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/fa^^&y  ■ ; 


PRIMITIVE    CIVILIZATIONS 


OUTLINES    OF   THE    HISTORY    OE    OWNERSHIP    IN 
ARCHAIC    COMMUNITIES 


PRIMITIVE  CIVILIZATIONS 


OUTLINES  OF  THE  HISTORY  OF  OWNERSHIP 
IN  ARCHAIC  COMMUNITIES 


E.   J.   SIMCOX 

AUTHOR    OF    •'  NATURAL    LAW,"    FTC 


VOLUME    II 


ILontimt 
SWAN    SONNENSCHEIN    &    CO 

NHW   YORK:    MACMILLAN  \-  CO 
1S94 


KK    -A.     1 

'    S  1 

:     Pkim 

IN    ■    A 

:  an:     Li 

--' 


CON  T E  N  T  S . 


BOOK  IV. 
O  WNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 


I. 
II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XI. 

XII. 


XIII. 

XIV. 

XV 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 

XXVIII. 


The  Land  and  its  History  .... 

The  Ancient  Monarchy       .... 

Political  Ethics  and  Political  Economy 
The  Rural  Economy  of  the  Chow 
Industry  ax i)  Trade  in  the  Middle  Antiquity  of  C 
Social  and  Domestic  Relations  ix  Mediaeval  Chi 
Feudalism  and  the  Fall  of  Chow 
The  Philosophers  of  the  Hundred  Schools  . 
The  Usurpation  of  T'sin  and  the  Burning  of  the  B 
Reign  of  the  Hax  Dynasty   206  B.a-229  a.d.)   . 
From  the  Three  Kingdoms  to  the  Souy  Dynasty 
620  a.d.)  ........ 

The  Tang  Dynasty  (620-907  a.d.)  . 

Historical  Sketch  ...... 

Intercourse  with  Foreigners 

Literature.  Orthodoxy,  and  Buddhism 

Agrarian  Economy  of  the  Tang  .... 
Chinese  Fixaxce  from  the  Hax  to  the  Tang  Dyn 
Posterior  Dynasties  and  the  Sung   907-1280  a.d., 
Agrariax  Ecoxomy  and  the  Innoyator's  Laws 
Taxation  and  Fixaxce  under  the  Sunt;  . 
Two  Literary  Statesmen  of  the  Sung  Dynasty 
Controversies,  the  Schools  and  the  Examinatio 
Foreign  Accounts  of  China  uxder  the  Scng  ax 

First  Moxi  ;ols 

The  Mongols  after  Kuhla 

The  Ming  Dynas'iy    1568-1649  a.d.. 
Education.  Art.  and  Social  Cuaxoes  under  i  id 
Forejox  Accoux  is  01   China  uxder  the  Vino. 
The  Van  kid.:  Dyna>ty.  call;  d  Tsixo,  d  :;    ; 

Contemporary  Chixa 

Life  in  Chinese  Villages      .... 
The  Waof.s  and  i  )r<  ,axi/.\  in  in  i  i!    I  xdu-o  ry 
Com -merc  1:  and  Trade    ..... 

Chinese  Moralists  on  Interest  and  Fronts  . 

Chinese  Merchants  of  the  Present  Day 


hin. 

N'A 


00  KS 


16 

SO 
42 

54 
65 
78 
85 
97 
108 

123 

13- 

158 

14- 
150 
1 55 
165 
'79 
192 
200 
200 


-9' 
3:  -• 


VI 


CONTENTS. 


II A     :  i 

XXIX.     The  Law  of  Marriage  and  Inheritance   . 

XXX.     Agrarian  Laws  axd  Customs 

XXXI.     Financial  \xd  Mercantile  Offences 
XXXII.     Miscellaneous     Laws;    Administration    and    Socia 

Institutions 

Conclusions 


344 
356 
16; 


37i 
334 


APPENDICES, 


A.  Egyptian  Chroxology  axd  Dyxasties  'I.  42 

is.  Egyptian  Irrigation    I.  145  .... 

C.  Welsh  Mortgaoks    I.  184,  323       .... 

I).  Bap.yloxian  Dyxastiks  and  Reigns    I.  259, 

E.  Metric  Sysi  ems  of  Babylonia  and  Ecyfi    I.  337,; 

F.  Pf.RU  (I.  4,  557  :   II.  13, 

G.  Repori  of  thk  Malabar  Marriage  Commission  (I.  553 
H.  Chinese  Classics   'Gins.    II.  11.  189    .... 

I.  China  and   Babylonia  and  thk  Yi   Kixg   'I.  31  :   II.    16 

K.  Chinese  Families  and  Irish  "Fines"  (II.  69.  120 

L.  Chinese  Dynasties  'II.   123 

M.  Use  or  the  Staff  'II.  77 

Index   


399 
410 

416 
4?4 
433 
452 
458 

475 
480 
492 
496 

497 
501 


BOOK   IV 


OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 


VOL.   II.  —  J'.C. 


Tin:  head  of  the  Ka  family  was  richer  than  the  Duke  of  Chow 

had  been,  and  yet  lvew  collected  his  imposts  for  him,  and  in- 
creased his  wealth. 

The    Master   said,    "lie  is   no    disciple   of  mine.     My   little 
hi!  Iren  beat  th :  drum  and  assail  him."      d  v '..'  '/a  v  A/i.u'ls's. 

Yao  went    to    visit    Hua.     The  border-warden  of  Una  said, 

''  Ila  !  a  Sage.  My  best  respects  to  you,  sir.  1  wish  you  a  long 
life." 

"  Don':  !  "  replied  Yao. 

■'  I  wish  you  plenty  of  money/'  continued  the  border-warden. 

•'  Don't  !  "  replied  Yao. 

"  And  many  sons."  added  he. 

"  Don't  !  "  replied  Yao. 

"  !.  mg  life,  plenty  of  money,  and  m  my  -  ns,:  crie  1  th  : 
..  irden  ;  "these  are  what  all  men  desire.  How  is  it  you 
:.'.  me  do  iv  >  want  them  ':" 

'•  Many  sons."  answered  Yao,  "are  many  anxieties.  I'lenty 
ofm  mey  means  plenty  of  trouble.  Long  life  in\  'Ives  much 
that  is  no:  pleasant  to  put  up  with.  These  three  gifts  do  not 
;.  Ivai    e  virtue  :  therefore  I  clc  :lined  then 

"At  first  I  took  yo'.i  to:  a  Sage,"  ii  1  the  warden,  '"'but  now 
i   lind  you  are  a  mere   man.      Heaven,  in   sending   man  into  the 

i rid.  gives  t  i  eacli  1:  -  pr  per  function.  If  you  have  many 
sons,  and  give   to   each    his   proper   function,   what  cause  have 

■*  I  have  1     ir.I      f  men   i:?i;  .    the  ways  of  our  great   land  ; 

■ '. ■    i   irbarians.   b'.it    1    have    not    \  et    heard  of  anv    beir.e 


PRIMITIVE  CIVILIZATIONS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE  LAND  AND  ITS  HISTORY. 

The  natural  history  of  Egypt  may  be  said  to  begin  and  end  with  the 
inundation  of  the  Nile,  but  it  is  impossible  to  give  so  compendious  an 
account  of  the  conditions  which  enable  the  soil  of  China  to  maintain  one- 
third  of  the  human  race.  The  fortunes  and  history  of  China  are  mys- 
teriously linked  with  the  geology  of  Central  Asia;  and  the  interdependence 
of  the  different  members  of  the  favourite  Chinese  triad — Heaven,  Earth, 
and  Man — is  nowhere  more  vividly  illustrated  than  in  the  experience  of 
the  Chinese  people.  Chinese  history  traces  the  fortunes  of  a  race,  with 
qualities  determined  by  one  set  of  conditions,  in  a  country  with  qualities 
determined  by  another  set.  So  far  as  the  character  of  the  Egyptian  race 
is  the  product  of  the  sun  and  the  inundation,  the  history  of  the  land  and 
the  people  have  a  common  cause.  But  there  is  no  such  natural  connec- 
tion between  the  inexhaustible  fertility  of  the  loess  districts  in  China  and 
the  character  of  the  Chinese  race,  for  the  former  is  the  result  of  causes 
which  ceased  to  work  long  before  the  ancestors  of  the  latter  came  into 
being. 

The  two  great  tracts  of  ceaseless  sun,  which  are  barren  both  of  civilized 
human  life  and  vegetation,  are  the  deserts  of  Central  Asia  and  the  Sahara, 
both  these  deserts  occupy  the  site  of  a  dried-up  inland  sea — dried  up 
because,  in  the  course  of  ages,  the  waste  by  evaporation  from  its  wide 
surface  was  greater  than  the  reinforcements  brought  by  the  streams  de- 
bouching into  it.  The  Nile  flows  from  the  mountains  of  Abyssinia  and 
the  equatorial  highlands  round  Lake  Victoria,3  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates 
from  the  highlands  of  Armenia  and  Kurdistan,  all  alike  outside  the  rain- 
less regions.  The  streams  which  may  once  have  fed  the  inland  Atrican 
sea  had  no  such  sheltered  sources,  and  have  hardly  left  a  trace  behind. 
The  sea  of  Central  Asia  existed  perhaps  to  a  more  recent  date,  and  there 
still  survives,  to  show  how  it  was  fed,  the  Yarim  or  Varkand  River.  whic,i 
ilows  into  Lop-nor,  after  a  course  of  1,150  miles,  longer  than  that  ot  the 
Rhine,  and  through  a  river-basin  larger  than  that  of  the  Danube.  But 
1    In  the  latter  re-ion  the  annual  rainfall  sometimes  reaches  ico  inches 


4  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

with  this  exception,  the  streams  that  flow  from  the  little  lakes  still 
scattered  through  the  desert,  lose  themselves  in  the  sand  ;  others,  rising 
in  the  sand,  flow  only  into  lakes,  which  year  by  year  waste  and  dwindle, 
like  the  larger  sea  of  which  they  once  formed  part,  while  the  surrounding 
mountains  have  long  since  ceased  to  nourish  tributaries  of  sufficient 
volume  to  reach  them. 

When,  from  whatever  cause,  the  amount  of  evaporation  over  a  given 
area  comes  to  exceed  the  rainfall,  the  radiation  from  the  heated,  barren 
surface,  of  which  more  and  more  is  left  permanently  dry.  tends  to  disperse 
the  summer  rainclouds,  and  so  extends  and  intensifies  the  drought. 
I'rejevalsky  saw  this  process  at  work  in  the  desert  of  Gobi,  between  Alashan 
and  Xaga,  where  a  dog,  which  had  been  his  companion  for  years,  died  of 
the  intense  heat.  Xo  dew  fell,  and  the  rainclouds  dispersed  without  send- 
ing more  than  a  few  drops  to  earth.  '•  We  observed/'  he  says,  •'  this  in- 
teresting phenomenon  several  times,  particularly  in  Southern  Alaskan,  near 
the  Kansu  mountain-,  where  the  rain,  as  it  fell,  met  the  lower  heated 
atmosphere  and  passed  off  in  steam  before  reaching  the  earth."  x 

The  drying-up  of  an  inland  sea  extends  the  area  over  which  moisture 
is  al  -orbed  or  dissipated,  quite  apart  from  the  causes  which  have  led  to 
its  own  contraction.  This  in  (Antral  Asia  may  have  been  due  partly  I  - 
the  gradual  elevation  of  the  sea  bottom,  which  leaves  the  plateau  of  Gobi 
three  or  four  thousand  feet  above  the  sea  level,  as  well  as  to  the  in- 
sufficiency of  it-  fresh-water  feeders.  After  wringing  their  last  drops  of 
moisture  from  the  <  urrents  of  ir  f]  >wing  towards  the  interior,  and  already 
desiccated  bv  long  journeys  overland,  the  great  mountain  ranges  sur- 
rounding the  ;  ,-ntral  basin  send  all  the  drainage  of  their  high  lakes  or 
snow-ca:  ;  .  1  summits  i  utwards  t  -  the  distant  ocean,  instead  of  towards 
the  Mediterranean  sea  of  sand.  They  intercept,  instead  oi  storing  up. 
the  rainfall  which  might  replenish  the  central  basin. 

The  fa   t  is  that  <  h  ntral  \  ;ia   presents  too  large  an  1  -   lid  a  surface  "  • 
unit"  :::...•  watered.      X    rthern  A :"r i <  i  is  riverless  except  for  the  Nile,  w 
does  bu:     kirt  its   eastern    e  lge  ;  the    solid   interior  of  Australia  is  barren  : 
I . - : i       :  and  North  Am   ri       are  perforated  with   seas  and  gulfs,  though  th.e 

■  '   .    in   the    (  Ireat  Salt    Lake  < iistrii  t,  oi   i, 
iu;iv  1       form     :.      South   Aineri<  a  at   its  wi  1 
h  a  river  :is  the  Vang-tse-kiang  t  i   almost  traverse  its 
ltd.,  w  h  :'.-.•  its  m  ittntain  s\  <tem   allows   the   mid  ile  oi   th.e   <     :  '  :- 
■  .-.    '    :     ;  iiv  str     :ns  tl  i\\  kv_i   :.    rt.ii   a:    1    s  mth    v\  it'n    -  wei'la;  pi::_ 
I u  AS .  X    he  \\  A     ve  a   i    >n t in ental  block,  extending  <  i\\  r  r-    i 
,s  :;    m  :.    :'  .  i  )      rath,  an  1  as   much   from   L-a-t   to   west.       1  lie 
■    Venn -. ■:.  the    be:..:,    tiie    Am    ::r.  the  1  1 

fjiitinehtal   importance;  ban  with   the  one  ex- 
.■:■•':  .;  . ..    ;.:■..  •.-<    :.  x.  i .  '.-.  :-  v  :.:   .  u 


latter 

is  :. 

t    w : '. : 

:.    rr 

: . .    v, 

inch    i 

the  < 

i  .    ;s. 

i  i' 

'    ■• 

■ 

;.d   vo!u 

me, 

,  ;  L 

THE   LAND  AND   ITS  HISTORY.  5 

ception  of  the  Yarkand  River,  these  streams,  while  fringing  the  central 
plateau  with  their  sources,  contribute  none  of  their  waters  to  replenish  the 
.Mediterranean  Sea. 

Thus  year  by  year  the  sea  has  narrowed  ;  and  as  streams  dry  up  and 
showers  grow  scantier,  the  process  of  deterioration  accelerates  itself.  The 
dwellers  in  the  few  oases  only  hasten  by  their  labours  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  sandy  tide,  for  irrigation  works  increase  the  surface  of  the 
water  exposed  to  evaporation,  and  the  crops  that  are  consumed  each 
season  make  no  return  of  moisture  to  the  air  equivalent  to  that  which  they 
absorb.  The  scanty  streams,  unfed  by  rain  or  snow,  prove  unequal  to 
the  constant  drain,  and  with  the  exhaustion  of  the  water  supply  the  last 
remains  of  vegetation  fall  an  easy  prey  to  the  encroaching  sands.  This 
lias  been  the  history  of  Central  Asia  ever  since  the  present  races  of  man- 
kind have  inhabited  or  crossed  it.  Five  thousand  years  ago,  doubtless, 
hikes  and  oases  were  more  numerous,  those  still  existing  larger  and  more 
fertile,  and  parts  of  the  present  desert  perhaps  not  without  a  steppe-like 
vegetation.  The  vales  of  Cashmere  and  Yulduz,  the  plains  of  Bokhara 
and  Khokan  had  counterparts,  no  doubt,  within  the  mountain  circle, 
which,  like  the  present  Hi,  Khami,  Yarkand,  and  Khotan.  were  each  the 
centre  of  a  principality  of  respectable  size  and  enviable  fruitfulness. 

In  comparatively  recent  geologic  time  it  is  supposed  that  changes  of  an 
opposite  character  to  these  took  place  in  China  proper,  that  an  increased 
rainfall  brought  fertility  to  once  barren  steppes,  filled  the  water-courses 
with  continuous  streams,  and  carved  for  the  latter  an  outlet  into  the  sea. 
But  in  baron  von  Richthofen's  admirable  work  on  China,  it  is  shown  that 
the  effects  of  a  period  of  rainlessness  make  themselves  felt  upon  the  soil, 
and  through  the  soil  upon  the  climate,  long  after  the  great  geologic  or 
climatic  changes  have  been  accomplished,  which  cause  the  district  in 
question  to  be  no  longer  either  riverless  or  rainless. 

The  work  of  water  is  not  unmixedly  beneficent,  and  we  can  judge  how 
much  of  the  natural  richness  of  tiie  soil  is  carried  off  by  an  average  rain- 
fall, from  the  treasures  of  fertility  hoarded  up  in  regions  of  perennial 
drought.  The  natural  fertilizers  of  an  uninhabited  and  unfilled  country 
consist  of  all  the  decomposed  animal  and  vegetable  matter  deposited  on 
its  surface  ;  and  when  this  is  carried  away  by  streams  into  the  sea,  it  is 
obvious  that  the  soil  must  be  proportionately  impoverished.  On  the 
other  hand  all  these  elements  are  retained  on  the  surface,  and  tend  to  till 
up  its  hollows,  when  the  streams  charged  with  them  gradually  disappear  by 
evaporation  instead  of  finding  an  outlet  to  the  ocean.1  Hence  the  poten- 
tial fertility  of  all  deserts  and  the  ready  transformation  of  any  such  tract 
into  fertile  land  as  soon  as  art  or  nature  provides  the  means  ot  irrigation. 

In  China  a  fertilizing  dust  is  sometimes  carried  by  the  wind  in  quantities 
equal  to  that  which  darkens  the  air  in  the  desert  sand-storms,  and  this 
dust  is  found  to    produce  exactly  the    same   effect    upon  the  soil  as  simil;  r 

China:   Er^\bnisse  ci^enrr  Rcis<ii  nni  daranJ^c^ninJcLr   Sin.ucn.     Nun 
lo'ci'.icnn  von  Kichtliofen,  1S77,  vol.  i.  p.  S\ 


6  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

deposits  left  by  the  overflow  of  rivers  :  and  this  is  not  the  only  respect  in 
which  aerial  currents  are  found  to  produce  effects  analogous  to  those 
usually  attributed  to  water  only.  An  ancient  Chinese  ode  contains  the 
couplet  '"  (ireat  winds  have  a  path  ;  they  come  from  the  large  empty 
valleys/'  and  the  action  of  these  winds  is  as  irresistible  as  that  of  a  moun- 
tain torrent  in  its  bed.  The  Chinese  poet  evidently  had  in  his  mind  ex- 
periences like  that  of  an  unsuccessful  .Mormon  colony  in  an  exposed  part 
of  the  Salt  bake  district.  A  recent  writer.1  after  describing  how  the  settle- 
ment is  swept  bv  winds  from  a  great  canon,  ados  :  "One  year  they  sowed 
three  hundred  acres  with  wheat,  and  the  wind  simply  blew  the  crops  away. 
Tiie  people  live  for  part  of  the  year  in  a  ceaseless  dust-storm,  and  what  is 
not  actually  displaced  is  kept  rubbed  down  to  the  ground  by  the  perpetual 
passage  of  waves  of  sand."  Similarly,  according  to  Prejevalsky.  in  the 
Mongolian  deserts.  -i  The  winds  of  winter  ami  spring  blow  with  such 
violence  that  you  see  even  the  humble  shrubs  of  wormwood  uprooted  by 
them  and  roiled  into  bundles,  and  driven  across  the  barren  plain/'" - 
General  Gordon,  noting  the  same  phenomenon  in  North  Africa,  was 
reminded  that  it  must  also  have  been  familiar  to  the  Psalmist  of  Pale-tine, 
who  desired  to  see  his  enemies  made  'dike  a  wheel,  as  the  stubble  before 
the  wind."  :' 

Air.  like  water,  scours  the  channels  in  winch  it  flows,  and  carries  with  it 
all  the  lighter  particles  of  tire  objects  in  its  path,  and  like  water  also,  it 
deposits  in  one  place  what  it  has  swept  away  from  another.  A  recent 
Mnglish  traveller  in  China  observed  at  Ichang.  on  the  Pine  River,  that  on 
a  calm,  mild,  sunny  morning  in  March,  the  sky  was  obscured  by  clouds  of 
otherwise  invisible  dust,'  and  he  adds  that  the  dust-storms,  which  the 
north-west  gales  ot  winter  brine:  iron;  the  Mongolian   deserts,  carry  the   ime 

tend  to  raise  die  level  of  trie  lowlands  more  rapidly  in  proportion  than  is 
d  ne  bv  the  Nile  il  iod.  f  r  in  Mg}pt  s-  me  <  f  the  surface  si  il  would  be 
washed  no  and  carried  awav  down  stream,  where.,-  m  China  the  wind 
would  iv  ;  touch  the  si  il  of  the  vahevs  at  ah.  exce'  t  to  raise  them  bv  de- 
i  '  si  tine;  its  burden  i  f  >.md,  w  idle  it  would  tend  :  >  denude  any  h:h  ;    ps  ;.    ; 

T.;e  ir.exhiui-tiblo  feitiiitvof  the  loe.--  districts  in  Northern  ( Tina  has 
1  o  en  ata  oimted  for  bv  the  suo;  o.-uii    n  that  the  whole  formation  <  ■  ■:,->>  o: 


//'    .'.;•;.'   CI .•';.•-.      lis 


THE   LA XI)   AND   ITS  HISTORY.  7 

yond  the  surface  undulations  of  a  sandy  sea  or  snow-drifts.  The  loess  of 
China  is  a  calcareous  loam,  wholly  unstratified,  extremely  porous,  consist- 
ing of  innumerable  vertical  tubes,  so  friable  as  to  crumble  between  the 
fingers,  and  yet  with  enough  cohesion  to  form  vertical  cliffs  two  hundred 
feet  in  height,  in  which  dwellings  can  be  carved  as  substantially  as  in  the 
Old  Red  Sandstone. 

The  porousness  of  this  formation  is  explained  on  the  hypothesis  that  an 
increased  rainfall  has  dissolved  the  greater  part  of  the  saline  incrustations 
which  form  upon  the  steppes  during  the  period  of  rainlessness  ;  1  its  thick- 
ness and  extent  have  been  accounted  for  by  the  joint  ingenuity  of  German 
and  American  geologists  in  the  following  manner.  As  long  as  the  surface 
of  the  ground  is  covered  by  vegetation,  the  elements  of  the  undersoil  re- 
main in  situ  ;  the  disintegration  of  the  rock  beneath  goes  on  to  an  extent 
which  varies  with  its  chemical  composition,  but  may  reach,  as  in  the  case 
of  granite  or  gneiss,  a  depth  sometimes  of  several  hundred  feet.  If,  how- 
ever, this  surface  vegetation  is  destroyed,  as  by  a  period  of  rainlessness, 
the  layer  of  decomposed  rock  is  at  the  mercy  of  either  ice  or  wind,  though 
the  more  familiar  action  of  water  is  excluded.  Now  in  Northern  China 
there  are  no  signs  of  a  glacial  period,  and  its  felspathic  rocks  show  no  traces 
of  decomposition  such  as  are  met  with  in  Southern  Asia,  where  they  have 
been  protected  from  erosion.  Neither,  during  the  period  of  loess  forma- 
tion, was  there  any  denudation  of  the  rocks  by  water  ;  both  denudation 
and  deposits  here  being  the  work  of  aerial  influences  alone.  Inequali- 
ties in  the  surface  of  the  rock,  and  the  existence  of  basins  and  chan- 
nels, where  water  can  never  have  lain  or  flowed,  are  attributed  to  the 
unequal  rate  of  disintegration,  and  the  distinction  already  made  between 
lands  that  retain  their  surface  fertilizer-,  and  lands  in  which  these  are 
washed  away  by  rain  and  rivers,  repeats  itself  in  the  distinction  be- 
tween regions  where  the  bare  rock  is  exposed  by  asolian  influences,  and 
those  iit  winch  the  same  influences  bring  fresh  deposits.  As  examples  of 
such  sub-aerial  deposits,  it  is  enough  to  mention  the  still  sandy  deserts, 
steppes,  not  yet  tree  from  salt,  savannahs,  the  loess  in  China,  Bavaria,  and 
Missouri,  and  at  least  three  other  soils  of  phenomenal  fertility,  the  Russian 
black  earth,  the  Indian  cotton  soil,  and  the  terra  roxa,  or  red  coifee  lands 
of  Brazil,  consisting  of  decomposed  trap  reaching  to  a  depth  of  from  twenty 
t< )  thirty  feet. 

