known, but in a fragment added to the Shan
Hai King under the Han dynasty from older documents, two names of
localities seem to refer to stations of that trade. It says that in the
west, in the Region of the Flowing Sands, there is a country called Mar-
ket of the valley, Hoh she320 ; and further in the west beyond the sands
another country called Se-yep921. The latter would remind us of So-yep,
which in later writers is described as a place where the merchants, used
to congregate, should it not be so far in the west. 922
235. Among the natural products imported into China by this inland
trade, were brimstone from T'siz-m2,923 and Nephrite Jade from Khotan, 924
In 133 B.C. we hear of the arrival of merchants from, i.e. through Yen-
ki (? Karashar) with a large mirror of black metal, measuring four
spans ;925 rubbing it with felt and powder of black tin kept it shiny.926
It was the beginning of Greek notions and arts in China.
214
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
236. Since the conquests of Alexander, the influence of Greek civili-
sation was paramount in the West of Asia. The Seleucidian dominion
had been broken up in the East by the rising of two separate kingdoms,
in the middle of the third century.927 Diodotus had founded the Greco-
Bactrian, and Arsaces the Parthian, 928 on the west and north of the
other. The Arsacidæ were so far grecised that their coins bore Greek
legends, 929 and we know from Chinese history that they were the self-made
intermediaries between the west and the Chinese hy the inland north
route. 930 We have seen that some tidings of the feats of Alexander the
Great had reached the Flowery Land in the 3rd cent.931 The Chinese
were indebted to the Greeks for many things in the following century,
such as industrial processes, 932 modes of issuing coins,933 astronomical
theories, 934 and notions of Alchemy,
237, Among the many novelties which appeared in China during the
first period of the reign of Han Wu-ti, the most striking was certainly
the last named, i.e. Alchemy. And if we consider that cinnabari 35 and
orpiment936 were the principal ingredients used for the wanted transmuta-
tion into gold, as they were in the west long before, since the days of
the Persian Ostanes and his pupil Democrites, 937 it is difflcult not to
believe that these new views were a foreign importation and had come
from the countries where they were known. The first Alchemist in
Chinese history was a certain Li-tchao kiun, (145-132 B.C.) a familiar
of the Marquess of Shen-tsê (in Tchihli) under the reign of King-ti
(156-141 B.d.), who had come no-body knew from where. He was 70
years of age, when his views about transmutation and a worship of the
furnace838 were adopted by the credulous HAN Wu-ti in 132 1.0.939
These new notions joined to the older ones concerning the drug of im-
mortality and the transformation of the five elements, produced a most
unhappy movement which lasted for centuries, and, in China (as in the
West), had a destructive influence on the mind of several Emperors and
an injurious effect on the common sense of many. In the 9th century
it cost the life of four emperors, who died poisoned by an alleged Elixir
of immortality, 940
238. The earliest introducers of alchemy arrived by the west route, viâ
Lin-tao or Wu-tu, and repaired to the east region where only they could find
congenial surroundings, It was a repetition of what had occurred with the
early Ruddhists ($227). After the death of Li-tchao kiun, a certain Kwan-
shu, a man of Shantung East was appointed his successor.941 After him ap-
peared Shao-ong i19 B.C, who came from Ts'i, i,e, the West of Shantung.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
215
In 113 B.C. came to court Lwan-ta from Kiao tung (E. of the Gulf of Kiao-
tchou, Shantung East) who was a pupil of the samie master as Shao-ong,
And in the same year appeared also at court Kung-sun-king, of Ts'i
who professed the same views. 942 Alchemy had therefore found in the
cradle-land of Tao-szeism943 favourable circumstances where it was
eagerly accepted, and this explains the alliance which took place be-
tween it and the brahmanical ideas current there, as well as the hold it
goon assumed among the Tao-szeists.
NOTES
917) Tri ping yü lan, kiv. 65, f. 6.
918) Par. 148 supr., we have remarked that several barbarous innova-
tions in Ts'in, 7th cent. B.C. should have been due to Tartar influence,
and in the note 854 we have been able to record that Duke Muh of
Ts'in, had a Western Jung as principal adviser previous to 626 B,C.-
Cf, also ?sien Han Shu, kiv. 94 ; History of the Heungnoo, trad.
Wylie ; J.A.I., Dec. 1873, p, 404.
919) In Lin-tao, the second word is the name of a river, not the word
for route.'-Cf. supr. $ 223 and note 897 for the arrival of foreigners,
most probably through the Sung-pan ting route from the South. In
1884-5, Potanine the Russian iraveller has explored these routes, which
are entered from his report in map 13 of Dutreuil de Rhins, Asie
Centrale, 1389. From Min tchou, southwards, an available route
passes through Si-ku, and Nan-ping, to Sung-pan ting. From Min-
tchou, North-westwards, a route passes through Djoni and Labran to
Si-ning.
920) Hoh she, 1740-2406 Bas. --Shan Hai King, 18, 1.
921) Se-yep, 4854-9051 Bas., or Fan-yep, 4837-9051 Bas.; the two
characters Se and Fan being nearly similar,
922) So.yeh, So-yep, 7786-9051 Bas. ; also Sui-yeh, 6886-9051 Bas.
Cf. Hiuen-T'hsang, tr. Beal, i, 26. It was situated between the Ili
river and Taraz. Cf. E. Bretschneider, Notices on the Mediceval Geo-
graphy, p. 36-7.
923) Brimstone, shih liu hwang, stone-flowing-yellow, which as learned
afterwards by the Chinese was brought from certain hills, 800 li dist-
ant from Kiü-sze (Kao tchang, Karakhodjo), called T'siü-mi. (Cf.
Poh wuh tchi : T.P., 987, 3, an! Peh she : T.P. 796, 4-5). The exact
date of its first introduction is not ascertained, but it is spoken of in
the work bearing the name of Pien-Tsiao, the celebrated physician
of the 6th eent. B.C. ; it is spoken of anyhow in literature, 200 B.C.
-It arrived through Han-tchung, which fact indicates the route through
North Tibet. (cf. Fan-tze, Ki-san : T.P.987, 4).—In the south of the
Yueh-Pan country, north-west of the Wu-suns, there was a Fire Moun-
tain, Hwo shan, from which flowed sulphur in large quantities. This
country is spoken of in the Dynastic Annals of the NORTHERN WEI,
and in those of the Sui, which fact suggests that it was not known
before the fifth century (Cf. T.P. 795, 2;796, 4, and 987, 3). Now this
was the Northern country where the W. Hiung-nus had fled after their
defeat by the Chinese General Tou-hien in A.D. 89. It extended far
in the West, and answers to Sarmatia. In the fifth century the Huns
216
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
bit on rubbies y hair an. 12. 6.Luen to the cake in
had conquered the European Sarmatia (De Guignes, Hist. des Huns,
ii., 301). According to Strahlenberg, Description, p. 448, the only
place where sulphur is found is in the kingdom of Casan (Kazan),
and this answers to the foregoing indications. Curiously enough the
modern Chinese Yueh-pan, restored by the archaic dialects, makes Sol-
pan, Sol-po, therefore equal to Sor-ma, a sufficiently approximate ren-
dering of Sarmatia. The fact is interesting in several respects, but it.
is not necessary that this first Sulphur should have come from Kasan.
There are nearer places. Sulphur was at one time collected on the
Peh shan North of Kucha (cf. Mushketoff, Turkestan, 1886, i., 172;
E. Bretscsneider, Medicev. Res, ii., 244). The summit of Mount Dem-
avend, near the Caspian, is a mass of sulphur, Allusion is made to
sulphur trade in the Shan Hai King, xi., 2 and xviii., 3.-Sulphur
from Tu-kun, i.e. Tagaung in Burma, was imported into China in our
3rd cent. Cf. Wu sħi Wai lcwoh tchuen: T.P. 738, 6 and 982, 2. On
the sulphur of Tagaung, cf. Balfour, Cyclop. Ind., iii., 759,
924) Cf, suprà $ 221.
925) It was placed in the Wang shen Koh or gallery.--Cf. De Mailla,
Histoire générale, iii., 25.-Tung ming ki, T.P.Y.L., 717, 5.--The
Greeks used to make very large metallic mirrors. Cf. Beckmann, Hist-
ory of Inventions, 1846, ii., 65, and the following note.
926) Hwai-nan-tze (d. 122 B.C.) tells us that the polished metallic mirrors
were at first somewhat dim, and one could not see one's features in
them ; but on rubbing the mirror with some white felt and yuen-tin (?)
well ground, even curly hair and whiskers vould be easily seen in it.-
Cf. T.P.Y.L., 717, 2v., and 812, 8.-Yuen-sih, may be good tin,
or black tin, because of the tabued hiuen, black in the T.P.Y.L.
edition of 1807 to which I refer ; but black tin, hiuen sih in Chin-
ese is unknown to me. The thing referred to may have been an amal-
gam of Mercury, which as we know was indeed used by them. Cf. on
on this point, Stan. Julien-P. Champion, Industries anciennes et mod-
ernes de la Chine, p. 63-65,–It is curious that we should find the
process, obviously current in the Greek world, described in the classical
writers, not with reference to metallic mirrors, but for mirrors of glass
or another material. Cf. Beckmann, Hist. Invent., ii., 66 ; Marquis de
Jouffroy, Dict, des Invent., 1860, ii., 455, Victor Fournel, Le Vieuc
neuf, ii., 148 ; iii., 557 ; S. Reinach, Philol. Class., i., 96 ; ii., 149, 276
The process seems to have been known in India. Cf. Archives des
découvertes, xv., 365 ; V. Fournel, Vieux Neuf; ii., 267.
927) A clear sketch of this complicated period is given by M, Ed. Drouin,
in his Notice sur la Bactriane (Extr. de la Grande Encyclopedie), 1887.
Of. also Percy Gardner, The Coins of the Greek and Scythic kings
of Bactria ard India, 1886, introd,
928) Cf. T. de L., L'Ere des Arsacides en 248 Av. J.C., Louvain, 1891.
929) Cf. Percy Gardner, l'he Parthian Coinage, 1878, (Intern. Numism.
Orient., I., V).
930) Hou Han Shu, kiv. 88, Ta Ts'in.- Wei lioh; San Kwoh tchi, kiv.
30); par. 24, 45.-F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 42, 70, 72.
931) Supr. par. 225.
932) For instance the polishing of metallic mirrors (note 926) ; and
burning lenses in Hwai-nan tze. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 869, 3-4, and for
the same expanded : the Poh wuh tchi ; cf. G. Schlegel, Uranographie
B
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
217
21
Chinoise, p. 142.
933) The Mints of Athens and Rome were under the superintendence of
three Mint masters. In 116 B.C., HAN Wu-ti reorganized the State
mint on the same system. (7'sien Han Shu, Sbih ho tchi); Fr, Lenorm-
-- ant, La Monnaie dans l'Antiquité, iii., 50 sq.; T. de L., Catalogue of
Chinese Coins, introd. xxix.
934) For instance the circulating movement of the earth in the heavens.
in Hwai-nan-tze, ap. Cibot and Grosier, Chine, vol. vi.- The theory
was taught by Pythagoras, 500 B,C., and by Aristarchus of Samos. Ce
260 B.C. Cf. Th. H. Martin, Etudes sur le T'imée, ii., 123.- The same
view was entertained by the Egyptians, according to : F. Chabas, Sur
un texte Egyptien relatif au mouvement de la terre, Zeits. f. Ægypt.
Spr. 1864, p. 97; and J. Lieblein, Les Anciens Egyptiens connaissai-
ent-ils le mouvement de la terre? (Congr. Prov. Orient., St. Etienne, 1880,
p. 127.-We have mentioned before in note 804, the notion of a three
legged bird in the Sun from Asia Minor which appears in the Li sao.
and is spoken of also by Hwai-nan-tze. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 3, 3 ; 920, 6,
935) Cf. She ki, xxviii, 23.
936) Or yellow sulphuret of Arsenic.—In the writings of Hwai Nan tze
d. 122 B.C. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 985, 10., 3 v.
937) According to Synesius, Cf. Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits, t.
vii, p. 223. Also t. vi, p. 306.- Plin. H.N. xxxiii, 22 says that Cali-
gula also, when he tried to make gold, used orpiment (like Democrites);
Victor Fournel, Le Vieux Neuf, III, 500-502,
938) One cannot fail to remark the importance attached to the furnace
by the alchemists; a further connection of Chinese alchemy with that
of the west.
939) (f. She ki, kiv. 28, fol. 22 v., 23.-On the worship of the furnace,
cf. supra par, 183, note 665.—The earliest works on Alchemy in
China are those of Hwai-nan-tze, d. 122 B,C. ; I'chun tsiu yun tou
tch'u, 50 B.C.; T's'an tung ko'by Wei Peh-yang, 150 A.D.; and that
of Pao-p'oh-tze, 300 A.D.-In 1855, Dr. J. Edkins, On Early Tauist
alchemy (Shanghae Miscellany), and in Phases in the development of
l'auisni (Trans. Ch. Br. R.A.S., V) has suggested a Chinese origin
for the Alchemy of the West. W.A.P. Martin, in his Alchemy in
China, China Review, 1879, reprinted in his Han lin papers, 1881
has taken again the same view. But the two scholars have over-looked
the older antiquity of the West. On the latter's history cf. the special
works of Marcelin Berthelot, Les Origines de l'Alchimie 1885 ; Cole
lection des Anciens Alchimistes Grecs, 1887-8; La Chimie dans l'
Antiquité et au Moyen-Age : Rev. 2 Mondes, 15 Sept. 1 Oct. 93;
and also Transmission des Industries Chimiques de l'Antiquité au
Moyen-age, ibid. 1 Sept. 92, p. 39-55.
940) The researches made for long by sea and even by land to find the
plant producing the drug of immortality i.e. the tze-mai or soma (cf. su-
pra $$ 123, 214, 225, notes 458, 462) had proved unsuccessful. The
current notion was that it was like the Icu plant or hydropyrum lati-
folium (cf. Tung Fang so, Shih tchou ki : T.P.Y.L. 60,4 0.- E. Bret-
schneider, Botan. Sinic., ii, 88, 350). So that the Taoszeist alchemists
endeavoured to compose an Elixir of immortality. Four Emperors
of the T'ang dynasty, Hien tsung in 820, Muh tsung in 824, Wu
tsung in 846 and Süen tsung in 859, died from the Elixirs of im-
218
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
mortality given to them by the Taoszeists who were then in favour at
court. (Cf. De Mailla, Hist. Gen. vi, 430, 442, 492, 503). The
ayowcd purpose of these alchemists was the transmutation of the body
into an incorruptible substance by means of the absorption into it of
special elixirs compounded principally of mercury and mica as in India,
cf, A. Barth, Religions of India, p. 210.-Researches by sea after the
fortunate islands and the drug of immortality, were still going on at
the time of Sun kvang founder of Wu, one of the Three Kingdomas,
3rd cent. Cf. Wu tchi.
941) In § 173 supra, we have enumerated the names of the principal
thaumaturgists of YEŃ and of Ts'ı during the fifth period. Sung Wu
ki was followed during the reign of She Hwang ti by Ngan ki sheng
and by Siu-fuh (cf. note 884). Under HAN Hiao Wen-ti flourished
about 165 B.C. Kung-sun Tch'en, and Sin-yuen Ping of Ts'i, cf.
She ki, kiv. 28, fol. 19-19 v.--On Sung-Wu ki, and Ngan-ki sheng,
cf. Mayers, Chinese R.M., i, 641 and 523. In 163 B.C. Sin yuen-ping
is attributed (De Mailla. Hist. Gen., ii, 563, and Ed, Chavannes, Le
Traité sur les Sacrifices Fong et Chan, p. 44) a high feat which could
vie with that of Joshua, as he would have effectually commanded the
sun to retrograde in heaven. I am afraid a misunderstanding has
crept there from the frequent confusion of the characters hou, prince,
(217 Bas.) and hou, expect (293 Bas). It is the second charac-
ter, not the first, which occurs in the text (cf. She ki, xxviii, 20 v.).
The statement is the following : Ping, speaking to the Emperor, said:
"Your servant expects the sun will be repeated in the centre (of the
sky); and in only a moment, the sun stopped and was again in the
centre.” This is clearly a phenomenon of parhelion, which Sin yuen
ping had foreseen from its preliminary phases.
942) Cf. She ki kiv. 28, fol. 22 v., 23 v., 25 v., 30, and 32,-Kiao-
tung had been created into a small feudal state in 207 B.C. cf. She
ki, xvi, 10.
943) This circumstance might suggest that Alchemy was carried to China
by the sea-traders of Hormuz (supra § 198-206) to the South-east
Coast of China and from there to the Shan-tung peninsula. But in
110 B.c. those who came from the states of Yueh i$ 201) to the Chi-
nese court where alchemy was so much in favour, speak only of their
worship of special genii, and of their divination by (alectromancy)
birds which were immediately adopted. (She ki, xxviii, 40 v., 41).
Their silence about transmutation is rather significant. The art was
Greek, and the Greeks were then near the route of the trade to China
from Western Turkestan. Cf. par. 234, 236 and 242.
*
*
239. Since the last years of the Ts'ın, the Hiung-nus said to be Turk-
ish stock, 9 44 outside the north borders of China, who had long been in
enmity with the states, had increased in boldness and their frequent raids
on the Imperial territory where they advanced as far as the south centre
of Shansi and of Shensi, resulted in a state of incessant warfares. In
176 B.C. they had pushed forward to the west of their former quarters
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
219
.
and established their sway over a large areá ; the Yu e h-t ;945 were finally
crushed, the Wu sun, who from the Tien shan range had advanced
South-east, as far as Kwa-tchou nf Kan-suh west, had been compelled to
withdraw, and the state of Loulan (for Labran, later Shen-shen) re-
cognized their authority as did the Hu-k i t946 and 26 other states. The
Yueh-ti removed gradually westwards947 until in 143 B.C. they settled for
a time on the banks of the Oxus. When Han Wu-ti came to the throne
140 B.C., being desirous of getting rid of the obnoxious Hiung-nus, he
wished to make an alliance to that effect with his former neighbours the
Yueh-ti. Tchang-kien, it is well known, was sent in official mission to
them in 13 9 B.C., but he was stopped on his way for ten years by the
Hiung-nus ; he finally escaped from their territory to that of Ta-yuan,
from where he went to Kang-kiu (Samarkand) and reached the Yueh-ti. ;
He followed them during their conquest of the Ta-hia, but could not de-
cide them to resume an offensive action in common against their former
foes. After a sojourn of one year, he started for his return journey, and
travelled along the Nan shan, in view of passing through the Kiang
route, i.e. that leading to Sung pan ting or to Lin-tao. But he was again
stopped by the Hiung-nus who kept him a prisoner for another year, só
that he did not reach his native country prior 126 B.C.948
240. Tchang kien having personally visited the three countries precited
reported upon them, and with additional details on five or six others949,
He spoke of the marvellous Nisæan horses, blood perspiring, fed with lu-
cern in Ta-yuan, and of the products of Shuh (Szetchuen) which through
India were carried in the Ta-hia country. It was then estimated that
India could not therefore be far from the South-west of the Empire, and
that Ta-hia could be thus reached without difficulty.950 Unsuccessful
attempts were thus made for several years to pass through the South-
west border states,951 as the Hiung-nus in the North stopped the way of
Turkestan. Some partial successes baving at last cleared the region of
the Nan-shan of these indomitable foes, Tchang-kien, on his proposal in
119 B.C. was sent a second time, as Imperial envoy, with a large retinue
of official assistants, to negociate an alliance with the Wu-suns against
the Hiung-nus and a free intercourse with Ta-yuan, Ta-hia and other
countries. 952 He started by the Lin-tao route and reached the Wu-suns
whom he could not make accept the Chinese proposals. He came back in
116 B.0. accompanied with a mission from them to China. Whilst
amongst the Wu-suns he had dispatched his assistant Envoys to Ta-yuan
Kang kiu, the Yueh-ti and Ta-bia: Nearly all came back about a year
220
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
later, bringing some of the natives of these countries with them. “ And
thus, Szema Tsien tells us, the intercourse o? China with the countries
of the North-west commenced from this time, "9 53
241. By a singular concourse of circumstances the famous Nisæan
horses of classical history9 54 became then the cause of the Chinese power
being established in Central Asia. It was reported to Han Wu-ti, that.
the King of Ta-yuan (Farghana) kept a large stud of marvellous horses,
blood perspiring, descending from a heaven's stallion and travelling a.
thousand lis in a day. Their native place was Ne-se955 but the capital
of the kingdom was Kwei-shan (modern Kasan)856 one of the seventy
cities of the Kingdom. Their name was p'u-shao in which we recognize
a curtailed transfer of topicha, “ the long-necked and long-legged Turko-
man horse."957 The Chinese envoys could not get any of these horses
for their Emperor who having been deceived once 958 finally decided to get
some of them at any price. Military stations were established as far as
Tun-hwang (N.W. Kansuh) in 109 B,C, to facilitate the intercourse with
the North-west kingdoms independently of the fortuitous caprice of the
Hiung-nus. 959 A special enyoy named Tchai-ling was sent with a gol-
den horse and a thousand kin of gold to purchase one of the much coveted
horses, but Megas the king of Ta-yuan refused, the envoy was murdered
and the golden horse stolen. Hostilities were resumed by the Hiung-nus and
an important expedition sent in 104 B.C. was wrecked by them. At last
in 101 B.C. a large army under the command of Li Kwang-li, titled Nis-
aan general for the purpose, reached Ta-yuan, imposed a treaty and came
back decimated with ten Niscan horses, which had cost to China fifteen
years of efforts and sacrifices of all sorts, including a total loss of about
300000 men.
242, A circumstance of peculiar interest, also unnoticed, in that
event, is that Greeks and Chinese came there into contact for the first
time.960 Ta Tuan was then occupied by Greeks. The evidence of this
fact rests partly on words and names quoted in the Chinese record which
happen to have an hellenic appearance notwithstanding their Chinese garb.
Herewith a short list of these words :
Ch. Muh-tuk, lucern,
for medikai in Greek86 1
,, Pu-tao, vine,
, botrus
, I sai-kwa, cucumber,
, sik 20 S
, Hung-hua safflower, , knikos
, Mu-ku, name of the King, , megas , great
Although we way regret that their list should not be longer, their
evidence is sufficiently conclusive, and finds a further confirmation in the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
221
name of the country itself. Ta-yuan means greater Yuan as shown by the
conteinporary existence of a Siao Yuan or Lesser Yuan, as in the case of
the Ta Yueh-ti and Siao Yueh-ti. The name is therefore Yuan only,
which, the Archaic dialects indicate, was pronounced Yuen or Yuan, sure-
ly a transfer of Iaon, Gree k.962 We must therefore translate Ta Yuan
or Ta Wan Kwoh, the Greater Greek Country.963
243. The victory of a Chinese Army over Ferghana was a most im-
portant event in the political history of Central Asia.964 It gave to the
Son of Heaven a leading position for two centuries among the potentates
of that part of the world. Many states recognized his Imperial authority or
asked for his alliance, and in 59 B.C. a Governor Generalship was establish-
ed at Wu-ley (S.W, of present Karashar) had under its supreme juris-
diction no less than 36 states on the east, north and west of the Tsung-
ling range.965 In 51 the outposts extended as far west as Sha-kiu, i.e.
Yarkand. The Chinese authority on the west of the Pamir range
was then strong enough to avenge the injuries done to former envoys by
Hippostratus, 966 King of Kophen (Kabulistan); the entreaties of the son
of that king were disregarded, a plot was entered with the son of the
king of the Greeks, Hermæus, u67 which resulted in an attack on the coun-
try, when the king was killed, and Hermæus, receiving the investiture
from China was enthroned as King of Kophen.938 in 1 B.C., by partitions
and additions, the number of western states bowing to the Chinese Em-
peror had been increased to fifty, and the Chinese seals and ribbons of
office were received by no less than 376 officials, chieftains, and rulers,
although sereral of the more distant states had ceased to do so some time
before.909
244. The Chinese greatness there was short lived, and less than 75 years
after the establishment of a Governor General of the Si-yü (West Asia), -
all the states beyond Sha-kiu, i.e. Yarkand, had swerved from their for-
· mer allegiance.970 This was in the years 10-16 A.D. during the usurpation
of Wang Mang. When the Eastern Han dynasty arose at Loh-yang
in A.D. 25 the Chinese Government, again engaged against the Hiungnus,
was unable to interfere, and the last faithful states gave it up in 38 and
41 A.D. Later successes over the hereditary foes permitted to resume in-
tercourse and Imperial interference with the West. Pan-Tchao, the fam-
ous General, was the chief agent in the affair. From 73 to 98, he restored
the authority and prestige of the Chinese name in these regions. The
states of Eastern Turkistan were either compelled or induced to recognize
their former suzerain, and friendly relations were reopened with the states
222
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
West of the Pamir, Pan-Tchao himself, in 97 A,D. went as far as
HIEN-TU, i.e. Antiochia Margiana, 971 and dispatched his lieutenant
Kan-yng to the unknown Tats’in,972 while himself returned to Ku-tse,
i.e. Kutcha. Kan-yng went as far as the Persian Gulf (not the Caspian
Sea)e 73 and returned afraid of the sea voyage to the head of the Red Sea
Pan-Tchao returned to his native land in 102 to die, and five years later
the dilapidated condition of the Imperial finances caused a withdrawal of all
the Chinese Representatives and forces beyond the N.W. borders (of pres.
Kansuh), which resulted in the loss of nearly all the advantages gained
by the great politic general. Some years afterwards a fresh advance was
made, an outpust was established at Liu-tching (pres. Lu-ko-ts'in, 60 li
S.E. of Turfan) in 123, and Yen-Ki, i.e. Karashar, was conquered in
126 A.D.,974 but the former position and political influence was not re-
covered.
245. Several missions or embassies implying an untold number of priv-
ate caravans, from the west, at that time, have been recorded in history.
Among the first in 115 B.C. was: one from Parthia (An-sih) with Ostrich-
es' eggs of Mesopotamia and jugglers of Lu-kien Reken ;975 and one from
the Wu-suns with horses.976 In 51 B.C. an Imperial Princess given into
marriage to the Kun-mi or King of the Wu-suns came back in 105 B.C.
bringing home the pi-pa or tamburah of Persia. 977 Missions from Kang.
kü (Samarcand) and from Pan-tu (=Parthuva) arrived in 11 B.C.978
Thirteen years later Buddhist books were brought by Y-tsun kou, from the
Yueh-ti.879 The Arsacidæ in A.D. 87 sent lions and fupas (hornless unit
corns.980 In A.D. 101 the King Bankü of Ansih i.e. Pacorus II, the
xxivth Aasacidæ) sent lions and ostriches' eggs. Until four years later
several envoys from India reached China by the same route. Another
mission from Parthia arrived in 106,951 but any further communications
were stopped by the revolt of the Si-yü in A.D. 107.982 The travellers of
Maes Titianus who went to Sera Metropolis at that time, and supplied
Marinus Tyrius with the information which appears in Ptolemy, must
have gone as subservient only to the Parthian envoys, if they have been
there themselves at all. The details they give about the seven months
journey from the Stone tower to the Sera Metropolis, as already remarked
by Ptolemy himself, look like second hand information,983 They rem-
ained probably at the Stone-Tower, expecting the return of the Parthian
envoys, as we know from the Chinese side that the Arsacidæ were the self-
made middlemen984 between the West traders and the Sera Metropolis, 985
the Eastern city.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
223
NOTES
944) The Hiung-nus appeared for the first time eo nomine in history in
318 B.c. cf. Szema Tsi'n, She ki, v, 24. They traced the ancestry of
their chiefs to Shun-wei i descendant of the Chinese Royal family of
Hia, who had removed from China a thousand years before the time
of Tou-man, their Sheu-yu in 209 B,C. (cf. She ki, fol. 9, and Tsien
Han shu, kiv, 94)-Klaproth and Remusat have taken them to be
Turks, became the t'u h-k i ü h (ancient Tol-kul, Tu-kwet), whose
words in Chinese books are really Turk, are said in the same books to
have been descendants of Hiung-nus. So are said to be the Kao-liu
or Uigurs, the Puloki and the Kun-mi; the Tungusic To-pah are
said also to hare the same origin as the Hiung-nus. (Cf. T.P.Y.L.,
791, 1% ; 801, 1 T., 4.) Now the Puloli and Kun-mi were not Turks.
Moreover in twelve words of the Hiung-nu language given iu the She-
Ici, two or three only are Turk, two are Tungusic. The Hiung-nus
seem to have been a political, not a racial unity.-Of, also T. de L.,
Khan, Khakan, and other Tartar titles, 1888, note 31,
45) The Yueh-ti were spoken of first in the geographical work of Y-yn
(Shang dynasty) cf. Pih yuen, Shan hai icing, comm. 13, 10.-In
209 B.C. they were in a flourishing condition in Kansuh, N.W. (cf.
She ki, 113, 6 v.).
946) Klaproth mistook these for the Hu-te, identified by him with the
Goths.
947) In 143 B.C. their neighbours compelled them to move again fur-
ther west and it was then that they reached the Oxus. They were
sinicised to some extent and carried with them not a few Chinese
notions. They had a coinage of Chinese pattern, on which cf. my
paper Une monnaie Bactro-Chinoise bilingue du premier siècle av. n.è.
(Extr. Cte-R. Acad. Inscript. 1890), pp, 7, 14. Two specimens are
known apparently of differeut date. A small one which must have
been issued chiefly among the Yueh-ti. A larger one of later date
which bears apparently the name of Hermæus in Bactro-Pali, and may
have been issued when this king was instated by the Chinese about
51 B.C. (Below par. 243). The previous existence of the Chinese
type of coinage it represents, introduced by the Yueh-ti, would justify
its maintenance in that circumstance, instead of the newer type of the
Han. dynasty.
948) Cf. Szema Tsien. She ki, 123, 1-3.- Tsien Han shu, kiv. 61.
949) Such is the precise statement of the She ki, 123, 2 v.--He had
passed also through Kang-kü, and reported upon the An-sih,
(Arsacida).
950) Cf T, de L., Tin-yüt, not India: Acad., May 2. and India from
China : ibid. Sept. 5, 1885.
951) On these attempts, see below, par. 269.
952) It was then that he visited the alledged sources of the Hwang-ho, the
Sing su hai or Oduntala, i.e. Starry Sea, which he thought was in com-
munication underground with the Pu-tchang Hai or Lopnor, and mad-
the Hwang-ho a continuation of the Tarym. The most interesting in-
formation on the subject has been translated by M. Guluy in his Dee
scription de la Chine Occidentale, Suppl.; Muséon, Oct., 85, p. 612-7.
953) She Ki, Kiv, 123, fol. 8, 9, 9v.
224
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
954) These were the large horses personally used by the Kings of Persia
and the Princes, which Herodotus (i., 497; iii., 106; if., 39) and other
classical writers have described, as horses of Nisa in Media : Strabo, 11;
Aristot,, De Hist. Anim.. 9; Amm. Marcell, 23, 6; Eustath. ad Dio-
nys. Per. ; Appian, 1.-On an early history of these horses, cf. W. St.
Chad Boscawen, The Horses of Namar : B. & O. R., vi., 139-40.-
The Nisæan plain famous for its horses must have been near Belistun,
as Alexander passed it on his way from Opis to Ekbatana (Of A.H.
Sayce, Herodotus. 282.
955) This name and the consequences which ensue for the identification
of the horses has hitherto been passed unnoticed by former Sinologists
because they have been satisfied to read it with the corrupted sounds of
the present day, eul-she. er-she, urh-she in Pekinese and Mandarin,
and therefore did not perceive its historical interest. Ni-se (10434-
8130 Bas.) is still at present read ni-sz in the Shanghai, nhi-soai in
the Sino-Annamite, and similar sounds in other archaic dialects. The
present sound er in Chinese was ni in the Buddhist transcriptions as
shown in Stan. Julien, Méthode, Nos, 266, 268-9 ; Eitel, Sanskr. Chin.
Dict., p. 83, &c.
956) Kasan, now a small place N.W. of Namaghan, was formerly the
capital „f Ferghana, according to the early Arabian geographers. Cf. E.
Bretschneider, Medi æv. Res., ii., 52.
957) T'obich'a, cf. topchag in Shaw, Vocabulary of the Turki language,
p. 71; Pavet de Courteille, Mém. de Baber, pref. ;E. Bretschneider,
MR., i., 140, ii., 125, 264. These horses are now called Arghamak
in Samarcand, but there seems to be some differences in the breed, (cf
Edw. Balfour, Cyclop. of India, ii, 109).--The Turkoman horse has been
often described, and lately by Heinrich Moser, Le Pays des Turcomans,
Rev. 2, Mond, 15 Mai, 1885, and in his large work Durch Central-
asien, Leipzig, 1888.--La faculté de suer du sang que l'on sait aujour-
d'hui être due à l'éxistence de filaires longs d'environ un demi millm.
pourrait être moins rare qu'en le croit; elle a été trés souvent constatée
sur les chevaux hongrois. Cf. C.A. Pietrement. Les chevaux dans les
temps préhistoriques et historiques, 1883, p. 29.
958) The Wu-suns had sent him some of their own horses which at first
were received as celestial lorses, but the superchery was discovered on
the return of other enroys. (Cf. Shi Ki, 123, 28 ; Tsien Han shu, 41, +1.
959) Envoys were then sent to Ansik, i e. the Arsacidian Empire: Yen-
tsai, i.e. the Aorsi, N. of Parthia : Li-kien, i.e. Rekem, the emporium
N. of the Red Sea : Tiao-tchi, i.e. the Arab settlements N. of the
Persian Gulf, and Shen-tuh, i.e. ·India. Cf. Tsien Han shu, kiv, 61,
fol. 4, Wylie, Western Regions, 51.–For Aorsi and Reken, cf. F.
Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 139, 157.-Perhaps that Li-
kien was Rakkan in Persian.
960) Strabo, xi. 1l, tells us that the Greek Kings of Bactriana extend-
ed their dominion as far as the country of the Seres. Cf. Reinaud,
Relations politiques et commerciales de l'Empire Romain avec l'Asie
Orientale, p. 113. Of course we must understand countries under the
dominion of the Seres fo the time being. Does this refer to the Sias
or Lesser Yuan? See below in 963.
961) The Lucern had been called medikai by the Greeks because it
had been brought from Media at the time of the Persian wars, about
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
225
470 B.C.; in Central Asia its native names are Rishka, Shasta, isfist,
which leave no doubt on the Greek origin of the Chinese word. Of. A.
Candolle, Origin of Cultivated plants, p. 10.; V. Hehn, Woinderings
of Plants, p. 306—The comparison with botrus and medikai was first
made by Mr. Kingsmill of Shanghai.Two more words from Ta-
yuan are quoted, but one seems to refer to an old Persian and Sanskrit
words : such as ho-tao for walnut tree ; cf. akhốda ; and one to Turki
pu-shao, horse, cf. topicha.
962)Dr, J, Edkins, Philological importance of Geographical terms in the
She-ki: J. Ch. Br. R.A.S., 1886, xxi, 200, says : Greek Kingdom in
Fergbana, Wan (Javan).
963) The identification of Iran with Yavn or Greek, gives interest to the
existence of the Siao Yuan with their capital Yii-ling or Han-ling,
consisting of 150 families, 1050 people, 200 soldiers, at 7210 li from
Tchangngan; and at 2558 li N,W, was the seat of the Governor General.
(Cf. T'sien Han Shu, 96 ; A. Wylie, Western Regions, S), Shen-shen
was at 6100 li and Khotan at 9670 li from Tchang-ngan. The Siao
Yuan were on the route North of Tibet, between these two places. Yii-
ling should be one of the buried cities, and looks like a small colony of
Greeks,
964) After the Ta-yuan war, Chinese posts and militari colonies had
been established at Lun-tai or Round Tower, (at 680 lis=194 modern
lis, West of Yen-ki or Karashar, near present Bugur according to
Father Hyacinth ap. E. Bretschneider, Medicev. Res., i., 16) and at
Yu Kiü-l2, near Turfan, where a Deputy Protector had his residence. cf,
Tsien Han shu, 96, 1 ; A, Wylie, Western Regions, 3 ; and De Mailla.
Hist. Gen., iii., 75.
965) This measure was taken after the defection from the Hiungnus and
the submission to China of a Hiungnu Prince with 50000 followers. Cf.
Li tai Ti Wang nien piao.-T'sier Han Shu, Liv. 94.-A. Wylie,,
Heung-100, 451.--De Guignes, Hist, des Huns, 2, 86.-De Mailla
Hist, Gen., iii., 140.-The office of Slaves Protector General which had
rer laced the former was then suppressed and a Governor General ap-
pointed instead. Wi-ley, his new residence was near the present Kur-
la, S.W. of Karashar, on the pass of the Kuruk-tagh (figured on
map 19 in E. Reclus, Asie Orientale, 113).
966) In Chinese Bu To Lo
Greek hi PPosT Ratos.
9.67) In Chinese mod. Yn-mun-fu (=Yn-mu-vu for Yr-mu-yu)=E
maion, the Greek name.-The Chinese word is Yung-kiu=Yóunaki,
the country of the Greeks. Cf. Ed. Drouin, Notice sur la Bactriane.
p. 16 for these two identifications. Cf. suprli note 947,
968) Cf. Tsien Han Shu, Kiv. 96; Wylie, Western Regions, p. 17.
Wen-tchung, the Chinese envoy who had installed Hernæus, having
returned to China to report on his mission was replaced by the Mar-
quis Tchao-tih who had difficulties with Hermæus and was killed with
his retinue of 70 persons. Han Yuan-Pi who had just ascended the
throne refused to interfere because of the distance and the difficulty of
the route through Badakshan. In 5 B.C. under his successor a re-
quest from Kophen received a similar answer. Cf. I'sien Fan Shu, kiv.
96; Wylie, Western Regions, p. 17-18.
969) Cf. Li Tai Ti Wang nien piiro, ----And the previous note.
226
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
970) This occurred successively, in the years 10, 13, and 16 A.D.
971) We have here a fresh instance of the double suggestion of sound
and suitable meaning in the transfer of a foreign name. The two
Chinese characters Hien tu (7981-11240 Bas.) mean. Métropole of
district.
972 ) Cf, infrci, par, 263.
973 | Cf. F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 3, 13, 138, 164.--
Also E.C. Taintor, Advance of a Chinese Genercił to the Caspian Sea:
Notes and Queries, 1868, p. 60-62, and A. Wylie, ibid. p. 153 for the
various texts on the subject,
974). Cf. Li tai. Ti Wang nien pico, s. a. --De Mailla, Hist. Gen., iii.,
417, 423.-E. Bretschneider, Medioev Res., ii., 184.
975) On Li-kien=Reken, cf. infra par. 263,-.She-Ki, kiv. 123.
976) She Ki, 123, 8. —T'sien Han Shu, 41, 4.
977) Cf. Po Yuen pipa sü. T.P,Y.L., 583, 3.- De Guignes, Hist. de
Huns, ii., 61.-Mayers, Chinese R.M. 872.
978) Li tai Ti Wang nien piao.
979) Supra, note 912.
980) Hou Han Shu, kiv. 88.-F. Hirth, Chin, and Rom. Or., 39.
981) Si yü tchi.-Cf. Pauthier, E.camen Méthodique, J.A, Oct., 1839,
p. 266, 282.
932) De Guignes, Hist, des Huns, i., 31, and previous paragraph.
983) Cf, on this point the History of Ancient Geography, by E Bunbury,
ii, 529-531.
984) Supra note 930.
985) No satisfactory explanation has been given as yet of the name of
Sêres, Sêra, Serica. The name appeared in Western writers (not since
Ktesias where it is an interpolation, but) since Apollodorus of Arte-
mita (of the 1st cent. B.c. in his lost History of Parthia), Virgil and
many others. t was known in North India at the time of Kanishka
and in Ceylon in the 1st cent. Pausanias in the second century speaks
of the great river Ser in that country. The same writer, Hesychius,
Photius, Clemens Alexandrinus, and others say that ser is a worm and
also a nation. Klaproth in Journal Asiatique of 1823, p. 243, R.G.
Latham, On the existence of a nation bearing the name of Seres in
Classical Museum, 1846, and Reinaud, L'Empire Romain et l'Asie
Orientale : J.A. Mars 1863, p. 123, have suggested the own name of
the silk, se Chines, sir Korean, sirelc Mongolian, and sirghe Mandshu.
We juay add dar Tibetan, and shouid we trust the oldest Chinese phon-
etic spelling which wrote the word occasionally siao +LU (litt. small
bone) the present Chinese se would be an abraded sound of SoL for
SƏR. But the final was lost in Chinese long before our era.- The sug-
gested etymology however ingenious cannot be accepted as it is not
supported by any evidence that China has ever been so called by any
of those nations through which only the name of Sêres could have been
learned by the travellers of the West. Moreover it is not suitable for
the name of the great river of the land, the Hwang-ho or Yellow
river. Now let 115 remark that yellow is ser in Tibetan, sari in
Turki, sharu in Mongolian, and therefore that the name of the river
was thus translated. Besides the name of the Sêres was learned by the
Singalese traders travelling North as well as by the travellers coming
through the North-west highways. Tibetans were on the route on both
227
sides, and it is from their language that a name given to their east-
ern neighbours should have been learned. Such indeed was the case,
as the same word as for yellow means East, Eastern, shar in Tibetan.
Yellow is also a natural colour for silk. We can thus understand
how the confusion arose in the explanations of travellers. Furthermore
there is evidence that the North-West of China was so called by for-
eigners, and I do not know if the name of Sharshen since the Han
dynasty is not a survival. Suh now Suh-tchou of Kansuh was an old
name of the region which was SoL for Sor, as shown by its archaic
phonetic spelling and outside evidence. On the latter cf. my paper
on The Diurtchen of Mandshuria, part i.-The Sung-pan-ting traders,
in the present day are called shar-ba, among the Golok and other Ti-
betan tribes of N.E. Tibet. Of, W. Woodville Rockhill, Tibet from
Chinese Sources : J.R.A.S., Jan. 1891, p. 89 n.--It means simply in-
habitant of an eastern country. Cf. Jaeschke, Tibet. Dict., p. 557.
CHAP. VII.--Sixtu Period : 221 B.C.-A.D. 220.
Sect. C. Private trade and Official opening of inland intercourse with
the West. (cont.)
246. It is difficult to appreciate in detail all the western things and
notions that came to China through the frequent relations which occurred
after the openings of 126 and 115 B.C. West Asia was then in the hands
of the Greeks, of the Parthians, of the Romans and of the Buddhists.
The old Persian culture had disappeared, as had before the older Assyro-
Babylunian which had become mythical986 save in one place987 ; they were
no more in current use and could not be transmitted through common
intercourse of politicians, still less of soldiers or of merchants. This state
of things limitates the character of the items of western culture which
can have reached the Chinese Empire duringthat period. The Greek char-
acter of several of the innovations has already been pointed out988, and
some more will have undoubtedly to be added to the list by the progress
of research.
247. Thanks to the great care always paid by the Chinese to botanyola
and to their numerous records on the matter, we know approximately
which new plants and fruits were then introduced from the Si l'ü to the
Flowery Land. Herewith a short list of them : lucern, vine, cucumber,
and safflower, with their Greek names&, walnut tree, with its Aryan
name; hu-tou or common bean, hu-sui or parsley, hu suan or great gar-
lic981, hu-ma or sesamum identified with that introduced earlier by the sea
trade992. and the an-shih lu, or nar of the Arsacidæ, i.e, the pomegran-
ate 993 and others. In 87 B,C., the king of Yueh-ti, from W. Asia where
230
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
they had removed sent four oz. of a most valuable spice called King-
tsing994, and produced by a tree growing in the island of Tsü-kwot in the
Western Ocean995.
248. Amongst the most interesting articles then introduced from the
West inland was a mber which came then first to the knowledge of the
Chinese. Han Wu-ti was presented by one of the western emissaries
who accompanied the assistant envoys of Tchang-kien on their return996 ,
with a swallow made of Amber and with pieces of the same precious
material997. It was in Kophen (Kabul istan) that according to the
reports, Amber could be procured 998, and in the Chinese hu-peh for
Amber we should see a distant imitation of the native term which has
become the Persian kehribar999. in the following century Amber came
through the South sea trade (infra §274).
We may be sure that many additions will have to be made to these
preliminary lists ły subsequent researches. For instance alam shale or
fan-sheh, now an article of export, was then imported in the Middle King-
dom1000, through Wu-tu1001, a district of S.W. Kansuh established in
111 3.c. in view of commanding the route there from the West.
NOTES
986) Cf. for instance the ignorance of Herodotus, Ctesias and others, on
history and accurate notions.
987) At Babylon, chiefly in the great temple E-sag-gil.-The latest
cuneiform tablet at present known was dated in the 5th year of Pa-
corus, King of Persia, i.e. 55-56 A.D., as shown in my monograph on
L'Ere des Arsacides eu 248 av. J. C. selon les Inscriptions Cuneiformes,
1891, p. 32-35.
988) Supra, $ 235-237, notes 926, 933, 934, 937-939.-It cannot be a
coincidence that at this very moment when Greek influence was pene-
trating into their land that the Chinese should have felt the necessity
of reforming their calendar. In 104 B.C. the reform was made ac-
cording to views of their own with the help of foreign notions per-
mitting a greater accuracy than before. Szema Tsien, the T'a she ling
or Great Astrologer, in his She ki, built up from relics of Antiquity a
system of astrological calendar which was not put into use. Cf, on
this calendar, Le Calendrier des Y 12, by E, Chavannes: J. A., Nov.
Dec. 1890, p. 463-510.-The T"ai tch'u calendar established in 104
was based upon an alleged relation between the measure of time and
musical proportions on a scale of 81 divisions. Cf. Tsien Han shu :
kiv, xxi.
989) For instance Han Wu-Ti, in 138 B.c. collected in the park of
Shang-lin near the capital Tchang-ngan, all the plants and fruits which
could be gathered from all parts of the Empire, numbering 3000, (cf.
san fu hwang tu, iv, 1 v) not all different. The poet and statesman
Szema Siang-ju who was present at the opening of the park, described
it in a poem, some parts of which have been preserved by Szema Tsien,
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
231
She Ri, kiv. 117, fol. 5 sq.; numerous names mentioned there, when
identified, cannot fail to be highly iuteresting.
990) Of. supra, $ 242.-For all these names and identifications, cf. E.
Bretschneider, On the study and value of Chinese botanical works, p.
15 ; Botanicum Sinicum, ii, 29, 353.-Also Pèn tsao kang muh; Han
shu; Poh wuh tchi; l'ai ping yii lan, 996, 3, 0,- The hu there denotes
the bearded populations of the west.
991) The small garlic had been introduced by the Early Chinese civili-
sers. Cf. infrd.
992) This hu ma or sesamum which was known by that name to Hwai-
nan-tze who died 1 2 2 B.C., was first eaten by one Lu-an-sheng in the
Tchang-lo palace of Tchang-an, Cf. San fu hwang tu, iii, 7 v, and
ii, 2 ; T.P.Y.L., 989, 5 v.-On the earlier introduction of Sesamum,
cf. supra $ 203 ; for the identification of hu-ma with the older Ku-sheng
cf, the Wu she pên tsuo : T.P., 1.c.
993) Ci, my note on The Pomegranate from Persia to China, 116 B.C.
in B. &O.R., vi, 239-240. The fruit was coming then from Tu-lim,
for Tuuriva, one of the two satrapies which the Arsacidæ had wrested
from Eucratides (Strabo, XI, ii, 2).—The pomegranates of Khodjend
were famous in the middle ages as shown in E. Bretschneider, Medicv.
Res., i, 19-20, but the Chinese sources of the 1st cent. do not mention
it amongst the products of Ferghana and suggest therefore that it
was not yet cultivated there.
994) King-tsing (12590-7698 Bas.) or Essence of fright, also called
tchen-ling-wun or marvellous pills for awe, fan-sheng hiang or return-
ing-life spice, kioh-se hiang or rej cting-death spice.-The name of the
island, mod. Tsü-kuh, 8365-7312 Bas., anc, T sū-kwet, may be that
of Socotra. The identification of this spice thus carried through the
sea and continent would be interesting.-On a use of that drug un-
der Han Wu-ti, therefore in 87 B.C. his last year, cf. 1.P. 981, 3.
995) Shih tchou ki.--.T.P.Y.L., 983, 7,
996) Supra, $ 240.
997) Wang tze nien, Shih a ki. Shen-yoh, Sung chau, #T.P.Y.L.,
808, 1-2.—The amber in pieces was mounted into a golden pillow for
Li Küan, the favorite concubine of the Emperor. Ibid.
998) Tsien Han shu, 9:5, Si yü tchuan, Art, Ke-pin.--- In the Si yü tchu
kwuh tchi, of A,D, 400, we hear of a fable connecting amber with burnt
wasps' nets of the Sandy bank of the river of Mu-l or Merv.
This river is the Murgab. (Cf. T. P. Y. L. 808, 2). Does this
not refer to the ants, flies and other insects often found embed-
ded into it which show that it belongs to late tertiary age. The
amber trade from the north-sea and Baltic shores began early as shown
by the beads of Baltic amber found at Mycenæ (cf. Schliemann's Ex-
cavations by Dr. C. Schuchhardt, p. 196).- Amber, according to Per-
rot-Chipiez has been found everywere in Italy, doubtfully in Sardinia,
and not in Egypt, Assyria, Syria nor Cyprus. (Cf. Hist. Art Ant.
i, 840 ; ii, 768-9 ; iii, 54-5; iv, 103). Cl. also D'Arbuis de Jub-
ainville, Les Premiers habitants de l' Europe, 1885, p. 330-2.- O.
Schrader, Zur Bernsteinfrage : Naturwiss. Beitr, z. Geogr. n. Kultur-
gesch. Dresden, 1888, p. 177, sq.- Kirwan, Les Conifères, ii, 25 ; V.
Founel, Vieux Neuf, iii, 668.-Prof. Clifford Allbutt has lately lec-
tured on the trade in Amber in Ancient times : Cambridge-Antiquarian
232
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Society, May 17, 1893. It seems that Amber was found also in
other places. Ctesias in 400 B.C. spoke of amber found near a river
Hypobarus in India, which is a corrupt information, as no amber has
ever been found in India (E. Bunbury, Hist. Anc. Geogr., vol. i.) It
refers probably to the Red Amber of the Nicobars, where its abund-
ance has made it an object of trade since an unknown date (cf. Rashid-
eddin (1300) and Barbossa (1510), in Yule-Burnell, Gloss. Anglo-
Indian, p, 478. Cf, also Hypobarus with Barusoe, name of the Nico-
bars in Ptolemy.- A Chinese itinerary of the Ming period speaks of
Amber in Oman, (cf. E. Bretschneider, Chinese intercourse with the
countries of C. and W. Asice 2:2 the 15th cent., Part ii, 1877), and the
statement has been confirmed by the recent discoveries of large quanti-
ties of Amber in that region, Perhaps it was also alluded to in Pliny,
37, 39 when he speaks of the amber of Carmanic (Kerman, East
South of the Persian Gulf, not Germania). Dr. A. B. Meyer, Wurde
Bernstein von Hinterindien nach den Westen exportirt ? Dresden, Isis,
1893, who has collected there besides the passages of Ctesias and Pliny
alluded to here, some other statements from ancient Authors, thinks
that they refer to the amber of Burma. But we cannot accept this
suggestion, becausc Burmesc amber was not known at that time.-Cf.
besides : K.G. Jacob : Ncue Beitrage zum Studium des Kaspisch-balt-
ischen Handels 272 Mittle-alter', I. Neue Studium; den Bernstein im
Orient betreffend : Z.D.M.G., xliii., 353-87.-W. Fischer, Der Weg
des steinzeitlichen Bernstein-Hundels : Globus, ix., 268f., 1991.-L.
Wilser, Bernstein ud Bronze in den Urzeit, 1892 Globus, lxi., 184-
6.-0. Schneider, Nochmals zur Bernsteinfrage, 1891: 2.D.M.G.,
xlv., 239-44.-P. Orsi, Ueber præhistorischen Bernstein aus Sicilien,
1892: Z. f. Ethnol., xxiii,, 690 f.
999) Cf. F. Hirth. Roman Orient, p. 245.
1000) The alum-shale, Fan-shih or treillis-stone, also called yü nieh or
feather-mud, is mentioned in the Pen-T's'ao, 100 B.C. as coming from
the West of the Ho, and in the Fantze ki jan of our era as imported
through Wu-tu. Later on it came through S.W. Kansub (Lung-ti). -
· It is only in the 5th cent. that we hear of alum found in China, at
Kien-ping (mod. Wu-shan in N.E. Szetchuuen) according to the King
tchou ki by Tcheng Hung-tchi. Cf. T.P.Y.L. 988, 4.- Fourteen lo-
calities of alum are mentioned in Puapelly's list. The great impor-
tation of alum is now from China. Edw. Balfour, Cyclop. Ind, i, .-
The source of the imported Fan shih is not stated. Let us remark
that the famous Peh shan, near Kutcha produces alum.
1001) Wu-tu, was 80 li W. of pres. Tcheng, in Kiai-tchou near the
borders of Tibet, on the frontiers of Hansuh and Szetchuen, Its posi-
tion was important as commanding the routes. Supra n. 919.
Sect. D. Forergn Sea-trade and Official opening of the South.
a) South-East and South.
249. The Hwang-tchi or yellovy fingered sea-traders of Hormuz contin-
ued to frequent the non-Chinese coasts of South China until the conquest
of the latter and their reduction in Chinese provinces, 111 B.C. As was
•
23 3
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
the case for the previous .centuries, the re is generally the same absence
of Records, but the imported objects are historical witnesses of the Indo-
Persian trade with the Non-Chinese states of the South which was then
going on, and of the arrival of other competitors in the field as we shall
see further on 1002
250. On the South-East the states of Tung-hai in Tchehkiang and
of Min-yueh in Fuhkien had acknowledged the Suzerainty of the First
Chinese Emperor. In 192, the first of the two, faithful to the Han
dynasty saw its name changed into Tung-ngou, and in 138 its population
removed into Anhwei. The Min-yueh, on the contrary was submitted
to the Empire of Nan-yueh from 179 to 138 B.C. ; it was then rebaptized
Tung-yueh, and finally conquered in 110 B.C. by the Chinese, who how-
erer did not occupy it and left it vacant, i.e. in the hands of the natives,
after having removed all the chiefs and leaders.
251. On' the South was the Empire oi Nan-YUEH, founded in 204
B.c. by Tchao-to a rebel general of She Hwang-ti, 1003 Having assumed
authority over the territorý corresponding to the modern provinces of
Kwang-tung and Kwang-si, 1004 he proclaimed himself Martial king of
Nan-yueh, a title which was acknowledged by the Chinese in 195 when
Luh-kia was sent for that purpose on Mission to him, 1005 In 179 hav-
ing extended his diminion over the Min-yueh in the East, and in the
West over the Kingdom of Ngou-Lo, 1006 he assumed the Imperial dignity,
which however was never admitted by the Chinese in their dealings with
him. The Ngou-lo was the present Tung-king and part of Annam,
Tchao-t'o died in 137 and 26 years later under his 4th successor, his
en pire was conquered and annexed by the Chinese who divided it into
nine provinces.
On the west stood the Kingdom of Tsen in Yunnan commanding the
Shan-Burmese trade route, which must be reserved for later paragraphs
* (272 ff.).
It was necessary to notice these general circumstances to appreciate
more easily the following importations which occurred at that time be-
fore the Chinese conquest, and thus save a repetition of the facts.
252. Sugar-of-palm was heard of in China before the Sugar of Cane.
A fabled entry in the Shan Hai hing, concerning the Puh-se Min or
Immortals (i.e. the Richis who eat the Soma or drug immortality1007)
tells us that the sweet tree is their food. It was part of the tales told
by the Erythræan sea traders. 1008 Kü-yuen in the Li-sao (314 B.C.)
speaks of the tche-tsiang, or sweet-of-tree, which is understood as a refer-
234
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
ence to the same sort of Sugar, then introduced in the Ts'u kingdom.
Sugar-ot-Cane, called in Chinese Shek-mih or Stone honey was
not heard of before the beginning of the Empire. A doubtful tradltion
says that the Hindu Sramanas of Shantung1009 were supplied with some
shek-honey for their own wants. A more satisfactory statement is that
Wu-tchu, 1010 king of Min-yueh, whose capital city was at Tung-yeh (pres.
Fuhtchou of Fuhkien) sent to Kao-tsu, founder of the Han dynasty,
therefore within the years 201-195 B.C., two huh measures of shek-mih or
Sugar.1071 .It was reknown to dissipate the bad effects of intoxication.
The next importation took place by the central route of the West, as
about 100 B.C., shek-y, also sugar-of-cane, was to be found at Wu-tu1012
of S.W. Kansuh). In the two names, the sound shek is prominent and
represents undoubtedly the Sanskrit name Sarkara of the article. India
was for long the sole sugar producing country, 1013 Sugar-cane which is
not indigenous in Indo-China,1014 was only introduced there afterwards,
1015 and in China, near Canton, not before 280 A.D., from Cambo-
dja.2016
253. Another trade of older standing with the same mariners was that
of big pearls from the Persian Gulf.1017 One Tchu-tchuig, in 187-140
B.C. was trading in pearls at Kwei-ki. 1018 A pearl of three inches was
worth 500 kin of gold, of four inches 700 kin of gold. About 156 B.C.
the same merchant had several tens of pearls of three inches.1019
254. The rising of the Nan-yuch kingdom attracted the foreign trade
to the region of present Canton as shown by the following instances of
Indo-Persian articles.
Jasmine, Chinese ye-si-ming, from the Persian yasemin ras found
in Nan-yueh by Luh-kia, the Chinese envoy to Tchao-t'o in 195 B.C. He
reported that the ye-si-ming and the mo-li, both fragrant plants had been
introduced by bearded foreigners (hu jen) of the West, and adopted there
because the local grains had no taste and the flowers no fragrance.1020
Mo-li, from the Tamil Mallai is the Jasminum S a m ba c.1021
255. In 179 B.c. the King of Nan-yueh sent to the Chinese Emper-
ors, as presents1022 : a pair of pih, or round rank-token, of white gem,
1000 kingfishers, ten horns (of rhinoceros), 500 purple cowries, a case of
cassia grnb.2023, 40 pairs of living kingfishers, and two pairs of peacocks,
The last article is interesting. It is one of the first appearances of
these much vaunted birds exported by Indian trade since the days of
salomon2024. The length of the journey and lack of comfort at sea on
the smaller ships of older times had probably prevented their successful
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
235
importation as far as China with any regularity1025,
256. The next western products were corals and henna. Corals,
which appeared c. 140 B.C.202 6or before, indicate a new source of sea-trade,
if not the appearance of new sea-traders. Tchao-t’o, king of Nan-yueh
(d. įn 137 B.c.) sent to Han Wu-ti for the Tsih tsao pond of the Shang-
lin park, inangurated in 138 B.C., four hundred and sixty-two stalks of
coral, shan-hu, which were arranged into a large tree, 12 spans bigh,
having one stern and three branches. This coral was of the red sort as
shown by the name given to it by Tchao-t'o 10:7, and therefore must have
come from the Mediterranean, the only sea where true red coral, coral-
lium rubrum, is found1028. This name fung-ho (litt. beacon-fire tree,
-shu) reminds us of the Hind. Manga, while the other name, sham-hu,
transmitted from its native country is probably a corruption of a Semitic
word connected with the hebrew ramuth. We learn therefore from these
names that the coral in quoction was carried by the Red Sea trade to
one of the emporia of the Indian coast and from there to China. The
circumstance is interesting as a forerunner of the arrival of the Red Sea
traders themselves, if it does not indicate it as an actual fact,
257, Henna, the Lawsonia alba, in Chinese the finger nail flower,
tchi-lcia hwa (probably from the Skr, salachera), was brought by bearded
foreigners (said by a later source to be from the Tats’in Kwoh) who plant-
ed it in Nan-hai1029 (South of Kwangtung and Kwangsi), perhaps at
the same time as corals or more likely some time afterwards.3030 It is
spoken only because of its fragrance, although the name is suggestive
enough of its use by the foreigners, and the fact of its plantation is in-
teresting, since it was the plant of the Hwang-tchi or Yellow fingers of
Hormuzia.
258. In 127 B.C.1931. some fragrant plants shen-tsing, also called tsuan-
mu (from an original word connected with the Arab sumbul)1032, were
brought from the country of Po-d941033 (in N.W. Sumatra). This I take
to be Nard. The event suggests some remarks. The necessarily fre-
quent stations of the mariners in the Sunda isles for revictualling on their
route to Chinese lands led gradually to the establishment of regular sta-
tions, which in some cases developed into small colonies. It may be that
this place was one of them which had temporarily acquired some import-
ance.
NOTES
1012) Cf, below par. 256..
1003) Cf. Mayers, Chinese R.M., 727, 234, 50.
236
ORIGIN OP THE EARLY
1004) Tºu sui, the first general sent in 220 by She Hwang-ti to con-
quer the South was killed in 218 in fighting not far from Canton.
His successor Jen Hiao was successful and conquered in 215 the re-
gions of Kwei-lin, Nan-hai and Siang-kiun, corresponding to the
provinces of Kwangtung a.id Kwangsi, but not beyond as sometimes
stated by unaware writers. Jen Hiao died in 209 and advised Tchao-
t'o to make himself independent, which he did the same year.
1005) She K'i, 113, ? 2.
1006) Ibid. fol. 3, 30.-Tchao-t'o declared himself having extended his
authority eastwards as stated, and in the west as far as the Ngou-Lo
state. The denominations in the historical geography Hoang viet dia
du chi of Apnam, show that the tivo provinces of Nan-hai and Siang
pere extended in a somewhat curious, though intelligible manner. The
Nan-hai extended from Kwangtung along the sea-coast over the delta
of Tungking. The Siang kiun which comprehended the savage and
unruly parts, extended, south of Kwei-lin or North Kwangsi, through
the centre of the province westwards around the Nan-hai kiun and
southwards of the delta as far as the present Nghê-an province. - The
Ngou-lo kcwoh had been founded in the middle of the third cent.
among the Lo-yueh at Ki kien (near pres. Si-ngan in S.W. Kwangsi)
by a son of a former King of Shuh (destroyed in 316 ) who assumed
the title of An-yang wang. He figures in the Annam history as the
second dynasty called Thuc, and the house of Tchao-t'o, as the third
dynasty called Trieu.
1007) Cf. par. 122, notes 455-458, 475,
1008) Shan Hai king, xv, 2 v., Tung-hai tchi wai.--The statement is
an amplification of another entry, kiv. 71, 3, Hai wai nan king, which
says that this people of black colour live and never die, The Comm,
says that the shrub of immortality grew on the Yuen-kiu (one of the
Fairy islands).
1009) Supra, par. 227.
1010) Wu-tchu received in 201 B.C. his investiture from the Han Em-
peror who died in 195 B,C.-On Wu-tchu, cf. Szema Tsien, She-ki,
114, 10.–The huh or hul was a measure of three t'nu or pecks.
'For the event, cf. Liu Hin, Si king tsa ki, of our era ; T.P.Y.L.,
988, 50.-On Min-yueh, supra par. 201.
1001) Szema Siang-ju, Lo-ho.-E. Bretschneider, Study and Value, p.
46.-Sugar was known to Pliny only as a medicinal drug.
1012) Pen tsao king.--T.P. ibid.-On Wu tu, supr, n. 1004.- We
must also mention the fr-tze (cf. bish, in Beng. Hind.) or Aconitum
introduced there at that time. Ci. Fan tze ki jan : T.P. 990. 1 v. ;
and note 722 add.
1013) Nearchos and Megasthenes have spoken of the Sugar-cane of In-
dia. History speaks of the Ikshyâkus, the sons of the Sugar-cane or
of the sweet flag (skr. ikshu), one of whom Iksl vâku Virudhaka
Ancient king of Pộtala, was reckoned as an ancestor of Sakyâmuni.
Cf. Rig-Veda, x, 60.-Zimmer, Attindische Leben, p. 130.-J. Eitel,
Skr. Chin. dict., s.v.
1014) Dr. C. Thorel, naturalist of the Voyage d' Exploration en Indo-
Chine, 1866-8, states it most possitively, vol. II, p. 42.8: “ Nulle part
nous n'arons trouvé la canne-à-suore croissant à l'état spontané en
Indo-Chine.”
li
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
237
.
1015) It was only in 25? A.D., that some cakes made of Sugar-cane were
received from Tungking, and that Chinese geographies mention Su-
gar-cane, there. Cf. Kiang picio tch'uan ; Wei luh ti li tchi ; Nan
tchou y wuh tchi ; Nan fang ts’ao muh tchuang; T.P.Y.L., 874, 4-5 v.
· 1016) At Ho-yuen, near Canton. Cf. Wu she pen tsao ; T.P.Y.L.,
988, 5v.
1017) Supra, par. 203.-The pearls of Ceylon were small. Cf. below n.
1112.
1018) Where a Market had been established two centuries previously, cf.
par. 198.
1019) Cf, Lieh sien tch'uan by Liu-Hiang, B.c. 80-9.--T,P.Y.L., 803, 6.
1020) Lub Kia, Han Yueh heng ki ; Nan fang ts'ao muh tchuang ; W.
F. Mayers, Henna and the Jasmine in China : N. and Q., Hongkong,
1868, ii., 33.-Luh Kia's biography in She Ki, 97, 6-9.
1021) No explanation had been made yet of Mo-li.
1022) Cf. with the list of presents sent by the king of Min-yueh in 312
B.C. Supra, par. 202.
12:3) The po nm. explains that on cassia trees one finds some grubs
hoh-tchung (cl. 142-4018–9589 Bas.) which feed of cassia and are
not bitter; soaking them one gets some edible honey, cf. Ku wen
shih y sin pien, v, 22.-I suspect the ko-tchung (10377.9589 Bas.)
of the Yung-tchang trade were the same grubs.
1024) In Chinese Kung tsiolc, (Bas 2061-11882). We may probably
in Kung find a phonejic imitatio. of -Chin, in Sikhin, the Skr, name
of the bird.- Some western people prese ited some Kung-tsiok, litt.
great sparrows, in Tchou Tc:eng Wang's reign (Tchou shu).--Kop-
hen country produces peacock. (Han shu).-The South Barbarian
country of Tsen (Yunnan fu) produces peacocks (Suh Fan Shu) -
The country of Tiao-.chi near the Western Ocean produces peacocks
and lio :S. (Suh Han Shu; Tchang P'an, Han ki), Cf. T.P.Y.L.
924, 4-5,- On the introduction of peacocks from India in Babylonia,
cf. the Jataka Buveru, tr. T. W. Rhys Davis: B.&O.R., iv, 7-9.
1025) Peacocks are mentioned in tie Ele. ies of Tsu. c. 300 B.c. cf.
T.P Y.L., 924, 6.---Supra, par. 210.
1026) Coral was spoken of and described by Szema Siang-ju, in his
Shang lin fu, cf. Khang hi tze tien, s.v., 96, 5, f. 12 ; and T.P., 807, 5.
1027) San fr hwang tu, iv., 6 v. The story says that Tchao-t'o in send-
ing them said that they were Fung-ho (e. beacon) trees, bright and
shining even at night. The same text is given in Liu-hin, Si King
tsa ki of our era. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 807-4.
1028) Coral fishery was carried on in the Red Sea in later times to the
knowledge of the Chinese, as shown by the notice of the Siu T'ang shu,
kiv. 221. Cf. F. Hirth, China and Roman Orient, 59, 76, 246. Dr. E.
Bretschneider, Mediæv, Res., i., 151, quoting the old Tang shu, kiv.
258 b, ühinks that it refers to the Mediteiranean fisheries, but the text
of the Sin T"ang shu does not permit this interpretation.--The Hou
Flan shu, kiv. 88, and the Wei-lioh, mention coral as a product of Tatsin.
1029) Cf, cupra, par, 206.-F. Hirth, Chinci, p. 268-9.- A. de Candolle,
Origin of Cultivated Plants, p. 138.-Henna in China, by Cantoni-
ensis, W.F. Mayers, H.T. Hance, E.C. Taintor, Thomas Sampson, in
the N. and Q. of Hong-kong, 1867-68.
1030) Henna was not brought to the Chinese capital before 111 B.C., i.e.
238
after the conquest.
Should Tchao-tio' have had any specimens of it
1031) Cf. Tang mở 7g ki by Kwoh-tze Hếng, a contemporary_TP.Y.
L. 983, 7v.
1032) Cf. Edw. Balfour, Cyclop. Ind., iji., 719, 765.
1033) Po-thi, 4924-7018, or 2924-01, 56 Bas.-(Pulo) Perjah or Pat-
jah is the indigenous name of a part of Sumatra. Cf. R. D, Verbeck,
Sumatra, sa Géologie et ses mines d'or : Annal. Extrem, Orient, i, 186.
