The Awakening of China Part 7

was an extraordinary feat of engineering--nothing less than the subduing of the waters of a deluge. "The waters," said the King, "embosom the high hills and insolently menace heaven itself. Who will find us a man to take them in hand and keep them in place?"

His ministers recommended one Kun. Kun failed to accomplish the task, and Shun, who in this case hardly serves for the model of a just ruler, put him to death. Then the task was imposed on Ta-yu, the son of the man who had been executed. After nine years of incredible hards.h.i.+ps he brought the work to a successful termination. During this time he extended his care to the rivers of more than one province, dredging, ditching, and diking. Three times he pa.s.sed his own door and, though he heard the cries of his infant son, he did not once enter his house. The son of a criminal who had suffered death, a throne was the meed of his diligence and ability.

A temple in Hanyang, at the confluence of two rivers, commemorates Ta-yu's exploit, which certainly throws the labours of Hercules completely into the shade. On the opposite side of the river stands a pillar, inscribed in antique hieroglyphics, which professes to record this great achievement. It is a copy of one which stands on Mount Hang; and the characters, in the tadpole style, are so ancient that doubts as to their actual meaning exist among scholars of the present day. Each letter is accordingly accompanied by its equivalent in modern Chinese. The stone purports to have been erected by Ta-yu himself--good ground for suspicion--but it has been [Page 76]

proved to be a fabrication of a later age, though still very ancient.[*]

[Footnote *: Dr. Hanisch of Berlin has taken great pains to expose the imposture.]

In the two preceding reigns the sovereign had always consulted the public good rather than family interest--a form of monarchy which the Chinese call elective, but which has never been followed, save that the Emperor exercises the right of choice among his sons irrespective of primogeniture. The man who bears the odium of having departed from the unselfish policy of Yao and Shun is this same Ta-yu. He left the throne to his son and, as the Chinese say, "made of the empire a family estate."

This narrative comes from the _Shu-King_ or "Book of History,"

the most venerated of the Five Cla.s.sics edited by Confucius; but the reader will readily perceive that it is no more historical than the stories of Codrus or Numa Pompilius.

In the reign of Yao we have an account of astronomical observations made with a view to fixing the length of the year. The King tells one man to go to the east and another to the west, to observe the culmination and transit of certain stars. As a result he says they will find that the year consists of 366 days, a close approximation for that epoch. The absurdity of this style, which attributes omniscience to the prince and leaves to his agents nothing but the task of verification, should not be allowed to detract from the credit due to their observations. The result arrived at was about the same as that reached by the Babylonians at the same date (2356 B. c.)

Other rulers who are credited with great inventions [Page 77]

probably made them in the same way. Whether under Fuhi or Hw.a.n.g-ti, Ts'ang-kie is recognised as the Cadmus of China, the author of its written characters; and Tanao, a minister of Hw.a.n.g-ti, is admitted to be the author of the cycle of sixty. Both of those emperors may be imagined as calling up their ministers and saying to one, "Go and invent the art of writing," and to the other, "Work out a system of chronology."

In the same way, the inception of the culture of the silkworm and the discovery of the magnetic needle are attributed to the predecessors of Yao, probably on the principle that treasure-trove was the property of the King and that if no claimant for the honour could be found it must be attributed to some ancient monarch. The production of silk, as woman's work, they profess to a.s.sign to the consort of one of those worthies--a thing improbable if not impossible, her place of residence being in the north of China. Their picture-writing tells a different tale. Their word for a southern barbarian, compounded of "silk" and "worm," points to the south as the source of that useful industry, much as our word "silk," derived from _seric.u.m_, points to China as its origin.