China  is  only  singular  in  the  vast  extent  of  the  exceptionally  fertile  soil, 
which  stood  ready  to  the  hand  of  the  first  skilled  agriculturists  who  might 
claim  it.  The  area  of  China  is  estimated  at  [-33rd  of  the  habitable  globe  ; 
its  present  population  includes  about  one-third  of  the  human  rare,  home  ot 
its  most  fertile  spots  have  unquestionably  been  under  cultivation  1  r  up- 
wards of  4, ceo  years  :  and   though  the  whole   region  now  known  as  (_ 

1   China.  I.e.,   p.  126.      The   whole  of  chap.  ii..    Die  /.      -Land   ha/ten  in:  ;.'    '■'"    i   " 
China  un.i ihr    /'■  ziehiui^  u    :n  Central-A  ien,  ami    chap    iii.,  Biid'nnef  un.i  I  :/■"  i.aitn^ 
','r  Set  -  .    ■;  :i   Centra!- A  ten,    are    full  of  interest,  n  it    merely   to  e  'ol  'J,--!--      (   '■   ;    ~ 
I'umpelly,  (,'.    '■,.'    7   /\ese,!re//es   in  China,    M    :     i:a    t::.i  Ja_        .   1S62-5.      S'niiheenta;: 
C  a.'r,  'iiii  ::  '  to  Kin  :i7<  le\ ,  vol.  \v.  ]  art  iv. 


8  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

proper  has  not  been  occupied  by  the  Chinese  for  so  long  as  that,  most  of 
the  remarks  that  would  apply  to  the  large  empire  of  to-day  would  be  equally 
true  of  the  first  settlements  of  the  spreading  black-haired  people. 

Nowhere  else  within  the  temperate  zone  do  we  find  a  continuous  tract 
com]  rising  an  equal  area  of  equally  fertile  soil,  a  country  where  the  variety 
of  temperate,  and  the  abundance  of  tropical,  climates  are  combined  in  the 
natural  produce,  and  where  benignant  nature  has  set  the  fashion  of  good 
government  by  making  the  struggle  for  existence  so  easy  to  her  children. 
The  soil  of  Egypt  might  be  equally  fertile,  but  the  requisite  culture  was 
monotonous,  and  servile  labour  was  skilled  enough  to  sow  before  and  reap 
after  the  inundation.  To  \  rofit  by  the  varied  productiveness  of  China, 
the  inventiveness  of  private  enterprise  stimulated  by  the  institution  of  pri- 
vate property  was  necessary  :  but  some  of  the  phenomena  generally  associ- 
ated with  these  phrases  in  the  west  are  missing,  for  the  end  aimed  at  by  the 
economic  system  is  sul  stantially  the  same  as  in  Egypt,  though  the  method 
is  different. 

In  Egypt,  as  we  have  seen,  the  base  of  the  industrial  order  was  formed  1  y 
a  system  of  forced  labour  and  subsistence  wages.  In  the  Middle  Kingdom, 
free  labour  and  sufficient  food  would  be  the  corresponding  formula.  As 
in  Egypt,  for  many  ages  food  was  normally  so  plentiful,  by  the  ]  ure  bounty 
of  nature,  that  dearth  appeared  only  explicable  as  the  result  of  bad  govern- 
ment :  and  so.  while  reserving  the  right  of  the  people  to  earn  their  own 
food  in  their  own  way.  the  duty  of  their  rulers  was  conceived  to  consist, 
hi  :fly,  in  making  not  only  such  arrangements  as  should  secure  the  free 
labourers  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  their  labour,  but  also  such  as 
should  make  the  labour  itself  as  remunerative  as  possible. 

Political  liberty  for  the  masses  did  not  exist,  and  they  i;  A  :.  -  right  to 
criticise  the  imperial  measures,  but  all  the  more  ruthless  was  the  judgment 
passed  on  the  results  of  su<  h  ,  dmii  istn  li  n.  Was  f  od  abundant  ?  'I  he 
government  was  good,  and  the  people  orderly  and  contented.  Was  there 
famine  in  the  land?  The  hlinper  r  and  his  officers  had  neglected  tin 
duties  of  'heir  stati  .n  :  the\  and  not  the  people  were  to  blame  for  the  crimes 
v,  1  ii  h  folii  i wed  invar.,:'  ly  on  die  heels  or  miserv.  At  the  present  moment 
all  we  have  to  do  with  tins  A-  \  <  f  the  :  ile-r's  duties  is  to  i  ■'::.'  <  at  ti  at  :i 
could  not  have  been  formed,  except  in  sua  A  an  agriculturist's  paradise  as 
!  Igy]  '.  M  ■•  ;  i!  una.  or  China  :  so  th  '.  \  •  ':  if:  inned  in  t!  ..  ietl  age 
before  the  dawn  ot  hi>tory.  it  would  have  i.  id  to  be  renounced  •  r  ;..  i  lined 
in  China,  but   lor   !    e     .    _uh;r  li     .     _feneitv  of  1         :      ion  gr    luAiiy  in 

-    ted  in  the  em;  ire. 

Sum    in  led    almo  I    ex<  '  i-.vAv  by  the   sea    and    the    desert,  1  a<  ked    1  y 
•    1      '    is  of  i     A  Ah       A<,  tile  climate  oi    (J    ina  is  as  regular  as  the 
r-ea-ons,  ea<  h  i  t    wh;<  ..    takes  its  character   from    broad   cosmic   influences, 
wA         :  ■  :.    t  in  this  ca    ■  m.i:  ■::'.     ly  in     ii;i     I    by  auv  local   <  ause.      Th    i 
is  a  regular  season  <  :    :    .:.  an  1  sun.-hine,  i  ght   by  winds    from    ti.  : 

■:.]  pm:  riate  quarter,  to  tA.t  travellers  <     u  '    1  Ivance  at  v.  hut   time  <  t 

vear  to  stait  for  a  v   •  .._e  u     or  d   vvn  either  of  t lie  imeat  navigable  streams. 


THE   LAND    AND   ITS   I //STORY.  9 

The  succession  of  the  seasons  is  almost  the  same  throughout  the  country, 
though  the  dates  of  each  particular  phase  may  vary.1 

Another  peculiarity  of  structure,  which  has  facilitated  the  establishment 
of  a  uniform  and  centralized  government,  is  the  relation  of  the  rivers  and 
mountains,  more  particularly  in  the  south.  Xot  only  has  every  river  of 
importance  numerous  tributaries  flowing  into  it  more  or  less  at  right  angles  ; 
but  even  when  no  tributary  stream  divides  the  mountain  ridges,  these  still 
run  at  right  angles  to  the  river  valley,  not  as  a  barrier  across  it.  Though 
the  area  of  China  is  equal  to  that  of  all  Europe,  without  Russia,  and. 
though  it  is  by  no  means  wanting  in  mountainous  districts,  none  of  these 
make  an  internal  barrier,  separating  one  district  from  another  as  the  Alps 
separate  Italy  and  Switzerland,  or  as  the  Kwen  bun  and  the  Snowy  Moun- 
tains separate  the  Chinese  Empire  and  Tibet.  The  main  streams  of  China 
ilow  from  west  to  east,  and  each  of  them  is  fed  by  more  or  less  important 
tributaries  flowing  south  and  north  ;  hence  the  means  of  communication 
are  much  greater,  even  through  difficult  country,  than  when  the  main 
streams  flow  in  opposite  directions  and  every  source  is  a  water-parting 
separating  at  once  and  for  ever  the  chief  river  systems  of  the  continent. 

The  valley  of  the  Rhine  and  the  valley  of  the  Ticino  are  politically 
separate  in  a  way  that  the  valleys  of  the  Yang-tse-kiang  and  the  Yellow 
River  never  are,  even  when  the  distance  between  them  is  much  greater 
than  that  from  Basle  to  bavia.  The  main  river  systems  are  thus  only 
divided  by  chains  of  secondary  importance,  and  the  same  peculiarity 
makes  it  possible  in  many  cases  to  establish  artificial  means  of  com- 
munication between  them  by  canals,  connecting  the  tributaries  of  different 
main  streams.  This  characteristic  is  most  marked  in  the  southern  and 
eastern  provinces,  which,  as  the  last  to  be  occupied,  would  hardly  have 
become  so  thoroughly  incorporated  with  the  older  parts  of  the  empire, 
if  the  means  of  communication  had  not  been  so  much  better  in  their  case, 
as  to  compensate  for  the  greater  distance  from  the  capital. 

The  prevailing  absence  of  natural  barriers  between  the  course  ot  different 
streams  has,  however,  another  and  less  beneficial  consequence.  Xowhere 
else  within  historic  times  has  a  stream  of  the  importance  of  the  lloangdio 
changed  its  course  so  materially,  when  its  proper  outlet  becomes  too 
shallow  and  confined  to  allow  the  passage  of  its  waters,  The  consequent 
inundations  made  the  embanking  of  the  natural  watercourses  a  necessary 
precaution,  and  the  habit  of  ''regulating  the  waters''  of  the  largest  rivets 
no  doubt  prepared  and  encouraged  the  agriculturists  to  undertake  on  its 
actual  scale  the  not  less  beneficial,  voluntary  work  of  canalization. 

1   M.  l'iot  concludes   from   a  comparison   <  f  the   flora    of  the  Classics  with    ::  e   crops 

cultivated  in  different  parts  of  China  at  the  present  nay  that  there  has  been  no  eoii.-uicr- 
able  change  in  the  climate  of  the  country  within  hiMorical  times.  "  Recherche-;  sitr  ... 
temperature  ancienne  de  la  Chine,"  ''/,'iirn.  As.,  Jme  set".,  vol.  \.  I1S40).  p.  5^0.  A 
translation  of  what  is  called,  '"The  little  Calendar    ol    the    Ilia,'*  is  ap]  li    .  iv1. 

This  is  an  almanack  poem,  —  in  the  style  of  the  Yuch  l.in^  (  S,in,\i  />',•  :■  '  /•,  /  1'  ■ 
\\\ii.  p.  e.p.r,  and  the  first  ode  of  I'm  (Shi-kin^,  CA//.  •,  ('..'../  .  iv.  Ilk.  w.i,  -sup- 
posed to  have  been  found  in  the  tomb  of  Confucius  about  the  Oth  century  A.  ;>. 


io  OWNERSHIP  IX   CH1XA. 

While  the  course  of  the  rivers  is  such  as  to  facilitate  and  promote  in- 
land traffic,  the  conformation  of  the  coast  is  the  reverse  of  favourable  to 
foreign  commerce.  Harbours  are  few  and  bad.  the  mouths  of  the  rivers 
are  silted  up  with  sand  :  there  is  but  one  bay  of  any  importance,  and  none 
of  those  gulfs  and  indentations  which  invite  and  almost  compel  the 
dwellers  on  the  coast  to  carry  on  their  traffic  by  help  of  short  cars  across 
the  water.  The  inferiority  of  their  neighbours  on  the  north  and  south 
prevented  any  e  piality  of  intercourse,  either  political  or  commercial  ;  while 
the  industrial  instincts  of  the  people  found  ample  satisfaction  in  the  pro 
duction  of  native  articles  of  use  and  luxury,  which  each  province  could 
exchange  as  far  as  needful  with  other  parts  of  the  empire. 

In  no  other  civilized  country  in  the  world  could  it  have  been  seriouslv 
proposed,  as  a  defence  against  piracy,  to  lay  waste  a  strip  of  ground  a  few 
miles  wide  all  alone.'  the  coast :  but  the  sacrifice  involved  by  this  curious 
measure  was,  after  all.  inconsiderable.  The  great  lines  of  traffic  are  all 
inland,  and.  for  commercial  purposes,  the  coast  of  the  provinces  on  the 
east  of  the  Great  Canal  is  to  be  found  on  its  banks  rather  than  by  the  red 
seashore.  In  fact,  the  inundations,  which  were  the  one  danger  to  Chinese 
agriculture,  served  indirect'}-  t  >  stimulate  and  promote  Chinese  commerce. 
The  cuttings,  which  were  necessary  for  drainage  and  useful  for  irrigation, 
served  also  to  provide  water-wavs  for  trade,  and  so  to  prevent  tiie  exclusive 
dependence  on  agriculture  which  has  a  cramping  effect  on  natural  de 
velopment. 

The   political   history   of   China    Ins    been    much    simplified    by    th   - 
features   in  its   physical    ge   graphv.      The    only  natural    barriers  which    are 
formidable  enough  to  serve  as  the  frontier  of  an   important  State   are  the 
Yellow   River,  the   Yang-tse-kiang.  and   the  mountain   ranges  on   the    ea<i 
and  north  of  Sz'chuen.  \vVi\c',)  isolate  that  large  and  fertile  province.      1!  i: 
tiie  empire  was  never  divided  for  long  together  into   four   great  State-. 
Northern,    Southern.    Centr    .    and    [-".astern    China.      Tiie  great    dynastic- 
ruled  over  the  whole  territory  annexed   by  settlers  of  the  dominant    race. 
Alter  tiie    fall  of  one  •  :    tl    :se   dvn  isf.es,  the   p  fiitical    disorgan  zati  m    of 
.       '    is  I    11  was  th  ■  result  man  if  <  ■  1  its  ■';:"  in  the  formation  of  a  mini:     r 
of  minor  kingdoms  or  ir.ul  \\  principalities  ;  then  the  procos  of  integrate  m 
commenci    .      :i    sh,  and  the  mi  ail  est   States  w ere  absor       I,  until   there  re 
mamed  only  tliree  or  four  riv   is   •    i\     rful   i  ::    u_;i  to  aim   at   restoring    t 
unitv  of  the  i      •  ire. 

l'he  o!f    .    ...:-'    rie        f  ( ':    n:i    n    ,'er  rc>     guise  more  t;    in  one  Im;    ai 
dyna-ty  .,'  a  time,  though  the  In;;  ::ial  dynastv  did  not   abvavs  govern   the 
le       .        ,       ■;.   '         ;  h    :..'/  i.artei"  of  it  ;  but  the  flight  ne -s  ot    the 

■'.::    1     1     ■  .    en  one  i     rl        '  and  an    ther  w  is  ^een  wh   n  anv  >  ; 

th.e  rival  S'  ites  bee.,  n  to  gn  iw  in  power.  Anv  m  iderateiy  strong  (  lover n- 
;..  nt  :  mi  :  i:  t  isv  '  ov  rst  :p  e- ;t.h  t  or  all  of  th  \se  natural  .  m  im;  rks  ; 
and  as  soon  as  one  w  -  overstepped,  there  was  seldom  anv  halt  till  the 
'  :xt  was  ie  ;ohed.  f  or  a  time  t he  1 1  wa ;  m;_iht  serve  as  a  divi.d  >n  between 
;.    ::..   .  a  .    -     .'..  ;        .'    t:     :    v.    -    on  v    a   stage    in    the    :  :      ess    '.  v    whi'  h 


THE   LAND   AND    ITS   HISTORY.  n 

the  master  of  the  Yellow  River  usually  drove  his  rivals  hack  behind 
the  Kiang,  as  Kubla  drove  the  Sung  emperors  before  abolishing  their 
dynast}'. 

The  obstacles  in  the  way  of  a  United  China  never  took  the  form  of  a 

local  patriotism  entrenched  behind  natural  frontiers.  The  difficulties  to 
be  overcome  were  moral  rather  than  material,  and  the  immense  territory 
normally  united  under  the  Emperor  of  China  depended  for  its  political 
unity  on  the  vigour  and  capacity  of  the  administration.  There  was  nothing 
in  the  physical  structure  of  the  country  to  suggest  or  perpetuate  the  poli- 
tical subdivisions  which  followed  upon  imperial  inefficiency;  and  if  the 
people  were  seldom  willing  to  fight  with  much  enthusiasm  for  a  sovereign 
who  was  losing  the  empire,  they  were  always  ready  to  submit  with  a  good 
will  to  one  who  was  gaining  it. 

China,  in  the  third  millennium  B.C.,  was  far  from  being  an  uninhabited 
country  :  an  1  to  judge  from  the  tribute  exacted  from  some  of  the  wild 
tribes  which  continued  to  inhabit  it,  the  latter  were  not  altogether  ignorant 
of  the  arts  of  civilization  ;  but  they  were  not  confirmed  agriculturists  like 
their  invaders.  Tie  occupation  of  China  is  interesting  as  the  earliest  in- 
stance of  appropriation  by  use,  and  that  upon  a  national  scale.  The 
agriculturists  appropriated  the  arable  land.  The  indigenous  population 
was  treated  by  the  Chinese  like  squatters  by  a  "free  selector.''  The 
ifack-haired  people  picked  out  the  eyes  of  the  land.  They  spread  along 
the  course  of  every  fertile  river  valley,  settling,  improving,  draining  swamps, 
cutting  canals,  building  embankments,  but  always  with  a  colonizing  in- 
stinct, occupying  first  every  spot  that  would  repay  cultivation  without  much 
labour,  and  so  spreading  a  network  over  the  whole  country,  the  meshes  of 
which  could  be  drawn  tighter  at  leisure.  The  colonization  of  the  Yellow 
River  and  the  great  plain  probably  took  place  as  gradually  and  as  peace- 
abb.-  as  the  later  colonization  of  the  Blue  .River,  or  that  of  Ah  ngolia  at  the 
present  day. 

Ancient  China  was  in  the  main  the  country  lying  between  its  two  great 
rivers,  the  Hoang-ho  and  the  Yang-tse-kiang.  The  earliest  contemporary 
::..  : it  '  reserved  in  the  Shoo-King,  or  classic  book  of  History.1  is  a 
description  of  the  nine  provinces,  the  nine  livers,  and  the  nine  mount.::.-. 
or  the  hi:  g  lorn  as  it  existed  in  the  23rd  century  B.C.,  the  tribute  exacted 
from  each  province  and  the  engineering  works  supposed  to  have  been 
included  in  the  imperial  survey.  This  document,  called  the  Tribute  of 
Yu.'-'  has  every  internal  mark  of  authenticity.  With  its  native  curtness 
undisguised  by  imaginative  commentators  or  translators,  it  appears  as  a 
us  though  meagre  itinerary  and  revenue  survey.  We  learn  from  it 
approximately  the  extent  of  the  primitive  kingdom,  and  from  its  extent  can 
form  a  c   :  je   tural  estimate  of  its  prehistoric  d  irati  •::.  whi   h  Chinese   tra- 


A; 
/'' 

.).  1 

;..  c 

■  h 

Th 
)Uii  1 

!>..   I.e. 


me  aula  >r 


12  OWNERSHIP  IX  CIIIXA. 

dition  scarcely  exaggerates.  The  nine  rivers  '  arc,  besides  tlie  two  already 
named,  the  Wei,  down  the  course  of  which  the  original  settlers  must  have 
spread  after  the  Hoang-ho  turned  too  far  to  the  northward  to  he  their 
guide  :  the  Lo,  which  waters  the  present  provinces  of  Honan  and  sepa- 
rates Loyang  and  Honan-fu,  the  ancient  capitals  of  two  different  dynasties; 
the  Hwai,  which  meets  the  Hoang-hc  at  its  mouth  after  a  long,  straightish 
course  from  west  to  east.  The  Tsi,  a  river  which  is  described  as  flowing 
from  tiie  Tad  Yuen  mountains  into  the  Ho,  and  then  out  again  to  the 
sea,  by  a  course  not  now  traceable,  and  perhaps  (hanged  in  the  lapse  of 
ages;  the  Han,  which  after  flowing  eastward,  between  two  ranges  of  hills, 
wanders  deviously  southward  and  reaches  the  Yang-tse-kiang  through  a 
region  of  lakes  and  swamps. 

And  besides  these  seven  considerable  and  more  or  less  identifiable 
rivers,  two  are  named,  obviously  lying  at  the  western  extremity  of  the 
kingdom,  one  of  which  is  described  as  losing  itself  in  the  desert  sand;-,  and 
the  other  as  (lowing  into  the  Southern  sea.  These  last  are  scan  ely  c  in- 
clusively identified,.  In  a  map,  copied  by  Dr.  Legge  from  a  Chinese 
source,  the  black-water  appears  as  the  name  of  the  western  bead  o:  the 
Hoang-ho,  and  the  To-shin,  or  Weak-water,  as  a  tributary  of  tiie  Kiang, 
1. 1  t  answering  to  tiie  position  of  any  actual  stream.  Of  course  the 
'*  southern  sea'""  merely  stands  for  tiie  unknown  goal  to  be  reached  by  a 
stream  flowing  southward  out  ot  sight,  and  it  may  safely  be  assumed  that 
both  these  stre;  ms  «  :re  of  much  le.-s  importance  than  those  reached  after- 
wards, as  almost  any  river  w  mid  make  an  impression  on  the  m  nds  ot 
ti  '.  hers  just  i  merging  bum  tiie  bed  of  tiie  rainless  and  streamless  Han- 
nah or  dry  Sea. 

The  gi'at  iito  is  references  to  unknown  waters  in  the  south,  can  only  have 
been  ]  :  m  :  d  by  the  ]  rim; five  (  ihinese  expression  '"  within  tiie  four  -  as, 
win  ...  ter  writers  are  avowedly  unable  to  expl  in,  and  which  lias  less 
meaning  ;.;  Cmua  than  in  aim  >st  anv  c:  nmtry  on  tiie  globe.  M  >-t  pro  - 
a;  iy  the  Ch  se  immi_rants  i  r  itight  it  with  then)  as  an  inh  -rit  m  ;  ::'  mi 
generations  that  lived  between  the  Caspian  Sea  and  the  Asaita:  Me>:;tcr- 
ran  •.;.•.  •  i '. :  -;   n  ( ha .:'..;.  i  the    -    .         Ar   i  «  itb    ;     rhaps       ;...■..    '..  rgcr 

1  lie  iiln  :..  .  .'  is  m  n;  A  in  •  .  •  '.  ;  :  Yn  have  1  en  .  ;  ;.  le 
to  gi  "..m;  in  I'S  \\  ho  . .  ve  looked  tor  them  t;;  ■  :i  the  map  ot  ('.,.:  a,  an  they 
cannot  he  i  ;    nt;:i     :  \\  ;:,i  ;.;;v         ;; s   i      :  ;;tiit  i'.i;i,e\      ban  >n   von 

I  Ah  A  ho  An.  i    iv.    '.    r.  i      A  n  doled  t'  i  identifv  in  >>t  of  them   ,vit  i 

pi  . -.1  ;.  : '..'.-. .  ;;  : .  . i\ .  ;  ■ . t • .; ._..;...  -  :  v.  ;  . ••  A  e  ot  tin-  or;g;nal  i  Ion- 
ists  occui;  \  m_    the   rn,    r   val  levs    a  Ircadv  described..      I  Aery    one    who   has 

I  :v.~s  t..e  imn_m    ti    n  o: ti.     ml       ;tem'.s.  are   b\   no   noons    nece.-.-mrily   the 


:     o    . 


THE   LAND   AND   ITS   HISTORY.  13 

highest  in  the  neighbourhood  ;  it  was  such  hills  that  the  Chinese  named, 
and  Yu  enumerates,  and  some  of  them  still  bear  names  identifiable  with 
those  used  by  him — a  confirmation,  if  one  were  needed,  of  the  view  which 
conceives  the  immigrants  as  making  their  way  through  China  along  its 
river  banks. 

The  provinces  are  grouped  in  three  classes,  three  in  each,  but  in  a 
different  order  for  fiscal  and  descriptive  purposes.  The  highest  revenue  is 
not  necessarily  drawn  from  the  provinces  containing  fields  of  the  richest 
quality  ;  and  as  the  purpose  of  the  latter  classification  is  not  explained,  we 
are  left  to  guess  that  perhaps  it  referred  to  the  quality  of  the  land  available 
for  village  allotments,  the  quantity  of  which  was  regulated  by  its  richness,1 
so  as  to  secure  about  the  same  average  amount  of  produce  to  the  culti- 
vators in  different  districts.  The  theory  of  the  Government  was  to  exact 
an  increasing  proportion  of  its  dues  in  the  form  of  personal  services  from 
the  cultivators  nearest  the  capital,  while  those  at  a  distance  contributed 
produce  only;  and  as  the  same  system  was  followed  in  ancient  Peru-  and 
modern  Manipur,  it  may  easily  have  been  acted  upon   in  ancient  China. 

According  to  this  description  of  the  nine  provinces,  the  whole  extent 
of  territory  claimed  for  ancient  China  is  more  than  double  the  size  of 
modern  France  ;  and  it  is  not  strange  that  sceptics  should  have  tried  to 
impugn  the  authority  of  such  an  almost  incredibly  ancient  and  circum- 
stantial survey,  on  the  ground  that  the  Chinese  Empire  can  hardly  have 
been  as  highly  organized  as  it  implies  at  the  time  in  question.  But  be- 
sides all  the  external  and  internal  evidence  for  its  authenticity,  there  are 
phrases  here  and  there  which  bear  involuntary  testimony  to  the  existence 
of  the  state  of  things  which  alone  could  make  the  composition  of  such  a 
document  possible. 