H. Cordier, Odorie de Pordenone, 1891, p. 1 14.- A.H. Keane, Ethno-
log, app. in A.R. Wallace, Australasia, p. 653, gives Pertya. The name
in question is perhaps related to that of the Pasei kingdom, on which
cf, H. Yule, Marco Polo, ii., 270-7.
CHAP. VII.-Sixta PERIOD : 221 B.C.-A.D. 220.
Sect. D. 6) Changes and Competition in the Sea trade.
259. A great change occurred about that time with the western Sea
traders frequenting the Chinese seas. The progressive advance of the
Chinese power over the land had gradually driven them away from the
emporia 'of their selection. Let us remark that they always chose, for
their trading stations, places on the sea-coast at proximity of the Chin-
ese, but not within the Chinese dominion. What their object was is
clear enough. They wanted to be enabled to trade easily with the Chin-
ese centres, without loosing their own independance, and running the risks
of seizure of their goods or extra mulcts and taxes. At first when the
Chinese were ettled chiefly around the basin of the Hwang-ho, the
240
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
greater part of the remainder of the country being uncivilised and wild,
they established their settlements on the South side of the Shantung
peninsula, in the Gulf of Kiao-tchou, which they frequented during three
centuries (c. 675-375 B.c.). When the civil wars and the advance o
the Ts’--Chinese drove them away from Lang-ya and T'sihmoh, they went
to Kwei-ki, near pres. Ning-po, and to the entrance of the Min river,
near Fuhtchou. The first was given up when the Han Empire extended
its sway there in 201 B.C., and the second when internecine wars (140-
110 B,c.) disturbed the country. They shifted their quarters to the An-
namese coast and the S.W. of Hainan, trading with the Nan-yueh, near
the present Pakhoi leading to the Hêng shan market1034.
260. The Indo-Persians of Hormuz and the Sabæans of the Arabian
coast, hitherto hand-in-hand, ceased to be alone to share the spoils of the
Chinese trade. New competitors had come with the Tatsin traders of the
Red Sea who had began to appear1035. At this juncture the older tra-
ders established stations and marts at all the points of vantage. The
emporium of Kattigara was founded on the southern borders of the Nan-
yueh (in pres. Ha-tinh, S.E,1of Nghê-an provincelo 6); and Hwang-tchi
mariners acquainted with the pearl-fisheries of the Persian gulf and of
Ceylon, discovered pearls on the W. coast of Hainan and created the
pearl-fisheries of Tchu-yai, litt. the Coast of Pearls-1037, (pres. Yai tchou).
The Chinese conquest of 111 B.C. made amongst others, special districts
for both; the latter under the precited name, and the other under that
of Nhit-nam or South of the Sun, probably because of its position as the
southernmost point of their dominion. As in the previous circumstances
of a similar character the Erythræans shifted away once more their cen-
tral quarters from the Chinese possible supervision. They settled west of
Cape Cambodia, East side of the gulf of the Siam, in Tcham, the Zabar
of Ptolemy, Tchu-po of the Chinese, and Sanf of the Arabs1038. It was
there that the merchantmen from Oman landed with his companions
the Hindu Kun-tien who founded the Cambodjan kingdom 1039. Known
to the Chinese as the Funam, or Phnom kingdom it absorbed the old
Icham and remained for several centuries the great centre of foreign
trade east and west 1040. We cannot therefore be surprised that when
Alexander trading agent of Maēs Titianus went to Kattigare about 100
A.D., nearly all the geographical names he met with were Hindu
names1041
261. Hêng shan remained for centuries the principal market for exotic
goods imported by foreign merchantmen.1042 It was situated, east (not
CHINESE CIVILISATIONY
241
ST
.
west) of Nan-ning in S.W. Kwangsi, on the Yü Kiang leading by the
Pearl river to Canton. The nearest sea shore for landing goods was near
the present Pakhoi, and it was there that the merchantmen used to come
after or not a landing at Nhit-nam (Kattigara). It was called Hop-pu
or Estuary of Meeting, which became the name of the district in 111 B.C.
These circumstances are interesting to remember, as they explain much
of subsequent history. Canton did not begin to be an arrival port for
foreign trade before 159 A.D.,1043 and then only yet as a secondary sta-
tion, the first being always Nhitnam.
NOTES-
1034) On this important market place of old, cf, par. 261.
1035) About 140 and 136 B.C. Supr par. 256-7. On Tatsin as Tars-
hish, cf. infra par. 263.
1036) At the time of the conquest by Tchao-t'o, in 179 B.C. the region
was still wild and not separately mentioned. In 111 B.C. it became
Nhit-nam. When after 40 years severance from the Chinese domin-
ion, 186-226 A.D., the court of Wo at Nanking reestablished Chinese
authority over the country, and gave fresh administrative denomina-
tions, that province received the name of Kotik (Kotak, Kurduk) which
shows a close connection with the Hindu Dame. Cf. Fang yü tchi :
T.P.Y,L., 172, 11 .–Hoang viet da du cha (Annamese), ii, 31 0.
Dr. F. Hirth, Zur Geschichte des Antilcen Orienthandels, Berlin, 1889,
p. 19, has justly pointed out the connection of that name with that of
Kattigara. The notes 329 and 331 must be amended and completed
by the statements here, as Kesho-Hanoi was at the place.
1037) The Yen tieh lun of 86-63 B.C. mentions irregular pearls coming
from there through the Kwei-lin district. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 803, 40,-
In A.D. 87 a pearl of three inches, and in 103, one of five inches came
through the Yü lin district. Of. Ku kin tchu by Teui Pau of 350
A.D. Cf. T.P.Y.L. 803, 5.-The latter may not have come from the
Hainan fisheries as the market of Hêng shan (cf. par. 261) seems
to be the place referred to.-Grosier, Chine, i, 201, mentions oyster-
pearls on the coasts of Hainan.--The Han shu says that at l'chu-yai,
the habits and customs were like those of the Hwang-tchi, cf. T.P.Y.L.,
785, 2v.-Pearl fisheries stopped since as not productive existed in
the xvth century on the coasts of the Kwang-tung province, prefec-
tures of Lien-tchou and Leyotchou. Cf. Dr. J. Macgowan, Pearls
and Pearl malcing : Shanghai almanack, 1855; and W. F. Mayers,
Ancient Pearl Fisheries in the province of Kwang-tung : N. and G.
on China and Japan, 1867, i, 1-2.-The Chinese possess particular
skill in drilling holes into the pearls, (China, Port Catalogues at Ex-
hibition of Vienna, 1873, p. 427). They may have learned it from
the Pearl traders of Hormuz who were celebrated for their ability
under that respect, and to whom Ceylonese pearls were sent for that
purpose.
1038) Tchu-po. 4046-4924 Bas., which was not Burma as unwarrantedly
stated by some, was a name very little used by the Chinese, because
that of Funam overshadowed it altogether. For the identification of
242
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Zabai with the later Sanf and their geographical position, cf.H. Yule,
Sea-route to China, p. 9.
1039) This interesting fact, yet unnoticed, is reported in the Funam
tu suh tchuan of Kang-tai, 3rd cent. cf. T.P.Y.L., 787,4.-Kun-
Tien represents the two names Kumé and Thong of this founder in the
Chronique des Anciens Rois du Cambodge, trad, et. coum. by E, Ay-
monnier, in Cochinchine Française. Excursions et Reconnaissances,
1880, p. 149.
1040) On the expedition of Kangtai, cf. below par. 253.
1041) Quoted in Marinus Tyrius whose work was made use of by Ptole-
my. Col, H. Yule was the first to notice the fact in his Sources and
Authorities for India in W. Smith's Atlas of Ancient Geography, 1874,
p. 22-4 ; Oldest sea-route to China, 1882, p. 11.-Dr. Schliehter, The
African and Asiatic coasts of the Indian Ocean in Antiquity, 1891,
· gives no new information on this subject, but he places Kattigara in
Borneo, overlooking the old Chinese evidence on the subject.
1042. It is mentioned in these terms by the Nan she in 347 A.D, The Chin-
ese officials of Kiao-tchou and Jih-nan used to levy from 20 to 30 per
cent on these goods, and the kings of Tchampa (Lam-ap) were then
desirous to extend their own frontier north to that market.-M. Archi-
bald Colquhoun has visited the place in his journey Across Chryse, 1883,
i, 126 sq.-It was spoken of as an important mart as late as the 12th
century in the Kwei hai yü heng tchi by Fan shi hu.--Its present name
fs Hwang or Hung tchou.
1043) Cf. below § 265.
262. In 109-108 B.C., corals were brought for sale to the market of
Heng-shan :1044the Tatsin men presented a hwa-ti niu (flower-hoof-bull)1045
and shewed how to make use of the leaves of the Mulan1046(magnolia ob-
ovata, Roxb.) This is apparently the third recorded appearance in China
seas of the traders from the Red Sea. There may have been some more
in the interval, and come traces of them will perhaps be disclosed by fur-
ther researches. But it is the first time that their name appears connected
with the event in so early a source ; as the authority, so far as their name
is concerned in the preceding cases, is later in date, and therefore may have
been completed from some knowledge acquired in later years.
263. Much has been written about the origin of that name of Tatsin,
which became that by which the Roman Empire and specially the Rom-
an Orient was known to the Chinese, but no satisfactory explanation has
been given as yet. The ground is clearer now than it was in previous in-
vestigations on the matter, and much of the dimness has disappeared
10:7. Let us remark that the name cannot mean Great Ts’in, or Greater
Ts’ın, because there is no Lesser Ts'in, and that Ta great is never used
by the Chinese in foreign names but for that distinctive purpose ; there-
fore Tats’in must be taken as a whole. When the Symbol Ts'in repre-
sented the names of the N.W. State of the Chinese agglomeration and
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
243
JUU
of the Empire in the 3rd century B.C. it was still read Tan, Ten. But in
the first century a wave of phonetic changes bad come over the land by the
supremacy of the Honan dialect for court dialect by the Han dynas ty,
and the older sound Ten had become tjen, tsen, tsin. At present it is
tch’in 2.0:48.
Now recent researches1049 have shown that the centre of the Tats'in
traders arriving then into China was the Red sea and that their em-
poriuma was Rekem, (later Petra )10:0 near the old sea port of Ezionga-
ber, in the Ailatha gulf, from where Hiram and Salomon, Jehoshaphat
and Abaziah1051 with more or less success, had started their Tarshish
navy. As an emporium it began to grow as an independent state afier
that Tyr had been taken and more or less ruited five times successively,
by Alexander and the Ptolemies (from 332 to 287 B.c.) and that soine
of her sea merchants had sought for other quarters for their enterprise.
It continued to develop nothwithstanding the emporia built by the Ptole-
mies on the N.W. side of the Red Sea to attract the old Phoenician tra-
ders and their commerce, and lost its independance by the hands of the
Romans only in 137 A.D. 1052. The sea-going trade ships of Rekei2.
Ailana were Tarshish ships, or ships like those once going to Tarshish,
anıl we think that the Chinese Tats'in represents simply Tarshis) 1013,
which they have easily mistaken for a name of country. This solution
fits well enough with the conclusions arrived at on other grounds. Thie
Tarshish ships that went to China in 140, 127, 109, 73 B.C.1954 were not
Greek, still less Roman; they belonged to the independent trade of Rc-
kem-Ailana, plying in concurrence with the Greeks, with all the boldness
and experience of their elders, the Phænician Mariners, and their first
importation in China was that of Red corals from the Mediterranean (c!.
$ 256).
264. Greco-Romans from Egypt were trading with India in the first
century, but it was by mesaventure that one of them reached Ceylon about
41 A.D.1055, and apparently as a consequence that about 47 A.D., Hippa-
lus of Alexandria was the first Greek navigator who availed himself of
the monsoon winds2056. About 85 A.D., they did not as yet go beyond the
South of India according to the evidence of the Periplus1057. The first
quarter of the second century saw the Greco-Romans, then masters of
the Tarshish-Tatsin navy in relation with South Burma hi058, and pro-
bably not as far east as Kattigara. The latter probability results from
the report of Alexander trading agent of Maes Titianus, who seems to
have gone no further than Burma and have heard of the further journey
244
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
from Hindu Mariners. We do not know of any Chinese evidence in fa-
vour of an arrival of Greco-Romans at that time in any part of China.
265. In 166 A.D. the famous Roman mission alleged to have been sent
by Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (An-tun in Chinese) was really the first
direct arrival of Romans in the Flowery Land.1059 [t has been suggested that
this was only a private expedition of traders who availed themselves of
the name of their Emperor as a commendation1060. The circumstances
of the case justify this view. The Parthian war begun in 162 had inter-
rupted the silk trade which used to be carried inland, and commercial
interest into a trade producing a profit of ten and hundredfold per cent,
was a powerful inducement for merchants to make by themselves an attempt
to open a direct intercourse. The object of the mission required that
they should be well received, and in order to secure the good will of the
Emperor and officials, according to the long-established practice of forei-
gners, they offered ivory, rhinoceros horns and tortoise shells all articles
of Annam and neighbouring trade, which they must have procured at Kat-
tigara, and which we should understand as choiced articles and not as
staple goods. The result was a beginning and the continuation after-
wards of an intercourse which recorded in general terms in the Annals,
is not mentioned again, but in exceptional cases1061. For instance in 226
A.D. a Roman merchant who had come to the court of Wo at Nanking,
was entrusted with 20 Negrito Pygmies1062 to bring home with him, but
the scheme fell through; and in 284 an important arrival of Roman
merchants which took place at Canton, offered 30000 rolls of aloes paper
which paper appears to have been then manufactured in Annam, or
perhaps in Funam 1063.
NOTES--
1044) Cf, Shuh y ki : T.P.Y.L., 807, 4 v. The text says in Yü-lin
kiun, where the market was.
1015) The hwa-ti niu is described as six feet high, swift and powerful,
with a long wagging tail and four-branched horns. Sent to the capi-
tal it was employed to draw cart-loads of bronze and stone for the
Wang sien gallery (then in construction at Tchang-an); the prints
of its hoofs on the stony-road were like flowers, whence the soubri-
quet given to it. Cf, the l'ung ming ki by Iwoh-tze Heng of our
era : T.P.Y.L. 900, 1 v. ; 958, 6-7. This text is often corrupted
in quotations as in the case translated by M. E. H, Parker. China
Review, xix, 191.
1046) Tung ming ki, ibid. The juice was used in dyeing a black colour,
Cf. Kwoh-Poh, &c. in E. Bretschneider, Botan. Sin., ii, 18.- It is
undoubtedly that use which was shown by the merchants in question.
1047) In The Chinese name of the Roman Empire : Acad. Oct. 1, 81:
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
245
we had suggested that Tatan was for Dadan a name of Syria. But
since Tatsin does not appear early enough to have been yet Patan, and
that it refers to the upper Red sea and not to Syria, the suggestion
is untenable.
1048) Herewith the list of the reading of Ts'ın in the various dialect s.
Pekinese tch’in, Shanghai dzing, Nin gpo dzing, Wentchon zang, Fut-
chou ching, Amoy chin, Hakka ts'in, Canton ts’un, Koixan chin, Japa-
nese shin, Andam ten ; in the dictionaries of M. H. A. Giles and of
Dr. S. W. Williams.
1049) By Prof. F. Hirth, in his China and the Roman Orient, frequently
quoted in our pages.
1050) Cf. on Petra, Mount Seir, Sinai anp Palestine, 1884, and The
Rock-hewn Capital of Idumæa, by Prof. Hull : Victoria Institute,
May 2, 87.
1051) I, Reg. x, 22.--II, Par. ix, 21 ; xx, 36.
1052) On the history of Rekem and the facts alluded to here, cf, Era-
thosthen ap. Strabo, xvi, 4, 2, 21.- Agatharchid, 87.- Diod. Sic., iii,
42.--Dron. Cassius, lxviii, 14.- Ammian. Marcell. xiv, 8, 13.-Also
E. Bunbury, Hist. Anc. Geogr., i, 647; ii, 59, 160, 167, 321.-G
Rawlinson, Phirnicia, 235-7. .
1053) On the meaning of Tarshish ships ; cf. Ign. Guidi, Gengraphia
Antica dell' Arabia : Bull. Soc. Geogr. Ital, 1872. vii, 501 sq.--A.
H. Sayce, The Races of the Old Testament, p. 47.- The Tats'in men
were those who make Tarshish, i.e. who trade on ships like these which
were going to Tarshish. The Tats’in men were looked upon as Hai
lao or sea hunters as showed by a quotation of the Ts'eh fu yüan Icwei
(F. Hirth, 0.C. 22).
1054) The entry of 75 B.C. here rests on a statement of the Liang Shu,
54, 1, that envoys with presents came to Nhitnam, from Tats'in and
India during the reign of Han Suan ti, 73.49 B.c. cf. Groeneveldt,
Malacca, 3.
1055) Cf. below § 275.
1056) Cf. Pliny, vi, 23 : 104-Peripl. 57,-E. Bunbnry, Hist. Anc,
Geogr., ii, 351, 445, 470.
1057) E. Bunbury, 0.C., ii, 472-5.
1058) Cf. the statement of the jugglers sent by a Shan King in
120 A.D.
1059) The Chinese sources are most precise on this point.
1060) F. Hirth, China and Roman Orient, 175.
1061) W. Williams, Middle Kingdom, ii, 409, quoting the Annals of
Canton says that in the reign of Hwan-ti, 147-168 A.D., Tien-tchu
(or better Tsen-tuh), Tatsin and other nations came by sea with tri-
bute, and from this time trade was carried on at Canton wieh fore-
igners.
1062) Negrito-Pygmies were paat of the native population of China, and
were known since the days of Yao. Cf, T. de L., The Negrito-Pyg-
mies of Ancient China : B.&0.R., V, 169, 203, sq.
1063) Cf. Ling piao luh yh; Nan yueh tchi : T.P.Y.L., 982, 4.-The
first work mentions the fabrication of aloes paper,
0169,203, sq. 7. 982, 4.—The
246
ORIGIN OP THE EARLY
..
266. After the conquest of Nan-yugh the Chinese Emperor Han Wu-.
ti established in the Imperial park of the capital (Yü siüh yuen at Tchang-
'an) the Fu-ti gardens, where a large number of trees and plants were
brought from the New provinces. In the following list which has been
preserred in a description of the Metropole,106 4 thirteen names are given
with the number of roots in each case : tch’ang pu, or sweet flag, Acorus
calamus ; --Shan Kiang, or Indian shot, Canna indica ;--Kan-tsiao or
Banana tree ;-Liu-kiu tze or Quisqualis indica ; --Kwei, or Cinnnamon
Cassia ;— Mih hiang or Agila wood ;-Tchi-Kiah hwa, or Finger-nail
flower, Henna ;-Lung-yen, or Nephelium longan ;-Li-tchi, or Nephel-
ium Litchi ;-Pin-lang, or Areca Catechu ;– Kan-lan, or Canarium ;-
Tsien-sing tze, or Thousand years ;—and the Kan-yü, or Sweet Orange
tree.10 65 We are told that notwithstanding fresh plants sent again from
Kiao-tchi, the plantations could not be kept up, and that most of them
became dry and died.
Besides its botanical interest, the above list discloses old foreign im-
portations in Nan-yueh in addition to those we have noticed. The Tch'ang."
pu1066 and Kan-tsias1067 denote by their names that they were introduced
by the traders of India ; the shan-kiang and the lzu-kiu tze were likewise
imported from the Indian continent. 1.063
267, Soon afterwards we hear again that the Hwang-tchi (of Hormuzia)
whose country lay at 30000 li from Hop-pu and Nhitpam, presented a
large quantity of bright pearls 1069, some coloured glass1070, curious stones
and strange, objects, such as a large round pearl, perfectly spherical109 1.,
The coloured glass which appears here for the first time, was then man-
ufactured in Kabulistan, which is we have had already occasion to notice
had frequent relations with Hormuzia. Han Wu Ti was so pleased
with the glass that he wanted some more and sente special envoy by
sea to purchase a quantity of the article. The name of the emporium
which the envoy must have visited is not recorded, but we may assume
that it was Zabai1072, In A.D. 2, some Hwang-tchis presented living
rhinoceroses 1073...
268. The name of Hwang-tchi, in its acceptation of yellow fingers for
the West-Orientals who rised to dye their fingers with Henna, was then
too vague a term, as screral races of yellow fingers were then trading
with China by sea. It became necessary to distinguish among them and
several names began then to appear,
Commercial missions from Tzen-tu, commonly Tien-tchu1074, for Sin-
du or India, are said to have arrived in China after 73 B.c, by the port
التبر
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
247
.
Tul
of Nhitnam 1075 (or Kattigara) and after 89 A. D, 1070 ; again in 159 A.D)
by Nhitnam and Canton 1077. It was the first arrival in the latter place
1078. These dates are not without interest as it is in 75 B.C. that the.
Kalingas, the famous sea-traders of India S.E. are reputed to have es-
tablished settlements in Java 1079. And during the last portion of the
2nd century, the King of Saurashtra Mandala was sending ships with
cargoes to Mahâcina, Cina and Bhota1080. It is most interesting to find
another name of ships arriving in China was that of Oman, a maritime
state, consisting almost chiefly of ships, in the Sea of Persia, 30000 li
distant. They frequented the ports of Funam, and they imported into
China ebony wood1081.
NOTES-
1064) San fu hwang-tu of c. 200 A.D., ed. 1784, kiv, iii,, foi. 8. -Ten
Shan kiang, twelve Kan-tsiao, ten Liu-kiu tse, and a liundred of eaclı
of the others, save the Mih-hiang, of which the number is not given.
: - Cf, suprà, note 989, on a former collection made by Han Wu ti.
1065) For these identifications, cf. E. Bretschneider, Study and Value,
pass., and Botanicum Sinicum, vol. I.--On Kan-tsiao and its probable
Sanskrit etymology, cf. my note On Eastern names of the Banana :
B. & O.R., July, 1890, p. 176.
1066) Cf. Tch'ang pu from Tamil vassambu, Maylayal, vashambu. It is
said to be not indigenous in India, but an importation from northern
lands. Cf. Edward Balfour, Cyclop. Ind. sub verb. This etymology
and the introduction of the plant about that time dispose of the render-
ing of Tso tchuer, V., Xxx., 7 in J. Legge, Chin. Class., V., 217, and
of the assimilations of native scholars in E. Bretschneider, Botan, Sin-
ico, ii., 376.
1067) Kan-siao, anc, Kantha, from Sanskr. Kadala , was known by
Szema Siang-ju, i.e., prior to 126 B.C., in S. Szetchuen, cf. below, par.
1068) Han shu : T.P.Y.L., 785, 2 v.
1069) Ming yueh, of the Persian gulf, cf. par. 203, 253, note 771.
1070) Coloured glass, liu-li for pih-leu-li ; cf. Hind, balur, Arab, ballur,
&c. T. de L., On the Ancient history of glass and coal in China :
Toung Pao, 1291; F. Hirth, China, 228-232.-It was known as a
product of Ke-pin in the reports on that country, Tsien Han Shu, 96;
A. Wylie, Western Regions, 16. And it was from there ihat the
travelling merchants came who taught the process in China about 435
4.D.
1071) The text says that this pearl was so perfectly round, that once
placed on a plain surface, it could not be still for a whole day.
1072) Han shi; Ti li tchi.-T.P. 80%, 3 V.-And supra 200.
1073) Hou Han shu, 116,--They used also to import shui-tsing or Ruck
Crystal. Cf, T.P.Y.L., 820, 0.
1074) Tien-tchu is a misreading of modern Scholars. Zien, learen
was T'sen during the Han dynasty. It is rightly given in Giles' Dic-
tionary p.xv as the probable readirg about 100 1.c. when the Chinese
Princess sent as a wife to the kino-mi of the Wisuns who introduced
the pi-pa in China was lamenting her unhappy fare in a song which
has been preserved to the present day.
1075) Liang shu, 54, 1, Cf. supra note 912 on an introduction of Bud-
dhist Books in 2 B.C.; and par. 233.
1076) Hou Han shu.-Pauthier, Exame 2. Methodique, p. 266.-The
place of arrival in this case is not mentioned. It may have been
inland.
1077) An Shi-kao, a Buddhist Missionary from Parthia who had arrived
in China by the Nrrth in 149. A.D., went before 170 A.D. to Cantun to
see other Missionaries, but he was killed there by the people. Of. S.
Beal, Buddhist Literature, 7 ; Bunyu Na jio, Tripitaka. 381.
1078) Hou Han shu: Hiian-ti tchuan..-W. Williams, Middl King-
dom, ii, 409.–Subsequent arrivals are noticed in 357, 428, 477, 502,
50+, 507, 508, 515, 571, 641, &c. The gap between 159 and 357 is
rather remarkable.
1079) Cf. Ed. Balfour, Cyclop. Ind., ii, 481.
1080) Cf. A. Weber, Ueber das Çatrunjaya Mahatmyam; Abh. D.M.G.
1858, i, 4, p. 43 ; E. Redatsek, Emporia, p. 111.
1081) Modern 0-wen, crow-ornament.-Cf. Ts'ui Pan, Ku kin tchu.--
Lang-tai, Fuman tu sau tchuan. T.P.Y.L. 96 1, 9 v.; 787, 4.
Chap. VII.-SIXTH PERIOD : 221 B.C.-A.D. 220.
Sect. D. c) South-West.
26º. The report of Tchangkien in 126 B.C. on his first mission in
Turkestan gave to Han Wu-ti a high opinion of the wealth of Bactria,
Parthia, and Ferghana,1082 and “the importance of securing their attach-
ment to the Middle Kingdom, whose territory would thus be expanded
10,000 li, embracing people of every custom, and requiring a nine-fold
staff of interpreters ; while the prestige of the Empire would be all-per-
vading from sea to sea."1483 It showed moreover that the route by the
Kiang, or border tribes of Tibet, being dangerous because of their enmity,
and the North route cut by the Hiungnus, it would be safer to start
through Szetchuen and India to reach Bactria, since goods from Shub
arrived there in that direction. The Emperor was transported with delight,
and after several unsuccessful missions in four directions, acting on their
reports, he sent Tchang-kien himself in 122 to open the route througlı
the Kingdom of Tsen in Yunnan,1) 84 The baughty answer and refusal
of the latter's king stopped for a time Cbinese enterprise towards the
South West. After the conquest of the Non-yueh, fresh attempts were
made, and the Tsen kingdom acknowledged the Chinese suzerainty, but
any route further in the S.W. towards India remained impassable through
the Kunmings or Kunmis occupying the West of Yunnan. We hare
alluded to these various events in previous pages.1085
270, The Kun-mings who thus occupied such an important position
with reference to intercommunications with the South-West, deserve a
special notice. They became the chief population in the west portion of the
250
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
T'esn Kingdom of Yunnan fu whose king had been compelled to come to
terms with them.1186 They were immigrants from the North who had
.come to settle there in the first quarter of the 2nd century B.C. They had
separated from the main body of the Wusuns or Kunmis people, a fair
hạired and blue eyed race, when the latter were driven away from their
quarters near Tun-bwang (in N.W. Kansuh) by the Yueh-ti, and fled
:southwards, 1087 while the main body went N.W. of the Hiungnus.1038
We shall hear again of this red haired people in a curious circumstance
hitherto unintelligible (see below 278).
271. The policy of the Chinese government, which had extended its
dominion in Szetchuen West and South-East since 130 B.C., was to ad-
vance towards the South-West in every available occasion 1.089. In 111
B.C. a serious progress was made towards the South and West, and four.
new administrative districts were created, all about the limits of present
Szetchuen province, as the commencement of a conter'minous chain, inten-
ded to extend onwurd to Bactria1090. Although precarious and temporary
as shown by subsequent history, this authority was all that was possible
for the time being. The snccessful conquest of Nan-yueh, in that same
year permitted a farther advance. The King of Tsen in 110 B.C. was
induced to received investiture froia the Chinese Emperor, whose suzer-
ainty the year after was recognized by the Red-haired Kun-mis. “After
this envoys were again sent, but to the end they never succeeded in
opening up a passage 1091,
272. The military expedition of the Tsen kingdom towards Old Pagal
on the Iwawaddy about 280 B.C., had undoubtedly facilitated commercial
intercourse with the Hindu mercantile colonies of Pegu. It was through
this route that had come the hearded travelling merchant, who before
the foundation of the Empire1092, arrived in S.W. Hunan carrying some
valuable spices such as ngai-nap or mint-palm I, and mi-sung, a sort of
Narcotic1093. When Sema-Siang-ju, about 130 was superintending Chin-
esc affairs in ihe Sonth-West of present Szetchuen, he became acquainted
with co coa-n uts, (imported by traders), and made them known to his
conntrymen 109 .
273. Some Indian paper seems to hare been carried over to China
through that route, before 12 B.C. We know from Nearchus that Hindus
used some cotton well beaten together to write upon1095. Now
the liography of Tchao Hwang-hou, Empress of Han Hao Tcheng-Ti,
says1096 that she had some paper called hak-tai, (a foreign name vari-
ously written) which is described as a sort of small paper made of spread
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
251
and pounded gras s-fibres. The description is therefore similar
to that of Nearchus. In the absence of cotton a similar article was imi-
tated in China with siü or silk refuse1697, but this was only an inter-
mediary stage and in 105 B.c. the Marquess Tsai-lun started the manu-
facture of papers made of Broussonetia papyrifera, and of jag$1098.
274. Han Suan-ti, who reigned in 73-49 B.C., is reported to have re-
ceived from India, a precious mirror, large as a coin of the 8 tchu type1099,
and fixed into a box made of Amber. The jewel in question had been
brought by a route passing through the district of Fan-kiun (pres. Sin
Fan, S.E. of Tcheng-tu). It was lost or stolen at the death of the Em-
peror1100. These minutiæ of history in the absence of general statements
are interesting because of the information, otherwise unknown, which they
procure on Ancient intercourse.
Many other articles will have to be added to the list of that trade with
the progress of research, as it could not fail to have had some importance.
Certain political events which occurred in the first century appear to have
been caused by the desire of cutting this profitable route. South of the
State of Tsen, some native tribes happened to settle on the tract of this
commercial ronte, and derived advantage from the merchants in levying
taxes on their goods.
275. Singhalese traders, 1101 finding probably that the overcharges made
that route too expensive, and desirous to avoid them, took a more western
route sometime about the Christian era. Starting from Hippuri (of Pliny,
in Taprobane1102), N.E. along the Indian coast, up to Desarênê or Orissa,
they struck across the bay to Sada in Argyré or Arakan, 1103 then by the
long famed Aeng pass, the Irawady and Shwêli rivers, eastwards across
the Lu-kiang or Salwen river, they arrived on the banks of the Lan.tsan
kiang or Upper Mekong river, where the barter took place.1:0: Pliny
tells us that the Singhalese Rachias, who about 47 A.D., had been sent on
embassy to Rome, after the journey by sea misadventure of a Roman
agent of Annius Plocamus to Ceylon, said that his father used to go and
trade, on the banks of a riper, beyond the Hemodii mountains (i,e. the
Himalayas, and here their spurs the Burmese Yoma) with the SERES men
of high stature with red hair and blue eyes. 1105 In them we can easily
recognize the Red-haired Kun-mis. Subjects of the Chinese Empire
since 108 BC,, they could boast of being themselves SERES, the name by
which they had known the Chinese since the time of their Northern hab-
itat. We find thus explained the two difficulties hitherto unsolved about
red-haired Chinese, and the northern name of Seres which occurred in the
1
11.11.
252
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
South on that single occasion, 1106
276. The Singhalese trade by the western route we have just described
was undoubtedly successful, and detrimental to the former route more
south, as it soon raised the envy of the 'Ai-lao tribes. In 69 A.D. some
of then advanced as far as Yao (in pres, Tsu-hiung, Yunnan E.) head
station of the west route, which they occupied, thus cutting off any out-
side communication with the Kun-mis otherwise than through them, and
tendered their submission to the Chinese Empire. The event was hailed
with the greatest satisfaction by the Chinese, and a new government called
Yung-tchang, or Ever-prosperous, was intended to be the head-land of
all South-west intercourse. It extended from the west of the present
Tsu-hiung-fu to the banks of the Lan-tsang kiang, and Northwards over
the present territories of Ta-li and Li-kiang between the pre-cited river
and the Kin-gha kiang. Eight years later (i.e. 77 A.D.) an insurrection
which arose among the Ai-lao was quelled by the Kur-mis on behalf of
the Chinese government. The country was in a frequent state of quasi
rebellion, and the authority of the Han dynasty was well respected there.
but by frequent interference of military forces. :
277. The Yung-tchang trade was lookeď upon with great interest, and
not a few allusions were made to it in the historical literature. Some lists.
of the staple articles of that trade have been preserved. In the Annals.
of the Eastern Han dynasty, 1109 at the opening in 69 1.D., it consisted
of copper, iron, lead, tin, 1110 gold and silver, 1111 of bright pearls, 1112
, amber, 1113 crystal, vitreous ware, 1114 Ko-tchung grubs,1115 oyster-pearls,
peacocks, kingfishers, rhinoceros, elephants, apes, and tapirs, all products
from Shan-Burma, Malacca, Ceylon, India, Kabulistan, &c., but not as
yet from the Red Sea. .
Some time afterwards the Kiu-yuen 1118 used to arrive once a year at
thu Yung-tchang mart, with tin, iron, chicken tongues1117, parrots of red,
white and other colours, according to a notice of the same dateille. A
later document enumerates the goods which used to be carried from the
country of the Kun-lunil19, 81 days journey from the Si-er-hv (an afflu-
ent of the Lan-tšang Kiang near Ta-li fu), as elephants, fragrant tsing-
muh (aristolochia), fragrant sandal wood (tchan-tan), fragrant red sandal,
pin-lang (Areca Catechu), vitreous ware, crystal, li-per or shell-cups and
rhinoceros-horns:120.
In the year 97 A.D., a Shan king, Yung-yu tiao entered into rela-
tions with China, and in 120, conjurors presented by him to the Emperor
said that they were Tatsin men, communications existing then with Tati
,
CHINESE CIVILISATION. .
253
11
in by the South-west of the Shan states 1121
278. We owe more than a passing referer.ce to the Clove, in Chin-
ese Ki-shet, or chicken-tongue which was for the first time spoken of at the
court of HAN Hwan-ti (147-167 A.D.) as a wonderful product of nature,
according to Yng-shar), a scholar of some eminence for that time ii 22. It
was then a novelty. In the west at the time of the Periplus of the Ery-
thræan Sea (c. 63-75 A.D.), it was still unknown, and Pliny (d. 79 A.D.)
in his description from hear-say does not distinguish it from its con-
gener the nutmey. The sumptuary laws of 176-180 show that it was
then well known. The Chinese heard from the Report of Kang-hai
who had been sent on a scientific mission to Cambodja (230-313 A.D.) that
the chicken-tvngue fragrant were imported from the Ma-ngu tchou112 3
or five islands Ma, i.e. the Moluccas1124, east of Java, which is an ac-
curate fact, as the five islets west of Gilolo are the original Mulukas and
the natire conntry of the Clove. It is rather curious that this spice
shoulu not have been introduced in China by the Southern Coasts and
shoulil have first reached the Middle Kingiom by the Shan-Burmese
Route.
279. An event of no mean importance for the introduction of western
notions in China was the arrival, about 72 A.D.1125, of seventy families
of Jews who settled between Lü shan (Ya-tchou fu, Szetchuen W.)
and Tcheng-til. One of their inscriptions at Kai-fêng fu tells us that
they came from Indiaj[26, i.e. through India by the trade route from
Baetria to Szetchuen. Only five families, still preserving their Jewish
features, have survived to the present day, but their old faith has gone
1127. The influence if these 3 or 400 people of an energetic and insinu-
ating race must have been much more important than it has been cus-
tomary to suppose. They were doubtlessly full of their own lore and of
the notions of western civilisation of the time, which they cannot help
having spread around themila S.
NUTES -
1082) I thus write for co:wenience the Chinese T'a-hia, Ansik, and Tayuan.
1083) Such are the exact terms of Telang kien's report in Szema Isien,
She hi, 123, 62. It was therefore an idea of conquest which was pro-
minent at first in the Chinese mind.--All these details and the follow-
ing are given in the biography of Tchang-kien by Szema Tsien.
1084) Cf. Li tai Ti Wang nien piao.
1085) On these various circumstances, cf. supr., p. 60-63; but the date.
of 123 for the return of Tchang kien must be corrected into 126, and
his own mission in 122 added to the recit.-Envoys to the South were
sererally sent on two occasions, 126-122 and 111 B.C.-Cf. also mv
254.
· ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
produce tsircunstances and the
articles, l'in-yüt not India : Acad. May 2, and India from Chincio.
ibid. Sept. ), 1885.
. 1080) The Chinese were still in ignorance that routes through Yunnan,
were too meridional and did not lead to India but to Indo-China,
1087) In the T'ang shu, their northern origin is fully stated, as well as
their original friendship with the Hiungous. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 791, 12.
--This gives a contenance to the traditional claim of the Karengs of
Burma; that they came originally from the North, beyond the Flowing
Sands, and after a stay near the present Ya tchou, Szetchuen W. came
south and settled near Taungu. Cf. MacMahon, The Kareris. 113 ;
Spearman, British Burma Gazetteer, i, 163 ; T. de L., Languages of
China before the Chinese, 147-8.
1088) Cf. Tsien Han shu, Ixi, Biography of Tchang kien ; A. Wylie,
Western Regions, 49.-In 176 B.C. the Shen-yu of the Hiungnus said
in his despatch to the Chinese Emperor that Lowlan (Labran), Wusun, ,
and other states had submitted to him, Cf, Tsien Han Shu, kiv. 94;
A, Wylie, Heungnoo, $15.
1089) It was in that year that the administrative provinces of Kien-wei
and Ya:-lang in the S.E., and of Kiung ảnd Teolc on the borders West
had been established.-Szema-siang ju was the statesman who acted
in the circumstance, and we know that he was interes: ed in Western
products. On trad? of native articles by the traders of Shuh, cf.
Szema Tsien, She ki, 116, 2-3.
1090) Cf. Li tai 7' Wang nien picco.:- The underlined sentence comes
from the Ts:en Han shu, kiv. lxi; A. Wylie, Western Regions, 51.
1091.) Cf. Tsien Han shu, ibid.
1092) Cf. supra p. 56 ; note 282 must therefore be completed the pre- .
sent information.
1093) Ngai-nap, 8818-7759 Bas., unidentified, but said to come through
Prao or Pegu, Ni-sung, 11038-11048 Bas., also unidentified and said
to come from the Western Ocean. Cf. T.P.Y.L. 982, 3 2., 6-7.-
In the notice of Tatsin in the Wei-lioh, these two spices are mentioned ;
unhappily in the text reprinted in Dr. Hirth, Chinat cald the Roman
Orient, p. 113, they appear as mi-mi-tou-nah, instead of mi-sung,
ngai-nah.
1194) Cf, T. de L., Le Coco du Roi de treh (Oriental Congress of
1892) p. 903. On Szema-Siang-ju, cf. note 1089.- These articles as
shown by their Chinese names did not come there by the Annam route.
Cf. note 1047.
1095) Cf. Strabo, xv, 67.--Also, Max Níüller, On the introduction of
writing in India : Hist. Anc. Sanskr. Lit., 1859, p. 515.
1096) Tsien Han slu, kiv. 97 (2). --Comm. of Yng-Shao, 2nd cent.
Hak-tai, mod. heh-ti, 10549 or 12719-10740 Bas., might be compared
to the skr, aktu.
1097) Cf. Hi Shen, Shwoh wan. in 89.99 A.D.
109) Cf. F. Hirth, Die Erfindung des Papiers in China, p. 1-14;
Toung Pao Archives, i, 1890.-J. Edkins, On the Origin of paper
making in China : N, and Q., Hongkong, 1867, i, 67-8.-G. Pau-
thier, Mémoires sur l' Antiquité, ii, 395-404.
1099) The coins weighing 8 tchu were issued for the first time in 183
B.c. cf. my Chinese Coins, Early period, p. 342.
CHINÉSE CIVILISATION.
255
1100) Cf. Si King Soy L., 717, 4 v. and 808: probably that of the
1100) Cf. Si King tsa ki, a Record of incidents at Tch’an g-an, by Lin-
hin, of our era.-T.P.Y.L., 717, 4 v. and 80s, 1 v.
1101) The navy enployed in that trade was probably that of the
Kalingas.
1102) Identified with a port called kudremale, the name of which has the
same meaning, i.e, horse-tails, in Sanskrit.
1103) Cl. H. Yule, Notes on the oldest Records of the Sea-route to China,
p. 4-5, and following note.
1104) It is rather remarkable that here we find again the old trade route
· followed by commercial missiuns since those of Shou-mi and Nêlê (p.
38-40 ani n. 196) at the time of TCHOU Tcheng Wang about 1079
B.C. and later. Eastwards of the Mekong it passed through Ta-yao
or Yao district, which was occupied by the Ai-lao when they wanted
to cut off the Sirghalese trade, as shown par, 276. Cf. also note 196.
1105) Cf. Pliny, vi., 21: 84, 86, 88, 89, 91.-Periplus, 60.-- Reinaud,
L'Empire Romain et l'Asie Orientale, p. 325.-J. Edkins, Allusions to
China in Pliny's Natural History, Peking, 1885, p. 10-12.-E. Re-
hatsek, Emporic, 119,
1106) Ptolemy's statements represent the Chinese as Seres, when reached
by the long land route through Central Asia, and as Sinae, when
reached by the sea-voyages. CE H. Yule. Notes, p. 2. The circum-
stance of the fair-haired Kunmis, Chinese subjects, and intermediaries,
explains the difficulty in Pliny's text.'
1107) Cf. Hou Ha? shu, kiv. 116.—Tang shu:—T.P.Y.L., 786, 2.
1108) On the Ai-lao, cf. Hou Han shu, kiy. 116,--And on the legends
of their origin, G. Deveria, La Frontière Sino-Annamite, 1886, p.
117, sq.-1. de L., The Languages of China before the Chinese, 1886,
par. 99-102; edit. française, 1888, suppl., p. 153.
1109) The I.P.1.L., 786, 2, quotes the same list from the Kiu tchou li
of Ho-yen, 3rd cent.
1110) The great beds of tin ore of Malacca were probably not yet worked
out, as we hear nothing about them. Kang-tai, in Cambodja, c. 240,
A.D., heard of a Peh-lu district, South-east of Tchu-po or Java, pro-
ducing tin, which wils resold outside the country. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 786.
3v. As there is no tin-pr«ducing land S.E. of Jara, and since the tin
districts extend from Tavoy to Billiton, the statement shows that Per-
lu was heard of in Java by sea-traders travelling along the west coasts
of Sumatra and eastwards to clava, properly the extreme east or Java;
Peh-lu or Pak-lu could hardly be Perak, (whose tin has long been
worked) because it is too far in the Malacca Straits, but it could be
Junk-Ceylon or anotlier of the Mergui islands.
1111) Extensive mines of silver exist on the East of the Irawaddy from
the N.E. of Mandalay to the South of Yunnan. -. Wau Tchen of the
3rd cent. in his Nun tchou y wuh tchi, says that the Kin-lin country,
2600 li from Fonam (Cambidja, produces silver ; the people there are
fond of hunting, and ride on large elephants. Now Kin-lin was Kam-
lun, i.e. tle k'anran, natives of Burma, who first settled near Prome.
Cf. T.P.Y.I., 790, 9v, and 712, 5, -Spearman, British Burma, i., 238.
-- Ancient silver mines are said to have been found in the isle of Banca.
1112) Kwang-tchu, i.e. bright pearls, of Ceylon, different in name from
the Ming-gwet pearls of the Persian Gulf (cf. par. 203, note 77! supra).
256
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.
d10eu. .
The pang-tchu, or oyster pearls, also from Ceylon.-şmall fine pearls.
only were generally found there, the big ones occasionally found were
bad. Cf, Merveilles de l'Inde, edit. Van der Lith et Devic, p. 179-180.
-The Periplus mentions the pearl fishery, and the manufacture of
stuffs ornamented with small seed pearls. Of. Ptolemy, vii., 1. 10.-
E. Bunbury, Anc. Geogr., ii., 473. On the pearl-fishery of Ceylon,
cf. Vincent, Commerce and Navigation of the Ancients, ii., 489-490,,
.-E. 'ennent, Ceylon, ii., 561.-H, Yule, Marco Polo, ii., 321, 359-..
361.-Of, also on the better quality of the Pearls of the Persian Gulf,
E, Reclus, Asie Antérieure, 861.
1113) Amber ; we have already heard of it. Supiui $:48, note 998.
1114) On liu-li, or vitreous ware, supra note 1070,
1115) On Ko-tchung (grubs) supra hote 1023.
1116) Kiu-yuen, 7272-106+ Bas. The archaic dialects in Giles' Dict, do
not suggest any serious change in these sounds.
1117) Chicken-tongues, K'i-shit, or cloves, infra 273.
1118) Wu shi wai kwoh tchuan : T.P. 790, 10.
· 1119) Name of the Kokarit hills, Dana monntains and Poung-loung
range, east of Tennasserim and Pegu. Cf. T. de L, Formosc notes:
par. 38.-The name has misled several scholars because of its similar-
ity with the Kun-lun range of North Tibet.
1120) Nan y tchi.-T.P.Y.L., 789, 5 and 982, ? 2.
11:1) Hou Han shu, 116,-1,P.Y.Li, 791, 82.–Ci, supra note 282.
1122) Yng-Shan, author of the celebrated antiquarium treatise entitled
Fêng suh tung, in his Han-kwan-y. Cf. T.P.Y.L., 981, 6 v..
1123) FU-12an itu suh tchulen : T.P., 787,3 %.--Wu shi wai Kwoh
tchuen.—Nun tchou y wuh' tchi.--According to the Tsien yh ki tsien,
an old western foreigner of an outer country. explained that it comes
from a tree of which the flowers become the chicken-tongues. -Cf.
T,P., 981, 6-7.-Kang-tai had noderstood that they were small fruits,
but the cloves are not the fruits, but the unexpanded flower-buds, and
therefore the old foreigner was right.
1124) It is not impossible that the combination Ma-ngu, was an attempt
at an imitation of Maluka, the name of the islands, while showing
that they were five. - The pr.)per Moluccas are the five islets on the west
side of the large island of Gilolo; they constitute the native country of
the cluve, and are the celebrated islands which mainly prompted the
Europeau nations of the 15th century to the discovery of the new world,
and of a navigation which made known to them a portion of the old
one, equal to the new in extent. (jf. J. Crawfurd, Descript. Dict.
Indian islands, p. 283. –In the 7th cent., the Moluccas are mentioned
in Chinese descriptions as Mi-li-kiü, but it is not said that their ships
were then going there as they did under the Ming dynasty. Cf. W.
· P, Groeneveldt, Malay Archipelago, p. 58, 117.
1125) The date is generally state:to be the Han perioil, reign of Ming-
ti, 58-76 A.D.; but the year 72 was indicated by the first Jesuists who
came in contact with them. It is not bowerer well ascertained, anil
may have been some years earlier,
1126) Inscription of 1488. Cf. A. K. Glover, The Tablet Inscriptions
of the Chinese Jews discovered at Kui-fung juin 1:5): B. & O.R, r.,
250.-In face of this positive statement it is curious to read in Grosier,
Chine, 1819, iv., 490, resuming the reports of Missionaries : "Il parait
CHINNSL CIVILISATION.
257
par tout ce qu'on a pu tirer d'eux, que ce pays d'Occident (Si-yü d'où
ils sont venus) est la Perse, et qu'il vinrent par le Khórassan et Sam-
arkand ; ils conservent même encore dans leur langue plusieurs mots
persans." .
1127) A recent traveller, M. Arnaud, at Kaifung fu, where they settled
since 1163 A.D. gives this information and says that on the site of their
ancient temple, an inscription has been set up with the dates of con-
struction and destruction.
11-3) In my notice On the Entrance of the Jews into China during the
first century of our era (B. & . R. ., 131-4), I have expressed my
opinion that these Jews must have branched off from those settled in
Babylon, Seleucia, and Ctesiphon, when the persecution which followed
the mismanagement of their countrymen Asinai and Alinai.compelled
them to remove.-Of. also H. Cordier, Les Juifs en Chine (L'Anthrop-
ologie, 1390, p. 547-51.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
259
Sect. D.-Foreign and Chinese Trading Navies.
280. We have noticed in previous pages, 1129 that after some event which
the vagueness and fabled character of the recit does not permit to
ascertain, the Indo-Persian mariners had been compelled to shift their
sea-route and give up passing through the Malacca Straits.1130 The
Sunda Straits being still unopened, 1131 they passed through some of
the straits further east. The circumstance deserves some attention as
it explains several historical problems. It permits us to understand
how Ptolemy was misled in the extraordinary length he gave to the
Malacca peninsula, and how it was he knew nothing of the Malacca
Straits. It explains also how it happened that the Hindu colonists in
Java settled at the farther east of the island instead of any nearer
spot. It led to the discovery of clove and nutmeg, natives of the
Moluccas and Banda Islands respectively. We know that the Indo-
Persian mariners were passing through there and northwards in the
second century B.C. as shown by their stories of Fire Islands and
volcanic mountains, connected by them with the Asbestos legends 1132
which mountains they were seeing near the Moluccas.1133 They do
not seem however to have discovered the clove and nutmeg at that
time as the first intimation we have of these spices dates only of the
first century of our era (see par. 278).
281. A descriptive work now lost was then written about the famous
ships of people from the outer west, then trading in China Sea. A
quotation from it in another work, also lost, of the third century, tells
us that these ships were over 200 spans long, raising from 20 to 30
spans above the water ; they carried 600. or 700 men, and their cargo
filled 10,000 pecks. .
260
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
The term tchuen, shun, Malay jung, whence the Portuguese and our
junk was gradually applied chiefly to Chinese ships, and that of bal or
p'ak was applied to the ocean going ships of foreigners who called
them thus. 1135
· In a previous chapter we have had occasion to quote a Chinese
description of the ships of Funam-Cambodja in the third century,
on board which were transhipped Indian goods for China
(note 482).
The Periple of the Erythrcan Sea enumerates five kinds of vessels
engaged in the trade of the Hindus: Madrata, stitched boats, like the
Masula boats of Madras, and the smaller Patamar boats of Bombay ;
Trappage and Kotymba, long fishing boats and pilot boats at the
mouths of rivers ; Sangarce, sea-boats or double-banked canoes, i.e.,
the Jangars now used on the rivers of the Malabar coast like the
Malay prahus; and the Kolandiophanta or Bantings, ships of great
size, which as well as the Sangare, were employed in the Chersonese
trade. 1136
282. The First Han dynasty saw the birth of the Chinese navy; the
south-east coasts, i.e., those of Yueh or Tchehkiang S., and Fuhkien,
were its birthplace. The skilfulness of their populations in the man-
agement of boats had long been known, and the Chinese conquest
made their navy its own. We have had already occasion of speaking
of their ships and of the peculiarities they derived from the Erythroan
merchantmen. In 138 B.C. the state of Min-yueh (supr. 201) had
thrown over the yoke of the Nan-yueh Empire (supr. 251) and attacked
in the same year their northern neighbours the Tung-Ngou (supr. 250),
and in 135 B.C. the Nan-yueh itself. For these purposes they had
gone into building themselves some pooped-junks (lou-tchuen). 1137 In
112 B.C. the king of Tung-yueh1138 was able to send in his own
pooped-junks 8,000 men from the present Fuhtchou to pres. Tchao-
tchou (near Swatow, then Kieb-yang, in Kwang-tung East), but the
unruly waves of the ocean partly disturbed his fleet, as his mariners
were yet unexperienced. The year after the Chinese built some
pooped-junks at Kü-tchang, near pres. Ningpo, in order to attack by
sea 1139 and by land the Tung-yueh 1140 which was conquered and given
up as told before. 1141 The pooped-junks built for war purposes were
sea-going ships, 1142 and the Chinese Emperor was enabled to
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
261
send envoys by sea to get for him some glass from the emporium of
the western traders.
283. In 41 A.D. the Chinese navy proved useful in the reconquest of
Tunking (then Kiao-tchi) after the rebellion of Trung-trac, the
Tungkinese Joan of Arc, and again in 226 A.D. when the Wu Kingdom
with its capital at Nanking (then Kien-yeh), conquered Annam, inde-
pendent since 186 A.D., down to Kutek, or Kattigara.1143 About 230
a maritime expedition, under the command of Kang-tai and of
Tchu-yng, was sent to report upon the Funam (i.e. the country of the
Phnom, or Cambodja), 1144 and other countries.1145 The importance of
this scientific mission as shown by the fragments which remain of its
record cannot be overestimated for the history of these countries.
Fifty years later, the WESTERN TSIN dynasty gave some impetus to the
navy, and no less than ten different sorts of ships were exhibited in
the ponds of the Imperial park. A large junk of 120 double-paces
had been made before.1146 A boat with a south-pointing magnet1147
was exhibited in 342 A.D. in the ming ho tchi, or pond of the cakling
crane, at Lin-tchang (then Yeh, in Tchangtehfu, Honan), but this
great invention remained for long a toy and nothing more; perhaps
it was looked with contempt because the invention of a Tartar named
Hiaifei, for Shih-hu, fourth king of the small Tartar dynasty of the
AFTER Tchao, then ruling in North China (330-351 A.D.). At the
beginning of the fifth century Chinese ships were not yet going as far
as Java. Soon afterwards maritime enterprise developed and Chinese
junks, about 450 A.D., were navigating as far as Ceylon and also as
far as Hira, at the Head of the Persian Gulf.
TAN
UU
NOTES.—
1129) Cf. suprà par. 204, also 180, 198, and notes 474-5.
1130) In the primitive times of near coasting navigation it can be
understood that they should at first have passed through the Malacca
Straits; but in later times when the larger size of the ships
permitted to have on board a greater supply of fresh water, and
thus save many stations, a bolder course could often be taken, and
land lost sight of for some time when required.
1131) The great eruption of 416 A.D., which according to the
Pristala Raja of Java, opened the Sunda Straits (sup. note 474)
was apparently felt as far as Pegu, as the Burmese historians date the
retreating of the ocean at Prome from a terrible earthquake which
tincently felt asza opened the Sibs which aces
262
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
took place in the fifth century. Cf. E. Forchhammer, Notes on the
· Early History of British Burmah, ii. 3.
1132) Suprà, notes 761-2.
1188) CTung Fang So, Shen y King.—Sale tchou Ka.–TP.Y,L.
· 820, 8; 868, 8; 869, 7.-Shan Hai King. xvi. 4, 5, and Kwoh-poh's
comm.-Wh lun ti li tchi.-Pao poh tze : T.P., 786, 8.-Hiuen
tchung Ki.-Nan she.---Kang tai, Fr-nam tí säh tchulen. Wan
Tchen, Nan fang y wul tchi: TP. 787, 4 v.; 820, 10.-*The names
of Suh kiïi and Ma-nguu islands are mentioned with reference to these
Fire Islands in the writers of the third century. Ma-ngu, i.e., the
Moluccas and Sun-kiä which was the Fire Island. It is most
probably Sanyir, N. Celebes, which its recent eruption has made
famous. -Ho-ling, or Jaya, was also referred to, as shown in
note 762. * Cf. also Matouanlin, tr. D'Hervey, ii. 449, 519.
1134) The Wai yü jen ming tchuen author unnamed, in Wan tchen,
Nan tchou y wuh tchi, or Description of remarkable things of the
South ; T.P.Y.L., 769, 6.
1135) Cf. The Bayla of the west coast of India, unchanged since the
days of Alexander. Cf. Ed. Balfour. Cyclop. Ind. i. 396.—Anc.
Tamil palada, Arab markib.
1136) Cf. T. Braddell, The Ancient Trade of the Indian Archipelago,
of the capital of Yuueh to Lang-ya in 472 B.C. (supr. par. 174) Mukoh,
i.l., the wood guest, brother of Kou-tsien, the king, commanded that
2800 soldiers should be sent there on lou-tchuen, or pooped junks.
(T.P.Y L., 771, 2 v.) The soubriquet given to the leader and the
names of the ships show that these belonged to the Erythroan
navy then frequenting the coasts for commercial purposes. Cf. lou
(137. 1944 or 4466 Bas.) and skr. nau, ship.--Tchou, was a small
Wci Tong tu ki : T. P., 770, 1.)-On 300 tchou sent from Yueh in
312 B.C. cf. par. 202.-Kung Ísung-tze made a great praise of the
mariners of Yuueh to the King of Han, a short time before the
conquest of the latter by T”sin in 231 BC. Another praise was
made by Yen-tsu in 134 B.C.-Cf. also n. 444, 477-482. The pre-
cited Yueh tsüeh shui contains a curious answer of Tze-sü to Hoh-lü,
King of Wu, 514-4:15 B.C., on the arrangement at sea of a squadron
comprising small and cargo boats, pooped-junks Kiao-junks and
leader's junk. Cf. T. P. Y. L., 770, 1 v. On Tze-sü, or Wu-yun.
Cf Mayers, Chinese Readers' Manual, 879. Also Tso tchuen xii,
xi., 4.-The story looks like a later amplification. Pleasure boats
are mentioned for the first time at the same date. Duke King of
Ts'ı 547-489 B.C. is reputed to have made a pleasure boat called
- Lotus leaf,” which was manned liy the “ Dames du Palais."
Before 484 B.C. Fu-tcha, King of Wu, had a boat called the “Green
Dragon," on which he made a daily trip in an artificial pond called
6. The Celestial Pond," with the peerless beauty Si-shi. These
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
263
are given as the earliest instances of the so called Flower Boats
by Prof. G. Schlegel, A Canton Flower Boat, Intern. Arch. of
Ethnogr., 1894.-C. Koh tchi King yuen, Kiv. 28, ibid. ; W. F
Mayers, Chinese Readers' Manual, i., 139, 571. And also Jules
Arenes, La Chine familière et galante, 1876.
1138) The Chinese interfered, and while Yen-ts’u, the general in
command, was collecting boats at Kwei-ki, near pres. Ningpo,
to attack Min-yueh, the latter withdrew their troops. And the
Marquis Kung-wu, King of Tung-ngou (near pres. Wen-tchou of
Tchehkiang, S.), was enabled to remove with 40,000 men and settle
in Lü Kiang Kiun, w. of Lu-tchou in Anhwei W.--Cf. She-ki,
114, 2 v., and comm.
1139) Han' Wu Ti in 119 B.C. had a pooped-junk of that pattern
exhibited in a pond of the capital. Cf. Supr. par. 129, note 481.
1140) Or Eastern Yueh. A new title assumed by the brother, mur-
derer of the King of Min-yueh, with Chinese approval.
1141) Cf. Szema Tsien, She-ki, 114, 3, 4.
1142) Cf. for a similar case in the Persian Gulf. Supr. 116.
1143) Cf. Suprà. $ $ 260, 261.
1144) Phnom is mountain in Cambodian. A high mountain near
Chantabon was the landmark for mariners and slave dhows. Cf.
Reinaud, Relation des Voyages faits par les Arabes, i. 18.-J. Crawfurd,
Journal of an Embasy to Siam, 1830, ii. 206.-H. Yule, Notes on the
oldest records of the Sea-route to China, 1882, p. 8.
1145) Cf. Liang shui, kiv. 54.-T. P. Y. L. 787, 3.-" They went to
or heard from a hundred or more countries and made an account
of them."-Kang-tai wrote a work on the native customs of Funam,
Irinam tu sul Tchuen; his companion wrote Historical Record of
Funam, or Funam lei, and a description of the curious things of
Funam, or I'anan yh wuh tchi. Several works written in the third
century contained many information derived from the same expedi-
tion, viz., a description of curious things of southern provinces, or
Nan tchou. yh wuh tchi, by Wan shen. Reports on foreign countries
under the Wu period, or W6 shi wai kwoh tchuen. Only quotations
from these works have been preserved.—The founder of Cambodia
arrived there from India on board of an Omanite merchantman,
about 50 B.C.
1146) T'sin-shu.---Tsin Kung Ko ming.–T. P. Y. L., 768, 3 v., 5 v.,
769, 1 v.
1147) Cf. Excursus on South-pointing Chariots and Maritime
Compass $ $ 305-308.
264
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
CHAP. VIII.-EXCURSUS.
The Si Wang Mu and Muh Wang's Expedition to Turkestan
in 986 B.C.
284. The name of Si Wang Mu, which means literally Royal Mother
of the West, has been a peg for all sorts of fables and myths in the
romantic school of Chinese literature. European writers have some-
what improved upon the Chinese under that respect, and some of the
good Jesuits of the eighteenth century have seriously suggested that
the Royal Mother of the West was no other than the Queen of Sheba !
All this nonsense once discarded, it is undeniable that there is a
substratum of truth concerning the personages so denominated in the
course of Chinese history, and that the Si Wang Mus have played an
important part in the ancient relations of China with the west.
285. A genuine queen may have been the person referred to when the
name was written down for the first time, in the allusive mode of
meaning and sound combination, proper to the Chinese scribes.1148
And in the later ages, the presence of Queendoms in the north west
and east parts of Tibet, which have survived in comparatively modern
times,1149 has helped to keep the popular notion that a Si Wang-mu
had always a feminine character, and was only one immortal queen.
There is however nothing in any of the ancient texts on the subject to
indicate that Si Wang-mu was a woman.
286. According to tradition Yu-Nai Hwang-ti, leader of the Bak sings
was presented by a Si Wang-mu with some white jade rings, archers'
thimbles and topographical maps. This is probably an amplified view
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
265
of a circumstance that took take place when he was travelling east-
wards through Turkestan to the Flowery Land. During Yao's reign
Hou Y, the famous archer, obtained from a Si Wang-mu some of their
famous drug1150 (against consumption). Under the reign of Shun a
Si Wang-mu presented some rings of white jade. The great Yü also
had some relations with a Si Wang-mu. SHANG Tai Mou sent Wang
Mêng, c. 1538 B.C., with some presents to the Si Wang-mu, to get
some of the valuable drug. In 986 B.C. Muh Wang of Torou started
for his expedition in the west, during which he visited the Si Wang-
mu, who in 984 came to the Chinese court 1151
287. The most important references to the Si Wang-mu are those
which occur in the Muh T'ien-tze tchuen, a narrative concerning the
journey we have just spoken of made in the west by Muh, the king,
called Son of Heaven.1152 This work had always been undervalued
because of the wondrous amplifications of the Taoszeist writers on the
subject. Stripped of a few exaggerations, the original relation has all
the characters of a genuine work of very ancient date concerning the
various journeys of Muh Wang, 1001-946 B.C., the fifth ruler of the
Tchou dynasty. Dr. J. Eitel who has published it in English, in
1839, tells us that he is convinced that the main portion of this
narrative is of very ancient date, not long after the events it records,
and I agree with him in the matter.
In the longest of these journeys, which alone lasted twelve months
of travelling and four months of rest, Muh Wang went as far as
Karashar, if not further west, and he paid a visit to the country of
Si Wang-mu and to its sovereign.
1
NOTES-
1148) Si, West is no part of the transcription of the name, and must
be taken in its geographical sense. Cf. Shan hai King, xvi., 20.-
On the mythological aspect of Si Wang-mu, cf. W. F. Mayers, The
Western King Mother : Notes and Queries, Hong Kong, 1868, ii.
p. 12-14, and his Manual, n. 572.--Cf. Also, suprà p. 32, and the
references, n. 163-168, and add. 164.
1149) Cf. Note 164 and add.
1150) A fir balsam with asafoetida. Cf. below Note 1162.
1151) Shuy yng t'u.Kwa ti tu.--Bamboo Annals. IV., ix., 26; vv., 15,
17.--Tai ping yü lan, 85, 2-3 ; 693, 5 v., 7 v.; 790, 4; 872, 12.
1152) On this title cf. suprà, Note 607.
266
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
288. We shall 'enumerate briefly the principal stations of his
journey. On the 169th day of the narrative, Muh Wang bound for
his west journey, crossed the Ho, or Yellow River.1163 After 53 days
travelling and several stations he stopped at the out-lying hills
of the Kwen-lun (i.e., the Nan-shan), in front of the river Tchih
(Red, i.e., the Hung-shui of Kansuh), where he saw the remains of a
palace of Hwang-ti. On the 231st day, he started northwards and
ascended the mount Tchung1155 (i,e., the north side of the Nan-shan),
near which is a genial and pleasant place, which the kings of antiquity
had called accordingly Hinen-pı, or Sombre Garden 1156 (in the present
Kan-tchou of Kansuh). A few days later be reached the country of
the Tch’ih-Wu tribe, whose chief traced his descent back to the family
of the Tchou dynasty. On the 244th day he crossed the Yang
river, 1157 and the day after he arrived at the country of the Ts'ao-nu
tribes, then marching northwards and turning round for two days
towards the east, he reached the Heh (black) river1158, which is called
Huny-lu by the people of the western desert (i.l., the Bulunghir
river), and going northwards he followed the course of that river. On
the 257th day he arrived at the mount of Ki’un-Yüh1159 (lit. mass of
gem, near Turfan), which was guarded by the Yung-shing tribe. He
obtained there three cart-loads of gem-slabs. Here was the place
which the kings of former times called T'ch'éh-fu.1160
289. On the 261st day he marched northwards, passing through the
country of another tribe (name lost) and arrived westward three days
later to that of the Ki-lü or I-lu tribe near mount T'ieh, 1161 in Turfan.
West of these, four days afterwards, he reached the country of the
Yn-han tribe. On the 273rd he arrived near the Hiuen tch’i, or
Sombre Lake, and near the Loh tch’i, or Delightful Lake, near which
he planted bamboos, whence the after name of Tchuh-lin, or bamboo
grove given to that spot. Continuing his route westwards he arrived
six days later at K’ushan,1162 which the people of the western desert call
Mou yuen, ¿.t., Luxuriant Gardens. Here it was that he tasted the
K’u fruits. Advancing westwards he stayed overnight ou the spur of
the Hwang shu, or Yellow Rats Hills, and four days later, still more
west he reached the Si Wang-mu people. He stayed there for six
days in feasts and and receptions near the Yao tch'i, i.e., Gemmy
Lake and the Yen hills. 1163 On the 332nd day he settled on the
banks of the Jul river, near which is a place where the birds shed their
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
267
feathers. On the 382nd day, after a sojourn of three months in
Kwang-yuen, 1.9., the great plain, he turned eastwards on his return
journey.
290. Ninety days' stay in Kwang-Yuen, make Muh-Wang arrive
there six days only after he had first reached the country of Si Wang-
mu. It was therefore in the vicinity of the latter country. Several
features reported in the narrative permit most probable identifications
of the localities referred to in the last instances. Deducting seven
days of rest on the route, Muh Wang had journeyed for 22 days from
the Mass of Gems to the country of the Western Wang-mu. The
remarkable heap of agate stones in question being situated between
Pidjan and Turfan, is a landmark that cannot be mistaken. Muh
Wang therefore should have gone further west between Karashar and
Kutcha, where there is a level plain spoken of by Hiuen-Tsang11h4which
should be the Kwang-Yuen, where he made his long sojourn. The
sand rats, or yellow rats, which he met before, have been severally
spoken of by travellers in Eastern Turkestan. They are frequently
met with between Turfan and Khotan ;1165 and although the fact of
their being spoken of in the narrative vouchsafes its genuineness and
accuracy, it does not by itself indicate which spot between the two
regions is referred to.
291. As to the place where the birds cast their feathers in such
numbers that a hundred cars were laden with feathers alone, we do
not find any such place spoken of in the scanty information we possess
on this part of Eastern Turkestan, i.e., between Karashar and Kutcha.
One may have existed there, as in other parts of Turkestan, unless
these so-called feathers should not be feathers at all, and be pampas
grass which as we know is also found in central Asia ;1166 but we have
not heard that any such feather-grass should have been found in the
Tarym Valley. The most probable explanation is that the meaning of
the text is more extensive geographically than could be supposed at
first. The Juh river, anciently Nuh, and meaning literally " water
defiled by mud,” seems to apply to the Khaidu-gol, or River of
Karashar, which deverses its waters in the Bagaratch Kul or lake from
where under the name of Khaidin-kwa, or Kontche-daria, it flows into
the great Tarym river.1167 The latter disembogues or dies into the
Lop-nor, just southwards of Karashar, and it is in the Lop-nor that
.
268
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
since remote times such a place is spoken of, where birds roost and
moult.
292. The narrative is silent on what Muh Wang did or heard of
during his three months near Karashar. Hunting would seem to have
been his sole occupation. But having advanced so far as that into
Turkestan, it would have been surprising that his expedition should
not have learned or seen something from lands further in the west.
