The Awakening of China Part 10

The burning of the books and the slaughter of the scholars had filled the public mind with horror. The oppressions occasioned by the building of the Great Wall had excited a widespread discontent; and Liu-pang, a rough soldier of Central China, took advantage of this state of things to dispossess the feeble heir of the tyrant.

He founded a dynasty which is reckoned among the most ill.u.s.trious in the annals of the Empire. It takes the name of Han from the river on the banks of which it rose to power. When Liu-pang was securely seated on the throne one of his ministers proposed that he should open schools and encourage learning. "Learning," exclaimed the Emperor, "I have none of it myself, nor do I feel the need of it. I got the empire on horseback." "But can you govern the empire on horseback? That is the question," replied the minister. To conciliate the favour of the learned, the Emperor not only rescinded the persecuting edicts, but caused search to be made for [Page 106]

the lost books, and inst.i.tuted sacrificial rites in honour of the Sage.

Old men were still living who had committed those books to memory in boyhood. One such, Fu-seng by name, was noted for his erudition; and from his capacious memory a large portion of the sacred canon was reproduced, being written from his dictation. The copies thus obtained were of course not free from error. Happily a somewhat completer copy, engraved on bamboo tablets, was discovered in the wall of a house belonging to the Confucian family. Yet down to the present day the Chinese cla.s.sics bear traces of the tyrant's fire. Portions are wanting and the lacunae are always ascribed to the "fires of Ts'in." The first chapter of the Great Study closes with the pregnant words, "The source of knowledge is in the study of things." Not a syllable is added on that prolific text. A note informs the reader that there was a chapter on the subject, but that it has been lost. Chinese scholars, when taxed with the barrenness of later ages in every branch of science, are wont to make the nave reply, "Yes, and no wonder--how could it be otherwise when the Sage's chapter on that subject has been lost?"

After the second reign, that of Hwei-ti, we have the first instance in Chinese history of a woman seizing the reins of government.

The Empress Lu made herself supreme, and such were her talents that she held the Empire in absolute subjection for eight years.

Like Jezebel she "destroyed all the seed royal," and filled the various offices with her kindred and favourites. At her death they were butchered without [Page 107]

mercy, and a male heir to the throne was proclaimed. His posthumous t.i.tle _Wen-ti_, meaning the "learned" or "patron of letters,"

marks the progress made by the revival of learning.

One might imagine that these literary emperors would have been satisfied with the recovery of the Confucian cla.s.sics; but no, a rumour reached them that "there are sages in the West." The West was India. An emba.s.sy was sent, 66 A. D., by Ming-ti to import books and bonzes. The triad of religions was thus completed.

Totally diverse in spirit and essence, the three religions could hardly be expected to harmonise or combine. Confucianism exalts letters, and lays stress on ethics to the neglect of the spiritual world. Taoism inculcates physical discipline; but in practice it has become the mother of degrading superst.i.tion--dealing in magic and necromancy. Buddhism saps the foundations of the family and enjoins celibacy as the road to virtue. Metempsychosis is its leading doctrine, and to "think on nothing" its mental discipline. It forbids a flesh diet and deprecates scholars.h.i.+p. Through imperial patronage it acquired a footing in China, but it was long before it felt at home there. As late as the eighth century Han Yu, the greatest writer of the age, ridiculed the relics of Buddha and called on his people to "burn their books, close their temples, and make laity of their monks."

Yet Buddhism seems to have met a want. It has fostered a sympathy for animal life, and served as a protest against the Sadducean tenets of the lettered cla.s.s. It long ago became so rooted in the minds of [Page 108]

the illiterate, who form nine-tenths of the population, that China may be truly described as the leading Buddhist country of the globe.[*]

[Footnote *: THE APOTHEOSIS OF MERCY

A LEGEND OF KUANYIN PUSA--IN NORTHERN BUDDHISM

Two images adorn this mountain shrine, Not marble chiselled out by Grecian art, But carved from wood with Oriental skill.

In days of yore adored by pilgrim throngs, They languish now without a wors.h.i.+pper.

High up a winding flight of stony steps See Gautama upon his lotus throne!

More near the gate, her lovely face downcast, Sits Mercy's G.o.ddess, pity in her eye, To greet the weary climbers and to hear Their many-coloured tales of woe and want.

The Buddha, in sublime repose, sees not His prostrate wors.h.i.+ppers; and they to him No prayer address, save hymns of grateful praise.[1]

'Twas he who for a blinded world sought out The secret of escape from misery; The splendour of a royal court resigned, He found in poverty a higher realm!

Yet greater far the victory, when he broke The chain of Fate and spurned the wheel of change.

To suffering humanity he says, "Tread in my steps: You, too, may find release."

[Footnote 1: Such as _Om mani padmi hum_ ("O the jewel in the lotus")]

Like him, the Pusa was of princely birth, But not like him did she forsake a throne, Nor yet like him did she consent to see Nirvana's pearly gates behind her close.

A field for charity her regal state.

Her path with ever-blooming flowers she strewed, Her sympathy to joy a relish gave, To sorrows manifold it brought relief, Forgetting self she lived for others' weal Till higher than Meru her merit rose.[2]

[Footnote 2: Mt. Meru, the Indian Olympus.]