Such  a  mapping  out  of  provinces  with  tribute  assessed,  so  as  in  each 
case  to  bring  the  maximum  of  wealth  to  the  imperial  treasury,  while  in- 
flicting as  little  burden  as  possible  on  the  distant  taxpayers,  presupposes  a 
powerful  and  well-informed  Government  familiar  with  the  whole  of  its  wide 
dominions.  Yu  or  his  scribe  has  thus  not  merely  navigated  the  streams  of 
the  Middle  State,  the  Lo,  the  Wei,  and  the  great  Yellow  River;  he  has 
stood  where  the  modern  city  of  YVoo-chang  looks  down  upon  the  conflu- 
ence of  the  Han  and  the  Kiang,  and,  with  the  monumental  brevity  of  the 
archaic  tongue,  in  six  characters  he  represents  these  two  rivers  joining 
their  waters  and  rushing  together  to  the  sea  fJ  as  if  they  were  hasten- 
ing to  court/'  A  commentator  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  who  had  visited 
the  same  spot,  writes  with  more  prosaic  amplitude,'''  "The  vast  flood  dash- 
ing on  brought  to  my  mind  the  idea  of  a  man  hurrying  with  all  his  speed 
on  some  special  mission  without  a  thought  of  anything  else."'  but  tor  us 
the  use  of  the  imacre  has  a  real  historic  value,  as  it  brings  before  us  a  state 


!    YVh  -r.  land  is  measured  by  the  quantity  of  see  1  used  to  sow  it,  its 

:ertaii    •  1  as  its  size. 

-    A] )'  endix  1-'. 

:;  Leet"e's  Chinese  Ciassies,  iii.  i>.  nu 


1     r 


OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 


of  societv  in  which  it  appears  natural  to  illustrate  the  irresistible  rush  ot  a 
rapid  current  by  a  reference  to  what,  therefore,  must  have  been  the  familiar 
sight  of  a  king's  messenger  in  headlong  course,  or  the  steady  stream  of  a 
long  procession  forming  the  train  of  a  provincial  noble,  summoned  to  do 
homage  to  his  liege  lord  in  the  capital  of  the  empire. 

It  is  not  necessary  for  our  purpose  to  analyse  the  tribute  required  from 
the  different  provinces.  Varnish,  silk  of  all  kinds,  woven  ornamental 
fabrics  in  baskets,  salt,  cloth  of  dolichos  fibre,  hemp,  lead,  pine  timber, 
bamboos,  and  various  choice  woods,  pearl  oysters  and  fish,  jade,  gold,  iron, 
silver,  copper,  flints,  grindstones  and  sounding-stones,  fur  skins  and  feathers, 
ivory,  rushes,  cinnabar,  and  minor  curiosities  are  among  the  articles 
enumerated.  Tea.  cotton,  and  porcelain  are  still  unknown.  Of  the  six 
grains  which  figure  in  modern  maxims — rice,  millet,  pulse,  wheat,  panic, 
and  rye  —  the  earliest  enumerations  do  not  mention  rice.  L'pon  the  whole, 
though  there  is  less  abundance  and  display  of  the  precious  metals,  the 
peace  resources  of  China  include  as  great  a  variety  of  articles  as  the  war 
spoils  of  a  Thothmes  or  a  Rameses. 

Of  the  eighteen  provinces  into  which  modern  China  is  divided,  eight  lie 
to  the  south  of  the  Yang-tse-kiang,  and  do  not  belong  to  the  ancient  king- 
dom at  all.  The  ancient  Vang  included  most  of  the  districts  recently 
divided  into  the  two  provinces  of  Xgan-hwuy  and  Kiang-su,  and  the  re- 
maining eight  provinces  north  of  the  Kiang  include  the  whole  region 
settled,  with  increasing  completeness,  by  the  black-haired  people  down  to 
the  dynasty  of  Chow,  or  the  period  of  "  Middle  Antiquity,"  reaching  from 
n::  ij.c.  to  2;5  n.c.  The  whole  of  the  great  plain  which  extends  from 
Peking  to  the  Poyang  lake,  and  for  a  nearly  equal  distance,  at  its  widest, 
from  west  to  east,  is  comprised  in  these  provinces.  Pe-che-li,  the  northern- 
most, in  which  Peking  is  situated:,  is  still  the  most  barren  ;  Shantung,  on 
the  eastern  coast,  contains  :  art  of  the  great  plain,  and  is  <  ne  of  the  most 
fertile  of  the  northern  provinces:  the  birthplace  of  Confucius  is  in  the 
western  end,  and  during  the  feudal  period  this  district  belonged  to  the 
state  of  Poo.  These  two  provinces  now  supply  the  largest  contingents  of 
i  ists  :  )  South  Mam  huri  i,  whi<  h  the}  ar  ■  ]  rai  ::<  ill v  ;  nnexing  as  their 
ancestors  <::<i  the  lands  of  the  eastern  barbarians,  of  whom  mention  is  made 
in   re  th   n.  on         y  C    ntucms. 

The  ancient  <  unterpart  of  kansu,  at  the  opposite  extremity  of  the 
n  rthern  em;  :re.  is  .  v  ;  -ed  by  l<  ■  .thoieii  ]  to  have  ext<  nde  i  1  ,-vond 
the    Vu-m  >n    '  ..--'  -  '.    whii  h    m  w  n  arks   its   western   iin  it.      d  he   modern 


province    of    Hon  an.    i  :.<e 
imper:    1  i  anil    !.  »  d    n 

or  (  otton.     Si.  n-i.  travemi 
in  n,  th  ■  1  ttter     :    .vim  h  h  ; 

■:     i        :  (  '    :.':    1    V.-ia  and  .' 


to 


.'•■ 


e  t  o  e  x  i 


>}ang  for  its 
;  t    little  corn 


:eii    v. 

.■  n  i  i ;  s 


Yellow    River,  is  a   laud  of  coal  and 

;ed  tr   m  a  vei  v  u  mote  ]     : ;     1.      J  ts 

i"  (  i  lumen  e.  and  viitually  r:<  introl  the 

"  (  ...   a.   dim  1  rain  ;  o\\  er,"  a<  o  'I'd- 


THE   LAND   AND   ITS  HISTORY.  15 

ing  to  Richthofen,  is  their  chief  article  of  export,  and  they  supply  clerks 
and  merchants  to  the  rest  of  China. 

The  southern  part  of  both  Hoope  and  Shensi  belong  rather  to  Southern 
than  Northern  China  ;  the  former  consists  of  alluvial  plains  subject  to 
inundations,  with  mountains  on  the  east  and  west.  It  is  now  the  focus  of 
the  inland  traffic,  and  the  carrying  trade  from  Honan  and  Tchekiang  is 
in  the  hands  of  the  inhabitants.  Cotton  and  tea  are  the  only  staple 
articles  of  production,  so  the  population  is  not  exclusively  agricultural. 
The  north  of  Shensi  is,  however,  still  a  perfect  granary,  as  it  has  been  for 
thousands  of  years.  Sx'chuen,  which  in  the  earliest  times  communicated 
with  Northern  China  through  Si-ngan-fu,  is  now  usually  approached  by 
water  on  the  Yang-tse-kiang.  Geographically  it  has  more  in  common  with 
Yunnan,  the  "Far  West "  of  modern  China,  than  with  the  northern  pro- 
vinces, which  also  abut  upon  it  and  contain  the  most  ancient  settlement  of 
the  Chinese  race  :  and  until  the  complete  annexation  of  Southern  China 
made  it  more  readily  accessible,  its  isolation  formed  a  standing  exception 
to  the  general  compactness  and  free  intercommunication  of  the  rest  of  the 
empire. 

In  regard  to  China,  it  is  hardly  safe  to  take  any  kind  of  knowledge  — 
geographical  any  more  than  historical ---for  granted;  and  as  one  can 
hardly  understand  the  economic  position  of  the  empire  without  a  glance  at 
its  history,  to  follow  its  history  it  is  necessary  to  outline  at  least  thus 
roughly  the  relation  between  the  existing  provinces  and  the  most  ancient 
subdivisions  on  record.  In  the  interval  it  will  always  be  sufficient  for  our 
purpose  to  know  approximately  whereabouts  the  theatre  of  events  is  situated 
m  relation  to  the  permanent  natural  landmarks  and  centres  of  civilized 
population  which  have  never  ceased  to  be  of  importance  ;  to  trace  par- 
ticular boundaries  or  identify  individual  towns  through  the  changes  of 
name  imposed  by  different  dynasties  is  neither  possible  nor  necessary,  and 
the  less  necessary  because  of  the  substantial  similarity  of  the  large  areas 
sometimes  made  the  subject  of  ephemeral  political  subdivision. 


CHAPTER  II. 

THE  ANCIENT  MONARCHY. 

Politically  there  lias  been  more  change,  more  development,  and  less 
stationary  conservatism  in  the  4000  years  of  Chinese  civilization  than  in 
the  3000  or  more  of  Egyptian  independence.  Bat  socially,  industrially, 
and  intellectually,  China  may  bear  the  palm  of  unchangeableness  in  virtue 
of  the  longer,  still  continued  national  life,  which  seems  to  have  undergone 
no  material  revolution  in  its  character  since  the  earliest  records  that  have 
reached  us. 

These  records  differ  curiously  from  those  which  give  such  trustworthy 
though  incomplete  guidance  as  to  the  life  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Babylonia. 
The  earlv  books  of  the  Shoo-King  have  not  the  same  monumental  authen- 
ticity as  the  inscriptions  of  Senoferu  and  Gudea.  But  they  are  the  work 
of  men  who  have  formed  the  habit  of  recording  statements  and  occurrences 
1  f  ]  htical  imp  stance,  with  a  disinterestedness  not  to  be  found  in  merelv 
triumphal  monuments.  When  the  great  encyclopaedist  of  the  14th  cent.. 
Ma-twan-lin,  tells  us  that  the   <;  pencil  of  the  recording   officer  lias  been 

usv  bum  the  time  of  Hwang  li."  l  he  is  only  repeating  earlier  and  vera- 
cious writers,  whose  records  reach  into  the  remote  past  without  coming  to  a 
time  when  the  pencil  was  not  at  work.  The  commentators  explain  that  if 
the  em]  er  >r  e  ive  a  1  harge  t  )  any  officer  or  prince,  it   was  the   duty  -  f  ai 

fti  ial  (  died  the  "  Recorder  of  the  Interior  ;:  to  write  it  upon  tablets  ai  , 
to  do  so  in  du]  te  ;  and  no  public  duty  was  esteemed  more  sacred 
than  to  keep  a  veracious  rec    :    . 

Tile  first  few  books  of  the  Shoo-King.  or  book  of  I  [istorv.  the  oldest  1  f 
the  intelligible  Chinese  scriptures.-  do  not  profess  to  be  contemporarv 
record-.  bach  (me  i.e..::.-  with  the  phrase,  '"  Mxamining  into  antii[iht\ 
we    tin  1  : "    but   !r   :.i  the    .  eth    century  i:.c   to   the    burning      :    the    b 

■  _•  1  2  .  .   .        ;r   auth    rif.es   are   toler       y  varied   and   continuous  :    while   ' ' 

ntier  _  1 1 : . . "  s    -:  whicn  we  o,  mm  o:  the   preceding  1  coo  years  are  en  >u_h 

to  b;  cv  th  .'.  the  tw  ■  \    :  1  1  Is  have  at  .  'ast  as   much    in  common   with   ea   ii 

ther  ;     the  (  "aiua  of  Kambb  had  with   th  it  <  if  Km'  1!  1.      The   i:i  1st   : ,     :    : 

d  >i  in       :   in  th     Sk  10  King  belongs  to  the  7 1 ;  1  century  n.c,,  and  from    th    ' 

■  eriod  onward   th  re  i     no  d     rtii  ot    material    m  nam.    on   th  :  hist    rv  and 

ial  1     nditi   n  of  the  i>v    p'.e  of  China,  though  it  is  to      :  regretted  that  so 


7 
Yi- 


S.i 


iV    hi.    CO.. 


■-.-:.■/■: 

Li.    A-  ■ 


THE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY.  17 

(cw  of   the    original    Chinese    authorities    have  been   made  accessible   to 
European  students  by  translation. 

The  legendary  history  of  China  may  be  said  to  begin  with  the  Emperor 
Yao,  who  died,  according  to  Chinese  chronology,1  in  the  year  2257  i:.c, 
after  a  reign  of  roo  years,  the  most  mythical  figure  in  the  records.  The 
first  book  in  the  Shoo  is  called  the  Canon  of  Yao,  and  we  find  in  it  already 
fully  developed  some  of  the  most  characteristic  elements  of  subsequent 
Chinese  thought  and  morals.  The  mythical  emperors  anterior  to  Yao  are 
first  mentioned  in  comparatively  late  writings  :  the  first  of  them  is  supposed 
to  have  taught  his  subjects  to  make  huts  of  brandies,  which  is  probably  an 
etymological  afterthought  :  the  second  taught  the  use  of  fire  ;  the  third. 
Fouhi,  invented  marriage  and  the  hundred  families,  divination  and  music  ; 
the  fourth  introduced  agriculture  and  trade  ;  the  reign  of  the  fifth. 
Hwang-ti,  was  memorable  for  the  invention  of  bricks,  the  cultivation  of 
silkworms,  the  development  of  writing  (the  origin  of  which  is  mixed  up 
with  the  mystic  trigrams  of  Fouhi),  and  the  establishment  of  the  Imperial 
Record  ( )itice  and  the  historiographers,  to  whose  industry  we  are  certainly 
indebted  for  the  surviving  State  papers  which  constitute  the  Shoo-King. 
All  these  inventions  are  attributed  in  turn  to  every  local  legendary  chief, 
and  with  equally  little  reason,  since  the  founders  of  Chinese  civilization 
were  not  Chinese  princes  at  all.  if,  as  now  appears  probable,  the  black- 
haired  people  brought  with  them  all  the  arts  of  a  simple  civilization  ready 
made  from  the  west. 

What  one  may  regard  as  the  authentic  element  in  the  tradition  of  the 
period  shows  us  this  people  face  to  face  with  the  natural  difficulties  which 
beset  new  colonists,  almost  lost  in  a  vast  continent,  among  strange  tribes 
who  are  best  content  to  leave  their  native'  wildernesses  unreclaimed  ;  and 
liable  to  have  the  fruits  of  their  industry  swept  away  by  river  floods. 

To  the  present  day  the  names  of  Yao  and  Shun  are  in  proverbial  use  to 
represent  the  golden  ages  of  the  empire.  According  to  the  Classic,  a 
common  man  of  the  name  of  Shun  was  chosen  by  Yao  as  his  minister. 
son-in-kvv  and  successor,  after  a  review  of  all  the  talents  of  the  country. 
Shun  was  evidently  the  hero  of  a  Cinderella-like  legend,  though  in  the 
course  of  tune  Chinese  rationalism  has  caused  most  of  the  incidents  of  the 
primitive  folktale  to  be  obliterated.-  His  reign  is  memorable  in  Chinese 
legendary  history  for  the  floods  which  led  to  the  salutary  mission  of  the 
great  Vu.  who  is  supposed  to  have  removed  mountains,  and  excavate-: 
river  beds,  besides  setting  the  fashion  of  such  more  practicable  drainin. 
and  embanking  as  has  been  practised  continuously  to  the  present  day,  in 
works  of  which  the  Grand  Canal  is  the  most  remarkable  instance.  Vu 
was  appointed  to  succeed  Shun,  as  Shun  had  succeeded  Yao,  and  notwitk 
one;  the  exaggerated  accounts  of  his  labours  as  an  hydraulic  Hercules, 
we  first  find  ourselves  touching  the  solid  ground  of  history  in  the  Domes- 
day book  of  ancient  China  ascribed  to  him  under  the  name  of  The  Tribute 
of  Yu.  His  virtues  were  only  regarded  as  inferior  to  his  predecessors' 
1    V.post,  App.  K.  -  £./>'..  iii.  p.  ,5'5. 

VoL.  11.  —  I'.C.  C 


iS 


OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 


in  the  fart  that  he  did  not  seek  through  the  kingdom  for  the  worthiest 
successor,  hut  appointed  his  own  son  and  founded  the  dynasty  of  Ilia 
(:::;    i  766  i:.c.  I. 

His  grandson  was  idle,  dissipated,  and  provoked  the  hostility  of  the 
subject  prim  es  :  and  a  contemporary  poem  appeals  against  him  to  "'  the 
Lessons  of  our  great  ancestor,"  that  the  people  should  be  cherished  and 
not  despised,  "  for  the  people  are  the  root  of  the  country,  and  when  the  root 
is  firm  the  country  is  tranquil.  But  when  the  palace  is  a  wild  of  lust,  and 
the  c  iimtry  is  a  wild  for  h  mting,  when  spirits  and  music  and  costly  build- 
ings are  indulged  in  to  excess,'''  ] — the  existence  of  any  one  of  these  things 
has  never  failed  to  be  the  prelude  to  ruin.  A  return  to  better  government 
averted  tiie  judgment  for  a  time,  but  the  eighteenth  king  of  the  dynasty 
proved  to  be  intolerably  cruel  and  dissolute:  his  own  domains  suffered, 
and  lie  endeavoured  to  extend  ins  oppression  to  the  better  ruled  dominions 
<  ;  the  feudal  nobles.  Meanwhile  Thang,  called  the  Successful,  \  rince  of 
Shaug.  ha  1  gathered  his  own  people  together,  and  by  threats  and  promises 
-—with  many  protestations  that  heaven  had  called  him,  the  '"'one  man,"  to 
destroy  the  house  of  Ilia  and  reign  more  justly  himself  in  its  place  —  he 
prevailed  upon  the  forces  of  the  empire  to  follow  him  to  a  victorious  cam- 
paign. Notwithstanding  the  purity  of  his  motives,  sanctioned  too  by 
:ss.  he  was  uneasy  as  to  what  posterity  would  trunk  of  him,  and  had 
an  apologetic  "Announcement"  composed  and  published  for  his  justifica- 
tion by  the  prime  minister.2 

Exactly  the  same  protestations,  the  same  denunciations  of  crime,  cruelty, 
and  oppression  are  repeated  when  in  11  22  i:.c.  the  dynasty  ot  Snang  is 
d?  throned,  and  that  of  Chow  foun  led  by  King  Wu.  the  son  of  Wen.  The 
o  t  ils  as  to  the  transgressions  of  the  last  king  of  Shang  (or  Yin) ;J  are 
des  ribed  at  greater  length;  but  there  is  just  the  same  tone  of  moral 
indignation  :  the  precedent  of  King  Thang  is  expressly  [U  ted,  and  it  is 
treated  aim  st  as  a  constituti  nai  principle  that  when  the  king  01  *  aina 
misbehaves,  it  is  the  dutv  of  the  most   virtuous  and   powerful  oi    the    pro- 


run    :  S  t  )  ( 1  e  ] 

h    11  > 
f    am  lent    (  ' 


It  ;. 


u<  1  eeu  mm. ' 

tiie  only  p  >int   on  which  I  t  u  al  ;  .... 

is    advanced    and    revolutionary.      But    he:    re 

;;:._  tins  subje  t,  the  '  des  wiii.  .,   c  aim  ex.:  irate   the   e,  riy  atice.-:    :s  •  •: 

.::  es  of  (  lit  >w  may   be   ra  ferre  1  to.    to  nil    in  the  out '.in    <  of  the  first 

nts  under  tormer    dvnasties.      A    verv  famous  ode    beams  v.  ;tu  th 

it  :    "!..■•    m >t    birt.i     :   '    e    '   .■    :.le  \\    s   li    m    !  .  e,  ng    \  a . :.    -     t..e 

r.  1>\        :..  :      .   .      f   I  i     .'.  :  -    ii  .    .'.  iiu    is   nearly  t lie   only    :     : .-    . .  me  :n 

i     issues,     i    isl des    S.aui,    w.a^e    n.iine    is    ass    mated    with    1  :.e    ot    tae 

i-v,i  le  t    les  of  n  vth    1    m    h  :  ilkl  am      His   ieeen  i  is  am   ..  tub    :   :...  a 


TJIE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY 


19 


that  of  the  mythical  emperor  Shinnung,  and  contains  more  points  of  re- 
semblance with  the  Chaldoean  story  of  Sargon,  though  the  resemblance 
only  proves  both  to  belong  to  the  region  of  'pure  myth.  Modern  Chinese 
commentators  take  for  granted  that  the  lady  Keang  was  married,  though 
childless  ;  but  the  genuine  legend  contains  no  reference  to  any  husband, 
and  the  story  is  probably  one  of  the  few  surviving  indications  that  the 
primitive  Chinese  theory  of  descent  approximated  to  that  of  the  Egyptians. 

There  are  just  hints  enough  in  one  stanza  to  enable  us  to  recognise 
the  type  of  folktale  of  which  How-tseih  must  have  been  the  hero  :  "  placed 
in  a  narrow  lane,"  the  sheep  and  oxen  protected  him;  "  placed  in  a  wide 
!  >rest,"  the  wood-cutters  came  to  his  rescue  ;  "  placed  on  the  cold  ice," 
a  bird  sheltered  and  supported  him.  After  escaping  all  these  dangers  the 
infant  hero  differentiates  himself  as  a  Chinaman  by  proceeding  forthwith 
■'  to  plant  large  beans,'"  instead  of  strangling  snakes  or  slaying  dragons. 
"  His  rice,  hemp,  wheat,  and  gourds  prosper  marvellously.''  Clearing  away 
the  thick  grass,  lie  sowed  the  yellow  grains  and  taught  the  people  to  cul- 
tivate the  four  kinds  of  millet — the  black  millet,  the  double  kernelled,  the 
tall  red  and  the  white,  to  distinguish  between  the  early  and  the  late,  to  sow 
first  pulse  and  then  wheat,  '"  and  thus  he  was  appointed  lord  of  Ta'e  "  and 
minister  of  agriculture  to  the  emperor  Shun.3  Another  ode  celebrates  the 
same  hero  as  the  first  who  gave  wheat  and  barley  to  be  food  for  the  multi- 
tudes, and  diffused  the  rules  of  social  duty  through  the  wide  realm. - 

hour  or  five  hundred  years  after  the  supposed  date  of  How-tseih,  a 
settlement  of  the  people  in  Pin  is  described  as  conducted  by  a  somewhat 
more  historical  Duke  Lew,  of  whom  an  ode  narrates:  "He  divided  and 
subdivided  the  country  into  fields.  He  stored  up  the  produce  in  the  fields 
and  barns."  Apparently  finding  his  territory  overcrowded,  '•he  surveyed 
t  le  plain,  lie  ascended  to  the  hilltops  ;  in  sympathy  with  the  people  he 
made  a  proclamation  ;  in  his  devotion  to  the  people  he  continued  his  ex- 
plorations to  the  100  springs  and  the  ridge  on  the  south,  a  height  affording 
space  for  multitudes  ; "  here  the  officers  gathered  round  him  upon  mats 
and  stools,  and  the  scale  of  the  whole  proceedings  may  be  estimated  from 
the  festivities  at  the  close  of  the  council.  The  generous  Duke  "had  sunt 
to  the  herds  and  taken  a  pig  from  the  pen  ;  he  poured  out  his  spirits  into 
calabashes,  and  so  he  gave  them  to  eat  and  to  drink.''  After  determining 
the  points  of  the  compass,  "  he  surveyed  the  light  and  the  shade,"  i.e.  the 
fields  with  a  south  exposure,  suitable  for  the  staple  grain  supply,  and  those 
in  the  shadow  of  the  hill,  suitable  for  trees  or  the  hardiest  crops:  "lie 
viewed   the   streams   and    springs,  he    measured  the  marshes  and  plains  : 

e  fixed  the  revenue  on   the   system  of  common  cultivation  oj   the  ji    a   .■ 
lie  measured   also  the  fields  west  of  the  hills,   and   the  settlement  ot  I'm 
became  truly  great."  4 

Notwithstanding  all  this,  another  ode  introduces  us  to  a  third  her  »,  the 
ancient  duke,  Tan  Foo,  who  removes  his  people  from  Pin  to  the   plains   ot 

1    Lcggc,  Chin       C/assi.s,  vol.  ii.  p.  46S.  -   I:   .  p.  5S0. 

■'  Post,  pp.  42-y.  i  Le-ge,  iv.  4S3. 


20  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

("how,  1325  n.c,  and  provides  them  with  huts  and  caves,  for  as  yet  they 
had  no  houses.  In  concert  with  his  wife,  the  lady  Keang,  lie  chose  the 
site  for  a  settlement  ;  '•  he  divided  the  ground  into  large  tracts  and  smaller 
portions;  he  dug  the  ditches,  he  defined  the  acres.''  The  superintendent 
of  works  and  the  minister  of  instruction  were  charged  with  the  building  of 
the  houses  and  the  ancestral  temples  ;  "  with  the  line  they  made  every- 
thing straight,  they  bound  the  frame-boards  tight,  crowds  brought  the 
earth  in  baskets,  throwing  it  in  and  ramming  it  down  with  shovels,1 
the  trees  were  thinned  and  roads  for  travelling  opened  ;"  in  fact, 
ail  the  pioneers  work  ascribed  to  Vu  900  years  before  was  supposed  to  be 
done  again  by  all  the  ancestors  of  the  new  dynast}",  without  much  regard 
to  their  remoteness  from  the  existing  period  of  civilization. 