This may have been the object of another recit which may have been
lost, but from which scraps of information have been preserved in
other works. For instance, we are told that Muh Wang received
there a mirror or magnifying glass (hwo t’si) from the country of Tsiü-
kiïi (or Yarkand ?)1168 And from the narrative itself we learn that
when coming back on the banks of the Black River, he instructed the
people to fuse certain stones found there, so as to make with various
sorts of objects for ornament 1169 This looks much like a recently
acquired knowledge of making some sort of glass and false gems. 1170
We may mention also as suggesting that Muh Wang, while in the
great plain of Eastern Turkestan, had some relations with the farther
west, the well-known legend that he married his daughter to the King
of Persia, which Firdousi has reported. It may have had some slight
foundation in the fact of an alliance of a daughter of Muh Wang with
one of the princes of Khorasan. A circumstance interesting to remark is
that at Herat (old Alexandria, Chinese O-yk-shan-li), when the notice
about it was compiled during the First Han dynasty, it was reported
that the elders there were acquainted with the Si Wang Mus and the
Weak Waters (the emboguing waters of the Tarym river in the Lop-
nor lake) The interest of this lies in the fact that Herat was the
arrival or departure place of the great trade route with China.1171
1
NOTES.-
1153) His advance-guard was under the command of Poh-yao
throughout his march to the countries of the far west. He was a
descendant of Wuy (5454-1808 Bas.), otherwise Ho-tsung, i.e., the
Venerable of the (Yellow) River, to whom Muh Wang offered two
sacrifices. Cf. par. ll, 13-15, and 16 of the narrative. On Ho-
tsung, or Ho Poh, cf. suprà note 395.
1154) On this river, cf. the authorities in Dutrueil de Rhins, Asie
Centrale, p. 117. It is still at present called Red River, Hung shui,
and flows into the Tola.
1155) Mount Tchung, or Mortar Mountain (8695 Bas.) The word
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
269
is sometimes written (also 11522 or 11583 Bas.) Bell, whence a
confusion from some writers with the mountains of the same name
on the borders of Shansi. The original was probably intended to be
the Tchung, 11373 Bas., or piled up mounts because of their height,
and thus might be the Bayan shan, Great Mountains.
1156) Cf. Tchany ye ki. Tai ping yü lan, kiv. 65, 3. Shan Hai
King, ii., 14, 15, text and commentaries.
1157) He met there the Tchang Kung; or Long Armed people. On
the Yang and Heh rivers, cf. Shang Hai King, ii., 18, and for the
Ki Kung people, vii. 1 v.
1158) The Bulunghir River, or Sule River, deverses its waters in the
Kara nor. Hung-lu, the local name in 1000 B.C., suggests the
Mongol Khara, Turk Kara. In Hiuen Tsang's life the same river
is called Hu-lu. Cf. tr. Beal, i., 17, and Life, 13. Also Dutrueil
de Rhins, Asie Centrale, 125. The Heh, i.e., Black River, is said to
flow from the San-wei hills (two miles S.E. of Sha tchou in W.
Kansuh), and afterwards to run east and west. Cf. Shan Hai King,
com. ii., 16, 21, which description applies to the Bulunghir.
1159) The All-Gems' mountain has also been called Bak-yüih mount
(i.l., Peh-yiih, white gems). The Shan Hai King, xiii., 10 v., speaks
of the west lake (Si hr. 8472 for 5108 Bas.), with the Peh yuh shan
on the S.W. of which run the moving sands. In the neighbour-
hood is a hill of very hard and bright stones white like bones, spoken
of by travellers (cf. E Bretschneider, Mediaval Researches, ii. 189),
which is undoubtedly the Hill of White Gems, or All-gems'
Mountain of our text. The old geographers tell us of a hill, west
of Turfan, “S'élevant en terrasses superposées, toutes formées par
des galets d'agates.... La roche ne doit son éclat qu'aux
brillantes agates" (cf. Amiot, in MIémoires concernant les Chinois,
xiv.; E. Reclus, L'Asie Orientale, p. 160). It has long been known
to the Chinese. Nai-Hwang-ti, going east, is said to have stopped
there. Under Tchuan-hiuh, the Red Hills State, i.c., the Hwo tchou
near Turfan is said to have sent him water pitchers made of agate.
Later on agate brought from there passed through the country of
the Yueh-ti (An-si tchou of W. Kansuh) and it is from there that
the Chinese get their best agate to the present day. Some confusion
have occasionally been made between the heap of agate and the
Bogdo ola, or Ling shan, the Sacred Mountain near Urumtsi.
1160) Tch'éh-fu, 7457-2514, Bas., translated by Dr. Eitel: Record-
office.
1161) Probably the Yen-tze shan of later times (cf. Shan Hai King,
ii., 28 v. The Chinese travellers speak in all this region of a kind
of iron yelded by magnetic iron ore, cf. E. Bretschneider, Mediæval
Researches, ii., 180, 183, 193. Ki-lü, 809-11691, or Y-lii 4612-
11691 Bas., is perhaps an antecedent of that of Ili which has sur-
vived to the present day further west.
1162) K'u shan, 8874-cl. 46 Bas., litt., Bitter's Mount, cannot be
understood as Mount Brinjal as translated by Dr. Eitel (probably
vived to Bas., 'is pe, 180, 183, iron ore,
270
because of Ku-kwa, 8874, cl. 97 Bas. litt., bitter gourd, which
was wrongly supposed to be the solanum melangena or brinjal.
For instance in Doolittle's Vocab.) But Dr. Bretschneider, Botan
Sinic., ii., 387, tells us that the K'u kwa is the momordica
charantia, which, the Pên tsao kang-muh of 1578 says, was intro-
duced from the south, and therefore cannot be the intended plant,
which I think was one of those producing asafoetida, for which the
region north of Karashar has been renowned since antiquity.
Asafætida, from the Persian aza, mastic, which is largely used
as a condiment by Asiatics, was with fir-bark and birds' fat the
principal ingredients of the famous fir-balsamemployed as a successful
drug against consumption; it was therefore à life-prolonging
medicine, and gave rise to the opinion amongst the Chinese of the
contending states period, that Si Wang-mu, like the foreigners
coming by the eastern coasts, was in possession of the drug of
immortality. The balsam in question, it is alleged, was already
known in the age of Yao. The word Ku must be taken as an
imitation of the local name of the asafoetida, which local name at
the time of Muh Wang was apparently of Aryan origin (cf. Ku with
the later Chinese a-(wei, a-'wei imitating the Persian anguzeh, and
the Sanskrit lingu). In the Pên tsao King of the first century
containing information on the materia medica of olden times, the
medical virtues of the pine are registered; the pine's fingers (i e., the
kernels), and the grease or fat (i e., the resine), if used lighten the
body and prolong the years of life (T.P., 953, 6 v.); they were
imported into China for that purpose from the N.W., according to
the Ki jan of Fan-tze (T.P., 953, 6), therefore from the direction
of Si Wang-mu's country. The marvellous character attributed to
this plant and fruit of that region has been extended to others. For
instance, the Lycium of Turkestan and Kansuh, of which the red
berries once dried are imported, at first in Kansuh only, and more
recently in other provinces, has received several names to that effect,
viz. : k'u ki, 8874-4098 Bas., or bitter k'i; kou k’i, 4149-4098
Bas.; Sien jen tchang or Richi's staff, Si Wang-mu's staff, heavenly
essence or tien tsing, none oldness or kiuh lao, earth bone or ti ku
(the root). For the foregoing facts, cf. : Pên tsao King (150 B.C.),
Wu shi Pên tsao (250 A.D.), Pao p'oh-tze (300 A.D.), Niao King
yüan shen k'i (our era), Hwai-ran-tze (150 B.C.) ap. T.P.Y.L.,
984, 5 v., 990, 8 v; E. Bretschneider, Chinese intercourse with the
courtries of Asia, art. Hwo-chou, and Botanicum Sinicum, ii.,
526; Description de la Chine Occidentale, trad. Gueluy, ch. iv.,
Kreitner, Oestr. Mon. f. d. Orient, 1883, p. 73-6.
1163) Yen hills, same character than in Yen-tze hills. Suprà Note
1161. Cf. Shan hai King, ii., 18 v.
1164) Cf. Life of Hiuen Tsang, tr. Beal, p. 37.
cf. the Ming geography and Bretschneider, Mediaval Researches,
ii., 192. On these on the route to Khotan, cf. Shih tao An'si yii
tchi, quoted in the Y Yuan of A.D, 400 : T.P.L.Y., 797, 8-9, and
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
· 271
911, 6. Hiuen Tsang (tr. Beal, ii., 315) at Khotan, was told the
same story that Herodotus, ii., 141, had preserved of an enemy's
army disabled by rats having gnawed the weapons leather at night.
The story is so similar that its importation into Khotan is clear.
On the Greek story, cf. A. H. Sayce, Herodotus, p. 205 ; G.
Rawlinson, Herodotus, vol. ii., p. 220. The same sand rats are at
the bottom of the fable of the Golden Ants of Herodotus, iii. 102.
Megasthenes (ap. Strab. XV., 706), Nearchus (ap. Arrian Indic. 15),
Dio, Pliny, Mela, &c, the pippilika of the Mahabharata, i., 375,
v. 1860; as shown by Mrs. Spiers, Ancient India, p. 216; Sam.
Beal, l.c.; Bunbury, Hist. Anc. Geog., i., 227, 257; G. Rawlinson,
l.c.; Lassen, Ind. Alter., i., 849.
1155) The text says that in the wilderness of the grcat plain there
is a swamp with fresh water and hills and plains where birds shed
their feathers. This might permit us to understand the Lop-nor
which is right south of Karashar, therefore not so far distant after
all, and where such a station for birds has been spoken of for
centuries. See for instance the Shan hai King, ii. 21 v.; vii., 1 ;
XV., 1 ; and in modern times the report of Ye-lu Tchu-tsai's
journey in the thirteenth century, ap. E. Bretschneider, Chinese
Medicval Travellers, 113.
1166) For instance in the desert near the River Ischim grows a sort
of grass which exactly resembles white plumes or feathers, and may
be dried and preserved a great while. Cf. P. J. van Strahlenberg,
Description, p. 362.
1167) Cf. E. Reclus, L'Asie Orientale, p. 113.
1168) Tsiü Kili-So-Kiii and Sha-Kii, T. P. Y. L., 717, 4 v. This
Tsiii-Kii, 14-5078 Bas., must not be confused with the Tsiii-Kiü,
4892-5078 Bas., said to be an official title among the Hiung-nus,
and the family name of the NORTHERN LIANG Tartar dynasty which
ruled in Kansuh, A.D. 397-428. Cf. the original Shih lich kwoh
tchun tsiu, Peh Liang luh, of Ts'uy Hung, ap. I. P. Y. L., 124, 8.
1169) Muh Tien-tze tchuen, $ 72.
1170) Chinese are famous in the art of making false gems, but not
in that of making glass. The latter process was finally introduced
amongst them in A.D. 435 from Cabul. Cf. F. Hirth, China and
the Roman Orient, p. 230; and T. de L., On the Ancient History of
Glass and Coal in China : T’oung pao, 1891. ,
1171) For Muh Wang and the marriage, cf. Firdousi, Shah Nameh.
G. Pauthier, Relations Politiques de la Chine avec les puissances
Occidentales, 1859, p. 14. And for Alexandria, cf. Tsien Han Shu,
Kiv. 96; tr. Wylie, 1.c. p. 19. In later texts this simple statement
has been replaced by a quotation without reference from the Shan
Hai King (cf. suprà note 276) which made it unclear, and an occasion
of useless speculations by several orientalists. On the trade route
and Herat, cf. n. 1288. On the marriage, cf. n. 171 and add. 171.
f. P. or feathers, and sort
UUM
them in less the heart of m
272
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
293. We gather from other sources some more information about
the location of the state of Si Wang-mu which confirm and concur
with that derived from the narrative of Muh Wang's journey.
The second book, one of the oldest of the Shan Hai King1172 tells us
that in the west of the Flowing Sands is the Mount of Gems (Yü shan)
where the Si Wang Mus reside. This mount is identified by all the
commentators with the mount Mass of Gems (Kiun yii) of Muh
Wang's journey which we have seen to be the Mount of Agate spoken
of by the old travellers, near Turfan, W.
From a mythological account in a later book of the same work, 1173
we are given to understand that the Si Wang Mus had on their south
the region where birds roosted (near the Lop-nor, as seen before) and
that the latter place was northwards of the spurs of the Kwen-lun
range, which is exact.
A further statement of the same work1174 says that won the margin
of the Flowing Sands, after the Red River (of Kansuh, S.W.), and in
front (i.e. south) of the Black River (of Kansuh, N.W,) are the great
mountains of the Kwen-lun; at the bottom of these are the weak
waters (of the Lop-nor); beyond these is the Yen hwo shan, or
Mountain of the Blazing Fire, which throws things suddenly in the
air, on the spurs of which the Si Wang Mus reside.” The mountain
referred to cannot be mistaken for any other than the Aghic, or Fire
Mountain, the Peh shan of modern Chinese maps, visited by a Russian
traveller in 1881, at 16 versts north-east of Kutcha, which sends away
smoke and sulphurous gas ; its fires are said not to be volcanic as
supposed before, and to proceed from burning coal.1175
The foregoing statement of the Shan Hai King, which came from
different sources and various dates, indicate the region between
Karashar and Kutcha, on the slopes of the Tien shan as the residence
of the Si Wang Mus. It is exactly that which our examination of the
narrative of Muh Wang's journey has led us to recognise.
294. Confirmative evidence may be quoted from other works.
Hwai-nan-tze was aware that the domain of the Si Wang Mus was
beyond the brink of the Flowing Sands.1176 In the geographical
chapter of the Han dynastic Annals, the same country is said to be in
the north beyond the Lop-nor.1177 The Records of Sha tchou (W.
Kansuh) of the T'ang period, 1178 and the History of the Sixteen
Kingdoms by Ts'uy Hung, of A.D. 500,1179 tell us that the hills of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
273
Tch’u-pu, where the Si Wang Mus used to reside, were N.E. of Yang-
Kwuh (whose name underlies that of Yanghi-shar, east of Kutcha,
which appears on some maps).1180 The mounts spoken of would be
the Bairak,tagh, on the west of Karashar, and the authority given by the
author of the Sha tchou ki for his statement is not borrowed from
literature ; it rests on the local tradition among Kiang Tibetans and
Hu or western people.1181
These identifications permit us to recognise in the Mou yuen, or
Luxuriant Garden of Muh Wang's journey, the Yulduz plateau,
covered with luxuriant herbage, and celebrated throughout central
Asia to the present day for its beauty, which Przevalsky was the first
European to visit in 1877.1182
295. Feminine memories would seem to linger round the country
which we have been able to identify with the former residence of the
Si Wang Mus. In the south-east of Kutcha, one finds the Baba kul
or Lake of Women ;1183 it might be the result of a reaction of the
Chinese fabled account, as the queen-ruled states belong to the northern
territory of Tibet, west and east, but not the north side of the Tarym
valley. Should we trust the Chinese description which from its
inception has never varied, a queen should have been the ruler, when
the first relations began with the Chinese, but it does not follow that
she should have always been succeeded by other queens. As remarked
at the beginning of this note, there is no evidence in any of the ancient
texts that the Si Wang Mus were queens.
296. Si Wang-mu, as we have seen, means the Wang-mu of the
west, and this Wany-mu is undoubtedly an attempt at imitating with
an appropriate meaning the foreign name or title of the sovereign
referred to. The word has happily not suffered much from phonetic
alteration. It should have been Kam - m U, Kw am - m u, or nearly
so.1184
This gives us a well-known royal denomination among the popu-
lation of antiquity inhabiting the north-west from the skirts of the
Chinese province of Kansuh, to the north of the Tarym valley and
the T"ien shan range, population called Wu-suns in Chinese history. 1185
Kun-mo was the title of their sovereign, which has become Kam-mu,
and afterwards the Wang-mu of the west of the Chinese. Their
queens seem to have enjoyed royal prerogatives, 1186 and one, of
274
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
them may have ruled when the Chinese became acquainted with them
for the first time. Their country corresponded to that which the
Chinese sources have shown us to be that of Si Wang Mus. An
interesting problem of history has thus received its solution.
NOTES.-
1172) Shan Hai King, ii., 18, 19. In ch. xvi. 2 v. it says that the
mountains of Si Wang-mu are the Hoh shan, 1740, cl. 46, Bas, or,
Hill of the Moat, and the Hai shan, 4993, cl. 46, Bas., or Hill of
the Sea. Let us remark that unlike the other lakes of East Turkes-
tan, that which is near Karashar, the Bagaratch Kul is generally
called Denghiz, the sea (cf. E. Reclus, Asie Orientale, p. 113), and
therefore justifies the Hai shan.
1173) Shan Hai Kiny, xii. 1.
1174) Ibid., xvi. 4, 5.
1175) It is described in the Wei shu of the 5th cent., in the Peh she
of the 6th, in the Si yü t'u ki of the same age, ap. T. P. Y. L., 792,
7, 8; in the Description de la Chine Occidentale, trad. Gueluy, ch. ii.;
Muséon, Juin, 1885. Cf. Also J. Klaproth, Tabl. Hist. As., 109:
Ritter, ii. 333; Kisseleff, in Turkestan Gazette, 6 Oct., 81; Mush-
ketoff, Turkestan, 1886, i. 131-133 and 172; E. Bretschneider,
Med. Res., ii., 190, 243-6. It produces sulphur, sal ammoniac, and
alum.
1176) Shan Hai King, comm., ii., 19.
1177) Han shu, Ti li tchi; T.P., 65, 3 v.
1178) Sha tchou ki by Twan Kwoh ; T. P., 50, 5.
1179) Shih luh Kwoh tchun tsiu, by Ts'uy Hung ; Tai ping yii lan, 50,
5. This is a quotation from the original work preserved in the
latter cyclopædia of A.D. 983, and not from the alleged forgery
under the same title of the Ming period.
1180) Unless it be Yang shar, new town, as in R. Shaw, High
Tartary, Yarkand, and Kashgar, 1871, p. 175; but probably a false
etymology of an older name.
1181) Ibid., T.P., 50, 5. In the fables piled up on the deceptive
name of Si Wang-mu, we find a connection established between her
and the Tortoise Mountain (Tai ping Kwang Ki ; Kwang po wuh tchi;
W. F. Mayers, N. and Q.1.c.) Now Kutcha was formerly called
Kuh-tse or Kwei-tse, lit. Tortoise here.
1182) Travels from Kuldja to Lobnor, p. 42, 21; E. Bretschneider,
Med. Res., ii., 230.
1183) E. Reclus, L'Asie Orientale, p. 112.
1184) In an old form of the Tchou period which I take to be a
phonetic suggestion, it is made of Kam cl. 13 below Kan cl. 51.
Cf. Min Ts'i-Kih, Luh shu tung, iv., 12, 13. In the oldest fan-tsieh
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
275
transcriptions, the initial is indicated by yii, rain, which was vu in
the Han period.
1185) They were repulsed by the Hiung-nus towards the region of
I-li about 143 B.C. In former times they covered a large area,
and their dominion extended as far as the west borders of Kansuh.
Cf, the sources in T. de L., Khan Khakan and other Tartar titles,
1888, par. 4 and notes 18-22.
1186) We must infer this from the fact that Kun-mo was the title
of the king, and Kun-ti that of the queen, a peculiarity which may
have not been remarked by the ancient Chinese.
Sect. II.-On some Old Geographical Knowledge of the West.
297. A certain amount of geographical knowledge of the west has
been handed down from the Shang period. Y-yn, prime minister to
the founder of that dynasty (Rect. Chr., 1686 B.C.) in a fragment
quoted from a geographical work bearing his name by the Kih tchung
Tchou shu of the Tchou dynasty, says that northwards of China were
the countries of the Yuleh-ti and of the Ta Hia.1187 As a certain Lao-
shing-shing had come to the court of Kieh Kwei, the last ruler of the
HIA dynasty, from the country now called Karashar, 1188 situated on
the route leading from the further west, the geographical information
may have been obtained from him.
In 1538 B.C. some men from the west having come to Tai Mou, the
seventh ruler of the SHANG dynasty, the Chinese sovereign sent envoys
who went as far as Karashar. 1189 Some information may have been
also derived from their report.
298 The Shan Hai King, kiv., xiii., fol. 1, in a chapter made of
several fragments has preserved some interesting relics of that
knowledge. « The country beyond the Flowing Sands (desert of
Gobi) are those of Ta-hia, 1190 Shu-sha, 1191 Kü-yao, 1192 and Yueh-ti.
The Western Hu (bearded people) and the Mount of White Gems are
east of Ta-hia ... all west of the Flowing Sands.
The narrative of Muh Wang's journey to Karashar, which we have
examined, shows that this mountain of White Gems was situated in
the immediate west of Turfan. Neglecting the well-known name of
2
276
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
the Yuleh-ti, who were settled in the north-west Kansuh, the three
other names by their respective meanings, Great Summer, Raised-up
Sands, Settled and Luxuriant, suggest stations in travelling to the
west in Eastern Turkestan.1193 Any attempt at seriously identifying
them with modern localities would be most difficult. However the
country of Great Summer could be that which near Turfan has been
afterwards called Hwo tchou, or Fire District, because of the enormous
heat resulting there in summer from the sun's rays on red hills. The
Raised-up or Firm Sands indicate a region which must have been
just outside the moving sands of the desert, while the Settled and
Luxuriant refers undoubtedly to the Yulduz plateau, north-west of
Karashar, the celebrated garden of central Asia.1194
NOTES—
1187) The work of Y-yn has long been lost; fragments only have
survived as quotations, eo nomine, in several ancient work, such as
the Kih tchung Tchou shy, and the Lni she Tchun tsiu. Cf. Pih Yuen
Shan Hai King, comm, i. 4, 4, 4v.; ii. 4, 15, 16; v. 35; x. 3 ; xi.
2 ; xiii. 1; xv. 1, 4; &c. Another ancient geographer of the same
period was Hia Koh, who also compiled a work now lost, a few
fragments only have been preserved as quotations. Cf. Shan Hai
King, vi. 1, and Lieh-tze, Tang wen pien, &c.
1188) Hwai-nan-tze. Shan Hai King, comm., ii. 19 v.
1189) Kwoh ti tu; T. P. Y. L., 7904. Bamboo Annals, ix. 26.
1190) Ta hia, cl. 37-1780, Bas., i.e., Great Summer. The symbols
are the same as those used afterwards by Tchang-Kien and others
as an equivalent for the name of the Daha, on whom cf. note 249.
1191) Shu-sha, 10333-4888 Bas., “Raised Sands.” A late variant
gives Kien-sha, 1635-4888 Bas., « Firm Sands," probably as an
equation of meaning.
1192) Küi-yao, 2240-8013 Bas., « Settled Yao." As in the case
preceding a late variant gives Shuh-yao, 2270-8013 Bas., “Depen-
dent Yao." This country is most probably spoken in other books of
the Shan Hai King, vii. 3 ; Tchu yao and xvi, 2 v.
1193) Curiously enough the name of Ta hia amongst them has
misled some writer of the Ts'in and HAN period, who has taken it for
the Ta hia of Tchang Kien; and finally the list has taken place in
the curious Mosaic of the Wei lioh, on Ta Ts'in, cf. supr.
note 276. It is also this vague Ta hia which is mentioned in the
inscription of Ts'in She Hwang-ti at Lang-ya, which M. Ed.
Chavannes has translated, Les Inscriptions des Is'in: J. A., 1893,
p. 500. Under the Han dynasty, Ta nia was the name of the
present Ho tchou in Lan tchou fu of south-west Kansuh.
1194) Suprà on Muh W'ang's journey, § 294
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
277
Sect. III.-- On the Gnomon and Sundial.
299. The Gnomon and Sundial, in a more or less primitive con-
dition must have been brought into China by the western civilised
Bak-sings, under the leadership of Hwang-ti, who is traditionally
ascribed their invention, as without them they could not have deter-
mined their solstices and equinoxes which the first book of the
Shu-King show them enabled to do. Moreover we see from the
Shi-King that in the seventeenth or eighteenth century the Chinese
knew how to determine by the measure of the shadow the position of
a town, or more exactly how to determine the four cardinal points by
the observation of the solar shadow: 1195 Therefore the early Chinese
had been taught the process, ingenious and simple, which permitted
the Babylonians, as it did the Egyptians, to set their monuments on
a regular orientation. 1196 We do not know if the implement made
use of by the Chinese was anything more than a gnomon or vertical
staff set up on a measured ground, as the Book of Poetry in its terse-
ness says only this: " he shadowed” (koi-yng), in the sense of
measuring the shadow. 1197 Anyhow at the beginning of the Tchou
dynasty, i.e., circà, 1100 B C., observations made at their capital city
with the gnomon have been verified by Laplace 1198 and by Biot, who
have found them to be substantially correct within an approximation,
which from the complication introduced in the case by the obliquity
of the ecliptic never understood by them, cannot have been calculated
backwards by the Chinese in subsequent ages.1199
300. In the Ritual of the Tchou dynasty some information is given
on the system of the sundial; the gnomon piao had eight feet in height,
with a dial t'r-lewei, i.e., measuring table, of one foot five-tenths for
the length of the shade at the summer solstice.1200 Jeh-kwei, or
simply kwei, as a term for a sundial complete, is a later expression of
the Han dynasty. 1201
An improvement of great importance for the scientific accuracy of
observations made with the gnomon, and consisting of a hole at the
top instead of a point, was introduced under the Tchou dynasty at a
time it is difficult to ascertain, but which must have been before the
sixth or fifth century B.C.1202 As the invention is commonly attri-
buted to the Arabs, its existence in China is worth noting at that early
period.
NO
1
278
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
301. In the west the history of the gnomon and sundial is
uneventful until comparatively late. In the eighth century B.C.,
Akhaz of Juda, then a vassal of Tiglath Pileser, had a sundial1203
perhaps about 732 B.C., and through the relations existing between
· his country and that of his suzerain. In Isaiah xxxviii. 8, and
2 Kings xx. 9-11, the shadow is said to have been brought "ten
degrees," or malûth, backwards, by which it had gone down on the
dial of Akhaz. Anaximander set up the first gnomon in Sparta in
B.C. 560,1204 probably with some improvements which wrongly caused
his name to be looked upon as that of the genuine inventor. Rome
had no sundial before B.C. 263, and even then onlyan inexact one,1205
which was not put to right until B.C. 163 by G. Marcius
Philippus. 1206
NOTES.-
1195) Shi King, iii., ii., vi., 5. This is said to have been done by a
Chinese Duke Liu, who went to live with the Tchou people, then
uncivilised and even ignorant of making for themselves kiln-shaped
huts, an art in which they were taught by Tan-fu. Cf. the same
work III , i. It was most probably nothing else that the cave dwelling
of Shensi (in the loess).
1196) Cf. Edward Biot, Recherches sur les moeurs Anciennes des Chinois,
d'après le Shi-King, Journ, Asiat, Nov., Dec., 1843; J. Legge,
Chinese Classics, vol. iv., pp. 162 intro. and 487-8.
1197) "Le tracé de la ville ou du monument était précedé d'observa-
tions astronomiques, faites avec un gnomon vertical pour determiner
la ligne meridienne par la bissection de l'arc de cercle compris entre
les ombres solaires du matin et du soir.” J. B. Biot, Advertisement
to the Tcheou-li, p. 27; Le Tcheou-li, K. xlviii., f. 21, transl. Ed.
Biot., v. ii., p. 554.
1198) P. Gaubil, Mémoire sur les observations du gnomon faites à la
Chine in Additions à la connaissance des temps, 1809, pp. 393 sq.
Laplace, Ibid, 1811, pp. 429 sq. Tcheou-li, K. ix. f. 17.
1199) J. B Biot, Astro. Ind. Chin., p. 320. Teng fung hien in E.
Honan, is famous by the astronomical tower and gnomon erected
there by Tchou Kung. Cf. Grosier, Chine (3), i. 138; De Mailla,
Hist. Gén. Chine, xiii. 58.
1200) Tcheou-li, K. ix., 16, 17, xlii. 19; transl. Biot. v. i., pp. 200-
202; v. ii. pp. 522, 523.
1201) It is explained in the Shwoh wan of 89 A.D., and in the Shih
Ming of 175 A.D. Cfr. Tai ping yii lan, K. 4, ff. 4v. 5v.
1202) It is described in a part of the Tchou pei which an astronomical
statement recorded therein reports to a date within B.C. 572-450.
Cfr. J. B. Biot, Astron. Ind. Chin. pp. 238, 304 &c.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
279
1203) Cfr. the remarks of G. Wilkinson's notice in G. Rawlinson's
Herodotus, vol. ii. p. 330, on málûth, step degree.
1204) Diog. Laert. ii. 1. We know that the Greeks have often
substituted invention to adoption in their claims for things known
for several centuries before in other countries.
1205) Built for Catana in Sicily, 4° S. of Rome and therefore
presenting a big error which was not perceived for a century. Cf. Sal
Reinach, Phil. Class. i. 275.
1206) On the sundials, cfr. G. Rayet, Annals de Chimie et de Physique,
S. V., and yi., p. 52 ; Hermann, Privat alterthümer, pp. 122 v.2, 142
v. 84; Marquardt, Handbook, v. 2, 271 ; S. Reinach, Phil. Class.,
ii. 212, i. 275.
Sect. IV.- On the Clepsydra.
302.—We have no historical statement that the Bak Sings were
acquainted with the Clepsydra, as they were with the gnomon, when
they came into China. It may be said, however, that they could not
without it have made any stellar observations at night with any pre-
cision, if, as probable, they were able to do.1207 And circumstancial
evidence from the west originary quarters show that if they had not
then been made acquainted with it, they could not afterwards have
received it in the same condition or preliminary stage of development.
Herodotus (ii. 109) speaks of the Babylonian sundial, gnomon, and
division of the day into twelve hours, but he does not speak of the
clepsydra. It is only Sextus Empericus of the second century who
has said that it was with the clepsydra that the Babylonians had
made their system of duodecimal division of the day.1208 Now we are
aware that this division along with the reform of the calendar was
made about or after 2500 B.C.,1209 and this shows a respectable
antiquity for the clepsydra. Some of the poles figured on Chaldean
cylinders are probably gnomons, but I have not remarked any possible
representation of the clepsydra on these monuments. The oldest
known as yet is that which occurs in Egypt in the great Temple of
Bubastis, at the time of Osor-Khon II., circ., 875 B.C. It is a single
object with an animal shaped top.1210
303. The clepsydra is alluded to in the Annals of the Bamboo
Books as being neglected in 895-870 B.C.,1211 and in the Tchou-li
we find it was in charge of special officers. 1212 In the camps it was
280
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
hung on a pole to be seen from afar. Its mode of construction was
most simple, and consisted of a single vase with a leaking spout and a
cover with an opening ; a graduated rod on a floating base emerging
not differ much from its trestern antecedent, and likewise rested
chiefly on the principle of leaking, 1213 while the rude time-checks used
in India, Burma, and among the Malays rest on the principle of
sinking, which shows their different origin, and the western source of
the Chinese implement.
The names for the implement in China was K’it - hu, Kieh-hu, the
Raised Jar, and KAK-LU, K’eh-lou, the graduated leak, which names
singularly enough are much like the Sanskrit ghati, for time piece,
and the Hindi ghari, for clepsydra.1214
The Rod was graduated with one hundred degrees for the whole
length of the day, i.l., daylight and night.1215 Such a regularity in
day and night is a highly scientific conception, thoroughly Babylonian,
which the Chinese could not have got from anywhere else, and which
was long unknown to the Greeks and Romans.1216
304. In ancient India a regular division of daytime and a system
of clepsydra were known, but they rest on different bases. The water-
clock described in the Vishnu Puránál217 is just the reverse of the
Chinese one; it is in use in other countries such as Java1218 and
Burma, 1219 where it was carried by Hindu influence, and the
system is most simple : a smaller basin with a hole at the bottom is
placed floating on the water in a larger basin, where it fills itself
gradually and sinks in a fixed time. In the Laws of Manu and the
Puranas, the day and night are divided into sixty muhúratas of thirty
kalas each,1220 which division is obviously different from the 100 kehs
of China. I do not know which were the sub-divisions of the k'ehs,1221
but their relation with the duodecimal division employed in Babylonia
suggests a division by thirds, which would make 25 thirds of a k’eh
correspond to a twelfth part of a day and night or nycthemeron. It
has the appearance of a substitution made to a former duodecimal
system, the original one, (?) which would have been discarded as not
sufficiently minute for the purpose, though otherwise preserved.1221 The
centigrade division was the work of the Tchou, but we do not know
when it was done, nor from which quarters the notion may have come
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
281
to them, if it was not an improvement devised by themselves. It has
been inferred from the fact that the Jyotisham or Vedic calendar and the
Chinese traditions present an identity of specifications on the duration
of the longest days, which duration applies to the latitude of Baby-
lonia, that this specification originated in the latter country, and had
been carried to India and hence to China. But the inference goes too
far, as the units of calculation differ, and the two countries appear to
have received it indipendently.1222
NOTES-
1207) The astronomical confusion of the first chapter of the Shu
King is not without throwing doubts on the matter.
1208) Adv. Math. cap. 21.
1209) Let us remember that the necessity of a change in the calendar
was brought about by the accumulated errors of supputation and by
precession of equinoxes. The sun at the vernal equinox was
entering Taurus from 4698 to 2540, and Aries from 2540 to 382 B.C.
Now the tablets translated in The Astronomy and Astrology of the
Babylonians, by A. H. Sayce, 1874, show that Aries was the first
zodiacal sign (cf. p. 237).
1210) Cf. The Festival Hall of Osor-Khon II. in the Great Temple of
Bubastis, by Ed. Naville, 1887-89; London, 1892, pp. 6, 8, 9, &c.
It was called s heb. Brugsch, in Zeits f. Æg., 1870, 156, gives an
Egyptian word merkhet for horloge in P. Pierret, Voc. Hierogl.
226. Another system according to Professor G. Maspero, which
existed also in ancient Egypt, consisted of several stone-basins
emptying one another. On a similar system made of bronze basins
in China, during the T'ang dynasty, cf. G. Schlegel Uranographie
Chinoise, p. 190.
1211) Tchuh shu Ki nien. V. vii.
1212) Tchou li xxx. 29, 30. It was under the guard of a special
officer, K’it hu she, who had to keep the water warm in winter that
it should not be frozen; hang up the horary vase for certain
signals of a fixed length of time, and measure the day and night
at the equinoxial and solsticial times, as explained in the Sui shu.
Cf. Stan. Julien, in J. B. Biot, Astronomie Indienne et Chinoise,
p. 290. Cf. the picture of a clepsydra-vase of the Han dynasty in
the K’ao lou tu, ix. 26.
1213) Cf. J. L. Ideler, Ueber der Ursprung des Thierkreises, p. 16.
G. Schlegel, Uranographie Chinoise, p. 191. Cf. Also F. A. Seeley,
Time Keeping in Greece and Rome, pp. 377-397: Smithsonian Report,
1889. In later times in China, in order to obtain a greater accuracy
the number of recipients was increased from two to five. For
instance in the T'ang dynasty as shown by the figure given by
Tchu-hi in the T'' si king tu Ed. Biot, Le Tchéou-li, ii. 202, and
G. Schlegel, Uran. Chin., 190. On great clepsydras of Quinsay or
282
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Hang-tchou, cf. Martini, in H. Yule, Marco Polo, 2, ii. 198; of
Peking in 1272, cf. Bazin, Chine Moderne, p. 26; of Canton in
1317, cf. Chinese Repository, xx. 430.
1214) K’ieh-hu, 3346-1764 Bas. Keh-lou, 789-5189 Bas. For the
Indian words, cf. Wilson, Indian Terms, 174, and Edw. Balfour,
. Cyclop. Ind., i. 195.
1215) Cf. Shwoh wen, sub. voc., Lui. P. Gaubil, Hist. Astron. Chin.,
p. 239-40.
1216) The division in hours was unknown to Homer, and was
posterior to Anaximander. Pollux enumerates fifteen divisions of
the day and seven of the night (Onamasticon, i. c. 7). After the
introduction of the clepsydra by Ctesibius, the Athenians had two
sorts of hours, the equal or 1/24th of the day of 24 hours, and the
variable, or 1/12th of the length of the daylight. In Rome the
day and night were not divided in any regular manner; even after
159 B.C., the clocks indicated not the equinoctial hours, but the
twelfths of the natural day, so that the hours were shorter in winter
than in summer. Cf. S. Reinach, Ph. Cl., i., 222, 223, 275, 276.
1217) Transl. H. H. Wilson, 1840, p. 531.
1218) G. Schlegel, Uranographie Chinoise, p. 191.
1219) Shway yve, The Burman, his life and notions, London, 1882,
vol. ii. 294. In Burma, it is only at the vernal and autumnal
equinoxes that the hours of the day and night are equal in time.
At other times they vary, as formerly in Rome. Cf. Suprà n. 1216
The length of a day and night is complete in sixty nayee (or nari),
but this division is only used for astrological purposes.
1220) The Laws of Manu, i. 64, G. Buhler, p. 19. It is only slightly
different from the astronomical divisions. Cfr. Ebenezer Burgess,
Translation of the Surya Siddhánta, with notes by Whitney, i. 12.
1221) In the first year Tai tch'r, i.e., 104 B.C., twenty divisions were
added to the former of 100 of the graduated rod in the Keh-lu,
making 120 for the night and day. Cfr. Ngai Ti K’i in Tai Ping
yüi lan, K. II. f. 12.
1222) Cf. Alb. Weber, Ueber die Identität der Angaben von der Dauer
des längsten Tages bei clen Chaldäern, Chinisen, Indern. Mon. d. Kön.
Akad d. Wiss, Berlin, 1862; cfr. from the same scholar, Ueber
den Veda Kalender, namens Jyotisham, pp. 29, 30, 107, 108.
Abhand Kön. Akad. d. Wiss, Berlin, 1862; Die vedischen Nachrichten
von den Nawatra, i. 361-363, ii. 400. J. B, Biot, Astronom. Ind.
Chin., pp. 292-293. And the Severe Criticisms of Prof. W. D.
Whitney, Biot and Weber on the Hindu and Chinese Asterisms, pp. 63-64.
Prof. Max Müller in 1860, J. A. S. B., xxix. 200, has claimed that
the Jyotisha account of the position of the colures fixed the twelfth
century B.C. as the date, not the fourteenth as Colebrook had con-
cluded. Cf. also Dr. James Burgess, Notes on Hindu Astronomy
and the History of our Knowledge of it ; J. R. A. S., Oct., 1893,
pp. 717-761; before the Greek influence Indian astronomy consisted
CHINESE CHVILISATION.
283
of primitive and rough methods of observations, without even a
knowledge of the 19-year period. Cf. ibid. p. 752-3.
Sect. V.—Origin of the South-pointing Chariots and Maritime Compass.
the suggestion of the Nestor of Sinologists in his not inexhaustive
enquiry on this subject,1223 quoted suprà, note 159. (1.) The polarity
of the magnet; (2) its utilisation for route indicating ; (3) its appli-
cation for that purpose to chariots (4) and to boats-are different and
successive questions, probably solved successively in the history of
progress. It seems that the first notion was very old in the west.
The Egyptians were acquainted with the magnetic iron which they
called bàa-n-pe, celestial iron, 1224 and the expression res-mehit-ba,
south-north iron, if correctly read, in the inscription of the
pyramid of Unas (last Pharaoh of the fifth dynasty), would show
them also acquainted with the artificial isolation of the magnet for
direction purposes. Plato and Aristotle were acquainted with it; and
among the Arabs it was to the latter that the discovery was attri-
buted.1225 The same notion has also been found in the ancient
literature of India. I
I am not aware that any trace of a similar knowledge has been
hitherto disclosed in the Babylonian civilsation, but as our acquaint-
ance of these matters therein is still fragmentary, we may expect
that it was common, as so many other things were, to Egypt and
Babylonia.
The leaders of the Bak Sings, future civilisers of China, while
settled yet near the Bakhtyari range, could therefore have become
acquainted with it, and we might thus understand as a later amplifi-
cation of a genuine fact the legend reported, not by Szema Tsien, but
by other compilers, that Hwang ti made use at war of a south-pointing
chariot. But the evidence in favour of this tradition is romantic and
nearly nil.
306. The same incertitude does not concern Tchou Kung, the
virtual founder of the Tohou dynasty, who appears to have really
284
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
been acquainted with the polarity of the magnet. He may have learned
it in the same way as they had learned the other notions of western
knowledge which we have mentioned in the present work. 1226 The
fifty-sixth chapter of the Shu King, which ought to have contained a
statement of the fact is lost, and we only know it through an amplified
version of the fourth century B.C. by Kwei Kuh tze. 1227 We have !
seen (suprà, note 209) that south-pointing chariots could not be made
in 822-811 B.C., and that it was only in the seventh century that an
experiment is reported to have been successful. The tradition
indicates probably nothing more than an improvement in the make
of the magnet which one could take on oneself when driving, while the
suggestion of some modern Chinese that the south-pointing article
was connected with the axles of the chariot is pure childishness.1228
It is almost certain that nothing definite had been arrived at in the
make of special chariots for the purpose, as they are not described in
the Tchou-li, and subsequent writers, such as the well informed
Hwai nan tze (T. P., 752, 6) speak only of the magnet. All that
could be done was to have the magnetic needle fixed in the chariot,
without being impaired in its movement.
307. We must come to the first century of our era to hear that a cer-
tain Tchang Heng had reconstructed one for astronomical purposes.
Then we arrive to the third century at Lohyang under the reign of Ming-
ti (227-240 A.D.) of the Wer dynasty,where it being said that the ancients
never had any south-pointing chariots, Ma-Kiun, the mechanician,
made the attempt and was at last successful in making one.1229 The
Shu Wang Ki of the fifth century, describing the system says that
on the top of the chariot was placed a wooden figure of a sien-jin
holding a trusty flag ; inside of the chariot was the pointing to the
south (cf. T. P., 775, 1v.)
A century later the same success does seem to have partly rewarded
the efforts of Hiai-fei in 342, and of Hu-sheng, 394 A.D., to make
similar chariots for Shih-hu, fourth king (335-349 A.D.) of the AFTER
Tchao, a small Tartar dynasty of North China, and for Yao-hing,
394-415, second king of the Hou TSIN. .
When the first of these chariots came into the possession of Wu Ti
of the LIU SUNG dynasty (420 A.D.), it was claimed that these Jung-
Tek, otherwise Tartars, who had made it had not worked well, and
NT
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
285
that often they did not indicate the true south.1230 This damaging
report was probably prompted by the wounded amour propre of the
Chinese, when seeing all the great things which these Tartars had
made. Shih-hu, in 342, had rebuilt the city, already magnificent, of Yeh
(modern Lin-tchang in Tchang-teh fu of North Honan). On the
Ming-hoh tch’i, or Pond of the Cackling Crane, a special boat with a
south-pointing magnet (Tchi nan tchou) was built on his commands in
that year, and this may be taken as the first instance of the maritime
compass. It is mentioned in the Tsin Kung Koh Ki of the fourth
century. 1231 I do not know when this mere toy was improved and
adopted for practical navigation ; it remained undoubtedly slumbering
for centuries, as the oldest mention of the maritime compass (as shown
by Dr. J. Edkins, Trans. Asiat. Soc. Japan, Dec., 1880, viii. 475),
dates only of 1122 A.D., on board of the ship which starting from
Ning-po carried the Chinese ambassador to Corea.
308. In 1876, Mr. William Chappell, Nature, June 15, has tried to
show that we owe the appearance of the compass in Europe in the twelfth
century to independent discovery, and not to importation from China.
Herr A. Schüch, Die Sage von Kompass in China, 1891, Natur, Halle,
51, 606-8; 52, 613, 5, and Aussland, 1892, --4-10, has collected
historical data to show that it has been received by the Arabs from
Europe, and not by Europe from the Arabs. However, the Arabs
who were then, long before and afterwards, frequenting the Chinese
ports must have been blind and deaf if they did not hear something
of this novelty. And although a positive link proven by a definitive
fact is missing between the Chinese and Arab implement, the corre-
sponding dates and the known intercourse are rather too much for an
independent invention.
NOTES.-
1223) Chin, Class, iii. 536-7. Of, also J. Klaproth, Lettre sur l'inven-
tion de la Boussole, 1834. Ed. Biot, Note sur la direction de
l'Aiguille Aimantée en Chine. C. R. Acad. Scienc 1844, t. xix.
1224) According to T. Deveria, Le Fer et l'Aimant dans l'Ancienne
Egypte, 1870.
1225) Cf. Reinaud, Introd., Géographie d'Aboulféda, 1848, p. ciii.
1226) Cf. Notes 149-153, 346, and the text corresponding.
.1227) T.D., 775, 1 v.
286
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.' 1228) Cf. the negative note of Dr. J. Chalmers, China and the
Magnetic Compass : China Review, 1891, xix. 52-54.
1229) Cf. Fr-tze. T. P., 752, 7.
1230) Cf. Tahºen Yoh, Sung Shau. Shih-hu, Yeh tchaung K3, TP.,
752, 2, 2 v. The Ku yü tu, Illustrations of Ancient Jades by Tchu
Teh-jun, 1341 (re-published 1603), in two books, gives, i. 2, a
picture of a little figure in jade on its pivot, from a south-pointing
chariot, which has been reproduced in the San ts'ai tu huy cyclo-
pædia of 1609, and elsewhere, and was sixteen inches high. The
right arm extended in front is supposed to have always indicated
the south from a loadstone concealed inside. In the oldest south-
pointing chariots the indicator was a hand hanging inside of the
car; the little figure outside was an improvement of the fifth
century.
1231) Cf. T. P., 769, 1 v; 197, 4; 973, 3.
Sect. VI.--F'oreign Historical Sources of Ancient Chinese Astronomy.
309. When the Bak Sings arrived in China some of the native
populations had already a rough sort of astronomy. Several of them,
star-gazing, had noticed in course of years the recurrence at regular
times of the same celestial bodies in the starry heavens ;1232 and with
reference to sowing and harvest times they had paid a peculiar atten-
tion to the position of Ursa Major. 1233 When he took possession
of the supreme authority of the East of China the famous
Kao Yang Tchuen hiuh, in his thirteenth year (i.e., c. 2213 B.C.),
is said to have made some calendaric calculations and delinea-
tions of heavenly bodies1234 His successor Ti Kuh Kao-sin (2147-
2076 B.C.), with his foreign minister, Tchung-li, 1235 was able to define
the zodiacal stars and exhibit their times to the people.1236 Szema
Ts'ien, who has preserved1237 a bare list of the celebrated astrologers of
olden times, begins with the name of Tchung-li, and passes to Hi and
Ho of the time of Yao, spoken of in the Shu Kiny. The most famous
afterwards was Kun-gu, who arrived with his tribe by the Kukunor
route, introducing the art of bronze about 1741 B.C. Under the
reign of Tai Mou, of the SHANG dynasty, who is said to have received
numerous envoys from foreign parts, flourished Wu hien, a foreigner,
who made the first catalogue of the stars, and in c. 1553 B.C.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
287
organised the state worship of the hills and rivers. 1238 During the
Tohou dynasty, at the outset, under Wu Wang, lived She yh, who was
Ta she, or great historiographer. 1239
310. Tch'ang-hung, who has also made himself famous in astron-
omy, was a ta-fu, or great officer, in the time of Ling Wang (571-544
B.C.) Later on flourished Tze Wei, in the state of Sung, and Pi
Tsao in the state of TCHENG, whom we have already met as a well
known sacrificer to the foreign Kitchen god in 533 B.C.1240 In the
principality of T'si, Kan Kung, who lived in the time of the Con-
tending States, about 350 B.C., wrote a work called Tien wen sing
tchen, Divination by the starry signs of the sky, in eight books. In
the kingdom of T’su lived T"ang Mei, and in that of ToHAO, Yn Kao,
after 400 B.C. In that of Wer about the same date lived Shih Shen
who wrote the T'ien Wen, or Signs of the Sky, in eight books1241 The
Tien wen sing tchen and Tien wen, of Kan and Shih, are said to have be-
come the Sing King, The Book of Stars, that was edited under the HAN
dynasty, 1242 and recast under the T'ang dynasty, 1243 when Hindus,
Greeks, Romans, Persians, Mahommedans had furthermore contri-
buted to enrich the Chinese stock of notions of astronomy.
311. The Annals of the Tsin dynasty (265-419 B.C.) section of
astrology, say that the astronomical works of the Ta she-ling, or great
astrologer, Tch'en-tch’oh and others, of Kan and Shih, and of Wu-
hien, altogether three schools, had mapped out the stars, in a total of
283 kwan or constellations including 1464 stars.1244 The list of fixed
stars published by Mr. A. Wylie, the translator of Herschell, contains
2872 fixed stars, of which 1398 only were Chinese. 1245 In Dr. Gustave
Schlegel's Uranographie Chinoise, 755 different names of stars are
given. 1246
AV
NOTES
1232) Dr. Gustav Schlegel, in his Uranographie Chinoise, 1875, 929
pp., has collected a considerable mass of evidence on the subject.
But he thinks that it cannot be explained but by an antiquity of
18000 years, which I think unnecessary. Cf. below, $$ 316-320.
1233) This is shown by the teaching of SHun (who was a native
prince) in substitution to the teaching of Yao, which it seems had
been misunderstood in the transmission, as explained in the follow-
ing note.
1284) Tchuh shu Ki nien, I., iii. In the Literary Catalogue of the
288
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
W
first Han dynasty, Tsien Han shu, kiv. 30, section of calendar,
Lih-pu, several works bear titles concerning that early period.
Hwang-ti wu kia lih, Hwang-ti's five schools calendar, in 33 kiv.
The earliest astronomical statements in Chinese legends and tradi-
tions are most interesting to notice here for their intrinsic value,
and also because of the numerous misgivings which are fancied
about them. I.-Szema Tsien, She Ki, i. 4, tells us that “Hwang-
ti had acquired a valuable tripod, and that he calculated the lists
of the solar movements.” And at xxviii. 32, he reports a legend
told in 112 B.C., from which it appears that Hwang-ti utilised the
astrological slips of the tripod (i.e., contained in it as in ancient
west) and calculated as said before; the legend says also that
Hwang-ti remarked that after about twenty years the winter solstice
was coming again on the first day of the month, and thus calcu-
lated the calendar for twenty times that period, or 380 years. The
last part of the legend is almost certainly spurious as the 19-year
cycle appeared only in 655 B.C. (see add. n. 47), and the seven
intercalary months which it requires meanwhile were not made,
otherwise than in a haphazard fashion, as shown by J. Chalmers,
Astronomy of the Ancient Chinese. II.--Tchuan-hiüh is said in the
Bamboo Annals to have made a calendar with figures (of the
heavenly bodies ?). The text gives only lik siang, which might be
translated somewhat differently, but as the Shu King in the canon
of Yao has the same words followed of sun, moon, planets, and
constellations; their meaning is allowed to be as we have tran-
slated. The Imperial Library in B.C. 7 contained a calendar of
Tchuan-hiüh in twenty-one books, and a work under the same
name on the Five Stars or planets in fourteen books, where probably
the views commonly attributed to him had been embodied (cf. Tsien
Han shu, kiy. 30, fol. 31). Tradition also wanted him to have first
made the sky round while Hwang-ti had made it a vault (cf. Liu
she Lih tchang wan of the Han period, T. P., ii, 8 v.) It was soon in-
ferred from it that he had actually made an astronomical instrument
on that principle. III.-In the first chapter of the Shu King, Yao
instructs his astronomers that a year being complete on the 366th
day, they should have to use intercalary months to make the seasons
right and the year exact. There is no question here of a bissextile
year, although Norman Lockyer, in his Origin of the Year, bas
shown that the year length of 3651 days was known in ancient
Egypt 2500 B.C.; but the migration of the Bak tribes took place
before the Chaldean reform of calendar of about 2243 B.C.(?) It is
in the same chapter of the Book of History that are given the
famous instructions of Yao, to four astronomers for observing the
four leading stars of the seasons, which would be roughly right,
instead of being incomprehensible, had not an inversion crept
between the characters for west and east as shown by the actual
and unmistakable derivations of the four symbols of the cardinal
points from those of the Chaldeo-Elamite script (T. de L., The
Loan of Chaldeo-Elamite Culture to Early China, 1891, $ 8 20-30;
and The Oldest Book of the Chinese, 1892, $ $ 185-8. IV.--It appears
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
289
that this astronomical method did not work well, as in the
following chapter of the Shu King, we see that Shun, as soon as he
assumed the supreme authority, provided his subjects with another
and more simple process—"He fixed on the siun-ki, or pearly
revolving (the first four stars), and the yüh heng or gemmy balance
(the three stars of the tail of Ursa Major), to be the seven con-
trollers (of the seasons).” It is the same idea suggested by nature
which caused the Greeks to call this constellation helike. This use
of these stars for calendario indicators was said to have been
always known; it was described at length in the fourth century B.C.
by Hoh Kwan-tze; and about 190 B.C. the old Fuh sheng, after
the literary persecution, had still preserved the notion that the four
words of the text in question were referring to the north pole. But
after 150 B.C., with Kung-'an Kwoh, another view began to prevail;
the oldest explanation was not grand enough, and it was stated that
these words were the description of a jewelled astronomical instru-
ment, which in the later commentators has become an armillary
sphere made of pearls with a transverse tube of jade! The astron-
omical fact that Draconis was yet pole-star at the time of Shun, just
above the so-called balance, fully justifies the names he gave to
these stars, and the whole thing shows, in our opinion, that this
teaching of Shun was based upon native astronomical folk lore.
1235) Tchung-li, anciently Tung-li, for Tungri = Tengri, heaven,
in Turkish languages, which fact may suggest that he was a
foreigner, and probably a Turk. Among the Turko-Tartars the
following star names appear to have been anciently known :-
(1) the North Star, Altin Kazuk, or golden pole or stake, in Uigur,
temir Kazuk, or iron pole or stake, in Djagatai. (2) In Ursa Minor,
two stars called Kök-bozat and Ak-bozat, or White and Blue Horses.
(3) Three stars in the same constellation called Arkan-jolduz, or
Rope Stars. (4) Jeti-karakchi = the Seven Robbers. (5) Sekiz-
jolduz=the eight stars on the eastern horizon of the steppes. There
is the unlucky star, zejanz-jolduz=Scorpio Star, called in central
Asia and Persia Kerwankush, the grave-digger of caravans, because as
long as the caravans observe its rising with Orion in the morning,
robbers and death follow the stations. (6) The Morning Star.
(7) The Seven Stars, i.e., the Pleiades. (8) The Milky way, called
the Bird's Path. Cf. H. Vambery, Die Primitive Cultur des Turko-
Tatarischen Volkes, 1879, pp. 154-6. Considering that Turkish
tribes formed part of the Pre-Chinese population of North China,
the almost complete absence of connection between their astron-
omical folk-lore and that of the Pre-Chinese shows that the astron-
omical knowledge of the latter was small, regional, and various.
On names of stars introduced from the ancient west cf. add. 28.
1236) Li Ki, xx. 19. Sacred Books of the East, xxviii. 208.
1237) She Ki, Tien Kwan shu, xxvii. 40, 41.
1238) Suprà sect. 98, 91, note 340, and add, 342. Tchuh shuh ki nien,
IV., ix. 11 Wu-hien was a man of the west. His country was
called Fuk-mok ; it was situated in the N.W. of the Lop-nor, near the
290
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
T'ien-shan, therefore in Karashar. Cf. Shui King. Si yü tchi,
T. P. Y. L., 50, 6. His name, anciently Mukan, Mogan, is per- i
haps suggestive of an ultimate origin farther in the west. It
reminds me of Makan in Takla Makan, the region east of Yarkand,
and of the plain and town of Mogan near the Caspian (on which cf.
· Ed. Bretschneider, Med. Res., i, 294 ; Barbier de Meynard, Diction-
naire Historique de la Perse, 548; H. Cordier, Odoric de Pordenone,
36.
1239) Khang hi tze tien, s. v. yh. 9 + 5, fol. 19.
1240) Suprà, sect. 183 and note 658.
1141) It will be remarked that these various astronomers lived in the
east, and at the period of astrological influence imported in Shan-
tung by the mariners of the Erythroan Sea who were acquainted
with the astronomical peculiarities of the southern hemisphere. The
latter circumstance coupled with the double sowing and double
harvest times for some plantations has introduced a good deal of
confusion in the astrological folklore of China.
1242) The section of T'ien wen or astrology in the Han Catalogue
includes 445 sections forming 21 works, and that on calendar 18
works, forming 606 sections.
1243) A. Wylie, Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 93, has the following
information on this work : " Old catalogues mention a Book of the
Stars, with the title or Sing King, written during the Han, by Kan
Hung and Shih Shen. An ancient work with the same title is still
extant; some have thought it to be the same, but it has been con-
cluded on critical evidence that it cannot be older than the T'ang
dynasty.”
1244) Tsin shu, Tien Wen tchi. In She Ki, kiv. 27, fol. 16.
.1245) In Doolittle's Vocabulary and Handbook, 1872, vol. ii.,
· p. 617-632.
1245) Uranographie Chinoise, 1875, p. 86.
Hung with the this work?
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
291
CHAPTER IX.-MEETING OBJECTIONS.
I.--Southern Origin.
312. So far as I am aware four objections of a general character
have to be met by my disclosures of an early importation of West-
Asiatic culture in China.
The first objection in date was made by two reviewers of my book on
The Languages of China before the Chinese, in 1888 (prized in 1889 by the
Academie des Inscriptions). An anonymous critic wondered why I
had not left the native populations of China alone (sic), as these
miserable tribes did not deserve to be studied, and another advocated
the suggestion that the Chinese people ought to have come from the
south, even from the Malacca peninsula and not from the north west.
Now let us remark that he mixed the two questions of population
and civilisation, which are different in the case.
When the west civilised Bak families under the leadership of
Hwang-ti arrived in the Flowery Land they found the country
inhabited by tribes of several races, originating from the south and from
the north ; and the present Chinese nation has come out under the
activity of these civilisers and of later conquerors from the gradual
fusion of these various ethnical elements. The formation has taken
3500 years to be completed.
II.-Self-Growth and Development,
313. Another objection consists in the hypothesis, once cherished
by theoricians, that the civilisation of the Middle Kingdom was the
292
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
result of a self-growth, slowly evolved from the limbos of savagery.
This view could be put forward, but when Chinese antiquity had not
yet been the object of a systematical enquiry which it entirely dis-
proves, as the Chinese themselves attribute the establishment of most
items of their civilisation to the foreign founders of their nation
arrived from the west. The last attempt1247 at finding a native origin
for the Chinese written characters, in neglecting several conditions of
the problem, such as a possible foreign origin, has proved to be a com-
plete failure, as shown by the remarks and criticisms of several
scholars. The author has attempted to show a hieroglyphical and
therefore an independent origin for all the written characters of China.
He has neglected the conditions of preservation of these characters,
the political state of the country which led to the creation of new
pictorial characters in some of the illiterate circuits, and the natural
increase of all systems of writing belonging to the semi-ideographic
semi-phonetic stage, as that imported by Hwang-ti and his people.
Pictorial characters of new make would not appear as they do on coins
of the fourth century B.C. if it was not so. We may refer for this to
our remarks suprà $ 100.
314. For the sake of argument let us for a moment neglect this
pictorial evidence. It cannot be doubted that identical hints rather
often lead to developments and results somewhat identical. The
question therefore is to know wherefrom the hint has come. It may
be from inner or outer nature, such for instance as the awe of spirits
in the one case, and a veneration for the polestar on the other, or it
may be a communication from another nation. In the latter circum-
stance, when the similarity turns out on things which are not what
they are by necessity of nature, and might as well be altogether
different, as far as this necessity is concerned, it must be a coincidence
or an importation. Historical circumstances and physical possibilities
must be surveyed to make sure of the importation, and in the absence
of historical records, numerous similarities of the kind justifying and
supporting one the other, must be established for the same object. In
the long array of items of culture collected in the present work, with
the shortcomings of the author and the difficulties of all pioneering
investigations, it is unavoidable that within long series of finally
established instances there may be some misapprehensions, premature
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
293
identifications, suggestive of further researches, which shall only
disprove or confirm them individually.
NOTE-
1247) Rev. E. Faber, Prehistoric China: J. Ch. Br. R. A. S., xxiv.,
1890, and the refutations by Dr. J. Edkins and others, Ibid, p. 241,
sq., by Prof. G. Schlegel, T'oung Pao, 1891, ii. 105-110 ; cf. also
T. de L., The Loan of Chaldeo-Elamite culture to China, note 35.
Dr. Faber does not seem to have been acquainted with my papers
on the subject.
III.--Monosyllabic Theory.
315. The most curious objection is undoubtedly that which was
made to me by Prof. J. Legge, of Oxford, at the International Congress
of Orientalists of 1892, here in London. The Nestor of Sinologists
said that although he had heard of my works on the Babylonian
sources of the early Chinese civilisation, he did not look at any of them
because, as he learned from Prof. Sayce, the Akkadian language is
polysyllabic, while that of the Chinese is monosyllabic, therefore
their civilisation must be older than that of the Akkadians, instead of
the reverse (sic).
My answer to this is twofold. Firstly, the linguistic question has
nothing to do in the matter; secondly, I have never held that Akkadian
was ancestor of the Chinese, since my contention is that the two
languages are related by common descent from a remote stock, 1248
and not so to speak in the relation of mother to daughter. 1249
NOTES,
1248) Cf. my remarks on this subject in The Oldest Book of the
Chinese, 1893, i. 106-8.
1249) The latter view is nearly that of the Rev. C. J. Ball, in his papers
on the New Accadian, 1890, to which I have demurred. In my
opinion we do not know enough of the old forms of the Chinese
words to make many safe comparisons, inasmuch as the monosyllabic
words of a limited phonetism as that of the Chinese (where a single
sound has as many as 1200 different meanings), can be compared
with any monosyllables of any language as done by John Webb
(1669), Daniel Webb (1787), Julius Klaproth (1811), M. Hyde
Clark, Protohistoric Comparative Philology, 1875; M. R. P. Grey
Comparative Philology of the Old and New Worlds in relation to
Archaic speech, 1898, &c. On the other hand we are aware that
many present words monosyllabic in Chinese are crippled forms of
294
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
.former polysyllables. Cf. T. de L., Le Non-Monosyllabisme du
Chinois Antique, l'écart centre les langues écrite et parlée d'aujourd-
’hui et l'histoire de la langue écrite, 1889; Raoul de la Grasserie,
Des Recherches Récentes de la Linguistique relatives aux langues de
l'Extreme Orient, principalement d'après les travaux de M. Terrien
de Lacouperie, 1891; C. de Harlez, Existe-t-il des langues purement
Monosyllabiques ? 1893; in his latest paper The Accadian Afinities of
the Chinese, 1893, Mr. C. J. Ball, has admitted the neo-monosylla-
bism of the Chinese. Cf. also T. de L., TIBET, Philology in Eucyclo-
pædia Britannica, 1888, xxiii, 347-8.
IV.-Astrognosie.
316. Some of the Pre-Chinese tribes appear to have had a taste
for star-gazing, and the result, as referred to previously, has been a
traditional amount of astronomical lore in connection with their
customs and agricultural pursuits. The immigration of the Chinese
with a stellar lore of their own, the introduction of new plants, and
the successive importation of further astrological notions in the course
of centuries, have made the symbolism derived from the stars in
China most complicated. This symbolism looked upon as a whole
forms the fourth objection which we shall now meet. It is the only
theory which has been developed with any show of serious arguments.
The claim of the present work goes against that theory put forth
with great erudition and ingenuity some nineteen years ago by
Dr. G. Schlegel in his Uranographie Chinoise.1250 The contention of
the learned author was and is that 19,000 years ago astronomy was
already cultivated in China, and that traces of that astronomy exist in
the symbolical names given to asterisms in the literature, and can be
recognised in alleged relations between them and popular customs.
The peculiar and multiple attributions of symbolism to the same
stars and identical attributions to different stars are better explained
in our view by the variety of foreign sources, north and south, which
have successively contributed to the formation and increase of the
astronomy of the Chinese-joined to their own observations—than by
a theoretical array of thousands of years, unsupported by a tithe of
evidence from any other source, and which nothing justifies. Let us
remember here that according to the astronomer, John Reeves, in his
appendix to Morrison's Dictionary, I. ii. 1063 : « To our surprise we
find that the Chinese know little or nothing about astronomical
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
295
science.” It consists chiefly of a mass of facts and notions ill-digested
and ill-understood until they received the help of the Hindus and
Mohammedans to put them into some sort of shape. And as to the
accordance claimed by Dr. Schlegel of the names of asterisks and
constellations with the natural history, ethnography, and customs of
· China, no one acquainted with the remarkable cleverness of the Chinese
writers at combining information and finding allusions to anything
in everything, 1251 unthought of before their own combinations, will
attribute any value to the alleged accordance as a traditional evidence
of 16 or 18,000 years standing.
1
317. Prof. G. Schlegel (p. 498) avers that the Chinese have
reached China by the north west, between the 30th and 27th century
B.C., and that a striking agreement exists between the names of
western constellations and those of Chinese asterisms, 1252 whose in-
vention which should be attributed to the Pre-Chinese races,1253 and
which would denote a state of uncivilisation, of the stone age, like
among savages of the present day,1254 would have wandered from east
to west. We think it has been the reverse, and that the resemblances,
like most of the imported notions enumerated in the present work,
have all the appearances of a clumsy learning of western notions. As
recognised by the learned author himself, peoples without writing
have a short memory. Now we cannot admit, as a human possibility,
that symbols fancied in the relative position of some stars could,
without written records to keep up the interpretation, have had a
sufficient hold on uncivilised minds to last unaltered for twelve
thousand years, when the alleged symbolism had long ceased to exist
as a result of the precession of equinoxes. Moreover the etymology
of the Chinese characters, first written some 4500 years ago and trans-
mitted by tradition, through which most of the supposed astronomical
symbolism is examined, is most difficult to ascertain, and although we
may often recognise the component parts of a symbol, we are by no
means sure of their individual meaning, still less of their symbolism.
The Chinese themselves vary on their interpretations, which are often
biassed by the current ideas of the time of the exegete, and we have
seldom the possibility of correcting them, inasmuch as we are ourselves
exposed to prejudices of the same kind. Furthermore the difficulty is
enhanced by the multiplicity of names, 1255 sometimes six or eight,
amongst which the most suitable are unayoidably selected for a theory
296
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
in view, while another theory could select as well and with the same
success suitable names among the others. .
318. We cannot but find, notwithstanding the remarkable amount
of ingenuity and erudition displayed by the author of the Uranographie
Chinoise, that such a symbolism forms a basis by far too slender and
utterly inadequate for the huge construction made upon it beyond five
thousand years ago. Should the theory be true there would not be a
gap of some twelve thousand years of dead silence, between the sup-
posed symbolisms of 17,000 and 3000 years B.C.1256 We are utterly.
convinced that adequate explanations, more in accordance with his-
torical traditions, can be found for the remote cases alleged in the
work : and as to those of later date which might resist criticism
at close quarters, it is easier to understand some of them as introduced
from older centres of culture where writing was known several
thousand years earlier, than to suppose their preservation without
writing among savages.
UA
319. All the foregoing reasons are not however sufficient to dis-
prove all the suggestions put forward in support of his views by so great
a scholar as my friend Dr. Schlegel. Some cases may have been
explained away by the progress of research since the publication of his
work.1257 Others may have resulted from misconceptions 1258 and
overstretching the symbolism.1259 But my readers will agree with me
that there must be some other cause, more general in character which
pervades the whole edifice. It is this cause which we have yet to de-
cribe. The learned author of the Uranographie Chinoise has not taken the
usual means to make safe his basis before building his monument;
he has not made any text-critik of his documents, nor has even classi-
fied them chronologically. 1260 Should he have taken this preliminary
step, he could-not have failed to be struck by the fact that the names
from which he was able to derive his inferences of oldest antiquity are
not the oldest denominations that they ought to be. For the readers of
the present work there is nothing surprising in that. Let them
remember the numerous items of western astrological-astronomy
introduced in North China by the trading mariners of the Erythroan
Sea, who frequented the emporia of Shantung during three centuries,
675-375 B.C., and then removed gradually their stations to the south.
Denominations of stars accompanied the names of months, zodiac and
.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
297
!
i
cycles (distinct from those of early times) for astrological purposes,
which they imported among the Chinese. And let them remember
also, that about 400 B.C., if not before, through some circumstances
historically unexplained, although they are facts, they changed their
sea route and henceforth passed south of Sumatra-Java, therefore
south of the equator, where the seasons are the reverse of those of the
north, and where, also, the stars had and have just the reverse of
their usual symbolism in the north. This southern symbolism which
they communicated to the Chinese has naturally thrown into the
astrognosie of the latter some disturbing notions unaccountable but by
the historical circumstances of their introduction in North China, or
by the stupendous hypothesis of the Uranographie Chinoise, which,
written when the aforesaid circumstances were yet undiscovered,
has thus become unnecessary. History within its limited period
is sufficient to explain the whole thing.