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CHAPTER XV

THE THREE DYNASTIES

_The House of Hia--Ta-yu's Consideration for His Subjects--Kie's Excesses--The House of Shang--Shang-tang, the Founder, Offers Himself as a Sacrificial Victim, and Brings Rain--Chou-sin Sets Fire to His Own Palace and Perishes in the Flames--The House of Chou_

The Hia, Shang and Chou dynasties together extend over the twenty-two centuries preceding the Christian Era. The first occupies 440 years; the second, 644; and the last, in the midst of turmoil and anarchy, drags out a miserable existence of 874 years. They are grouped together as the San Tai or San w.a.n.g, "the Three Houses of Kings,"

because that t.i.tle was employed by the founder of each. Some of their successors were called _Ti_; but _Hw.a.n.g-ti_, the term for "emperor" now in use, was never employed until it was a.s.sumed by the builder of the Great Wall on the overthrow of the feudal states and the consolidation of the empire, 240 B. C.

THE HOUSE OF HIA, 2205-1766 B. C.

(17 kings, 2 usurpers)

Unlike most founders of royal houses, who come to the throne through a deluge of blood, Ta-yu, as has been shown in the last chapter, climbed to that eminence [Page 79]

through a deluge of water. Like Noah, the hero of an earlier deluge, he seems to have indulged, for once at least, too freely in the use of wine. A chapter in the "Book of History," ent.i.tled "A Warning Against Wine," informs us that one Yiti having made wine presented it to his prince. Ta-yu was delighted with it, but discontinued its use, saying that in time to come kings would lose their thrones through a fondness for the beverage. In China "wine" is a common name for all intoxicating drinks. That referred to in this pa.s.sage was doubtless a distillation from rice or millet.

In the discharge of his public duties Ta-yu showed himself no less diligent than in contending with the waters. He hung at his door a bell which the poorest of his subjects might ring and thus obtain immediate attention. It is said that when taking a bath, if he heard the bell he sometimes rushed out without adjusting his raiment and that while partaking of a meal, if the bell rang he did not allow himself time to swallow his rice.

Prior to laying down his toilsome dignity Ta-yu caused to be cast nine brazen tripods, each bearing an outline map or a description of one of the provinces of the empire. In later ages these were deemed preeminently the patent of imperial power. On one occasion a feudal prince asked the question, "How heavy are these tripods?" A minister of state, suspecting an intention to remove them and usurp the power, replied in a long speech, proving the divine commission of his master, and asked in conclusion, "Why then should you inquire the weight of these tripods?"

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Of the subsequent reigns nothing worth repet.i.tion is recorded except the fall of the dynasty. This, however, is due more to the meagreness of the language of that day than to the insignificance of the seventeen kings. Is it not probable that they were occupied in making good their claim to the nine provinces emblazoned on the tripods?

Kie, the last king, is said to have fallen under the fascination of a beautiful woman and to have spent his time in undignified carousals. He built a mountain of flesh and filled a tank with wine, and to amuse her he caused 3,000 of his courtiers to go on all fours and drink from the tank like so many cows.

THE SHANG DYNASTY, 1766-1122 B. C.

(28 kings)

The founder of this dynasty was Shang-tang, or Cheng-tang, who to great valour added the virtues of humanity and justice. Pitying the oppressions of the people, he came to them as a deliverer; and the frivolous tyrant was compelled to retire into obscurity.

A more remarkable exhibition of public spirit was the offering of himself as a victim to propitiate the wrath of Heaven. In a prolonged famine, his prayers having failed to bring rain, the soothsayers said that a human victim was required. "It shall be myself," he replied; and, stripping off his regal robes, he laid himself on the altar. A copious shower was the response to this act of devotion.

The successor of Shang-tang was his grandson T'ai-kia, who was under the tutelage of a wise minister [Page 81]

named I-yin. Observing the indolence and pleasure-loving disposition of the young man, the minister sent him into retirement for three years that he might acquire habits of sobriety and diligence. The circ.u.mstance that makes this incident worth recording is that the minister, instead of retaining the power in his own family, restored the throne to its rightful occupant.

Another king of this house, by name P'an-keng, has no claim to distinction other than that of having moved his capital five times.

As we are not told that he was pursued by vindictive enemies, we are left to the conjecture that he was escaping from disastrous floods, or, perhaps under the influence of a silly superst.i.tion, was in quest of some luckier site.

Things went from bad to worse, and finally Chou-sin surpa.s.sed in evil excesses the man who had brought ruin upon the House of Hia.