Other  odes  mention  with  praise  the  road-making  and  forest-clearing 
achievements  of  later  princes,  and  it  may  of  course  be  said  that  these 
poems  do  not  imply  a  fresh  beginning  of  the  arts  and  agriculture — only  the 
foundation  of  a  new  settlement.  Just  as  there  are  in  America  colonists 
who  have  spent  a  lifetime  in  "going  west,''  so  as  to  keep  always  just  ahead 
of  the  rising  tide  of  population,  so  in  China  for  many  centuries  it  seems  to 
have  keen  a  favourite  undertaking  with  the  most  enterprising  chiefs  of 
the  growing  settlements  to  migrate  into  roomier  quarters.  This  constant 
opening  up  of  new  territory  might  easily  lead  the  Chinese  emigrants  to 
underestimate  the  remoteness  of  their  own  first  experiences  of  this  kind, 
lor  the  civilized  descendants  of  the  aboriginal  tribes,  with  whom  they  came 
successively  in  contact,  would  retain  a  true  recollection  of  the  beginnings 
of  agriculture  in  their  own  region;  and  these  recollections  would  blend 
partly  with  the  traditional  features  of  the  legend  of  Yu.  and  partly  with 
particular  traditions  of  family  migrations,  with  the  result  of  reducing  all  the 
semi-historical  leaders  of  different  ages  to  a  single  type. 

That  the  Chinese  themselves  did  not  learn  agriculture  in  China  is 
beyond  a  doubt.  Just  as  the  family  life  of  the  Vedic  Aryans  is  coeval 
with  th  ir  existence  as  a  pastoral  people,  so  that  of  the  Chinese  docs  not 
go  back  to  a  time  when  die  black-haired  people  were  not  agricultural. 
The  Chinese  cultivated  and  irrigated  the  ground  before  they  framed  the 
character  that  stands  for  "son,"  which  is  compounded  of  the  sign  fa- 
strength    and   the  ideograph    ■    ■    consisting  of  four  squares,  which    repre- 

!    Ms   .   Whiuin.-on.  the  wife  of  a  ( 'limesc   missionarv.  describe-;  ""  rather  ;i  novel  \v;iy  ' 

her  travels  ;  and  th-  Hindi  the    liicth'  nl    i      any-thin;;    I    i' 
■ '  1 1  ■  1  \  1  •  1 . "  i  n      ;  i  -  1  ■  1         -  ! :  •  :  ,  a    c  mi n  lent an  1 1 1  i      '        ■       I 

iiiii.ir   a:    <   .   h    o|     ':.  -    loin    cornel      «>!    the    proposed    dv\  ell  in-'  •"  two    lone;    1  lanks    were 
I  in  I  '■''....       Into  this  tr«.up;h  three  men  and  a  i    iy  were  bu>il\ 

'ly  v. .      Alter         v  niily.  tl 

'■}■■'■'  ie-.   C(>'    il  '  '  '.'.        II  the   :  .1  inks,   nil   |      tail)]        I    llio  U    \  I   .-  '!_":'.    . 

:  '              '  i'  lillin  <  u  ,  ,  ;i    ■  ■!■  !     i      -,  ;i  ni  a  he  r  stamping,  and  so  on  till  the  mud  ^ 

I.      'I  ted  till  1 

■'  •  ■              '  -    .        .          7 1 .    !  v\p        I  'or  tl 

■-. ..  v    ol    build  in;;    u  e    mint        •  I      •'„    to    I  l.ibvh  mia,  where    one    of  the  bi-lineuial    tablets 

ribiii;;  lion  i            1  i          I     w   (he  "  Lor  i  M.-rodach  "  rabed  'a  bank    (lit. 

"  tilled          .    :  'i  '       '  .    .       'J')\ui.  :::i  n     ,.•:'.     .\  in!  :  C '  n  ,  "       of  l 

(\  .on  :>  in,    i  s  i2  .  vol.  ii.  p,    192. 


THE  ANCIENT  MONARCHY.  21 

sents  the  '•channeled  fields.''  From  the  earliest  times,  the  birth  of  a  male 
child  was  thought  of  as  bringing  the  addition  of  a  strong  worker  to  the 
agricultural  community,  as  the  revolution  of  the  seasons  was  thought  of  in 
reference  to  the  return  of  harvest.1  Of  course  it  may  be  said  that  the 
evidence  of  language  carries  us  further  back  than  that  of  any  written 
characters.  But  we  know  from  another  source  that  Chinese  writing  is 
certainly  at  least  as  old  as  the  historical  constitution  of  the  family,  and 
probably  older,  because  it  takes  us  back  to  the  time  when  genealogies 
were  traced  through  the  mother  habitually,  and  not  merely  in  the  ex- 
ceptional case  of  a  heaven-born  hero  ;  /isi/ig,  the  character  for  "  surname,"' 
is  compounded  of  two  signs  for  "'woman''  and  "birth,''  and  the  eight 
most  ancient  surnames  are  said  to  be  written  with  that  symbol. - 

Another  trace  of  customs  akin  to  those  of  Sumer  and  Akkad  may  be 
seen  in  the  tradition  which  assigns  to  the  reign  of  Shun  the  division  of 
the  land  into  twelve  districts,  subject  to  the  "  Twelve  Pastors,''  under  the 
presidency  of  an  officer  called  "  The  Four  Mountains"  (?  a  reminiscence 
of  the  "  hour  Regions  ").  Such  a  division  could  not  have  been  invented 
at  a  later  time  when  only  nine  provinces  were  known,  and  it  therefore 
testifies  to  the  antiquity  of  the  record.  At  the  same  time  the  internal 
administration  of  the  country  was  divided  into  departments  under  re- 
sponsible ministers  :  and  the  habitable  world  within  the  '•four  seas''  was 
theoretically  divided  between  the  Imperial  domain,  the  domains  of  the 
nobles  surrounding  this,  a  larger  area  of  border  lands  called  the  "  peace- 
securing  domain,"  where  Chinese  influence  was  making  its  way  pacifi- 
cally, while  the  still  larger  "  domain  of  restraint  "  and  "the  wild  domain  " 
consisted  of  the  more  or  less  entirely  barbarous  regions  into  which 
criminals  were  banished.  \i  we  knew  nothing  else  about  the  character 
and  history  of  ancient  China,  it  is  at  least  a  fact  of  some  importance 
that  these  terms  were  in  use  at  the  time  when  its  first  records  were 
compiled. 

The  home  of  the  rulers  of  the  black-haired  people  appears  in  the 
"Tribute  of  Yu  "  as  the  '"Middle  Kingdom;"  it  is  then  the  seat  of  a 
highly  developed  national  civilization  and  an  imperial  government  which 
recognises  only  tributary  allies  or  feudal  dependants,  and  barbarous 
tribes  whose  submission  is  expected  to  follow  spontaneously  as  they 
learn  gradually  to  value  the  blessings  of  peace  and  civilized  protection.'' 

L'nder  the  Chow  kings  the  name  of  the  Empire  and  the  political 
significance  of  the  name  remain  unaltered.  The  influence  of  Chinese 
rule  radiated  from  a  centre,  and  the  settlements  where  wealth,  industry, 
and  population  abounded  most  and  had  struck  their  roots  deepest  were 
in  the  midst  of  the  future  fields  of  conquest  of  the  race.  But  as  the 
people  spread,  the  States  on    the  outer  circle,  so    to  speak,   ot    Chinese 


1  The  earliest  written  character  for  ci  a  year  "   represented  a   grai 
R.  Is..  Douglas,  p.  231.) 

-  Ii>.,  p.  224.  3  S./;.,  iii.  p.  47. 


22  ownership  in  any  A. 

influence,  were  able  to  expand  at  the  expense  of  their  barbarous  neigh- 
bours, while  the  older  and  smaller  States  first  formed  were  enclosed  by 
the  growing  territories  of  the  border  princes  and  distanced  by  them  in 
importance.  When  the  Vin-Shang  Dynasty  was  superseded,  Chow  was 
almost  a  border  State  :  but  its  neighbours  on  the  east,  south,  and  north., 
Tsin.  Tsoo,  and  T'sin.  which  supplied  the  next  dynasty,  had  larger  terri- 
tories available  for  future  conquest  and  settlement. 

The  period  during  which  the  Chow  Dynasty  occupied  the  throne  is 
called  t:  Middle  Antiquity  :  "  and  Confucius,  who  lived  towards  the  close  of 
it.  insists  on  the  continuity  of  Chinese  tradition  through  preceding  ages. 
According  to  him,  "The  Yin  Dynasty  followed  the  regulations  of  the  Hia  : 
wherein  it  took  from  or  added  to  them  may  be  known.  The  Chow 
Dynasty  has  followed  the  regulations  of  the  Yin  ;  wherein  it  took  from  or 
added  to  them  may  be  known.  Some  other  may  follow  the  Chow:  but 
though  it  should  be  at  the  distance  of  a  hundred  ages,  its  affairs  may  be 
known."  l  And  the  survival  in  the  China  of  to-day  of  features  and  institu- 
tions older  than  Confucius  justifies  us  in  crediting  his  assurances  that  th 
moral  and  political  ideas  to  which  he  gave  fresh  currency  were,  in  fact,  an 
inheritance  from  times  already  ancient. 

J  n  o  >:..:  aring  the  regalatf  ms  of  Chow  with  th  se  <  a  the  earlier  dvn  isties, 
C  nfucius  gives  the  preference  to  Chow,  which,  profiting  bv  the  ex;  erience 
of  the  past,  had  excelled  it  in  the  i-  complete  and  elegant  "  character  of  its 
<  rdinances.  These  ordinances  are  embodied  in  the  voluminous  work 
kn  >wn  i.-  the  Chow  hi,  or  ,;  Rites  of  Chow,"  ■  the  auth  >rship  of  which  is 
;  scril  ed  to  die  1  )t:he  id  Chow,  the  virtuous  and  disinterested  brother  o: 
King  \Yu.  The  Duke  of  Chow,  like  Confucius,  did  not  claim  to  be  an 
innovator,  and  the  latter  is  probably  right  in  his  belief  that  tiie  Rite-  •  : 
Chow  differed  from  those  of  Yin  and  Ilia  mainly  in  the  "completeness 
and  elegance  "  with  which  they  were  written  out. 

Each  section  of  this  blackstone  of  ancient  China  begins  with  a  formula 
asserting  the  royal  supremacy:  the  king  determines  the  cardinal  p  in'-, 
the  :  ositi  >n  of  th  :    c;  j  it:  h  the    1-  mndaries    of  the    provinces,  ;  n  1  it  i-  1. 

who  a:  points  th.e  i ■'  :rs  and    separates    their    functii  ns.      Then    full  iws 

a  list  of  the  off:c<  is  of  every  decree  attached  to  tiie  department,  and  ti 
a  detailed  aci   aiut  of  ti."  minister's  ftincti  >ns,  or  of  the  regulati  >r.s  w  inch  ;: 
i     hi     1  t:   ineS-   '   i  i  ;:f   a    :      These,  lists  of   d   i  artmental    v.:::   ti  ■:.  tries    ;  a  , 

i  n.'  lovces.  v.  hii  h  j  i  •  •:" : a  i.  -  -  ti    n.  rem  in  i  ns  of  similar  lists  ot    w<u,t- 

meiu  officers  and  overseers   byname   which    the    Mgyptian    scribes   are    so 
often  <  died  on  to  furnish,  as  if  to  satisfy  their    superiors  that   each   d   ;     rt 
n.ei.t    has   it-    due    romplem    :a     of    ofticials.      One   of  the    books   ol    th 
Shoo,    dating   fi    m    tin;     early   vi   irs    of    the    dynasty,   and    <    lied    "'11. 
(  Rficers  of  Chow,"   uivei  analaii_el  account  of  the  six   departments   o; 


i  .■■■■.  :      .    :..:     m.  i-: '.   i:.  :,  Le  T.  '..•  u  ;.. 

,     IS,  I. 


THE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY. 


23 


State,   and  at    least    all    the    points  upon  which   the   two   documents   are 
agreed  may  be  accepted  as  historical.1 

The  subdivisions  of  the  official  hierarchy  are  substantially  similar  to 
those  still  in  force,  and  it  would  be  the  very  wantonness  of  scepticism  to 
reject  the  positive  evidence  given  as  to  their  antiquity  merely  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  be  easier  for  such  institutions  to  endure  for  a  period 
of  two  thousand  years  than  for  three.  Indeed,  as  an  elaborate  bureaucracy 
existed  in  Egypt  and  Mesopotamia,  it  is  actually  easier  to  suppose  the 
Chinese  administration  to  have  been  organized  in  the  same  manner  from 
the  first,  than  that  such  similarity  of  method  should  have  been  achieved 
independently  at  distant  times. 

The  astronomical  knowledge  of  the  Chinese  was  almost  certainly  derived 
from  their  kinsmen  in  Mesopotamia,  but  during  the  ancient  monarchy 
great  importance  was  attached  to  the  correctness  of  astronomical  observa- 
tions. The  emperor  had  fixed  the  length  of  the  year  at  366  days,  and 
certain  clans  or  families,  to  whom  these  calculations  were  assigned,  were 
instructed  to  observe  and  publish  the  precise  dates  of  midsummer  and 
winter,  and  of  the  spring  and  autumn  equinoxes.  The  verification  of 
Chinese  chronology  is  based  upon  the  position  of  the  constellations  referred 
to  in  these  instructions,-  and  as  the  Chinese  at  the  time  of  Confucius, 
when  the  sacred  canon  assumed  its  present  form,  were  not  acquainted  with 
the  precession  of  the  equinoxes,  it  is  obvious  that  no  forger  could  have 
calculated  backwards  so  as  to  give  a  correct  description  of  the  heavens 
nearly  2000  years  before  bis  own  time. 

Dr.  Legge  suggests  that  new  dynasties  introduced  a  new  beginning  of 
the  year  when  the  errors  in  the  calendar  had  accumulated  so  as  to  alter 
the  correspondence  between  the  solar  and  the  political  year:  and  the  pro- 
minence given  in  the  Shoo  King  to  the  regulation  of  the  seasons  was  not 

1  S.  /?.,  iii.  p.  226.  The  prime  minister  or  general  regulator  lias  authority  over  all  the 
other  officers,  though  lie  is  more  particularly  concerned  with  the  imperial  houseli 
revenues  and  records.  I  lis  department  is  called  the  .Mini-try  of  Heaven  in  the  bonk  of 
Rites,  and  is  now  represented  by  the  board  of  Civil  Office,  The  Shoo  describes  the  second 
department  as  that  of  the  Minister  of  Instruction.  The  Chow  Li  includes  that  function  in  the 
same  department,  but  also  describes  the  "  Minister  of  Earth  "  as  !  )irector  of  the  Mull;'.;:  ies, 
and  his  function  as  those  of  a  Minister  of  Agriculture.  There  is  no  difficulty  in  identify- 
ing the  third  department,  "the  Ministry  of  Spring"  of  the  Chow  Li,  with  the  modern 
Hoard  of  Rites  and  the  Minister  of  Religion  in  the  "Officers  of  Chow.'"'  The  fourth 
department  is  that  of  the  Ministry  of  War  or  the  executive  power,  whose  chief  is  called 
the  "  Officer  of  Summer  "  in  the  Book  of  Rites.  The  Minister  of  Autumn  answers  to 
the  Minister  of  Crime,  whose  office  survive-  in  tiie  present  Hoard  of  Punishments.  The 
present  board  of  Works  corresp  mils  to  the  sixth  ministry  described  in  the  Shoo,  an  I  I 
the  account  of  the  Ministry  of  Winter,  or  official  works  111  the  Hook  ot  Rites;  but  the 
-.-  ':  m  descriptive  of  the  latter  department  is  missing,  and  the  fact  that  in  the  "  (  HI  :s 
of  Chow"  the  Minister  of  Works  is  described  as  undertaking  great  part  of  the  functions 
which  in  the  H  >ok  of  Rites  are  assigned  to  the  Director  of  the  Muititu  les  (whom  we 
have  called  Minister  of  Agriculture  a, ay  explain  how  it  came  to  be  1  -a  wing  to  its  s  111- 
ing  redundance.      According  to  the  Shoo- Ring,  the  Minister  of  Works  "  presides  ovi 

ire,  settles  the  four  classes   of   the   people    an  i    regulates    the    s     -    11s   tor 
obtaining  the  advantages  of   the  ground,"'    and    act-   as    "overseer   of    the  a:.  1 
allotting  lands  \^v  cultivation  an  i  townships.     The  mo  lern  1!  mi  1,  which  takes  the  place 
ot  the  Mini-try  of  Instruction,  is  the  IJ  iard  ol  Revenue. 

2  Legge,   Chinese  Classics,  vol.  i.  pp.  20-2S. 


24  OWNERSHIP  IX  C II IX A. 

dictated  by  pure  enthusiasm  for  astronomical  science.  Such  regulation 
was  regarded  as  an  outward  and  visible  sign  of  sovereignty  like  the  pos- 
session of  a  Board  of  Historiographers.  And  we  may  charitably  assume 
that  the  political  importance  of  a  due  regulation  of  the  calendar  and  the 
timely  prediction  of  eclipses  was  the  cause  of  a  sanguinary  clause,  quoted 
from  the  •"Statutes  of  Government"  during  the  reign  of  the  fourth  king 
after  Yu,  and  therefore  very  possibly  as  ancient  as  the  Canon  of  Yao  : 
'•When  they  (the  astronomical  clans  or  families)  anticipate  the  time,  let 
them  be  put  to  death  without  mercy;  when  behind  the  time,  let  them  be 
put  to  death  without  mercy.''1 

While  the  Recorder  of  the  Interior  was  required  to  take  notes  of  the 
speeches  or  edicts  of  the  ruling  emperor,  the  Recorder  of  the  Exterior  was 
supposed  to  keep  the  books  ot  the  chronicles  of  the  past,  and  to  record 
the  histories  of  the  states  in  all  the  parts  of  the  empire.  The  importance 
of  the  department  as  a  sign  and  instrument  of  imperial  supremacy  may 
be  guessed  from  the  significance  attached  to  the  control  of  the  Calendar. 
Mcncius  complained  that  in  his  day  the  feudal  princes  destroyed  ancient 
records  to  favour  their  own  usurpations:  and  in  China  it  seems  always  to 
have  been  peculiariv  impossible  for  any  prince  to  make  history  who  was 
not  also  in  a  position  to  write  or  have  it  written.  One  of  the  earliest  signs 
of  the  rebellious  pretensions  entertained  by  the  State  of  T'»in,  which 
superseded  Chow,  was  the  establishment  of  a  bureau  of  historians  to  keep 
the  State  records. 

The  historical  documents  of  the  Shoo-King  belonging  to  the  Chow 
I  )vnasty  date  mainly  from  the  reigns  of  W'u  himself  and  his  immediate 
successor.  The  death  of  the  latter  and  the  accession  of  his  son  are  com- 
memorated in  two  pieces,  and  two  more  are  assigned  to  the  reign  of  the 
next  prince,  with  whom  begins  the  degeneracy  of  the  royal  house.  Tins 
I  i  ings  us  to  the  middle  of  the  i  oth  century,  n.(  .  ;  alter  that  there  is  only  one 
•  :  ce  i  elonging  to  the  8th  century,  and  one  of  the  ;th  century  by  a  Marquis 
of  T'sin.  ancestor  of  the  founder  of  the  fourth  dynasty.  The  Duke  of 
Chow,  whom  Confucius  regarded  as  his  patron  saint  and  good  genius,  is 
erebite  1  with  tile  <  omj  ositton  oi  many  oi  the  d  x  umeiits  oi  the  Sh  >o,  as 
well  as  oi  nuinv  poems  in  the  book  oi  Odes  and  of  the  Kites  ot  Chow: 
but  be  is  the  last  of  the  ancient  Chinese  magnates  who  aims  thus  at  the 
direct  instruction  ot   the  people. 

'I  iii  ;  e  doi  mien ts  aitsw  r  to  the  inscrij  tions  of  Egyptian  and  Ass\rian 
kings,  and  witii  their  cessation  the  power  of  the  pen  passes  into  the  hands 
.  :  the  iiti  rary  i  kir-s,  to  \vhi<  u  the  (  liicial  histol'iogra]  bets  themseives 
belong.  The  native  writers  expressly  state  that  the  practice  ot  making 
verses  to  satiri/e  and  condemn  the  Government  was  introduced  in  the 
reign  of  King  I .  i  o.vi  <',c<j  i:.c~. ) ;  and  a  \  cry  <  onsidi  rable  ;  n  t  cut  ion  <  f  tiie 
(  lassii  odes,  the  st  .  ly  ot  which  was  enthusiastically  recommended  bv 
i        Inc.;    ■■.  .. re  <  ;    tins  (  ii..rueter. 

The   r.\  i    ide.is   of    historical   vcraeitv  and  the  saereduess  of  letters  are 


THE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY.  25 

closely  associated  in  China,  and  for  nearly  thirty  centuries  successive  rulers 
of  the  Middle  Kingdom  have  been  exposed  to  the  tacit  censorship  exer- 
cised by  the  remorseless  faithfulness  of  the  "  pencil  of  the  recorders." 
One  of  the  stock  examples  of  public  virtue  in  China  is  that  displayed  by 
the  historiographers  of  Tse  in  the  year  547  B.C.  A  general  in  that  State 
had  married  the  widow  of  a  prince  of  the  ruling  house,  and  was  jealous  of 
the  attentions  paid  her  by  the  reigning  marquis,  whom  he  accordingly 
assassinated.  The  State  historian  duly  recorded  the  fact  in  his  chronicles, 
and  was  put  to  death  by  the  general.  Upon  this  the  pen  passed  into  the 
hands  of  a  brother  of  the  deceased,  who  forthwith  recorded  the  second 
murder,  and  was  in  like  manner  put  to  death.  His  successor,  undismayed, 
continued  the  damning  record,  and  the  general  abandoned  the  contest. 
Meanwhile  the  rumour  of  the  occurrence  had  spread  to  other  States,  and 
the  "  Historiographer  of  the  South,'''  hearing  that  the  "  Grand  Historio- 
grapher'''" and  his  brother  had  died  in  this  way,  took  his  tablets  and  set 
out  for  Tse,  and  only  returned  home  after  ascertaining  that  the  record  had 
been  duly  made.1  While  thus  resolute  to  record  all  the  truth,  it  was 
equally  a  point  of  honour  to  set  down  nothing  but  the  truth,  and  "the 
historiographer  would  leave  a  blank  in  his  text"2  rather  than  risk  mis- 
informing posterity  by  guess  work. 

The  Chun  Tsew,  or  "  Spring  and  Autumn,"  is  a  brief  historical  work, 
composed  by  Confucius,  in  the  form  of  a  very  meagre  chronicle.  Lut  the 
importance  attached  to  it  may  be  explained  if  it  were  the  first  example  of 
a  general  history  of  China,  published  independently  by  a  private  person, 
as  distinct  from  the  official  records  kept  in  each  State  for  the  benefit  of 
posterity,  and  probably  quite  inaccessible  to  private  citizens.  Chinese 
commentators  feel  bound  to  seek  for  hidden  meanings  in  its  bare  records, 
because  Confucius  himself  spoke  of  being  known  and  remembered  through 
the  '"righteous  decisions''''  of  this  work. J  But  this  is  needless  ii  merely  to 
record  the  misdeeds  of  a  ruler  was  virtually  equivalent  to  censuring  them. 

The  chronicling  of  affairs  of  State  by  unofficial  persons  may  have  been 
regarded  at  first  as  an  audacity,  like  the  first  publication  of  a  newspaper 
in  countries  where  the  general  public  is  not  expected  to  desire  any  know- 
ledge of  State  affairs.  If  so,  however,  the  power  and  pretensions  ot  the 
literary  class  must  have  grown  apace,  since  the  commentators  soon  begin 
to  puzzle  themselves  over  the  phrase  of  Confucius,  and  seek  for  indications 
of  praise  and  blame  in  trifling  variations  of  expression,  such  as  speaking 
of  a  bad  prince  by  his  personal  name  instead  of  by  the  complimentary 
periphrasis  required  by  custom  in  the  case  of  the  dead.1     On  the  whole  it 

1   C'linc.-e  C7i?.".7;\r,  vol.  v.  ]  t.  ii.      The  Ch'un  Ts'ew,  with  the  T>o  (Jhuen,  p.  514. 

-    .-Illilh'ctS,    XV.    25. 

:'  Mcncius  (iv.  pt.  ii.  xxi.  >;  51  represent.-;  the  sage  ;b  saying  himsclt  of  this  work  :  "  Its 
righteous  decisions  I  ventured  to  make." 