320. Dr. G. Schlegel says in his last answer that "the disbelievers
in Chinese antiquity will firstly have to prove by undeniable astron-
omical testimony that Elam and Chaldea have an older history than
China, which is impossible, the oldest astronomical observation in the
world being the eclipse of the sun in B.C. 7 May, 2165.” Let us first
remark that in his paper on this eclipse with Dr. Kuhnert, he gives an
alternative date of B.C. 12 May, 1904, which alone fits the lengths of
reigns in Chinese history. But this is a secondary point. The learned
author has forgotten that according to Berosus, the astronomical ob-
servations sent by Kallisthenes from Babylon to Aristotle in B.C. 331
reached back to B.C. 2243 (Pliny N. H. vii. 57). But this is nothing
compared to the evidence put forward by the well known astronomer,
Prof. Norman Lockyer, in his recent work on The Dawn of Astron-
omy, 1262 about astronomical observations in the sixth and fifth
milleniums B.C. Dr. Schlegel (p. 763, 770) gives the date of 2852
for Fuhi, the fabulous inventor of the Chinese writing. At the
Academie des Inscriptions, on the 8th and 23th September, 1893,
Prof. J. Oppert gave the translation of an inscription of Bingani-sar-
iris, a Semitic King of Nippur, older than 4000 years B.C., and since
then Mr. Joachim Menant, has read in the same place a paper on
three Chaldean rulers older than 4000 B.C.. such as Sangani, Sarluti,
Bingani Sarluti. These answers are conclusive. They are strengthened
moreover by the historical circumstances of foreign sources for the
298
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Chinese astronomy (suprà 309). Besides the notions imported from
the west by Hwang-ti and his followers, we have learned that the first
catalogue of the stars was made by Wu-hien, a man from the west,
who had come from or through Karashar, and that the two astron-
omical works by Kan Kung and Shih Shen which form the substratum
of the Book of Stars, Sing King, were written in the north east of
China, after that the trading mariners of the Erythraean Sea had there
spread their astrologico-astronomical notions for three centuries.
NOTES-
2050) Cf. suprà, $ 309, and note 1234, also note 1255, and the
references. About double crops, Wells Williams, Middle Kingdom,
revised edition, 1883, ii. 5, says: " Grain is not sown broadcast,
and this facilitates hoeing and weeding the fields as they require.
Two crops are planted, one of which ripens after the other; maize
and pulse, millet and sesamum, or sorghum and squash, are thus
grown together."
1251) Uranographie Chinoise, ou Preuves directes que l'astronomie
primitive est originaire de la Chine, et qu'elle a été empruntée parles
anciens peuples occidentaux à la sphère Chinoise. La Haye, 1875,
929 pp. and atlas. Réponse aux critiques de l'Uranographie Chinoise,
23 pp., 1880. China or Elam, in T'ung Pao, Sept., 1891, p. 243-5;
the latter is intended to be an answer to a criticism of mine in From
Ancient Chaldea and Elan to early China : B. and O. R. v. 34, 84 ;
the sole remark to be noticed is that the greater facility for communi-
cations between the west and the east was equal between the east
and the west.
1252) The remains of ancient Chinese literature have been over-
hauled unceasingly during twenty centuries or more, in more or less
indifferent and clever manner, most generally indifferent, and it has
now become an almost Herculean task to get through the whole
fabric and get rid of the inaccurate interpretations which have been
piled up over them by the native commentators.
1253) Uranographie, 7.28, 738, &c., 655-712.
1254) T’ung Pao, iv. 493. Uranographie, 766.
1255) Curiously enough when it became necessary to distinguish
every star by a name, some of the denominations possessed only
by a central star were distributed around it. For instance with
Regulus, Cassiopée, &c.; Sirius, the Dog Star, the Bow Star of the
Chaldeans has near it a Bow Star, and a Chacal Star in the Chinese
uranosphere. Cf. also below add. 28, and on the lateness of the
conception of the four Animal Quadrants of the Sky, add. 392.
1256) i.e. Between 14,671 and 2700 B.O., cf. O.C., 498.
1257) The argument derived from the astronomical statement of Yao
about the most prominent stars that were to be observed for each
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
299
of the four seasons comes to nought, and is explained away by the
shifting of attribution between the symbols of the cardinal points
which occurred during the migration of the Bak families, as shown
by their obvious derivation from the older Chaldeo-Elamite symbols
and the discrepancies in other legendary accounts. The compiler of
the chapter of the Shri King which is not a contemporary document,
has undoubtedly mistaken the information when expanding the
brief original statement. Cf. on the subject: T. de L., Early
History, 1880, p. 29; The Shifted Cardinal Points, from Elan to
Early China; Jan., 1888; The Loan of Chaldeo-Elamite Culture to
Early China, 1892, p. 9-14; The Shifting of the Names and Symbols
of the points of space from Chaldea to China, as evidence of the
South-West Asiatic Origin of Early Chinese Civilisation : London
and China Telegraph, Sept. 13, 1892; The Oldest Book of the Chinese
1893, vol. i., p. 111-4.
1258) The star Deneb, alpha Cygni, was Polestar, some 17,500 years
ago, and some traces of so important a fact should be found in the
Astrognosie Indestructible, if the alleged 18,000 years of Chinese
astronomy were based on evidence and not on misconceptions. But
there is nothing. Deneb is one of eight stars forming what is called
a T'ien tsin, or Heaven's Ford, probably because the Milky Way
branches there in two lines (which continue running in parallel to
the south west). Professor G. Schlegel, however, thinks (p. 208)
that he has found a tradition of 16,000 years of age in the following
statement of Ko-hung, an alchemist of our fourth century :-" The
Heaven's River (i.e., the Milky Way) coming from the north pole
separates into two branches, reaching to the south pole; one branch
goes by the Nan tou (a Sagittarii on the east), and the other goes by
the Tung tsin (Gemini on the west)." As I have given in brackets
the relative positions of the asterisms indicated, which both are on
the ecliptic, at 12 h. R.A., one from the other, the two branches in
question cannot be the two lines branched off in Cygnus, as inad-
vertently supposed in the Uranographie Chinoise, and therefore Deneb
or its region has nothing to do in the affair. Ko-hung was speaking
of what he could himself see in the heavens, and we may be sure
that he knew nothing of the North Pole of 16,000 years before his
time. A glance at the stellar chart shows that the Milky Way has
a sort of head, in the north of Cepheus, between the stars y and
B Alphirk; and this is its nearest point to the North Pole which
was then nearer to the present Pole Star than of Kokhab, the former
one (1000 B.C.). Ko-hung was certainly speaking of the central
point, equidistant from Sagittarius and the Gemini, which would
not have been the case with Deneb. Therefore we may be satisfied
that there is no evidence there of any antiquity for the Chinese
astronomy.
Rastaban, y Draconis, as a Pole Star 13,000 years ago has left
no record in the Chinese astronomy. This is what we expected.
On the other hand Shuban, Chinese Si fan, a Draconis, the Pole
Star of 3000 B.C. is well described as such. It was called in early
300
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Chaldea, the Great God of Heavens, the yoke or pivot of the
heavens (Sayce, Anc. Relig. Bab., 291), all denominations which
have been received and preserved in the Chinese nomenclature
(Uranographie Chinoise, 506-8). ß Ursa Minoris, the Pole Star of
1000 B.C., is still called the God's Star, Ti sing or Tien Ti sing.
The present Pole Star (a Ursa Minoris) besides the name of
Kou-chen, from the Arab Kachab, which it shares with several sur-
rounding stars, now enjoys the polestar title of Tien Hwang Ta Ti,
the Great God Emperor of Heavens. .
1259) It is interesting to examine how the symbolism of the
Astrognosie Indestructible (Uranographie Chinoise, 75) can be
obtained. Let us see for instance Lou, the sixteenth siu (the second
sih of Babylon) which is given us (p. 331-2) as the “Moissonneuse,”
whose symbol lou represents, « Une femme portant sur sa tête un
faisceau d'épis.” No Chinese authority is given for the interpreta-
tion. If we refer to the Shwoh wan (89 A,D.) the phonetic Shwoh wan
(1833), the Lnih shu t’ung of Min Ts'i Kih (1661), the Tchuen tze wei
of Tung wei fu (1691), we find that the symbol in question was
a self-spelling character Lu—, composed of NIU=LIU, woman,
suggesting the initial, and placed above it to suggest a final —K, one
or other of the following characters : Kiu, mortar, Kwan, pierced
through, Kwai, empty basket, Kir, looking crossways, or Kwan,
accustomed. In course of time the phonetic suggestion has been
forgotten, and the upper symbol has been altered : Kiu written with
two eyes became only one, muh, afterwards mu, mother, and mu not,
and another symbol joined to it has become tchung, middle. The
meaning of the whole is, a secluded woman, emptiness, seclusion,
fagged, or troublesome member, &c., which are rather the reverse of
the alleged symbolism. And among the ideo-phonetic derivates from
the same we find words for : to drag, to plunder, to hollow out,
basket for carriages, sowing machine, &c., in fact nothing suggesting
the harvest.
Now let us examine another case. Mao, the Pleiades, which
shows a curious confusion, made during the Han dynasty. Mao
Mul in Chaldea) is written sun-open door ; the latter sign is and
has always been Mao (the fourth sign of the duodenary cycle); the
former represents the three stars which figured in the oldest forms,
as shown (save the Shuoh·wan) by the standard works above men-
tioned. This Mao is much like another character yu (liu in com-
pounds) a closed door, barred at the top; the only difference between
the two being a bar at the top of the latter which is lacking in Mao.
This yu or liu joined with the sign for tree, makes liu, the tree-liu,
or willow, which is the name given to six, afterwards eight, small
stars of Hydra. In the Shi King, ode on small stars, Siao Sing,
the poet says: “ Small are those starlets, and there are Tsan (Orion)
and Mao (the Pleiades). So the modern commentators have it (cf.
J. Legge, Chin. Class , iy. 32), but the oldest interpreters did not
think so. When Mao Tchang edited the Shi King, 129 B.C., he
CHINESE CIVILISATION.”
301
understood Tsan as referring to some stars in Scorpio, and the now
alleged Mao as being Liu, the aforesaid star in Hydra. He could
not understand that so conspicuous star points as Pleiades and
Orion should be spoken of as small stars. The author of the Tchun
tsiu yuan niny pao of the following century, quoted in the K'ang hi
tze tien, s.v. Mao, shared the same view, and said that the stars of
the Ode were the six (not seven) star Liu (of Hydra). It must not be
forgotten that the use of determinatives had not yet reached its later
fixity In Uran. Chin. we are told that Mao was composed of sun
and Liu, door shut, and therefore that it must have indicated
the autumn, thousands of years before, and that the composition
sun-open door was an after thought and a mistake. We have
seen that such was not the case and we have seen also how the mis-
conception arose. Mao, the Pleiades, the stars of the Open Door an-
nounced the spring c. 2250 BC. The astronomical book of She ki
27, 12v.) says that between the Mao. Pleiades, and Pyh, the Hyades
(where passes the ecliptic) was a (or the) route of heaven, Tien
Kiai, which is an interesting confirmation of the meaning of Mao.
With reference to the Gates of Heaven through which
passes the ecliptic, herewith another instance which shows
the late and western sources of the Chinese astronomical
notions; the Nan ho (a Procyon, B and in Canis Minor) and the
Poh ho (Castor, Pollux, &c., Gemini), respectively the South and
North River, and also called Gates of Heaven, occupy this position
just south and north of the ecliptic, east of the Milky Way.
1260) As unhappy result of this, Cf. for a typical instance, p. 368:
6 Ce qui a donné lieu au fameux passage du Chou K’ing que Py
(the 19th Siu) aime la pluie;"' in the foot note we find a Chinese
quotation to that effect from a commentary (by Tsai Yung, 175 A.D.)
on the Great Plan, Hung fan, chapter of the Shu K’iny, but not from
the text, where as a matter of fact the word py does not appear at
all! The text, par. 38, says only that “ some stars love the wind
and some love the rain. Another instance in another way is the
myth of the Cowherd and Spinning Damsel, identified
with stars near the Milky Way, either with the River's Drum,
Ho Ku, By Aquila, or the constellation of the Ox Niu (parts of
Capricornus and Sagittarius), and Wega, a Lyræ. Hwai nan tze
(d. 122 B.C.) first gave currency to a romantic idea on the subject
by declaring that the two are separated all the year round, except
on the seventh night of the seventh month, when “Magpies fill up
the Milky Way and enable the Spinning Damsel to cross over."
(Cf. Mayers, Ch. R. M. 311.) In the Cran. Chin , p. 494, we are told
that the myth must date 16,000 years ago, because at that time the two
constellations were culminating together at the winter solstice !
But there is no evidence whatever that the myth existed in remote
historical times. The learned author refers to some customs of the
Dames du Palais in Il'ci and Tsin, mentioned in the King Ts'u shui
shi ki of our sixth century, as customs of these states during the
Tchou dynasty, while they are simply those of two contemporary
dynasties reigning in north and south China about 400 A.D. This
302
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
is shown by several other contemporary works, cf. T. P. Y. Li, kiy.
31, fol. 6-11. My explanation is much more simple. When Han
Wu-ti had become Emperor in 140 B.C., attention was called by
the courtiers and myth-mongers frequenting his court to the seventh
day of the seventh month which was his birthday. Now that time
of the year is that of the annual appearance of a shower of shooting
stars in the vicinity of the two constellations in question. These
shooting stars became the magpies of the myth which was built
upon these circumstances. I just find in the T. P. Y. L., 875, 7, 7v.
instances of shooting stars near the Spinning Damsel in 193 and
356 A.D., in the middle of the year. In order to work out the
matter more completely, cf. Ed. Biot, Catalogue Général des Etoiles
filantes, dc., depuis le VIIe siècle av. J. C., d'après les documents
Chinois : Mem. pres. Acad. des Sc., 1848, X. 129-352, 415-422;
P. Parker, Observations made at Canton on the Shooting Stars of the
10th and 11th August, 1839: Silliman Journal, 1840, xxxviii.
301-6.
1261) China or Elam, Toung Pao, Sept, 1891, p. 246.
1262) Cf. the following articles of the same scholar in Nature :
On some points in Ancient Egyptian Astronomy : January 28,
Feb. 18, 1892. On the Early Temple and Pyramid Builders : May
18. The Early Asterisms : Sept. 7, 28, Dec. The Origin of the
Year: March 29, June 2, Nov. 10, 1892, Jan. 5, 1893. Cf. Also
P. Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, Strasburg, 1890 ; Fritz
Hommel, Die Astronomie der alter Chaldaër : Ausland, 1891-2.
With the progress of research in Chaldean Astronomy grows the
evidence of the Chinese indebtedness to it. Cf. Mul, Mao, Pleiades,
countries, &c. Cf. add. 41.
V.-On BAK, as a Name of the Earliest Civilised Chinese.
321. Bak Sing is the earliest denomination in their historical
literature which the Chinese used to give to themselves, exclusively of
the native populations they had subdued. The Bak Sings were the
followers of Hwang-ti who came with him from the north-west, and
settled at first in the south-west corner of Kansuh. Since more than ten
years I have several times objected to the common rendering of Bak sings
by Hundred Families, 1263 and I have said that in my opinion, an early
ethnical name of the people underlies this denomination. This view
has been accepted by many scholars, ignored by several, and once or
twice protested against. My readers may therefore be glad to find
here the various reasons, never as yet put together, on which are based
my conclusions to that effect.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
303
TUI
322. Sing, a compound symbol meaning literally, “ born (sheng)
from one woman (niu),” was apparently applicable originally to all
those born from one wife only and to their descendants, all necessarily
bearing the same surname. 1264 In the oldest etymological dictionary,
the Shwoh wan of the first century, it is described as “ that with
which a man is born." And in the historical texts since the most
remote times it is applied to the clans, or their names, belonging
exclusively to the Chinese proper. Their number was very small at
first, and we hear of the weight most ancient surnames," as if this
was an established fact.1265 The descendants of Hwang-ti are said to
have borne only twelve surnames, 1266 and the · Emperor Shun was
praised in after ages for having given government employment to all
the chiefs of the Sings, less than twenty in number. Since that
remote time they have multiplied to thousands, but those which are
most frequently met do not reach a total of beyond four hundred and
fifty.1267
323. BAK was a self-spelling symbol made of two superposed
characters in the script of oldest times.1268 It was composed of
Pei, precious, or P eh, white, or Pi, nose, or M u= Buk, e y e,
for the initial and of KHa, hia below, or of K’ao effort, for the
final consonant. The selection of these symbols traditional as it was
is rather instructive. The nose among the Chinese as in the west,
was looked upon as the beginning of the child,1269 hence the use of the
character denotes here that the meaning of Bak had once in itself
something initial; the eye was most important as a suggestion which
we shall have to remember further on.
As a significative symbol, BAK occurs in ancient liturature with
three different meanings :-
(1) A hundred, as a definite number.1270
(2) A collective and indefinite number, all the things or beings
appearing to the front of their class or kind. .
(3) To the front, forward, to incite, exertion, &c.
324. In the expression Bali Sing, the first symbol cannot have had
in China the meaning of one hundred as a definite number, for the
conclusive reason that the number of Sings in early times was not
one-fifth of that, as we have just seen. If the Sings ever numbered
304
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
a hundred before, it would be at the original seat of the race in West
Asia, in the country from where Hwang-ti had originated with his
followers. 1271 The use of a numeral as a people's own name is a well-
known feature of some Ural-Altaic races. Let us remember here the
name of the Kirghizes, from kirk, forty, and that of the Yüs Usbek
tribes, meaning properly the Hundred.1272
325. Kung Yng-ta the famous commentator of the classics
(A.D. 574-648) in his remarks on the first book of the Shu King has
shown most positively that Balc sing was a designation of the foremost
families of the state, and that it was still so, under the TCHOU
dynasty. The Chinese families alone having sings and forming the
elite of the population, the exalting meaning was befitting to the
case. It included them all,1273 whence the expression Wan Sings
the 10,000 surnames occasionally used in its stead. The
same reason of exclusiveness applies to the expression Bak
Kwan, all the officers because they were necessarily all
belonging to the elite or Chinese sings. And it does not follow from
the equation Bak=Wan with reference to the Sings that Bal had a
wholesale meaning. As an evidence of this, one may remark that the
expression, which should be expected otherwise, of Bak Min for all the
people does not exist at all in the Shu King, nor in the Shi King ; it
is wan min which occurs, and the use of wan, and even that of tchao,
million, as a collective term is usual in the classics. Bak appears
fourteen times in the Shu, and twice in the Shi, with Sing, and in
thirty expressions in the two works.1274 On the other hand wan, ten
thousand, is met with a hundred times or more as a wholesale
collective noun in the two great classics we have just named.
326. To resume, the term Bak occurs in the ancient literature, 1275 with
reference only to choice or foremost beings or things, 1276 and it does
apply generally to a complete body of beings or things, as far as that
body is by itself an elite in its kind.
Let us remark before proceeding any further that BAK appears also
to be a family surname, although it has not been preserved to the
present day in its singleness. In the list of the mythical kings we
find a Bak Wang, i.e., King of Bak. During the Tchou dynasty we
meet such names as Bak Li, Bay Fêng.1277 And in the Peh Kia Siny
we find Pel, indifferently written with the symbol hundred or
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
305
white. Bak Sing can be compared to such expressions as Li min,
the Li, or able-bodied people,1278 Yao jen, the men Yao, Tchung Kia,
the family Tchung, the Sung Kia, the family Sung, the Ts'ai Kia,
the family Ts'ai, the Lung Kia, the family Lung, &c. BAK was not a
proper name of forgotten or foreign origin whose meaning was lost.
It was a word still preserving its pristine transparent form, whose
meaning was yet fully understood by the people, being helped
to that effect by the ideographism of the writing. It was that
and it was also an indefinite collective, meaning the foremost and the
utmost.
327. It appears from the foregoing remarks that the Chinese
sources alone cannot give a satisfactory explanation of the various
acceptations of BAK. The Mother writing and the cradle land of the
earliest civilisers of China happily have much to say in the matter,
and they come to the rescue. We have had to notice in the Ku-wen
spellings of BAK, that the ideogram for eye was most important.
Now in the old Babylonian writing from which the earliest Chinese
symbols were derived more or less directly, the symbol for eye has
the sound BAKH, and the meanings to see, foremost, before,
and the like. It means also a thousand. The symbol for
hundred, me, which looks like the crippled form of the other, means
also numerou s.1279 In the Akkadian vocabulary, which is the oldest
representative of the large linguistic formation to which the Chinese
belongs, we find such words as Bakh, prince, Baku, strong,
numerous, Bah, a bounding, flourishing, &c.1280 We may
compare to these the Turkish boyh, prince, the Mongolian bagha,
thousand, the Chinese Bak, Puk, &c.,1281 g reat, &c.
The existence at the fountain head of their civilisation of a word
and similar symbol having the same meanings as those preserved by
the Chinese is more than suggestive in favour of our views.
328. But this is not all. The same word appears to have been used
extensively as a geographical and ethnical term in that same region
from which the early civilisers of China have come according to all pro-
babilities. Bakhtyari, Bagistan (Behistun), Bagdad, Bakhdi (Baktra)
are instances of the case. Moreover we hear in the Elamite inscrip-
tions of a King of Baks, 1282 which fact shows that sister tribes of the
306
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
early civilised Chinese were still in existence in later historical
times.
329. Therefore we cannot but be satisfied that the word Bak was used
as an ethnical qualificative, and that in calling themselves Bak Sings or
Bak families, the early Chinese were only preserving the traditional
and limited used of a word, whose meaning was still clear to them.
We may call them the Baks or the BAK SINGS without hesitation, but
not the Hundred Families.
NOTES
1263) Cf. The Chinese Mythical Kings : Acad. 6th October, 1883 ;
The Language of China before the Chinese, 1887, p. 116-8; Wheat
carried from Mesopotamia to early China, 1888, p. 6; Les Langues,
1888, add. p. 159-160.
1264 There is no evidence available that the meaning suggested by
the composition of the ideogram was yet understood at any earliest
time of Chinese history.
1265) Cf. Herbert A. Giles, On the Surnames of the Chinese : Historic
China, 1882, p. 359.
1266) Kwoh-yu, Sü tch'en. R. K. Douglas, China, 1887, p. 250-1,
has given these twelve surnames.
1267) In the well known Peh Kia Sing, compiled under the Sung
dynasty, where are found the names of 408 single and 30 double
of the Sings most commonly met, more than one hundred of them
claim Hwang-ti as their ancestor. In the K'ang hi tze tien, 1678
simple, 168 double, and 8 triple Sings are mentioned; while in the
great Cyclopædia Ku Kin t'u shu tsih tch'eng there are as many as
4657 entered, 3038 of which are single, as stated suprà note 105.
An interesting statement, although somewhat unclear, occurs about
the Sings, in the T'so tchuen, Yn Kung, viii. 10, or 715 B.C.; Chin.
Class. v. 26.
1268) Min Ts'i Kih, Luh shu tung, x. 1v. Fu Lwang-siang, Luh shu
fun huy, ii. 46 v. Tung Wei fu, Tchuen tze wei. In the old Tchuen
style we find the expression Bak sing written in one complex symbol,
made of Muk-Buk, eye, with shang, life, over it, suggesting
distantly the reading ; as there are two instances of the case, there
is no mistake in the decipherment.
1269) Notably among the Egyptians. In Chinese, pi tsin, nose
ancestor, means first ancestor.
1270) In some ancient texts, as for instance in the old MS. of
Lao tze's work, the symbol BAK has cl. 9 as an adjunct for the
meaning of 100. But such is not always the case in other texts.
1271) But there is no evidence of such a thing which must remain in
the dark of the past, long before the migration eastward of the early
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
· 307
Chinese, and is apparently contradicted by the evidence collected
below.
1272) Cf. W. Radloff, Zeits. f. Erdk., 1871, p. 505. Cf. tume, all
in Mandshu, tumen, 10,000 in Mongol, tumen, name of a leader
129mong the ; tumen, Zeits. f. Eraz
1273) Wan Sing occurs only five times in the Shu and twice in the
Shi Kings.
1274) In some of these however the meaning hundred is clear.
· In' the Shu King, Shi King, Lun-yu, Tchun-yung, Ta hioh, Tchun
tsiu, and Mêng-tze, I have counted thirty-two different expressions
composed with Bak; in nine of them the meaning hundred is
clear, and in some cases imperative, while in the twenty-three others
the word means the foremost and utmost of the kind or class referred
to. Cf. J. Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. iv. p. 371, 429, 440, 486,
548, 949, 967; vol. i. p. 352 ; vol. ii. p. 246 ; and vol. iii. p. 49, 55,
64, 198, 341, 348, 381, 410, 432, 441, 460, 498, 515, 545; vol. iv.
p. 357, 362, 492, 551, 586, 638 ; vol. ii. p. 31; vol. i. p. 190.
1275) With a few exceptions in late times arisen from the usual
abuse of terms.
1276) Cf. for instance Shu King, V., x. 10, and xvi. 9.
1277) · Bak-li of the State of Ts'in in the seventh century. Bak fring
a disciple of Lieh-tze. But this Bak had probably no connection
with the original Bak Sings.
1278) Cf. On this name my paper on The Black Heads of Babylonia
and ancient China, 1891, par. 21. The use of Kia was originally
reserved for family in speaking of the native population of the
country in contradistinction with Sing chiefly used for the Chinese
The lisblack Head
thembry in contradi in speakind
1279) M. C. J. Ball, The Accadian Affinities with Chinese, 1893, has
suggested on other ground the same confusion that is noticed here
of the two symbols by the civilisers of China. .
1280) Cf. Rud. Brunnow, Classified List of Cuneiform Characters,
Nos. 9257, 9265, 9287; 10,354, 10,372, 10,374, 10,356, 7267,
7269, 7272, &c. Cf. also the Assyrian words: bakhar, to collect,
group; bakhar, splendour; bakhlat, the own people of the king
(Sarg. 46).
1281) The latter have been studied by G. Schlegel, Sinico-Aryaca,
NOS, 7272 hala's sp
p. 85:
1282) As shown by Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen. Cf. Les Langues de
la Chine avant les Chinois, p 159. Another name of interest
belonging to a portion of the early Chinese is that now read Hia, which
the Ku-wen spellings show to have been originally read Ketchi=Ket-
si=Katse. The name is known in West Asia. The best instance
occurs in the famous Stèle des Vautours. There we see Eannada
King of Sirpurra or Lagash, son of Akurgal, and grandson of
Urnina, striking victoriously at his enemies who belonged to the
country of Ish-ban or Kashtu These enemies deformed their skulls
308
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
as the Bak Sings used to do in later times. Could they be the
ancestors of the latter? Cf. B. and 0. R., vi. 96, and I'apered Heads
in Anterior Asia and Early China, ibid. p. 195. On Sirpurrai, cf.
W. St. Chad Boscawen, ibid. vii. 2.
;
VI.—Alleged difficulty of the Journey from. Jest to East Asia.
330. One of the semi-objections first made against my discovery.
of the south-west Asiatic origin of the Chinese civilisation was the
great distance, and the difficulty of the route between west and east
Asia for large caravans and migratory tribes. The objection is
specious, but must disappear on further consideration, geographical
and historical. Some or the following facts have already been put
forward by me as an answer to the objection, but as I have some new
facts to quote I may as well marshall all of them together.
The chief difficulty of the route has always been the passage through
the Bolor, or Pamir, or Tsung-ling mountains, impracticable except at
one season of the year to reach the Chinese Turkestan. The more
circuitous route by the north, i.e., through Ferghana, which was not
suggested by the existence there of gems or valuable products coveted
by traders does not seem to have been known and used, but much later,
when the growing bulk of the trade made it necessary to find a more
convenient route than the older one. At first the trade route to the
east was only that which was made imperative by nature and the
localities of the products to get. This was the route through Badak-
shan, Wakhan, and Yarkand to the jade mines as we shall see further
on (note 1291).
1
331. Two routes were known and used by the Chinese about the
Christian era. They are described in the Annals of the first Han
dynasty,1283 as follows :-“ From Yü-men (jade gate) and Yang barrier
(north-west Kansuh) there are two roads to the western regions. That
by Shen-shen, skirting the river Po, on the north of the Nan Shan
(southern range) and leading west to Sha-Kiu (Yarkand) is the
southern road. After, this road passes the Tsung-ling mountains,
and leads to the country of the great Yueh-ti and of the Arsacide.
The northern road starts from the Royal Palace of the Anterior Kiü-
tze (i.e. from Turfan),1284 following the course of the river Po, in the
direction of the Peh Shan (northern range) as far as Su-lih (Kashgar).
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
309
This road passing westward across the Tsung-ling range, goes on to
Ta-yuan (Ferghana, K'ang Kiu (Sogdiana), and the Yem-tsai (Alani,
near the Caspian Sea).":1285 The two roads were thus following the
Yarkand daria and the Kashgar daria respectively. 1286
332. In more remote times the route to the eastern lands was that
which trade and nature had opened long before the migration of the
Bak Sings. It was the trade route leading to the asbestos1287 and ruby
mines of Badakshan, to those of Lapis-lazuli (in Khorasan and) in the
same region,1288 which was so highly prized in Babylonia and Egypt,
and also to those of Nephrite Jade of Khotan, also highly valued in
the Euphratean valley. 1289 The unaccountable taste and partiality,
traditionally displayed for jade by the Chinese since the earliest dates,
suggest strongly that the early chieftains of the Bak families in
Western Asia were engaged themselves in the commerce, and therefore
were well acquainted with the trade route. Passing by the Khorasan,
Meshed and Baktra, then through Badakshan along the upper course
of the Oxus, 1290 crossing either the Chichiklik or the Kandar Pass, of
the Pamirs, reaches the Kashgarian Plain,1291 and the long renowned
jade quarries1292 of the Yarkand daria and Khotan.
333. Once over the Tsung-ling range, the country leading to China
was neither so bare and wild nor the objectionable tracts of later
times.1293 And the geographical isolation in which China stands is
greatly the result of geological phenomena which have occurred in
historical ages, and have become obstructive only long after the
Christian era.
In the western part of the Tarym valley, cities still mentioned
during the First Han dynasty, in the eastern vicinity of the present
Khotan, Yarkand, and Kashgar, were gradually sand buried in the
following centuries. It is there that Bactro-Chinese coins older than
the Christrian era, also manuscripts of the fifth century, and other
.antiquities have been dug out in recent years.1294 The Annals of the
pre-cited dynasty recorded that in Yen-Ki (Karashar) and the various
kingdoms of these western regions, the land was covered with cities,
villages, cultivated fields, and domestic animals.
334. Advancing in the direction of China it is the same thing.
The geography of the Heft Iklim, or seven climates, says that instead
310
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
of a sandy desert, the route from Khotan to Kathay in fourteen days
was formerly covered with towns and villages.1295 Several cities which
existed at the time of the Chinese pilgrim Sung-yung (518 A.D.) had
been buried in the sand when his illustrious fellow-countryman travelled
on the same route in 629 A.D.1296 Ruins of cities have been discovered
in the eastern desert near the Lopnor.1297 The history of Mirza
Haidar, called Tarikh-i-Rashidi, in describing the great Basin of
Eastern Turkestan, says :-"Formerly there were several large cities
in this plain ; the names of two have survived—Lob and Kank, but of .
the rest there is no trace or tradition, all is buried under the sand."1298
According to a tradition reported by Johnson, 360 cities were buried
in a single day by the sands of the Takla Makan desert (east of
Yarkand). The Liu-sha, or drifting sands, west of Yü men Kwan
(An-si tchou of Outer Kansuh), were known to the ancient Chinese,
and are mentioned already in the Yü Kung of the Shu King, although
they may not yet have assumed their importance of later times.
When Muh Wang of Tchou, in 985 B.C. came back from his ex-
pedition in Turkestan, he went further east than when starting, and
was compelled to cross the sandy desert, where he happened to be
famishing with thirst.1299 These circumstances are interesting because
of some orological details which vouchsafe the genuineness of this
recit, 1300 and because of the last peculiarity we have mentioned. We
must remark also that the traditional accounts speaks only of a sandy
desert, not of shifting sands 1301
335. The foregoing notes make it therefore certain that the Eastern
Turkestan was different in antiquity of what it is at present, and that
numerous states have arisen and disappeared there in the course of
ages. The long-famed Flowery Land was more easily approachable
by this route than in later centuries. The difficulties of the journey
were therefore not in the way when the Chinese Bak Sings chose to
migrate to China. There are several instances of such migrations.
If I am not mistaken the KUN-wu, about 1900 B.C., and the Tchou,
about 1325 B.C., are instances of the case, but they are, perhaps, too
much undistinguishable in the dim history to be accepted as con-
vincing evidence.
336. Let us take some more recent cases of migrations from west
to east. An important instance already put forward was that of the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
311
Kalmuck Torguths, who emigrated in 1772 from Russia into China.1302
But as they had been banished from the Chinese dominion not very
long before, and as they came back to their ancient possessions on the
invitation of the Emperor, their case is not near enough to that of the
Bak Sings of antiquity.
I
337. Another instance quite satisfactory under that respect is that
. of the Turks Salar. They are still at present one of eight nations of
the Turkomans, east of Meshed, on the road to Bokhara,1303 During
the Ming dynasty a part of them, driven from their country by
internal discord, migrated to the Tibetan borders of China. In 1370
three or four of them arrived from Samarkand to the banks of the
Yellow River, and founded the present Salar head-village of Katze-
Kun (about eighty miles of Kimbun-Lusar); they were rapidly fol-
lowed by others of their countrymen, and now the villages they occupy
are 75 or 100 in number, with a population estimated at 8000 families
at the lowest. 1304
NOTES. —
S
1283) Tsien Flan Shu, kiv. 96, 1. In another page we find the
following statement: The southern road passing Shen-shen tends
.southerly to W26-47-shan-li, which is its terminus. Ibid., Wu-yh-
shan-li=0-yk-san-ri=Alexandria=Herat of the present day. Its
position is given as follows in the same work : “ Wu-yh-shan-li joins
Ke-p’in (Kabulistan) on the east-it joins Bactria on the north-
Ke-p’in joins it on the south-west--and Ansik (Parthia) joins it on
the east.” It was therefore between Bactria, Kabulistan and Parthia.
Cf. A. Wylie Western Regions, pp. 2, 15, 19, 20.
1284) Peh She, T. P., 794, 5v. Also E. Bretschneider, Med. Res.,
ii. 189.
1285) The Yem-tsai under the Second Han Dynasty were called
A-lan-na ; under the After Wei, i.e., after 386 A.D., the country
was called Suh teh, and also Uan-na-sha. Cf. T11920-tien : T. P.,
793, 10, and 797, 7 v., also Klaproth, Tableaua Historiques de l'Asie ;
F. Hirth, China and the Roman Orient, p. 139. Dr. Hirth proposes
the equation Yem-tsai=An-tsai=Aorsi of Strabo.
1286) With the increased intercourse during the Han dynasty, we
hear of more routes. A branch of the south route was passing
through the Hien-tu-shan, or Hindu Kush, to Kabulistan; its
difficulties are graphically described in the notice on Ke-p'in in the
Tsien Han Shu. Cf. A. Wylie, Western Regions, p. 18, and also on
the northern route, p. 33.
1287) On asbestos, suprà, p. 31 and note 761.
312
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
1288) Deposits of lapis-lazuli are few. Arab geographers and min-
eralogists mention mines of lazulite at Hastan, Batahâ-ristan hill, .
north-east Persia. Cf. Teifashi, in Cl. Mullet, Essai sur la Minér-
alogie Arabe, pp. 152, 198; J. A. Fev-Mar., 1868. Abulféda,
Géographie, tr. Reinaud, p. 474; Edrisi, Géographie, tr. Jaubert,
478. On those of Badakshan, Kuram valley; cf. J. Wood, A
Journey to the source of the Upper Oxus, 1872, p. 169-172, and H.
Yule, Marco Polo, i. 170. On lapis-lazuli in Assyrio-Babylonia, cf.
Perrot-Chipiez, Art Antique, ii. 906.
1289) Microscopic structure has shown that the Nephrite objects found
in Assyro-Babylonia have come from the Turkestan mines, cf. below
add. 162.
1290) On Rock inscriptions in cuneiforms said to have been seen in
Wakhan, E. of Badakshan, cf. B. and O. R., vi. 968 ; cylinders
with cuneiform inscriptions have years ago been found in the same
region. Cf. Proc. R. G. S.
1291) On the occasional necessity for some travellers to reach first
Kashgar; cf. H. Yule, Marco Polo, i. 191. Since the time of Wood,
1838, and especially since 1868, not a few British, French, Russian,
and even Greek scholars, explorers and hunters, have crossed the
Pamirs, partly or entirely in various directions. Among them we
may mention : Hayward 1868, Potagos 1871, Gordon, Trotter,
Biddulph 1874, Kostenko 1876, Severtsoff 1877, Oshanin 1878,
Mushketoff 1879, Regel 1881, Ney Elias, 1885, Grombchewsky,
Bogdanovitch 1888-91, Bonvalot, Capus, Pepin, 1888, Littledale
1888-90, Cumberland 18', Younghusband 1890-1, Bower 1891,
Dunmore 1892, Taylor and others. Passing by the mines of
Baddakshan and the valley of the Panj to Kala Panjah (capital of
Wakhan), then by the valley of the Wakan-su, Sarhad, Bozai Gumbaz,
the Tchakmak Kul, the valley of the Aksu river and the Neza tash
Pass the natural route leads to Tash-Kurgan, which is probably
the famous Stone Tower of Ptolemy. From Tash Kurgan two sides
could be taken according to the seasons; one passing at a short dis-
tance of the Tagh Dumbash valley, then turning east across the Kandar
pass into the Tung valley, and from there passing into that of the
Yarkand daria, and leading not far from the jade mines; the other
by the Chichiklik and Torut passes, Chihil Gumbaz, and the Kash-
kasu pass, leading to Kashgar, and therefore necessitating occasion-
ally an extra journey to reach the mines. This route from Bakakshan
to Yarkand-Kashgar is recognised by experienced travellers as the
most practicable and appears to have been always followed unto
modern times. Horses and pack animals can be used but no carts.
I am indebted to Mr. Ney Elias himself for some important inform-
ation included in the present note. Cf. also F. D. Forsyth, Report
of a Mission to Yarkanı, Calcutta, 1875, pp. 222-277; H. Bower,
Report of a Journey in Chinese TurIestan, in 1889-90, Calcutta,
1891; and Henri Lansdell, Chinese Central Asia, 1890, ii. 11-19.
1292) The jade mines of Khotan have been specially studied by
· H. Cayley 1871, H. v. Schlagintweit 1873, F. Stoliczka 1874, and
OHINESE OIVILISATION,
313
more recently, 1889-91, by Grombchewsky and Bogdanovitch who
have visited the rocky banks of the Reskem daria (Yarkand daria),
chiefly formed of white jadeite (like that of Upper Burma), within
which exists a huge dyke of dark nephrite, from which was taken
the tombstone of Tamerlan now at Samerkand. On a curious
tradition about this white and dark jade seen by Hwang-ti in his
migration to the east, cf. below, $ 348." ;
1293) It is important to remark that in the relation of Muh Wang's
journey to Turkestan, in 986 B.C, two places are mentioned by
names said to have been given to them by the kings of older times.
Cf. suprà $ 288.
1294) Percy Gardner. Coins from Kashgar, 1879; suprà note 947;
and my Catalogue of Chinese Coins, 1892, p. 393-4. The Bower
MS., of about 470 A.D., which proves to be the older Sanskrit MS.
in existence has been discovered near Kuchar, Kucha, Kutche. Cf.
Proc. As. Soc. Bengal, Nov., 1890; Dr. Hoernle, Journ. As. Soc.
Bengal, 1893, lxii. 9-18; The Academy, Aug. 12, 1893, p. 136. Cf.
also Capt. F. Bower, Report of a Journey in Chinese Turkestan,
in 1889-90 : Gov. Printing Office, Calcutta, 1891.
1295) E. Quatremère, Notices et Extraits des Manuscrits, vol. xiv.
476, 477. It was the southern route followed by Fa-hian on his
way to India ; by Hiuen Ts'ang on his way back; and by Shah
Rukhs's ambassadors on their return from China in 1421. Cf. H.
Yule, Marco Polo, vol. i. p. 198.
1296) S. Beal, Si yü Ki, vol. i., intr. 85-6; vol. ii. p. 324-5.
1297) Dutreuil de Rhins, Asie Centrale, 1890, p. 148. We may
expect some fresh information on these regions from the recent
journey of M. St. George Littledale, and from the exploration of
the Nan Shan range between the Lop-nor and the Kuku-nor by the
expedition of Capt. Roboroffsky and Lieut. Kozloff, this year, 1894.
1298) Cf. H. Yule, Marco Polo, 2, vol. i. p. 201. On the buried
cities cf. Johnson, J. R. G. S., 1870, xxxix.; Douglas Forsyth,
On the Buried Cities of the Shifting Sands of the Great Desert of
Gobi ; ibid., 1878, xlvii. ; Bellew, Kashmir and Kashgar, p. 370-1.
1299) “The Son of Heaven then marched forthwith in an easterly
direction, and, by a turn to the south, crossed the sandy plain.
On the 424th day (of this journey) the Son of Heaven was famishing
with thirst in the sandy plains, when some went to search for
drinking water. But before it was brought, one of the commanders
of the seven detachments (of his body guard) called Kao Pen-jung,
cut the throat of his left-hand carriage horse, gathered the pure
blood, and gave it to the Son of Heaven to drink. The Son of
Heaven found it delicious." Muh T"ien-tze chuien, tr. Eitel, $62.
1300) The Muh Tien-tze chuen records the following: • On the
412th day (forty days after he began to return), the Son of Heaven
reached the river Hien. Thence he marched forthwith eastwards
(stopping merely) to (let the people) drink, and proceeded again.
He then turned forthwith towards the south-east. On the 422nd
314
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
day he reached the mountains of Kwa-lu, which form a triple ring
like a walled city. This is the region guarded by the Yah and Hu
tribes." ibid. S$ 60-61. According to the stations mentioned in the
recit, the region they reached was that of Khamil or Hami. Modern
geographers have remarked that Barkul is surrounded on the side
of Khamil by three mountain ridges. Cf. E. Reclus, Asie Orientale,
p. 161.
1301) On the east of Khamil is the desert called Han-hai in Chinese,
dry sea, and not dried sea, as wanted by Richtofen, China, i.
24, in support of his theory of the existence there in historical times
of a vast lake, for which there is no evidence whatever in the Chinese
traditions and records. Han-nai is the Chinese transcript, not
translation, of a foreign name which appeared for the first time
in 119 B.C. Cf. E. Bretschneider, Mediæval Researches, i. 15, 57,
and ii 191.
1302) Cf. on the migration of the Torguths : Description de la Chine
Occidentale, trad. M. Gueluy: Muséon, Avril, 1886, vol. V., p. 238-
246. Ménoires concernant les Chinois, i., 408. H. H. Howorth,
History of the Mongols, i. 575, 579.
1303) Girard de Rialle, Asie Centrale 2, p. 105. Abu Zeid, in the
ninth century said that between the Sogdiana and China, the journey
takes two months. Cf. Reinaud, Relation des Arabes, p. 114.
1304) Of. Woodville Rockhill, The Land of the Lamas, and his
letter 1st March, 1892, in J. R. A. S., July 1892, p. 592.
VII.—Silence of Western Antiquity.
338. It has been remarked that the existence of a mighty and
highly civilised empire in eastern Asia in antiquity is not consistent
with the complete silence of the ancients. The first part of the
remark is answered by the fact that no such great empire was in
existence. The Chinese formed for long only a small and comparatively
poor State, or agglomeration of States, struggling to establish their
sway over the native populations of the country of their adoption.
They were too far away to be entangled in any of the wars and
political movements which occurred in Western Asia. Travelling
merchants were only those who could know something about them,
and we are aware that traders' records were not mentioned in
history. 1305 On the other hand we do not know what undiscovered or
undeciphered texts may not have in store about relations hitherto un-
suspected on that side with the east. The geographical horizon of
the ancient civilisation of the west has already been considerably
enlarged by the progress of research.
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
315
339. As to China herself, the Middle Kingdom, long surrounded by
semi-barbarous states, could not but through them have any relations
with the outside world. As soon as powerful and rich enough we see
it moving and attracting foreigners. My readers will be surprised in
perusing the chronological list at the end of the present work of the
number of communications with the west which have taken place.
There are no less than a score of instances previous to 1000 B.C., three
of which are journeys made westward, but not far, by Chinese. In
986 Muh Wang of Tchou made his famous journey in Turkestan, and
the seventh century saw the first arrival of sea traders of the Indian
ocean. Afterwards relations became more frequent, and have
not been interrupted ever since. And when the Chinese Empire had
been barely established for a century, we hear of an Emperor .enter-
taining for several years the project of conquering Baktria, and the in-
tervening lands by the route through India. 1306
NOTES-
1305) The same thing occurs in the large Chinese historical works,
and it is only in special books on separate subjects that we find here
" and there special references made to these small fačts so interesting
to know for the history of civilisation.
1306) Cf. suprà sections 269, 271.
916
ORIGIN OF THE DARLY
CHAPTER X.
ESSAY OF HISTORICAL AND GEOGRAPHICAL RECONSTRUCTION FROM
TRADITIONS AND LEGENDS OF THE MIGRATION OF CIVILISED CHINESE
BAK SINGS FROM WEST ASIA TO CHINA ABOUT 2332-2285-2282 B.C.
s
340. The following chapter is an attempt at restoring page
of history, hitherto unwritten, from fragments of information
scattered in historical works, traditions, and legends, put together
chronologically and geographically with the help of extraneous sources,
chiefly western, of that period of antiquity. No comprehensive history
of these ages has been preserved in China from olden times. But a
peculiarity of the Chinese mind comes happily to the aid of the
enquirer. In their reverence for any sort of precedent, the Chinese
writers, either philosophers or politicians, moralists, poets or historians,
who were generally well informed of their ancient literature and
traditions, have always been fond of making allusions to circumstances
and events of antiquity. These allusions form by themselves an
additional source of information which we could not neglect.
341. Szema Tsien, the great astrologer historian, appears from his
own statement not to have been able to get at the meaning of the
broken traditions concerning the early period ; his silence about the
government of Shao-Hao, contemporary of Hwang-ti and of Tchwan
Hiüh, which forms so conspicuous a feature of the gradual advance of
the Bak Sings in China, and his inaccurate geographical statements,
show his difficulties about these beginnings. It was said against the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
317
complaints of inefficiency of his work which were made soon after-
wards, that he had not access to many ancient books which saved
from the persecution of literature had found their way in other
collections than the Imperial Library, such as that of Teh Hien, king
of Hoh-Kien. Anyhow, in 60 A.D., Pien-piao, Chief Recorder of
State, was commissioned to supply the deficiencies of the She Ki, and
his first move was to get access to these valuable treasures, but he
died soon afterwards, and the matter remained in suspense until Pan-Ku
who, after 76 A.D., compiled to the same effect a Tsai-Ki, or Com-
plete Record, which unhappily has long been lost.
342. A later compiler and genuine investigator, Hwang-p’u Mi,
has worked out the same materials with criticism and care. Unhappily
again his valuable researches, which we have had occasion to praise
before, are only available to us in fragments, through the quotations
made of them in later works, such as in the great Cyclopædia of
extracts, the Tai ping yü lan, of 983 A.D., in 1000 kiv. As to the
great historical works of the Sung dynasty, commencing with the
Ki ku lah of Sema Kwang, the Tung kien wai ki of Liu Shu, and the
Tung kien kang muh, edited by Tchu Hi, they are not reliable
authorities for the period preceding the fourth century B.C. The least
use made of them the better for those who wish to have a view as
accurate as possible of the early times. The sole aim of these patriotic
authors was the magnifying of the past; their ignorance of ancient
geography, and their lack of historical criticism has led them most
often to a blind acceptation of all favourable traditions and legends,
and rejection of the unfavourable; they have not been able to distin-
guish the old and original ones and those which have accrued in
course of time from foreign sources, or from undue inferences
developed out of simpler statements of antiquity.
I.-Froin their original seat to the Jade Mines.
1
343. In the second half of the third millenium B.C., the region
east of the Zagros and north of the Bakhtyari hills, in the vicinity of
Elam, was occupied by various populations, Ugro-Altaic of an early
type, Semites, and Allophylians. Among them some were Semitic
warlike nomads, whence their designation of TSAB Mandas, which has
this meaning.1307 Others were not wanderers, and were addicted on the
318
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
contrary to agricultural pursuits and also to trade. Some of the latter
were known as the Baks, i.e., the numerous, flourishing, and foremost.1308
Their principal articles of commerce were salt from the great steppe
of Khorasan, lapis-lazuli and tin from Mesched, 1309 rubies, turquoises,
silver, asbestos, also lapis from Badakshan, and jade, dark and white,
'from Eastern Turkestan. The civilisation of Babylonia had pene-
trated among them from early times, principally through Elam.1310
The Baks, at least the Bak Sings, those of the Baks who became
the civilisers of China, if they belonged to the yellow races, which
seems more than doubtful, had none of their exaggerated characteristics.
We know that they had blue eyes, not turned up, and no black hair ;
moreover they used to taper their heads.1311 Their language was con-
nected with those of the Sumero-Akkadians, and of the Turano-
Scythian stock of languages at large.1312
1
344. The Baks had submitted for some 300 years to the rule of the
successors of Sargon, Shennung in Chinese, 1313 perhaps since the days
of Dungi (Dumkih-Tsang-kieh), under whose reign they had learnt the
art of writing like footprints of birds (i.e., in the cuneiform style), when
about 2332 B.O., Kung-Sun, son of the Chief of Sho-ten (? the King
of Shushan, Elam), and then ten or fifteen years old, became Prince
of the Hien-yuen, or Kom-the-long-robed, a part of the Bak tribes. 1314
The authority of the successors of Shennung (Sargon) was on the
wane, and under the reign of the seventieth of these kings, named
DUMANG (? Uru DU MAN Sun of the cuneiform lists), 1315 the regional
princes fighting each other became cruelly oppressive to the Bak Sings,
and levied heavy duties on their salt. The Shennung King being
powerless to re-establish order, the Hien-yuen chief then compelled
them to submit (to him), with the exception of the Tchivus1316 (? the
Tsabs), who continued to be most outrageous, but dared not come
forward and attack. Kung-sun thus established his authority at
defiance with that of the former suzerain. The Dan-tik (=Dintirki,
Babylon,) king projected then to invade and oppress the rebel princes
who rallied around the Hien-yuen chief. The latter consolidated his
power, and then called to arms and to help several tribes bearing
names of animals1317 (a habit common in anterior Asia), and fought
against the said king in the plains of Fan-tsiuen, Reverting Source (? a
tidal river), three different battles. The result was that afterwards
he could do what he had wanted.1318 Lih muh (anc. Lehmuh; ? Bab.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
319
Lukmuh), Tang sien, Ta hung,1318 Shen nung hwang tchih (a Shennungite
controller), Fung Kü, Ta Tchen, Ta shan ki (great mountain reverer),
Kwei-yü Kiü (demons classifier), Fung hu, Kung Kia (great buff coats),
and others formed his officers and army. He distributed them over
the four regions as superintendents.1320
45. The Tchivus (Tsabs), however, proved obdurate; they were
eighty-one brothers, all descendants of Shennung (Sargon), had a year
of ten months, and were skilful at using war weapons. In accord
with the other princes the Hien-yuen leader sent Lih-muh and the
Shennung-ite Imperial Officer, to their chief, but he refused to obey
the imperial commands. The struggle was long and severe as fighting
took place on fifty-two different occasions. They pursued him as far
as the plain of Tchuh-lu (anc. Tiuk-lu,? Tiklat, the Tigris); and finally
Yng lung was dispatched to put the chief of the Tchi-yus to death,1321
near the hills of Hungli, in the region of Tsuh-bi (Zab river). 1322 After
this all the princes honoured the Hien-yuen prince, who became
Tien-tze, Son of Heaven; he succeeded the Shennung-ite in authority,
and became Hu NAKHUNTE, or Yu-Nai Hwang-ti,1323 All those who
beneath heaven were not obedient he pursued and punished, the
pacific he let go. Then he opened the mountains with routes leading
to not yet pacified lands, and he settled, on the last as far as the sea,
&c. The She Ki of Szema Ts’ien, from where we extract the state-
mėnt, goes on with the names of the places that where supposed to
have formed the limits of the empire of Hwang-ti within China
proper.
346. Although the whole story is one of glorification, one cannot
fail to notice the subdued tone with which some parts of it are told.
The presence near the Hien-yuen prince of an officer representing the
suzerain king, successor of Shennung, shows that some arrangement
had been made with the latter after the war, which therefore could not
have been concluded by a victory so complete as some interpreters
wanted it to have been. Furthermore, nothing is said of the reasons,
probably overwhelming, that afterwards compelled the leader of the
Baks to open the mountains with routes to yet not pacified lands, and
settle in China. The historian in his patriotism could not clearly
understand that Hwang-ti and his followers had not always inhabited
the Middle Kingdom, 1324 although as far as the latter country is con-
cerned, the first fifty years of his reign were a blank.
320
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
347. The recit calls for some more remarks. It is astonishing
to see how closely the account preserved by the Chinese coincides with
the circumstances and events, geographical and personal, of the history
of anterior Asia for the time indicated by the tradition. Several
equations of names in brackets and some of the notes may have per-
· mitted to grasp a part of the facts, as we understand them. A further
consideration discloses some more coincidences and suggest strongly
that through the dim of ages, oral tradition and legendary exaggerations
of later times, the recit really refers to a genuine period of
primitive history of the Bak Sings in Anterior Asia. A sim-
ilar concatenation of circumstances and proper names on the
two sides form indeed a strong body of evidence. We know
from the Babylonian sources that Chaldean suzerainty over the
border lands of the East was at that time at a low ebb. A
powerful king then arose in Elam; his name was Kudur Nakhunte (i.l.,
Servant of Nalchunte, the Elamite Chief God), and he made a successful
campaign against Chaldea, then held by the successors of Sargon,
either by regular descent or more probably in chronology only. This
was before 2285 B.C., while Sargon as stated by the Cylinder of
Nabonidus had reigned about 3800 B.C. The lapse of time between the
two dates (1465 years) answers admirably to the seventy reigns spoken
of by the Chinese tradition. In 2285 Kudur Nakhunte returned in Elam,
carrying away to Susa, as one knows, a much venerated statue of the
goddess Nana and other spoil. A part of the land remained in his
power, but the kingdom he had established there was captured not
many years later by Khammurabi, who first united all Babylonia under
his sway. These circumstances, which belong to written history, suggest
forcibly the event which the Chinese account has left untold. The
coinciding dates have been written on the two sides thousands years
ago, and no interference or correction of a European hand has been
required to make them concur. 1325
348. In 2285 Kudur Nakhunte, King of Elam, comes back victorious
to his capital, after an expedition which, however successful, must have
taken a certain lapse of time. In 2282, Hu Nak Kunte, chief of the
Baks, in the fiftieth year of his reign, arrives on the banks of the Loh
river in South Shensi, and offers a sacrifice. The Chinese account
shows that the chief of the Baks, inflated by the successes over the
Tsabs, in which he appears as the leading spirit, had assumed the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
321
Imperial authority, and therefore thrown over any suzerainty. The
return to Susa of Kudur Nakhunte, whose name he had imitated,
must have frightened him, as the victorious Elamite would not have
permitted the existence on his borders of a rival sovereign. Hu Nak
Kunte, Yu Nai Hwang-ti, must therefore have migrated then with some
of his followers, either on their own accord for fear of reprisals, or
perhaps only after having been threatened with war in case they would
not withdraw. Anyhow no actual fight seems to have happened, but
the migration took place nevertheless. Hu Nak Kunte was accom-
panied with a certain number, apparently some twelve or fifteen, of
the BAK tribes. Amongst them were some Ketsa (whose name crippled
in course of time is now read Sha and Hia), belonging probably
to the Kassi or to the Kashtu once inhabiting the same region as
the Baks in Anterior Asia.1326
349. The route which they followed in their migration was not
for them a matter of choice. It could be but in a north-east direction,
as this quarter was the only one where they could make good their
escape, and where they could go in search of desirable lands to
establish new settlements. It was that which some of them knew best
from their former experience of traders. Therefore the highest pro-
babilities are that they followed the trade route leading to the mines
of Khorasan, Badakshan, and Eastern Turkestan (sect. 332). The
probability becomes almost a certainty with the additional evidence
derived from the written symbols of the cardinal points which they
had learned like the other characters of the writing from the Chaldeo-
Elamites. The signs for south-west or front, and the north-east or
back, of the diagonal orientation of the Sumero-Akkadian became
forcibly for the tribes migrating to the north-east, those for Back and
Front, and have remained so to the present day.1327
350. Meshed and Baktra further east are thus indicated as the two
first principal stations of the emigrants; from the latter place the Upper
Oxus leading by Badakshan and Wakhan over the Pamir to the
Chichiklik or the Kandar pass form the natural route between Khorasan
and Eastern Turkestan, through which the Tarym valley and the
celebrated jade mines are reached (see note 1291). Let us remark
here that cuneiform inscriptions have been seen in Bactria and appar-
ently also in the Wakhan country, while cuneiform cylinders have
been discovered near the Pamir.1328 Their respective dates are still
322
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
unknown, and we ignore if they are older, contemporary, or later than
the migration of the Baks, but their existence confirms most positively
that the route in question has been followed since remote antiquity.1329
NOTES—
1307) Cf. A. H. Sayce, Records of the Past, n.s., iii., xiv.
1308) See our sections 321-9.
1309) The existence, hitherto unknown, of tin beds and ancient
mines near Meshed, discovered only a few years ago, is a most im-
portant fact for the history of bronze. They have been discovered
at Utshan-mien-abot, 20 farsangs, and at Raboji, Askaband, 6 far-
sangs, distance from Meshed, by P. Ogorodnikow. Cf. Baer, Archiv.
f. Anthrop., ix., 265.
1310) The inscriptions discovered at Seripul, near the old Lulubi,
are amongst the oldest hitherto deciphered, and older than those of
Gudea. Sargon long before had conquered Elam. Cf. B. & O. R.,
V. 272, Cuneiform Inscriptions near the Pamir, vi., 168, and W. St.
Chad Boscawen, The Elamite origin of Chinese Civilisation, vii, 17.
1311) Cf. T. de L., The Black Heads of Babylonia and ancient China,
1892; Tapered Heads in Anterior Asia and Early China. B. O. R.,
vi., 193-6, and 264; and on modern times, cf. Les Déformations
Crâniennes en Chine, by Dr. Ernest Martin: Revue d'Ethnographie,
1883, p. 504-6. Dr. A. B. Meyer, in 1881, has published an impor-
tant monograph, Ueber Kunstlich deformirte Schädel von Borneo und
Mindanao, nebst Bemerkungen ueber die vcrbreitung der sitte der Künst-
lichen Schädel-deformirung, Dresden, dealing with the question in
general.
1312) Cf. Add. 54, and note 1249.
1313) The identification of the legend of Sargon with that of Shennung
is at present a fact for all those who have taken the trouble of
studying the question. Cf. the references, suprà note 127, and also
T. de L., The Loan of Chaldeo-Elamite Culture to Early China, 1892,
par. 34-44; W. St. Chad Boscawen, The Elamite Origin of Chinese
Civilisation, 1893; B. & O. R., vii., 17. Tchwang-tze of the
fourth century B.C., says that O-ho-Kam (Orkham ?) had received
the same lessons as Shennung. Cf. T.P., 78, 6 v. There was a
tradition that the Hien-yuen chief lived three hundred years, which
we understand as meaning that the chieftainship lasted that lapse
of time. But the Chinese compilers could understand only that
Hwang-ti, the Hien-yuen chief, was referred to, and an explanation
was difficult. The Ťa Tai Li, or Ritual of the Elder Tai, of the
first century B.C., attributed to Confucius the following : “Hwang-
ti reigned 100 years, his people mourned for him 100 years, and
venerated him another 100 years, hence 300 years ” (T.P., 79, 4),
which is more convenient than genuine and conclusive. Seven
names of rulers are given before Hwang-ti as having ruled 306
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
323
years. Cf. also Kia-yu, v. 22 v. On the other hand let us remem-
ber the 300 winters of the 'Zend Avesta (edit. J. Darmesteter,
ii., 21).
1314) The denomination of Hien-yuen, or Kom-the-long-robed, was
perhaps assumed only at the beginning of Kung-sun's reign.
The Tchun shu ki nien says that he invented tben the cap with
pendents and the robes to match.
1315) Eight names of Shennung-ites, including Dumang, appear on
the Chinese list of mythical kings in the same order as in cuneiform
lists of Sumero-Akkadian and Kassite names of kings, which were
first deciphered by T. G. Pinches in 1882, and published again by
A. H. Sayce in 1883 and 1888. Unhappily the fragmentary condition
of the cuneiform tablets, where no headings remain, does not permit
us to know where these kings ruled, nor how the names are arranged
in the lists.
1316) Tchi-yu, anc. Tchi-vu, which may be translated stupid-and-
extraordinary, has thus all the appearance of a transcription
of a foreign word. If the assimilation, I suggest, could be proved,
many difficulties would disappear as the name would be simply an
appellative as its repetition shows. Tchi-vu=Tsa-bu.
1317) Cf. the wolves, tigers, dragons, dogs, eagles, flies, wasps,
horses, &c. of Anterior Asia, in Rawlinson, vol. i., 698, 700, iii.,
546 of his Herodotus. On the names of animals amongst the Sings,
cf. H. A. Giles, Historic China, p. 363.
1318) The statement here is interesting because it shows that the
Shennung-ite king was not thoroughly vanquished and destroyed.
The various readings of the tradition are the following : Szema
Ts'ien: “ and after he obtained his will,” Ta Tai Li, “after that
he carried on his will; Hwang Pu Mi: he subdued him.” The
battle of Fan-tsiuen is referred to in the T'so-tchulen, V., XXV.
1319) Ta hung was a title of officer, not a personal name. Hwang-
ti himself was at a time called Ti Hung She, the Emperor Hung
(Ti wang She Ki : T. P., 79, 2). He is thus mentioned in 609 B.C.
in the T'so tchuan, Wang Kung, xviii. 9. Kwei-yü Kiu who appears
to have come to China with Hwang-ti, and whose funeral mound
was said to be near present Fung-tsiang, in south-west Shensi, was
titled Ta Hung, hence the name of Hung Mung for his tomb (She
Ki xxviii. 13 v. and 33). One officer of Yao had the same title
(K'ang-hi tze tien, s.v. hung, 196+6). It means the Great Wild
Swan,
1320)' These various names will probably yield interesting disclosures
when properly studied. The Great Mountain Reverer and the
Demons' Classifier speak for themselves. The most interesting is
perhaps the Shen-nung hwang tchih, Shennung's imperial straightener,
who seems to have been a sort of controller representing the
authority of the Shennung-ite King. His mission to the Chief
324
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Tchi-yu, and the qualified victory of the Hien-yuen Prince before
explain the position which he occupied.
1321) Szema Ts’ien, She Ki, i. 3, in his precise account does not
mention the previous organisation nor these details. He says
simply: Tchi-yu made disorder and did not acknowledge the
imperial command; thereupon Hwang-ti collected his army and the
princes, fought against Tchi-yu in the plain of Tchoh-lu; he pursued,
seized, and killed Tchi-yu.” Szema Ts'ien, ibid., speaks of Fung-hou
Lih-muh, Tang tien, and Ta Hung, who were raised to be superin-
tendents of the people, when Hwang-ti was settled in his (new)
dominion. Fung-hou, Prince of the Wind, seems to correspond to
Fung-hui, Appointed dew-lapped, Fung-Ki, Appointed Noble, is
mentioned also in the She Ki, but in the Kiv. 28, fol. 44, with
Fong-hou.
1322) Yh Tchou shu : T.P., 162, 6v. Kwei-tsang. Ti Wang She Ki.
Shan Hai King, xvii. 3 v.
1323) Yu Nai, Hu Nak, is said by the Tchu shu ki nien to be where
he resided when king. The Ku She K’ao says it was his name as
chief, Yu Nai she; so says the Ti Wang She Ki. Cf. T. P.,
79, 1 v., 2v.
1324) And it is not at all unlikely that in reproducing the terms of
the tradition of oldest times concerning the migration, the Chinese
historian did not grasp their meaning to their original and full
extent.
1325) The date of 2285 has been given by Nabonidus. That of 2282
for the first event of the reign of Hwang-ti in China, has been given
by Hwang-p'u mi, one of the greatest archeologists China has ever
produced, in the third century.
1326) On Kutche-Ketsa=Sha=Hia. Cf. The Languages of China
before the Chinese, § 202. J. Oppert, La Langue Cissienne ou Kassite,
non Cosséenne : Zeits. f. Assyr. 1888, iii. 421-3. The Tapered Heads
in Anterior Asia and Early China: B. 0. R., Mar., 1893, vi. $ 7.
I have pointed out that the people vanquished by Eannada, of the
country of Ish-ban or Kashtu (Brunn. List, 9100), with tapered
heads may have been the ancestors of the civilisers of China.
1227) Cf. From Ancient Chaldea and Elam to Early China: sections
25-29. B. and 0. R., Febr., 1891.
1328) Cf. Cuneiform Inscriptions near the Pamir : B. and O. R., vi.,
168. When the Yü Kung was compiled intercourse existed with
the country of Kiil-su, later Fei-kan or Wakhan. Cf. add. 1187.
1329) The Puh-Tchou shan, anciently Put-dzok shan, cf. Badsakshan,
famous in the Chinese legend of the deluge, was placed in the north-
west (Shan Hai King, ii. 13). According to the geographers of the
Han period, this mountain was in the north-west of the Kwen-lun,
and near the country of Khotan (ibid. comm.) which is not far from
the truth. Modern Badakshan.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
325
II.-From the Jade Mines to South West Kansuh.
351. Once arrived to the jade mines, Hwang-ti is said1330 to have
taken there some beautiful pebbles1331 of jade from Mit, where white
jade is abundant and where its effluvium produces dark jade (a curious
statement which reminds us of the white and black jade found there
by modern travellers.)1332 He carried them away with him to the
south of Mount Tchung1833 (where he settled afterwards, as we shall
see below).
Continuing their journey, the emigrants must have followed the
Yarkand daria, as we find them arriving next to the country of Hwa sü
(west of Yen-tchou or Karashar, and north-west of Hoh tchou, the
meeting place of ancient travellers, modern Kurla), which was most
probably near the present Kutcha. 1334 They came after to the country
of the Yao Min further east, where they sojourned some time, for the
tradition has preserved the memory of a station of Hwang-ti there.1335
352. At a short distance eastward they reached the residence of
the Kam-mu (Wang Mu, a western sovereign), from whom Hwang-ti
received some rings of agate or white jade and some (?) maps of the
country. 1336 We have seen in previous pages that the country in
question was on the west of Karashar.
Following the southern course of the Tarym, afterwards the Bulunghir,
and the north slopes of the Altyntagh range, they arrived near the
Nan-Shan, and there we are told,1337 east of the Drifting Sands and
west of the (head water of the) Black River, or Bulunghir, where the
countries of the Tchou Yun, Morning Clouds, and of the Se-Tche,
Rearing Swines, where Hwang-ti married Lei-tsu, 1338 who
became the mother of Tchang-y, were situated. The region in
question would be right south-west of An-si fu in Kansuh. Further
east they stopped at the Red River. A legend has been based on
the circumstance that Hwang-ti ascended a hill of the Kuenlun range,
north of the upper course of that river to look about the route.1339
Near this Red River, according to the description of its course in
ancient books, was the Hung shui (same meaning) of the present day,
which rises from the mountains, south of Suhtchou of Kansuh west,
and flows north.1340 The chief of the Bak families went on a hill near
its upper course, and obtained some information on the route from an
326
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
old man there.1341 Their march was impeded further on by some
warlike tribes, the Ku of White Tek race, and the Kin-pei, who
attacked them from the south and killed some of them.
353. Being thus prevented from seeking a route right south-east
to the coveted pastures of the Flowery Land, the Hwang-tites followed
east the north slopes of the Tchung-shan, 2.6., the Nan Shan range, 1342
where are at present Kantchou and Liangtchou. It was there that
Hwang-ti.could take his revenge against the Ku and Kin-pei, and
destroy them, near the Yao hills.1343 From the region of the present
Liangtchou, it seems that the immigrants followed the natural route
by Lantchou and Ti-tao, as they finally arrived to Kung-shan, later
Kung-tchang-fu, of the south-west of Kansuh, where they established
their central quarters. The site was well chosen, being partly sur-
rounded by high hills, and thus well protected from unforeseen
attacks. It was there that Hwang-ti founded his Chinese kingdom,
known in legendary history by the name of Hien-yuen-Kwoh ;1344 and
it is there also that unto the present day, Chinese have venerated some
tumuli as the tombs of their earliest leaders. 1345
The Bak families had thus been two or three years on the way
since their departure from their original settlements in West Asia,
but one year only from the west of Karashar. The probable date of
their arrival was 2282 B.C.