The House of Shang of course suffered the same fate. An ambitious but kind-hearted prince came forward to succour the people, and was welcomed by them as a deliverer. The tyrant, seeing that all was lost, arrayed himself in festal robes, set fire to his own palace, and, like another Sardanapalus, perished in the flames.

He and Kie make a couple who are held up to everlasting execration as a warning to tyrannical princes. Like his remote predecessor, Chou-sin is reputed to have been led into his evil courses by a wicked woman, named Ta-ki. One suspects that neither one nor the other stood in need of such prompting. According to history, bad kings are generally worse than bad queens. In China, however, a woman is considered out of place [Page 82]

when she lays her hand on the helm of state. Hence the tendency to blacken the names of those famous court beauties.

If Mencius may be believed, the tyrants themselves were not quite so profligate as the story makes them. He says, "Dirty water has a tendency to acc.u.mulate in the lowest sinks"; and he warns the princes of his time not to put themselves in a position in which future ages will continue to heap opprobrium on their memory.

Of the wise founders of this dynasty it is said that they "made religion the basis of education," as did the Romans, who prided themselves on devotion to their G.o.ds. In both cases natural religion degenerated into gross superst.i.tion. In the number of their G.o.ds the Chinese have exceeded the Romans; and they refer the wors.h.i.+p of many of them to the Shang dynasty.

The following dynasty, that of Chou (35 sovereigns, 1122-249 B.

C.) merits a separate chapter.

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CHAPTER XVI

HOUSE OF CHOU

_Wen-w.a.n.g, the founder--Rise and Progress of Culture--Communistic Land Tenure--Origin of the term "Middle Kingdom"--Duke Chou and Cheng w.a.n.g, "The Completer"--A Royal Traveller--Li and Yu, two bad kings_

The merciful conqueror who at this time rescued the people from oppression was Wu-w.a.n.g, the martial king. He found, it is said, the people "hanging with their heads downward" and set them on their feet. On the eve of the decisive battle he harangued his troops, appealing to the Deity as the arbiter, and expressing confidence in the result. "The tyrant," he said, "has ten myriads of soldiers, and I have but one myriad. His soldiers, however, have ten myriads of hearts, while my army has but one heart."

When the battle had been fought and won he turned his war-horses out to pasture and ordained that they should be forever free from yoke and saddle. Could he have been less humane in the treatment of his new subjects?

The credit of his victory he gave to ten wise counsellors, one of whom was his mother. History, however, ascribes it in a large degree to his father, Wen-w.a.n.g, [Page 84]

who was then dead, but who had prepared the way for his son's triumph.

Wen-w.a.n.g, the Beauclerc of the Chous, is one of the most notable figures in the ancient history of China. A va.s.sal prince, by wise management rather than by military prowess he succeeded in enlarging his dominions so that he became possessor of two-thirds of the empire. He is applauded for his wisdom in still paying homage to his feeble chief. The latter, however, must have regarded him with no little suspicion, as Wen-w.a.n.g was thrown into prison, and only regained his liberty at the cost of a heavy ransom. Wen-w.a.n.g apparently antic.i.p.ated a mortal struggle; for it is related that, seeing an old man fis.h.i.+ng, he detected in him an able general who had fled the service of the tyrant. "You," said he, "are the very man I have been looking for"; and, taking him up into his chariot, as Jehu did Jonadab, he rejoiced in the a.s.surance of coming victory.

The fisherman was Kiang Tai Kung, the ancestor of the royal House of Ts'i in Shantung. Though eighty-one years of age he took command of the cavalry and presided in the councils of his new master.

Fitting it was that the Beauclerc, Wen-w.a.n.g should be the real founder of the new dynasty; for now for the first time those pictured symbols become living blossoms from which the fruits of learning and philosophy are to be gathered. The rise and progress of a generous culture is the chief characteristic of the House of Chou. Besides encouraging letters Wen-w.a.n.g contributed much to the new literature.

He is known as a commentator in the _Yih-King_, "Book of Changes,"

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p.r.o.nounced by Confucius the profoundest of the ancient cla.s.sics--a book which he never understood.