4  C.C..  v.  pt.  i,  p.  5,  11.  4.  The  Li-ki  contains  many  rules  ahout  the  names  t<>  he  used 
or  "avoided  ;  "  cf.  S./>..  xxvii.  pp.  05  (where  historical  and  literary  can;  n.-aior.s  are  ex- 
empted from  the  duty  of  avoiding  names  1,  101,  107,  no,  in,  190;  and  .wviii.  1^,27, 
etc.  Tso's  Commentary  (  C.  C. .  v.  pt.  ii.  p.  50 1  gives  curious  details  respecting  name  super- 
stitions.    In  r.amine:  a  child,  "the  name  nuist  not  he  taken  from  the  name  oi  t..e  Mate,  or 


26  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

seems  probable  that  for  a  private  person  to  write  history  in  the  5th  centurv  n.c. 
was  an  innovation  of  the  same  kind  and  degree  as  that  effected  in  the  [oth 
century,  when  private  persons  presumed  to  give  currency  to  their  political 
sentiments  in  classic  verse.  And  Mencius  himself  directs  attention  to  the 
change  in  a  way  significant  of  its  import:  "The  traces  of  imperial  rule 
were  extinguished,  and  the  odes  ceased  to  be  made;  when  the  odes  ceased 
to  be  made,  the  Ch'un  Ts'ew  was  produced.'"'  1 

The  historian's  chum  was  not  exactly  for  freedom  of  the  pencil;  it  was 
taken  for  granted  that  kings  would  object  to  uncomplimentary  records  if 
they  knew  of  them  ;  what  was  demanded  was  that  the  chronicles  of  the 
Record  Office  should  be  regarded  as  ';  privileged "  and  their  privacy 
respected.  Dynasties  in  China  are  not  expected  to  live  for  ever,  and  the 
official  history  of  each  royal  house  is  usually  compiled  and  published  by  its 
successor.  For  a  reigning  prince  to  inquire  curiously  into  the  records 
made  respecting  his  own  life  and  character  has  been  recognised  for  at  least 
the  lust  thousand  years  as  a  grave  indiscretion. 

An  emperor  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  (643  a.d.)  claimed  to  know  what  the 
histori  ^rapher  said  of  him,  on  the  plea  that  he  must  know  his  faults 
before  he  1  ouid  correct  them,  lie  was  answered:  "It  is  true  your  majesty 
has  '  ommitted  a  number  of  errors,  and  it  has  been  the  painful  duty  of  our 
employment  to  take  notice  1  f  them — a  dutv  which  further  obliges  me  to 
inform  posterity  of  the  conversation  which  your  majesty  has  this  day  very 
improperly  held  with  us."'' :j  Similarly,  when,  towards  the  end  of  the  1st 
century  n.c,  a  learned  descendant  of  Confucius  was  accused  of  disrespect 
towards  a  deceased  king  of  the  reigning  dynasty,  he  appealed  to  the  im- 
partiality of  the  hi.-loric  records.  It  was  written,  lie  pointed  out,  that  the 
great  king,  notwithstanding  his  other  merits,  laid  shown  too  much  iavour 
towards  the  Taoist  superstition.  It'  he  himself  were  punished  for  repeating 
the  judgments  oi  history,  that  too  must  be  recorded,  and  his  sovereign 
would  have  to  hear  the  blame  in  future  age-. 

There  is  so  little  innovation  in  China  that  it  is  fair  to  assume  this 
-tandard  oi   historical  virtue  also   to   be  derived  from    antiquity,  and  there 

thus  a  sort  of  retrospective  witness  in  favour  of  the  authenticity  ot 
documents  wi.i  h  <  :;  :.  w  he  neither  control!  d  nor  confirmed  by  dire  t 
positive  evid  :.<  ■■.  Chinese  self-esteem  and  Chinese  want  of  hnaainati  n 
together  guarantee  us  against  the  danger  of  being  seriously  misled  by 
tine,  as  approximately  trie  native  tradition-,  which  in  any  other 
<     untrv  would,  need  to  he  submitted  to  minute  and  su-u>ici  >us  <  ri  tic  ism. 


:   1  ' .' )    ;i\\ ; 


e  ;:m 


THE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY.  27 

The  stone  drums  of  the  Chow  Dynasty  1  should  probably  be  counted  as 
authentic  monuments  of  the  9th  century  B.C.,  and  the  Annals  of  the  Bam- 
boo Books  may  rank  with  the  Babylonian  chronicles  in  authority  for  the 
whole  of  the  Chow  Dynasty,  while  for  earlier  days  they  are  based  on 
materials  which  the  scientific  historian  will  find  far  from  useless. 

The  so-called  drums  are  ten  in  number ;  they  are  large  watenvorn 
boulders,  roughly  chiselled  into  shape,  and  have  been  preserved  since 
[307  a.d.,  by  the  principal  gate  of  the  Temple  of  Confucius,  at  Peking. 
Three  of  them  have  inscriptions  still  substantially  legible,  in  the  manner  of 
the  shorter  odes,  describing  royal  hunting  and  fishing  expeditions.  They 
were  found  half  buried  in  a  waste  piece  of  ground  in  Shensi,  early  in  the 
Tang  Dynasty,  and  are  described  in  works  published  in  the  reign  of 
Tai-Tsong  (627-649  a.d.).  Early  in  the  9th  century  a.d.,  a  "Geographical 
Description  of  Provinces  and  Cities  "  mentions  a  number  of  scholars  as 
'•unanimous  in  regarding  the  inscriptions  as  ancient  and  of  great  value. 
Long  years  have  elapsed  since  the  time  when  they  were  engraved,  and 
there  are  now  some  lost  and  undecipherable  characters,  yet  the  remains 
are  well  worthy  of  attention."  2 

The  majority  of  Chinese  authorities  attribute  the  inscriptions  to  the 
reign  of  Seuen  (S26-7S0  B.C.).  The  locality  where  they  were  found  was  a 
portion  of  the  ancestral  territory  of  the  founder  of  the  Chow  Dynasty,  and 
an  earlier  emperor  than  the  one  to  whom  they  are  ascribed  was  said  to 
have  engaged  in  a  great  hunt  there.  Han-yu  wrote  a  poem  describing  how, 
in  S06  a.d.,  he  recommended  their  removal  to  the  national  university,  and 
lamenting  their  neglect  and  decay.  A  few  years  later,  however,  they  were 
removed  to  the  Confucian  temple  of  Feng-hsiang-fu,  where  they  remained 
throughout  the  Tang  1  >ynasty.  They  were  dispersed  and  lost  sight  of 
under  the  Five  dynasties,  but  under  the  Sung  a  prefect  of  the  city  re- 
covered nine  of  them,  and  the  tenth  was  found,  1052  a.d.,  in  the  possession 
of  a  private  person. 

The  Sung  carried  the  drums  with  them  on  their  retreat,  in  1108  a.d., 
to  Pien-ching,  and  a  decree  was  passed  that  the  characters  of  the  in- 
scriptions should  be  filled  in  with  gold,  to  illustrate  their  value,  and  to 
prevent  their  injury  by  repeated  rubbings  to  obtain  facsimiles.-1  The 
Xuche  Tatars  carried  off  the  drums  when  (1126  a.d.)  they  conquered 
the  Sung  capital,  and  the  gold  was  dug  out  of  the  inscriptions,  which 
remained  in  neglect  till  the  Mongols  placed  them  in  their  present  position. 
Past  century  the  Emperor  wrote  some  verses  on  them  in  the  fifty-fifth 
year  of  the  Ivien-lung  period,  which  are  engraved,  together  with  those  of 
Han-yu,  on  a  tablet  in  the  temple. 

1    Dr.  P.ushell    {Journal  of  the   X.   China   Branch  of  the  Royal  As.  Sec.  X.S..  viii., 
1S74)  complains,  with  some  reason,  of  the  neglect  of  these  antiquities  in  khirope,  w     : 
>o  much   interest  was  shown    in  the— about  contemporary — Moabite    stone.      llis.n 
contains  facsimiles  of  the  inscriptions,  with   translations  anil  a  full  history  of  1 

since  their  discovery,  and  the  Chinese  literature  on  the  subject. 

:  //'.,  P-   135- 

3  Dr.  Bushell  describes  the  method,  of  taking  such  impressions  use  1  by  Chinese 
scii  >lars,  the  result  of  which  "  is  a  singularly  perfect  and  durable  reproduction.'' 


2S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

The  characters  arc  more  archaic  than  in  the  Shuo  wen,1  the  ancient 
dictionary  of  the  Han  Dynast}-,  some  of  them  retaining  a  semi-hieroglyphic 
character,  e.g.  that  for  park,  an  enclosure  of  four  squares,  each  containing 
the  suggestion  of  a  tree.  One  scholar  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  questions  their 
authenticity,  doubting  whether  the  monuments  could  have  been  preserved 
1,914  years,  the  interval  between  King  Seuen  and  himself;  but  the  general 
opinion  of  the  Chinese,  supported  by  Dr.  Bushell  and  M.  Chavannes,  is 
in  favour  of  their  authenticity. 

The  Bamboo  Looks  were  discovered  nearly  four  centuries  earlier  than 
tile  drums.  In  the  5th  year  of  the  first  emperor  of  the  Tsin  Dynasty  (279 
A.i).),  it  is  recorded  that  "some  lawless  parties  in  the  department  of  Kei'u 
dug  open  the  grave  of  Kmg  Seang,  of  Wei  (wiio  died  295  i;.c),  and 
found  a  number  of  bamboo  tablets,  written  over  in  the  small  seal  charac- 
ter, with  more  than  too. coo  words,  which  were  deposited  in  the  Imperial 
library."  '- 

The  earlier  records,  from  the  mythical  emperors  onwards,  have  mainly 
to  do  with  prodigies  :  but  the  entries  respecting  the  Shang  Dynasty — 
beginning  in  die  16 in  century  11. c. — have  an  historical  sound,  and  con- 
tain just  such  information  as  one  would  suppose  ancient  hist'  ri  igr;  phers 
to  preserve  The  founder  01  the  dynasty,  Thang  the  Successful,  is  said,  in 
the  21st  year  of  Ids  reign,  to  have  cast  metal  money.  In  other  reigns  it 
is  said  where  the  king  dwelt,  what  cities  he  walled,  what  sacrifices  lie 
ordered,  what  expeditions  he  conducted,  whom  he  appointed  minister. 
and  so  forth.  A  "great  hunting'  is  mentioned  in  the  22nd  year  of  Te- 
sin,  otherwise  the  wicked  C'nou,  with  whom  the  dynasty  ends,  1040  n.c. 

There  is  an  entry  for  every  year  ot  King  Wu,  alter  lie  obtained  the 
empire,  and  in  the  toll  )\\  ing  reigns  at  intervals  01  three  or  four  years,  less 
or  more,  as  events  demand.  907  J:-o'.  we  are  told  a  prince  "made  a 
palace  in  a  beautiful  style.  Tile  king  sent  and  reproved  him.''  in  the 
reign  of  King  Seuen,  to  whom  the  drums  are  attributed,  entries  are  frc- 
ijuciit  yearly  from  the  accession  to  the  nth  year,  then  in  the  12th,  15th. 
1  'it!.,  1  -;.,.  2  1  -t.  22nd,  24th.  25th,  27b).  2.3  th,  and  29th  year  :  this  r 
"  ;  r  tlie  fit's t  time  he  ucl  -  ted  the  setting  an  example  ol  tnisbann 
the  i, coo-acre  field."  'K.eii  we  have  entries  for  the  30th,  32110,  331-0. 
t;m.  ;  ■'  .  nd  .;  :th  years.  :n  the  last  ol  wham  "  he  numbered  the  peu]  le 
m  Tai-utetip  n    n  die  41s:,  43rd,  and  44*01  :  in  tiie  gnth  he  died. 

Kim;  \  ■   '■  (7        i.1'. )  begun  to  incr  due   taxes  ;:.  ins 

in  his  third  '"  i  came  enamoured  ot  1*.  >u  .:  :.  King  I'm  ( 7,J9  :  ■'■  •  '  1U  '""> 
third  vear  cmtcrred  honours  on  i 0. s  Minister  ol  Instruction  ;  out  alter  tms 
the  entile  '      ii  and     1     nber,  with   the  decime   ot   the  roya;  pi  r,\  i  r, 

and  ti      trai.s;      ot   1     ut  incL  rani  2  to  otner  Mates.        <  '  .r  |  w  sent 

king,     in    v. hose    20,1   vear    the   chronicle   1  aoses.    is    \  m    (313    ■  •'-■  '• 
it    is    in  the  oho,    ot    Ileeii     307   i:.o, ),  who    l>oastedtto    Meiicuis  ol    navmg 
;  ,r   wn  1  :  .  u  hi     :  re  erves   in   ti.e  Mafsh  of  bung-ki  '  lor  tile  beiiclit  ol  tne 

;    .'..-.:;  :.  -      '.''..  hi.,  :-'       -Ki      .   I'.  :ien   .     .  ;      . 

■■   '    ".    -     .-.-.-    .  ;    Mei.cn;   .  :.  ....    I. 


THE   ANCIENT  MONARCHY.  29 

people,  that  the  chronicler  begins  to  speak  of  what  "we"  and  "our 
king''  did  in  the  different  years. 

The  modern  Chinese  speak  of  "  the  three  dynasties"  as  if  the  records 
of  all  alike  belonged  in  the  same  sense  to  their  ancient  history.  But  for 
portions  of  the  Chow  Dynasty,  as  has  been  seen,  contemporary  documents 
and  coins  are  forthcoming  in  sufficient  numbers  to  exclude  all  suspicion 
of  legendary  inventions.  With  regard  to  the  preceding  dynasties  scepti- 
cism is  possible,  and  it  is  not  a  matter  of  vital  importance  for  our  present 
purpose  whether  Chinese  records  may  be  trusted  for  the  fact  that  parties 
of  traders  reached  China  from  the  west  in  the  reign  of  Shun  and  in  that 
of  Tang,  and  more  than  once  subsequently  during  the  Shang  Dynasty, 
the  name  of  which  M.  Terrien  de  la  Couperie  translates  "Traders."  l 

The  famous  sexagenary  cycle,  in  use  from  remote  times  for  reckoning 
days. — a  sort  of  double  month,  like  the  double  hour  of  babylonia — was 
not  applied  to  years  till  Ssema-tsien,  who  found  materials  for  a  uniform 
system  of  chronology  going  back  to  841  B.C.  The  generally  accepted 
Chinese  scheme  which  places  Hwang-ti  in  2699  was  only  invented  in  the 
i  ith  century  a.d.,  and  cannot  be  reconciled  with  the  chronology  of  the  bam- 
boo books.  M.  Terrien  de  la  Couperie  proposes  an  alternative  to  both, 
making  Hwang-ti,  approximately,  2362  B.C.  ;  Yao,  2076  ;  Shun,  2004  ; 
and  Yu,  1954.  A  solar  eclipse  falling  in  1904  will  then  occur  in  the  third 
reign  after  Yu.  He  supposes  the  Chinese  to  have  brought  with  them 
from  the  west  the  knowledge  of  gold,  silver  (afterwards  called  "  the 
obstinate  metal,"  from  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  it  in  North  China), 
copper,  and  antimony  or  tin  ;  and  to  have  learnt  the  use  of  bronze  from 
the  west,  in  the  r 8th  century  B.C.  The  change  of  capital  by  Pan-kang  is 
dated  in  this  scheme  1389  B.C. 

1  Catalogue  of  Chinese  Coins,  p.  vii.  ff. 


CHAPTER  III. 

POLITICAL  ETHICS  AND  POLITICAL  ECONOMY. 

There  is  the  same  resemblance  between  the  oldest  passages  in  the  Shoo- 
King  and  the  sayings  of  Confucius,  that  there  is  between  the  books  of 
Ptah-hotep  and  Kaqimna  and  the  collections  of  demotic  proverbs  made 
thousands  of  years  later.  And  in  their  earliest  form  the  Chinese  maxims 
probably  still  date  from  the  youth  of  the  Old  World,  when  the  Middle 
Empire  of  Egypt  was  in  its  glory  and  Assyria  still  a  dependance  ruled  by 
patesis. 

At  this  time  the  qualities  regarded  by  the  black-haired  people  as  proper 
to  a  virtuous  ruler  were  ••reverence,'''  intelligence,  unfeigned  courtesy,  the 
appreciation  of  merit  in  his  subjects,  and  the  power  of  conciliating  the 
upper  classes  of  the  nation,  while  enforcing  peace  and  order  among  the 
lower.  If  calamities  befel  the  State,  the  ruler  thought  the  fault  must  lie 
in  himself,  and  sought  for  a  virtuous  colleague  to  help  him  in  rectifying 
what  was  wrong. 

The  great  Yu  is  reported  to  have  warned  his  patron  and  predecessor, 
the  aged  Shun  :  "  If  within  the  four  seas  there  be  distress  or  poverty. 
your  heaven-conferred  revenues  will  come  to  a  perpetual  end;"1  where- 
as, "If  the  sovereign  can  realize  the  difficulty  of  his  sovereignship  and 
the  minister  the  difficulty  of  his  ministry,  the  government  will  be  well 
ordered,  and  the  black-haired  people  will  sedulously  seek  to  be  virtuous.  - 
And  the  £i  Crcat  Plan,"  a  document  of  the  ("now  Dynasty,  which  is  sup- 
posed to  embody  some  of  the  wisdom  of  Yu,  preserved  in  the  archives 
of  t'ne  intcrvt  ;  ii  li  dyn  isty.  contains  the  first  version  of  a  truth  frequently 
rediscovered  and  repeated  by  Chinese  statesmen,  that  crime  and  disorder 
are  the  direi  t  <  onse  [uences  of  popular  distress,  and  progress  in  virtue  of 
material  competence."'  A  virtuous  king  does  not  slight  the  occupations 
of  the  people  :  he  thinks  of  their  hardships  in  the  heat  and  rain  of  summer 
and  the  great  (  old  oi  winter,  and  he  labours  to  promote  their  ease.  Me 
remeinl  ers  the  <  .inanities  of  their  life  as  he  remembers  the  perils  of  his 
own  high  oluce.  The  sovereign  depends  upon  the  obedience  and  ability 
<  f  his  sum  'cts  l  '•.'  the  execution  of  his  wishes,  as  the  people  depend  upon 
i  :or  the  direction  of  their  labours.  '1  he  duty  and  virtue  oi 
(..lib    als    is   to    reverence   the  multitudes,  to  foster  the   life  of  the  people,' 

'■'  .  ./..,  ..:.  ;  .   i.;j.  -    ..  ..  i  .  ;   . 


POLITICAL   ETLIICS  AND   POLITICAL   ECONOMY.     31 

not  to  enrich  or  aggrandize  themselves.  Those  who  have  ability  and 
administrative  power  are  doubly  bound  to  virtuous  conduct.  The  fall  of 
dynasties  is  caused  by  disregarding  the  awfulness  of  the  people,  as  their 
prosperity  is  caused  by  exercise  of  the  "  essential  virtue"  of  royalty,— 
benevolence  or  love  of  the  people.  The  king  must  not  neglect  the  con- 
dition of  t'ne  most  abject  ;  the  friendless  and  childless,  and  still  more  the 
:i  wifeless  men''  and  widows,  are  the  objects  of  his  compassion. 

The  doctrine  vox  poftidi,  vox  del  was  frankly  proclaimed  from  the  throne. 
Thang  announces  after  his  victory  over  the  house  of  Hia  that  "  Great 
heaven  has  conferred  on  the  inferior  people  a  moral  sense,  compliance 
with  winch  would  show  their  nature  to  be  invariably  right.  To  make 
them  tranquilly  pursue  the  course  which  it  would  indicate  is  the  task  for 
t'ne  sovereign."'  1  The  second  king  of  the  Chow  Dynasty  declares,  even 
more  emphatically,  that  "  The  people  are  born  good,  and  are  only  cor- 
rupted by  external  circumstances." '-'  The  prosperity  of  the  country  comes 
from  the  people,  while  its  misfortunes  come  from  the  ignorance  or  guilt  of 
its  rulers.  And  he  exhorts. one  of  his  nobles  to  go  about  amongst  the 
people  seeking  their  judgment  on  doubtful  points,  in  accordance  with  the 
saying  of  the  ancients,  quoted  in  a  poem  of  the  9th  century  B.C.  :  "Con- 
sult the  gatherers  of  grass  and  firewood,"  ;5  a  class  no  doubt  equivalent 
to  the  charcoal-burners  or  broom-makers  of  the  west. 

It  is  t'ne  duty  of  both  kings  and  ministers  to  "practise  good  husbandry," 
tearing  up  evil  by  the  roots  and  cultivating  rich  crops  of  merit  ;  but  the 
theory  of  ministerial  responsibility  is  also  fully  developed.  The  prime 
minister  of  Thang  the  Successful,  whose  name  signifies  the  "  protector 
and  steelyard,"  is  credited  with  having  said  :  "  If  I  cannot  make  my 
sovereign  like  Yao  or  Shun,  I  shall  feel  ashamed  in  my  heart  as  if  I  were 
beaten  in  the  market  place  :  "  while  if  any  of  the  people  failed  to  get  what 
they  wanted,  he  said,  -iIt  is  my  fault."1  Confucius  was  of  the  same  way 
of  thinking,  and  refused  to  accept  from  his  disciples,  when  in  office,  the 
excuse  that  what  was  done  wrong  was  done  by  their  master's  orders 
against  their  own  desire.  For,  he  continues,  rather  disrespectfully  towards 
the  masters  in  question,  "  When  a  tiger  or  wild  bull  escapes  from  its  cage, 
whose  is  the  fault  ?  "5  as  if  the  function  of  a  good  minister  was  like  that  of 
tiie  keeper  in  a  menagerie,  to  chain  the  evil  propensities  of  t'ne  dangerous 
animal  in  his  charge. 

When  claiming  obedience,  the  king  speaks  of  himself  a  h  "  the  one  man, ' 
but  on  other  occasions  he  indulges  in  the  self-depreciatory  tone  which  is 
still  de  ri^ncm- among  well-bred  Chinamen  ;  he  is  the  servant  of  heaven, 
and  the  'Tittle  child."  and  the  duty  of  •'reverence"  is  no  less  incumbent 
on  him  than  on  his  ministers.  When  Goethe  treats  reverence  as  toe  base 
of  education,  lie  includes  parents  and  rulers  with  Heaven,  among  the 
powers  above  fur  whom  reverence  is  easy;   while   toe   less  nts  ol    reverence 

1   .  •".  ."■'..  ;::.'■.   '.  >  -/'..:.   234. 

"    C'liiwsi-  Chi     ■'  .  v  )'..  iv.      ■'''   -A7;:;.  ]  :.  ;:.   ;  >.  5    I. 
4  S.B.,  iii.  [1.  11S.  ''  Analects,  xvi.    1,  f  7- 


32  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

for  the  earth  below  and  the  equal  playfellow  are  reserved  to  more  advanced 
scholars.1  But  in  China  it  seems  rather  that  Heaven  and  the  People  are 
the  two  spheres  which  overarch  the  rulers  of  men.  dispensing  praise 
and  censure  and  looked  up  to  by  them  with  reverence  and  awe. 

It  mav  be  doubted  whether,  from  that  day  to  this,  rulers  with  the  con- 
stitutionally unbounded  rights  of  afaier  familias  have  ever  been  so  frankly 
i  nfronted  with  the  parental  view  of  the  obligations  of  royalty.  Besides 
endorsing,  as  editor  of  the  sacred  books,  the  sentiments  professed  by  the 
ancients  on  this  subject,  Confucius  intersperses  his  views  on  personal  pro- 
priety and  character  with  maxims  of  the  same  tendency.  In  reply  to  a 
disciple,  lie  defines  the  essentials  of  government  to  be  "sufficiencv  of  food, 
sufficiency  of  military  equipment,  and  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  their 
ruler  :"  if  one  of  these  must  be  done  without,  let  it  be  the  military  e  [ui| 
ment  :  it  two  must  be  sacrificed,  part  with  the  food,  ■•from  of  old  death 
has  1  een  the  lot  ol  ;  ■.."'-'  but   the   foundation    of  the  State  is  in  the 

ids  faith. 

The  head  of  a  noble  family  consulted  him  about  the  best  way  of  reduc- 
ing the  number  of  thieves  in  the  State.  Confucius  said,  "Ifvou,  sir,  were 
not  covetous,  although  you  should  pay  them  for  it.  thev  would  not  steal.''  ;; 
A-  he  admired  the  populousness  of  the  State  of  Wei.  a  disciple  asked,  since 
the  pc  [)le  w  -re  thus  numerous,  what  else  should  be  done  f  >r  them.  "  Mu- 
nich them.''  was  the  reply.  "And  when  they  have  been  enriched,  what  more 
shall  be  done  ?  :;  The  master  said.  "Teach  them,"'1  adding  on  another 
i  i      -i  in,  "  There  1     ii  _  instruction,  there  will  be  no  distinction  of  classes,'' 

a  doctrine  which  the  subsequent  history  of  China  confirms  and  illustrates 
in  a  manner  very  hon  ^arable  to  the  sage. 