NOTES-
1330) Shan Hai King, kiv. ii. f. 13-4.
1331) Yung 5984 instead of 4422, Bas. Mount Mit reminds us of
Mount Mirdjai, all of jade at 230 li of Yarkand. Cf. Description de
la Chine Occidentale, trad. Gueluy ; Muséon, Juin, 1885, p. 312.
The same mount is called Miritan, in the Si yu wen kian tu, k. 2,
f. 15 v. It was at proximity of Pu-tchou-shan or Badakshan.
1332) Suprà note 1292.
1333) This legendary statement of the existence of jade there, which
existence was unknown of the later Chinese is most remarkable, as
nephrite-jade has indeed been found in the Nan Shan by European
travellers. Cf. P. Martin C. R. Ac. Sc., Paris, 1891, cxii, 1153,
H. Fischer, M. Anthr. Ges. 1879, 50; A. B. Meyer, Neue Beitrage
zur Kenntniss des Nephrit und Jadeit, Berlin, 1891, p. 12. Cf. also
Marco Polo on the river of Peih, edit. Yule, i. 198.
1334) Lieh-tze, kiv. ii., where it is made the occasion of an alleged
dream. Cf. also the remarks of Hwai-nan-tze on the subject.
T. P. Y. L., 79, 4 v.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
327
1335) Shan Hai King. T. P., 178, 8. On the Yao Min, cf. Shan
Hai King, 7, 3; 16, 2 v.
1336) Svi yng tu: T. P., 872, 12. Tsih sien luh: Kin ting ku kin t'u
shu tsih tcheng.
1337) Shan Hai King, xviii. 1 v.
1338) The own legend of Lei tsu, says only that she was a girl of
the West Ridges, which is correct from China. T. de L., The Silk
Goddess of China and her Legend, par. 46.
1339) Tchwang-tze, Nan kwa tcheng king, xii. 4. The Shan Hai
King, xi, 3, says that it flows into the Nan hai (a lake) east of the
Yen hwo, or Fire Mountains, therefore near the Tien Shan range.
1340) Shan Hai King, xi. 3 ; xvi. 4 v. All this will be explained
more fully in my History of Chinese Civilisation. The most impor-
tant identification are those of the Joh shui, or Weak Water, with
the river of Kantchou, eastern affluent of the Etsinai; Red Water,
with the Hung shui and Tolai river; Black Water, with the
Bulunghir.
1341) The route tao upon which Hwang-ti enquired there has been
understood by the Néo-Taoists as referring to their own tao, and
Kwang-tchen-tze, the old man in question, has been supposed by them
to have taught their doctrines to Hwang-ti. The mountain was
called Kung-tung. It has been identified with one of the hills of
the Nan shan range, south of Suh tchou, and a monument has been
built there in ancient times. Cf. the Tchu Shui King, in T. P. Y. L.,
44, 3.
1342) For the ancient Chinese the Kuen-lun embraces the Altyn tag
range and the mountains south of it, all westwards; the Tchung
shan included the Nan shan, Ala shan, and Yushan ranges, extending
from the Kuenlun to the north of China. The point of junction
appears to be south of Suhtchou.
1343) Shan Hai King, ii. 14-15. Pao Kiang, or Tsu Kiang, is the
name given in the legend, as that of the principal of the followers
of Hwang-ti who had lost their life. About the Tchung shan, cf.
suprà § 351 and note 1333.
1344) Szema Tsien, She Ki, i. 4 v. Shan Hai King, vii. 3 ; xvi. 3 v.
Ti Wang She Ki, &c. The legend says that this state, i.e., that
settlement, lasted 800 years, i.e., until the country was occupied by
the Tchou-ites. The name of Hien yuen, which we have already
met, and which means Kom-the-long-robed (sup. 348), explains the
saying hitherto unclear of olden times, that it was sufficient that
Hwang-ti, Yao, and Shun should wear their long robes for every-
thing to be in order in the empire (cf. Yh King, Hi-tse, ii. 16).
1345 Suh Han shu, Kiun Kwoh tchi: T. P., 165, 1 v. Szema Tcheng,
Wu Ti pên ki. Hwang P'u-mi. Hou Wei Fêng tu ki : T. P, 44, 3.
Tchu Kung Yang, Lih tai ling ts’in pei k'ao. Grosier, De la
Chine, i. 162.
328
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
From SOUTH-WEST Kansuh TO SOUTH SHANSI.
(Circà 2282-2275 B.C.)
354. Yu-nai Hwang-ti, as principal leader of the emigrants, was
the first, with a portion of his followers, who penetrated south as far
as the present Kung-tchang fu. From there he was enabled without
delay to advance eastward along the north side of the valley of the
Wei river as far as the Loh which flows into the Hwang-ho,1346 near
the mouth of the Wei itself. Arrived there in the fiftieth year of his
reign,1347 he was greeted by the appearance of phenixes, the bird of
good omen, and be offered a sacrifice. There also cupules, or cup-
marks, graven on the cliff by former inhabitants, were then discovered
and being looked upon as a divine script, have become the Loh shu of
the legend.1348 Several years, probably seven, were then spent by
Hwang-ti in establishing in his new country his final settlements,
government and imported civilisation.1349
355. Another portion of the Bak Sings, perhaps the bulk of them,
had remained behind and settled along the Nan shan range on the
south-east, from the present Kan-tchou fu to the north of Kung-tchang
fu. They were under the command of Tsing-yang, titled Shao-hao,
elder son of Hwang-ti by his first wife.1350 During his government of
some thirty years there, in the name of his father, gold was discovered
at Ku-wu (Liang-tchou) and at Kang (Kin tchen or gold city, of Lan-
tchou). Several native tribes submitted, 1352 and pitchers in agate
were brought from Tan Kiüi (Turfan).1353 Shao Hao was venerated in
after times (c.e., 669 B.C.) as the White Ti (Regent of the White
West), who had ruled by the virtue of gold.1354
(Circâ 2275-2255 B.C.)
356. Two native populations of unusual aspect, reported themselves
to Hwang-ti, in his 59th year. Their names Kwan-hiung and Tchang-
ku, which have been taken in their proper sense of "Pearced-breasts"
and “Long Legs,” by the mythological ethnology of the Shan Hai
Hing1355 refer to peculiarities less momentous than that; such for
instance as tatooing and the use of tooth picks1366 in the one case, and
a real appearance of long legs in the other.1357 These tribes were
probably in Honan. There was also a tradition that some southern
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
329
tribes had presented a white deer and some aromatic liquor. But these
legendary statements are beyond our possibility of investigation.
357. It was in these years that took place the unsuccessful and
fabled expedition of Hwang-ti to the north of Shansi and in Tchihli.
Marching northwards in the east of Shensi, beyond the present Sui-
teh department where he had a regular settlement, the chief of the
Bak Sings crossed the Hwang-ho, probably by the north ford1358 (be-
tween Fu-kuh of Shensi and Pao-teh of Shansi), and proceeded east
in north Tchibli, where he founded a city. 1359 Then he is reputed to
have gone to the sea-shore, where he caught some kweis, or sea-oxen,
from whose skins he made drums.1360 From there he advanced south
to the site of the later Yung-tcheng (present Sin-'an hien in Pao-ting
fu of C. Tchihli) where he organised the calendar ;1361 hence he came
further south as far as Ta Kwei in Kiü-tze (later Kiü-tchou, present
Shun teh fu, S. Tchih-li), where numerous spirits and demons were
worshipped. 1362 But he could not advance any further, nor remain
there, as he was attacked by some Tchi-yü or Tchi-yus enemies1363 as
far back as his new city. A version of the legend says that with the
help of the goddess of Drought, Pat, whom he invoked for that purpose,
he could withdraw with his followers. He returned by Mount Shao-
hien, next to the ford of the Ho, and near there he saw Ya-yühs,
dragons (sort of alligators), which were caught for him by an officer
named Ni-fuh; he brought them back to his settlements of Mount
Shu shuk, near the present Sui-teh. 1364
358. So much of mythology has grown over the events that it is most
difficult to discriminate the substratum of truth in the circumstance.
Tchi-vu the common appelation of the first enemies of the Bak Sings on
their north, as we have seen previously, was used again in this instance
as also later on at the time of Tchuan-hiüh; and the assumption that
it was the personal name of a single individual has thrown a good deal
of confusion into these legends which consequently have not been
clearly distinguished one from the other as they ought to have been.
T'choh-lu did not exist in ancient Chinese geography ;1365 it has been
repeated from one legendary account to another, and it is only during
the Han dynasty when geographical localisations for ancient stories
were sought for in China proper, that the name was erroneously sup-
posed to have existed in the present Tchihli in high antiquity, simply
330
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
because a concatenation of legendary traditions pointed out to a tem-
porary sojourn of Hwang-ti in that region. When the historical
legend of this new encounter of Hwangti with Tchi-yus was restored
and developed by the compilers, they supposed most conveniently but
most erroneously that there was only one such encounter, and they
have arranged the story accordingly; furthermore they appear to have
worked, having in their mind, a Persian legend which we quote in
another page (add. 153).
359. In the 77th year of Hwang-ti's reign, or 2255, his second
son, Tchang-y, was sent on the Joh river of north-west Szetchuen to
establish a colony. This is the first intimation of the natural route
famous in later ages and followed to the present day which connects
Kun-tchang fu to Lin-tao, present Min-tchou, to Si ku tcheng, Sung-
pan ting and the north west of Szetchuen (note 919). He married
there a native princess named Tchang-Pu (of Shan race), who bore
him Kao-yang, the future Tchuan-hiuh. The local tradition wants
him to have gone as far south as Kwan-hien, west of Tcheng-tu. But
he proved incapable in his government, which means that he was
driven back by the natives, and little more is heard of him in
history.
NOTES-
1346) This river was the Loh tchuen of the modern maps, and not the
Loh ho, of later historical importance, which flows into the Hwang
ho near Honan fu.
1347) Tchuh shu ki nien, I., i. 3. The fiftieth year is the date com-
monly accepted, but some editions give the fifty-seventh year. The
latter figure would make the whole length, or 100 years of the reign
of Hwang-ti, with the forty-three years alluded to by Lieh-tze,
kiv. ii. (T. P., 79, 4 v.) There was a tradition that after a period
of fifteen years of difficulties in his government, Hwang-ti had ruled
in peace twenty-eight years more. The seven years after the sacri-
fice should thus have been spent in organisation.
1348) Yh King, Hi tse, i. 73. Shui King, T. P., 62, 5. On these
cup-marks, cf. my Beginnings of writing, sections 33, 227.
1349) We shall resume the most important items of that civilisation,
sections 383-389 below. An important geographical statement in
in the legendary accounts on the subject is that Hwang-ti com-
manded his officer Ling-lun to get bamboos from the country lying
in the west of Ta Hia, and arrange the system of modulated sounds.
Cf. In she Tchun tsir, of the third century B.C. The Ta Hia of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
• 391
that time was the present Ho tchou in Lan tchou fu of south-west
Kansuh. The text of Liu she says : on the north of the Kuen-lun,
or of Yüan yu (cl. 85 + 375-5075 Bas). Cf. T. P., 656, 6 v.; 963, 3.
Cf. however $ 298 and note 1193 suprà on the possibility of another
Ta Hia.
1350) Shao Hao was son of Hwang-ti by the first in date of his four
wives, Niu-tsieh of the Fang-lei family. Cf. Pan ku, Tsien Han
Shu, Ku kin piao. Të wang she ki. T. P., 79, 8 and 135, 7 v.
Szema Ts'ien, She Ki, i. 5, has mistaken the first wife in rank for
the first wife in date, and thus made Shao Hao the son of Lei-
tsu, which the sequence of events does not permit.
1351) Kiu tchou yao ki. Han tchi. T. P., 165, 2; 50, 3. Gold
is obtained still at present from the sand of most of the streams
and rivers of Shensi and Kansuh, especially near Lan-tchou. Cf.
A. Williamson, Journeys in North China, i. 170; and W. W.
Rockhill, The Land of the Lamas, 46.
1352) A curious legend has crept in with reference to Shao Hao
and to native tribes of Pongs, which unhappily I have recorded,
suprà p. 46. See the rectification, add. 216.
1358) Shah y ki: T. P., 808, 8.
1354) She Ki, v. 5; xiv. 14, 19 v; xxviii. 3, 8 v. Also suprà
section 153, note 538, and add. 538.
1355) Tchuh shu ki nien, I., i. . Shan Hai King, vi. 3; vii. 4.
1356) Cf. T. de L, The Negrito Pygmies of Ancient China, 15, 16.
The use of tooth-picks among the natives of Indo-China when re-
ported by early travellers has given rise to a fable of the same kind,
A legend in the Kwa-ti-tu explained the denomination of the
Pierced-breasts by the circumstance that two of the ancestors had
once committed suicide in piercing themselves with swords. Cf. T.P.,
790, 2 v.
1357) Cf. for instance Dr. Thorel, in Voyage d'Exploration en Indo-
Chine, ii. 317, on such a peculiarity among the Mois, Penongs, and
Khas of Indo-China. Mr. A. H. Savage Lindór, Alone with the
Hairy Ainu, 1893, p. 300-4, shows by Anthropological measurements
the great length of the arms of Ainu race.
1358) There is another ford more south with a route from Tai-yuen,
but it can be used only by travellers on foot. Mount Shao-hien
spoken of in the recit shows that it was by the north ford that the
expedition crossed the river.
1359) The name of Tchoh-lu (in memory of the similar name in the
West ?) has been commonly mentioned as that of this town since
the Han period when geographical localisations within the Chinese
dominion have been sought for all the traditions of antiquity. If it
has been done so after a genuine tradition, we must confess our
complete ignorance about it. Several traditions pointed out to a
temporary appearance of Hwang-ti in that part of the land, but this
is all. The name in question was given only during the HAN
332
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
dynasty to a locality in Shan Kiü kiun, near present Pao-'an of
Tchih-li, north-west of Peking.
1360) Near Liu-po shan on the shores of the Tung-bai or Eastern
Ocean. Shan Hai King, xiv. 5 v. Hwang Pu mi: T. P., 899; i,
582, 4.
1361) Shi pên : T. P., 16, 7 v. The geographical name has been
taken as that of an officer of Hwang-ti from that circumstance.
There is about the first making of a calendar by Hwang-ti an
interesting tradition which shows the foreign origin of Hwang-ti's
knowledge, in Szemá Tsien, i. 4 and, xxviii. 43. He says that
Hwang-ti had acquired (by conquest or otherwise is not said, but
the word lowoh, 9860 Bas, suggests the first), a precious tripod, and
that he observed the sun, yng jeh, and arranged accordingly the
lists, or written tablets (t'ui ts'en) that were in or on that tripod.
The latter circumstance is suggested by a spurious legend, kiv. 28,
fol. 32, when the 19-year cycle is attributed to Hwang-ti, but where
the circumstance above referred to as : Hwang-ti teh pao ting shen
ts'eh, i.., that Hwang-ti got--the precious tripod and the mysterious
tablets, or the mysterious tablets of the precious tripod. In western
antiquity written texts on vegetable material were usually kept in
pots or jars.
1362) Ping, Duke of Tsin, 557-531 BC.; She Kang; Han Feitze :
T. P., 79, 6. Tchwang tze, kiv. 24, T. P., 79,5. This was the
country of Kiu and Li, of which we shall hear again under the
government of Shao Hao and the reign of Tchuan-hiuh. What
sort of defeat this historical legend covers may be easily inferred
from the result.
1363) On that meaning of Tchi-vil, cf. suprà, note 1316, and below.
1364) Cf. She Ki, i 3. Tchuh shu ki nien, i. 1. Shan Hai King, 3,
5; 10: 3; 11: 1, 2, 4; 12:1; 17: 3, 4. Ti Wang She Ki:
T. P., 79, 1, 2. Yuuen no Kun hiens tag: T. P., 164, 10. The
dragons, yah-yü, had dragon's heads and serpent's bodies; mewling
like children, they devoured the men they caught. Some lived near
the Weak Water, as well as on the banks of the Ho. During Yao's
reign, they were once so numerous that it was necessary to send
archers to kill them. Cf. T. P. Y. L., 908, 4.
1365) The Han shu, Ti li tchi, said that a Tchoh-lu hien had existed
in high antiqulty near present Pao-'an, north-west of Peking), in
the Tchob Kiun, but other commentators have remarked that the
statement was erroneous. Cf. comm. She Ki, i. 3.
1366) She Ki, i. 5. Tchuh shu Ti nien, I., i 5. Shuh Ki: T. P., 44,
4, 5; 166, 8.
(Circà 2250 B.C.)
360. The failures of Hwang-ti in the north and of Tchang-y in
the south in their attempts at opening new lands, had left the Bak
families limited chiefly to the west of the Hwang Ho. They had
0
OLADI
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
333
certainly multiplied during their thirty years of occupation; and it
became imperatively to advance eastwards and find new grounds for a
portion of them. It was Shao Hao who was the leader of the migra-
tion, and his ox-waggons advanced forward through and between the
native centres and states on the south of the Yellow river until he
found lands suitable for a final settlement.
Passing north of the native state of Yu Hu (Honan W.), they ad-
vanced at first as far east as the banks of the Ti Kiang (near Lu shan,
C. W. of Honan). Thence continuing eastwards, they past south of
the Yu Sin (west of Kai-fêng fu) of the Yu Kwei (Kai fêng fu), and
through the country of the Tchu Siang, with whom Shao Hao made a
treaty of alliance which permitted him to go further east; then leaving
the Shuh Ki (east of Kwei-teh) on the right, and the Tsao Jungs (Tsao
tchou fu) on their left, they arrived to the hills of West Shantung,
near which they founded Kiung sang, the capital city of Shao Hao
(modern Kiub-fou, in Yen tchou).1367
Shao Hao remained there some thirty-seven years, and gradually
strengthened his colony, without however aggrandizing his territory,
as he was hemmed in all round by native states which he could not
conquer.
(Circà 2235-2232 B.C.)
361. Hwang-ti, then a very old man, made three sorts of copper
vases at Head-hill, Shou Shan, near Mount King (in Shang Loh,
south-east Shensi), where he had found the metal.1368 This was not
long before his death,1369 which occurred after a reign of one hundred
years. He was buried on a Mount Kiao in the north-east of Si-'an
fu.1370 After the death of his master, Tso-tch’ih, one of his officers,
carved a wooden image of the deceased and covered it with his gar-
ments, cap, and staff, that it should be venerated by all the officers
and people.1371
(Circà 2225-2213 B.C.)
362. Shao-Hao being too far away in the east, with defective
intercommunications with the west, to exert any effective authority on
the Bak families of Shensi, Tchuan Hiüh, grandson of Hwang-ti, was
elected chief in Kung-tchang, and ruled there for twelve years.1372
Intercourse continued with the Tan Kiii country, or Turfan, and
water pitchers in agate were imported again.1373
334
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
(Circà 2213 B.C.)
363. Shao-Hao had died eighty-four years old, after having
governed portions of the Bak families for many years, and without
having ever been able to cross over to the left side of the Hwang-ho
because of the enmity of the native Li tribes. He was buried at
Kiuh fu (West Shantung), where a stone pyramid, unique in China, is
still shown as his tomb.1374
Tchuan-Hiüh, his successor, removed from Kung-tchang to the east,
and established his central quarters at Puh (present Puh-tchou north
of Tsao-tchou), somewhat more east than those of his predecessor.
He was then enabled to cross the Ho, then running north-east, and
to extend the Chinese dominion to the north side of the river. He
crushed the Kiu and the Li who had opposed Shao-Hao, and he is
praised for having then upheld the religious principles of his ancestors.
He conquered a part of Shansi as far north as Tai-lu, later Tai-yuen,
and south-west of this region the native states of Tao, or Potters, and
of Tang.
Tchwan-hiüh was an energetic ruler who did much to enlarge the
Chinese dominion in the east, and to secure the communications with
the western province. About 2180 he subdued the native state of
Yü Sin (west of Kai-fêng fu) for that purpose, and c. 2147 he smashed
the Shuh Ki, who had moved north and attempted to interfere with
the works of damming the river which were going on since the reign
of his predecessor because of local floods.
LU
(Circà 2147 B.C.)
364. Ti Kuh Kao Sin,1379 great grandson of Hwangti, and heir
associate since twelve years, at Poh, modern Kwei-teh fu, succeeded to
Tchwan-hiüh. He married four wives from states on the borders of
his dominion to strengthen his power, and he conquered several minor
native princedoms. He employed a Tchung-li (anciently Tungli=
Tengri,=heaven in Tartar languages, therefore a foreigner), to
describe the zodiacal stars and explain their time to the people.
His son, Ti-Tchih, made heir associate in 2112, was disallowed nine
years later, and Yao, another son of his by a native wife of West
Shantung, was appointed in his stead..
In 2085 he died and was buried near his predecessor.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
335
(Circà 2085 B.C.)
365. Ti Yao (heir associate since eighteen years) on his accession
to the throne, established his capital at Ping-yang, in south
west Shansi, and organised his government. He does not seem to
have had any other title than Prince of T'ao and T'ang. In 2042
B.C. occurred a great overflow of the Yellow River, which flooded a
large track of land, principally the lands of the Li-min, corresponding
to the present Tchang-teh fu, and the surrounding region (i.l., part
of the country of the Li conquered by Tchuen-hiüh). Twenty three
years of engineering work (ten under the superintendence of the great
Yü) were spent before the course of the river was regulated again.
In 2033, more by the force of circumstances than otherwise, Yao made
alliance with Shun, a prince of the native state of Yü, yet independent,
in south-west Shansi. He gave him his two daughters in marriage,
and at the expense of his own son and heir, associated him to the
supreme authority. This permitted the submission of several native
states, and the final establishment of the Chinese dominion on the
two banks of the Yellow River as far east as the west of present Shan-
tung province.
During his reign, intercourse continued with Karashar, and Hou-y,
the Chief Archer, could get in 2076 from there some of the famous
fir-balsam of asafoetida of the Si Wang Mu.
366. We have thus followed the gradual advance of the Baks and
their final settlement from the north-western borders of China to the
centre of Shansi. And we have just seen the transmission of the
supreme authority over the civilised Bak Sings of YAO to SHUN, which
is an event of great importance in the history of the country. We
can understand at present without difficulty how the joint control of
the two rulers has come to be looked upon in the traditions as the real
beginning of Chinese history. YAO, notwithstanding the native blood
of his mother, was a genuine descendant and representative of the
chieftains that had led the Bak tribes in the Flowery Land. SHUN
on the contrary, was an indigenous prince, belonging to a family of
native rulers in possession of a part of the country long before the
arrival of the civilisers from the west. Their association closes the
period of foundation of the Chinese dominion.
Tradition has preserved the names of only the most important of
the leaders of the Bak Sings at a time, and even these most important
336,
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
were contemporary for a certain extent. Shao-Hao was contemporary
of Hwang-ti and of Tchwan-Hiüh. Ti Kuh was for twelve years
contemporary of the latter, and he saw himself for eighteen years the
rising authority of Yao. We have seen that the rulers of the Bak
Sings in China were neither the ragged chieftains of straggling tribes,
nor the glorious autocrats of a great empire, that they have been sup-
posed to be. They were simply the chiefs of some intelligent tribes,
as much civilised as their proximity to the old centres of civilisation
in Anterior. Asia had permitted them to be, and with as much
knowledge of that western civilsation as they were able to preserve in
distant lands and different surroundings.
NOTES-
1367) Szema Tsien, i. 5. Ta Tar Li. Ti Wang she ki. T.P.Y.L.,
79, 8. Shan Hai King, 14, 1. All the names of native states here
are found in subsequent history when they were subdued, viz., Yu
sin before 2175; the Yu Kwei in 2145, she Shuh ki in 2147, the
Tsao Jungs and Yu Hu in 2018. The treaty with the Tchu siang is
specially mentioned in the traditions. All the evidence shall be
found in my large history.
1368) Szema Tsien, She Ki, xxviii. 33 ; xii. 8 v. Tsien Han Shu:
T. P., 813, 1v. Sang fu hwang tu, iii. 8 v. Shan Hai King and
T. P. Y. L., 49, 1-2.
1369) Liu shu, Wai Ki.
1370) Tchuh shu ki nien, I., i. . Szema Tsien, i. 5 v. Hwang
Pu-mi: T. P., 79, 1-2. Lih tai ling ts’in pei k'ao, ii. 5 v. Another
localisation in the same region, more north, was preferred during
the Han dynasty, near Sui-teh, but was given up soon afterwards.
1371) Tchuh shri ki nien, I., i., note 8. Poh wuh tchi. T.P. Y. L.,
1372) Tchuh shu ki nien, I., iii. Hwang Pu-mi, 1.c.
1373) Sh y kẻ : T. P., 808, 3.
1374) Szema Tsien, i. 5. Ti Wang She Ki: T. P., 79, 8. Tchu
Kung-yang, Li tai ling ts’in pei k'ao, iii., 1. A. Williamson, Journeys
in North China, i., 234. How far the present monument represents
faithfully the original one remains to be seen.
1375) Tchuh shu ki nien, I., iii.
1376) It must be remembered that the Hwang-ho was then running
north-easterly where at present flows the Tchang river; cf. J. Legge,
Chin. Class., iii. 135.
CHINESE CIVILISATION,
837
1377) The names of these tribes appear variously written Küü, 619
Bas., which has appeared in the account of Hwang-ti, Kiü, 51 Bas.,
and Li, 13125 Bas. ; the two latter have thus been wrongly sup-
posed to mean the nine Li; they were a population of husbandmen
extensively addicted to Shamanism or spirit worship, between Lu-'an
fu of south-east Shansi to Shun-teh fu of south-west Tchih-li. All
sorts of erroneous theories have been built up on these simple facts
because the geographical location had been overlooked. Traditions
wanted the Kiu and Li to have been ruled by a Tchi-yu who used
to take metal for his weapons and mails at the Lu shan (near
present Tsi-ning, West Shantung). Cf. Kwoh yu, Tsu ii; Kung-'an
Kwoh ; Legge, Chin. Class., iii. 590. Kwan-tze : T. P., 810, 5 v.
Playfair, Cities and Towns, 2322, 4128, 4555; 4537, 655. The
Tchung mu ki, by Hwang Kien, of the Tang period or before, says
that a great tumulus, seventy feet in height, was looked upon as the
tomb of Tchi-yu at Kwan-hiang town, Shou tchang hien, Tung ping
kiun, West Shantung. Sacrifices were offered to Tchi-yu in the,
tenth month. Cf. T. P., 875, 10. On such tumuli, cf. Tso tchuen,
VII., xii 3. There were in the vicinity several tumuli of Tchi-yus.
Cf. comm. on She Ki, i, 3. The worship of Tchi-yu has continued
to the present day. A red vapour in the sky like a falling scarf, says
Hwang Kien, or a sort of comet, says Szema Tsien, was called
Tchi yu ki, or Tchi-yu's banner. Cf. T. P., 875, 10.
1378) Tchuh shu kci nien, I., iii. 5. Shan Hai King xviii. 5-6.
1379) The sources of the present and following sections are the
Tchuh shu ki nien, Hwang P’u mi: Ti Wany She ki, Szema Ts'ien:
She Ki and the Shu King.
338
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
CHAPTER XI.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS OF PRECEDING CHAPTERS.
Chapter III.
367. The suggestion, page 5, that some of the Bak families migra-
ting to the Flowery Land had branched off and passed northwards in
the region of the Yenisséi must remain a moot-point. The Chinese
characters found near Abakansk, are cyclical signs in the tchuen style
which may have been engraved there at any time in antiquity. Most
of the Siberian inscriptions belong to the Pseudo-Runic style of com-
paratively modern times, viz., from the sixth to the ninth century,
which has nothing in common with the Chinese script. We have
explained the matter in our Beginnings of Writing, sections 32, 235,
237-242.
Chapter IV.
368. Elements of Culture received by the Civilisation of China from
Babylonia and Elam. Sciences and Arts. The discovery which I made
during the printing of the present work, that traders of the Erythæan
Sea frequented the coast of Shantung after 680 B.C. and imported into
the Middle Kingdom some more Babylonian notions, has led me to
reconsider carefully the provisory list pages 9-27; further recon-
siderations resulting from fresh investigations have also touched them;
the result is that we must cease to claim an importation by Hwang-ti
and his Bak families of the following items : twelve Babylonian
months, astronomical instruments, 19-years cycle, colours of the planets,
yn and yang, which were all introduced subsequently. On the other
hand numerous additions which have to be made have been duly entered
in the chronological lists.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
339
S
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
24) On the ancient Chinese calculations of the year cf. two papers
written by Dr. Fr. Kuhnert: Der Chinesische Kalender, nach Yao's
Grundlagen und die wahrscheinlichste allmähliche Entwicklung
und Verwollkomnung desselben : in Toung pao, Ayril, 1891, vol. ii.
p. 49-80 ; and Heisst bei den Chinesen jeder einzelne solar tern auch
tsiet k'i und ist ihr unsichtbarer Wandelstern k'i thatsächlich unser
sonnen cyclus von 28 julianischen Jahren : Z.D.M.G., 1890, vol. 44,
f. 256-266. On the four divisions of the day, cf. Tso tchuen, ann. 541;
Chin. Class. V. 580; and on the six modes of dividing time, ibid.,
ann. 535 and p. 619. On the 24 tsieh in high antiquity, cf. the
enquiry made by Yang Tsiuen, Wu li lun, of our era.
25) On the seventh day, cf. Yh King, kwa 24; also G. Schlegel,
Uranographie Chinoise, p. 645.
25) The T'so tchuen, Duke Tchao, year vii. 1 i.e., 535 B.C.) tells
us that “as Heaven has its ten guns, men have their ten classes."
Dr. J. Legge, Chin. Class., v. 616, has translated : 6 the day has its
ten divisions of time," which would be against the statement of our
text about the 12 double-hours. But this translation is incorrect, and
the statement must be understood in other ways. Tien yu shih jih may
mean that heaven has its ten days,alluding to the denary cycle applied
to the supputation of days, which was a fact as we know by the Shu
King at the time of the great Yü. This view is that of several com-
mentators. Or it may be an allusion to the famous phenomenon of
parhelions, or mock-suns, which is said to have occurred in the last
year (i.c., C. 1737 B.C.) of YN-Kiah, otherwise Kiu, the thirteenth
ruler of the Hia dynasty, when ten suns appeared in the sky (Tchuh
shu ki nien, III., xiii. 8). A similar phenomenon was also attributed to
the time of Yao. Thé ten suns affair is spoken of by Tchwang-tze,
Hwai-nan-tze, Kiü-yuen, the Kwei-tsang's commentary, &c. On this
event and a phenomenon of the same kind in Java, cf. G. Schlegel,
Problêmes Géographiques I.; T'oung Pao, Mai, 1892, p. 115-6. On the
other hand the most probable meaning is that which is explained in
the Tchou-li, xxiv. 30-31 ; tr. Biot, ii. 84, by the ten hwei, or light's
influences, those which affect the sunlight in the sky. With reference
to the above ten suns, let us remember that the Pythagoricians, such
as Philolaüs, c. 450-375 B.C., believed in ten celestial bodies (sun,
earth, planets, &c.) circulating in the sky around the central fire.
Cf. J. Lieblein, Les Anciens Egyptiens Connaissaient-ils le Mouvement
de la Terre ? (Congr. Provinc. Oriental, St. Etienne, 1880), p. 137.
A Hindu symbol represents four suns on the trunk and branches of a
tree. Cf. Creuzer-Guignaut, Symbolique, iv., pl. 2, fig. 16, and Cte
Goblet d'Alviella, Les Arbres Paradisiaques, Bruxelles, 1890, p. 31.
33) We may enumerate also: hundred, which was for them a standard
number (sections 321-329) as among the Semitic Assyrians
(Cf. A. H. Sayce, Hibb. Lect. p. 366). Avoidance of regular figures
as ominous. Cf. J. Oppert, Soc. Philologique, 1880, i. 55. A special
bird of good omen, the fung, or phenix (cf. the Egyptian bennu).
er der
en
tor
340
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
36) On the eight wands of fåte, cf. Lenormant, Chaldæan Magic,
pp. 237-8.
39) The list of the ancient twenty-four lunar stations of Chaldea
is given in C. I. W. A., v. 46; Fritz Hommel, Die Astronomie der
alten Chaldäer, III., 1892, Sonderabdr. 4, 13.
41) We cannot give more than a few names in this note to show that
the earliest civilisers of China were acquainted with Babylonian
names of stars : Aldebaran, pidnu Bab., pit Chin., yoke or net;
Great Bear, a chariot, Bab. Ch.; Draco, an enclosure, Bab. Chin.;
Orion, military chief, Bab. Chin. ; Pleiades, mul Bab., mao Chin.;
Polestar, star of God, Bab. Chin. ; Regulus, Royal Star, Bab. Chin. ;
Sirius, Bow-star and Dog-star, Bab. Chin.; Spica, Ku Bab., Kio
· Chin. ; &c. Cf. the Bibliography Note 1262 and G. Schlegel, Urano-
graphie Chinoise.
42) Dr. John Chalmers, The Chinese Chih Measure, 1885, has re-
marked that once corrected of clerical errors which have crept into
the text, the figures given by Szema Tsien of the twelve notes,
correspond to those of the chromatic scale; the matter being
however theoretical as far as the bamboo tubes are concerned,
because it is only applicable to strings.-Szema Tsien starts from
the mystical measure of eighty-one units for his longest tube, as
this number was then supposed to be full of special virtue, and had
also been applied to the Calendar. Lu-Pu-wei, in the third century,
had only said that thirty-nine was the difference between the longest
and the shortest. Cf. T. P., 16, 1. Also the twelve strings of the
harp at Tello : Perrot-Chipiez, Art Antique, ii. fig. 291.
44) Herewith a list revised to date of the old forms of the Chinese
cycle of ten Kan with the Akkadian numerals : (1) Akk. gê=Kah
Ch. (2) Akk. gash=êt Ch. (3) Akk. bish=binh Ch. (4) Akk.
shin=dinh Ch. (5) Akk. bar=bau Ch. (6) Akk. 'ash=ket Ch.
(7) Akk. gim=kam Ch. (8) Akk. ussa (?)=sên Ch. (9) Akk. ilim=
nham Ch. (10) Akk. gu=kwi. For the Akkadian (f. especially
F. Hommel, Déi Sumero-Akkadische Sprache, and others, but there
is no certainty about several of the names beyond five. The days
were first reckoned by decades (Shu King, I. 8; III., iii. 1), and
these ten numerals of Akkadian-like source were first used for
denominating the days as shown by the Shu King, Yh tsih. The
cycle of twelve derived from the names of the zodiac of similar
source were, curiously enough, not used for months denominations,
but for a years' cycle, and appears in connection with the cycle of
ten to make the names of the sexagenary cycle applied to the days
in the Shu King, IV., iv. 1, and in the Tchuh shu ki nien, iii. 4, i.e.,
in 1667 and 1904 B.C. It appears also under Hwang-ti in the
latter work.
45) The only cycle of twelve which must be mentioned here, since
the full names of the months belong to the seventh century (cf.
§ 105, note 390), is the zodiac which I have explained in The Zodiac
and Cycles of Babylonia and their Chinese derivations : Academy
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
341
Oct. 11, 1890. Herewith the list with some additions: I. Bab.
Offspring, TE=TU, mod. tze, child, Chin. II. Bab. Twins,
MASH-MASH=tcheu, ma nacles, Chin. III. Bab. A cra b?,
na mga rü=JEM, YN, e arthenware, Chin. IV. Bab. Water,
son, ME=Mo, mao, springing, Chin. V. Bab. Growth?
SHERU=TCHAN, tch'en, pregnant, Chin. VI. Bab.
Empty? ZAB=SZE, exhausted, Chin. VII. Bab. A
sting, GIR=GU, wu, a club? Chin. VIII. Bab. Leafy
top of a tree, PA=VE, wei, upper sprout of a tree, Chin.
IX. Bab. Sea-goa t? SAHU = TZĀN, shen, stretched,
Chin. X. Bab. Overflowing, GU=HIU, Yu, a vase full,
Chin. XI. Bab. Threshold, ZIB=SUH, guard, Chin.
XII. Bab. Dog, kalbu, KU=HAI, a quadruped, Chin. In some
cases the respective meanings could be improved by subsequent
researches. For the meanings in Babylonian, cf. the works of
Epping, Jansen, Brunnow, Sayce, and Chossat; in Chinese the
Shwoh wan and Kwang-hi tze tien. In the above comparative list
the numbers are those of the Chinese; the Babylonian would be
XII., I., II., III., &c., the twelfth of the latter corresponding to
Taurus, and the first to Aries. This shows that the borrowing by
the Bak Sings, or some intermediary, took place before the
Babylonian revision of the Calendar (Note 1209). The date of this
revision has not been ascertained, but Astronomy says that it
cannot have taken place before 2540, and traditions in Greek
authors point out to the twenty-third century. The oldest astron-
omical observations sent by Kallisthenes from Babylon to Aristotle
in B.C. 331 reached back to B.C. 2234 (Aristotle), or 2243 (Berosos,
in Pliny). Ktêsias (ap. Georg. Synk.) made the reign of Bêlos, "who
first reigned over the Assyrians,” and of whom Pliny remarks,
“ Inventor hic fuit sideralis scientiæ," last for fifty-five years from
B.C. 2286 to 2231. It ought therefore to be under his reign that
the revision of the calendar was made. Khammurabi who ruled
fifty-five years about that time ought to be the sovereign in question,
but Assyriologists disagree about his exact date.
47) An instance of the cycle of 19 occurs in the Tso-tchuen, V, v. 1,
1.l., 655 B.C. Chin. Class., v. 144. Khang-ni tze tien, s.v. tchang,
117, 66, f. 102 v. Also J. B. Biot, Astronomie Indienne et Chinoise,
p. 47. It must be enumerated therefore among the astronomical
notions introduced by the Erythræan Sea traders at Lang-ga and
Tsih-moh. But it was not often utilised, and we see it again
mentioned in 112 B.C. Cf. Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiy. 28, fol. 32,
mixed in a legend of Hwang-ti.
50) Prof. J. Oppert has communicated to the Academie des Inscrip-
tions et Belles Lettres, 20 Sept., 1889, some proof of the decimal
notation in cuneiform texts.
52) The Chinese notion was that the sky was a vault (kai) revolving
(hwan), and that the earth was square (fang) under it. While in
Chaldea the sky was a vault revolving and the earth like an over-
turned boat (which does not mean round nor circular). Of. Dio.
tions et Ballas Letras, 20 Sept.
342
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
one lation of the diary and liteChina are
dorus Siculus, ii. 31. Fritz Hommel, Der Babylonische Ursprung
der Altyyptischen Kultur, Munchen, 1892, p. 8. P. Jensen, Die
Kosmologie der Babylonier, 1890, p. 10, 11, 160, &c.
52) The Cosmic Egg appears also in China but in later times.
Several writers of the first centuries of our era describe the sky as
the shell of an egg whose yellow in the centre is the earth. Cf.
T. P., 2 : 4 v., 8-9.
54) The third series of Akkadian words found in China are those
which have entered through intermediary and later channels. On
this question and the relation of the Chinese and Sumero-Akkadian
languages, cf. pp. 106-108 of my work, The Oldest Book of the
Chinese, vol. i., 1892. In my lecture on the Early History of the
Chinese Civilisation, 1880, p. 19-21, I gave a list of fifty words iden-
tical in the two languages, but I was afraid of going on because of
the pit-falls of monosyllabic comparisons, especially with a neo-
monosyllabism like that of the Chinese. The two languages belong
to the same original stock, but their grammar has diverged in course
of time by external inflences of a different character. Cf. T. de L.,
Accadian aud Sumerian in comparative Philology: B. & 0. R., Nov.,
1886, The Languages of China before the Chinese, 1887, $ $ 8-10, and
20-26; and The Oldest Book of the Chinese, 1892, p. 106-108. Dr.
J. Edkins published an Accadian and Chinese vocabulary in 1887,
China Review, xv. 295-8; but the relationship of the two vocabu-
laries has been established finally but by the Rev. C. J. Ball's The
New Accadian, 1889-90, and Accadian Afinities, pp. 677-728, of
Trans. Ninth Congress Orient, 1892-93. On the neo-monosyllabism
of Chinese (a happy term of Mr. Ball, p. 712), cf. T. de L., Early
History, 1881, p. 19; Beginnings of Writing, 1885, $ S 49-55; The
Languages, 1887, pp. 119, 137-9; Tibet, Philology, Encyclopædia
Britannica, 1888; Le Non-Monosyllabisme du Chinois Antique, 1889;
and the concurring works of Prof. R. K. Douglas, China, 1882, .
p. 346, and various articles, Herbert Baynes, Die Indo-Chinesische
Philologic, Zeits. f. Volkerpsychol. 1888, xviii. p. 284, on my
lectures at University. College ; Alfred Maury, Journal des Savants,
Sept., Oct., 1889; Dr. R. de la Grasserie, Des Recherches Récentes
de la Linguistique relatives aux langues de l'Extreme Orient, 1891;
C. de Harlez, Existe-t-il des langues purement monosyllabiques ? 1893.
61) And also, stamping occasionally the bricks (cf. Perrot, Art
Antique Chaldée, ii. 117, and F. Hirth, Anc. Chin. Porcel, 27);
doors on sockets (cf. Perrot, ibid., 254, those of Telloh, and W. Gill,
Golden Sand, i. 99); orienting buildings by the sun shade (Shi King,
ibid.) ; washing the war weapons in prisoners' blood (Pinches, Guide
Nimroud, p. 38; Tso-tchuen, V. Xxxviii, 2, and X., vi. 6; Mencius,
I., 1, vii. 4); cutting the left ear of slain on battlefield (cf. Shi King,
III., i., ode 3 ; T'so-tchuen, V., xxix. 14 and VI., ii. 1) ; &c.
62) On works made to embank the rivers, vid. under Tchuen hiüh,
the statements of the Tso-tchuen, Duke Tchao, year I., 1. Under
Yao, vid. the Tchun shu ki nien, Yao, years 19th, 61st, 75th. For
further comparison with Chaldean works, cf. the interesting mono-
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
343
graph, Les Travaux hydrauliques en Babylonie, by P. A. J. Delattre,
Bruxelles, 1188. There is no late Chinese invention in the art of
sinking wells as at the time of Hwang-ti they knew it (cf. Kih
tchung Tchou shu). And under the reign of Shun, sinking wells
was in the administration of Peh yk, one of his nine ministers
(cf. She pên). The Chinese mode of sinking a well, as described in
Huc, L'Empire Chinois, 3, I., 316, is similar to that used in the
ancient west, notably that in Egypt. Cf. Ch. Lenormant, Acad.
des Inscr., 12 Nov., 1852; Ed. Fournier, Le Vieux Neuf, ii..78. It
is entirely different from the pot-wells and pucka-wells (or brick
wells) of India, on which cf. Ed. Balfour, Cyclopædia of India, iii.
1064. The well was looked upon in ancient China as the necessary
centre and market place of every eight tribes or families, settled in
as many square plots of land around it, as shown by the form of
the written symbol tsing (70 Bas.) used for it. On the ancient.
process of piercing, cf. Wang-tze nien, Shih y Ki: T. P. Y. L.,
189, 1 and 8. Also W. Gill, The River of Golden Sand, i. 298-9.
One of the secondary chieftains of the Bak Sings, at the time of
their immigration was called Chief of the Potter's Wheel. Cf.
Shan Hai King, ii. 14 ; xvi. 3 ; xviii. 5 v. The oldest written
symbol for it in Min Tsi Kih, Luh shu tung, ii. 21 v., and other
similar works looks like a lost-sight of pictograph. It is kiüin, 1563
Bas. Cf. also Shan Hai King, xvi. 1-2.
63) We must add also the ox as driving beast; the horse and the
ass as pack animals (cf. the two oldest symbols for ma, horse, figuring
one with long ears and no mane, the other with no ears and a long
mane; also the sign lok, 12518 Bas., made of a horse and a bag);
the sheep, the dog, and the fowl of Media.
65) The importance attached to the observation of the stars, and the
building up of Tai-s, or towers, may be deduced from the celebrity
of the observatory of King Wen, called the Marvellous Tower,
Ling Tai, Shi King, III., 1., VIII. It seems from Mencius' remarks
on the subject (I. i., II. 3), that the entire population of the tribe
had united in its construction. Cf. Edouard Biot, Recherches sur les
mour's anciennes des Chinois, d'après le Chi-King, Journal Asiatique
Nov., Dec., 1843; J Legge, Chinese Classics, vol. ii., p. 4; vol. iv.,
pp. 162, introduction, and 456. On the Ziggurats and the Chinese
Tai, cf. A, H. Sayce, Relig. Babylon, 96; P. Jensen, Kosmologie,
255 ; Paléologue, Art Chinois, 100-4. History reports the building
of Tais at the beginning of the Hia. dynasty.
66) Dr. J. Edkins has an interesting note on Seals in China Review,
1888, xvi. 372-4. The Babylonian use of personal seals existed
also in Egypt, where cylinder seals often met with in early times
disappeared almost entirely by the eighteenth dynasty. Cf. Flinders
Petrie, Ten years digging in Egypt, 1892, p. 145. Babylonian seals
have been found near the Pamir on the oldest trade route to China. ,
67) Wells Williams, Syll. Dict., p. 454, says that the Lip-kuh were
followers carrying screens over a general in his chariot, such as is
· seen in Assyrian sculptures. "In the warfare of the early times of
12
LI
344
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
China chariots were much used. The ordinary war chariots for the
troops contained only three men-an archer on the left, a soldier
armed with javelins and pike or spear on the right, and the
charioteer in the centre. This continued down to the Tchou
dynasty. The pictures of those chariots are not unlike those repro-
duced on Assyrian monuments." Legge, Chin. Class. iii., p. 154,
n. Les Egyptiens ne mettaient que deux hommes sur leurs chars,
mais les peuples voisins en mettaient souvent trois. Cf. Congrès
Oriental St. Etienne, 457. We must notice also here the simple
(tik) and the double (kwan) flute, the bell, two drums, à sort of reed
organ, imported by the Bak Sings. Cf. Shu King, II., iv., 9 ; She
pên; Shan Hai King, xviii. 5; Ti Wang She Ki; T. P., 580: 1, 5-6.
The three-holed flute (yoh) was introduced by the Tchou : cf. T. P.,
580, 6: Shi King. The mu-nao, or sistrum, was introduced in the
fifth century. Cf. Tchwang-tze ; Tchou-li, 29, 15; T. P., 39, 5. ;
cf. also G. von den Gheyn, Die Speeltingen' te Babylon, pp. 81-90 :
Dietsche Warande, 1888; F. Vigoureux, La Musique Babylonienne :
0. C., iv. 475-493; A. Buckland, Primitive Instruments of Music,
p. 249 sq. Anthropological Studies, 1891. Cf. also T. de L., O12 the
ancient Bronze Druins of China, Indo-China, and the Archipelago,
April, 1894.
68) The emblematic figures on the robes of the first Chinese sove-
reigns (on which see J. Edkins, China's Place, p. 14), remind us of
the emblems figured on the Babylonian bas-reliefs of kings, on their
dress and round their neck.
69) And also Rafts of inflated skins (cf. P. Piassetsky, Voyage en
Mongolie et en Chine, 392), as on the Assyro.-Babylonian monuments.
The Tung Kwan Han Ki, of the second century A.D., speaks of
coracles in use in the west as far south as Fêng-tchu'an in Ta li fu,
of W. Yunnan, T. P., 769, 1. The Sui shu says that the Kia-lang y
used to make coracles. The Shih tao tchi says the same thing of
the inhabitants of Yueh-sin Kiun. The first inhabited near Man
tchou in the north-west of Szetchuen, on an affluent of the Yang-tze
Kiang. The second on the borders of that great river in South
Szetchuen. ' Cf. T. P., 166, 8; 788, 6; 165, 3; 769, 1. W. W.
Rockbill, in the eastern part of Tibet, has seen numerous skin
coracles, on the Dré tch'u, or upper Yang-tze Kiang; cf. The Land
of the Lamas, 1891, pp. 197, 198, 199 (plate), 200 and 228; cf. our
section 229. On round coracles among the Aleutian Islanders and
in North Europe in the middle ages, cf. David McRitchie, The Finn
Men of Britain, i.: The Archeological Review, 1889, iv., 13-14..
369. Writing and Literature. There is nothing to modify in this
section, as further facts have confirmed the statements therein.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
72) A large amount of evidence of the derivation of the oldest
Chinese characters from those of Babylonia and Elam in their
CHINESE 345
TENT
.
CIVILISATION.
transitory forms between the ages of Gudea, and of Khammurabi
will be found also in the following works : T. de L., From Ancient
Chaldea and Elam to Early China, par. 14-32 : B. & 0. R., V., Feb.,
1891, where I have shown some survivals of the cuneiform shape
of characters in China; Catalogue of Chinese Coins, 1892, intr.
33-4; C. J. Ball, The New Accadian, 1889-90; Ideograms common to
Accadian and Chinese, 1890-91; The Accadian affinities of the
Chinese, 1893.
76) The above note and text were published in the B. & 0. R., of
March, 1889. In the China Review, at the end of the following
year, 1891, xix. 56-7, Dr. J. Edkins, in Cuneiform Writing in
China, said: "For myself, after some consideration, I have come
to the conclusion that what early Chinese writers mean by tadpole
is cuneiform writing.” Cf. also the same scholar, The Ancient Tad-
pole Writing was Cuneiform : ibid., xix. 255. Some more informa-
tion on the preservation of the ancient Chinese texts and characters
are given, pp. 102-5 of my book The Oldest Book of the Chinese,
1892. Hü shen, when compiling the Shwoh Wan in A.D. 89, has
preserved 441 Ku-wen characters that differed from his adopted rules
of formation. The scholar who deserves the most under that respect
was Lü-shen, of Jen in Shantung, who flourished about 265 A.D.,
and published in his Tze-lin, or grove of characters, all the characters
still visible on the lacquered tablets of antiquity yet preserved in
the Royal Library of Loh Yang, and destroyed not long afterwards
in the fourth Bibliothecal catastrophe, 311 A.D. (cf. Ma Tuan-lin,
Wen hien tung' k'ao, kiv. 189; T. Watters, Essays on the Chinese
Language, 1889, p. 40). The art of block-printing has been in-
vented earlier than is commonly supposed. The Shuh tchi of the
fifth century, a description of Szetchuen, gives the name of Hiang-
liang, styled Kiu-to, who being eighty years old, first printed books,
about 330 A.D., at Tcheng-tu, which was then the capital of the
Non-Chinese State of Tcheng. Before 420 A.D. it was established
at Nan-King, and before 558 at Loh-yang, where printing halls were
organised with eighty hands in memory of the old age of the
inventor (cf. Shuh tchi; Hou Tchou shu : T. P., 618, 4, 4v.) In
593 the first Imperial decree mentioning printing was issued; it is
this date which has been published by Stan. Julien in 1847.
88) Prof. De Harlez has published since then Le Yih King, texte
primitif, rétabli, traduit et commenté, 4to, 155 pp., Bruxelles,
1889; Le Yi-King, sa nature et son interprétation : J. A., Jan.,
Feb., 1891, pp. 164-170; Le Yi-King au Tchun-tsir et au Tso-tchuen:
ibid., 1893, 1, pp. 193 f.; Review of Philastre's translation ;
T'oung-pao, March, 1894, pp. 93-98; The True Nature and Inter-
pretation of the Yi-King : Asiastic Quarterly Review, April, 1894.
The learned author has endeavoured to establish his theory as
applying to the earliest period of the work; but this theory is met
at the outset by the facts, that he has made no preliminary criticism
of the text, that this text is avowedly altered from what it was, and
that the little that we know of these alterations are against his view
346
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
for the primitive period of many chapters. It will be only when we
are enabled to study the Ku-wen text of the Yh, that we shall see
if the various meanings of each heading of the chapters had re-
mained in most cases as simple lists, or if they had already been
worked out into sentences.
89) Cf. also the decisive confirmation of sections 146-148 of my
work, The Oldest Book of the Chinese and its authors, vol. i.
History and Method, 1892. It has been most favourably reviewed,
The London and China Telegraph, May, 1893, Manchester
Guardiani, March 24, 1894, &c. Several suggestions and interpre-
tations, pp. xiii. and xv. of the introduction are only provisory, and
will have to be tested by a study of the Ku-wen text, when available,
before being finally accepted.
91) The late date of some of the parts of the Shan Hai King may
be appreciated by some internal evidence like the following : Kai
Ming, the name of the kings of Shuh after 450 B.C. is mentioned
xi., f. 3. The state of Ts’u is spoken of as Ta Tsu, xiii. 2, a
peculiarity of circà 350 to 250 B.C., when the two big states of Ts'in
and Ts'u of the Chinese agglomeration were fighting for the Empire.
It shows moreover that the author of chapter xiii., and probably
of the chapters vi. to xiii., was belonging to the state of Ts'u. We
can surmise that parts of the survey made in that state in 548 B.C.
(cf. § 211) has thus found its way into that part. As explained, p. 19
suprà, the Shan Hai King was made of five different works, written
in different times, containing in some cases some valuable geogra-
phical knowledge of difficult elucidation. Prof. L. de Rosny has
completed his translation in two vols., 1892. Prof. G. Schlegel, in
his Problemes Géographiques has shown in several instances the
high value of the geographical information therein. Prof. Ch. de
Harlez in the T'oung-pao of May, 1894, pp. 114-122, has written
against the Shan Hai King a plea which calls for another plea in
favour of this very valuable composite work. On the other hand
there are reasons to believe that the Shui King which was incor-
porated in the thirteenth book of the Shan Hai King by Kwoh-poh
in the third century A.D., is the original work of Sang K'in who
wrote it at the beginning of the Christian era. The separate work
under the same title and same author's name, which exists at present
with a commentary by Li Tao-yuen of the fifth century, is said,
according to A. Wylie's Notes on Chinese Literature, p. 43, to be
the production of some unknown hand during the time of the Three
Kingdoms, 220-277 A.D. It certainly exhibits a more accurate
knowledge on some rivers of the south-west than the first work.
370. Institutions and Religion (p. 19). The use of the divine prefix
may have been an afterthought, and the identification proposed for the
six Tsung is not confirmed as far as the names in question are con-
cerned. On the other hand further confirmation has come forward of
a quasi-monotheism in Anterior Asia.
CHINESE CIVILISATION...
347
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
96) Like that of Hwang-ti in the legendary account reported, $ 345,
which we have understood as referring to the period of his reign
preceding his migration eastward, since several only of the same
appear later on distinctly in China, the first government described
in the Shu-Kinzo comprehended ten chief officers or ministers :--
(1) A Prime Minister, titled Peh-kwei, or General Regulator ; ::
(2) a Se-yoh, litt., Four Mountains, a sort of adviser consulted by
the sovereign; (3) an Officer of Agriculture ; (4) of Instruction ;
(5) of Crime; (6) of Works ; (7) of Forests; (8) of Worship-of
the spirits of heaven, of earth, and of men; (9) of Music ; (10) of
Advice (II., i. 2, 17-25). An interesting comparison could be
made between the legendary administration of Hwang-ti and the
latter which has all the historical character which the Shu King
can impart. With the twelve pastors they made a total of twenty-
two great officers of state.
97). The appellative of Midddle Kingdom appears in the
Shi King, Yü Kung, I , ii. 15. On the Black Heads, cf. my mono-
graph, The Black Hear's of Babylonia and Ancient China : B. &
O. R., v. 233-246. The word Li, 13125 Bas., in Li-mini, which
has been understood in that sense since remote times has had several
acceptations, or at least perhaps it has come to represent three
different words or acceptations. At the first it appears (Shu-King,
I., 2, II., 18; Kwoh-yz, Ts'u 2, &c., cf. suprà note 1377) as that of
agricultural populations on the left bank of the Hwang-ho, which
opposed Shao-Hao, were subdued by Tchuen-hiüh, and were reduced
to starvation by the great overflow of the Yellow River under the
reign of Yao ; secondly, the able, black-haired ones, as shown in
the pre-cited monograph; thirdly, many, numerous, the people at
large, in later instances.
100) Add an important social status for the wife and for the mother,
and probably some peculiarities in the right of ownership. On
these points cf. amongst others G. Bertin, Akkadian Precepts for
the conduct of man 22 his private life, 1884; V. et E. Revillout,
Sur le droit de la Chaldée au XXIIIè et au Ve siècles avant notre
ère : pp. 273-530 of Les Obligations en Droit Egyptien, 1886 ;
Bouinais et Paulus Le Culte des morts dans le Céleste Empire,
pp. 199-237; Chr. Gardner, Chinese Laws and Customs, 1883,
&c. Miss Edith J. Simcox, in an important work on Primitive
Civilisations, being first chapters in the history of ownership, which
will appear when the present pages are printed, has given a large
share to China ; and she has kindly informed me that she has found
only recognised in Chinese law the antichretic mortgage which the
Revillouts have discovered in ancient Egypt and Chaldea. As the
·Chinese laws are reputed to have so little altered since remote times,
that it is with reference to them that it has been said : “ We survey
a living past and converse with fossile men," it is not uninteresting
to remark that one of the oldest Chinese inscriptions in existence,
that of the San she p'an, is a deed of property which as far as I am
.
wla
348
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
aware has not yet been deciphered and translated. We must add
also Notions of Eschatology. Cf. on the double soul of the Assyro-
Babylonians, J. Halevy, L'Inmortalité de l'Ame chez les Sémites :
Rev. Archeol, xliv., 1882, p. 44. Jeremias; Die Babylonisch-Assyri-
chen Vorstellungen vom Leben nach dem Tode, 1887. Among the
Egyptians the ka and the baï or lchu : G. Maspero, Histoire des Ames
dans l'Egypte Ancienne : Rev. Scientif. y Mars, 1879. Among the
Chinese, the hwun, or spiritual soul, or k'i, breath the of shen, of
spirit's nature; and the p’eh, animal soul of the kwei, of ghost's
nature; cf. Tso tchuen, X., vii. 4; Li Ki, xxi. 2, 1; ii. 2, 3, 13;
Kia yu, xvii ; and C. de Harlez, Le Huan et le Pe, les deux Esprits
de l'homme : Muséon, 1893, Nov., 375-381. In later times the
Platonician notion of the triplicity of the soul appears to have been
imported into China, as it was adopted by the Neo-Taoists; cf. also
on the subject the interesting work Le Culte des Morts dans le
* Céleste Empire et l'Annam comparé au culte des Ancêtres dans l'An-
tiquité Occidentale, by Col. Bouinais et A. Paulus, 1893.
102) Mr. Theo. G. Pinches, at the Victoria Institute, April 16, 1894,
read an important paper on The Religious Ideas of the Babylonians,
in which he has shown that there existed among them a quasi
monotheism, because most of the deities were usually identified with
one supreme god.
103) The statement that the names of the Six T s’ungs referred
to in the Shun tien of the Shu-King, have been preserved in the
literature of the Han period, and were similar to those of the six
minor gods of Susiana, was premature and must be cancelled. We
do not decidedly know the names of the six Ts’ungs. They may or
they may not have been the six minor gods in question, one cannot
tell. They may have been the six predecessors of Shun, viz. :
Hwang-ti, Shao-Hao, Tchwan-hiüh, Ti Kuh, Ti Tchih, and Yao,
but there are some difficulties in these names because Ti Tchih
had been only heir associate and Yao was still alive. Perhaps that
some other names were on the list, to begin with that of Shen-nung.
The Chinese themselves have never been able to agree on the matter,
and curiously enough the commentators of the Han period have
suggested astronomical or meteorological explanations which, as
far as we know do not find the slightest support in collateral evidence.
Cf. also Ancestral Worship in the Shu King, by M. H. Blodgel :
J. Peking Orient. Soc., 1892, iii. 123-156.
371. Historical Traditions and Legends. (p. 21). The ten Ki, the thir-
teen heavenly and eleven terrestial kings with their mythical chronology
have decidedly no right to be enumerated there as they belong to the
introductions of the fifth century; they appeared late in literature,
and always with the nine human kings, making thirty-three fabulous
beings spoken of in section 193. The legendary fishmen, carriers of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
349
writing, and the calendar tree, on reconsideration, appear also to
belong to the same later date.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
120) Mr. Robert Brown, Jun., in a later article on The Ten Patriarchs
of Berosus (The Academy, June 15, 1893, p. 56), has given reasons
which make the names of " the ten kings appear to be impersona-
tions of natural phenomena, afterwards adapted to an astronomical
cycle."
126) Cf. Note 719 and add. In a special paper on The Flood Legend
and its remains in Ancient China (B. & O. R., lv., 15-24, 49-56, 79-
88, 102-11.1), I have pointed out several traces in Chinese literature
of the western story of the deluge, and I have shown that the well
known legend of Nükwa, known in fragments of the Shang litera-
ture, is based upon some incidents, as in the Story of the Flood,
in the Nemrod Epos of the Chaldean poet. A peculiarity of the
Chinese account that Nükwa repaired the rent of heaven with stones
of five colours has been found also in the Chaldean account, where
the “great goddess raises an arch of precious stones," or raises up
the great intaglios made by Anu. Cf. also T. de L., On the Ancient
History of Glass and Coal and the Legend of Ni-kwa's coloured stones :
in China (T’oung Pao, 1891); and The Oldest Book of the Chinese,
i., 1892, xvi. 113-114, on the same legend in the Yh King, and our :
note 719. For the demonstration about the Chaldean account, cf.
P. Jensen, Die Kosmologie der Babylonier, pp. 380, 381 and 439-440.
A peculiarity which I take to show that the legend was an adaptation
by the Bak Sings themselves is the connection established therein
with the Pu-tchou-shan, Badsakshan or Badakshan, a country
through which their traders in jade used to travel.
127) Cf: also W. St. Chad Boscawen, The Elamite Origin of Chinese
Civilisation : B. & O. R, Sept., 1893, p. 17, and Beginnings of
Chaldean Civilisation : B. &0. R., Oct., 1893, pp. 29-30.
131) Cf. also T. de L., The Calendar Plant of China, The Cosmic
Tree, and the Date Palm of Babylonia, 22 pp., 1890, and Chaldean
and Egyptian Trees on Chinese Sculptures of 147 A.D.: 1883, B. &
0. R., vi., 283-7, and erratum vii. 96. The 6 Fabulous Fishmen"
and the “ Tree of Life as a Calendar Tree,” were most probably
introduced only in 500 B.C. by the traders of the Erythroan Sea in
Shantung.
envy waen I take to show that the legendl.-
2
introduced only if Life as um ca. 96. The 17 AD.: 1883, led
372. In the fifth chapter (p. 25) the entry concerning the six ts’unig, as
pointed out out already, must remain an open question. Further
evidence of the Elamite character of a large part of the civilisation
imported by the Hwang-ti-ites has appeared in chapter X. sections
343-348. Mr. W. St. Chad Boscawen in favour of the same view has
written The Elamite Origin of Chinese Civilisation, Sept., 1893.
350
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
m
ain south. vands in the ing; iv. 6, and
373 ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS of Chapter VI. pp. 29-83.
150) The Bamboo Annals register the first arrival of tribes reckoned
among the ancestors of the Tchou as follows:- The Jung,
barbarians of Ki-Tchung, came to make their submission in the
sixth year of Kwei of Hia.” The country of the Ki-Tchung, 2284
or 10639-10728 Bas., is spoken of in the Shan Hai King, iv. 6, and
viii. 3, as situated beyond the shifting sands in the north. They
'introduced with them hemp in south-west Kansuh. Cf. my paper
01 Hemp from Central Asia to Ancient China, 1700 B.C.: B. &
0. R, vi. 247-253, and vii. 96.
151) The people of Kwarism, Khorasmia, east of the Caspian, dated
from the beginning of their colonisation of their country, 980 years
before Alexander. They distributed the twenty-eight lunar man-
sions over the twelve signs of the zodiac, for which they also had
special names in their language. Cf. Al Biruni, The Chronology
of Ancient Nationes, tr Sachau, pp. 40, 226. On the importance of
the Khorasmian dominion and civilisation of that remote time, cf.
the suggestive remarks of Sir Henry Rawlinson, Central Asia :
Quarterly Review, Oct., 1866 : England and Russia in the East :
1875, p. 461-502 ; and Conments on some recent Pehlvi decipher-
ments, by Ed. Thomas, 1872, p. 18; Did Cyrus introduce writing
into India? by T. de L.: B. & 0..-R., Feb., 1887, p. 61; cf. also
Hecatæus, frag. 173; Herodotus, iii. 93; Arrian, iv. 15, 4.
153) The oldest references to the notions of yn and yang, the two
principles of nature, obscurity and light, female and male, &c.,
appeared also with the Tchou people. For instance Shu King. V. iy.
1, and xx. 5; Shi King, III. ii. Ode 6; Yn King, appendice
Twani, k. 11, attributed to Wen Wang, but not in the text of the
book. It cannot be denied that views and ideas which afterwards
have been preserved in the Zend-Avesta were current in the west
of Anterior Asia at very ancient dates. Some of them were already
current when the Bak Sings left the Bakthyari hills ; others have
come to China through the Tchou (Aryanised Kirghizes) and their
relations with the west. Further investigations in that field of
research would certainly be rewarded by fresh disclosures of the
same kind. For instance the Pat, female demon of drought, spoken
of in the ode yıl12-han of the Shi King, III. iii. 4. 6, at the occa-
sion of the drought of 802 B.C., is found also in the combination
of legends heaped under the name of Hwang-ti in the introductory
note of the Tchuh shii ki nien, older than 296 B.C., and in the last
book of the Shau Hai Kiizg, xyii. 4 (added before A.D. 57 by Liu-
hin from older documents ; cf. supr à note 91). The latter docu-
ments make Hwang-ti seek the help of this Tiesz-Niü, or Celestial
woman called Pat, against Tchi-vil who had hidden himself behind
mists and rains to escape attack. Now this is clearly an allusion
to the struggle of Apaosha (cf. Pat) the demon of drought, against
Tishtr ya (cf. Tchi-yu), the producer of rain, in the Avesta ; cf. J.
Darmesteter, Le Zend-avesta, vol. ii., p. 241-422, on these two
mythical beings.
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
351
.
157) Boulders of a beautiful dark green nephrite have been found in
the valleys of the Batougol Mountains, west of Irkutsk, by Mr.
Alibert. Jadeeite is now found at Shunning and Yun-fu of
Western Yunnan, and at Teng-yueh, further south on the frontier.
159) Cf. also 012 the source of the Jade used for ancient iinplements
inz Eilj ope and America, by F. W. Rudler, of the Anthropological
Institute, 1891, a short and clear resumé, with useful references,
and Is. Conradt, Die Nephritgruben von Schachidula und die
schleifereien vo12 Chotan : Z. f. Ethnolog., 1893, xxiii. 692. Dr.
Arzuni, Nephrit voir Schachidula, ibid., xxiv., 10-33. A. Martens,
Undersuchung des Szephrits vorl Schachidula, ibid. xxiv. H.
Haberlandt, Ueber rzephrit und Jadit Gegenstaende aus Central
Asieri, Wien, 1891. On a mine of jadeite at Roquedas, on the
sea shore of Morbihan, cf. E. Cartailhac, La France Préhistorique,
1889, p. 267. Also Kristian Bahnson, 012 objects of rzephrite and
Jade in Europe, 1889 : Mém. Soc. Antiq. du Nord. "The most
important work on the subject is the Neue Beitrage zur Kenntniss
des Nephrit and Jadeit, Berlin, 1891, by Dr. A. B. Meyer of
Dresden, and his former paper Die Nephitfrage kein ethnologisches
Problem, Berlin, 1883.
161) Cf. R. Virchow, Eine Sammlung Assyrischer Sternear tefarkte,
rzamentlich solcher ans Nephrit: z. f. Ethol. 1887, xix, 456-61, 724.
Nephrit-Ring froin Erbil : ibid., 1892, xxiii. 81.
162) The jade question has made great progress since the last few
years. Dr. Arzuni, of Berlin, and other scholars have shown that
the microscopic structure of nephrite and jadeite differs accord-
.ing to localities. The nephrite implements of Switzerland have
thus been proved not to be Asiatic, while on the contrary the
nephrite implements of Assyrio-Babylonia belong to the Turkestan
mines. Therefore most part of the speculative views quoted in the
first part of this note is now baseless, as the polytropic origin of the
jades has become evident. An exception however is made for the
white jadeeite, which had been found in Turkestan, and of which
implements have been discovered in the oldest ruins of Hissarlik.
Cf. Schliemaniz's Excavationis, by C. Schuchhardt, London, 1891,
p. 38.
164) The Shan Hai King, vii. 2, speaks mythologically of the Nü
Tsi and of the Nü Ts’ik (Nü=woman) states in the north-east of
Tibet. On the two kingdoms ruled by queens in the north-west and
east of Tibet; cf. the Peh she and the T'ang shu's notices translated
in S. W. Bushell, The, Early History of Žibet, n. 42: J. R. S. A.,
xii., Oct., 1880, and Woodville Rockhill, The Land of Lamas, pp.
