THE EAST IN MEDIEVAL TIMES 303

ruler. During his time both Christianity and Islam first
Centered China, the former in 635 and the latter in 628,
Unlike European monarchs, Tai Tsung welcomed both and
allowed the new religions to be freely propagated in his do-
minions. The mosque at Canton, erected by these early
visitors to the Far East, is one of the oldest surviving mos-
ques built during the lifetime of the Prophet. The Chris-
tians were Nestorians from Syria and Persia. Though the
dynasty of T'ai Tsung continued till 907, his successors were
decadent rulers. The Turcomans wearing black garments
(hence nicknamed "the Crows") were called in to defend
them, but turned out to be their enemies. However, the
glory of T'ai Tsung's days was never forgotten. The sou-
therners to this day proudly call themselves " Men of Tang."
There were five shortlived dynasties (mostly Turcoman)
ruling from 907 to 960. The Sung dynasty arose out of
their ashes and revived the glory of Han and T'ang (960—
1280). The most notable figure of this period was Wang
An-shih the "communist minister of Sken Tsung (1068—
1086). He is described as a very clever man who "wore
dirty clothes and did not even wash his face." But as a re-
former far in advance of his times he distinguished him-
self even like Wang Mang before him. He created a Board
of Statistics, attempted nationalisation of commerce, issued
loans to needy farmers, introduced conscription, and levied
an income-tax. When famine was declared to be the indi-
cation of the wrath of God, Wang said, " Not at all; natu-
ral phenomena are the result of natural laws and have no
relation to moral action." The collapse of the Sung dy-
nasty, like that of many of its predecessors, was brought
about partly by inner decadence, and outer attacks by the
barbarian Mongols. Though it endured for a long time it
was renowned less for its emperors than for .its statesmen