Tlie  first  excellent  parts  of  government  are  for  the  ruler  to  "be  1  en  : 
ficent  without  great  expenditure,"'  and  to  lay  tasks  on  the  people  without 
causing  dh      n ten t  :  or.  as  it  is  further  explained,  w      i    1  le  "      :  :       -   r  - 

j;eui:  i  in  Vq/Vc'  the  things  /rem  :chi:h  //I  •i.iturai'y  derive  be/ie/it;"-'  and 
\vl  .;  he  employs  them  upon  labours  beneficial  to  themselves.  The  idea  is 
:  ■  ted  m  re  sunt  !v  by  Meiici  is,  \vh  >  c  i.i.u  is  th  i  the  way  to  .  :t  th  - 
en      :  -.  ■  '.  ' i    ■  .       its  of  the  people,  and  the  way  to  get  their  hearts  "  is 

-.;..'  .'."  to  eohe<  t  lor  litem  what  thev  iike.  and  not  !  i  lav  on  them  wii  it  tin  ,' 


:  - 


account  <  '  ti.  :  tru  :  f  :\v\-  e\  •  f  government  to  that  of  (  'onfm  ius.  A_..in. 
riders  m it -t  1  he  <  ro  d  tii  ir  virtue,  w  ith  'it  v.  ..i  h  they  \\  i .  .  the  ]  ■  '  •  i 
,  th-:  ]  '  1  ■  .  .  th.ein  terri:  rv.  h.avi:  the  tcrrii  \  .'es  tliem 
we  1th  and  me  ; us  of  expenditure.  "  \';rtue  is  t'ne  r  •  u,  wealth  is  the  result. 
//"  .  ■        :  /     .  ■  >j  e    ■     :    ;'     r        ':  '     '  .  '     . 

:,'/-,/ ■■       .    71     /  '.'    ■     •'/•'■'/'     v  ■  • '  b  ."  ■     In  an    titer  pla    .','•'  There 


POLITICAL    ETHICS  AND   POLITICAL    ECONOMY.     33 

is  a  great  course  for  the  production  of  wealth.  Let  the  producers  be  many 
and  the  consumers  few.  Let  there  be  activity  in  the  production,  and 
economy  in  the  expenditure.  Then  the  wealth  will  be  always  sufficient ; "* 
the  consumers  referred  to  are  the  salaried  officers  of  the  Government,  who 
alone  are  not  expected  to  contribute  to  the  production  of  wealth.  The 
one  fatal  sentence,  on  the  other  hand,  is  for  a  prince  to  say,  "  I  have  no 
pleasure  in  being  a  prince,  only  in  that  no  one  offers  any  opposition  to 
what  I  say."  ~ 

Mencius  is  still  more  uncompromising.  An  officer  of  Sung  said  to  him 
that  he  was  not  yet  able  to  abolish  the  duties  charged  at  the  markets  and 
frontiers  and  to  reduce  the  land  tax  to  a  lawful  tithe.  "  With  your  leave 
I  will  lighten,  however,  both  the  tax  and  the  duties  until  next  year,  and 
will  then  make  an  end  of  them.  What  do  you  think  of  such  a  course?" 
Mencius  said,  "Here  is  a  man  who  every  day  appropriates  some  of  his 
neighbours'  strayed  fowls."  Some  one  says  to  him,  "  Such  is  not  the  way 
of  a  good  man;"  and  he  replies,  "With  your  leave,  I  will  diminish  my 
appropriation,  and  will  take  only  one  fowl  a  month,  until  next  year,  when 
1  will  make  an  end  of  the  practice.  If  you  know  that  the  thing  is  un- 
righteous, why  wait  till  next  year?"3 

An  oppressive  ruler  will  not  only  lose  his  life  and  his  kingdom,  but  will 
earn  an  eternity  of  shame.  "  He  will  be  styled  '  the  Dark,'  or  '  the  Cruel  ; ' 
and  though  he  may  have  filial  sons  and  affectionate  grandsons,  they  will 
not  be  able  in  a  hundred  generations  to  change  the  designation,"4  which 
is  a  curious  sort  of  anathema,  but  certainly  better  adapted  to  act  upon  the 
mind  of  a  Chinese  egoist  than  the  scriptural  warning  that  the  sins  of  the 
father  will  be  visited  on  the  children  to  the  third  or  fourth  generation; 
for  it  is  the  egoist  himself  who  has  something  to  lose  if  the  virtues  of  his 
children  are  never  to  be  visited  on  his  head,  even  though  they  should  be 
virtuous  through  100  generations  to  come. 

When  kings  themselves  asked  the  sturdy  moralist  for  ins  advice,  it  was 
administered  in  the  form  of  Socratic  interrogation.  "  Is  there  any  dif- 
ference between  killing  a  man  with  a  stick  and  with  a  sword?"  King 
H way  of  Seang  opines  that  there  is  no  difference.  ''Is  there  any  differ- 
ence between  killing  a  man  with  a  sword  and  with  bad  government? 
••  There  is  no  difference,"  was  the  reply.  Mencius  said:  "In  your  kitchen 
there  is  fat  meat  :  in  your  stables  there  are  fat  horses.  Your  people  have 
the  look  of  hunger,  and  on  the  wilds  there  are  those  who  have  died  ot 
tamine.  Your  dogs  and  swine  eat  the  food  of  men.  and  you  do  not  know 
to  make  any  restrictive  arrangements.5  There  are  people  dying  from 
1  -mine  on  the  roads,  and  you  do  not  know  to  issue  the  stores  ot  your 
granaries  for  them.  When  people  die,  you  say,  "It  is  not  owing  to  me ; 
it  is  owing  to  the  year.''  In  what  does  this  differ  from  stabbing  a  man  and 
killing  him,  and  then  saying,  '  It  was  not  I,  it  was  the  weapon'?-'"' 

1   /■''.,  ?  19.  -  A>i-iL':ts,  xiii.  15,  §  4. 

0    )!'.  /'.-"  .'  Men  7,7.',   Book  iii.  pt.  ii.  ch.  viii.  *  7.  ..  iv.  ;.  ::.    £  J-. 

"  As  enjoined  in  the  />'.■.:  of  J\i!cs,  see/  :.'.  p.  55. 
ll't  >'/:  .  i.  i.  iii.  $j  5,  iv.  jj  2-  4. 
VOL.    II. — P.O.  I1 


34  OWNERSHIP  IN  CIIIXA. 

King  Seuen  of  Tsi  hired  no  better.  He  was  asked  :  "  Suppose  that  one 
oi  your  majesty's  ministers  were  to  intrust  his  wife  and  children  to  the  care 
of  Ins  friend,  while  he  himself  went  into  Ts'oo  to  travel,  and  that  on  his 
return  he  should  find  that  the  friend  had  caused  Ins  wife  and  children  to 
sutler  from  cold  and  hunger;  how  ought  he  to  deal  with  him?'-'  The 
king  said,  '•  He  should  cast  him  off."  Mencius  proceeded,  ''Suppose  that 
the  chief  criminal  judge  <  ould  not  regulate  the  officers,  how  would  you  deal 
with  him?"  The  king  said.  "Dismiss  him."  ''If."  finally  asked  the 
terrible  sage,  "  il  within  the  four  borders  of  your  kingdom  there  is  not 
good  government,  what  is  to  be  clone-1"  We  have  no  difficulty  in  believ- 
ing the  truth  of  the  record  that  "the  king  looked  to  the  right  and  left,  and 
spoke  of  other  matters." ' 

On  another  occasion  the  same  prince  was  equally  discomfited  when  his 
inquiry  as  to  the  proper  duties  of  the  chief  ministers,  bearing  the  same 
name  as  the  sovereign,  and  therefore  regarded  as  iiis  relatives,  was  met  by 
liie  information,  that  the  difference  between  them  and  other  ministers  was. 
that  in  the  ever.:  of  the  king  governing  ill  and  refusing  to  amend,  it  was 
the  duty  of  his  relatives  to  depose  rum,  while  other  ministers  were  only 
bound  to  abandon  his  service.  In  the  same  spirit  Mencius  maintains  :  "  The 
'  eople  are  the  most  important  element  ;  the  spirits  of  the  land  and  grain 
are  the  next  ;  the  sovereign  is  the  lightest.  Therefore  to  gain  the  pea- 
santry is  the  way  to  become  emperor.  .  .  .  When  a  prince  endangers 
the  altars  of  the  spirits  of  the  land  and  grain,  he  is  changed,  and  another 
aj  ]     ;:ited  in  his  place."  - 

The  verdict  of  popular  favour  is  to  be   trusted   as  well  in  regard  to  the 
-be-  tion  of  officers  as  of  princes  and  emperor.-.      "When  all  those  about 
V'  ti  say,  'This  is  a   man   of  talents  and  worth.'  you  may   not  for  that  be- 
lieve it.       When  your  great  officers  all  say,  'This  is  a  man  of   talents  and 
,'irtue,'  neither   may  you    for  that  believe  it.       When    ail    the  people   say, 
This   is  a    man   of  talents  and  virtue,''  their   examine    into    the    case,  an  i 
when  you  had  that  the  man  is  such  employ  him."     And  the  same  caution 
:-  re'  on.meiid.ed  in  regard  to  the  verdicts,  "  This  man  won't  do,'   or  "  Tins 
.-   :rves  death."  ;;     "  The  pe   pie  killed  him."  is  a  proverbial  saying  t  ■ 
ies<  ribe  the   fall  of  obnoxious   minister-.      It  will    be    remembered  that  in 
1  ~ypt   the   stewards    administering   royal    or    other    estates   were   held   re- 
-\  un.d    ie    '  their  rule  was  ]  :-j\\<1  by  its   results  to    have  provoked 
niscontent  ;  and  China   is  perhaps   the  only  Oriental  country  in  which   the 

:ne   principle    prevails    to   the    present   day.    so    that    a    mandarin    win 

.  .•rnnient  ..   -  been  -  i"  i  ;  mtlv   op]  u'essive   to  pn  woke  a  not  is  //     J  a  ; 
0;>_;rai  ed  :  and.  by  the  (  '.<  be.  an  i  lii   er  v  ho  drives  the  people  to  rebellion 
y  opp!    -   ion  is  put  ti j  death. '  while  ovations  and  testimonials  by  po]  u 
nption  reward  the  labours  of  the   really  upright  and    honest  officials, 
"■'.-  i  are  to  be  met  with  nallv,  even  in  the  degenerate  Empire  ot  to- 

<  1:  '.'. 

•    .'.''.>-:,  i.  ii.  vi.  -'/'.,  vii.  ii.  xlv.  '  /'.,  i.  ii.  vi.  ?'?  :.  '■ 

'    Ta  'J'Jtt     :..u  /.:,  \:\  '.  •;  >'.x  (,.    r  ■■_■  bUuiUon.      {PtH.dLr      of  C'liu.i,  cox.) 


POLITICAL   ETHICS  AND   POLITICAL   ECONOMY.     35 

The  bold  utterances  of  our^two  philosophers  have  no  doubt  contributed 
to  preserve  a  Chinese  counterpart  to  European  "  freedom  of  the  press''  in 
the  right  to  criticise  and  even  to  lampoon  unpopular  officials  ;  and,  as  an 
officer  is  liable  to  be  thought  the  worse  of  at  Peking  for  inspiring  such 
compositions,  public  opinion  exercises  a  real  check  upon  abuses  which 
exceed  the  customary  standard. 

The  political  economy  of  China  squared  with  its  ethics.  The  payment 
of  taxes  in  kind  was  the  rule,  but  even  then  the  exaction  of  a  fixed  rent 
was  objected  to  in  the  interests  of  the  cultivators.  An  ancient  worthy, 
quoted  by  Mencius,  declares  :  "  For  regulating  the  lands  there  is  no  better 
system  than  that  of  mutual  aid,  and  none  that  is  not  better  than  that  of 
taxing.  By  the  tax  system  the  regular  amount  was  fixed  by  taking  the 
average  of  several  years.  In  good  years,  when  the  grain  lies  about  in  abund- 
ance, much  might  be  taken  without  its  being  oppressive,  and  the  actual 
burden  would  be  small,  lint  in  bad  years  the  produce  not  being  sufficient 
to  repay  the  manuring  of  the  fields,  this  system  still  requires  the  taking  of 
the  full  amount  : ;'  the  result  of  which  is  that  the  peasants  are  compelled 
to  borrow,  and  i:  old  people  and  children  are  found  lying  in  the  ditches 
and  water  channels/'  * 

The  Look  of  Rites  contains  some  striking  provisions  expressly  designed 
to  prevent  the  State  charges  from  becoming  an  oppressive  burden  on  the 
cultivators.  The  amount  of  rice  consumed  per  head  of  the  population  was 
estimated  at  about  1  i  lbs.  per  diem  in  an  average  year.  With  a  bountiful 
harvest  it  might  rise  to  2  lbs.,  and  in  a  bad  year  it  might  fall  to  1  lb.  ;  but 
it  was  the  duty  of  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  public  granaries  to  watch 
the  harvests  and  the  state  of  the  public  stores,  and  when  the  lower  limit  of 
consumption  was  reached,  to  import  grain  from  adjoining  provinces,  to  re- 
move the  people  to  more  productive  regions,  and  to  warn  the  sovereign  to 
reduce  the  expenses  of  the  State.  In  times  of  famine  the  king  had  no 
great  feasts,  and  all  other  optional  items  of  expenditure  were  curtailed,  to 
the  admiration  of  Wang-tchi-tchang,  a  commentator  of  the  Ming  Dynasty, 
who  praises  the  kings  of  Chow  for  adjusting  their  expenditure  to  their 
revenue,  instead  of,  like  his  own  contemporaries,  regulating  the  taxation  of 
the  people  by  the  expenditure  of  the  prince. a 

In  the  first  chapter  of  the  third  book  of  the  Li  Ki  this  theory  of  public 
expenditure  is  expressly  formulated  ;  the  year's  receipts  are  to  be  calculated 
as  soon  as  possible  after  harvest,  and  the  expenditure  regulated  accord- 
ingly. The  general  rate  of  expenditure  ought,  it  was  held,  to  be  deter- 
mined upon  the  average  revenue  for  thirty  years — a  period  long  enough  to 
allow  good  and  bad  years  to  balance  each  other.  A  thriving  State  was  one 
:n  which  a  surplus  had  been  accumulated  sufficient  to  provide  for  a  scries 
of  six  bad  years  ;  a  State  that  had  not  a  surplus  sufficient  for  three  years 
was  doomed  to  prompt  extinction.  Apparently  a  third  of  the  produce  in 
normal  years  was  assumed  to  be  available  for  accumulation,  so  that  the 
nine  years'  store  represents  the  savings  of  twenty-seven  years  ;  and  it  seems 
1    Works,  iii.  i.  iii.  §  7.  '-'  Cf.   T<.~luou-li,  i.  392-4. 


3 6  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

that  the  sages  who  chose  thirty  years  as  the  period  for  which  an  average 
should  be  struck,  only  expected  three  really  bad  years  to  occur  in  the 
time.  At  least  they  regarded  the  three  bad  years  as  certain  to  befall,  six 
as  sufficiently  probable  to  need  guarding  against,  and  nine  as  the  utmost 
limit  of  possible  calamity.  Those  who  had  nine  years'  stock  in  hand  were 
virtually  secure  against  want.1 

According  to  one  text,  a  tithe  of  the  revenue  was  set  apart  for  sacrifices, 
and  the  rites  of  mourning  for  parents  were  allowed  to  absorb  this  tithe 
during  the  three  years  devoted  to  them.  This  is  nearly  the  only  recogni- 
tion of  a  tithe  for  religious  or  quasi-religious  purposes  in  China,  and  pro- 
bably represents  a  very  ancient  fragment  of  tradition.  The  king  received 
a  tithe  of  the  national  produce,  and  he  may  have  been  anciently  ex- 
pected to  spend  a  tithe  of  the  revenue  so  obtained  upon  the  rites  of  public 
worship  ;  but  an  earlier  passage  in  the  same  book  describes  the  Son  of 
Heaven  as  retaining  nine-tenths  of  the  produce  of  his  domains  for  his  own 
use,  and  employing  the  other  tenth  to  defray  the  charges  of  the  public 
offices. 

Lavishness,  like  that  of  the  Egyptian  kings  in  the  service  of  the  gods,  is 
entirely  contrary  to  Chinese  ideas  of  propriety  and  justice;  and  there  was 
no  spiritual  hierarchy  to  be  endowed  apart  from  the  boards  of  Government. 
The  appropriateness  of  all  offerings  to  spiritual  beings  was  held  to  lie  in 
their  abundance.  Each  class  of  the  community  is  supposed  to  sacrifice  a 
specimen  of  that  in  which  their  wealth  consists,  and  kings,  princes,  and 
Lireat  officers  were  warned  rather  against  sacrificing  too  much  than  too 
little.  "  Without  sufficient  cause  a  prince  did  not  kill  an  ox,  nor  a  great 
officer  a  sheep;"'-  and.  as  private  festivities  were  restricted  to  the  scale 
of  expenditure  thought  proper  for  sacrifices,  the  latter  conformed  to  the 
national  standard  of  frugality. 

The  primitive  religion  of  the  Chinese  probably  stood  nearer  to  that  of 
Kgypt  and  babylonia,  both  in  the  kind  and  quantity  of  its  observances,  than 
modern  Chinese  writers  would  lead  us  to  suppose.  Besides  all  the  traces 
of  nature-worship  met  with  in  the  Classics  and  Tso's  commentary,  there  is 
a  personage  mentioned  in  Ssema-tsicirs  Treatise  on  the  Fong  and  Chan 
Sacrifices/1  who  reminds  us  of  the  Kgyptian  Cher-neb,  in  his  character  ol 
reading  or  praying  priest.  There  were  "official  prayers,"  one  of  whom 
was  called  "  .'•  tvicur  >  r/r/,''  whose  business  it  was  to  perform  a  sacrifice 
for  the  benefit  of  the  prince,  which,  from  the  nature  of  the  case,  could  not 
be  done  publicly,  as  its  object  was  to  cause  an  evil  with  which  the 
sovereign  was  threatened,  to  be  diverted  from  him  to  some  other  obj  :ct. 

Akkadian  hymns  are  familiar  with  the  idea  of  a  scapegoat,  animate  or 
inanimate,  but  this  ;ort  of  <  njuration  offended  Chinese  morality  ;  and  an 
author  who  df  d  :  :;  i.e.  narrates  ;  how  a  Duke  King  of  Sung,  refused  to 
have   it  performed   for  his   benefit  when  a  star   appeared  ominously  in  a 

:-  Ti  •       fy  M.  K.  (uavrumj.-  in   t!u   /  it.  ■/,:/  ,  ■   ;i.  ■  /"<  .:/i;  On  n'a! Sccn/r,  vol. 

i:i.  i  ibt/j  ,  2s'u.  i.  ;    /.,  ..     .  i  ■. 


POLITICAL   ETHICS  AND   POLITICAL   ECONOMY.     37 

wrong  constellation.  The  astronomer  informs  him  :  "  A  calamity  threatens 
your  highness,  but  it  can  be  diverted  upon  one  of  your  counsellors.''  "The 
counsellors,'"'  said  the  duke,  "  are  those  who  direct  the  State  ;  to  divert  the 
evil  upon  them  would  not  be  well.''  "  One  can  divert  it  towards  the 
people."  "  If  the  people  die,"  said  the  duke,  "over  whom  shall  I  reign? 
I  had  better  die  alone."  "  One  can  divert  the  evil  upon  the  crops."  "  If 
the  year  is  bad,  the  people  will  suffer  scarcity  and  die  of  hunger.  If,  being 
a  prince,  I  slay  my  people  to  save  my  own  life,  who  would  acknowledge 
me  as  prince?  My  destiny  is  irrevocable!"  The  institution  was  put  an 
end  to  by  the  Han  emperor  Wen,  in  166  B.C.:  "The  secret  supplicator 
diverts  the  course  of  calamities  upon  my  subjects.  I  cannot  permit  it. 
Henceforward  he  is  suppressed."  l 

One  expensive  religious  rite  after  another  2  was  eliminated  at  the  sugges- 
tion of  rationalistic  sovereigns  or  sages,  until  finally  nothing  was  left  but 
the  imperial  act  of  homage  to  heaven  and  earth  and  agriculture  in  the 
ceremonial  ploughing. 

The  surplus  produce  from  the  common  fields  was  regarded  as  a  sort  of 
national  grain  bank,  and  the  officers  in  charge  of  the  stores  were  allowed 
to  make  advances  to  the  cultivators  at  seed-time,  to  be  repaid  in  harvest. 
To  the  very  poor  the  loans  might  be  made  gratuitously, :;  and  in  any  case 
the  repayment  had  the  effect  of  renewing  the  stores  with  fresh  grain  for  old, 
while  the  profit  upon  some  of  the  advances  served  to  increase  the  common 
fund  which  could  be  drawn  upon  in  times  of  dearth. 

The  amount  of  forced  labour  exacted  from  the  people  was  intended  to 
vary  under  the  same  circumstances.  In  good  times  three  days'  labour  may 
be  exacted  from  the  cultivators  ;  but  if  the  harvest  is  middling,  this  is  re- 
duced to  two  days,  and  if  it  is  bad,  to  one.  If  there  is  a  public  calamity, 
such  as  an  epidemic,  all  taxation,  whether  in  produce  or  labour,  is 
excused.     Light  taxation,  Mencius  observes,  is  indispensable  if  the  objects 

1  L.c,  p.  39.  Cf.  Tchcou-li,  i.  p.  157,  on  the  Niu-tcho  or  women  charged  with 
intercessory  prayers. 

-  The  character  of  the  archaic  religion  can  be  judged  from  a  passage  in  the  same  book 
of  Ssema-tsien  (p.  51  of  M.  Chavannes'  version).  "Formerly  the  son  of  Heaven  offered 
a  sacrifice  in  the  spring  to  ward  off  calamities.  To  Hwang  ti  he  sacrificed  an  owl  and  a 
tiger  ;  to  the  "hidden  sheep,"  a  sheep  :  to  the  activity  of  the  horse,  a  dark-coloured 
stallion  ;  to  T'ai  i,  the  prince  of  Mount  Tso  ami  the  greatness  of  earth,  an  ox  :  to  the 
sages  of  the  Mount  Ou  i  they  offered  dried  fish,  and  an  ox  to  the  ambassador  of  the  Yin  and 
the  Vang."  Ssema-tsien  quotes  an  earlier  author  for  the  statement  that  "the  spirits 
frequent  "  a  given  spot  because  it  is  a  "high  place,"  and  the  above  passage,  in  winch 
"the  activity  of  the  horse  "  is  mentioned  along  with  the  local  worship  of  mountains  (eke- 
where  associated  with  that  of  rivers)  may  be  taken  in  conjunction  witii  that  quoted  be- 
fore (vol.  i.  p.  14S)  to  show  that  the  worship  of  animals  was  not  unknown  in  ancient 
China.  One  of  the  undoubtedly  ancient  elements  in  Chinese  religion — tile  practice  of 
divining  by  the  tortoise-shell — may  not  have  been  peculiar  to  them.  Choo-hi  says  of  it, 
"  The  way  of  divination  by  the  tortoise  was  by  the  application  of  tire  to  scorch,  the 
tortoise-shell  till  the  indications  appeared  on  it  :  "  and  if  such  a  method  of  divination  was 
in  use  by  the  Lydians,  the  occupation  of  Cree-us,  on  the  day  when  his  ambassadors  were 
to  consult  the  oracles,  has  a  motive,  and  the  happy  shot  of  the  Delphic  oracle  an 
explanation. 

:i  According  to  a  pas-age  in  the  Li  Ki  (.9./?.,  xxvii.  p.  261).  corn  is  distributed  from 
the  king's  vaults  to  the  friendless  and  destitute  in  the  last  month  of  spring— the  time 
when  the  pinch  of  want  is  most  felt  by  a  purely  agricultural  community. 


3 8  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

of  a  sage's  government  are  to  be  attained,  for  this  is  only  done  when 
grain  and  pulse  are  made  to  be  as  abundant  as  water  and  fire,  which, 
necessary  as  they  are,  are  yet  so  plentiful  that  the  poorest  can  afford  to 
give  them  away  if  a  stranger  asks  for  them  at  nightfall.  In  his  time,  three 
taxes  were  levied  one  of  hempen  cloth  and  silk,  one  of  grain,  and  one  of 
personal  service.  To  exact  all  three  at  the  same  time  of  year  was  regarded 
as  an  intolerable  oppression,  as  the  first  ought  to  be  paid  in  summer,  the 
second  after  the  autumn  harvest,  and  the  third  during  the  winter  leisure.1 

In  the  15th  year  of  Duke  Seuen  (608-590  i;.c.)  an  additional  tithe  was 
for  the  first  time  levied  on  the  village  lands,'-  either  by  simply  doubling 
the  proportion  of  agricultural  produce  formerly  claimed  by  the  State,  or 
more  probably  by  tithing  the  valuable  produce  of  the  homestead,  with  its 
mulberry  and  fruit  trees,  on  account  of  which  the  personal  tax  of  silk  or 
cloth  was  already  hieing  paid.  The  tax  was  never  regarded  as  lawful,  and 
when  Duke  Gac  (494  .167  n.c.)  complained  of  his  financial  difficulties  to  a 
disciple  of  Confucius,  he  was  advised  to  try  the  effect  of  tithing  the  people. 
'"  With  two-tenths,"  said  the  Duke,  "I  find  them  not  enough;  how  could  I 
do  with  that  system  of  a  tenth  ?  "  :;  To  which  his  mentor  replies  that  if 
the  people  have  plenty,  their  prince  will  not  be  allowed  to  want,  while  it  is 
an  accepted  principle  that  anything  beyond  a  tenth  is  oppressively  heavy. 