339-41, from the Sui shul, kiv. 83, and from the T’ang shui,
kiy. 122.
171) Abdallah Beidavi, who died in 1292, cannot have been the
author of the Tarikh-e-Khata, or History of China, which is dated
1317. The work was in reality written by Benaketi. Cf. E.
Quatremère, Histoire des Mongols, pref. 4, 85, 99; E. Bretschneider,
Mediæval Researches, i. 196, n. 532. Although mentioned by
thing to localitie structures in and other progress since
352
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Firdusi, b. A.D. 940, in his famous poem, the Shah nameh, the
marriage of a Chinese Imperial Princess by Djemshid is not spoken
of in Mirkhond's History of the early kings of Persia, fifteenth
century, cf. trsl. David Shea, p. 99-122.
172) Subsequent researches have convinced me that the Ring Money
had come earlier to the cognisance of the TCHOU, who included them
in their financial enactments of 1091 B.C. Cf. my Chinese Coins,
early period, p. X. They had learned it with the other notions of
civilisation from Baktria and Khorasmia, which had come to them.
The system had been introduced in Anterior Asia by the Egyptian
conquest of the eighteenth dynasty.
177) The book called Kwan2-tze, name of the able minister of Ts'i,
who lived in the seventh century, contains a great deal about his
deeds and sayings but was compiled much later, perhaps about
400 B.C. (cf. B. & 0. R., May, 1893, p. 264). It contains also
much later matter, such as sayings of Tze-hia, who died about 406
B.C. (cf. T. P., 928, 6). It ought not to be used without caution
as evidence of the seventh century. The late Prof. Georg. von der
Gabelentz has given L'Euvre dii philosophe Kuan2-tsi ; specimen
du texte, traduction et notes : Le Lotus, v. 81-103.
184) To the names given in the text must be added those of Kama-
lanka (2.e., Pegu or old Hansawadi, and the delta of the Irawadi);
also Langkawi near Kedah, Ling-ga island, south of the Malacca
Peninsula, Ling-ka-pol-pah-to island, opposite the Lin-yh or North
Cochinchina ; cf. Ŝ. Beal: Buddhist Records of the Western
World, 1884, vol. ii., p. 200. W. P. Groeneveldt: Notes on the
Malay Archipelago and Malacca; compiled from Chinese sources,
Batavia, 1876, pp. 79, 10. Prof. Leon de Rosny, Les Peuples
Orientaux connus des Anciens Chinois, 1881, p. 64, edit. ii. 1886,
pp. 208, 252, places Lang-ya-siul at the south point of Cochinchina.
Those various stations were not contemporary, and some of these
names have been transformed by local folk etymology.
185) She-Hwang-ti built there, the Lang-ya t'ai, an edifice of several
stories. It was in the modern district of Tchu tch'ong, on the
south of the Shantung peninsula ; cf. W. F. Mayers, Chinese R.M.,
i. 335 ; cf. our section 225.
189) It is not exact at present to state with the authorities quoted
here that the Chinese had no knowledge of the Sunda Islands before
the sixth century. As shown in several parts of the present work,
sailors' yarns about these islands were heard of 400 B.C.; they
became less fabulous about our era ; but in the third century some
extensive and accurate notions were obtained and published, notably
by K'ang-tai and Tchu yng. Unhappily fragments only remain of
their works.
xvi. 5, among the unknown countries outside the border lands at
the time.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
853
195) This was in the third year of TCHOU Tcheng Wang, 1101 B.C.
The NERE in question is written Ni-li, 4926-11932 Bas., while the
Nala of Asoka is written 4926-5673 Bas. Cf. Shih y ki, kiv. 2, ..
fol. 6; Lin tai ki sme nien piao, kiv. 6, .fol. 1; Stan. Julien, Simple
Exposé, 1842, p. 204-9. Stan. Julien, like myself, judging from the
mountainous lands travelled through by the envoys of Nêlê had looked
for their native country beyond the south-west borders of China. It
is there that the roads over high ridges are often in the clouds and
fogs, that rivers run through caves, and that the traveller passing
under downfalls of water hears their noise over him, as described by
modern travellers (Giles, Colquhoun, Baber, &c.), and in the account
of their journey by the envoys from Nêlê. Dr. G. Schlegel has
kindly communicated to me (6 May, 1894) a first proof of his
Problêmes Geographiques XIII. N2-li-kuo from which it appears
that the Shih-y-ki in the fifth kiv. mentions a mission of a Nêlê
country in 193 B.C. from beyond Fusang (=Sakhalin). Dr. S.
identifies it with the country of the Tchuktchis, and his indentifi-
cation appears probable. But the name of this Nêlê is written like
that of 1100 B.C., and the Chinese compilers, for that reason, have
concluded that the first mission had come from the same country
as the second. The evidence appears not to be sufficient under that
respect, as the Kii shui crossed by the old mission was a name of
the Lang-tsan Kiang.
196). In the fifth year of the King Hien, the thirty-second ruler of the
Tchou dynasty, z.e., 364 B.C., it rained pih stones in Tch'ing, which
place corresponds to the district of Kiang-ling, department of King-
tchou, in the south of the province of Hupeh. Cf. Tchuh shu ki
nien, Tchen Hien XXXII, 5. It seems to be a poetical reference
to an arrival of jade stones brought in by some trading parties.
196) It is said that the discovery of green jade in Burma was acci-
dentally made by a Yunnanese trader in the 13th century ; cf. Proc.
of Chief Comin., Burma, Aug., 1888, Rangoon, and Dr. Noetling's
Report on Jade in Upper Burma, 1892. On the amber trade, cf.
note 998.
216) When I wrote that Shao-Hao had remained in the west, I ought
to have added that it was only for a time. The fact is that Shao-
Hao governed the west, c. 2282-2250 B.C., until he removed to the
east, and established a colony on the south-west of Shantung, in
the interest of his father, Hwang-ti, until his death, circâ 2213.
But being far from the centre of the Bak families (Kung tchang fu
of south-west Kansuh), he did not succeed to his father (2232) and
Tchuen Hiüh in 2225 was elected sovereign there. .
As to the statement that Pong, or Phønix, tribes brought books
to Shao-Hao, I have not been able to find a tithe of probability in
favour of such a construction put erroneously upon a statement
which bears another complexion. The story of the Iso tchuer is a
systematized account under one system of explanation of various
facts which differed originally. A legendary account wanted
phonixes, as birds of good omen, to have appeared during Shao-
354
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Hao's government, and to have suggested to him to distinguish
henceforth his various officers by feathers of birds (to their caps !)
arranged according to their duties and the seasons which concerned
them. The full account of the pre-cited chronicle does not leave
any doubt on the subject. But the ambiguous terms of one or two
sentences when separated from the context (a most dangerous
process in Chinese) have been the cause of the misconception,
thus: - there appeared phenixes and he recorded by birds," hence
the legend of phenixes or Pongs bringing in some records or books.
As a fact the Bak Sings had heard of this custom before their
migration from Anterior Asia, where it was practised to a certain
extent. Cf. for instance the Assyro.-Babylonian pihâtu, a swallow,
prefect, governor.(Brunn. List, 2099), and other cases.
249) On the Dahae, who are said to be an Elamite tribe (cf. Sayce,
on Herodotus, l.c.) See also Fr. Lenormant, Letttes Assyriologiques,
i. 61; F. Vigoureux, La Bible, iv. 260.
270) The suggested restoration of Ts'u into Iseri, and therefore as
a possible antecedent of the name of Ser in the west, rests on the it
reading of the character as a phonetic compound made Tsuh, cl 157,
and Lam=Rain, mod. lin, 4136, Bas, over it for the final. But
the name Seres is better explained as I have done in, note 985.
275) The conquest of Shuh by the Ts'inites took place according to
the She Ki, Tchang-y-tchuen, kiv. 70, fol. 4 v., in the ninth year
of Ts'in Hwui wang, i.C., 329 B.C., or according to the same work,
Luh kwoh nien piao, in the twenty-second year of the same king,
iie., 316 B.C. It suggests two successive attacks. :
281) Kang-tai is the officer of the Wu-kingdom, who was sent in a
mission to Furiam (=Phnom=Cambodja), after 226 A.D. to report
upon the southern countries. Peh-lue is written 138-3027 Bas., in
the Shan Hai King, and 953-3690 Bas., in his work. It might
perhaps be identified with Perak. As India used to be provided with
tin from the west as stated in the Periplus, and not the reverse, it
is interesting to note this earliest date known of the trade of Malayan
tin.
310) Let us remark the confirmation given by that name, and that
of Tsin in the Burmese chronicles (note'290 and text) to our reading
· of the ancient name of the Tsu-ite kingdom of Tsen in Yunnan.
331) Further investigations have shown me that while the general
results of Richtofen's and Yule's work on the subject are correct,
their identification of Kattigava with Hanoi was premature. Cf.
note 1036.
335) The date 1777 B.C. for the first approach of the Chinese to the
sea is that of the Bamboo Books. 1801 is that of the rectified
chronology.
336) The black stone object representing a wig and hair and hair-
dress is in black steatite, and it bears a dedication by Dungi to a
deity, whose name Mr. T. G. Pinches tells me is partly obliterated
and cannot be deciphered. My lamented friend Consul E. Colborne
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
355
Baber called my attention on the explanation afforded by pl. 215
in Perrot-Chipiez, 0.C II, p. 481, to the Chinese town gates, and
he had promised to contribute an article on the subject in the
B. & O. R., but his departure for Burmah-China prevented the
fulfilment of his promise.
337) At Khotan the native population was most probably that of the
Issedons whose name was subsequently altered into the Sanskrit
Kustana to fit a local myth. We hear of them in the poetry of
Alkman of Sparte, 671-631 B C., fragm. 94, in Aristeas, of Prokon-
nesus, 600 B.C., IV., 3, in Hecatæus of Miletus, fragm. 160, and in
subsequent classical writers, but in a very vague manner. Cfr. E.
H. Bunbury, History of ancient Geography, vol. i. pp. 102, 141,
190, ii. 598, and McČrindle, Ancient India of Ptolemy, p. 295. On
the extension of the Chaldeo-Elamite civilisation towards the east,
cf. Cuneiforin Inscriptionis near the Pamir : B. & O. R., vi. 168. .
340) We are afraid to have unduly minimised here the probability
of some foreign missions, probably caravans from the west arrived
during the reign of SHANG Tai Mou. Further justice is meted to
them in section 392 below. The dates pp. 75-76 are those of the
Bamboo Annals.
242) On Wu-hien as a foreigner, cf. section 309 and notes 965, 1238,
and add. 1238.
344) The Bamboo Annals record that in the sixth year of K'i of
Hia (c. 1941 B.C.), Peh-yh, who had been Chief Forester under
Shun, and had helped the great Yü in his works (Shu King, II. i.
22, and ii. 4, 6, 21), died, and that a sacrifice was appointed to
him.
345) On the tabued words, cf. Hilderic Friend, Euphemism and Tabu
in Chirza : Folklore Record, 1881, iv., 71-91. R. K. Douglas,
On Tabu-ed Characters : Chinese Manual, 1889, 372-6. F. Garnier,
Voyage d' Exploration en Chine, ii. 171. Liu-hie, Sin luin, kiv. 6,
. f. 31 of 500-550 A.D. T. P. Y. L., 562, 8-9. T. de L., Catalogue
of Chinese Coins, xxxvi.
346) Tchou, name of the famous dynasty, is written by the Tibetans
Tchigur, according to Sarat Chandra Das, Sacred Literature, &C.,
of Ancient China, translation of Dub-thah Selkyi Mélón. Dr. J.
Édkins has suggested that it was TOK in olden times, in his Intro-
duction to the study of Chinese Characters, p. 87; while Mr.
Kingsmill has preferred Diow in his paper on Myths. The Archaic
dialects do not help because they are too late (tchou, tchêu), and a
comparison of the Djüs, hord, of the Kirghises-kaïsaks would not
be justified. The old word did contain a final k or ku, as shown by
the preservation of a guttural final in phonetic derivates, as Dr.
Edkins has pointed out. On the other hand the composition of the
character ought to be decisive in the matter. It is made of Djong
(mod. yung, use), and of Ku (mod. kou, mouth), suggesting DJO-KU
for the ancient sound of the name. We might compare it to
DJAGAtai or the like. The explanation of Kilik by Kirk, Kirkhizes,
356
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
is perhaps not quite safe, because it may be as well explained by
Kutlug, lucky, happy, a title among the Turks-Tartares. Cf. also
La Nationalité du peuple de Tcheou, by C. de Harlez: J. A., 1892,
XX. 335 f.
347) In the time of Muh Wang, the Jungs and the Tehs having
ceased to pay tribute, the monarch invaded the K'üen Jung in the
west and captured five of their kings; obtaining also four white
deer and four white wolves. The monarch then removed Yung to
Tai yuen (at present the capital of the Shensi provinces). Hou
Han Shul, kiv. 117, tr. Wylie.
356) According to Mr. Thomas Ferguson, Chinese chronology and
cycles, p. 220, the origin of the Duodenary cycle (of animals) may
be traced to a systematic connection with the twenty-eight szüh, and
its Chinese historical origin can thus be only synchronical with the
appearance in China of the twenty-eight süüh. Prof. G. Schlegel,
Uranographie Chinoise, p. 963, has collected evidence showing
that it was known during the Tohou dynasty; the earliest instance
cited is said to belong to the reign of Torou Süan Wang (Shi King,
II. iii. 6).
357) On the Nakshatras. They seem to have been mapped out on
the heavens as groups of stars, not far from the ecliptic, readily
recognizable, and by the position of the moon and planets could be
readily indicated (James Burgess, J.R.A.S., Oct., 1893, p. 753). Alb.
Weber, Hist. Ind. Lit., p. 30, says that they are enumerated singly
in the Taittirya-Samhita, and tbe order in which they occur is one
which must necessarily have been established somewhere between
1472 and 536 B.C. Cf. suprà note 1222 for a probability of the
twelfth century.
They do not appear in Babylonia earlier than on astronomical
tablets of the Greek period, namely on calendaric tablets of 122 and
100 B.C. Cf. their names in P.J. Epping, Astronomisches aus
Babylon, pp. 117-133 : Ergänzungshefte zu den “ Stimmen aus
Maria-Laach.” 44; Freiburg, 1889. Dr. P. Jensen, Die Kosmo-
logie des Babylonier, Strassburg, 1890, has nothing important on
the subject. The Babylonian names in twenty-one cases out of
twenty-eight are purely descriptive; for instance : II, mahrul sha
rishu ku, i.e., West-of-the-head-of-k'u, or ß Aries ; III, Arku
sha rishul ku, i.e., East-of-the-head-of-k u, or Aries; XXI,
Müric sha shûtu, i.e., South-of-Nûru, or a Libra; &c., and these
descriptions show that the knowledge of these twenty-eight lunar
mansions were a foreign importation, which the Babylonians grafted
on their own previous knowledge of ecliptical constellations.
Prof. W. Whitney, in his studies on the Nakshatras published in the
Journ. Am. Orient. Soc. in 1866, has come to the conclusion that,
considering the concordances existing among the three systems”
of the Hindoos, Chinese, and Arabians, it can enter into the mind
of no man to doubt that all have a common origin, and are but
different forms of one and the same system.” These concordances
coupled with the foreign character and late appearance of the lunar
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
357
mansions in Babylonia and the ancient existence of such a system
with the old Khorasmian astronomers, points to the latter's country
as the focus from where it spread to China and through the channel
of the Persian dominion, to India, Babylonia, and Arabia afterwards.
Comparative lists of the lunar mansions are given in various works.
The most recent are: James Burgess, Notes on Hindu Astrononny :
J. R. A. Si, 1890, p, 756; J. Norman Lockyer, Early Asterisins,
iii., Nature, 28 Dec., 1893 ; T. W. Kingsmill, A comparative table
of the ancient lunar Asterisins : J. Ch. Br. R. A. S., 1891-2,
xxvi. p. 44-79.
363) We may mention also as evidence of relations with the west of
the Pamir range the following circumstances : Under the reign of
Tcheng-wang, according to the Tchoul shui, if not already under
Wen Wang, according to the Shwoh wan, the Kiianı Yung, also
called K'üan-fêng, of the west presented a beautiful horse, the body
white, mane red, and eyes like gold, named Kih-liang or Kih Kwang
(cf. Tchou shu ; Shwoh wan; Shan Hai King, xii, 1 v.). It became
the fashion at court in China to dye the manes and tails of horses
red. Cf. Shu King, V. xxiii. 1, edit. Legge, p. 562; Tso tchuen, XI.
Ting Kung, x. 12, edit. Legge, p. 778, The practice was a direct
importation from Khorasan and Persia. Cf. also Edw. Balfour, Cycl.
of India, p. 37.
374. Chapter VII. Part I. and II. pp. 85-129.
369) First prison in China. About 1803 B.C., the eighth ruler of
Hia dynasty is reported in the annals of the Bamboo Books to have
made a circular enclosure for a prison. The words in italics are
additions of the commentators, as the original text says only that he
tso kwan t'u, made a circular enclosed ground. The matter by itself
would have little significance, were it not the fact that prisons are
or were unknown to the Altaic races, and Vambery testifies that
amongst the Turkomans the prisoners who are not put to death or
do not become slaves are attached simply by a chain to the ground.
Mr. F. Geo. Mohl, in a recent review of some works of the late
Prof. August Ahlgvist, of Helsingfors, has remarked that in Vogul
and Ostiak the terms for "jail' are simply translations of a Russian
appellative (Mém, Soc. Ling., 1892, vii. 431). The notion of making
a prison was therefore another foreign importation into the Flowery
Land. The remote date of the event is interesting to note.
372) On imbrication of bronze and iron welded together, and of
damaskeening in Assyria, cf. Dr. Peroy's note in Layard's
Discoveries, p. 670 ; Perrot-Chipiez, Hist. Art Ant., ii. 721-2; in
Egypt, cf. Ā. H. Sayce, Herodotus, p. 257 ; Wilkinson, Ancieut
Egyptians, ed. Birch, ii. 257-8; Perrot-Chipiez, 0.0., i. 839; at
Hissarlik and Mikenæ, cf. Schliemann's Excavations, by Dr. C.
Schuchhardt, pp. 230, 264, 297, &c.
384) It is exact to say that the state of Yueh does not appear in the
358
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
I'chuntsiu before 537, but the Tso-tchuen mentions it first in 601.
Therefore it may have been included in 584 with that of Wu in the
astronomical distribution.
391) Herewith the comparative List of names (of the months) in
Babylonian, and (of a cycle of twelve) in Chinese : Bab. NISAN=
Nuy-han; Bab. Propitious bull=generous cattle. Bab. SIVANNU=
Tihfannoh in ancient and tchihfanjoh, in modern Chinese. Bab.
TAMUZ=Tan-ot, tan-oh. Bab. AB=Hephap, hieh-hiah. Bab.
KINSUKUSH= Kentuk, yen-mou. Bab. DULKU – Tsagah, tsoh-oh.
Bab. ARAK-SHAMMAH=Loktomang, Ta-mang-Loh. Bab. GANGANNNA
gungan, ta-yuen-hien. Bab. TEBIT=Tibtu, tchihsiu. Bab. SHEBAT
=Shepti-koh, sheh-t'i-koh. Bab. SEKINTAR=Ta Irwan tun, kwan-tun.
The Chinese list was dislocated, and its order different. It looks
like a corrupted transcription.
The Babylonian names and colours of the planets which appear
to have been imported into China with the names of the months,
&c., by the west traders with Shantung, have also been preserved in
astrological works in a curious state of dislocation :
1. Bab. Kaivanu Saturn
Black
Chin. Hih kwan ki Mercur,
2. Bab. Pitsu
Venus
Chin. Pih tchao kciu
3. Bab. Sucunu
Jupiter
Brown red
Chin. She tchu niz Saturn
4. Bab. Dawinu Mercure Blue
Chin. Lingweinjany Jupiter Green
5. Bab. Nibatanu
Red
Chin. Tsihpiaonu ,
392) The names of the 10th, 11th, and 12th of the Chinese list of
the 12 ts'e are fuller than given here and read respectively shun shou,.
shun ho, shun wi,. i.e., head, fire, tail of the bird quail, or eagle
(Eitel), corresponding to the celestial quadrant of the Red Bird, or
Tchu-nio, the Summer One. There are no other names concurring
with the three other quadrants, viz., Tsang Lniny, or Azure Dragon
for spring, Hinen Wu, or Black Warrior for winter, and Peh hu, or
White Tiger for autumn, corresponding to east, north, and west.
The four animals of the quadrants therefore were only partly known
White
Yellow
origin. In the time of Nebukadnezzar, as far as they are described,
in the vision of Ezekiel, their inception was probably achieved
although each of the four beings therein shared the particularities
of a man, lion, eagle, and cherub. This astronomical character is
shown by the eyes (i.e., stars ?) that covered their bodies (i. 18,
x. 12) by their wheels (revolutions), and by the “likeness of a
firmament" above them (i. 22). In the Apocalypse they appear dis-
tinctly. I do not know of any evidence showing that the Chinese
had become acquainted with these four denominations before the
Han period. They were not known by the compilers of the Er-ya,
nor by Kü-yuen (end of the 4th cent. B.C.) who in his Li Sao, where
he had plenty of occasions to mention them, speaks only of the Hien
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
359
tchi, which name occurs in the Tien kwan shu book of the She Ki
as that of the quadrant afterwards called the Peh-hu, White Tiger.
Lü Pu-wei, who died in 237 B.C., did not know them, and the Li
ki, is also silent. Szema Tsien in the precited Tien kwan shu
appears to have been the first who mentions them with the
exception referred to. And they appear all four in the Wen yao
kou of the first century B.C. The commentators of the She
Ici have not been able to quote any older authority. No
historical inference can be drawn from the fact that the first of the
Chinese lists corresponds to the fourth of the Babylonian, since they
were used only for astrological purposes and fixed in China accord-
ing to prejudices foreign to any scientific object, and only in the
seventh century B.C. Tso-kiu-ming, of the fifth century, in his
own remarks (Iso tchuen, I. v. 7), speaks of the Lring hien—appear-
ance of the dragon-season, with other names for the three other
seasons, so that the case suggests only a partial knowledge. -
396) Similar sacrifices were made in Szetchuen. When Tchao
Wang of Ts'in (after 305 B.C.) invaded the Shuh country, and that
Li-ping was prefect there, it had been customary to give every year
to the Spirit of the River, two young girls for wives. Cf. Tong sun
tung: T. P., 882, 4.
The practice extended northwards along the sea coasts.
An annual offering of a maiden to the sea existed about 200
B.C. amongst some populations north-east of Corea. Cf. D., Hervey
St. Denys, Ethnographie de Matouanlin, i. 327. J. Klaproth, Aperçu
Général des Trois Royaumes, 149. Cf. also : Some vestiges of Girl
Sacrifices : J. Anthrop, Inst., May, 1882.
414) The woodwork of Chosroes Palace in the ruins of Ctesiphon
has been found by Dr. Sprenger to have made of teak wood. J.A.,
Mai-Juin, 1863, p. 309.
416) Under Usurtasen III. of the twelfth dynasty, an expedition was
made against the country of Houâ (near Punt, between the Nile and
the Red Sea, about Dongolah, Berber, or Khartum), but this was
made by the Nile, not by sea. Cf. G. Maspero, Revue Critique,
15 May, 1892, reviewing Bubastis (1887-89) of Edouard Naville,
1891. Cf. also on Egyptian Journeys, Chabas et Goodwin, Voyage
d'un Egyptien au XIV. Siècle Ave noè., 1868; W. Golonischeff,
Sun un ancien conte Egyptien, of 2000 B.C. Verh. Orient. Congr.,
Berlin, 1881, II. iii. 100-120.
423) The Chinese transfer of the name of the Sacæ under the Han
dynasty way Sak, 1673 Bas., now read Sai in Pekinese, Seh in
central Mandarine, Sak in Cantonese, and erroneously transcribed
Sae or Sse, Tze in historical works by Europeans. Mr. T. G. Pinches,
in the American Journal of Archæology, 1893, has described a
Babylonian tablet, dated 539 B.C., showing the figure of an Indian
humped ox, referred to in the inscription on the other side of it.
441) Our section 117 was printed in July, 1892, of The Babylonian
Record. The P. A. J. Delattre, Une flotte de Sennacherib sur le
Golfe Persique, p. 18, article which appeared in the same month and
360
LAYU
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
year in the Revue des Questions Historiques, has come to the same
conclusion about the Phænician influence of that fleet on the sea
trade.
444) I had spoken of the Muh t'iên tze tchuen there on its former
reputation, which the publication of Dr. J. Eitel has caused to
reconsider. The geographical identifications which I have been
able to make in the sections 284-296, show on the contrary that it is
a most valuable relic of antiquity which has escaped the transcription
of the Han commentators, and contains many characters which
had ceased to be understood in later ages.
455) In the descriptions of the Fairy Islands, the words “ trees of
pure white coral ” are a mis-translation. The text says that the
trees were like pure white silk and that their, stems were of pearl,
Shun-kao tchu kan. Coral was not yet known, white pearls just first
imported had the interest of novelty.
474) Le détroit séparante Java de l'Ile de Babli a été formé en 1204 à
suite d'éruptions volcaniques. Cf. Henri Courtais, Le Volcan de la
Malaisie, Sumatra-Java : Bull. Soc. Geogr., Toulouse, 1883, p. 521-
529 ; Bull. Soc. Acad. Indo-Chin., 3, 527.
477) It seems however that the statement of the Shan Hai King on
bamboos large enough to make boats growing on the Wei hills is
not entirely improbable for that time. Marco Polo in Tchekiang
speaks of the largest and longest canes that are in all Manzi (South
China), « four palms in girth and fifteen paces in length.” Cf.
Yule edit. 2, vol. ii. 203. In Sze tchuen, according to Richtofen's
Letters, bamboos are very large. Cf. E. Bretschneider, Botan.
Sinic., ii. 565. Tung-Fang So, Shin y King, reported that in the
vastness of the southern regions some p'ei bamboos of an enormous
size (fabulous dimension given) were used to make ships. T. P.,
963, 6. Ktêsias mentioned the fact that in India small boats were
made of one bamboo, which could hold not more than three men.
Cf. Pliny,. Hist. Nat., xvii. 3; Ancient India as described by Ktésias
the Knidian, by J. W. McCrindle, 1882, p. 71. At Yung-tchang,
says the Kwan-tchi of the fourth century, there are bamboos three
feet round. Cf. T. P. Y. L., 963. 5 v. Dr. J. Edkins, Bamboos in
North China : Ch. Rev., has collected evidence of the former exist-
ence of Bambu in Shantung, Honan, and South Shensi. The
climate seems to have been warmer than at present.--The earliest
European boats were nothing more than tree trunks hollowed out.
Cf. O. Schrader, Prehistoric Antiquities of the Aryan Peoples,
p. 278.
479) Hwai nan tze gives the word for boat in the Yueh and Shuh
regions in the following statement: The bow of the Wu-hao, in the
south-west borders, and the cross bow of the Ki-tze (valleys of West
Hunan), cannot shoot without string; the K’ung, small boats, of
Yueh, and the t'ing, long narrow boats of Shuh, cannot float without
water. T. P., 348, 6.
482) The Heh-tchi, or country of the black teeth, i.e., where they
takes of
our pain. 208. In the top
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
361
chew betel, or lacquered their teeth, was beginning with Si-tu, the
present Hue of Annam (cf. Nan tchou y wuh tchi : T. P. Y. L., 790,
9v.), and the Lo, or naked people country, with the Malacca penin-
sula and any of the Sunda Islands.
482) In the wars of the states of Ts'u and of Wu, sixth century B.C.,
the latter used boats to attack the former. In 525, according to the
chronicle of Tso-Kiu, the king's vessel, called the · Ultra Sovereign,'
Yü hwang, the vessel of our former kings, said an officer Wu, was
temporarily seized by the troops of Ts'u, and retaken with great
slaughter by the Wu soldiers. It was then the habit of dragging
the boats to shore, and there it was taken. The men of Ts'u digged
a ditch all around it, and along the channel between it and the
river, piled lighted charcoal. Notwithstanding this the Wu
troops could carry away the royal ship, which must have been
small indeed.
495) The water wheel innovated by Ma Kiun in 227-237 A.D. at
Loh-Yang, and which children were turning. Fat or Fan-kiïi (13308,
cl. 159 Bas.), or flying cart. Cf. Fu-tze. T.P., 752, 7. The
phonetic fan or fat used in the compound character is that for
foreign. Liu-Tsih, of the Ming dynasty, in his commentaries on
Kwan-tze, says however that it was the same thing as the yt-hui,
5136-4937 Bas., which goes against the stream ; Khang hi tze tien,
S.V. In Sing and the Pendjab, the Persian bucket wheels in use
there are called pe-cottah. Cf. Ed. Balfour, Cyclop. of India, ii. 377,
380, and iii. 1064.
498) In Delḥi and Bundelkand, this water-raising implement is
called d ah, d u-gla, dulia (cf. Ed. Balfour, Cyclop of India, ii.
380), which remind singularly the Babylonian words, and show
from where India has derived it.
504) Also: Fried. Wilh. Noack, Laòtsee, Taotek-king, aus dun Chin-
esischen, Berlin, 1888, 61 pp.
506) According to the description of Shuh, or Sze-tchuen, Shuh-tchi,
the ancient chiefs of the country used to wear their ears long
stretched. Cf. T. P., 366, 2 v. and section 215.
513) The history of Khotan (Pien Y tien, kiv. 55, which Remusat
has translated), says that five lis from there was the Pima temple
where Lao-tze, after having made the barbarians convert to his
views became (a) Buddha (p. 20). Pao-poh tze=Ko-hung, of the
fourth century, and the Wei-lioh of about 300 A.D., speak of the
journey of Lao-tze to the west.
517) Cf. also the chapter lxi. of the Tao teh King where another
allusion is made to the Animal Mother (p’in). Dr. J. Edkins has
given a short article on the Foreign Origin of Taoism, in China
Review, 1891, xix. 397-399, where he claims Babylonian and Hindu
ideas in the Taoism.
538) The latter statement must be restricted to the identification of
the Five Tis with historical personages; as the Five Regents of
space which appear to have been worshipped long before the Han
362
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
dynasty, were explained by Confucius, according to tradition, as the
genii of the five elements. Cf. on this point, C. de Harlez, Les
Religions de la Chine, Leipzig, 1891. p. 121, 138, 139 : Kung-tze kia
yu, v. 3; trad. Harlez : B. & O. R., vii. 1894.
546) Mr. A. Reville, in Revue des Religions, 1893, has come again
to the subject in reviewing Dr. de Harlez's work on La Religion
· Chinoise, Aperçu historique et critique, Leipzig, 1891, 8vo. 271 pp.,
but he has only been able to show that a proper acquaintance with
the Chinese original texts is absolutely required for a study of this
sort. Cf. the rejoinder of Prof. de Harlez in the Muséon of Juin,
1893.
548) On widow burning recognised in India 600 B.C., and a trans-
lation of the Sutras. of Asvala Yana ; cf. Max Muller, Anthropolo-
gical Religion, 1892, p. 241 sq.
553) A woman was buried alive (stün) at the burial of Tchou Ling
Wang in 545 B.C. Cf. T. P. Y. L., 50, 7v.
The siüin practice of burying alive persons with a deceased
sovereign seems to have been followed at Emperors' funerals much
later than is here stated. The Kwoh she lioh, quoted by Palladius,
N. C. B. R. A. S., X. 13, mentions the abolition of the practice in
Japan in A.D. 646, and reproaches China with continuing it. But
as stated in China Review, xviii. 261, there must be some mistake of
date there. In our note 568, we have cited from the Ko-ji-ki, the
suppression of the practice about A.D. 200. At his death in 1464,
Ki-tchen, the MING Emperor Yng Tsung, left instructions that no
concubines should be siün, i.e., buried alive. Cf. Li Tai Ti Wang nien
piao. In the geography of the Sung dynasty it is reported that
among the Fu-yü, in north of Corea, the practice of the princes was
to slay several hundred people to be interred with a deceased ruler,
China Review, xix. 287.
Burying alive is a Persian custom, says Herodotus, vii. 114, who
quotes several instances of such mode of human sacrifices, not at
funeral, but for propitiating or thankoffering to Earth Gods. He
quotes also an instance of the Magi sacrificing white horses to make
streams favourable, ibid. 113. On burying queens, servants and
slaves with a departed king among the Scythians; cf. Herodotus,
iv. 71-2. They were however strangled before.
650) On sacrifices of horses under the Ts'in last princes and the
Ts'in dynasty, cf. Szema Tsien, She Ki, kiv. 28, fol. 16. On the
altars of the four Tis, on which cf. note 538 suprà, four foals were
sacrificed, also a wooden image of a dragon-curved-tie-beamed
chariot, Ining lwan kiii, 13287-4588-10840 Bas., with four horses.
In 103 B.C. the living pony for sacrifices was replaced by a
wooden image, save for the sacrifice of the fifth month. Cf. She
Ki, kiv. 28, fol. 44 v.
569) In confirmation of my opinion that the human sacrifice made
in the nineteenth year of Duke Hi., i.e., 641 B.C., in Honan was a
result of foreign influence from West Asia, I have just seen in a
valuable paper, On star naming among the ancient Chinese, by Dr. J.
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
363
Edkins, China Review, xvi. 339, that Tu yii refers it to the practice of
the Persian religion. He was a famous commentator of the classics
who lived in A.D. 222-284, according to Mayers, Ch. R. M., 684.
On the same subject, cf. also J. Edkins, Persian Sacrifices in China :
China Review, 1891, xix. 55-6, and F. Lenormant, Chaldean Magic,
p. 531. In 532 the Tso tchuen, X. X. 3, says : “ Ping-tze, of Lu,
invaded Kiü and took Kang. In presenting his captives, he for the
first time sacrificed a human victim at the altar of Poh.” The fact
was not approved. Kiïi was narrowly connected with the foreign
colonists of the Gulf of Kiao-tchou.
586) Prof. Ch. de Harlez has written an elaborate paper on Le Style
de Kong-fou-tze, Kong-tze-a-t-il interpolé le Shu King et composé le
Tchun-tsiu : in the T'oung Pao, Juillet, 1893, p. 243-297. He
shows that none of the peculiarities of the style of Confucius appears
in the first, second, third, and beginning of the fifth book of the
Shu King, and he concludes therefrom that the Book of History has
not been interpolated by the Sage of Lu. And with regard to the
Tchun-tsiu, Dr. De H., wants to show that references 'are made by
the Sage to another Tchun-tsin, which would have been lost, but the
suggestion seems difficult to accept, considering the care of his
disciples for all he had taught them.
592) Prof. De Harlez has called my attention to the fact that in the
words she retained and developed,” the last is an overstretched
translation of Prof. J. Legge, of the character Kiil, 8705 Bas.,
which means "to extol” and not develop.” Confucius therefore
may not have altered the Shu King, save by substitutions of
characters in transcribing it. But nothing shows that he has not
suppressed parts of it still existing in his time. Fragments which
have been preserved suggest that he did so. Furthermore it is
rather suggestive in favour of this view that several of the very
parts which are missing are exactly those where we should have
expected views and circumstances contrary to his philosophy. Cf.
the list of the original hundred books of the Shu King in the preface
attributed to him. He apparently only transcribed the parts which
he approved. Twan Yuh-Tsai in his work Ku-wen Shang shu siuen y,
in the last century has collected a large amount of information on
the subject.
602) Ti Tchih was only heir associate and did not rule, cf. § 364.
614) The adverse circumstances of the Chinese state or states, ac-
cording to the period, hardly permitted any serious study of their
ancient traditions. During the HIA and SHANG dynasties their
dominion was from time to time at so low an ebb, and in so con-
stant a state of warfare, either internal or with the border tribes,
that it did not allow science and literature to flourish. During the
short period of power of the Tchou dynasty the chief object was to
enhance their glory. Then came the period of Wonderism, Taoism,
Neo-Taoism, and Confucianism which we have described. On the
other hand we are aware that many ancient books have disappeared.
627) Lieh-tze speaks of Siang-tze of Tchao who ruled in 549-426
364
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
B.C. Cf. T.P.,869, 3. Hu-tze as a name for the teacher of Lieh-tze
is rather suggestive. Although written with a character seldom
used, Huis homonymous of Hu the West Asiatics, and suggests
that in Hu-tze we should see a makeshift for Hu-tze, the bearded
foreigner, inasmuch as the bulk of notions, ideas, and legends in
Lieh-tze's teaching is originary from the Erythroan Sea through
the Erythræan traders and colonists in Shantung.
650) We know that at Tsih Moh there was a special calendar, Tsien
Han Shu: T. P., 16, 9 v., and that in later times, i.e., before our
fifth century, while making excavations there, one found in an
ancient funeral mound, a golden bull. Cf. Liu Kiang Shu, Y Yuan :
T. P., 811, 3 v. Can this have been an idol of the Erythroan Sea-
traders and colonists? It looks like it.
651) The custom of cold food was suppressed only in the fifth century
by WEI Wu Ti; cf. Mayers, Ch. R. M., 253. Another custom, that
of the Easter Eggs, ornamented and coloured, boiled and given
away, was probably introduced at the same time. The oldest author
on the subject is Tze-Hia of the fifth century B.C., who is quoted in
the book on Kwan-tze, cf. T. P., 928, 6. Dr. G. Schlegel, Chinesische
Braüche und spiele in Euopa, 1869, p. 5, and Easter Eggs in China:
N. and O., Hong Kong, 1868, p. 21-22, was the first to call atten-
tion to the custom. Cf. also J. J. M. de Groot, Les Fêtes à Emoui,
i. 220-9.
665) Dr. J. Edkins, in Worship of the Gods of Fire, a note from the
China Review, which he has kindly sent me, has attributed this
worship to a Persian influence.
671) Among the Avestic notions introduced at that time we may also
mention the figure of a four yellow-eyed animal dispelling bad
spirits at funerals. Cf. Zend-Avesta, Vendidad, Fargard, viii. 41 :
ed. Darmesteter, ii. 123, and Tchou-li, xxxi. 28, ed. Biot, ii. 225.
Prof. C. de Harlez, The Four-eyed Dogs of the Avesta, 1886: B. &
0. R., i. 36-8, 64, thinks that the Avestic notion was derived from
Western Tartary. On the later development of the above super-
stition in China, cf. J.J. M. de Groot, The Religious System of China,
1892, i. 161-2. It may have been introduced earlier, i.e., by the
Tchou themselves, but the evidence is too late to prove it.
684) The Yang sui was spoken of by Tchwang-tze of the fourth
century; cf. T. P. Y. L., iii. 4 v.
688) A fire-syringe from the extreme south-east of the Malay penin-
sula has been sent over here ; cf. F. W. Rudler, in J. A. I., 1893.
Cf. par. 229 for a knowledge of pyrite in 220 B.C. It would seem
that it was long known amongst the Tartars. For instance, the
Toba Tartars relate that fire was invented by Ulgan's three daughters
striking iron against a stone. Cf. W. Radloff, Proben der Volkslitt.
den Turk. Siberiens, i. 286, Folklore Journal, Sept., 1892, iii. 318.
A Mongol hymn is addressed to Mother Ut, Queen of Fire, whose
father is hard steel and mother is Silex; cf. Goblet d'Alviella,
Histoire Religieuse du Feu, 1887, p. 81.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
365
691) Cf. also C. de Harlez, Un Philosophe Poète du IXe siècle,
Tchwang-tze: Muséon, 1892, xi. 5-16, 116-128..
697) We ought to have recorded here in the text that in the fifth
century Yakut rubies from Badakshan, pearls from the Persian
Gulf, mother-of-pearl from the Erythræan Sea were among the
staple articles imported at the emporium of Shantung; cf. par. 199,
203, notes 750, 767, 772. Mother-of-pearl was used to adorn the
tomb of Duke Yu of TSIN, who died in 419 B.C.; cf. Si King tsa ki:
T. P., 808, 7 v.
707) Pan Ku, in the Tsien Han Shu, Kiao Ki tchi, has given the
same statement as Szema Ts'ien, about the Eight Gods, from
India.
715) Cf. also J. Darmesteter, Le Zend-Avesta, 1892, i. 13-14. The
list of thirty-three Ratus was given in one of the Nasks; the Pajag,
according to the Dinkárt, viii. 7, 17; Pahlavi Texts, by E. W. West,
iv. 1892, p. 18. The oldest references to these fabulous thirty-three
beings in Chinese literature occurs in the Tchou shu. The Heavenly
and Terrestial Kings of p. 23 suprà do not seem to have been intro-
duced before that time, probably with the ten Ki.
719) The story of Näo-Kwa is given in the Lieh-tze as a quotation
from Hia-Koh of the Shang dynasty ; cf. T. P., ii. 2.
722) The knowledge of some narcotics seems to have been also
introduced by the same channel. For instance, aconitum was
known first in the fourth century, and in that part of China under
the name of Otu, modern W26-tou, crow's head, from the Skr. Ati-
visha, Telug. Ati-vassa : cf. Tchun-tsin hou yu and other works in
T. P. Y. L., 990, 1-2: cf. note 1012, on a later introduction.
729) Wang-tze-nien, Shih y luh, of the fourth century, has preserved
à most curious tradition about the men of Muk-tu, Magadha,
the country of Sila, as reported by him. His description
answers exactly to the figure of a Hindu deity, such as Siva or
Mahadeva, as figured in Moor's Hindu Pantheon, pp. 24, 45,
82, 104.
731) Magnifying glasses were made in Assyro.-Babylonia as early as
the seventh century, and probably long before ; cf. Perrot-Chipiez,
Histoire de l'Art, vol. ii. p. 718. In Greece, cf. E. Egger, Mém. hist.
anc. 136, 415.
732) We must add here that some chrysolite from Kutcha=Si Wang-
Mu was presented to King Tchao of Yen=Tchih li, in 311 B.C., by
the north route ; cf. Wang-tze-nien, Shih-y-ki: T. P., 178, 1-2 ;
M. Gueluy, Description de la Chine Occidentale : Muséon, Juin,
1885, p. 303; the fame of this kind of stone came to the ears of
Mandeville ; cf. Globe, 8 Août, 1826; V. Fournel, 0.C., ii. 156.
734) On the name Hu, the word Hu means properly dewla p, that
which hangs under the chin of a wolf, Shi King I. xv. od. 7 ; of a
bull, Shwoh wen; or of objects (Shih Miny) like hooked spears,
Tchou li, &c. Hence its application to old people, because of their
hanging chin and neck, and by contempt to foreign bearded races.
366
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
741) Tch'u of HIA, C. 1855-1838 B.O., successor of Shao Kang, is
reported to have introduced buff-coats in China, through his rela-
tions with the Tung-hu Kiueh-Kung, of North Shansi; cf. Mih-tze ;
Shi-pên. T. P., 355; 1, 6v. Tchen lin wu ku fu: T. P., 356, 3 v..
Tso tchuen, V. xxviii. 8; X. xv. 6; XI. iv. 4. Yuen Yuen, Tsih Isu
tchai tchung ting y ki kwan tchih, 1804, i. 4. According to the
legendary account in our p. 319, some sort of mail-coats were known
in the west at the time of Hwang-ti.
748) The Tchou-pi says that the sun shines at a distance of 81 myriads
of li, T. P., iv. 2. The number eight there is ominous, and suggest
that the statement has come from the same source as that of Eratos-
thenes' (B.C. 276-196) calculation giving the distance of the sun
as over eight hundred thousand stadia, 804,000,000. The source
was probably Chaldean.
762) The genuine Asbestos is not yet known from the Dutch Eastern
Archipelago. On Timor, near Atapupo, occurs however the so-called
serpentine asbestos which externally often is much alike to the true
asbestos, but differs chemically (note of Dr. A. B. Meyer, of Dresden).
The external resemblance was quite sufficient for the assimilation
made in the reports. As Timor stands last of the Sunda islands
just south of the Banda Sea and Moluccas, we may understand that
the sea traders were then passing there, and thus reached the native
countries of the nutmeg and clove.
785) Yng-Shao, of the second century, says that the Hwang-tchi
were in the south beyond Jeh-Nan=Nhit-nam; and the Si yü tchuan
connects them with the Tiao-tchi near the Western Ocean; cf.
Khang-hi tze tien, cl. 65. Tiao-tchi were near the Persian Gulf.
A garbled quotation given without source says that from the Kan tu
lu state you go by ship about two months to the Hwang-tchi state,
where the customs are much like those of the Tchu-yai (Hai-nana);
cf. note 1037. I suspect this Kan-tu-lu to be the same as Kan-to-li,
modern Palembang, of Sumatra, on which, cf. Groenevell, Malay
Archipelago, p. 60, and L de Rosny, Peuples Orientaux, p. 235-6.
796) This informal entry of arrivals from the South in 591, indicates
most probably the introduction of several things from India, men-
tioned § 209.
805) Cf. also H. Giles, Chinese Dictionary, s. v. Tou, Nos. 11427 and
11429.
811) We may add also the jaggery, or sugar of palm, par. 252,
peacocks, note 1025, before 300 B.C.
The game of Siany-ki, which is much like our chess, was intro-
duced about that time, as shown by its first mention in the elegies
of Ts'u; cf. Ts'ul-tze, tchao hwun. Meng Tch’ang Kiun of Ts'i,
who died in 279 B.C., was an adept at the game (Liu-hiang, Shwoh
yuen). On subsequent instances, cf. H. F. W. Holt, Notes on the
Chinese game of the Chess, J. R. A. S., 1885. See also Karl Himly,
Anmerkungen in Beziehung auf das Schach- und andere Brettspiele :
2. f. D. M. G., 1887, xli. 461-484. The Wei ki, a sort of game of
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
367
draughts, well known at the time of Confucius, had been attributed
by the Poh wuh tchi to the age of Yao and Shun, but Ho Fah-tcheng
a century later, in the Tsin tchung ning shu remarked that the attri-
bution was inexact, as the game of Wei ki had not been introduced
before the reign of Shou-Sin, the last ruler of the Shang-yn dynasty,
cf. T. P., 753, 1-5.
825) Dr. P. Piassetsky, travelling from Han-tchung fu to 'Lan-tchou
fu passed by another route. viz.. by Mien hien, Lion-yang hien,
| Huei hien and Ts'in tchou; from there two roads branch off; one,
the shortest, is available only for horses and pack animals; the
other, which was taken by the Russian expedition, and is a carriage
road, passes through Ful-kiang hien, Kung-tchang fu and Ti T'ao
tchou to Lan tchou fu; cf. his Voyage à travers la Mongolie et la
Chine, 1883, pp. 340-379.
376. Chapter VII. (contiuued), Part III., pp. 203-263.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
866) The two characters tchou and tan are much like one another,
whence the confusion. Tan is cinnabar. It was used for painting
purposes by the Romans, as shown by H. Davy, in Annales de Chimie,
1815, clvi, 72, &c.
867) No sille in ancient N. W. China. This is shown by the report
of Li-sze to the future First Emperor in 236 B.C. The inquiry
carried on in T. de L., The Sille Goddess and her Legend, 1891, par.
14, had led me to the same conclusion. The report of 86-73 B.C.,
mentioned in F. Hirth, Roman Orient, p. 226, mentions silk only in
the Yen, Yu, and Ho districts, i.e., Shantung, Honan, and Shansi
S. Not Kansuh as mistaken there.
875) Cf. also De Guignes, Histoire des Huns, ii. 19-20. A. Wylie,
History of the Hiung-noo, 405-6.
879) P. Gaubil in his Traité de la Chronologie Chinoise, p. 65, remarks
that " Li-sze and the Emperor She Hwang-ti were infatuated with
the principles of the Taoist sect, and it is therefore probable that a
strict search was not made for the books of that sect.
884) Cf. also the Japanese history Koh shi ryak, in H. F. Balfour,
Leaves from my Chinese Scrap Book, pp. 24-27; Le Lotus, viii. 52.
Some interesting details are given in another chapter of Szema
Ts'ien, She Ki, 118, 11 v., which made this expedition a real attempt
at colonising; 3000 people, goods, cereals, &c., and experienced
operatives were sent.
914) It seems that we may recognise an interesting synchronism of
the mission sent to India by Ming-ti in search of Buddhist infor-
mation, 64-5 A.D., in a tradition reported by the pilgrims Hiuen-
Fang and Hwei-lun. Under the reign of Kanishka, about twenty
men having come from East China, or Sze tchuen, to pay homage,
he assigned to them three convents as residences during their
368
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
M
sojourn according to the three seasons. In Kapisa the convent was
called Sha-lo-kia (which Beal understood as Sérika). Their winter
residence was called Tchinapati, near the Sutledj. They introduced
the peach and the pear, hitherto unknown in India, and which
were called from them Tchinâni and Tchinâradja putra. The
peach has preserved that name to the present day; cf. S. Beal,
Records of Western Countries, i. 57, 174; Life of Hinen Ts'ang, xxvi.
54; and Alex. Cunningham, Arch. Surv. of India, xiv. 54. The
peach of China had been transplanted in Persia in the fourth
century, suprà p. 47. The pear is originary of anterior Asia, not of
China. The Chinese mission consisted of Ts'ai-yu, Ts'in King, of
the rank of Po-sze, Wang Tsun, and others, altogether eighteen
men ; cf. Beal, Buddhist Literature, 3.
923) In the valley of the Ak-Baital river, near the Rang-Kul in the
Pamirs, Lord Dunmore saw immense beds of sulphur on the slopes
of the mountains ; cf. his narrative, The Pamirs, 1893, ii. 179.
926) Stone-coal, Greek, Lithanthrax ; Chinese, Shih-tan, was then
also known for the first time in China. Theophrastes, 371-286 B.C.,
says that in his time, the founders and smiths of Greece made a
great use of fossil coal from Liguria and Elide, which they called
stone-coal. Hwai-nan-tze, who was acquainted with all the Greek
notions then reaching China, was the first Chinese writer who
spoke of coal; cf. T. de L., On the ancient history of Glass and Coal
in China : T’oung-pao, Sept., 1891.
The death of Hwai-nan-tze took place in 122 B.C. according to
his biography in Szema Ts'ien, She Ki, kiy. 118, fol. 7-18, and the
political circumstances which have led to his suicide. The date
of 122 B.C. is given rightly by Mayers, Ch. R. M., 412. It is stated
also in the Lil-tai Ti Wang nien piao in that year. Dr. De Harlez,
Textes Taoistes, 1891, p. 171-2, thinks that he must have lived later,
but the Chinese authorities are most precise on the subject.
934) We may mention also amongst other things; the Calippus period
of seventy-six years, called pu, and attributed to Li-fang (a visibly
crippled and approximative transfert of the name of the Greek
astronomer; cf. P. Gaubil, Traité de l'Astronomie Chinoise : Souciet,
1732, iii. 21; Th. Ferguson, Chinese Chronology, p. 229. It was
employed by Szema Ts'ien for his calendar of 104 B.C. I do not
know the passage of the text of Hwai-nan-tze on the circulating
movement of the earth in the heavens alluded to by P. Cibot and
L'Abbé Grosier. But I may quote the following: • The sky is
like the awning of a carriage where the earth is the carriage and
the seasons the horses.” T. P., 17, 5. Dr. J. Edkins has a note on
The Earth a Sphere : China Review, 119-20. In Lu she Tchun-tsiu,
a century before Hwai-nan-tze, I find a similar idea expressed as
follows: The sky is the wheel of the earth-chariot; in winter it has
gone to the extreme end and then it comes back;" cf. T. P., 2, 3 v.
During the reign of Han Wu-Ti, one Loh Hia-hung, in 104 B.C.,
made a figure of the heavens after the Kai-t’ien, or vault of heaven
method ; the sky was fixed, divided into seasons, and the earth was
seuson,"cité de la of the to LifeCalippus
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
369
four years jourhaat travellers in Florus, iv. Irmain avec l'As
revolving in the centre. The degrees had been marked by Sien-yü
Wan jen; cf. T. P., 2, 10 v.
968) J. T. Reinaud, Relations de l'Empire Romain avec l'Asie Orientale,
pp. 181, 186, 189-194, quoting Florus, iv. 12, and Horat. iii. 29, iv.
15, has shown that travellers from the country of the Sêres, after
four years' journey, visited the Roman Emperor Augustus at Samos
with an Indian Embassy in 20 B.C.
975) The ostrich eggs were an imported article of trade and industry,
notably among the Egyptians and Phoenicians, who used to decorate
them with paintings and carvings ; cf. Perrot-Chipiez, Hist. Art An-
tique, iii. 855-61. The circumstance is interesting, as it has had most
probably an influence on ancient Chinese art. Some of them were
sent to China in several instances; the dates of 115 B.O., 101 A.D.,
&c. (cf. § 245), are mentioned in history.
980) The Pan-ku yü ti Tchao shu, or Records of Pan-ku and his
brother Tchao, report that an officer of Tou, the commander in chief
in Turkestan, A.D. 87, conveyed 700 pieces of cloth of various
colours, and some su-hoh perfume sent by the Yueh-ti, ie., storax
made in Syria ; cf. T. P., 982, 1 v. On the su-hoh, cf. F. Hirth,
China and the Roman Orient, pp. 263-6. E. Bretschneider, Ancient
Chinese and Arabs, p. 20. H. F. Hance, Notes and Queries, iii. 31.
Dan. Hanbury, On Storax : Pharm. Journ., 1857, xvi.
985) About Ngansi tchou of north-west Kansuh, the Description de la
Chine Occidentale, tr. M. Gueluy, Muséon, Mars, 1885, p. 148, says :
Ou suppose que là se trouvait l'ancien royaume de Choul; les ren-
seignements positifs manquent, mais il y a là une rivière du nom de
choul.
994) Another sort of precious spice had been sent by the same king
in 98 B.C.; cf. Tung Fang So, Shih tchou Ki : T. P., 8, 5.
998) Amber was an article of exchange produced by the Lendjabalous
Islands, according to the Arab travellers of the ninth century; cf.
Reinaud, Relation, pp. 8, 16-7; also Magoudi, I. pp. 338-9.
1000) The saltpetre, siao shih, and sulphate of copper, shik tam, are
also mentioned by the Fan tze ki jan as imported through the Lung
tao ;-T. P., 988, 2, 4. Siao, the Chinese term for saltpetre, is a
trade word derived from Persian and Hindu shora ; its first impor-
tation from from India was by the Yh tchou route about 100 B.C.
Cf. Den tsao King, ibid. The Yh-tchou was first. established about
108 B.C. Saltpetre is extracted from an immense cave near Kung
tia pin, north-east of the lake of Ta-ly fu, according to F. Garnier,
Exploration en Indo-Chine, i. 521.
1006) According to the Shih tao tchi topography of the ten provinces
(tao) into which China was divided in the seventh century, by Liang
Tai yen of ċ. 890 A D., the country of Ngou-lon, or at least the
eastern part of it, extended to P'an tchou, i.e., the present Kao-
tchou fu in Kuangtung west; cf. T. P., 172, 9; and Playfair, 0.C.,
4980. The description of the two provinces of Nan-hai and Siang-
370
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
kiun of Tchao-t'o show that they extended much beyond those first
established by Jen Hiao spoken of in our note 1005.
1024) In the Kilian Mountains of North-west Tibet, the Earl of
Dunmore, The Pamirs, 1893, i. 236, saw a peacock-blue head, a
magpie body, and the brightest of bright red tails. The birds are
very numerous on the plains of Western Tibet, although we saw. but
two all the time we were riding through that country.” .
1076 In A.D. 84, the Chinese government commissioned Tcheng-hung,
then commanding in Kiao tchu, on his own report, to establish officially
the route by Ling-ling, present Yung-tchou, and Kuei-yang, also in
Hu-nan, for the facility of the trade from that county ;-De Mailla,
iii. 384. This was the route by the Tchi-ling pass and Y-tchang,
south of it, on the head waters of an affluent of the north river of
Kuang-tung; cf. G. James Morrison, Journey in the Interior of
China : Proc. R. G. S., 1889, p. 152. Tring-yeh, present Fuhtchou,
then the port for intercourse by the trading ships of Nhitnam, with
the Chinese authorities, was said to be too far away.
1123) The nutmeg, Chin, nah-tou-kou, ju-tou-kou (cf. jadikai Tamil,
jadikaia Telugu) does not appear, at least under that name, in
Chinese literature before the Nau fanzg ts'ao muh tchuanzg of 300
A.D. Cf. T. P., 971, 6v. The name often appears curtailed in
tou-kou; according to the Wu-ti-ki, in the years 220-227 A.D., the
WEI of Loh-yang sent to Nanking to get some of these nuts. The
C. R. Acad. Scienc., xxxiv. 775, state that nutmegs have been
found in the shells of late Egyptian mummies. Should the state-
ment be true we could not be surprised since the traders in clove
must have known them.
1128) Cf. also Les Juifs et les Chinois, by M. Cordonnier : Soc. de
Geogr. Oran., 1892, xii. 52, 123- 9.
1137) Herewith an earlier instance of pleasure boats manned by
ladies of the palace. In the year 656 B.C. we read that the
Marquis of Ts'i and Ki of Ts'ai, one of the ladies, were in a boat on
a lake in the park, when she made it rock. The Marquis was afraid,
changed colour, and forbade her; but she persisted; cf. Tso tchuen,
V. iii, 7.
377. Chapter VIII. Excursus. pp. 264-290.
ADDITIONS AND EMENDATIONS.
1168) It was probably at that time also and not later that Muh
Wang was offered by envoys from the country of Kiil-su, modern
Wakhan), some objects in amber, according to a tradition which I
have overlooked. On that country, cf. note 1187.
1184) In perusing the legends concerning Si Wang-mu in mytholo-
gical books I find also the name of Ka m-
mu, modern Kin-1nul,
Golden Mother, for the same being. This is an unexpected
confirmation of the name given in our text.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
871
1187) We have overlooked here an important instance of distant
intercourse with the west. The Tchuh shu ki nien, sixteenth year
of Yao, reports that some Kiü-sou people came to China. In the
Yü-kung the same name occurs again as importing carpets and furs,
with the Kuen-luni and the Sih-tchi in a statement intended to in-
clude the most distant lands then known in the west. The Kiil-
sou or Kili-sli, -5078-2550 or 3522 or 8476 Bas., was also called
Fil-kill-s1, and later P'o-han, 11572-4850 Bas., modern Wa-khan,
in the Pamirs ; the Suzi shu: T. P., 793, 8 v., says that it was
situated 500 li west of the Tsung-ling's entrance and 1000 li from
Su-leh=Kashgar. The identification is therefore clear. Commu-
nications with the same country are mentioned under the
reign of Tchou Muh-wang and in 571 B.C. In Kiü-su and Fuc-kiü-
sul we can recognize the name of Waksh, the river of Wakhan, of
which the Greeks have made Oxus, and the Turks Aksu, as has
been suggested.
I 223) Cf. also J. Edkins, On Chinese names for Boats and Boat
Gear with remarks on the Chinese use of the Mariner's Coinpass :
J. N. Ch. Br. R. A. S., Shanghaï, 1877, xi. 123-142.
1234) A common saying in China is that the first armillary sphere
was made by Tsien-yoh of the Liu-Sung dynasty, 420-477 B.C.
Cf. J. H. Stewart-Lockhart, Manual of Chinese Quotations,
p. 293. Cf. add. 984, p. 368.
1238) In the name of Fuh Muh, the Muh is the same that appeared
afterwards as a name of the district established 59 B.C. in exactly
the same spot by the newly-established Governor-Generalship at
Wil-ley ; cf. note 965.
$ 378.
Chapter IX. Meeting of Objections. pp. 291-315.
1254) Even supposing that some decisive evidence should be found
in favour of a genuine antiquity of some parts of the Chinese
astronomy, this would not affect the western origin of the Chinese
civilisation, since Dr. G. Schlegel contends that the names of his
asterisms refer only to the stone age.
1259) A shooting star is held among the Karens to be " a youth
going to meet a maiden-star;" cf. Dr. Mason, Notes 012 the Astr012-
omy of the Karens : J. A. S. B.; A. R. McMahon, The Karens of
the Golden Chersonèse, 1876, p. 233. This looks like a parallel
explanation of the Chinese myth of the Cowherd and Weaving
Damsel, inasmuch as the Karengs are originary from China,
was rectified fifty times between Hwang-ti and the Sung dynasty,
and fourteen times during the 250 years following.
372
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
§ 379.
Chapter X. Ēssay of Reconstruction. pp. 316-337.
1313) It may be that some foundation in fact exists historically for
the vague traditions that the Bak Sings or their ancostors had been
submitted for three centuries to the successors of Sargon=Shen-
nung before the accession of Hu Nak Kunte, and that seventy reigns
or generations had elapsed between Shennung himself and the latter.
Three hundred years before 2332 beginning of Hwang-ti, make the
twenty-seventh century, which befits the age of Dungi, under whose
reign the Bak Sings claim to have learned the art of writing.
Assyriologists esteem that Dungi must have lived before 2500 B.C.,
and some give 2800 as his possible date. Now, as the second point,
seventy reigns at an average of twenty years a reign would make
1400 years, 3750 before Hwang-ti. The date of Naramsin, son and
contemporary for a time of his father Sargon is given by
Nabonidus as 3750 B.C. The coincidence in the two cases it rather
suggestive.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
373
CHAPTER XII.
CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH OF THE PRE-CHINESE AND IMPORTED
CIVILISATIONS OF CHINA IN ANTIQUITY.
I.--Native Civilisation of the Pre-Chinese.
380. Before proceeding to the arrivals in China let us first enu-
merate briefly what the civilisers found in their adopted country.
The civilisation of the Pre-Chinese populations, when the Chinese Baks
arrived into the land, and for long afterwards in the parts of the
country which remained independent and outside their influence, was
heterogeneous. Several distinct races, originary from the north and
from the south, were occupying the basin of the Yang-tze kiang and
that of the Hwang-ho. They had already come near one another,
with their respective idioyncracies and acquisitions from their native
lands, but they had not intermingled, and the country was sparsely
populated. Notwithstanding the remote times we are referring to,
i.e., some 4000 years ago, the racial distinctions of later ages seem
to have been as clearly marked as they long remained afterwards.
No leading state, nor any great power had arisen among them: As
they appear to us, they seem to have been in that stage of everlasting
immanence of the undeveloped and low civilised communities which
change only when an outside influence arouses them to competition
and progress.
381. The information on the subject is poor and scanty; only a
few peculiarities have been stated, or may be inferred from the state-
ments at our disposal, but they are sufficient to show how different
was that heterogeneous civilisation from that imported into the
country by the Chinese Bak Sings.
374
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
The dwellings of the native tribes consisted either of caves dug out
in the loess country,1380 especially in Shensi, or of houses on piles (in
north Kiangsu and Anhwui, &c.), 1381 or of various sorts of sheds, or
of large houses for a whole community in the Centre, &c.) As vege-
table food they used to eat Italian millet, setaria ital., soy beans, rice,
jujubes, radishes, peaches, apricots, plums, oranges, &c., and as
intoxicating beverage some spirit made from rice.1382
They made fire by the ploughing or by the sawing process; their
weapons and tools were either in scorched wood or in stone, some
having the peculiar shape commonly called shouldered celts; they had
bows of the plain type and arrows in wood or in bamboo, with or
without stone-heads. Some of them knew copper, and others, chiefly
in Szetchuen, knew iron and natural steel. Spinning and weaving
grass and silk, dyeing with indigo and several other plants, lacquer,
hand-made pottery, &c., 1383 were among their rude industrial accom-
plishments.
Some knew the five tones of music, and others had special taste for
clinkstones, numerous in the country.1384 The Tchu-siang tribes had
a five-chord harpsichord 1385 Their trade was made by barter, and
also with cauries, which they employed for ornaments.1386 Tattooing
was practised by many tribes for the same purpose. They had no
written characters, but they had some embryo-writings, such as cup-
marks on rocks and cliffs, knotched sticks and knotted cords.1387 They
were addicted to Shamanism, and generally worshipped spirits of
rivers, mountains, and of everything in nature.1388 Some were star-
gazing, and had connected the yearly recurrence of stars in certain
positions with their occupations, principally for sowing and harvest
times, which for some plantations occurred twice in each year,
and therefore caused a frequent confusion in later symbolism ; the
four and three stars of the Great Bear, called also the Seven Directors,
appear to have been for them an object of peculiar attention under
that respect.1389
Their marriage rules were various, as shown in after times ; some
were polygamous, 1390 others had gynecocratic institutions, and many
had no family names. For the funerals they used to dispose of their
dead either by putting them in the bush on the soil, or on piles or
trees.1391 Others, especially in the east, placed them in egg-like urns,
of earthenware, which urns in their turn were put severally in larger
ones. 1392
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
375
382. Much more could be added about the customs and habits of
the native tribes, should we have sought information from sources of
later date, but we have been careful to avoid this convenient means,
as some of the other peculiarities may have arisen in course of time
through outside influences of variour sorts. We think it better not to
encroach any further than we are afraid to have already done on late
illustrations of the brief and limited suggestions of the primitive
period. Nothing at all was known for a long time of the populations
inhabiting the south of the Yang-tze Kiang, and therefore it is sufficient
to say that they were not better than those north of the great river.
NOTES
1380) Shi King, III. i. and modern travellers.
1381) Cf. the Isao or Nest-dwellers as a soubriquet of a population
of Anhwui. Shu King, iv. 2, 1; Tchuh shu ki rien, Hia, xvii ;
and modern descriptions Chinese and European. Also Kai shan tu
by Sun Kia : T. P., 78, 2 v.
1382) As shown by the story of Y-Tek in the Tcher Kwoh tsih and
the Shi Pen: T. P., 843, 1. Also in Mayers, Ch. R. M., 230 and
682. Y-Teh had made some of this spirit by order of a wife of
Shun. Shao Kang (c. 1875 B.C.) is reputed to have first made
· some spirit beverage from a variety of the setaria italica.
1383) Cf. the Tao, or potters' country in C. Shansi, conquered by
Tchuan Hiüh after c. 2213 B.C., and the Yao, also potters, further
south.
1384 Cf. Shu King, II. i. 23, 24, and iv. f. 10. Kuei, name of the
appointed director of music by Shun, was the chief of a native tribe;
we find it in 634 B.C. settled in the present Kwei-tchou fu similarly
written in the extreme north-east of Sze-tchuen; cf. Tso tchuleni
Tchun tsiu, Hi kung xxvi. 6; and Playfair, Cities and Towiis,
n. 3838.
1385) Luh she, Tchun tsiu: T. P., 576, 3-5.
1386) Shu King, Yü Kung; cf. T. de L., The Silk Goddess of China
and her Legend, g 9. Yh King, Kwa 61, in The Oldest Book of
the Chinese, 1892, vol. i., p. xviii.
1387) There is considerable evidence on this subject collected in my
Beginnings of Writing in C. Asia, which it would be too long
to reproduce here. That they had no written characters is shown
by the complete absence of anything like a hieroglyphic inscription
in China, and by the fact that all the natural products of the country
had to be written by the newcomers with compound characters of
their own script, while it would have been easier with a system open
to any addition like their own to adopt any pictorial symbols pre-
viously in existence for the objects in question.
376
ORIGIN OF THE. EARLY
1388) For instance the Kiu and Li on the left banks of the Hwang-
ho in North Honan were strongly addicted to spirits worship. They
were conquered by Tchuan-hiüh after c. 2213 B.C. And also among
the Miao-tze.
1389) Cf. suprà $ 309 and note 1234.
1390) Yao, a Chinese, sent his two daughters in marriage to Shun,
a Non-Chinese ; cf. Shu King, Yao tien, 12. And on the subject,
cf. J. Kohler, Rechtsvergleichende Zkizzen : z. f. vergl. Rechtweis.
viii., 1888, p. 80, and Edw. Westermarck, The History of Human
Marriage, 1891, pp. 20, 396.
1391) The first fashion (practised in Hupeh) is mentioned in the
Yh King, Hitze, ii. 22; the second comes also from Chinese
descriptions of native customs, such as in the Mao Mar hoh tchi,
iv., 8.
1392) « In the time of Shun, of Yü, they used earthenware coffins,"
Li Ki, T'an Kung, I. i. 12. These urns. were called op-ü (Chin.
oh-yü). On a find of such ancient urns in A.D. 506 in South
Kiangsu, cf. She-hi : T. P., 780, 2 v.
II.-Imported Civilisation by the Chinese Bak Sings.
383. The imported civilisation of the Baks, came into contact
under the reign of Yao and Shun, with that of the indigenous which
belonged to a low standard. We have already described briefly the
last, and we must now examine the other in its complexity.
The following lists compared with those given in Chapters IV. and
V., with corrections in the following and especially in the eleventh
chapters, differ from them thus far that they contain only, to the best
of our knowledge, a series (much more complete) of the elements of
western civilisation imported into China by the emigrants of circà
2282 B.C., i.e., the Baks under the general leadership of Hu Nak Kunte
or Yu Nai Hwang-ti, and that it leaves to be entered under their
respective dates in the present chronological sketch the items of the
same and other sources that were introduced in later times.