At length a Voice celestial smote her ear.

"Nirvana's portal to thee open stands, The crown of Buddhas.h.i.+p is thine by right.

No wave of care that sh.o.r.e can ever reach, No cry of pain again thine ear a.s.sail; But fixed in solitary bliss thou'lt see The circling ages rolling at thy feet!"

"Shall I then have no tidings of mankind?

Such heaven a throne of glittering ice would be.

That changeless bliss to others thou may'st give.

Happiest am I th' unhappy to upraise.

Oh for a thousand hands[3] the task to ply!

To succour and relieve be mine," she said, "Bought though it be by share of suffering.

Turn then the wheel,[4] and back to earth again."

[Footnote 3: She is often so represented, as the symbol of present Providence.]

[Footnote 4: _Lunhui_, the wheel of destiny, within which birth and death succeed without end or interval.]

From out the blue came down the Voice once more: "Thy great refusal wins a higher prize; A kingdom new thy charity hath gained.[5]

And there shalt thou, the Queen of Mercy, reign, Aloof from pain or weakness of thine own, With quickened sense to hear and power to save."

[Footnote 5: She escapes the wheel, but remains on the border of Nirvana, where, as her name signifies, she "hears the prayers of men."]

Fair image thou! Almost I wors.h.i.+p thee, Frail shadow of a Christ that hears and feels!

W. A. P. M.

PEARL GROTTO, NEAR PEKING, August 8, 1906.]

Buddhist monasteries are to be seen on every hand. They are often subsidised by the state; and even at the tomb of Confucius a temple was erected called the "Hall of the Three Religions." In it the image of [Page 109]

Buddha is said to have occupied the seat of honour, but prior to the date of my visit it had been demolished.

Each of these religions has a hierarchy: that of Confucius with a lineal descendant of the Sage at its head; that of Lao-tse with Chang Tien-s.h.i.+, the arch-magician, as its high priest; and, higher than all, that of Buddha with the Grand Lama of Tibet.

Under the house of Han a beginning was made in the inst.i.tution of civil service examinations--a system which has continued to dominate the Chinese intellect down to our time; but it was not fully developed until the dynasty of T'ang. Belles-lettres made a marked advance. The poetry of the period is more finished [Page 110]

than that of the Chous. Prose composition, too, is vigorous and lucid. The muse of history claims the place of honour. Sze-ma Ts'ien, the Herodotus of China, was born in this period. A glory to his country, the treatment Sze-ma Ts'ien received at the hands of his people exposes their barbarism. He had recommended Li Ling as a suitable commander to lead an expedition against the Mongols. Li Ling surrendered to the enemy, and Sze-ma Ts'ien, as his sponsor, was liable to suffer death in his stead. Being allowed an alternative, he chose to submit to the disgrace of emasculation, in order that he might live to complete his monumental work--a memorial better than sons and daughters. A pathetic letter of the unfortunate general, who never dared to return to China, is preserved amongst the choice specimens of prose composition.

Not content with the Great Wall for their northern limit nor with the "Great River" for their southern boundary, the Hans attempted to advance their frontiers in both directions. In the north they added the province of Kansuh, and in the other direction they extended their operations as far south as the borders of Annam; but they did not make good the possession of the whole of the conquered territory. Szechuen and Hunan were, however, added to their domain.

The latter seems to have served as a penal colony rather than an integral portion of the Empire. A poem by Kiayi, an exiled statesman (200 B. c.), is dated from Changsha, its capital.[*]

[Footnote *: See "Chinese Legends and Other Poems," by W. A. P.

Martin.]

In the south the savage tribes by which the Chinese [Page 111]

were opposed made a deep impression on the character of the people, but left no record in history. Not so with the powerful foe encountered in the north. Under the t.i.tle of Shanyu, he was a forerunner of the Grand Khan of Tartary--claiming equality with the emperors of China and exchanging emba.s.sies on equal terms. His people, known as the Hiunghu, are supposed to have been ancestors of the Huns.

[Page 112]

CHAPTER XXI

THE THREE KINGDOMS, THE NAN-PEH CHAO, AND THE SUI DYNASTY, 214-618 A. D.

_The States of Wei, Wu, and Shuh--A Popular Historical Romance--Chu-koh Liang, an Inventive Genius--The "three P's," Pen, Paper, Printing--The Sui Dynasty_

After four centuries of undisputed sway, the sceptre is seen ready to fall from the nerveless hands of feeble monarchs. Eunuchs usurp authority, and the hydra of rebellion raises its many heads. Minor aspirants are easily extinguished; but three of them survive a conflict of twenty years, and lay the foundation of short-lived dynasties.

The n.o.ble structure erected by the Ts'ins and consolidated by the Hans began to crumble at the beginning of its fifth century of existence. In 221 A. D. its fragments were removed to three cities, each of which claimed to be the seat of empire. The state of Wei was founded by Tsao Tsao, with its capital at Lo-yang, the seat of the Hans. He had the further advantage, as mayor of the palace, of holding in his power the feeble emperor Hwan-ti, the last of the house of Han. The state of Wu, embracing the provinces of Kiangsu, Kiangsi, and Chehkiang, was established by Siun Kien, a man of distinguished ability [Page 113]