On  the  other  hand.  Mencius  received  with  great  scorn  the  suggestion  of 
a  would-be  reformer,  anxious  to  go  beyond  the  benevolence  of  the  ancients 
and  reduce  the  taxes  to  a  twentieth.'  Such  a  course  might  be  possible 
among  the  pastoral  barbarians  of  the  north,  who  grow  millet  only,  who 
have  no  fortified  cities,  no  public  buildings,  no  ancestral  temples,  no  sacri- 
fices, no  system  of  official  administration,  and  no  feudal  princes  requiring 
to  be  entertained  with  ceremonies  and  gifts.  But  for  the  Middle  Kingdom 
to  banish  all  these  relationships  and  recognise  no  degrees  of  superiority  in 
mankind  was  out  of  the  question.  Civilization  and  a  tenth  seemed  pre- 
ferable to  the  state  of  nature  and  a  twentieth. 

The  following  passage  from  the  I.i  Ki  summarizes  the  most  important 
and  familiar  of  the  fiscal  usages  of  middle  antiquity.  Anciently  the 
public  fields  were  cultivated  by  the  united  labours  of  the  farmers  around 
them,  from  the  produce  of  whose  private  fields  nothing  was  levied. 
Travellers  were  examined  at  the  different  passes,  but  no  duties  were  levied 
from  then-.  A  rent  was  charged  for  the  stances  in  the  market  places,  but 
wares  were  not  taxed.  The  people  went  without  hindrance,  at  the  proper 
seasons,  into  the  forests  and  plains  at  the  foot  of  the  mountains.  Xone  of 
the  produce  was  levied  from  the  fields  assigned  to  the  younger  sons  of  a 
family,  nor  from  the  holy  fields.  Only  three  days'  labour  were  required  (by 
the  State)  from  the  people-  in  the  course  of  a  year.  Fields  and  residences 
in  the  hamlets  ('when  once  assigned)  could  not  be  sold.  Ground  set  apart 
for  graves  could  not  be  used  lor  any  other  purpose."' 

1    //';  W-,  vii.   1.  xx     .        ;  ami  ii.  \xvii.  -   Ch'un   '/',•:',  pp.    ^27    >. 

"    .  I ::  :.     I  .   \  1 1,   i  \.   ;:'   ;.  4    //  'orks,  vi.   ii.   x. 

'"  .X'./;.,  vul.  xxvii.   [i.  n~.      Ac j  l'lin;;  1  )  ('ho  i-hi,  if  he  Ls  nut   too  late  to  be  trusted 


POLITICAL   ETHICS   AND   POLITICAL   ECONOMY.     39 

With  regard  to  other  than  agricultural  produce,  the  Chow  Li  explains  at 
length  that  the  Inspectors  of  ponds  received  in  kind  the  skin,  horns,  pearls, 
shells,  etc.,  gathered  by  the  inhabitants  and  forming  their  tax  :  when  the 
requirements  of  the  treasury  are  met,  the  surplus  is  divided  amongst  the 
people,  and  the  same  officer  apportions  the  parts  of  the  marshy  ground 
which  are  not  under  water  the  whole  year,  and  from  which  consequently  a 
crop  may  be  gathered  during  the  summer,  as  is  still  done  by  the  Chinese 
on  the  borders  of  large  shallow  lakes  like  the  Tung-ting  or  l'oyang  waters, 
which  contract  during  the  dry  season.  There  is  also  an  officer  of  the 
chase,  who  is  in  charge  of  the  imperial  covers,  and  who,  after  the  Emperor 
has  hunted  in  any  district,  has  power  to  regulate  the  admission  of  the 
people  to  kill  game  for  themselves  in  the  reserve.  The  same  permission 
was  given  in  the  case  of  the  marshes  and  rivers,  and  it  was  an  unpardon- 
able offence  in  the  "Superintendent  of  waters,"  who  collected  the  revenues 
from  rivers,  springs,  ponds,  and  meres,  to  encroach  in  any  way  upon  the 
rights  of  the  myriads,  so  as  to  awaken  a  feeling  of  dissatisfaction  among 
them  against  the  Son  of  Heaven.1 

After  a  royal  hunt  the  game  was  scrambled  for  by  the  people,  and  it  was 
considered  bad  manners  for  "  the  great  kitchen  "  to  put  in  a  claim  for  all 
the  spoil.  According  to  the  Li  Ivi,  three  great  hunts  were  held,  in  spring, 
summer,  and  winter,  not  in  autumn,  when  it  would  have  interfered  with  the 
harvest — the  three  objects  of  the  hunt  being  to  provide  flesh  for  sacrifices, 
for  hospitality,  and  for  the  ruler's  own  use.  There  were  regulations  about 
the  size  of  the  fishing  nets  to  be  used,-  the  mesh  of  which  was  not  to  be 
less  than  four  incb.es,  and  it  was  also  forbidden  to  take  fish  less  than  a  foot 
long.  As  in  the  case  of  the  woods  and  forests,  the  regulations  in  force 
were  mainly  directed  against  the  danger  of  exterminating  valuable  species; 
and  even  a  royal  prince,  hunting  in  spring,  is  forbidden  to  surround  a 
whole  marsh  for  the  purposes  of  a  battue.  This  provision  is  included 
among  the  "rules  of  propriety''  in  the  first  section  of  the  Li  Ki.;!  "To 
hunt  without  observing  the  rules  was  deemed  cruelty  towards  the  creatures 
of  heaven.'"'  It  was  also  against  the  rule  to  take  eggs,  to  throw  down,  nests, 
and  to  kill  young  or  pregnant  animals ;  even  the  firing  oi  the  fields  was 
su]  posed  to  be  put  off  until  the  insects  frequenting  them  had  retired  into 
the  holes  and  burrows  where  they  were  thought  to  spend  the  winter.  Con- 
sideration for  the  brute  creation  was  naturally  associated  with  regard  tor 
the  interests  of  human  beings,  and  so  the  emperor  left  some  game  tor  the 
princes,  the  princes  left  some  for  the  great  officers,  and  when  these  had  had 
their  sport,  the  common  people  were  allowed  to  hunt  for  themselves. 

An  important  commentary  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  asserts  that  the  w. 

for  the  fact,  the  ground  rent  of  the  market  stalls  was  a  genuine  rent,  levied  when  the 
number  of  trailers  applying  for  space  was  greater  than  could  be  accommodated:  l>u'.  it 
was  not  considered  right  to  lew  both  the  ground  rent  and  an  octroi  duty.  \L:  ui.: 
Works  of  Maidus,  by  James  Legge,   D.D.,  p.    172.11.) 

1    liiot,  Lo  Tclicott'-li,  i.  p.  SS.     S.B.,  xxvii.  p.  220. 

-   C.C.,  vol.  ii.  p.  0.  n. 

3  S.B.,  xxvii.  p.  106;   il).   The  Roya!  Regulations,  p.  220. 


4o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

and  waters  were  free  to  all  till  the  Chow  Dynasty,  and  that  their  produce 
was  then  taxed  to  prevent  too  many  of  the  people  abandoning  agriculture 
in  favour  of  what  might  seem  easier  and  more  remunerative  modes  of  life. 
The  legislator  wished  to  reduce  ''sport'"'  to  an  orderly  branch  of  industry, 
and  it  was  always  counted  as  an  abuse  and  an  indecorum  if  the  Court 
amusements  threatened  to  interfere  with  the  humble  trade  of  hunters  and 
fowlers.  By  the  time  of  Mencius,  however,  game  preserving  had  already 
reached  such  a  point  that  the  slayer  of  a  deer  within  the  royal  park  was 
punished  in  the  same  way  as  one  who  had  killed  a  man.  Hence  the 
magnitude  of  the  royal  park  was  a  subject  of  popular  discontent,1  though 
it  was  only  half  the  size  of  that  ungrudgingly  enjoyed  by  King  Wen,  who 
allowed  the  grass-cutters  and  fuel  gatherers  and  the  catchers  of  hares  and 
pheasants  to  pursue  their  avocations  freely  within  his  enclosure. 

Mencius  helps  to  complete  our  view  of  the  old  market  regulations  In- 
describing  the  various  abuses  which  had  come  into  play  in  his  time,  and 
the  reforms  which  still  did  not  seem  hopelessly  out  of  reach.  After  inform- 
ing a  king  of  Tse  who  is  ambitious  of  empire  that  it  is  '-like  climbing  a  tree 
to  look  for  fish  "  to  expect  to  secure  the  empire  for  a  small  State  by  war- 
like preparations,  he  sums  up  the  functions  of  the  Imperial  Government 
substantially  as  the}'  are  set  forth  in  the  Rites  of  Chow.  A  benevolent 
government,  he  tells  the  king,-  "will  cause  all  the  officers  in  the  empire  to 
wish  to  stand  in  your  majesty's  court,  and  the  farmers  ail  to  wish  to  plough 
in  your  majesty's  fields,  and  the  merchants,  both  travelling  and  stationary, 
all  to  wish  to  store  their  goods  in  your  majesty's  market  places,  and 
travelling  strangers  ail  to  wish  to  make  their  tours  on  your  majesty's  roads, 
and  all  throughout  the  empire  who  feel  aggrieved  by  their  rulers  to  wish 
to  come  and  complain  to  your  majesty;"  for  the  people  turn  to  a  benevolent 
rule  as  water  flows  down  hill  and  wild  beasts  fly  to  the  wilderness  ; 
they  can  no  more  be  kept  back  from  giving  their  allegiance  than  the  rain 
read}'  to  fall  from  bursting  clouds. 

One  of  the  signs  that  foretold  the  ruin  of  Tse  was  that  after  the  duke 
had  tampered  with  the  grain  measures,  or  in  other  words,  debased  tin: 
local  currency,  a  powerful  family  began  to  hid  for  popularity  by  taking  the 
opposite  course,  lending  according  to  their  own  (large)  measures  and 
accepting  payment  m  the  public  measure  which  was  deficient  ;  and  while 
the  State  was  absorbing  two-thirds  of  the  people's  wealth,  leaving  them 
only  one-third  for  food  an  I  clothes,  tins  family  caused  its  wood,  fish,  salt, 
and  frogs  to  be  sold  at  the  same  rate  in  the  market  as  at  the  water  or  the 
hills,  i.e.  at  cost  price:  "Though  such  air  one  wished  not  to  win  them  to 
himself,  how  could  he  help  doing  so?''  asked  the  loyal  minister  of  the 
doomed  State.'1 

Tiie  service  of  the  markets  was  considered  to  be  in  a  sense  a  part  of  the 
public  service.      A  dealer  who  succeeded  in  effecting  a  "corner"   in  cattle 

1    M:  atiu-,    //-,-/•/■  ,  i.  ii.  ii. 

'■■'    ! .    i .    \  i : .   ■:'    I S. 

'•'   C.  C '. ,  v.  [>:.  ii.  p.  5S9.     The  date  of  the  record  is  557  is. c. 


POLITICAL   ETHICS  AXD   POLITICAL   ECONOMY.     41 

in  the  State  of  Loo  was  treated  as  a  criminal  by  Confucius,  and  was  said  to 
have  secured  immunity  in  his  malpractices  only  by  bribing  the  officers  who 

should  have  denounced  his  guilt.  Yet  he  is  not  accused  of  any  action 
which  would  be  considered  dishonest  or  even  discreditable  in  the  mercan- 
tile world  of  the  West,  lie  had  gradually  bought  up  all  the  cattle  of  the 
neighbourhood,  and  all  the  available  pasture  land;  whoever  wanted  to  sell, 
he  was  in  a  position  to  buy,  and  by  making  advances  to  smaller  dealers, 
when  in  difficulties,  he  had  gradually  also  got  them  into  his  power  ;  and 
all  the  shepherds  and  herdsmen  of  the  district  were  in  his  employment. 
Meat  was  not  generally  in  everyday  use  :  but  on  certain  festive  occasions, 
even  poor  families  were  required  by  custom  to  provide  it  for  their  guests, 
so  that  the  high  price  the  monopolist  was  able  to  charge  amounted  to  a 
considerable  tax  on  the  whole  community.  Confucius  required  him,  as  a 
condition  of  pardon,  to  give  up  the  profitable  industry  and  make  restitu- 
tion to  the  community  he  had  plundered,  of  all  his  wealth  beyond  what 
was  necessary  for  a  decent  maintenance.  The  cattle  dealer  consented, 
and  the  point  of  economic  morality  was  settled  once  for  all  in  Chinese 
opinion.1 

A  low  rate  of  taxation  never  ceased  to  lie  regarded  as  an  essential  part 
of  good  government  ;  the  minister  who  increased  the  royal  revenue  by 
increased  exactions  from  tire  people  was  denounced  ;  and  to  combine  low 
taxes  with  a  sufficient  revenue,  it  was  necessary  for  the  taxpayers  to  be 
numerous.  Hence,  with  brief  exceptions,  the  influence  of  the  Government 
was  steadily  employed  to  perpetuate  the  conditions  favourable  not  to  the 
accumulation,  but  to  the  substantially  equal  distribution  of  wealth. 

1   Pauthier,  La  Chine,  i.  p.  156.     Mcnciits,  ii.  ii.  xi.  §  7. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
THE   RURAL  ECONOMY   OF  THE  CHOW. 

Liivi:  the  city  of  ancient  Egypt  and  Babylonia,  the  ancient  Chinese  village 
consisted  of  clustered  groups  of  houses.  The  traditions  embodied  in  the 
Chow  Li  as  to  the  si/e  and  grouping  of  the  clusters  are  not  quite  clear  or 
consistent,  but  the  discrepancies  may  only  reflect  the  different  usages  of 
the  three  first  dynasties. 

The  institution  of  the  tsin^  with  its  nine  plots  is  regarded  as  the  special 
creation  of  the  men  of  Chow.  The  nine  squares  cover  the  area  of  a  square 
Li.  which  contained  900  mow,  or  nine  squares  of  100  mow  each,  of  which 
the  central  square  (X.)  formed  the  public  field.  r  n  which  was  culti- 
vated in  common  for  the  benefit  of  the  State.  x.  Throughout  the 
first  three  dynasties  it  was  held  that  taxation ■  could  not  law- 
fully exceed  a  tithe  of  the  produce,  and  accordingly  the  area  of  the  public 
field  was  reduced  by  deducting  from  it  the  ground  required  for  the  sepa- 
rate houses  and  gardens  of  the  eight  families,  so  that  the  public  land  was 
real;}-  S3  m  >w  and  the  private  S20,  or  rather  more,  instead  of  less,  than 
ten  times  as  much. 

The  imperial  editors  say  that  the  character  Li  is  used  in  three  senses  : 
it  means  — 1.  a  group  of  25  houses,  i.e.  the  hamlet;  2.  a  length  of  i.Sco 
feet,  of  which  the  square  forms  a  tsing  ;  and  3.  a  habitation.'-'  From  this 
it  seems  that  the  term  tsing  was  sometimes  used  to  describe  the  smallest, 
and  sometimes  the  smallest  but  one,  of  the  groups  described  in  other  pas- 
sages of  the  Chow  hi. :;  The  rural  unit  1  onsists  for  administrative  purposes 
of  a  group  of  five  families,  which  is  called  a  ';  neighbourhood.''  Ilach 
family  was  supposed  to  in<  hide  three  generations,  and  to  consist  normally 
of  grandfather    and    gran  li  .  ither,    husband   and  wife,    and    three    or    lour 


/'..'..".,/..      [S       '.       ■    .        5    10!     ill 


P3 


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iv    : . . 

C'.i, 


THE  RURAL   ECONOMY  OF  THE    CHOW.  43 

children,  making  seven  or  eight  persons  in  all,  the  husband  being  the 
grandfather's  eldest  son. 

The  dwellings  of  the  neighbourhood  are  enclosed  by  a  single  wall,  and 
the  residents  are  bound  to  mutual  aid  and  support  ;  but  an  average  group 
of  forty  persons  of  all  ages  is  manifestly  too  small  to  constitute  a  village, 
and  probably  rather  represents  the  family  community.  The  present 
Chinese  average  is  five  persons  to  a  family,  counting  parents  and  children 
only  :  but  if  the  family  or  household  here  includes  three  generations,  the 
family  group  would  certainly  include  the  families  of  younger  sons,  and  thus 
the  numbers  of  the  "neighbourhood''  would  easily  be  made  up.  The  elder 
of  the  group  was  responsible  for  its  internal  government,  and  ranked  as  a 
graduate  of  the  lowest  class. 

The  counterpart  of  this  community  is  the  "'  hamlet"  of  five  neighbour- 
hoods, including  twenty-five  families  of  perha:  s  about  200  souls.  It  appears 
incidentally  from  one  of  the  amatory  poems  of  the  Shi-King  that  this  larger 
group  is  the  one  within  which  public  opinion  ami  ';  the  talk  of  people" 
makes  itself  felt  as  a  social  force.  A  prudent  young  lady,  while  avowing 
her  love  for  a  certain  Mr.  Chung,  begs  him  not  to  leap  into  her  hamlet, 
breaking  the  willow  trees  which  grow  by  its  encompassing  ditches,  for  she 
fears  her  parents  and  their  words  ;  she  begs  him  not  to  leap  over  the 
wall  which  encloses  the  dwellings  of  the  neighbourhood,  and  break  the 
mulberry  trees  which  it  cultivates  in  common,  for  she  fears  the  talk  of  her 
'•  brothers  " — a  word  often  used  interchangeably  for  relatives  of  the  same 
surname,  or  with  a  common  ancestor,  in  fact  the  clan  or  cousinhood  : — 
lastly,  she  begs  him  not  to  leap  into  her  garden  and  break  the  sandalwood 
trees,  which  are  the  private  property  of  the  family,  for  she  dreads  the  talk 
of  the  village.  That  is  to  say,  the  opinion  of  the  household,  the  family 
group,  and  the  village  are  respectively  invoked  to  condemn  the  lover's  in- 
trusion within  the  three  sets  of  boundaries,  in  the  inverse  order  of  privacy.1 
In  the  Anahcts  we  have  an  appeal  to  the  same  tribunals,  for  "  he  whom 
the  circle  of  his  relatives  pronounces  to  be  filial  and  whom  his  fellow-vil- 
lagers and  neighbours  pronounce  to  be  fraternal  "  :-  is  judged  to  be  only 
one  degree  inferior  to  a  worthy  officer. 

The  village  system  in  one  form  or  another  is  practically  of  world-wide 
extension,  but  in  connection  with  the  hypothesis  winch  brings  the  Chinese 
from  the  highlands  west  of  Central  Asia,  it  is  interesting  to  note  die  re- 
semblance between  these  clusters  of  associated  households  in  China  and 
Wood's  description  of  the  communities  he  found  living  in  the  valleys  of 
Badakshan.  It  is  customary,  he  tells  us.  'Tor  relations  to  live  in  the 
same  hamlet,  often  to  the  number  of  six  or  seven  families''  (by  which  no 
doubt   he   understands    the  natural   household    of  parents   and.    children). 

1  CC,  vol.  iv.  pt.  1.      Shi-King,  p.  125. 

-  xiii.  20.  The  "circle  of  relatives"  is  still  a  reality  in  China:  aivl  when  '"  n run  eh 
families"  were  one  of  the  strongholds  of  the  feudal  system,  no  doubt  the  po.itical  im- 
portance of  rent!. te  decrees  of  relationship  caused  the  records  of  them  t  1  lu  kept.  I!at 
it  is  also  possil  le  that  the  local  organizations  started  from  the  natural  ramiticati  ns  ot  the 
family.      Of.  Appendix  L. 


44  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

"An  outer  wall  surrounds  this  little  knot  of  friends,  within  which  each 
family  lias  its  separate  dwelling-house,  stable  and  cattle  shed  :  and  a  num- 
ber of  such  hamlets  forms  a  kishlak  or  village.'-'  :  The  kishlak  thus  answers 
exactly  to  the  group  of  neighbourhoods  forming  the  Chinese  hamlet.  Two 
independent  authorities,  midway  in  time  between  Wood  and  the  Chinese 
Book  of  Odes,  note  a  similar  trait  in  the  adjacent  kingdoms  of  Yarkand 
and  Khotan,  where  Fa-hian  (400  a.d.)  and  Hiouen-thsang  (630  a.d.)  speak 
in  almost  identical  terms  of  tiie  people  '"  building  their  houses  in  clus- 
ters." '- 

The  functions  of  the  village  headman  who  presides  over  the  twenty-five 
families  of  a  hamlet,  are  to  keep  an  account  of  the  numbers  of  the  commu- 
nity, to  apportion  the  taxes  both  in  produce  and  labour,  and  to  preside  over 
the  work  of  seed-time  and  harvest,  for  the  hamlet  is  the  unit  in  the  system 
of  common  cultivation  or  ;1  mutual  ail."'  always  referred  to  as  an  essential 
feature  of  the  Chow  regime."  Four  of  these  communities  form  a  Hundred, 
or,  as  M.  Biot  calls  it.  a  commune,  which  is  presided  over  by  a  graduate 
of  the  first  rank.  He  revises  the  decisions  of  the  local  headmen,  and  is 
responsible  for  the  military  levies  which  are  proportioned  to  the  agricul- 
tural divisions.  Five  hundreds  form  a  shire,  or  a  department,  and  two 
further  multiplications  by  five  bring  us  to  the  largest  administrative  dis- 
trict-, the  c  lUilty  and  the  province. 

The  solidarity  of  the  hundred  extends  to  the  sharing  of  funeral  expenses, 
the  childless  and  destitute  being  interred  by  their  fellow-villagers.  The 
expenses  of  religious  ceremonies  are  borne  jointly  by  the  county:  living 
merit  is  rewarded  bv  honours  extending  over  the  whole  province,  and  the 
list  of  persons  of  special  capacity  handed  in  triennially  by  the  governor  of 
the  province  is  preserved  in  duplicate  by  the  Recorder  of  the  Interior. 

This  system  is  evidentlv  theoretical,  and  the  empire  can  never  have  been 
mapped  out  into  equal  areas  counted  either  by  fives  or  nines.  But  Men- 
cius  mentions  a  tradition  that  '"'the  50  mow  allotment  of  1  lia.  the  70  of 
Yin,  and  the  100  of  Chow  were  actually  of  the  same  dimensions."  l  And  in 
another  section  of  the  Chow  Li  :'  the  divisions  after  the  tsing  proceed  by 
lours,  giving  Ltrouj  s  of  36,  144.  and  576  families,  which  answer  roughly  to 
the  25.  ico,  and  :co  families  contemplated  bv  the  grouping  in  hundre  is 
an  ;  -  tires.  S  1  :'.  it  it  is  p  issible  that  the  real  tisage  varied  less  than  the 
ripti  ns  of  it.  Mencius  certainly  had  no  access  to  the  official  book  of 
the  Kites  of  Chow,  and  so  can  have  known  only  what  tradition  and  sur- 
vivii  j  -  :  torn  still  preserved  of  them.  But  he  is  perhaps  all  the  more 
'■  .  ...  le  as  ;  n  ...  ith  >rity  on  that  ace  iimt,  and  his  comment  on  a  proverbial 
phrase  in  honour  of  the  kiiv^s  Wen  and  Wu  shows  that  traditi  m  had  got  a 
firm  gras;    <  f  the  numl  er  f;\  e. 

1  _.;  j  .,.  ..  -y  !■'.":>  S.  :  ■  :  '  ■  .     .  ■    .      <  \v  :. 

.,:.  :   ;i>    \.i>.  .      Ti .  :':     ..  lii  :(":.::       •      :  > ucl  1 

*  I.i      iii.l  l'\r'.       '.:.';.•  ::i  .      Ily  James  L^e,  1  ).I ).,   1S75,  \\  2    I 


\v 

:.     2;.  ; 

■-  :..   1S72, 

'■:■  ' 

74- 

■■:   Oil 

.'.;  to  /i:Jia 

•;- 

j  A,  1). 

iS<   ). 

p.  s. 