384. Comparative research into the Chinese traditions, checked by
our knowledge, however incomplete it may be for the present, of the
Chaldeo-Elamite culture, shows that among the many elements of
western civilisation which the Bak Sings have imported with them
from Anterior Asia, we may enumerate with great chance of historical
accuracy all these items; they correspond to the very stage of
development and progress which had been reached in western Asia a
little after the middle of the third millenium B.C., neither before,
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
877
afterwards, or elsewhere. A few of the entries cannot be identified
with Chaldeo-Elamite antecedents, although clearly imported from
Anterior Asia; the civilisation of Babylonia and Elam was certainly
paramount there, but it had not extended beyond its original centre
over new lands and peoples without giving rise to local divergencies.
Borrowed culture is seldom servile, and it requires and undergoes
almost always a certain amount of transformation and adaptation to
its new environment. Moreover every race has its own peculiarities
and idiosyncracies, and we are well aware that the Bak Sings were no
exception to the rule.
385. With all reservation necessitated by the obscurity of a
subject so remote in times, and the frequent one-sidedness and lateness
of the literary information from which the inferences and evidence can
be drawn, it seems to me, in the present stage of my inquiry after
many years labour, that we can ascribe to the Bak Sings themselves :
A fair complexion, blue eyes, no black hair, and no high cheek bones,
artificial tapering of the head; the ancestral worship;1893 veneration
of the sky-heaven, whose acknowledged son was their leader, Tien-
tze; building in pisé ; 1394 clay-vaults for tombs ;1395 scorching the
tortoise-shell for divination instead of the central Asiatic usual omo-
platoscopy;1396 a special taste for jade; important traditions concern-
ing their relations with Chaldeo-Elamites and other princes of western
Asia ;1397 that Tsang-kieh (old T'an-kih=Dungi)2398 was their first
initiator in the art of writing, and that their leader did get some
precious vases with inscribed tablets; an adaptation of the Chaldean
version of the deluge to the mountainous region of Puh-tchou-shan
(=Badsakshan, modern Badakshan, through which they used to
travel) ;1399 the name of Hu Nak Khunte for their leader,1400 and other
things.
NOTES-
1393) The Ancestral Worship appears in the first chapters of the
Shu King. Shun was appointed in the temple of Welz-tsu, or
accomplished ancestor, II. i. 4. Yii was also appointed in the
temple of Shin Tsung, or honoured spirits, II. ii. 19. Shun was
worshipped in the Wen-Tsui temple, II. i. 14, and once coming
back from a tour of inspection, went to the temple of Y tsul, or
cultivated ancestor, where he offered a single bullock, II. i. 8.
1394) Cf. W. Simpson, Tr. S. B. A., 1888, ix. 2; Shi King, III. i.
Ode 3; Iso tchulen, VII. xi. 2.
378
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
1395) Still practised to the present day in the Pamirs.
some data in The Land of the Lamas.
1897) I have utilised them in the Reconstruction, Chapter X.
1398) Dungi is the Chaldean King renowned for his numerous in-
scriptions, for whom Gudea conquered Anzan and Elam. Szema
Hwang-ti obtained some valuable vases with written tablets. The
Chinese text as usual is rather vague in its construction, but we
may understand it as meaning that the written tablets were inside
the vases, as was customary in Chaldea, Egypt, Greece, and Rome.
1399) On Badakshan, cf. notes 1288, 1290, 1329.
1400) Derived like that of Kudur Nakhunte, his contemporary, from
that of Nakhunte, chief of the gods of Susiana; cf. T. de L., The
Onomastic siinilarity of Nai-Hwang-ti of China and Nakhuite of
Susiana, 1890, and the Elamite inscription of Undas Arman where
Nakhunte is called Sulla Annap, caput deorum.
386. When they arrived in the Flowery Land, the Chinese Bak
were altogether acquainted through their relations with Chaldea
and Elam, with the following elements of western civilisation which
they introduced with them :-
The sky as a vault and round, the earth like a square raft under-
neath; the sun, male, and the moon, female; the five planets and
some of their attributions; the solar year and the twelve lunar months,
with an occasional intercalary month to adjust it roughly; year
divisions into twenty-four parts and into periods of five and ten days ;
the division of the day in four parts and into fixed hours; a certain
use of a period of seven days; four seasons in the year, the winter
solstice as beginning of the calendar; and the vernal equinox for the
year;
The four points of space with their symbols denoting a peculiar
shifting, and their special colours; many names of stars and constel-
lations, twenty-four stellar points; the sky as a figure of the earth
surface; probably the five elements ;
Standard measures of length and weight, such as the half cubit
and the mina ; balance scales; the gnomon but probably not the
clepsydra;
The zodiac with the name of its twelve objects, used as a cycle of
twelve for years, and as part of a cycle of sixty ; the use of cycles, of
OHINESE OIVILISATION.
379
ten, derived from the Akkadian numerals, of twelve, of sixty as a
divisible unit, of seventy-two, &c.; the decimal notation and local
value of the figures; the musical chromatic scale of twelve, &c.; but
they had no 19-years cycle nor astronomical instruments ;
Notions of hidden properties and harmonies of numbers, supersti-
tions concerning certain lucky and unlucky days, belief in the repeti-
tion of events after certain periods, special practises of divination such
as oneiromancy, belomancy, the eight wands of fate, avoidance of
regular figures, hundred as a standard number.
387. They had learned from the same sources :-Building in clay-
brick instead of stone ; stamping occasionally the bricks; doors on
· sockets; pillars for houses and great importance given to the roof;
orienting buildings by the sun shade; special disposition of town-gates;
erection of lofty terraces for astronomical purposes, and of large square
altars ; brick vaults for tombs ; coracles or skin-boats and rafts on
inflated skins; .
Making canals ; embanking rivers ; sinking wells ; boiling the
brine; works of irrigation for agricultural pursuits ; extensive hus-
bandry;
And they brought with them the wheat and the barley, the
small garlic, the vine, the common millet, &c.
The composite bow, the archer's thimble, the sword, the potter's
wheel, the mortar, the smith's bellows, the West-Asiastic plough, London
the plumb-line, the wedge, the balance-scales, manacles, ox-waggons,
light and heavy with spoked wheels, one curved pole and yoke for
animals abreast; bells hanging from the animal; a canopy over light
chariots ;
The use of gold, silver, copper, lead, and tin (but not of iron nor
bronze), and the arts of casting them into vases, bells, war weapons,
and other implements; cinnabar;
Long dresses ; peculiar head-dress ; special emblems on their rulers'
robes and royal staff with auspicious bird on top, and state umbrellas,
fans, walking staffs, rings, personal seals; shoes and sandals; stools,
bedsteads, and mats;
Customs of mulcts instead of corporal punishment, tattooing for
ignominy; cutting the left ear of slain on battlefield; besmearing the .
war weapons with the blood of prisoners;
380
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
Notions of eschatology (double soul); the nose as beginning of a
human being; 120 years natural length of life ; importance of personal
names and their inscription for preservation by after generations ;
As domesticated animals they had the ox as driving beast, the horse
and perhaps also the ass as pack animals, the dog, the sheep, the fowl
of Media, &c. . -
Some peculiarities of art designs; the single and the double flute ;
the drum, in earthenware and leather, and the tambourine ; sort of
reed organ and the bell ; &c., &c.
388. They were acquainted also from Elam and Chaldea with the
imperial system of government, the Four Regions, a title of Chief of
the Four Mountains, the Susian duodenary division of states, the
title of Pastor for their twelve leaders of these states, the appellatives
of Middle Kingdom for their country, and of Black-headed people for
their population ; & prime minister, state astronomers, and several
other special officers; change of name when ascending the throne ;
the leader as first husbandman of the state ;
Bestowing a cup (tsiok), as a distinction like that of the cup-bearer
(rab-sag); the right side a place of honour; titles of officers by
birds' names ; the worship of a personal God, called Shang-ti, several
demigods and spirits ; an important social status for the chief wife
and for the mother, and probably some peculiarities in the right
of ownership;
The art of writing the Babylonian characters in columns, strokes
thick and thin, semi-ideographic semi-phonetic, such as they were
written between the times of Gudea and Khammurabi; systems of
syllabaries, phonetic and ideographic ; and most probably some written
texts; the custom of writing inscriptions inside of vases, across statues,
&c. ; & few traditions and legends concerning Sargon=Shennung,
some ancient kings and systematic periods of history, a Babylonian
cosmogony, and other legends, &c.
389. As previously stated, the ancient existence in China, after the
arrival of Hwang-ti and his followers, of these 160 items of civilisation
traceable to antecedents in Western Asia, is vouchsafed by statements
in the history, traditions, and legends. Some of them are still in
existence, others have disappeared in course of time, either by neglect
or by better substitutions. But we know that (subject to further
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
381
research and revision, which may invalidate a few of them, and make
some additions), they formed with subsequent introductions from the
outside, and the natural evolution and progress of the Chinese
themselves, the basis of their civilisation.
III.- Chronological List of Western Relations with China and their
į
Importations from 2300 B.C. to 220 A.D.
§ 390.-From Hwang-ti to the His dynasty. c. 2282-1954 B.C.
c. 2282 B.C.
Arrival of Hwang-ti from the west in the fiftieth year of his reign,
y first leader of the civilised Bak Sings, on the Banks of the Loh, where
he sacrificed. List of civilisation (sections 383-388).
C. 2260 B.C.
i Pitchers of agate were brought to Shao-Hao from Tan-kir (Turfan),
C. 2225 B.C.
Intercourse with Turfan during the first years of Tchuan-Hiüh.
c. 2147 B.C.
A Tartar named Tungli (=Tengri, heaven), was astronomer of Ti
Kuh Kao-sin.
C. 2076 B.C.
Intercourse with West Karashar (country of the Western Wang-mu).
Some fir-balsam was procured from there by Hou-y, who made the
journey.
c. 2061 B.C.
: In Yao's 16th year arrival from Kirl-s14 (later P'o-kan=Wa-khan).
C. 1996 B.C.
Intercourse with West Karashar. The West Wang-mu sent jade
rings and archers' thimbles to Shun. Wan-ming, the great Yü
is said to have gone there in his youth.
$ 391.---From the Hia to the Tchou, C. 1954-1110 B.C.
C. 1954 B.C.
Reign of the Great Yü. Issue of the Brief Calendar of Hia (on
fourteen astronomical statements, ten which can be verified have
been found exact for the twentieth century).
C. 1950 B.C.
Introduction of yoked or car horses by Hitchung and Kikwang.
KFT
382
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
C. 1904 B.C.
On the 12th of May, 1904, solar eclipse at Tchin-sin (astronomically
verified by G. Schlegel and F. Kuhnert).
c. 1903 B.C.
Arrival by the Kukunor, of the Kun-wus, clever craftsmen, ac-
quainted with metallurgy (selection of ores), pottery, and roof tiling,
astronomy, &c.
6. 1803 B.C.
First prison made in China. A western notion.
c. 1775 B.C.
Arrangement made with foreigners, east and west.
c. 1741 B.C.
Fresh arrival of Kun-wus who settled in Wei (north-east Honan).
Kitan their chief introduced the art of bronze (= tung, i.e. mixed
metal), probably alum, &c.
c. 1734 B.C.
Kung-kia in his third year became acquainted with iron (=tieh, i.e.,
barbarian metal,) from the natives Unsuccessful trial of iron swords.
C. 1800-1700 B.C.
According to the Yü kung, relations existed with the country of
Kiu-su (=Aksu river, later called P'o-han=Wakan) from where car-
pets were imported. Jade (from Khotan-Yarkand) was also a staple
article of importation by the north-west.
c. 1712 B.C.
Arrival of Ki-tchung tribes from beyond the Flowing Sands,
reckoned among the ancestors of the Tchou because of their settle-
ment in south-west Kansuh, and introduction of hemp.
c. 1690 B.C.
Arrival of Lao shih shing, from or by Karashar, at the court of
Kieh Kuei, last ruler of the Hia dynasty.
§ 392.-The SHANG Yn Dynasty, 1686-1111 B.C.
C. 1686 B.C.
Foundation of the SHANG, i.e. Merchants' Dynasty, of Shang-kiu,
or Merchants' Hill (Kwei-teh fu, Honan). Intercourse with the west
continued.
C. 1553 B.C.
Mokan (=Wu-Hien), a foreigner who had come from Karashar,
officer of Shano Tai Mou, made the first catalogue of stars, arranged
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
383
prayers to the hills and rivers, and introduced the use of the divinatory
plant shi (ptarmica sibirica).
. c. 1538 B.C.
In Tai Mou's twenty-sixth year arrivals from a western state near
Karashar. Wang-Mêng was sent there with presents, and also to the
West Wang-mus to get some of their famous balsam.
c. 1394 B.C. .
SHẠNG Yang-kiah made an unsuccessful expedition as far as Turfan.
c. 1331 B.C.
Under Yn Wu-ting, arrivals of missions from six foreign states, using
several interpreters. Some from the west were probably among them.
Introduction of the yeast.
c. 1325 B.C.
Immigration of the Tohou at K'i, in south-west Shensi.. They
appear to have been red-haired Kirghizes aryanised to a certain extent.
c. 1255 B.C.
Tsu Kia of the Yn dynasty, in his twelfth year, made an expedition
outside the western frontiers.
c. 1190 B.C.
Horses (of Khorasan) are said to have been brought to the chief of
the Tchou, Wen Wang; they had red manes, white bodies, and eyes
like gold.
c. 1170 B.C.
Arrivals from the west to the seat of the TCHOU.
c. 1136 B.C.
Lunar eclipse of January the 29th, twenty-six years before the
foundation of the Tchou dynasty (astronomically verified by S. M.
Russell).
c. 1130 B.C.
Importation of Jade from Turkestan, and probably of the game of
· draughts.
-
§ 393.--The West Tchou Dynasty, 1110-770 B.C.
c. 1110 B.C.
Overthrow of the SHANG-Yn dynasty and conquest of the country by
the Tchou, with the help of native tribes. They introduced with
them ring-money, clepsydra, polarity of magnet, names of stars, the
twenty-eight lunar mansions, duodenary cycle of animals, worship of
384
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
heaven and earth, notion of the Yn and Yang (perhaps still crude),
use of the flagrant tch'ang “bringing down the spirits,"
dog sacrifice, dyeing red the manes of horses ; eunuchs and slavery,
castration as a punishment; three-holed flute, and other things, all
notions most originary from Bactria and Khorasmia.
c. 1105 B.C.
TCHOU Wu Wang opens routes for intercommunications with all the
foreigners. Importation of mastiffs from West Tibet.
C. 1099 B.C.
Arrivals from the west; presentation of clever embroiderer women
from Yen-ki (Karashar), of peacocks from Ku-tze (Kutcha), asbestos
cloth from Badakshan.
C. 1097 B.C.
Arrivals of missions from the south-west: Shoul-mi with Indian
monkeys; Nêlê with calendars and astronomy; Yueh shang with
elephants and pheasants.
1092 B.C.
Arrivals from Kashgar with moral laws.
1079 B.C.
Several arrivals from distant countries.
1017 B.C.
In the twenty-fourth year of Tchou Tchao Wang, arrivals from the
south-west by Tu and Siu.
C. 990 B.C.
Some tribes from the west brought to Muh-wang some asbestos
from Badakshan.
C. 986 B.C.
Journey of Tchou Muh Wang, to Turfan, Karashar, the Yulduz
plateau and further west, perhaps as far as Kashgar. He brought
back with him several clever artificers, the arts of inlaying metal and
of making paste-gems, &c., some jade from Khotan-Yarkand, amber
through Wakhan, &c., Marionnettes, and other things.
984 B.C.
A prince of the Si Wang-mus came to visit Muh Wang, and brings
some white jade objects.
C. 881 B.O.
First settlement of Semi-Chinese of Ts’u on the south of the Yang-
tze Kiang.
OHINESE CIVILISATION.
385
860 B.C.
The usual route by the north-west being stopped by unruly tribes
since the days of Muh Wang, the jade traffic, on a smaller scale, was
carried by a route more south, reaching China by the north-east
corner of Tibet, the present Sung-pan ting route.
C. 800 B.C.
Foundation of Tagaung in Burma by Hindu colonists arrived
through the land route.
§ 394.-The Eastern Tohou Dynasty, 770-481. B.C.
770-678, &c., B.C.
Practices of burying alive at funerals were then introduced by the
Western Tartars in the State Ts’IN (Shensi and Kansuh) as well as
several barbarian sorts of worship.
About 680-642 B.C.
Within twenty years of the introduction by Sennakherib of the
Phænician navy in the Persian Gulf, traders from the Indian Ocean
(Erythrean Sea) arrived in the Gulf of Kiao-tchou (South Shantung),
where perhaps their ships were first carried by chance of sea voyage
like the one carrying Fa-hian to Canton, who arrived at the same spot
in 400 A.D.) They established there colonies named Lang-ya
(Lanka ?) and Tsih-moh (Saphar ?), and issued soon afterwards in the
latter place the first inscribed coinage of China. The joint-issues of
coins show that these marts, for two centuries, established trade rela-
tions with cities in N. W. Shantung, S. C. Shansi, E. and S. E.
Shensi, and C. Honan, and therefore that alone would suggest that the
influence of these foreign merchants must have been extensive.
They came on ships having birds' or animals' figure with two big
eyes on the bow, and two sculls at the stern, which have remained in
the Chinese navy of later times. They introduced into the country
besides the coinage standards of weight and measure (mina of Kark-
hemish and Babylonian empan); quince fruits of Media; notions of
Sorcery and astrology, mythological imaginery, the twelve tze, or
zodiacal signs (adapted from corrupted Babylon names of the months),
for astrological purposes, and the 19-year cycle, from Assyria; the
Phoenician custom of putting in tombs figures of horses and
carriages in earthenware, and other things.
386
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
641-600 B.C.
During the following years, the items and notions introduced by the
foreign sea-traders coming to Shantung were different from those of
the first forty years, and came evidently from the border lands of
India and Persia. In 631 their leader had a Sanskrit name, Gotra.
Herewith a summary list : human sacrifices near river ; exposure of
victims for droughts; cold food at vernal equinox, and exchange of
painted eggs; tempering iron ; worship of the fire god of the earth ;
sesamum (under its Indo-Persian name); mercury ; etc.
626 B.C.
You-yu, a barbarian of the west, became adviser of Muh Kung of
Ts'IN.
. 600-575 B.C.
Opening of relations between India and the Non-Chinese west of
Szetchuen. Arrival and settlement in the caves near the Min river of
Brahmanist colonists, long-eared, eating Soma, and living like
Anachorets. Arrival in 591, in T'su, through the same route of
travellers from the south (India). Introduction there of the use of
stamped ingots of useless shape for currency, horse-shoe shape of tombs
and Wei-kan pillars (both symbolising the natural worship; the
shaduff; and other things.
571 B.O.
Arrival in Tchou of travellers from Kiïi-sul (=Wakhan) who pre-
sented camels with rich saddles.
565-525 B.C.
A further change occurred then with the Erythræean Sea traders
frequenting Shantung. They introduced fire worship, dualist worship
and the five Avestic fires ; some superstitious practices such as the
figure of a four yellow-eyed animal dispeller of spirits at funerals ;
writing on skins; and other things. This was due to the fact that
Persian influence became paramount at that time. Cyrus conquered
Babylon in 539.
§ 395.-Period of the Contending States, 481-221 B.C.
500-450 B.C.
The influence exercised in China by the Erythroan traders
became again Babylonian with a strong Indian tinge in some cases,
and its activity was rather important. The Persians had obviously
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
387
given a new life to the outside relations of the old Babylonians. The
following items were then introduced into Shantung and neighbouring
provinces : Astronomical and mathematical notions (Tchou pi'), count-
ing rods, cementation of metal (c. 500), a sort of catapult (c. 475),
concave metallic mirrors (c. 450), the Semitic names of the twelve
Babylonian months, ten other names of the same nature, ten Ki as
historical periods, mythical chronology of Babylon, thirty-three kings
heavenly, terrestial, and human; fabulous notions of fishmen carriers
of civilisation, tree-of-life and calendar tree, hippocentaurs, semi-
animal beings ; Egyptian phylacteria ; and other things.
475 B.C.
T’u-yü, a prince of Indian origin, founder of the Kingdom of Shui,
was then ruling at Tcheng-tu, in Szetchuen.
473 B.C.
Foundation by the King of Yueh of an emporium at Kwei-ki, near
the Hang-tchou bay, which the Erythroan traders began to frequent.
In 472 their ships carried soldiers of Yueh to Lang-ya.
c. 470 B.C.
Foundation of a second Hindu colony in Burma, said to have been
made by a band of Kshatriyas from Gangetic India, on the east bank
of the Irawaddy.
C. 450 B.C.
Foundation of a colony in Ukkalamandala, near Rangoon, by
Taphussa and Bhallika, two Hindu merchants, not Buddhists, from
Orissa.
425-375 B.C.
The trade from the Erythrean Sea to the eastern coasts of China
(Shantung, Tcheb-kiang) was then entirely changed. It seems to
have passed chiefly into the hands of Indian mariners who did not, as
their predecessors, navigate through the Malacca Straits, and came by
the south of Sumatra and Java. They imported mother-of-pearl of
the Indian Ocean, large pearls of the Persian Gulf, yakut stones
of Badakshan; narcotics such as aconitum; the mu-12ao or
sistrum; fabulous accounts of the storm bird, avatar of Kurma (tor-
toise), the Sumeru, Rishis and their drug of immortality (soma),
Indian cosmogony; worship of the eight Hindu Vasus; fabulous
accounts of five islands of the blessed and their reduction to three, as
388
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
stations of their sea voyage ; process of casting coins, &c., in clusters ;
mercury; and other things.
C. 390 B.C.
Since the middle of the previous century the Kings of Ts’IN (Shensi)
were extending their sway westwards. About 390 B.C., the Ts'inites
were going west in Outer Kansuh as far as Kwa-tchou (present An-si),
to communicate with western traders, without any help of their
government.
634 B.C.
Importation of jade from Yunnan-Burma into Hupeh through the
south-western route.
330 B.C.
Foundation in Yunnan by an army from Ts'u of the Kingdom of
TSEN, whose name in later times became for the southern traders,
that of CHINA.
c. 327 B.C.
Foundation of Mou (=exchange) as an emporium for foreign trade,
near the present Ningpo.
325-310 B.O. .
Tung-yeh, present Fuhtchou, of Fuhkien, became then an emporium
for foreign sea-trade, and the imports there, at Moul, and at Kwei-ki,
consisted of rhinoceros horns, ivory, carved vases, lamps with asbestos
wicks, yakut rubies, western rope, peacocks, ear-haired rhinoceros,
sugar of palm; perfect dancers; notion of a three-legged bird in the
sun; the chess-game; &c. Transhipments were made from there to
the ports in the north.
305 B.C.
Arrival of the Hindu Sila at Yen (Tchihli) from Magadha, by
Tung-yeh (probably) or by the south-west route, after five years
journey. He brought with him some magnifying glasses.(?) The
inhabitants of Magadha he described as the Hindu statues of gods.
311 B.C.
Relations were then existing between Karashar-Kutcha (=Si Wang-
inu) and the Kingdom of Yen=Tchihli, by the north route. Importa-
tion there of chrysolites of Kutcha.
c. 280 B.C.
Military expedition of the King of TSEN (Yunnan) towards Old
Pagan on the Irrawaddy, in Burma, which facilitated commercial
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
389
intercourse with the Hindu merchants of Pegu. Arrival afterwards in
south-west Hunan of bearded merchants with valuable spices, ngai-
nap, or mint palm, and ini-sung, a narcotic from the western ocean.
237 B.C.
Jade from Turkestan was then imported in the north-west. The
fame of Alexander-the-Great and his deeds had reached the state of
Ts’ın, then rising to the empire.
990 OY
§. 396.-The Chinese Empire.
221 B.C.
Foundation of the Chinese Empire by She Hwang-ti who seems to
have endeavoured to imitate Alexander-the-Great in several respects.
' 220 B.C.
Arrival at Lin-tao, on the borders of Kansuh south-west, and Tibet,
through Szetchuen, of Hindus, or western men, professing Hinduic
views. They introduced the use of pyrites.
220-217 B.C.
First arrivals of Buddhist missionaries, Tzekao, Tcheng Pehkiao,
Tsili Fang, &c., who were unsuccessful in their religious propaganda.
201 B.C.
The Erythræan Sea traders had given up Kwei-ki as an emporium
because it had fallen into the hands of the Chinese, and had made for
a time Tung-yeh, which was still independent, their chief station.
They imported there big pearls from the Persian Gulf (transhipped
to Kwei-ki, which was a market for them), and for the first time some
sugar-of-cane from India. Wu-tchu, the King of Mirz- Yuleh, could
send as a present to the Chinese Emperor, Han Kao-tsu two hulk
measures of the foreign dainty.
195 B.C.
The same sea-traders in view of commerce with the new Semi-
Chinese Empire of Nan-Yueh (204-111 B.C.) frequented then Hoppu,
or Estuary of Meeting (near the present Pakhoi, south-west Kwang-
tung), in connection with the market place of Hêng-shan inland.
They had imported there jasmine from Persia, and sambac from south
India, peacocks, &c. They became known as Hwang-tchi, or yellow
fingers, from their habit of dying their fingers with henna, and their
home was Hormuzia, near the Persian Gulf.
390
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
179-150 B.C.
The Hormuzian sea-traders shifted again their landing place, on the
conquest in 179 by the Nan-Yueh Emperor of the country westward,
including Tung-king. They selected a convenient spot (near present
Ha-tinh, south of Nghê-an province), on the outskirts of his dominion,
where the colony of Kattigara was founded. They established also
pearl fisheries at Tchu-yai, or coast of pearls, in the Isle of Hainan.
164 B..
The jade traffic of Turkestan was then continuing as shown by a
jade cup procured in that year by the Chinese Emperor Han Wen.
145 B.C.
Greek ideas and notions penetrated then into China by the west
trade route inland, such as Alchemy with the use of orpiment and
cinnabar for transmutation into gold, &c.
140 B.C.
First arrival in South China, probably at Hoppu, of Tats’in=
Tarshish merchants, with a large quantity of red corals from the
Mediterranean, via Reckem, Ailana, and the Red Sea. Tchao-t'o,
the Emperor of Nan-yueh, sent 462 branches to the Chinese Emperor
Han Wu, who ornamented with them the Tsih-tsao pond of the
Shang-lin park of the capital Tchang-'an, inaugurated in 138 B.C.
The sea route was then passing south of Sumatra-Java and the Sunda
Islands near Timor; serpentine asbestos found in the latter was
the occasion of several fables.
139 B.O.
Sea-going ships were then built for the first time in China, in
imitation of those of the Erythræans, by the Semi-Chinese State of
Min-yueh (Fuh Kien).
139-126 B.C.
First mission of the Chinese government to the West for political
motives. Tchang-kien, the envoy, went as far as the Oxus and Baktria,
where he saw goods from Szetchuen imported there through India.
133 B.C.
Importation by the west trade route inland of brimstone from
Tsiü-mi (800 li of Karakhodjo), alum shale from Kutcha, and a large
metallic mirror which required rubbing with felt and powder of black
tin to be kept shiny (of Greek make), and jade.
130 B.C.
In Shuh-Szetchuen importation from Burma of cocoa nuts and
bananas.
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
391
127 B.C.
Importation in Nan-yueh of the henna plant from India, and of
Nard from north-west Sumatra, by Tats'in=Tarshish merchants.
126 B.C.
On the return of Tchang-kien, the Chinese Emperor Han Wu
adopted his report proposing a conquest of Bactria by way of India.
Some ten missions were sent during the following years to find the
routes, but they were stopped in Yunnan and in south-west Szetchuen.
126-122 B.C.
Introduction by the west route inland of further Greek notions, such
as astronomical speculations, circulation of the earth, the 76-year
cycle, knowledge of stone-coal, burning lenses, &c.
119-116 B.O.
Second mission of Tchang-kien to the Wu-suns in Ili. He opened
by himself and his assistants intercourse with some ten states of
central Asia. After his return the state mint was reorganised like
those of Athens and Rome.
115 B.O.
Alum-shale from Kutcha, amber objects from Kabulistan, ostrich
eggs of Mesopotamia (probably decorated with pictures as was usual),
and jugglers from Reken, sent by the Parthians, were then brought into
China. A regular intercourse was then established between west
Turkestan and China.
Lucern, vine again, cucumber, and safflower with their Greek
names, walnut tree with its Aryan name, common bean, parsley, great
garlic, hemp and sesamum again, pomegranate of Parthia, were then
introduced into the Flowery Land and carefully transplanted at first
in a park of the capital.
113-108 B.C.
Several missions were sent by the Chinese Emperor without success
to the Greek State of Yuan=Yaon, Ferghana, with goods and presents,
to get from the king some of his Nisæan horses (of classical fame)
blood perspiring.
111 B.C.
Conquest of the dominion of Nan-yuleh by the Chinese. Unsuc-
cessful transplantation in the Fuli gardens at Tchang-'an of native
plants from the new provinces, and besides several already named,
of some which had been introduced by the foreign trade, such as sweet
flag of south India, Indian shot, Quisqualis Indica, &c.
392
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
110 B.C.
The Chinese conquest having included Kattigara, which they called
Nhitram (Jihnan) the Hormuzian sea-traders removed once more
their chief landing place; they established it further south, on the
west of Cape Cambodia, east side of the Gulf of Siam, in Tcham, the
Zabai of Ptolemy. They came from there to Kattigara and Hoppu,
bringing pearls of the Persian Gulf, coloured glass of Kabulistan, pre-
cious stones and strange objects such as a big pearl, perfectly spherical,
&c. The Chinese Emperor Han Wu being desirous of getting some more
coloured glass was obliged to send a ship for that purpose to their
Emporium.
108 B.C.
Merchants from Tats'in-Tarshish arrived at Hoppu with red corals
for the market of Hêng-shan, and with a hwa-ti-nill, or flower-hoofed
bull, which they presented to court. They taught a process for dyeing
black with the leaves of the mu-lan-magnolia.
102-100 B.C.
After several abortive attempts, frustrated by the Hiung-nus, a
Chinese army reached and conquered the Greek State of Yuan=Yaon,
Ferghana. A new king was enthroned, and ten Nisæan horses were
brought back in triumph. The results of this expedition were impor-
tant, as they gave to the Chinese empire a prominent position which
was acknowledged in western and eastern Turkestan.
100 B.C.
Trade with India by the Szetchuen route was active. Sugar of
cane, aconitum, and saltpetre from India were then imported at Wu-
tu (near present Kiai-tchou, south-west Kansuh). In 73 B.C. a small
mirror in an amber case was imported from Kabulistan through India
by the same route to Han Suan-ti.
98-87 B.C.
Trade continued uninterrupted with Turkestan, &c. Alum-shale,
saltpetre, sulphate of copper, muig-dogs from the Kuen-lun are re-
corded importations. In 87, the King of the Yueh-ti sent to the
Chinese Emperor some precious spice of Socotra. Another sort of
spice had been sent by him in 98 B.C.
73 B.C.
Ships from India and from Tats’in-Tarshish arrived at Kattigara,
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
993
ea D.U.
the Chinese port. Some twenty years later ships of Oman arrived
with the founder of Cambodia at Zabai. Kalingas in Java, 75 B.C.
59 B.O.
Establishment of a General-Governorship of the Si-yü or Western
Regions, at Wu-luy, near Karashar, by the Chinese, with jurisdiction
over thirty-six states of east and west Turkestan.
51 B.C.
Si-kiun, a Chinese princess, who in 105 B.C. had been sent in
marriage to the King of Wusuns in Ili, came back introducing into her
native country the p’z-pa or Persian tainburah.
· 50 B.C.
Chinese authority was powerful enough in central Asia to instate
Hermæus, a Greek prince, on the throne of Kabulistan. But this
authority lasted only a few years there.
20 B.C.
Travellers from the country of Sêres (a name meaning yellow and
oriental, given to the Chinese by their western neighbours), after four
years journey, reached Samos with an Indian embassy to the Roman
Emperor Augustus.
12 B.C.
Some cotton paper, haktai, had been brought from India to Loh-
yang.
11 B.O.
Arrival of travellers from the Wusuns (Ili), Kang kiu (Samarcand),
and Pan-tu-Parthia.
2 B.C.
Y-tsun-kou brought Buddhist books to China. At that time fifty
states of the Si-yü were receiving investiture from China, and 376
princes and officers there were holding Chinese seals of office.
1-37 A.D.
New instances of intercourse with the south. In A.D. 1 arrival of
a mission from Yueh-shang (south Indo-China). In A.D. 2, Hwang-
tchi, or Hormuzian, ships arrived at Kattigara and Hoppu. In 37,
arrival of another mission from Cochinchina.
10-75 A.D.
In 10-16 A.D. revolt of the states of the Si-yü (with the exception
of Yarkand until 41 A.D.) against the Chinese government. Inter-
ruption of regular intercourse for 65 years.
,
nim). In A.D. 2, Hlwang
394
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
41 A.D.
Rachias envoy of Ceylon to Rome, said that his father used to trade
beyond the Himalayas with the red-haired Sêres. Since 108 B.C.
the red-haired Kunmings were subjects of the Chinese in south-west
Szetchuen, where the trade route was passing.
47-85 A.D.
First practical use of the monsoons in 47 A.D. by Hippalus, of
Alexandria, who sailed direct from the Red Sea to Muziris on the
Indian coast. The Periplus, about 85 A.D., shows that the Greek
merchantmen did not go beyond Nelkynda of south India.
67 A.D. .
Return of a Chinese mission sent to India. Official introduction of
Buddhism into China. Adoption of seven musical notes as in India.
69 A.D.
The 'Ai-Lao advancing north-west, cut the route through the Kun-
mings, and submit to China. Foundation amidst them of the great
mart of Yung-tchang (present Tali fu) for foreign trade. The imports
then consisted of copper, iron, lead, tin, gold, silver, bright pearls,
amber, crystal, vitreous ware, kassia-grubs, oyster pearls, peacocks,
kingfishers, rhinoceroses, elephants, apes, and tapirs; all products
from Shan-Burma, Malacca, Ceylon, India, Kabulistan, but nothing
from the Red Sea.
C. 72 A.D.
Arrival of the first Jewish colony in south-west China.
Mission from Cambodia arrived in 84 to the Chinese court. In 89
Hindu traders arrived at Kattigara and Hoppu.
87-106 A.D.
From 73 to 98, the Chinese gradually re-established their authority
and prestige in central Asia. The General Pan-tchao in 97 went as
far as Antiochia Margiana, and sent Kan-yng who travelled as far as
the Persian Gulf. In 87 a Parthian mission arrived with lions,
fu-pao, 700 pieces of cloth of various colours, and some su-hoh perfume
(Storax made in Syria), sent by the Yueh-ti King. In 101 another
Parthian mission, sent by Pacorus II., brought lions and ostrich eggs.
In 106 a last mission from Parthia arrived. All the Si-yü revolted
then against the Chinese. The preceding years were those when the
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
395
agents of Maës Titianus were trading with China probably through
the Parthian Missions.
97-131 A.D.
Missions from the Shan States in 97, 120, 124. The second mission
presented jugglers from Tats’in, with which country relations had
began by the south-west. The Greek Alexander from whom were
derived the information in Marinus of Tyre had then travelled on
board ship as far as Pegu.
119-150 A.D.
Attempts at re-opening communications with the Si-yu and recon-
quest as far as Karashar in 126. In 134 a mission came from
Kashgar. In 147, 148 Buddhist missionaries arrived from Parthia.
159 A.D.
Hindu merchantmen arrived at Canton via Kattigara. The King
of Saurashtra Mandala (Guzerat) was then sending ships to Mahacîna,
Cina, and Bhota. First importation of cloves (chicken tongues) of
the Moluccas in China. For two hundred years afterwards the
landing place of the Indian and Omanite ships was chiefly Funam-
Cambodia, from where the goods were transhipped for the Chinese
ports.
166 A.D.
Arrival of Roman merchants, of whom An-tun (Marcus Aurelius
Antoninus) was the Emperor, at Kattigara and Canton to open inter-
course. The Parthian var had interrupted the communication inland
which, however, was restored in the years 172-187 as shown by fresh
arrivals of Buddhist missionaries from Parthia and Samarkand.
Later arrivals of Roman traders were reported at Canton in 226,
284, &c.
*
* *
397. The relations of the west with China since the second century
which became more frequent, are beyond the scope of the present work.
We have had occasion to mention a few of them in the course of our
enquiries and they may be referred to in the alphabetical index.
398. Arrived at the end of these l'aborious pages, we think it
necessary to mention once more an important principle in all com-
parisons of civilisations. It is that borrowings of elements of culture,
except in material cases, having required necessarily a certain amount
of mental activity from the borrowers, cannot be blind copies and
396
ORIGIN OF THE EARLY
servile imitations, specially when carried to distant lands and different
surroundings, and not kept up by a continued intercourse with the
mother country. We have not included as borrowings many strong
suggestions whose western character was often quite clear, which
would have lengthened sensibly several of the lists we have established,
and we have counted only as units such comprehensive elements of
civilisation as writing and astronomy.
399. The conclusion of the present work is that some 370 items
of civilisation have been introduced in China .from Anterior Asia and
also W. India during the twenty-five centuries covered by the investi-
gations it contains or summarizes. About 2282 B.C. some 175 of
these were imported by the Bak Sings themselves, including more
than 160 derived from the Chaldeo-Elamite civilisation, such as it was
at that time neither before nor afterwards. During the HiA and
SAANG dynasties only twenty-five appear to have been introduced from
western and central Asia. The TCHOU themselves introduced about
twenty-five, mostly Baktrian and Khorasmian. The traders of the
Erythræan Sea, who began to arrive on the Chinese coasts in the
seventh century, introduced sixty-six items, of Assyrian 12, Indo-
Persian 7, Mazdæan 4, Indo-Assyrian 14, Indian 16, and
mixed 13, sources successively, and in homogeneous groups, while 6
came direct inland from India, all before the Empire. During the
four centuries of the Ts'in and Han dynasties about 70 items were
introduced, viz.: 10 Greek, 24 from Parthia, 22 from India and
Burma, and 16 by the traders of the Indian Ocean. All these elements
of western culture, with a limited contribution of the Pre-Chinese,
form with the own adaptation, progress, and evolution of China, the
real bases of the Chinese civilisation.
$ 400.—Comparative Chronology.
Egypt 5500 B.C. Chaldea 4500 B.C. China 2300. Egaan,
Mikænian, Pseudo-Hittite, Assyrian, 2000 B.C.
CHINA.
Rectified. Bamboo Annals. Common.
Hwang-ti
c. 2332-2232
2388
2698
Shao-Hao
c. 2282-2213
(not)
2598
Tchwan-hiuh
c. 2226
2288
2514
Ti-Kuh
c. 2147
2208
2436
Ti-Tchih
2366
CHINESE CIVILISATION.
397
CHINA.
Rectified.
Ti Yao
C. 2085-2076
Ti Shun
2004
HIA DYNASTY 1954-1687
Solar eclipse
1904
SHANG DYNASTY 1686-1111
Tai Mous
1563
Wu Ting
1336
(3rd year of Wu Wang) 1120
ToHou dyn. 1st year 1110
Tcheng Wang 1103
Muh Wang
1001
Li Wang, 12th year 841
W. Tchou dynasty 770
Contending States 461
Foundation of Empire 221
Bamboo Annals.
2146
2043
1990-1594
1948
1558-1051
1475
1274
1061
1050
1.044
962
841
770
461
221
Common.
2357
2255
2205-1767
2155
1766-1123
1637
1324
1132
1122
1115
1001
841
770
461
221
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
ABBREVIATIONS.
Ch.=China, Chinese. Isl.=Islands. Mt. Mountain. Nat.=Natives.
R.=River.
S.=See.
S.V.=Sub verbo.
St.=State.
Tr.=Tribes.
W.=Wang or King.
A star indicates a rectification.
Abakansk 338
Alexander the great, 38, 158,, Antun= Antoninus 245, 395
Abhirâja 56, 59, 60, 117
203,-5,-6,-14,-43, 389; wall | Anu and Anah 10
Abiria 100
of 209
An yang 156
Abricot 47, 49, 198, 374 Alexandria 268, 271
An yang wang 236
Abyss, female 127
Alligators 208, 329
Anzan 378, 26
Acclimatation, 230, 246, 391 | Allophylians 317
Apaosha 350
Açôkarama 57
Allusions, valuable 316 Apes 99, 252, 394
Aconitum 236, 365, 387, 392 Aloes paper 245,-6
Apocalypse's Animals 358
Acrology 186
Altars, square, 11, 379 Apsu 127
Addumu 103
Altering texts 140, 143 | Arabian sea 89, 96, 102; tra-
Advance, S.W. 249, 250 Altin kazuk 289
ders 111, 211; in India
Aeng pass 251
Alum, 230,-2, 382, 390,-1,-2 1 97, 107; Bengal* 119; 277
Aepyornis 170
A-man 58
Araktu 109
Agate 267; pitchers of, 328 Amber, 39, 41, 230, 231, *232 | Archaian white races 80
333, 381
369,-7, 314, objects 391, | Archaic Ch. 17 s. Ku-wen
Agathou daimonos nêsos 111 case 392, 394
Archeology, Chí impeded
Ag-daimon 113
Amesha gpentas 81, 83
368
Aghic 272
Anachorets 196, 200, 386 Archer's thimble 195, 264,
Agriculture 11, 379, s. Hus Anaximander 278
379, 381
bandry
Ancestral worship 74, 79, Archery 176
Aham metal 99
139, 160, 162, 377
Archiver of Tchou 127
Ahaziah 244
Ancient documents, 127, 141, | Arcus 194
Ahura mazda 95
143,-7-8, 151-2, 175, 288 Areca catechu 246 252
Ailana 390
Andamon isl. 111
Arghamak 224
Ai-Lao 41, 255, 255, 394 Angular Bow 194
| Argyrê 251
Ak-Bozat 289
Animal: cycle 356, 383 ; | Aristolochia 252 5379
Akhæmenians 157
ethnics 318, 323; mother Arithmetical notation 13,
Akhaz 278
126, 361; quadrants 298, Arkan-jolduz 289
Akkadian 293; and Ch. 342 ; ! 358
Armillary sphere 289, 371
numerals 340; orientation Animals, domesticated 380 ; | Armlet-mana 97, 101; in
11, 29; words 10, 13, pass. pack-312
India 101
Aksu, Oxus 371
Anku-Angha 58
Aromata of Socotra 230, 231;
Akurgal 307
Annam, coast 68, 240 ; his- 1 coast 96
Alaka-Khotan 74
| tory 44, 45, s. Tung king Arrakan 102
A-lan-na 311
Annius Plocamus 251 Arrows 179, 195, 374
A-la shan 327
Anro-Mainyus 95
Arsaces 214, 222, s. Parthia
Aleutian 344
An-shi-Kao 248
Art designs 380; B. & Ch.
Allas strait, 111, 181
An-shih-lu 230
72 ; 391
Alchemy, Greek, 214.217.390 Ansih-Andhra 58
Artificers, clever, 382, 381
Alchemists 214
Ansik 224, s. Parthia
Aryan Influence 30, 73;
Alectromancy 218
Antimony 85
, Words 31
Alexander 240, 244, 395 Antiochia Margiana 222, 394 | Asafoetida 265, 270
400
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Asbestos 35, 77, 182, 187, Bagistan 26, 305
Bellows 379
309, 318; a bark 188; | Bagla 262
Belomancy 379
cloth 384; hair 188; jokes Bahrein isl. 96, 103
Bêlos 341
187; legends 259; wicks Bahr Yukhre 169
Benaketi 351
180, 388; in Ch. 187, 188, Bak, etym., 303, compounds, | Bengal, Bay of, 111,* 119
Sunda Islands 188, *366, 307 : ethnic 22, 26, 302 Bennu 339
390
Bak-Fêng 304
Berosus 37, 96
Ass 343, 380 ; and Horse 343 Bakh, Baku 305
Bhiennaka, 56, 60
Assurbanipal 101
Bakhdi 26, 305, 307
Bhota 247, 395
Assyria and India 97
Bakhtan 26
Bibliotecal Catastrophes
Assyro-Babylonia 30, 71, 73; Bakhthyari 26, 305, 317, 350 345
Art in Siberia 14; Bronzes 1 Bak kwan 304
Bingani-Sariris 297
88; Words 13
Bak Li 304
Bintang 180, 186
Astrognosie 294-8-9
Bak mes nagi 26
Birds, enormous 170; foot-
Astrological Books 206 Baks, Bak Sings, 14, -20; 27, prints 14, 318; fronting
Astrology 89-92, 385
104, 141, 161, 195, 264, 72 ; head-ships 385; offi-
Astronomy 8, 74, 76, 77, 80, 302-7, 310, 318, 372; Ad- cers 353, 380; path 289;
82, 93, 297, 383-4, 387; vance 316; Beginn. 320; stations 271
Unscientific 294-5; For Chiefs of 320, 305, 319, | Bit-yakin 102
eign 179, 287, 295, 382 ; 336; Civilised 336, 377; | Black hair, no., 85, 87, 318,
Greek 217, 282, 391; In Date 341; Migration 71, 377
struments of 10, *338, 368, 288, 291, 321; Multiply | Black heads 20, 96, 97, 98,
379; Native 286, 294, 374; 332-3; Trade in Jade, 32, 380
Public Officers 20, 380 ; 1 309; Physical Type 318, Black, obelisk 97,182; people
South 108, 158, 159, 190, 377
109; river 266-9 ; teeth
290, 296-7; Tartar 289; | Bak wang 304
38, 115, 360; warrior 358;
Towers for 379, 343, 11 ; | Balance Scales 378-9
water, 325-7
Verifications of 6, 8, 39, Bali 110, 113; Strait of, | Blessed, Isles of 387; S.
88, 179, 277, 297, 381 ; 360
Fairy isl:
Work on 287-8, 290; Ob Balsams, 99, 270. S. Fir Block printing 345
servations 341
balsam
Blood, besmearing 342, 379 ;
Augustus 393
Baltic Amber 231.
drank 313: perspiring 219, .
Autocracy 203
Bamboo 104, 266; Bark 14; 224, 391
Avatars 173, 387
boats 11+,* 360 ; Staves | Bloodshed, wholesale 207
Avestic infl. 82, 173, 157, 364 198, 200; Tubes 340 Blue eyes 85, 318
387; five fires 164, 166 Banana 246, 390
Boats, char. 15; inv. 114;
Azure Dragon 358
Banca 108, 255
179, 360; Chaldean 105 ;
Banda 259
Indian 260
Bàa-n-pe 283
Bangka 108, 111
Bogdo-Ola 269
Baba kul 273
Banners 204
Bogh 305
Babylon 102, 157, 230; civ. | Bantam 108, 111
Bolor 308
in Ch. 70; and India 96, Bantings 260
Bonze 207b
97, 101 ; Cosmogony 127, / Barbarous Customs 131-3, Book of Hwang-ti 126, 127
175; Fire-drill 168 ; Fire 385
Boots, leather 176
mirrors 168 ; Imagery 91; 1 Barbarikon 51, 53
Borrowings, adapted 396;
Months, 12 Signs 94, *338, Barkul 314
first 380 ; x, xi
Names 358; Navy 102, Barley 379
Botany, historical 230
105 ; Sea-trade 91; Ships Barter 251, 374
Boussole 31 ; s. Compass
105; Zodiac 90, 341; India, Barugaza 51
Bows, composite 194, 379 ;
influences, 386
Basiati 100
native 360; plain 374 ;
Bab-salimeti 103, 105 Battle ships 115
star 298, 340 ; symbol 194;
Bactria 82, 315, 321; Chin. Bean, common, 227, 391 various 194-5
Coins 226, 309; Conquest | Bear, Great, 374
Bower, MS. 3131
projected 250-1, 254, 391; Bearded Merchants, 250, Brahmans, ascets 108, 197,
India-China 50 ; to Jade L 389; Races 365 ; s. Hu 200, 210, 386; influence
Mines 321
Bedstead 379
107, 118, 122, 123, 197
Bactro-Pali 198
Beginn. of day 79; of year | Branches, twelve 341
Badakshan 73, 77, 20, 180, 79
Bricks, building 11, 13, 379;
377, 384; Route 75, 225, | Behistun 157, 305
stamped 342; vaults 379
308
Beidawy 35,* 351 .
Brimstone 213, 210-6, 390
Bagaratch kul 267
Bell 210b, 380; Hanging | Brine, boiling the 379
Bagdad 26
379; of Peking 167 Brinjal 269, 270
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
401
Bronze 86, 88, 379, 382 ; art, Cave-dwellings, 196, 197, Cinnamon 191, 193, 194, 246
286 ; ingots 118; and iron 278, 374
Circulation, Earth, 368; ix
357; statues 211, 214; Celts, Shouldered 374 Civilisation borrowed 71,
weapons 214
Cementation 165, 167, 387 , 378; native 373-5; im-
Broussonetia papyrifera 251 Central Kingdom 151
ported 381-396 ; how divi-
Buddhagosha 104
Ceylon 36, 37; to Ch. 107, ded 396; ix
Buddhism, early 211; introd. / 251; Egypt 98; Rome Claws of birds 14, 318
210, 212, 389, 394
251
Clay images 136, 138;
Buddhists 249, 389, 394 ; Chaldean : Astron. 302, 341; | vaults 377
books 209b, 211b. 393 ; | Boats 105
Clepsydra 10, 78, 281-2, 378,
first 207b, 389; images Chaldeo-Elamite civil.in Ch. ' 333 ; Egypt 279, 281;
207b, 210b
376-8
India 280
Bụcket-wheels 361
Chance Sources 181-2 Climate, warmer 360
Buff coats 184, 366
Changes of Name 380; in Clinkstones 374
Bull: Flower-hoofed, 392, Sea-trade 81, 156-8, 239- | Cloth: coloured 369, 394 ;
242; Golden 364 ,
241, 259, 387-392
striped 201; woollen 200
Bulunghir 266-9
Chantabon 262
S. Asbestos
Buried Cities 309, 310 Chaotic Creatures 171, 387 Cloud-thunder orn 72
Burma: 117; Amber 39, 41, Characters changed 140, 184 Cloves 181, 252, 253, 257,
*232; Jadeite 40, 41, 388 ; | Chariots 179. 379
259, 366, 395
Nagas 89; Sources, 56, Charles the Fifth 187 Cluster casting 179, 388
117-8; to Szetchuen 64, Chau : kung 163 ; ma 163 Coal burning 272; stone
65; Tsenites in 56, 388 Chersonese trade 260
368, 391
Burning: the Books 36-7, Chess 366, 388
Coasting navigation 261
205-6; Lenses 219, 391 Chichiklik pass 309, 312 Cocoa-nuts 251, 390
Burying alive 132-3, 138, 210, Chicken tongues, s. cloves Coffins in earthenware 374,
&c., s. Siun
Chiefs early, 336
376
Ch’ih measure 340
Coinage 89, 214, 385; shapes
Childish ditties 92
useful, useless 118
Cakes, Sugar, 237
China's : name 39, 63, 64, | Cold food 160, 386
Calendar 92, 288, 384; Ba 66, 67, 68, 193, 207; An- | Collyrium 99
bylon reform 230, 279, 281, tiquity 142; Astronomy Colours symbolical 10;
288, 341; Hia 6, 143, 381; 371 ; Boating 112, 115; horses 211; planets *338,
Hwang-ti 329, 331; Tchu calendar 339; chronology 358; of space 135, 208b,
en Hiüh 81; Tree 24, *387; 6; historians patriotic | 211
Tsih-Moh 364 ; Vedic 281 317; isolated 29; limbos Compass, mariners 31, 45,
2; Yueh shang 46
71; linguistics 293, 3+2; 261, 283-5
Canals 11, 379
literature intricate 298, Complexion fair 377
Canarium 246
wrecked 206 ; natives 114, Composite Bow 194-5
Canopy 379
373-4; navy 106, 260; | Concave mirrors 165, 387
Canton 241, 245, 247, 248, outside relations 315, 381- | Conversation 168
395
396; pearls 242; poor | Cone fruit figure 72
Capitals, S. Kung-shan, states 314, 335; religion Conflict, schools 138, 147
Kung-sang, Puh, Poh, 135, 362, pass.; writing 15, Confucius 74, 118, 119, 125,
Ping-yang
345: to Ceylon 261 : Her 1+0-1, 180, 166; character
Carchemish 36. s. Karkem at 268, 311, Hira 261, 139; editor 143, 363 ;
ish
India 61, Pegu 56
historian 139; and Lao-
Cardinal points shifted 11, Chinese, character 147 ; in tze 139, 142
288, 299, 321, 378
Kansuh 328, Shensi 328, Confucianism 138, 142, 147 ;
Carmania 232
Honan 333, Shantung Books burnt 206, 209
Carpets 371
333, Shansi 335; in Cen- Conquests, projects of 203,
Cassia 193, 194; grubs 234, tral Asia 221, 392, 394 ; v. L 207, 249, 253, 315, 391
238, 394
Hiungnus 219, 220
Contending states 70, 145,
Casting :. Coins 388; Metal | Chorasmians, S. Khoras 386
379
mians
Convex sky 10, 378
Castration 384
Choul, Shul, 369
Cook, First, 161
Catapult 194, 387
Chronology 6; rectified 88, Copper 85, 87, 252, 333, 374,
Catalogue of Lit. 151, 210; 143, 172, 192, 354, 381; 379, 394: and tin 85;
of Stars, s. V.
table 397
vases 333; sulphate of
Cauries 235, 374; Metallic Chrysolite 365, 388
369, 392
118
Cîna 248, 395
Coptos 96, 98
[379
Cavalry 176
| Cinnabar 214, 367, 379, 390 | Coracles 11, 114, 208b, 344,
402
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Corals; Red 235, 243, 390,, Democrites 217
Ear; Elongated 121, 124,
392 ; fishery 237; white Demon Classifier 323
361, 386 ; haired rh. 388,
109, *360
Denary Cycle 10, 339, 379 182 ; left cut off 3+2, 379
Corea 114, 119, 362
Deneb 299
Earth flat 341, 378 ; circula-
Cos, cloth of 200
Derivation of writing 345, tion 216, 368
Cosmic egg 342
14, 15, 17
Earthen : carriages 136, 137,
Cosmogony: female 126, Dermata Sêrica 51
385; coffins 374, 376;
203b; male and female Desarênê 251
drums 380
127 ; Bab. 380; Ind. 387 Destruction of Relatives 132 Earthquake 261
174
Difficulties of Journey 308 East Barbar 134, 144
Cosmography 288
314
Easter Eggs 386
Counting rods 387
Diglat 22
Ebony wood 247
Cow, mythical 126, 129 Dintih-Babylon, 22, 23, 25, Eclipses, 39, 88, 297, 382,
Cowherd and Sp. D. 301, 318
383
371, cf. 289
Diodotus 214
Egg: cosmic 343; easter
Cross-bow 192, 194-5, 360 Disorder, General, 145, 146 386; tombs 374
Cross-legged 114
Distant regions 76
Egypt 3, 15, 80, 97, 106, 157,
Crow, Sun, 193
Divination 10, 92, 377, 379 183 ; Animal worship 171 :
Crystal 252, 394, 247, 182 Divine: prefix 20, *346; Self and Ceylon 168; and In-
Cubebs 180
ruler 151
dia 99, 100, 169; influence
Cubit, half, 378
Djemshid 35
36, 37, 76, 169, 352 ; jour-
Cucumber 220, 227, 391
Djurtchen 138, 198
neys 359 ; phylacteria 169,
Cuneiform, 14, 318, 380; in Documents suppressed 363 170, 171, 387
C. Asia 312, 321, 322 ; | Dogs: 380; Keepers 81; | Eight : Hindu Vasus 156,
latest 231
Mung 392; Mastiffs 47, 171-2, 387 : hundred years
Cup, bearer 380; bestowing 48, 49, 197, 384; Sacrifice, of Hien-yuen 327: wands
380
79, 132, 384; Star 298, 348 10, 340, 379
Cupmarks, cupules 328, Domesticated Animals 11, Eighteen small states 210
374
176, 343, 380, 381, 386 | Eizion-gaber 102, 243
Cupid's bow 194
Double-banked boats 260 ; | Elam, Nam 25, 26, 102, 105,
Curios, trade, 179, 182, 204, Crops 298; Eyed-ships 157, 318, 320
246
106, 178, 385 ; hours, 9, Elephants 252, 384, 394; Ch.
Cycles, 10; of ten 10, 379, 339
184-186; India 100; tails
twelve 379; 78, 93; | Draconis Pole Star, 289 |
nineteen 288 : sixty 379, | Draco 302
| Elixir of immortality 107,
10, 78; seventy-two 379; | Dragon: Season 359; five 108 s. Immortality
seventy-six 368, 391
175
Embanking rivers 11, 35,
Cylinder seals 343
Draughts 367, 383
334, 379, 342
Cyprus 102, 105, 187
Dravidian words 39, 100 Emblems en robes 11, 344,
Cyrus 102, 157; and India Drawings of statues 210b 379
198
Dress Emblems 11, 379, 344 Embroiderers 204, 384
Driving Animals 343
Empan 385
Drought: Goddess of, 329, Emperor 151, 336; two
Dahae, Daoi, 53, 354
350 ; Superst. 90, 386
great 203
Dakshina 122
Drums 204, 208, 329, 380 Empire 70, 203, 389
Damaskeening 357
Dry Sea, Han hai, 314 Emporia successive, s. Tsih-
Dams 11, 334, 341, 379 Dualist worship 90, 386 moh, Kuei-Ki, Mou, Tung-
Dancers 388 ; Girls 180; see Dulati 120
yeh, Hoppu, Kattigara,
Jugglers
Dumang 23, 318
Zabai
Darchiendo 50
Dungi 5, 14, 15, 24, 26, 32, | Erathosthenes 367
Darius 157
318. 372, 377, 378
Erh-fu, s. Ni-fu 329
Days by five, seven, ten 340, Duodenary Cycle 10, 340-1, Erh-sze, s. Ni-sze
378
378; Animals 356; Months Eridu 96
Daza râja 56
358
Erythraean sea traders : 96,
Dead on bush, piles, trees, Dyavaprithivyau 81
106, 198, 169, 181, 233,
374
Dye of Magnolia 242, 244, 298, 338, 385, 387; changes
Decimal Notation, 101, 341, 392
81, 156-8, 239, 241, 259,
379
387, 392; navy 106, 178,
Deluge 97, 100, 173, 324,
262, 387
349, 377
Ea 105
Esag-gil 231
Demavend 219
Eagle wood 247
Eschatology 348, 380
Demi-gods 172, 280
Eannada 307, 324
Estrangement of Ch. st. 138
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
403
Etymology Ch. 295
elements 79, 81-3, 174, 1 Garlic: great 230, 391,
Eunuchs 384
214, 362, 378; fairy isl. / small 379
Euphrates 102, 107
supr; notes 374; planets Garuda, 169, 179
Europe 114, 344
288, 358, 378; regents 361; Gate: of gates 209 ; of hea-
Exposing for drought 90, Tis 361
ven 301; Town 375, 379
386
Flint 166, 168, *208b, 210b, Gâthas 157
Eyes: blue 87, 377, 318; 364, 389
Genii, isl. 173, s. Fairy isl.
two on ships 106, 178, Floods 24, 173. 334, 337, | Geometry 183
387
347
Ghari 280
Ezekiel's animals 358 Flower boats 262, 370 Girls : dancing 180; nice
Flowery-land 4, 71, pass. | 20+; sacrifice 90, 359
310
| Glass 268, 271; sent for 261;
Fabulous figures 169 Flowing sands 213, 332, pass. coloured 182, 246, 247,
Fahien, Fahian 37, 45, 313, Flutes : single, double 34+, 392
385
380; three-holed 384 Glutton figure 71
Fairy islands 107, 108, 109, Flying-bridge 58
Gnomon 10, 150, 277, 378,
111, 113, 114, 158, 173. Fords 329, 331
Bab. 279; pierced 78, 277
178, 218, *360, 387
Foreigners : adviser, 215, God: chief 320; darkness
False : gems 268, 271 ; hier 207. 386 : aversion 204; 90; drought 329 ; fate
oglyphs 185
Lin-tao 207, 208b; avoid 162; fire. 90, 94; hearth
Family names 374 s. Sings 239 ; lore 141 ; ships 259; 162, 386; local 151 ; north
Fang-hu 107, 108, 109, 113; useful 204; welcomed 173: personal 380 ; roads
Fangtchang 108, 110, 113, / 134, 133, 204, 382, 384 211; and spirits 91 ; star
*180, 181; Lwan-wei 110 388
300
Fang-kit-Peng-lai 110 Fortunate isl. s Fairy isl. Gog and Magog 205
Fan-li 182. 191
Fossile men 347
Golanagara 57
Fans 379
Four: cardinal points, s.v.; Gold 85, 88, 204, 252, 328.
Fan-tsiuen 318, 323
div. day 339, 378; eyed 331, 379, 394 ; Ants 271 ;
Feathers; hill 187; mud animal 364, 386; moun horse 223; ox 364; statue
232; shed 267; wild birds' tains 19, 20, 347, 380; 208, 209b, 220; mother
76
seasons 9, 378
370
Female ; abyss 126, 129 +32 years 23
Gotra 89, 386
Fên-tien 128, 147
Fowl 380
Grass: cloth 374; dogs 137;
Ferghana: conquered 220-1; Fox, nine tails, 75
pampas 267, 271
route 308
Friction, s. Fire
Graving knife 15
Feudal princes 75
Fright, Elixir for 231 ; figu- Grease, valuable 180
Figures local value 379
re, 72
Great men, sacrificed to
Fines 379
Fu, mirror 165, 167
355, 79
Finger nail flower 190, 246 | Fuh 132
| Great wall 205, 209
Fir-balsam 265, 270, 381, Fuh-hi 22, 109, 149, 169 Greco-Bactrians 214, 224 :
383
Fu-li-garden 246, 391
Lycians 82; Romans
Fire: Avestic sorts 164, 166 : Fuh-muh 289, 371
214
central 339; director 161, Funam - Phnom - Cambodia Grecque scroll 72
162; drill 11, 166, 167 ; 188, 240, 247, 261, 354 Greek: Alchemy, 214, 217,
female 160; Aint 166,*208b, L 395; ships 115-6, 260
390 ; Astronomy 282;
210b, 364, 389; friction Funerals, nat, 374
Astrology 89-92, 385 : civi-
11, 13, 168 ; goddess 160 ; | Fung-ho, 235
lisation 217; influence
gyration 11 168 ; invented Fung-hou 324; Fung-hu 324 216, 230-1, 390-1; mer-
364: isl. 269, 262 ; of lit- | Fung-kü 319, 324
chantmen 394; state con-
erature 140; mirrors 16.), Fu-pa 394, 222
quered 392, 224; words
166, 167, 364; Mt. 215, Furnace, worship, 160, 162 220, 224-5 ; Lesser state
272; ploughing 168, 374 ; 217
225;
processes 168; renewal Furs, precious õl, 198, 371 Green-paint 204
160; sawing 168, 374 : | Fusang, 353
Gryphon 169
syringe 168, 364; Vedic Fu-tcha 262
Gtsub 13
166; worship 90, 94, 386 Fu-tze 236
Gudea, 14, 15, 26, 32, 96,
Fish-hawk's head 106 Fu-yh 209b
345, 378
Fishmen 24, 97, 169, *349, Fu-yu 362
Guild-Merchants 156
Gulel 195
Fish oil 180
Gablan, Gobharana 213 | Gurra 127
Five : fires 164, 166, 386 ; | Gandalarit, Gandhara 56, Gynecocracy 374, 32, 351
days 9, 378; dragons 175;1 60
| Gyration, fire by, 168
387
404
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
*2+2
Hagar 103
Hieroglyphs 19, 292, 375 | Ho-tih 114
Hainan isl, 110, 115, 240, High-cheek bones 377 Ho-tsung 268, v. Ho peh
241; pearls 241;
Hills and rivers worsh. 287, Hou 150:-Y 265, 335
Hair: animal 188; dress 374, 383
Hours, double 9, 339: fixed
72, 354, 379; pins 204 Hindus: colonies of 56, 57, 378; variable 230, 282
Haktai 250, 393
91, 108, 117, Burma 121, House 162, 374, 379;-cricket
Hami 314
250, 387, Java 259 ; Szet 163
Han : dialect 243: dyn. 60, chuen 52, 54, *196, 363, | Hu, bearded barbar. 176,
62, 92, 108, 206, pass ; 387; cosmography 173 ;| 207, 234, 249, 275, 316,
Huanti 253 ; Wenti 390 ; cosmogony 173-4; gods 363, 389
Wuti 53, 112, 113, 203, figures 169, 170, 173, 365, | Hwa;-kwa 114;-Miao 127 ;-
207b, 219, 230, 231, 235, 388; influence 91, 157, 1 sü 325 ;-ti niu 242, 392
2.30, pass, Yuanti 225
158, 173, 187, 2086, 389; Hwai-wan-tze 284, pass. ;
Han-hai 314
sea-traders 158; names in death 3138
Han state 146, 152
Indo-China 158
Hwan: kung 151; tchou
Handswipe, s. Shaduf Hindu Kush 110; Hien-tu 110; yuen 178
Hanoi, not Kattigara 64, shan 311
Hwang 151; ho so, 224,
Hints 292
336; Lao 148, 140, 151,
Hantchung 212, 213, 367 Hippalus 243, 394
209b; p'u mi 2, 6, 151,
Harpagornis 170
Hippocentaurs 169, 387 317, 324; shu 266 ; tche
Harpsichord 374
Hippostratus 224
or Hormuzians 181, 182,
Hatshopsitu 97, 99
Hippuri 251
189, 232, 235, 240, 246,
Hatti 102
Hiram 102, 243 .
