Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 5.djvu/656

be, it is plain that as they journeyed they struck on the northern course of the Yellow River, and that they followed its stream, on the eastern bank, as it trended south as far as Tung-kwan, and that then, turning with it due eastward, they established small colonies on the fertile plains of the modern province of Shan-se. But though these immigrants were for the moment wanderers they brought with them habits of settled labour. Some traces are discernible which might possibly be accepted as evidences that the Chinese had at one time a tendency to a nomadic rather than to an agricultural state of existence. In the Book of Historical Documents the governors of the province are called “pastors” and “herdsmen,” and Mencius speaks of princes generally as “pastors of men.” It is impossible also to overlook the identity of outline between the Chinese house and the sweeping roof supported by poles of the Tatar tent; and it is said that when Jengiz Khan in his invasion of China took a city, his soldiers immediately set about pulling down the four walls of the houses, leaving the overhanging roofs supported by the wooden columns, by which process they converted them into excellent tents for themselves and their horses. To some extent it may be said, too, that the language countenances this belief, since many common words find their expression in characters of which the hieroglyphics for sheep and cattle form part. For instance, we find that the character 義, meaning truthfulness, uprightness, is composed of the two parts, 羊 and 我, or “my sheep,” thus apparently pointing to a time when the ownership of flocks was a common cause of dispute; the same is the case also with the character 着, cho, “right,” which is made up of 自, Tsze, “one's own,” and 羊, yang, “sheep,” and 詳, Tseang, “to examine and judge clearly,” which is composed of 言, yen, “words,” or to talk, and 羊, “sheep,” which would indicate that the first idea of a judicial examination arose out of wranglings about sheep. But notwithstanding these apparent evidences in favour of the Chinese having been originally a nomadic rather than an agricultural people, it becomes abundantly evident from the earliest records they possess that at all events, immediately on their arrival in China, they settled down as agriculturists. They cultivated grain for their sustenance, and flax, which they wove into garments. They knew the value of silk-worms and planted the mulberry tree; they developed trade, and established fairs at certain centres in their districts. Neither were they destitute of the elements of intellectual culture. They had some knowledge of astromony, and in all probability they brought with them an acquaintanceship with hieroglyphic writing; at all events, at a very early period, we hear of E Yin (1743–1710 B.C.), presenting a petition in writing to the king, and there is no surer ground for the belief that knotted cords were in use among them before writing was invented than there is for the legend, that the forms of the characters were first suggested to Tsang-Këǒ by the marks on the back of a tortoise.

The possession of these habits and acquirements gave the immigrants a great advantage over the nations of the land. As they advanced they found the country inhabited by “fiery dogs” on the north, “great bowmen” in the east, “the ungovernable vermin” on the south, and the “mounted warriors” on the west. Differing in language, as also in every other respect, from the invaders, these tribes became their natural enemies, but they were unable to stand against the “black-haired race.” During the first centuries after the establishment of a regular system of government we hear of them now as common enemies of the Chinese, and now as temporary allies of one or another of the states into which the growing kingdom was divided. But by degrees they drop out of the history of the empire. Step by step they were driven back into the less inhabited parts; whole tribes were transported, others were annihilated, until but a small remnant was left. These wanderers sought and found refuge from their enemies in the mountainous regions of Kwei-chow and Kwang-se, where their descendants, the Meaou-tsze, still maintain themselves against the forces of China.

It was an ancient belief of Chinese writers that there had existed a period of 2,267,000 and odd years between the time when the powers of Heaven and Earth first united to produce man as the possessor of the soil of China, and the time of Confucius. This having been accepted as a fact, it became necessary for the early historians to invent long lines of dynastic rulers to fill up the gap between the creation and the period with which the Book of Historical Documents commences. Accordingly, we find a series of ten epochs described as preceding the Chow dynasty. The events connected with most of these are purely fabulous, and it is not until we come down to the eighth period that we can trace any glimmer, however obscured, of history. This, we are told, commenced with the reign of Yew-chaou She (the Nest-having), who, if such a man ever existed, was probably one of the first of those who, as the immigrants increased and multiplied, was chosen to direct their counsels and to lead their armies. This chief induced them to settle within the bend of the Yellow River, the site of the modern province of Shan-se, and taught them to make huts of the boughs of trees. Under the next chief, Suy-jin She (the Fire-producer), the grand discovery of fire was effected by the accidental friction of two pieces of dry wood. He taught the people to look up to Teen, the great creating, preserving, and destroying power; and he invented a method of registering time and events, by making certain knots on thongs or cords twisted out of the bark of trees. Next to him followed Yung-ching She, and then Fuh-he, who separated the people into classes or tribes, giving to each a particular name, discovered iron, appointed certain days to show their gratitude to heaven, by offering the first-fruits of the earth, and invented the eight diagrams which serve as the foundation of the Yih-king. Fuh-he reigned 115 years, and his tomb is shown at Chin-choo, in the province of Shen-se, at this day. His successor, Chin-nung, invented the plough; and from that moment the civilization of China proceeded by rapid and progressive steps.

As the early history of every ancient people is more or less vitiated by fable, we ought not to be more fastidious or less indulgent towards the marvellous in that of China, than we are towards Egyptian, Greek, or Roman history. The main facts may be true, though the details are incorrect; and though the accidental discovery of fire may not have happened under Suy-jin She, yet it probably was first communicated by the friction of two sticks, which at this day is a common method among almost all savages of producing fire. Nor is it perhaps strictly correct that Fuh-he made the accidental discovery of iron, by having burnt a quantity of wood on a brown earth, any more than that the Phœnicians discovered the mode of making glass by burning green wood on sand; yet it is not improbable that some such processes first led to these discoveries. And if it be objected against the history, that the reign of 115 years exceeds the usual period of human existence, this after all is as nothing, when compared with the contemporaneous ones recorded in biblical history. Thus, also, considerable allowances are to be deducted from the scientific discoveries of Chin-nung in botany, when we read of his having in one day discovered no less than seventy different species of plants that were of a poisonous nature, and seventy others that were antidotes against their baneful effects.