366. 389, 393
Head: dress 82; tapered Hissarlik 351
Hwangti, pass.; arrival 381;
307, 318, 324, 377
Historical: periods 380; death 333; migration 321 ;
Hearth, gods of, 163
works 317
officers 317; in Tchuh
Heaven: cult of 20, 139, Hittites 4, 15
141; unsuccess 329;
377; and earth 79, 126, Hiuen :-Ming 90, 95, 160; years 330 i
128, 165, 378, 384; fire pu 266 ;-tchi 266 ;-Tsang Hwei : r. 179; influencing
166; Lord of 172; Son 267-313 ;-Wu 358. | light 339; luh, Hwuy-luh,
of 377
Hiungnus 50, 60, 61, 190, | 90, 95, 160, 162
Heavenly kings 23, *348, 365 | 219, 254, 392; incursions Huk 236
Heft-iklim 309
218-9; language 190, 223 ; Hukit 219
Heh : r. 266-9; tchi 115, 360 not a race 223
Huliang 113, v. Holing,
Helikê 289
Hiu-tu 211
Java
Hemodii mts. 251
Hoh kwan-tze 149, 289 Huma 230, v. Sesamum
Hemp 350, 382, 391
Hoh-liũ, Ho-li, 133, 165 Human : figures 133, 137,
Hêng-shan 240-1, 242, 389, Hoh:-she 216 ; tchou 325 ;-) 138; fire 166; rings 348;
392
tchung 237
sacrifices 132, 134, 138,
Henna 182, 235, 238, 246, Hô-liu-ping 208b
359, 362-3
389, 391
Ho-ku 301
Hu Nak Khunte 27, 319,
Herat 268, 311
Ho-ling 113, 262
320-1, 372, 377, v. Huangti
Hermæus 221, 223, 225, 393 | Honey, stone, 234
Hundred: families, inexact,
Hermit caves 196, 197, 386 | Hooked spear 192
24, 209, 306; standard
Hero-worship 79, 355
Ho Peh 90, 94, 268
339, 379
Hi-Ho, 286
Ho-pei-tsien 118
Hung: li 319; lu 266, 269 ;
Hia: 69, 150, 223, 381; cal- | Hoppu 241, 246, 389, 390, shui 325
endar 3, 47, 48, 381;= 392, 393, 394
Huns 217
Ketchi 307; in Ki 74, | Horary vase 280-1
Hunts royal, 184, 268
140;=Sha 321
Hormuzia trad. 182, 240, I Hun, or Hwo: Kuan 166,
Hia: hou ki 151; Ti Mang | 211, 237, 387, 389, 390, | *208b; lin=Huliang=Ho-
94; Ti Sieh 94
392, 393
ling=Java 181; shan
Hiafei 261, 284
Horns 180, 204, 234, 244, 388 215, tchou 269, 276; tsi
Hia-fu-tchi 160
Horse 204, 207, 208, 222,1 268
Hiaiki rhin. 179, 183
343, 357, 380, 383; har- | Hupeh 231
Hia-koh 276, 365
nessing 11, *381; Manes Husbandman 380, 379
Hiang-liang 345
dyed 357, 383-4; blood | Hu-shen 208
Hiao Wenti 218
perspiring 219, 224, 391 ; | Hu-sheng 284
Hien : r. 313; tchi 358-9 il Nisaean ibid -riding 176 ; | Hu: suan 229; sui 227;
tu 222, 226, 311
sacrifice 137, 362
tcheng 192; tou 227; tze
Hien-yuen 318, 326, 327 ; Horse-shoe tomb 119, 191, 149, 364
chiefs 322
386
Hwun, Hwan 348
1
d
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
405
Hydraulic works 312-3 Intercourse, west 131, 391 Jujube 47, 198, 374
Hydropyrum latifolium 217, Invention for Adoption 279 | Julian year 339
v. Soma
Irano-Indian influence 73 Jungs 30, 31, 75, 76, 91;
Hypobarus 232
Irawady, colonies 56, 387 Tartar 207; Teks 80, 284
Iran 35, 201, 252, 374, 379, | Junk 26); largest 26
Iaon, yuan, 221
382, 394; south-north Junk-Ceylon 256
Ideographical reform 86 . 283 ; ware 198
Jupiter cycle 78, 93
Identities 292
Irrigation 11, 379
Ju-tou-kou 370
Id-lal 120
Ish-ban 324
Jyotisha 282
I-hi-wei 123, 125
Iskander 205, 208
Ikshvâkus 236
Isolation of Ch. 29, 308, 310
Ilu 266
314
Ka, Bai, Khu, 348
Image, wooden, 333, 362 Issedons 35.5
Kabulistan 221, 393, 311
Imagery 89, 91, 114, 169, Ivory 99, 184, 204, 245, 388 Kachab 300
385
Kachins 168
Imbrication 357
Kai-lo-shen 215
Immanence of uncivilised Jade 41, 204, 31, 34, 40; Kai-mings 52, *196, 199, 346
373
chisel 34; cup 390 ; mic- | Kai-t'ien 179, 368; yang 156
Immortals 109, 114
roscope on 351,*312; mines Kalang 189
Immortality, drug of, 107, 309, 312-3, 325, in Burma | Kalas 280
108, 197, 206, 214, 217, *353, Nan-shan 325, 326, Kalingas 113, 114, 181, 247;
2 333, 270, 387; shrub of, Turkestan 389, pass. ; ob java 113, 393; navy 257
114, 237
jects in Ass. Bab. 32, 34, Kalmucks-Torguths 311
Imperial government 19, 309, 312, Hissarlik 351, Kam-mu 273, 274, 325, 370
380
India, 42 ; polytropic *351; Kan : ten 340; kung 287, 298
Importations of the Baks rings 264, 265; taste for lan, ran 246, 255; to-li, tu-
141, 377, 378-380; by Shuh 377 ; traffic 30, 46, 207, lu 366; tsiang 165; tsiao
191, 198; General 381-96 382-3-4, 390, routes 309, 246; yng 223, 394 ;
Increase of writing 87, 375, 385; white and dark 313,
yü 246
184, 185
318, 325, 384
Kandar pass. 309, 312
India and : Arabia 97; Ass.- | Jadeite 33, 39, 40, 41; Kang, c. 328; mt. 134; kiu
Bab. 97, 101 ; Indo-China Burma 388 ; pik 41 ; Yun- 219, 222, 309, 393, tai 261
and Ch. 67; Judæa 99; nan 41 ; white 351
Kanishka 367
Shuh-Szetchuen 64, 65, | Jaggery 366
Kansuh S.W. to S. Shansi
*196, 197, 369, 386, 392; 1 Jahve 122
328
Ts'u 117, 118, 170, 386 Jail 357
Kao, 118, 120; duk 68; hou 187
Indian : Archip. 114; Jangars 260
kiu 223 ; Pen jung 315,
Coinage 119 ; Cosmogony Japan, ancient 138 ; coloni-| she 207b; Sin Ti Kuh 76,
387; Influence 104; liter- zed 210, 367; no navy 140, 141, 143, 161, 162,
ature 174; monkeys 38, 119
334, 336, 381: Tsu of Han
78, 97, 100; ocean trade Jasmine, Jessamine 182, 234, L 161, 235,389; YangTchuan
89, 91, 107, 108, 158, 166 ; | 389
hiüh s.v. 76, 141, 143.
paper 251, 393; plants Jasper 33
Kap, Gafi, Kafu 99.
247, 391 ; rhinoceros 179, Tava 37, 45; 108, 113, 181, Kapilanagara 59; Kapila-
183; ships 247, 248, 260; 1 189, 247, 259, 261, 280, vastu 56
shot 247, 391 ; synchron. 393; J-Bali 360
Kapisa 368
367; trade 51, 66, 107; | Jéh-kwei 277
Karashar 212, 265, 267-8,
east coast, 56, 78, 102, 103, Jéh-nan, jihnan 68
272, 298, 325, 335, 381,
108, 109, v. Orissa ; Tu- | Jehoshaphat 243
382-3-4-8, 393, 395
yü 387, v. Anachorets, | Jen, tribes 61, 66
Karens, Karengs 59, 371, 254
Buddhists
Jen-Hiao 237, 370
Karkemish 36, 105
Indo-China, route 1.58 Jen-Kia-Man 66
Kasan 216.
Indo-Erythræan influence | Teti-Karakchi 289
Kashgar 308, 384, 395
387; Persian 386, traders jewel of Tch'en 135
Kashtu 321, 324
233, 234, 240, 258
Jews 166, 168, 253, 256, 257, Kasiap Matang 213
Indonesia 111
370, 394
Kassi 321; Kassite 323
Indigo 87. 374
Joan of Arc, Tungkinese Kassia, v. Cassia
Inlaying metal 86, 394
261
Kattigara 68, *240-2, 244,
Inscription of Yü 192; in- Toh shui 327, 330
247, 261, 390, 392-395
scriptions 380
Joshua's feat 218
Kauthala, Oudh 59
Intercalary month 9, 11, 79, Jugglers 391, 394
K'eh 280
288, 378
Juh r. 266-7
Kentu, India 50, 53, 122

406
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Ke-p'in 311, 221, 393, 230 Kitchung 350, 382
| Kuei or Kwei 246, 277, 348,
Kerwankush 289
Kit-hu 281
375; Ki 115, 178, 182, 183,
Kesho 67. 68, *242
Ki-tze 17, 192, 195, 360
230, 234, 263, 387, 388,
Khaidin Kua 267
Ki-wei 160, 161
389; Kuh tze 284; lin 55,
Khaidu gol 267
Kiü, st. 89, 196 ; extol 363 ; 58, 193, 236; shan 220,
Khamil 314
shu 195 ; sou or su, Wak 224 ; shin 242; tsang 147,
Khammurabi 101, 320, 341, han 324, 370, 371, 381, 382, 151, 175 ; yang 370; yu
345
386; Sze-Kao-tchang 215, kiş 323
Khas 331
308
Kuen-jungs 35, 89, 187; re-
Khest wood 99
Kiu: and Li 332, 334, 337, moved 356, 357
Khorasan 383, x
376 ; lung 67; to 345 : tse- | Kuen-lun, Kün-lun 4, 32,
Khorasmians 12, 30, 31, 38, Kutcha 86 : yuen 252 173, 266, 252, 256, 327,
73, 77, 78, 350, 357, 384 Kiueh Kung 366
371
Khorsabad 105
Kiuen-jungs err. for Kuen- | Kufas 114, v. Coracles
Khotan 74, 75, 77, 195, 312, jungs
Kukunor 86, 187, 313
361
Kiüh-ti 204, 208
Kumongs 66
Khrysê 51
Kiuh-lao 270
Ku Nak Khunte, v. Hu Nak
Khshathra-Vairya 74
Kiuns 36
Khunte
Ki.-ten 23, *348, 387; hun K'iun-yüh 266,-9
Kün-kuei 192
dred 78
Kiung 198, 254 ; sang 333 ; | Kun-mi, Kun-mo, Kun-
K'i 348
Tsoh 60; yuk 48
mings 61, 62, 66, 115. 22:,
Kia, Sing 307
Kiüt 195
249; fair haired 250, 252,
Kiah of Yn 339
Kun-wu, Kungu, 86, 286, | 273, 275, 394
Kiaï 92
310, 382
Kung : kia 319, 382; ku 114;
Kia-lang-y 344
Ki-yng 277
kung 161 ; Ngan kwoh
Kiang r. 199; liang 173 ; Knotted cords 374
140 ; shan 326: sun 318;
Taikung 171-2; Ts'en Ko-hung 299
Szeyu 179; tchang fu=
67
Kök-bozat 289
shan 326, 328, 330, 367;
Kiangs tr. 61, 66, 73, 219, Kokhab 299
tia pin 369; tsiok 237, v.
249
Kokonor 86, err. Kukunor peacock, tung 327; wu 262
Kiao mt. 333 : tchi 67, 261, | Kolandiophantæ 260
Kurla 325
370
Kom - the-long-robed 318, Kurma avatara, 107, 109
Kiao-tchou, gulf, 89, 103, 323, 327, 379
Kushites 80, 96, 98, 102
157, 158, 178, 240, 385 Ko-ngai 167.
Kustana 355, v. Khotan
Kiao-tung 215. 218
Kophen 221, 230, 311, 393 Kutcha, Kutze 222, 216, 267,
Kieh, spear 192; Kao 119: Ko-tou, Koh-tou 15, 16, 20, 365, 384, 388
Kuei 275, 382; shih 149, 192
Kutche 324
174, 207b
Ko-tchung 234, 237, 252 Kut-lu 89
Kien, drum 208; tchang 113; Kotymbæ 260
Kutthi 26
tchang 52; wei 60, 62, Kou: chen 300; K'i 270; | Kuvera, 74, 174
254
tche daria 269; tsiên 262, | Ku-wen 15, 17, 27, 345, 346;
Ki-fu 58; Ku luh 317; lian 178
spell. 185, 186, 199, 226,'
370; lien 190; lik of Tchou Krakatao 113
300, 303, 354, 355
80, *355 ; lü 266
Kü, shui 353
Kü-yao 275
Kiln-huts 278
Ku, tr. 326 ; wu 328
Kwun 170
Kimbun-Lusar 311
K'u 266; K'i 270 Kwa 270 ;
Kin Tartars 138; Mu 370 ; shan 266-9
lin 255; sui 166; pei 326 Kua or Kwa, lu 314; tchou | Lack of criticism 317
King st. 190; lu 211; | 216, 388
Lacquer 374; lacquered tab-
ti of Han 182, 214; tsing Kuan or Kwan 161; Fêng lets 345
230, 231: of Ts'i 262; 357; hiung 328; shu 214; | Ladies boats 262, 370
tcheng 328
y wu 89 ; tze 33, 37, 45, Lagash 307
Kings, mythical, 22, 377, 380 *352, pass.
Lamps, abestos 180, 388
Kingfishers 204, 208, 234, | Kuang or Kwang; si 110 ; | Lan: tai 213; tchou 367 ;
252, 394
tchen tze 327; tchu 41,/ tsang kiang 252
Kirghizes 30, 301, 355, 77. 1 256; yuen 267
Lang-ya, lang-ga 36, 89, 90,
v. Ki-lik
Kuarism, Kwarism, v. Khor 93, 107, 134, 137, 147, 148,
Ki-she, penality 209; shit asmians
152, 155, 156, 158, 160,
256
Kudang 38
166, 240, 385 ; Tai 352
Kitan 382
Kudremale 255
Lanka 36, 103, 106, 107; to
Kitchen god 160, 161, 162, | Kudur Nakhunte 6, 24, 26, Lang-ga 36, 352 ; Barusa
163, 287
320, 321, 378
112
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
407
Lao-shan 109; shih shing, Loh, r. 320, 328, 330; shu Mana, Mina 10, 36, 101, 104,
shing shing 275, 382
328; tchi 266; yang 125, 378, 385
Lao-tze 91, 95, 125, 139; / 78, 150
| Manacles 379
journey 122, 211, at Kho- | Lolo writing 45, 198, 201 Manazils 78; v. lunar man-
tan 361 ; no love 126, 127; | Lombok 110, 113
sions
origin 120-2, 124, 192, Long: armed 269 ; dresses Mandshu Tartars 136
197
318, 323, 327, 379; eared | Manes dyed 357, 383-4
Lapislazuli 187, 309, 312, 318 121, 124, 361, 386 ; legs Mang tr. 61
Law, in Egypt, Chald., 328, 331
Mango 238
Chin., 347
Lopnor 224, 267, 313
Ma-ngu isl. 253, 256, 262, v.
Lead, 252, 379, 394
Lou 300; iron 85: fan 172 ; | Moluccos
League, Su-Ts'in, 177
lan 219, 254 ; tchuen 260-2 Man-tze caves 197
Leather drums 329, 380 Love, no in Lao-tze 125, 127 Mao, Pleïades 300-1, 340 ;
Leí-tsu 325, 331
Lo-yueh 236
yü 200
Lendjabalous 36, 369, v. | Lü; shan 253 ; shen 345 Marcius Philippus 278
Nicobar
Lu 90, 94, 146, 156, 160 ; 'an Marco-Polo 169
Lenses, burning 391, 216 sheng 231; sheng 207b | Marduk 22
Leopard skins 99
Luan-ta 207b, 214; wei 110 Margarita 189
Li 121, 123, 124, 335, 337; | Lucern 219, 220, 229, 391 Mariba 102
tr. 334; coracles 215 ; of Lucky, 10, 379
Marinus Tyrius 222, 242, 397
Kiang 196; V. Kiu and
Marionnettes 38+
Li
Luhkia 233-4
Marine terms 105
Li: fang 208b, 209b, 368; | Luk, jadeite 41
Market of the valley 213
Kwang-li 220; Laotan Lumbini 211
Marriage laws 374 ; Muh
120; min 305, 335, three Lun-tai 225
Wang's daughter 35, 268,
meanings 347: ni 55; pei Lunar mansions 28, 30, 78, 271, 352
252; shu 204; sze 149, 81, 340, 350, 356, 378, 383 | Marvels, taste for 208b
204, 207; tchao Kiun 214 ; | Lung: hien 359 ; kia 305; | Mass of gems 266, 267, 272
tchi 246
pak 107, 109, 111: tsiuen Mastiffs, Tibet 47, 48, 49,
Liang 198; Hwei of 170; hi 207: yen 246
197, 384
187 ; north 271
Lycium 270
Masula boats 260
Library : state 125, 127, 210, Lydian coins 118, 191, 193, Mats 379
317, 345
217
Mathematics 179, 189, 387
Lieh-tze, Lieh-yu kou 91,
Matsya-Avatara 109
107, 126, 149, 152, 168, Madratæ 260
Maurya script 198
170, 173, 180, 189, 364, Maes Titianus 222, 240, 243, Magdeism 83, 104, 157, 165
pass. V. Hu-tze
395
Me, bleating 190
Life of 120 years 11, 24, 380 Magadha, Muktu 174, 176, Meandre 72
Light of Asia 210
365
Measures, standard 89, 378,
Likien 58, 222, 224
Magi 82 ; Magical tricks 174, 385
Limurykê 51
Medicine books 152, 206
Lin: erh 211: bu 176; tao Magnet 283, 284, 383 Media 82, 90, 93 ; trade 159,
207b, 2105, 213, 214, 215, Magnetic iron 45, 269
380, 385
330, 389
Magnifying glasses 176, 182, | Mediterranean 390, v. red
Ling: drum 208; ling 370; 268, 365, 388
lun 330; shan 269; wang Magnolia 242, 244, 392 | Megas 220
287
Mahacîna 247, 395
Men-tî, Mih-tze 149, 152, 180
Lions 222, 237, 394
Maiden drowned v. girl's / Mêngs, Muongs 186
Lists of civilisation 9-27; | sacrifice
Mêngtien 205
corrected 376
Magpies, 'Celestial 301; cf. / Mêngtze, Mencius 6, 149
Literary mosaic 55
Merchants' hill 382
Liu: 301; Kiu-tze 246; li | Mailcoats 319, 366
289, 371
Mercury 386, 388; and Mica
256 ; po shan 332 ; sha Makiun 45, 284
218, v. Cinnabar
310: shang 115 ; shu 317; | Malabar coast 99, 260 Merkhet 281
tcheng 222 : yng of Ts'u Malabathrum 66
Merv, amber of 231
209b
Malacca : peninsula 37, 291; | Meshed, tin of 26, 309, 311
Lo 115
straits 111, 113, 255, 259, Meslem 99
Loadstone 45, v. compass 261 ; avoided 181, 387 Metallic cauries 118
Lob and Kank 310
Malei 56
Metallurgy 11, 85-6, 165, 167,
Localisations, late 329 Mallai 234
379, 382, 386
Lofty terraces 11, 343, 379, Malûth 278, 279
Meton 10
v. Tai
Man tr. 196
Miao-tze 125
175
corals
408
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Microscope on jade 312, 351 | Monotheism 346, 348 Nan-hai 235, 236, 369; ho
Middle Kingdom 20, 22, 315, | Monsoons 244, 394
301 ; shan 308, 313; tou
319, 380
Months names 9; Akka, 1 299
Midian coast 96
Bab. 94, 385; Sem. Bab. Nan-yueh, Empire, 58, 62,
Midnight: day 73
9, 93, 358, 385
186, 209b, 233, 234, 235,
Mien, r. 196
Moon female 168, 378
240, 249, 250, 260, 389,
Migrations 310-1, 321 Moral laws, foreign, 38+
390, 391
Mih-hiang 246
Mortar 379
Nar 37, 229
Milfoil 92
Mortgage, antichretic 347 Naramsin 372
Military Art 164, 166 Mosaic, literary 55
Narcotic 250, 365, 387, 389
Milky-way 289, 299 | Mother of Pearl 98, 365, 387 | Nard 235, 391
Millet, Ital 374, Comm. 379 | Mother, status 380; Uni- Narru Marratu 102
Min, r. 40, 179, 196, 199; verse 126, 128; writing 14, | Nasks 206, 365
caves 197, 208b, 386; shan 305, 380
Native tr. 75; civilisation,
184; tchou 215, 330; yueh Mou 179, 183, 388; y 197 ; 373-5
115, 179, 209b, 233, 234, yuen 266, 273
Navel of Heaven 172
260, 389, 390
Mountains, opened 319; re Navigation 91, 92, 261, 181,
Minæans 100
verer 323
113
Mincopies 113
Muh Kung of Ts'in 207, 215, Navy, Ch., 112, 260, 262,
Ming-ho-tchi 261, 285; ki 386
390; foreign 103, 113, 115,
131, 136; ti of Han 209b, Muh-Kua 93, V. Quince, 178. 181, 259-263
of Wei 284 ; yueh,-guet Papaya
Nayee 282
180, 189, 204, 246, 257 Muh' T'ien tze tchuen 189, Nearchos 108, 157, 158, 189,
Ministeries, six ideal 151; 265, 313, *360
190
ten, 319, 347
Muhuratas 280
Nebuchadnezzar 98
Minnagara 100
Muh Wang 32, 77, 80, 119, | Negrito-Pygmies 111, 244
Mint, state 217, 391
131, 173,* 175, 265-71, 310, | Negroes 80
Mintpalm 250, 389
313-4, 384
Neko II. 106
Minutiæ, historical 251 Mu-Koh, 262; lan 2+2, 392; Nêlê, Nêrê, Nili, 39, 40, 255,
Mirdjai. Miritan, Mit, mt. nao 34+, 387; pang 67 353, 384
31, 325-6
Mal 300
Nelkynda 394
Mirrors, 231, 268, 392 ; con- Mulcts 379
Nema serikon 51, 53
cave 165; metallic 213, | Music, Duodenary scale 10, Neo-Monosyllabism 293, 342
216, 390 ; sun 167; moon 330, 340 ; seven 394 ; on Neo-Taoism 14ă, 147, 151,
168
stones 374
175, 206, pars.
Missions foreign 38-44, 51, Muslin pearled 257
Nephelium Iongam 246
pass.
| Mutsri 97
Nephrite Jade, 73, 77, 213,
Missions to Central Asia 50, | Müziris 99, 394
351
62. 200, *219, *253, 219- Mythical chronology 387, Nest dwellers 375
222, 230, 390-1; to India 23; Kings 22, 29, 323 Ngai-lao, v. Ai-lao
61, 249, 391
Myths 89, 91, 141, 168, 170, | Ngai-Nap 250, 389
Missouri Kurds 97
188, pass.
Ngan-Ki Sheng 207b, 218
Mi-sung 250, 389
Mythography 163
Ngao mastiffs, 197 ; shin
Mock objects, 134, 136, 137,
162
385; Suns 218, 389
Ngou-lo 233, 236, 369; ye
Mogan 290
Nabonidus 320; Nabonassar 165
Mogaung 40, 42
37
Nhitnam, Jehnan, 240, 241,
Moh-ya 165, 207
Nacreous mussels 180, 188 392, pass.
Mois 331
Naga race 35
Nicobar isl. 36, 108, 110-115,
Mo-li 234
Nagar 59
233, 363
Moluccas 253, 256, 259, 366, Nagit 102
Ni-fu Erh-fu, 329
395
Nai Hwangti 26, 269 v. Nimrod 98
Momien 39, 41
Hwang-ti
| 19-year period 10, 288, 332,
Momordica charantia 269 Naked men 38
*338, *341, 379, 385
Monetary Unions 385, 89, Nakhunte 4, 26, 320, 378 Nineveh 102
155
Nakshatras 355 v. Lunar Ning 5, v. 333
Money, metallic 36, v. coins, | Mansions
Ninus 38
ring-money
Nala 40
Nippur 297
Mongol sacrifice, 80
Nam-Elam 26
Ni-sze, Erh-sze, 220
Monkeys 38, 78, 97, 99, 100, Names, personal 74, 79, 380 Niscean horses 219, 224, 391,
182, 384.
Nana 320
392; general 220
Monosyllabîsm 293-4
Nancowry isl. v. Nicobar ] Niu 301
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
409
Nomes 36
Pack-animals 312, 343 | Persia 35, 38; and India
Nomi-no-Sukune 137
Pacorus 222, 230, 394
158; v. Indo-Persian; and
Non-Chinese st. 209b; Con- | Pagan, old 56; new 59
Muhwang 33, 268, 271,
fucianists 142; first print- | Pah shen 171, 172; sien 172 - 352.
ing 345
Painting 208. 367
Persian 230; five elements
Noon, day, 78
Paktyeia 157
81-2 ; gulf 96, 101, 157-8,
Noras 39, 42
Palmistry 92
394 ; seal 207; legends
North-god 173 ; influence Pamir, routes 308, 312, 321 330, 350; words, pass.
170; Pole 299; Route 249 Pan, bow 195; Keng 170; | Personal names, v. Names
Nose, beginning, 306, 380 Ku 317; tchao 221, 222, Pheasants 384
Notched sticks 374
394; tu 222, 393 ; tchu Phylacteria 169, 170, 171,
Novelties, liked, 180 .
256
387
Nu, crossbow, 195
Papaya 93
Philippines isl. 111
Numerical properties 10, 82, Paper, Indian 250 ; rags Phoeniciản navy 96, 102, 106,
83, 379; names 304
251; silk-refuse 251; cot- 109, 157, 243, 360
Nü-kwa 169, 175, 349, 365 ton 39:3; implements 136 Phenixes 328, 339, 353
Nü Tsi 351; Tsih 351; or | Parhelion 218, 339
Piao 277; p'iao 41
Niü-tsieh 331
Parrots 252
Pictorial characters 86, 185,
Nutmeg 181, 253, 366, 370 Parsindu 104
292
Parsley 229, 391
Pidjan 267
Past, living 347
Pien-ho 20+; piao 317; tsiao
0 11+
Parthians 214, 222, 214, 391, 218
Oannès 97
394
Pierced breasts 328, 331 ;
Observations, gnomon 78 Paste-gems 268, 384
gnomon 78, 277
Official intercourse 227 Pastors 20, 380
Pih 234; Pihwuy 79
Oh-pak 94
Pat 329, 350
Pih, Pik, Jadeite +1, 353
Old and new ideas 147-8; | Patamar boats 260
Pihậtu 354
texts 17 ; traditions 147; Patna, route 50, 51, 197, 62 Piled houses 374
Oman 190; amber 223 ; ships Patriotic histories 317
Pilgrims 367
247, 393, 395
Peach 47, 198, 368, 374 Pima temple 361
Omoplatoscopy 377
Peacocks 99, 234, 237, 252, Pine's fingers 270; fat 270
Oneiromancy 379
366, 370, 384, 388, 389, Pinlang 246, 252
Onesicritos 108, 158, 191 394
P’ipa 222, 393
On-Khilien 149
Pear 368
Pippilika 271
Onomancy 92
Pearls trade 180-182, 189; Pisciculture 182
Opening with W. 223
Ceylon 189, 237, 252, 255- | Pisé : building 377
Ophir 39, 97, 99, 100
5, 324 ; Hainan 189, 240, Pi-Ts'ao, 162, 287
Orange 247, 374
390; Persian Gulf 180, Pi-yh 196
Ordo 212
189, 234, 255, 365, 387, | Planets : colours and names
Ores, special 88, 382
389, 392; Muslin 256; 10, 288,* 338, 358
Organ, Reed 380
pierced 241; spherical | Pleiades 10, 78, 289, 300-2,
Orientation 162, 277 ; of 247, 392
340.
buildings 342, 379
Pegu 91, 102, 106, 113, 117; | Plough, W. Asiatic 379
Origin, W. 292; to Jade Shensi to 55, 64; yoma | Plowing, fire 168, 37
Mines 317
56
Plumb-line 379
Orissa 56, 117, 251; to Peh, or Poh 348; ho 301; | Po r. 308; Po tr. 61; dji
Burma 387
hu 358; Ku 55 ; lu 55, 255, 235
Orkham 322
354: ma 209b; shan' 216, | Poh 334; yao 268
Orpiment 214, 217, 390
272, 308; yh 355; yng 114; | Points of space, v. Cardinal
Ostanes 214
yüh 269; yung 52, *196 points ; colours 10, 135,
Ostrich eggs, painted, 99, P'ei 125
208b, 378
225, 369, 391, 394
Pellet bow 194, 19.5
Poisoned: four emperors 214,
Ownership 347, 380
Pencil 204
Ox: driving 380; waggons Pendant pearls 204
Polarity 283, 383
333, 379
Pêng 168
Pole, curved 379; star 10,
Oxus, 110, 371; Aksu 371 Peng-lai 38, 107, 108, 11:3, 1 289, 292, 299
O-yk-shan-li 268
110, 111; V. Tang-kiu, Poli 108, 110
Oyster pearls 252, 394
yun-shuh; zi-la-vie 59 Pomegranate 227, 231
Penongs 331
P'ong tribe 46, 48, 331, *353,
Perak 255
354
Pa region, treaty 54; tchung Periods 69, 70; disorder 145; Pool of Heaven 168
52
numerical 10, 378
| Pooped junks 260
217
· 410
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Population removed 210b, 1 Ratus 365
64, 65: Kashgar 308 :
263, 356, pass.
Recluses, Sien, 196, 208b, Khotan 50 ; Kiang 61, 66,
Potters 334, 375; wheel 343, 210b
219, 249; Kungtchang to
379
Reconstruction 316
Szetchuen 330 ; Ling ling
Pot-wells 343
Red berries 270; Bird 358 ; 370 ; Lin tao 213, 214,
Pottery 374, 382
corals 235, 243, 390, 392; 215, 219 ; Min-tchou,
Prahus 260
green 208 ; hair 19, 250, Sung-pan-ting 215 ; Nan
Pre-Chinese 168, 209b, 291 : 251 ; manes 357, 383-4; Shan 308 : Ningyuen 40 ;
astronomy 286, 289, 295, River 64, 266, 268, 325; North 249; Pamir 308,
371 ; civilisation 371-3 sandal 252 ; water 327 312, 321 : Patna 50, 51,
Prime Minister 319, 347, 380 Red Sea trad. 96, 102, 106, 197 : Peh-shan 249, 308;
Princess Imperial 10.3–51 157, 235, 249, 390, 394 Shan Burma 253 ; Shensi-
B.C., 222
Redeemed punishments 379 Pegu 55, 64: Shuh 60, 61;
Printing, first 345
Reform of writing 86
Sining to Min-tchou 215 :
Prison 382, 357
Regents of Space 131, 135 Sung-pan-ting 218, 384 ;
Profit on trade 214
Regularity avoided 339, 379 Tatsien lu 50; Ta - yao
Prognostication 78, 92 Rekem, Ailana, 243, 245, 40, 255 : Tai-yuen 331 ;
Prome, earthquake 261,
390
Tchengtı 40 ; Tung-King
Pseudo-Runic 338
Relatives destroyed 132 to Szetchuen 64, 65; Tsih-
Ptarmica Sibirica 383 Religion Ch. 135, 362
shih 66; Ts'in-Shuh 199 ;
Ptolemies 243
Rent in heavens 175, 349 Tsung-ling 308; Yarkund
Pu: coins 156; lai 95 ; lo-ki | Repetition of events 10, 379 308 ; Yemtsai 309; Yung-
223; shao 207, 220, 224; Reskem Daria 313
tchang 56
tchang hai 224
Res-mehit-ba 283
Routinism 139
Pucka: wells 343
Revolving sky 341
Royal boat 361
Puh 334; Hai 107, 109, 207b; | Rhinoceros 246, 252, 394; 1 Royalty weak 69, 70
Szemin 114, 233 ; Tchou ear - haired, India, 182; Rubies 309, 318, 365
Shan 231, 319.377, V. Assyria 182; in Ch. 183-4; Rude mercantile writing 199
Badakshan; T'ing-hu-yu hides 184 ; symbol 184; | Rukh 169
114
s. horns
Punt 99
Rice 374
Puppets in graves 132 Richis, Sien, 197, 387, 107, Saba, Sheba, Queen of 35,
Py 301
109
264
Pygmies 115
Rig Veda 173, 174
Sabæans 240; colonies 97,
Pyramid, stone 334
Right hand side 20, 380
99, 102, 103
Pyrites 156,* 208b, 2100, 364, Rimaku 22
Sabæo-Phoenicians 157
389
Ring money 35, 78, *119, | Sabbath 12, 378
Pyrolâtry 90, 157, 159, 160, 352, 383
Sacee, Sak 100, 359
386
Rings Jade 32, 379, 381 Sacrifice first, 320, 328, v.
River : boating 115 ; god Girls, Human, Horses
90; sacrifice 90, 381, 386 | Sada 251
Quadrants, Animals, 358, Roads, god, 215
Saddles 386
298
Rock crystal, s. Crystal Sadin, not Sindu 104
Queendoms 35, 273, 351 Rofia palm 170
Safar, Zabai 92
Quelpaert 110, 115, 210 Roman Empire: name 242, Safflower 220, 229, 391
Quinces 90, 93, 159, 180, 182, | 244 ; trad. in Ch. 244, 395; Sailors' yarns 107, 114, 168,
385
Ceylon 251; Sères in 393 170
Quisqualis Indica 247, 391 Roof: tiling 382; importance Sakwala Cosmogony 174
379
Salamander 188
Rope : foreign 192, 388 ; | Salar, Turks, 311
Rachias 251, 394
asbestos 187
Salmanazzar 182
Radishes 374
Routes, Trade : difficult 65, Salomon 39, 99, 102, 234,
Rafts 344, 379
308; long-lived 53 ; south-' 243
Ragha 82
west 249-253; Jade traffic Salt 318
Rain of stones 353
309; by : Badakshan 225, Saltpetre 369, 392
Rama bridge 58
308; Burma to Szetchuen Sambac 182, 234, 389
Ramessès III. 106
64 ; Ceylon to Ch. 251 : San-fên 128, 140, 1433 ; she-
Ramuth 236
Ferghana 308 ; Han- p'an 347: shou 75
Rarities 179, 182, 204, 246 tchung to Lan - tchou | Sand rats 270-1
Rastaban 299
367; Herat to Ch. 268, Sandalwood 99, 252
Rats, gnawing, 271 ; s. yel 311; India, Indo-China Sandals 379
low R., sand R.
67 ; India to Szetchuen, Sanf 240, 242
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
Sangani 297
Shalmanazar II. 97
Shiraz 189
Sangaræ 260
Shamanism 147, 374
Shoes 379, v. boots
Sangir 262
Shamans, Sramans 210, Shooting stars: myths 302,
Sapta-sindu 97
207b, 2086, 209b
371, cf. 289
Sapy straits 181, v. 366 Shan, not Tan, st. 59, 252-3, | Shora 369
Sargon-Shennung 26, 318, 395 : jugglers 59; Burmese Shou of Shang 184 ; Mi 38,
320, 372, 380
rante 253
41, 97, 117, 255, 352, 384 ;
Sari 23
Shan-hai King 19, 189, 192, Shan 333 ; Sin 367
Saribas-Dayaks 168
346; Hu 235; Kiang 246 ; Shouldered Celts 374
Sankara 234
Kin Kiun 332
Shu 93; Drum 208; Ban
Sarmatia 216
Shang dyn., Shang-yn 5, 30, 299 ; Sha 275 ; Shan 318 ;
Sassanides 82
69, 140, 143, 150, 170, 183, Shuk 329
Saurashtra Mandala 247, 395 190, 382; Ritual 149, 208 ; | Shu King 5, 139, 140, 363,
Savul 168
in Sung 74, 140, 143
pass.
Sawing firė 168
Shang-kiu 382 ; Kiun 205 ; Shuh history õl, 52, 120,*
Scientific expedition 261-2 Lin Park 230, 390; Tai 196, 237, 387; conquered
Screens 343
Mon s.v. ; Wu-ting s.v. 54, 354; articles 50, 65,
Sculls, double 385
Shang-ti 20, 21, 139, 380 219 ; traders 46, 48, 50, 55,
Scythian bow 194
Shantung : foreign traders 61, 77, 117,* 197, 198, 207,
Se or Sze, tr 61, 359 ; Ming! 36, 78, 89, 91, 96, 103, 107, v. Routes
162; Tche 325; yep or
156-7-8, 168, 170, 173, 365, Shuh-Han, dyn 67 ; Yao 276 ;
yip 213; yoh 347, v. Four 385-6-7
Ki 333-6
Mountains
Shao-Hao 46, 95, 141, 143, Shwe-Dagon 56
Sea, arrival 69, *354, 329 ; 1 316, 328, 331-6, 347,* 353, Shui Kia 45 ; King 346
going vessels 102, 105, 360, 381
Shun of Yü, a native 5, 141,
259, 260, 390 ; hunters of | Shao-hien 329, 331, ong. 214 143, 144, 195, 265, 287, 335;
Tats'in 2+5; oxen 329; | Sheb 281
in Tchen 141
traders, 37, 96, 107; change Shebat 9, 358
Shun-ho, Shou, Wi, 358;
91, 156-8, 239-41, 366, 387 Sheep 380
Wei 223 ; Yü Kwan 149
92
Shen-ti-K'oh 93
Shwoh-wen 208, pass.
Seal, character 88, v. Tchuen; She Huang-ti 132-3, 152, 172, Si: rhin. 184 ; Fan 299; Hu
seals personal 11, 343, 379; 203, 205, 207b, 2080, 236, / 269; Kiun 293; Shi 262;
ribbons 221, 393
389; Neo Taoist 119, 204, I Wang Mu, s.v.
Seasons, four, 9. 378
206
Si Yü 229; gov. gen. 221-2,
Seed-pearls 180
She Ki, pass., deficient 317 225, 393-5
Sekiz-jolduz 289
Shell-cups 252
Siang 185; Ki 366; Kiun 188,
Self-growth 292, intr. She-lo, Sila 174, 175, 207b, 235, 370 : Wang of Ts’u
Semi-animals 387
365, 388 ; Yh 287
179
Semi-ideographic 15, 87, 380 Shen 348 ; Shen 308; Tsê | Siao-Shih 369 ; Tchuen 88,
Semitic works 10, 90, 317, v. 214; Tsing 237; Tu 174: 205 ; Yuan 225
months
Yu 254
Siberia, Ass. Bab. 14 ; in-
Sennacherib, fleet 101, 102, Shensi-Pegu route 55, 64 scriptions 338
105, 359, 385
Sheng-tu 114
Sidonians 102
Sera, Serica, Seres. 51, 222, Shennaar-Singar 27
Sieh 5, 30
224, 226, 227, 251 ; yellow, Shennung-Sargon, v. Sargon Sien 173, 196; jen tchang
east, 226-7, 393: red haired, Shennung-hwang-tchib 319 270; Pi 176 ; Shing 107;
v. Kunmi; at Samos 369, Sheshonk 194
tcb'uei 161
393; and Sinæ 255 Shi 383
| Sih-Schi 371
Sesamum 180, 182, 229, 231, | Shifting of capital, s.v. ; | Sila, v. She-lo
386, 391
cardinal points, s.v.; em- Silence, western 314
Sesatai 166
poria, v. Changes
Silk : cloth 200, 204, 374;
Sesostris 76, 183
Shih-hu 261, 284 ; Liu districts 367 ; stuff 200;
Setaria 374-5
Hwang 215; Shen 287, trade 244; worms 196, 200
Seven days 9, 12, 38, 378 ; 298; Tan 368, 369
Silky amianthus 187
directors, 374; kings 146; Shin-Tsung 377; Tuh 60, Silver 85, 87, 204, 252, 318,
month 7th day 302 ; musi- 61 ; Yoh 197.
379, 384; mines 199, 255
cal notes 394
Shindu cloth 119
Simen Pao 90, 94
76 year cycle 368, 391 Shining at night 179
Simple char. 198
Sexagenary cycle 10, 78, 378 | Ships : battle 115 ; red, 180 ; Simurgh 169
Sha-Hia 321; Kiu 221, 308 Funam 115, 116; Indian Sin-Yuen-Ping 218
Shaduff 118, 119-20, 191, 386 260), V. Sea-going vessels, Sindhn. not Sindu, 101 ;
Shah Rukh 313
cloth 104, 200-1
Navy
412
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
yung 310
Sing, name, 24, 303, 306 ; Kia Spirits worship, 139. 208b, | Sulphurous gas 272
307; Ki 92 ; Su hai 223 l 280, 329, 374; of furnace Sumatra 238, 255; N. 110;
Singhalese traders with Ch. / 161; awe of 292; bringing. N.W. 235; S.E. 108; Java
251
down the 386 ; dispeller 38, 113, 297
Sinim, not Chinese, 68
of 386
Sumbawa 113, 181
Sining 215, v. Routes
Spirituous beverage 374, 375 Sumbul 235
Sirius 298, 340
| Spoked wheels 379
Sumero-Akkadian 22, 96, 98,
Sirpurra 307-8
Sramans, first, 174, 234
v. Akkaian
Sistrum 344, 387
Staffs 333 ; royal 379; walk Sumeru 173, 387
Siu-fuh 115, 210, 221, 367; ing 379
Sun, bird 193, 217, 388; male
Hi 95
Stamping : bricks 342, 379; 378; mirror 168; stopped
Siuen of Tchou 184; of Ts'i coins 104, 118, 156, 386 ; 218; mock v. Parhelion
174
ingots 191, 386
Sun-K'ing 149, 204, 207;
Siuh 93, v. Iunar Mansions Standard measures and · Kwang 218; Shuh ngao
Siün, sacrifice, 132-138, 362 | weights 10, s.v.
118; Wu 164-6
Siun-ki 289
Starry animals, v. quad- Sunda isl. 188, 236, *352,
Six, div. of time, 339 : periods rants; beast 129
366; straits 111, 113, 181,
69; states 145, 148; stores Stars, Pab., Ch., 298, 300, 261
81 ; Tsung 20, 26, 81, 348, 302, 340, 383 ; catalogued | Sundering of the earth 175
349
286, 287 ; gazing 374 ; | Sundial 277-9
Sixty, cycle, 10, 78, 378 Tartar 289; star - points | Sung 90, 92, 94, 133-4, 140,
Skin, boats, 11, 114, v. cora 24, 10, 12, 24, 378 ; also 146, 166-9; kia 305; pant-
cles; writing 169, 171, 386 ; v. Lunar Mansions, Astro ing 215, 219, 229, 300, 385;
of iguana 204, 208
nomy
Wu ki 149, 207b, 218;
Skull, deformed, 307, 318, State diviner 92; seal 204,
324, 377
207
Sunrise, day 99
Sky, figure of earth, 378; a Stations at Sea 388, 235 ; v. Suppressed texts 363
vault 10, 341, 378; earth, Fairy isl.
Surnames, first 303
water, gods, 173: Heaven, Statues 211, 214, 220, 333, Survey, v. Yü kung; of Ts'u
cult., 20, 377
362
192
Skylax 157-159
Steel, natural, 374 ; and Susa, Susiana, civil, 21, 22,
Slavery 384
silex, v. Fire
26, 83, 318, v. Elam
Small; 18 States 218
Stems, ten, 340
Susu, se 182
Sockets of doors 379
| Stitched boats 260
Sutra in 42 sect., 209, 213
Socotra 230, 231, 392 ; cf. Stone: age 24, 295, 371, 374; Suttism 132-3, 135, 362
| Mi-sung
bird 131 ; classics 17 ; | Suvanna Bhumi 57
Sofala 99
coloured 349 ; coal 368, Suy r. 134
Sogdiana, Ch., 314
391; heads 374 ; oxen 199; Swallow, prefect 354
Solanum Melangenum 269 sculptures 36, 38, 44; Swan-pan 13
Solar, distance, 366; year 9, tower, 51, 222, 312; wicks Sweet-flag 236, 246, 391; tree
378
187; wig 354
233
Soma, Tze-mai, 107, 109, Stools 379
Swords 165, 167, 204, 379;
110, 173, 210, 386-7 Storax 369, 394
iron 207, 382; famous 207
Somali coast 96
Storm bird 158-9, 170, 387 Syllabaries 16, 129, 380
Son of Heaven 151, 377 Straits, v. Malacca, Sunda, Symbolism stretched 295-6
Sona and Utara 57
Bali, Allas
Syria 102, 104
Soothsayer 207b
Striped cloth 201
Sze, rhinoc 179, 184; lo 58
Sorcery 89, 92, 385
Su-hoh 359, 394 : ſen 138; Szema-Kuang 317 ; Siang ju
Soul, double, 348, 380 ; triple Lih 308; tchou 158; Ts'in 230, 247, 250, 254; Tsien
348
149, 176, 207
211, 317, pass.; pin 58,
South, Açôka, char., 198; Suh-kiü 262; Shin 31: Teh tao 58; Tchou 86; Tchuen,
Arabia 80; Burma 59
311
v. Shuh, and Routes ; yoh,
South pointing boat 261, Sugar 182; drug 234, 236; v. Four Mountains
285; chariot 45, 283-6
cane 236; of cane 233, 234,
South regions and Ts'u 234; | 389, 392; of palm 233, 366,
west trade 119
388
Ta-Hia 50 219, 275-6, 330 ;
Soy beans 374
Sui dyn. 215; tr. 61; fire Hung 319, 323-4; jen 114;
So-yep, Sui-yep, 215
166; Ho 204; Jen 162 ; | Kwei 329; shik 211: tch-
Spica 302, 340
Min 138
uen 88
Spices, precious, 369, 392 Sulla Annap 378
Ta-ts'in 55-58, 122, 222, 235 ;
Spinning 374; damsel 301-2; | Sulphur 213, 215-6, 368, v. muddle 55, 58, 276; sea-
v. cowherd
Brimstone
hunters 245; Tarshish 182,
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
413
187, 243-4, 390, 392, 395; | Tchang, flagrant 384; Heng 1 ju 115 ; Ko liang 63; nio
traders 240, 242, 252 l 284
358; po 240-1, 255; she
Ta-Ts'u 345; yao 255; yh Tchang-Kien 50, 62, 200; 196; Siang 333-8, 374;
113; yuan-Iaon 219, 220, two journeys 219; dates tchung 183, 234; Wen of
221, 309
253; Assistants 219-22, 134; yai 115, 124, 240, 366,
Taas 99
230; report 249 ; in Tsen 390 ; yng 261; Fahlan
Tablets, city of 196; and' | 250 ; 390, 391
215.6
tripod 332, 378
Tchang-ku 328; kung 269; Tchuang or Tchwang, of
Tabu-ing names 30, 74, 79, lo 231 ; pu 246, 8, 330 ; y Ts'u 118, 184, 190; Lao
216, 355
46, 52, 149, 325, 330, 148; tchou, or tze 91, 95,
Tadpole char 20, 345
332
118. 133, 136, 149, 153,
Tad-svad-kama 123
Tchang Hwang 91, 95; 168, 170, pass.
Tagaung 56, 59, 117, 216, 385 hung 287 ; teh 189
Tchuen, boat 252; style 88,
Tagh Dumkash valley 312 Tchan-tan 252
198, 205, 338
Tai, towers 11, 343, 379 Tchao 146, 149, 179, 287, Tchuen, or Tchuan, or
Tai Shans 190
304; After 261, 284 ; Tchwan-hiüh 95, 140, 141,
Tai Kung Wang of Ts'i 171, Hwang-hou 250 ; Siang | 143, 148, 190, 192, 269, 286,
172, 183; Ho 156, 172 Wang 203 ; t'o 62, 233-4 288, 316, 329, 330-4, 336,
Tai-lu, Tai-yuen 334
5-6-7, 241, 390; Wang | 347, 353, 381; calendar 81
Tai-mou of Shang 73, 74, 76, 384; of Tchou 184: of | Tchun-tsiu 139, 143, 363
265, 275, 286, 355, 382
Yen 174, 180, 365; Yun Tchuh, priests 141; IU 319;
Tai-ngo 204: yu 107, 109 ; 325
lin 266 ; yung 161-2
yuen 331 route
Tche-pu, Java 189; tsiang Tchuktchis 393
Tákla-Makan 310
233
Tchung-erh 121; Kia 305;
Tall men 314
Tchehkiang 107
Li 161, 286, 289, 334 ;
Tamburah 222, 393
Tcheh-kwan 196 ; Muh 92 Tung-li 381; shan 266,
Tambourine 380
Tch'eh-fu 266-9
268-9, 325-7; shang 149,
Tamdin 22
Tch'en 145; t'oh 287
211
Tamerlan, tombstone 313 | Tcheng st. 90, 92-3, 146, 149, Teak wood 96. 98, 101, 359
Tan 367; v. Cinnabar; erh 152, 162, 167, 170 ; hiuen Teeth lacquered 361; v.
115, 124! fu 278; kiu 328, 93; hung 370; Mao 208; Black teeth
333, 381; tchi 33 ; tchou peh kias 149, 207b
Teh-Hien 317
110
Tcheng or Tching; Tang Teks, Red 161, 161, 162;
T'an 195
169, 170; tu 54, 196, v. / White 326
Tang 334; Mei 287; Sien Shuh, routes; Wang 31, Temir Kazuks 289
319; Tien 324; t'u 138 38, 43, 51, 169, 186, 208, Tempering iron 79, 81, *86,
Tao 334, 375; the 122, 125 ;! 255, 352, 357
90, 167, 386
of Huangti 327; and Tang Tchi-gur 355 ; Kia-hua 190, Ten: celestial bodies 339 ;
335
235, 246, v. Hunna
days 378; Hwei 339 ; Ki
Tao-sze-ism 95, 145, 147, Tchi-yu, or vu 318, 319, 323 23, *348, 387; Ministers
217 cradleland
4, 329, 330-7, 350; anc. 319, 347; months 24, 319;
Tao-sze-ists 91, 169, 173 Tchi-vu 323 ; yu-ki 337 names, cycle, 90, 387;
Tao-teh-king 91, 120-1-2-3-4 Tchih r. 266; Wu 266
Patriarchs 340 ; suns 339
Tao-t'iet 71
Tchinani 368
Terrestrial kings 33, 348, 365
Taoism 95, 138, 147
Tchinapati 368
Thatun, Sadun, 57
Taoists 148-9, preservers Tchoh-lu 329, 331-2
Thaumaturgists 218
141; Books 367
Tchou 30, 91, 95, 115, 120, Thein-ni 67; cf. Thinai
Taphussa, Bhallika 56, 387 141, 151, 183, 283, 350, 382; | Thimble, Archer's, 195, 264,
Tapi 79
East 70, 89, 177, 385 ; 379, 381
Tapirs 252, 394
West 69, 383; origin 77, Thinai 51, 68
Taprobane 58, 261
310, 355, 383, V. Shang 33 demi-gods 173-5, 348, 365;
Tarshish navy 99, 243, 245 199; late weakuess 146, kings 365, 387; Ratus 365
Tartar influence 131-2-3, 207, 190
36 st., Turkestan, 393
215, 284-5, 385
Tchou Kung 31, 43, 146, 151, 13 fairy isl. 206, s.v.; legged
Tarym r. 4, 267, 309
278, 283; Siuen Wang 86; bird 193, 217, 388
Tash kurgan 312
y Wang 46
300 winters 323; years 322
Tatsienlu, Route 50, 197 Tchou, boat 262; Kwan | 376 officials 373
Tattooing 328, 374, 379 145 ; Li 146, 150, 175 ;| Thuc 236
Tchai-ling 220
Ling 95 ; Mi 38; pei or-pi | Ti, divine, 190; tr. 61; white
Tchaispaish, Teispês 157 179, 278, 366, 387; shu 328; Kiang 76, 333; Kuh-
Tcham 240, 392
38; sin 33
kao-sin 334, 336, 381, 396 ;
Tchampa 242
| Tchu, of Hia 366; hi 162;! Ti Tchih 143, 334, 396
on why h
414
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
14. | Tsing-linge
971; Ni 218
385
Tiao-tchi, or Ti, 55, 58, 227, | Travelling Merchants 314, Tsing-ling 52, 54; Muh 252;
366
cf. Shuh, &c.
Yang 328
Tiawat. Tiamat, 127
Tree of Life 24, 387, *349 | Tsiü-Kiü 268, 271; Ni 213,
Tibet 13, 114, 344; bricks Trieu 236
215
13; fire 13; mastiffs 197 Trigonometry 183
Tso-Kiu Ming 148, pass. ;
Tieh, tiet, 85, 382, v Iron; Triple Walled 314
Tch'ih 333
mt. 266, 269
Tripod and Tablets 332, 378 | Tsoh, Tsok 60, 61, 254
Tien, dyn. of Ts'i, 159, 171; | Trisula 197
Tsou-hien 149, 173, 174, 180,
Ho 156; Ping T'ien-tze Trung-trac 260
207, 207b
149; Tsen 67; Yueh 56, Tsab Mandas-317, 319 Tsu, Kia, 383 ; Tchou 114
62, 66
Tsai 138, 145-6; Ki 317; Ts'u, st. 51, 115, 117. 118,
T'ien, heavens, 20-1; Huang | Kia 305
120, 134, 138, 146, 149, 156,
Ta Ti 300 ; Tchang 159; | Tsampenago 56
167, 207, 208; hist. 190,
Tou, err. for Tsen-tu, 172, Tsan 300-1; Tsung 196
191, 287; Tchwang, W.
247-8; T'O 54; Tze 1500 | Tsang-hieh or Kieh, Dungi | 118; Wei, W. 52, 55 ;
319, 377; Ts'in 299 Ts'ing : 5, 7, 24, 27, 318, 377
survey 171, 192, 346, Taic
270
Tsang-ko 65 : lung 358 ; wu Shan 193 ; Tseru 51, 354;
Tigers 184
208
and India 170; Peh-yung
Tiglath-Pileser 100, 278 Ts'ao 145 ; Jungs 333, 336 ; 197 ; Shuh 54, 354; south
Tigris 102, 319
34, 137; nu 266; 191; Ts'in 179, 190 ; Wu
Timor 366, 390
shin 161, 163
186, 361; Yuch 178, 191
Tin 85, 86, 255, 354, 379, Ts'e, not Tz'e 12, 94, 358, Tsü Kwot 230
394 ; Meshed 318, 322 ; 1
Tsuan, Charat 198; Mu 235;
Pen-lu 55, s.v. ; powder Tsen, st. 39, 52, 61-3, 191, Shin 161-2
213, 222, 390 ; Yüt for 209b, 233, 388; routes 63, Tsung: six 20, 26, 81, 346,*
Tsen-yut 66
191; stops 250 ; China's 348; Ling 308
Tinning mirrors 216
names 63, 91, 354; exp. in Tu, and Siu 384; kun 216
Tishtrya 350
Burma 56, 60, 63, 191, T'u: kwei 277 ; Sui 236;
Tithes, Ch. rulers, 150
250, 388; not T'ien 67; Yü 52, 54, 196, 363, 387
T'O 208
Yueh 56, 61, 62
Tuh-kiüh 225
Toad, red, 163
Tsen-pho 63; Tang Kiang | Tul-Barsip 102
Tokhari 53
62; tchen 67
Tumuli, old 326, 337
Tombs, horseshoe 119, 191 | Tseng 134
T'un-liu 210b
386; vaults 379; v. Deads Ts'i, st. 146, 148-9, 155, 156, Tung, valley 312, 382 v.
Toothpicks 328, 331
159, 172, 214, 218; Hiai bronze; hai 179, 209b,
Torguths 311
book 170 ; Siuen, W. 108, 233; hu 176, 366: kien
Tortoise, Avatar 173: mt. 170 ; Wei, W. 108, 110 kang muh 75, 76, 317;
274; shell 92, 244 ; scorch- Tsiang Kiu-ju 160-1
kien wai ki 317; king 44;
ed 377
Tsie-lan 58
ngou 233, 260-2, 299; yao
T'ou 236; Tou-hien 215 Tsieh 24, 339
92; ye, yeh 115, 179, 234,
Towers, Astron. 11, 343, Tsien, r. 196, 199; Li 204, 370, 388-9; yueh 233, 260 :
379
207; shan 196; Sing Tze yun 186
Town-gates 355, 379
246
Turfan, Tan-kiü 267, 333,
Tong-ti-jen 115 or Tung-ti-Tsih-Moh 36, 89, 92, 106, 383-4
107, 109, 118, 134, 137, Turiva 231
Tong-King or Tung-King v. L 147, 156, 158; ruined 178, Turkestan 220, 250, pass.
Nhitnam, Nan-yueh, Kat-|
1 206, 364, 385
Turkoman horse 220, 224
tigara
Tsih-shih 66; Tsao 390 Turquoises 318
Trade; profit 244; routes Tsin 188; former 187; W. Tusks 180, v, ivory
30, s.v., N. E. 321, S.W. 261; Hou 284; Wen 160 Tusser silk 105, intr.
48, 394, Turkestan 320 ; 1 Ts'in, st. 51, 55, 57, 60, 77, | Twelve, hours 279 ; leaders
upnoticed 314
92, 95, 115, 131, 133, 145, 20 ; months 9, Bab. 10,
Traditions and legends 377, 146, 162; Empire 203; | 12,' *93, *338, 385; notes
380
Than-Tan, 51, 55, 57, 244, 340, 379; states 92, 380 ;
Transformation 208b, 214 246 ; not China 63, 64. 66, Ts'e or Tz'e 94, 358, 385;
Transmogrified Notions 33 67, 68, 193, 207: books years 10; zodiac 92-3-4,
Transmutation 89, 214, 390 saved 205; and Han 210; / 340-1, 350, 378
Transplantation 230, 246, Hiao Kung 149; Hwei, or 24 year-parts or tsieh 9, 339,
391
Hwuy Wang, 52 Muh 378; stellar points 340, 378
Transhipments 388
Kung 133, s.v.; SheHwang- Two fairy isl. 109, 111, 181 ;
Trappaga 260
ti, s.v.; and Shuh 199, 354 ; | sosses 24, 380
Travellers on Pamir 312 westwards 207, 213, 388 Tyr, Tyrians 102, 243
jen
ALPHABETICAL INDEX.
415
Tze: kang 133; kao 207b, / Wang-shen 216 ; Sun Mwan | Wu-suns 15, 218, 222, 224,
210b; kwei 196; mai, or 6; Tcheng 203-4; ti 196 230-1, 250, 254, *391, 393;
wei 107, 109, 173, 220; | War, chariots 11, 344; for tchu 236, 389 ; tien 128,
shen 91 an tch'an 152 ; ' horses 220
140; Ting 73, 383 ; tou
Tch'ang 91, 95 : wei 287 ; | Washing the Weapons 342, | 365; tu 213-4, 234; Wang
yang 170
379
115, 146, 149, 190, 384;
Tzen, or Tsen, tu, not Tien Water; male 160; basins y 268
tchu 246-7
197; sweep 361, v.shaduff;
wheel 45, 120, 361
Weak water 268, 327, 332 | Y tr. 75; Mou 195 ; Tsu
Uan-na-sha 311
Weaving 374
377 ; Tsun Kou 211, 222,
Ubua 105
Wedge 379
393; Yn 275-6
Udumi 100
Wei, st. 90, 94, 146-9, 162, | Ya, Tchou, 40, 61
Ugro-Altaic 317
179, 190, 287; Hwei W. | Yah 314; Yü, or Ya-yüh, 329,
Ukkalamandala 56, 387
149; and Tsin 301; of 332
Ukau 34
Ts'i 173
Yak 100
Ulai 105
Wei, Northern 45, 187, 218 Yakut 179, 182, 365, 387-8
Ulgan 364
Wei-Kan 119. 191-3, 386; Ki Yang : barrier 308; r. 266 ;
Umbrellas, state, 379
366; tien 196 ; yen 171 Kiah 383 ;, kwuh 273 ;
Unas, pyramid, 283
Weights and Measures 10, mirror 167, 364; Tze
Uncivilised immanence 373 93, 378, 385
Kiang, crossed, 193, 384 ;
Undas Arman 378
Welding 375
mouths 158, 178, 190 ;
- Unlucky; days 10, 379; Wells 343, 379
Tchu 149, 152; Yh 156
words 10
Wen, of Tsin 161; Shan 66 ; | Yao, or Ti-yao, 141, 143, 144,
Unsuccess of Huangti 329 Tsu 377; tze 149, 152 ; | 237, 334-5; Ki-Tchou 141;
Urba'u 22
Wang 30, 190
and Shun 6, 114, 140-1,
Uro burial 374
West, char. for 5; trafic 309 169, 335
Urnina 307
Western Civilisation 396 Yao 252, v. Ta-Yao; hills
Ursa-major 286, 289, 374 ; Wheat 11, 379
326; potters 375; Jen 530;
minor 300
White, Ti 328, v. Five Tis; Min 325; Shui Kia 198;
Ur-sze for Ni-sze 227
Tiger 358; v!ctims 80
Tchi 266
Uruk 22
Wild silk 198, 200
Yaon, Ferghana, 391
Usurtasen III,, 359
Wind, char. 15; S.W. demon | Yarkand, rcute, 308, 393;
Ut 364
72; sacrifices 138
Daria 309, 313
Winter, solstice 378; year 79 Yavnai 105
Woman status 347, 380 Yazatas 83
Vadira 197
Wonderful 88, 91, 138, 147, Ye-Kwang 179, 180, 204 ;
Vases 379 ; Carved 180, 388; 166
Lang 62, 193 ; Si-Ming 234
Copper 333
Wood, boats 114; figures Year, divisions 9, 378; great
Vasus, Eight 156, 171-2, 387 134; scorched 374
11; name 13; solar 378;
Veda 166
Woollen cloth 200-1
ten months 24, 319; vernal
Veined Stone 188
Worships, new, 131-5
equinox 79; winter solstice
Vermilion 204
Writing, Ch.; Origin 14, 15, 79
Vernal Equinox, year 79, 18, 292, 380 V. Ku-wen ; | Yeast 383
378
Reform 86, 204, 185; and Yeh 90, 94, 261, 285
Vertical Writing 15, 380 India 198 ; v. Hieroglyphs Yellow r. 5 ; fingered 181-2,
Victims 137
Writing; Embryo 374; Dju- 1 246, 389, v. Hwang-Tchi ;
Vine 223, 230, 379, 391
rtchen 198; on Skins 169; rats 188, 266-7
Vitreous Ware 252, 394
Lols 198 ; Shui Kia 198; / Yemen 99
Vrihashpati 93, 94
Tsuan 198
Yem-Tsai 309, 311, 224
Wriggling Char. 192 | Yen, of Tsin, 92; mt. 266 ;
Written Tablets 332, 377 ; | nat. 184; st. 146, 148, 174,
Wakhan, Kiü-su, 308, 324, Texts 382 ; v. tripod
176, 180, 207b, 218, 388 ;
371, 381-2, 384
Wu, st. 92, 145, 155, 158, Tchao W. 108, 149; Hwo-
Waksh, Oxus 371
162, 165, pass.
Shan 272, 327 ; Ki, Kara-
Walnut tree 225, 229, 391 Wu-hao 360; heng 82; Hien shar, 212, 222, 309, 384;
Wan 204; Min 304; Sing 304 or Mokan 74, 76, 286, 289, Ling 191 ; Tou 115; Tze-
Wang 150 ; Mêng 76 265, 298, 355, 371, 382 ; hwan Shan 269
383
176; Ki 191 ; Kiang of | Yenissei 5, 383
Wang-Mu, Si, 32, 35, *264, Yueh 178; ley or luy 221, | Yh-King 16, 30, 147, 151,
266-7, 272-4, 325, 335, 365, 225, 393 ; ling of chao 345; Shou 106; Tchou 41,
381-4, 388
176
63, 115, 369
416
ALÞHABETICAL INDEX.
Yn dyn. 115, v. Shang- v. Hwangti; Shan 327 ; ; Yunnan 56; Tade 34; Tadeite
Yn
Sin 333-4, 336; Siüh 246;| 41; Pegu 389
Yn and Yang 10, 125, 148, ! Yü 207
Yung 137, 208b; tr. 199 ;
165, 174. *338, 350, 384 | Yuan-Yaon 221, 392 ; Kiü Kiu, Greek 225 ; Shing
Yn-han 266; Kao 287 ; T'ang 208b
266; Tchang 39, 253, 394 ;
170
Yueh, st. 92, 107, 155-6, 158, Tcheng 329
Yng-ling 156; Lung 319; 165, 178-9, 218, 262,* 357, | Yüs 304
Tchou 107-9
360, 387; mariners 112,
Yoke 379; of heavens 300; 115, 260, 262; and Wu
of horses 381
182
Zab r. 319
Youi 119
Yueh-pan, Sol-pan 215-16 ; Zabai 240, 242, 246, 392, 393
You-yü 207, 211, 386
Shang 31, 43-4, 46,384, 393; 1 Zafar 100, 109
Yü the Great 32, 169, in Wang 193; Sui, or Hi 61, | Zejan-jolduz 289
script. 192, 195 ; st. 335 ; ! 344 ; Ti 50, 60, 218, 223, Zend-Avesta 164, 166, 323,
Hiung 190; Hwang 361; 250, 269, 275-6, 369, 392 350, 365
Kiang 109, 173; Kung 6, 394
Ziggurats 343
33, 180, 186, 190, 192; Lo Yuen-Kiao 107, 109, 114 ; Zikura 129
58; Men 308, 310; She 33; 1. Kiu 236; Ling 140 Zikuv 127, 129
Siang 186; Tchang 115; / Yüh-heng 289
Zodiac 92, 93, 94, 340-1, 350
Wei 52, 196; Y 110, 196 Yulduz, plateau 273, 276, Zodiacal names 378, 385 ;
Yu-Hu 333, 336; Kiu-li 225; L 284
stars 286, 334
Kwei 333, 336; Nai Hwang, | Yun-lei-wen 72 ; Shuh 110
Zoroastrism 157
ti 27, 88, 127, 160, 319, 328
List of Important Errata.
76
13
Page. Lane. Read.
10 23 ten Akkadian or cognate
11 3 the notion that
13 21 Wylie, Notes 86.
28 diverged 3) those which
have entered China
through intermediary
and later channels.
1 63) Wheat . . .
Trans-Kaukasische
called Ko-tou
12 the Yh-King
7 which have
4 country (yü kung, I, ii, 15)
27 that Shun venerated
5 p. 486) and
23 Shangti and Tien
11 in 2285 B.C.
8 that Kutchi or the like
25 in 2285 B.C.
22 n. 103.- Vigoureux, La
Bible, iv, 463
17 however reckoned as
8 tchou and Liang-tchou
4 Yung-tchang
18 Bk. II, fol. 19
28 Jade of Turkestan
12 having entered China in the
39 discovered, which, though
20 of Switzerland
9 Wei dynasty, cf. T. P. 752,
7. The
47 23 indegenous in China, and
48 3 SHANG-Yn dynasty
,,n.218 Shuh wang pen-Ki
50 20 sent in 139 B.C.
, 24 Bactria in 128 B.C.
34 Tchang Kien
52 6 circà 475 B.C.
55 24-5 Li-ni=parted ears
57 n.275 afterwards, by Fah-hien
60 last returned in 126 B.C.
6921 17974 or better 1801 B.C.
70 2 from Shensi to Tchihli
5 capital eastwards
29 B.O. 1466 or better 1554
Page. Line. Read.
4 1557 or 1668 B.C.
5 1466 or 1554 B.C.
13 1450 or 1537 B.C.
16 1414 or 1503 B.C.
10 Chinese, does not seem to
11 about 1091, not 1032 B.C.
83 2 origines et leur
13 B.C. 2282, arrival
38 ideas of transformation but
not of alchemy
86 1 a branch
90 24 time of drought
92 36 have a song
93 28 in China by
94 13 in 655 (5, V, 9).
100 n. 4201.4 note 422. Mr. Houghton
5 the Hanuman of
n.424 3 of Manu and the Fish
101 n.425 6 pp. 125-6, and
109 1.1 (ought to be at the foot of
the page)
109 n.453 1.2 Sapphar metropolis
, n.456 ,, Peug-lao
110 n.467 1.8 (Bas. 2375-7896)
, , 11 or Barbarians in the
South-East
114 n.4771.9 Shan Hai King, 18, 5
119 n.490 1.5 the Wei kan
120 1. 6 third century
121 l. 22 Abhiraja
131 title FOURTH PERIOD : 770-481
B.C.
,, 1. 15 in the west, in 986 B.C
133 18 Daughter, an undescribed
138 (paragraph) 155 (not 147)
140 8 he retained and extolled
143 n.589 1.3 p. 32 and 212
143 n.599 1.2 of the Shang-Yn
,, n.602 1.3 Kao-yang Tchuen hiüh
145 title 481-221 B.C.
151 1.1 she Hwang-ti
158 1. 35 since the previous
160 30 the teeth of the standing
sacrificial
161, 162, 163 have been misnumbered
155, 156, 157
166 n. 668, 1. 2 Kiv.' 869, f. 5 v. and
Kiv. 321, f. 1
170 n. 692, 1. 7 13239-10157 Bas.
187 n. 761, 1.9 Reinaud
188 n. 762, 1. 6 Sunda islands except
Timor
189 n. 772 Emerson Tennant
193 n. 796, 1. 11 The Kassia forest
204 l. 23 and gold and tin
B.C.
11
29 B.C. 1269 or better 1331
B.C.
3 a blank, and not
4 about 243 B.C.
31 1845 or 1848 B.C.
42 1710 or 1775 B.C.
44 1596 or 1724 B.C.
47 1584 or 1712 B.C.
48 1575 or 1686 B.C.
418
LIST OF IMPORTANT ERRATA.
Page. Line, Read.
208, 1. 6 HAN Wen-ti
209, 1. 7, C 350 A.D.
210 n. 888, 1.2 Tchang-sha
, , l. 3 Kiu Kiang
- 1. 6 Liao-tung
210 following pages numbered 207b,
208, 209b, 210b, 211
22220 marriage in 105 B.C.
, 21 came back bringing home
246 1. 3 Fu-li gardens
, 1.: 18 and Kan tsiao
282 n. 1219, 1.1 Shway yo
i 284 1. 32 Shih-hu, third king
312, n. 1291, 1. 12 Badakshan
319 1. 6 (paragraph) 345
325 1. 25 of the I chao Yun
328 1. 22 and at Kang (Kin-tcheng
or
, 1. 30 Pierced breasts
337 n. 1379 Ti Wang She K2
Page. Line. Read.
341 add. 47, 1. 4 p. 331 it must
344 a. 69, 1. 7 Yueh-suż kiun
, 1. 10 788, 6; 65, 3 ; 769, 1
349, a. 126, 1. 6 incidents, like those in
353, a. 195, last thế Lan-toang Kiang
354, a. 331, 1. 3 of Kattigara with
356, a. 347, 1. 4 removed the Jungs to
357, a. 363, 1. 4 the Küen Jungs
359, a. 396, 1. 4. Cf. Fong suh.
359, a. 414, 1.2 by Dr. Spranger,
made of
360, a. 474, 1. 1 séparant... Ile de Bâli
362, a. 560 (not 650)
371, a. 1259, 1. 6 from China, cf. p.289
374, 1. 23 cliffs, notched sticks
375, 1. 5 of various sorts
376, n. 1391, 1. 3 Miao Man hoh tchi
381, $ 391 to the S'HANG, C. 1954-1686
B.C.
386, 1. 7 fire god of the hearth

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