THE   RURAL    ECONOMY  OE  THE    CHOW,  45 

The  saying  went,  "  The  Chief  of  the  West  knows  well  how  to  nourish 
the  old."  According  to  Mencius,  in  the  good  old  times  which  inspired  the 
proverb  "around  the  homestead,  with  its  five  mow,  the  space  beneath  the 
walls  was  planted  with  mulberry  trees  with  which  the  women  nourished 
silk-worms,  and  thus  the  old  were  able  to  have  silk  to  wear.  Each  family 
had  five  brood  hens  and  two  brood  sows,  and  thus  the  old  were  able  to 
have  flesh  to  eat.  The  husbandmen  cultivated  their  farms  of  roo  mow, 
and  thus  their  families  of  eight  mouths  were  secure  from  want. 
It  has  never  been,"  concludes  the  philosopher,  "that  the  ruler  of  a  State 
where  such  results  were  seen,  the  old  wearing  silk  and  eating  flesh,  and 
the  black-haired  people  suffering  neither  from  hunger  nor  cold,  did  not 
attain  to  the  imperial  dignity.'"' 1 

Another  ode,  very  short  and  obscure,  and  therefore  all  the  more  likely 
to  be  old,  speaks  of  the  mulberry  planters  standing  about  among  their  ten 
acres,  to  discuss  the  bad  times  and  talk  of  abandoning  their  homes  ;2  and 
in  another  place  Mencius  speaks  of  the  people  within  the  nine  squares  as 
rendering  each  other  all  the  mutual  good  offices  which  are  set  forth  in  the 
Chow  Li  as  incumbent  on  the  members  of  the  hundred.  Though  there  was 
no  one  strictly  universal  usage,  there  was  a  perfectly  well  known  and 
familiar  type  of  usage,  any  decently  close  approximation  to  which  was  ac- 
cepted as  lawful  and  satisfactory,  just  as  the  expression  "  a  hamlet  of  ten 
families  "  was  used  proverbially  ;;  for  the  smallest  centre  of  social  life. 

One  point  is  significant  in  connection  with  what  we  know  of  communal 
cultivation  elsewhere.  The  mow  as  a  measure  of  land  represents  a  rect- 
angular strip  of  240  pon  in  length  by  one  in  breadth,  i.e.  just  such  a  fur- 
row-long as  was  used  to  divide  the  ploughlands  of  western  Europe.  The 
allowance  of  land  to  each  village  group  was  supplemented  by  pasture  and 
the  various  rights  of  common  allowed  upon  the  hills  and  wastes,  and  this 
allowance  of  both  pasture  and  arable  land  was  doubled  or  trebled  if  the 
arable  land  was  of  inferior  quality.  Enclosures  were  forbidden  on  the  hill 
pastures,  but  the  allowance  was  never  less  than  the  arable,  i.e.  at  the  rate 
of  from  100  to  300  mow  to  each  household.  Perhaps  the  simplest  view  is 
to  suppose  that,  as  long  at  least  as  land  was  plentiful,  the  hamlet  occupied 
about  as  much  land  as  it  wanted,  and  divided  its  settlement  into  nine 
squares,  taking  the  actual  size  of  the  squares  for  granted,  as  in  the  case 
of  other  conventional  measures,  and  calling  the  enclosure  always  by  tiie 
same  name  as  long  as  it  occupied  the  same  place  in  the  district  administra- 
tion. Whatever  its  acreage  and  numerical  strength,  the  enclosed  hamlet 
tilled  in  common,  by  the  system  of  mutual  aid,  fields  enough  to  provide 
food  and  clothing  in  simple  abundance  for  old  and  young. 

Chinese  criticism  is  so  far  to  be  trusted  that  we  may  probably  accept  a 
song,  supposed  to  have  been  sung  by  the  peasants  in  the  age  of  Yao,  as 
one  of  the  earliest  remains  of  popular  poetry.     They  sing  as  they  work  :  — 

1  Mencius,  iv.  i.   13  ;  vii.  i.  22.  -  C.C.,  iv.  ii.  p.   1  Co. 

a  Legge,  i.  p.  47.      De  Mailla,  iii.  p.  30. 


46  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

"  We  rise  at  sunrise, 
We  re-t  at  sunset, 
1  >::;  wells  and  drink, 
'1'iil  '  i',ir  fields  and  eat — 
What  is  the  strength  oi  'die  Hmperor  to  us?"  ' 

For  4, ceo  years  the  strength  of  the  empire  has  been  in  the  agricultural 
peasantry,  who  as!;  nothing  from  the  emperor  but  to  be  let  wisely  alone. 

Pictures  mure  or  less  circumstantial  and  poetical  of  the  life  of  the  rural 
communes  are  to  be  met  with  in  the  book  of  Odes.  One  of  the  many 
poems  attributed  to  the  J  Juke  of  Chow  is  a  sort  of  poetical  almanack,  con- 
sisting apparently  of  several  sets  of  weather  verses  welded  into  one  ;  but 
parts  of  it  at  least  must  be  older  than  the  duke,  as  the  seasons  followed 
are  those  of  Ilia,  the  first  historical  dynasty.  It  is  called  an  ode  of  1'in, 
and,  as  there  is  nothing  in  the  text  to  cause  the  name  to  be  invented,  it  is 
probably  traditional,  and  therefore  shows  at  least  that  the  descriptions  of 
the  poem  were  originally  supposed  to  refer  to  the  settlements  in  I'm  rather 
than  Chow,  i.e.  to  life  in  China  before  13^5  n.c. 

The  ode  begins  with  the  seventh  month,  in  which  "the  fire-star  passes 
the  horizon  ;,;  it  answers  to  our  August,  and  owes  its  place  to  the  fact  that 
in  the  days  of  Yao  this  occurred  at  midsummer.  There  are  eight  stanzas, 
each  of  which  runs  through  the  various  occupations,  productions,  and 
characteristics  of  the  various  months  in  turn.  The  first  month  is  cold, 
they  go  after  badgers,  and  take  foxes  and  wild  cats  to  make  furs  for  the 
young  princes.  In  the  second  they  hunt  and  drill,  the  people  take  the 
boars  of  one  Near,  those  of  three  years  arc  for  the  prince:  they  hew  out 
tlie  ice  with  harmonious  blows  ;  in  the  third  month  they  convey  it  to  the 
:■  e-houses,'~  and  they  take  their  ploughs  in  hand.  In  the  fourth  month 
die\  take  their  way  to  the  fields  ;  the  small  grass  is  in  seed  :  the  sacrifice 
of  a  lamb  is  offered  before  the  ice-houses  are  opened  for  use.  In  the  fifth 
month  the  cicada  gives  out  its  note,  and  the  locust  moves  its  legs  :  in 
the  sixth  the  spinner  sounds  its  wings,  they  eat  the  sparrow  plums  and 
grapes  :  in  tile  seventh  month  the  shrike  is  heard,  the  cricket  is  in  the 
field,  the\  cook  the  kwei  and  pulse,  and  eat  the  melons.  In  the  eighth 
month  are  the  sedges  and  reed;-;  the  women  begin  to  spin  the  silk,  the 
d  u  ..  the  yellow,  and  the  brilliant  red,  lor  the  lower  garments  oi  the  young 
j  rim  es  :  t  ie\  1  a]  .  the}  kno<  k  down  the  dates,  they  cut  the  bottle-gourds  : 
the  cri(  kets  gather  under  the  eaves.  In  the  ninth  month  it  is  cold  with 
frost,  dot!  i  and  garments  oi  hair  are  given  out  for  winter  use,  and  space 
is  cleared  in   the   vegetable  _  11  .   .,  :   v  the  sta<  ks  <  :  woo  1  and  grain  :   they 

'-'    I  :  ■•     ■  '  ■         "    ■  "1  !<:<■  :  '    ■■)    '     [■',■_.  '    ■■    i;i  tL  ■  teal]  i  r   le,   wheat-growing  plains  >•' 

'■■.'  .         :.   ;tui     II  fir  c  cplai     'don.      'i  he    cll-tom    limy    have    been    borrowed 

111  tlit  ii"-1      ".'  '     . .'  1    !  .\   :.'.  whip-  •  lie  .-u miner   heat    i-  only  rendered  bearable  by  the 

fire  r.  -e  oi    -i!'  v.   ;:i    ;   :    ■•  in  r.  n  iling  di  inks.       I'll  rue-     peak     oft!    ;  abul    in  nee  of  ire  as  on 

<  <:  1  .•■  l'  ■  ■  '  i      m  i'1-  of  1  ioi. Lara,  adding  1  hat    i:    i  -    1  i"  -  d    in    winter,  and    ;old  at  a  price 

'  ;.••  r-  ..   i,  '  i  ;d '.,  r •,■,-;,  ■  is  1': rink ii  ed  v.    ter.      In  1      ii      the  ]        e->ion 

iifuii  ii.'n-l.i.ii-r  v.inas    \  ■  '■    ■         ■    .      ('/'/;,    (,i  ./.•  I ,  train ;,  x.  22.)      <     n  !oni-ts 

tore  tli     u  iir.  ■  r  ice,  in       \         I  :  th     1    II -,  to  initiLrate  the  >unmier  heats. 


THE    RURAL    ECONOMY  OF  THE    CHOW.  47 

gather  the  hempseed.  In  the  tenth  month  the  leaves  fall,  the  crickets 
enter  under  the  bed,  windows  and  crevices  are  closed,  they  reap  the  rice, 
and  make  spirits  of  it  for  the  aged  ;  they  convey  the  sheaves  to  the  clearing 
ready  swept  in  the  homestead,  with  the  millet,  early  and  late,  the  hemp, 
pulse,  and  wheat,  and  every  other  grain. 

The  harvest  home  ends  with  simple  feasts  and  sacrifices,  and  songs  with 
the  innocent  burden,  "  Oh,  my  husbandmen,  the  harvest  is  all  collected, 
let  us  go  to  the  town,  and  be  at  work  on  our  houses  ;"  l  for  in  the  two 
winter  mouths,  which  might  pass  for  holiday,  when  no  out-door  avocations 
are  described,  the  diligent  people  are  still  busy,  gathering  grass  by  day.  and 
twisting  ropes  of  it  at  night,  to  mend  their  roofs  before  the  season  of  sowing 
comes  round  again.  An  ode  of  the  9th  century  might  pass  for  a  subdued 
Chinese  Christmas  carol.  "  The  cricket  is  in  the  hall,  and  our  carts  stand 
unemployed  ;  the  year  is  passing  away.  If  we  do  not  enjoy  ourselves  now, 
the  days  and  months  will  have  gone/'  - 

The  "  silkworm  month  "  is  so  styled  because  the  date  of  the  different 
processes  is  more  liable  to  vary  with  the  season  than  the  ordinary  farming 
operations.  In  the  spring  days,  when  warmth  begins  and  the  oriole  utters 
its  song,  the  young  women  take  their  baskets  and  go  along  the  narrow 
paths  between  the  mulberry  trees,  gathering  the  tender  leaves  of  the  young 
trees,  and  stripping  the  branches,  while  the  young  men  lop  off  with  axes 
and  hatchets  those  that  are  out  of  reach. 

Other  passages  in  the  odes  and  the  Chow  Li  confirm  and  complete 
this  picture  of  orderly  rural  life.  The  sweeping  and  levelling  a  place  :; 
within  the  private  homestead  for  the  grain  stacks  was  not  merely  an  epoch 
in  the  work  of  the  farm,  it  marked  the  period  when  the  military  forces 
might  be  assembled,  and  the  chariots  of  war  passed  in  review  and 
manoeuvred,  because  the  fields  were  clear  of  crops.4  After  this,  in  winter, 
traps  and  pitfalls  were  dug  for  wild  animals,  and  sometimes  set  with  spring- 
bows;  rabbit  nets  were  set  in  the  woods  where  nine  paths  meet;  but  ad 
holes  and  ditches  were  required  to  be  filled  up  before  the  summer,  to 
guard  against  accidents  among  the  cultivators.  At  the  end  of  the  autumn 
the  reeds  and  withered  branches  and  weeds  were  cut  and  burnt  for  charcoal, 
which  was  used  as  a  disinfectant  and  insecticide,  as  well  as  for  fuel. 

It  was  lawful  to  burn  the  woods  and  herbage  in  the  vicinity  of  an 
imperial  cover,  or  when  it  was  desired  to  clear  the  ground  for  cultivation, 
'out  this  was  only  permitted  early  in  the  year,  no  doubt  for  fear  of  loss  from 
prairie  fires.  At  a  prescribed  time  of  year,  in  spring  and  autumn,  a  special 
officer  performed  the  rite  of  "taking  the  tire  out  of  doors ';  and  bringing  it 
in  again,  which  probably  announced  the  time  when  the  cultivators  should 
leave  their  houses  for  the  fields,  and  when  they  should  return  home  for  the 

1   C.C.,  iv.    .S/'ii-A'iii--,  p.  232. 

"  The  Jesuit  Father  who  accompanied  Kang-hi  on  his  hunting  tour  in  Mongolia,  illus- 
trated the  completeness  of  the  preparations  made  along  the  route  by  saying  the  road  was 
made  as  smooth  and  clean  as  the  swept  clearing  for  the  grain  crops. 

4   Tchcou-li,  ii.  p..  175. 


4§ 


OWNERSHIP   IX   CIIIXA. 


winter.1  A  penalty  was  inflicted  on  the  townspeople  who  "lose  fire'" — or 
'.  jt  it  go  out  by  inadvertence,  when  the  villagers  are  gone  afield  :  a  regulation 
which  takes  us  back,  if  not  to  the  very  origins  of  civilization,  at  least  to 
traditions  derived  from  them.'-'  It  is  specified  that  in  summer,  after  "putting 
out  the  fire,"  clothes  must  be  dried  in  the  air,  and  the  precautions  to  be 
taken  in  the  army  against  conflagrations  are  also  laid  down.  The  art  of 
obtaining  fire  by  friction  was  still  practised  when  Confucius  wrote,  and 
different  woods  were  to  be  used  for  this  purpose  in  different  seasons. 

The  work  upon  the  public  and  the  private  fields  seems  to  have  been  done 
in  the  same  way  by  joint  labour,  at  least  at  seed-time  and  harvest,  though 
the  crops  of  each  square  were  probably  garnered  separately,  as  nothing  is 
said  about  the  principle  on  which  they  were  divided.  One  of  the  sacrificial 
odes  of  the  Chow  Dynasty  gives  a  graphic  description  of  the  work  of  the 
associated  farmers  :  it  is  said  to  be  the  one  used  at  the  solemn  ceremony  in 
the  spring,  when  the  Emperor  worships  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  turns  a 
furrow  with  his  plough.  Tire  laconic  verses  begin  with  the  clearing  of  the 
ground  from  grass  and  bushes  :  two  and  two  the  labourers  clear  away  the 
roots  (a  phrase  which  shows  that  the  Chinese  were  still  continually  reclaiming 
untiiled  jungle  for  the  plough).  The  whole  family  is  there  to  the  third 
generauon,  loving  husbands  and  modest  wives.  Eor  the  six  summer 
months  they  live  in  huts  on  the  southdying  acre.-,  and  the  village  is 
deserted  by  the  working  population,  as  the  families  of  Swiss  cultivators 
migrat  1  >  dily  with  their  <  attle  to  the  Ah  s  for  the  summer  months.  The 
old  folks  and  women  bring  out  their  food  :  masters  and  servants  feast 
together,  and  the  noise  of  their  eating  resounds  cheerily. J  The  surplus  of 
the  old  stores  of  grain  is  brought  out  to  feed  the  husbandmen.  Having 
selected  the  seed,  and  looked  after  the  implements,  the  various  grain  is 
sown,  the  blade  rises  in  even  lines;  gourds  are  trained  along  the  bounding 
divbi  ns  :  troops  of  weeders  go  amongst  the  furrows:  the  insects  that 
:  tt:  >  h  each  part  of  the  plant  are  carefully  removed,  not  without  appropriate 
inn. re  .    :— 


-  ultivators'  labour  will  be  wasted   unless  the  fertilizing  showers 
aven  :  they  fj    :       nxi        iy  a!  tl  e  ski    -.  1  at  even  in  their  i 
*  to  the  i    t         '     ot  the  common  vi  ea.1  :     - 


■■  : 


r  ' ' 


A.  <■'!     .   i  -    .     .    ;;<.. 

I      '.     '-I.        '1        ■     '.      .    ■ 


:.  :     n::   i  ■  .    :  ■. 


THE   RURAL   ECONOMY  OF  THE    CHOW.  49 

"  The  clouds  form  in  dense  masses, 
And  the  rain  conies  down  slowly. 
May  ii  rain  first  on  our  public  fields,  and  then  on  our  private."  ' 

Then  comes  harvest  time,  with  its  multitudes  of  reapers,  and  fresh  stacks 
of  grain  to  be  piled  up  in  granaries,  for  sacrifices  and  ceremonies,  and  the 
comfort  of  the  aged,  while  the  "  hundred  houses  "  of  the  village  '-'  open  to 
receive  their  share  of  grain.  One  of  the  most  interesting  of  the  Odes  closes 
with  an  impressive  recognition  of  the  long  endurance  of  these  good  gifts  : 
'"  It  is  not  here  only  that  there  is  this — it  is  not  now  only  that  there  is  such 
a  time: — from  of  old  it  has  been  thus  !  "  :;  And  so  it  is  still,  to  the 
admiration  of  every  Western  traveller,  3,000  years  or  so  after  the  composi- 
tion of  this  pious  and  large-minded  hymn  of  thanksgiving. 

Meanwhile  the  surveyor  of  the  fields  looks  on  well  pleased,  and  his  officers 
have  nothing  to  do  but  to  see  that  all  are  provided  with  the  implements 
of  husbandry,  and  that  the  new  fields  and  fallows  receive  their  proper 
treatment  as  well  as  the  old  arable  land.  Besides  the  regular  cultivation  of 
the  fields  there  are  enclosures  for  the  breeding  and  cultivation  offish  for 
food,  and  the  wild  fowl  of  the  marshes  are  regarded  as  the  source  of  a 
regular  food  supply,  so  that  if  the  scenery  of  the  Chinese  odes  could  be 
translated  into  a  series  of  wall  pictures  we  should  have  an  almost  exact 
counterpart  to  the  surviving  representations  of  the  rural  economy  of  Egypt. 
Only  in  one  respect  is  there  a  marked  difference. 

As  an  instrument  of  government,  the  bamboo  plays  quite  as  large  a 
part  in  ancient  and  modern  China  as  the  courbash  or  stick  in  Egypt ;  but 
unlike  the  Egyptian,  the  Chinaman  does  not  work  under  the  stick.  In 
both  countries  food  is  abundant,  and  the  means  of  subsistence  as  a  rule 
easily  obtained,  and  in  both  it  was  regarded  as  a  part  of  the  duty  of  Govern- 
ment to  provide  stores  of  grain  for  the  relief  of  the  people  in  years  of 
scarcity.  But  in  China  forced  labour  was  the  exception,  not  the  rule. 
The  soldier  was  a  reluctant  conscript,  not  a  mercenary  or  a  volunteer,  but 
the  hardships  of  a  military  campaign  were  felt  all  the  more  because  the 
experience  was  infrequent;  and  the  occasional  employment  of  forced  labour 
for  a  specific  purpose,  such  as  the  walling  of  a  town,  the  repairing  an  em- 
bankment, or  even  embellishing  an  officer's  residence,  partook  more  ot 
the  nature  of  taxation  than  servitude.  In  China  4,000  years  ago.  as  now, 
the  common  people  employed  themselves,  and  as  a  natural  consequence 
formed  a  standard  of  comfort  fully  equal  to  that  reached  under  the  rule  of 
the  most  liberal  and  benignant  masters.  At  the  same  time,  a  customary 
standard  of  economic  independence  was  also  set  up,  in  the  strength  ol 
which  the  threatened  encroachments  of  feudalism  were  successfully  defied. 

In  one  section  of  the    Ei   Ki  the   salaries  of  different  officials  and  the 
rulers  of  the  feudal   States    are  calculated   in   terms   of  an   agriculturist's 

'   This  is  one  of  the  famous   bits   of  Chinese   verse,  a  stock   quotation   to  illustrate  the 
virtues  of  antiquity. 

2  I.e.  the  commune  of  four  hamlets  of  twenty-five  houses. 

3  C.C.,  iv.  pt.  ii.  p.  603. 

VOL.    II. P.C.  '• 


-o  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

wages.  The  cultivator's  portion  of  ioo  mow  is  here  stated  to  suffice,  ac- 
cording to  tiic  quality  of  the  land,  for  the  support  of  so  many  individuals, 
ranging  from  live  to  nine.  The  salary  of  the  lowest  officer  is  equal  to  that 
of  a  husbandman  on  the  mo^r  fruitful  soii,  and  represents  the  food  of  nine 
persons  :  a  great  officer  has  wherewithal  to  feed  seventy-two  individuals  : 
a  minister  can  feed  28S,  and  the  ruler  ten  times  the  latter  number,  i.e. 
2.88c.1  As  official  salaries  were  to  a  great  extent  paid  in  kind,  this 
arrangement  was  probably  not  an  imaginary  one.  Translated  into  cash, 
it  would  mean  that  if  the  peasant  earned  the  e  juivalent  of  61.  a  day, 
the  great  officer  would  receive  about  ^650  a  year,  a  minister  about 
jQ 2,600,  while  the  ruler  of  the  State  received  about  ^2 6, coo.  The  very 
fact  that  all  salaries  were  calculated  at  the  rate  of  so  many  days'  rations 
would  tend  to  check  any  inclination  to  underestimate  the  amount  of  that 
unit. 

The  Chinese  cultivator  had  no  master  with  the  right  or  power  of  forcing 
him  to  labour  against  his  will,  but  the  law  did  something  to  encourage 
industry  by  taxing  indolence.  The  cultivator  was  legally  entitled  to  do 
as  he  pleased  with  his  own  lot,  but  fiscal  pressure  was  exercised  to 
ensure  its  not  being  neglected.  If  the  ground  of  the  homestead  is  left 
'•  bald."  that  is,  not  sown  with  hemp  or  planted  with  mulberry  trees,  the 
owner  has  to  pay  a  money  tax  equal  to  the  tithe  on  the  same  extent  of 
arable  land  ;  if  the  arable  land  is  not  cultivated,  grain  equivalent  to  the 
taxes  of  three  families  '-'  is  exacted  from  the  delin  juent  ;  and  persons  ot 
no  occii]  ation  pay  a  poll  tax  equivalent  to  the  sum  paid  by  a  householder. 

In  the  Liter  historv  of  China,  so  many  deliberate  attempts  were  made  to 
check  the  growth  of  large  estates  and  a  landless  class  that  it  is  quite  pos- 
sible these  stringent  provisions  may  have  been  directed,  not  only  against 
idleness  among  the  pea-ants,  but  also  against  tiie  ownership  of  bind  by 
any  person  not  actively  engaged  in  its  cultivation.  In  any  case  it  tend- 
to  show  ti  at  ownership  and  occupation  went  normally  together,  and  that 
the  occupier  who  did  not  cultivate  Ins  holding  was  accountable  to  the 
State  for  the  omission.  As  in  Egypt,  houses  in  the  capital  were  not  taxed, 
as   tli  erial   editors   say,  because   there  was   no   vacant  ground  to   be 

sown  or  planted.  The  only  districts  taxed  to  the  amount  of  five-twentieths 
of  the  prodm  e  were  the  woods  and  marshes,  which  do  not  owe  their  value 
to  human  labour,  and  were  consequently  regardied  as  a  legitimate  source 
of  revenue  for  the  State,  like  tiie  n  itural  ;  isture  1  f  Egyptian  wastes. 

Tiie  (  onclusiott  oi  the  section  on  taxes  in  the  Ch  >w  Li  is  understood  by 
M.  Uiot  and  tiie  Chinese  commentators  as  assigning  further  penalties  of 
a  sumptuary  sort  1  >  tiie  neglect  of  the  labours  of  agriculture,  but  it  is  more 
m  accordar.ee  with  the  spirit  of  Chinese  ethics  to  see  in  the  passage  a 
solemn  statement  ol  facts,  a  record  of  the  eternal  necessities,  by  which 
certain  causes  entail  with  automatic  justice  appropriate  effects,  against 
which  it  is  ti.e  part  of  a  wise  Government  to  give  its  sul  jects  timely  warn- 

1  .0 I  .,  i;i.  -.  .  2:  3.  2  ];i'jl'<  7;  'ucii-H,  i.  279.  n.  4. 


THE   RURAL   ECONOMY  OF  THE    CHOW.  5r 

ing.  "  In  general,"  it  is  said,  "  those  amongst  the  people  who  do  not  rear 
cattle  cannot  offer  animals  in  sacrifice  ;  those  who  do  not  cultivate  their 
plots  of  land  cannot  sacrifice  grain  ;  those  who  do  not  plant  their  orchards 
cannot  have  a  complete  coffin  with  external  case  ;  those  who  do  not  rear 
silkworms  cannot  wear  robes  of  silk,  and  those  who  do  not  spin  cannot 
wear  a  complete  suit  of  mourning  with  an  under-garment.'' ] 

The  force  of  these  particular  deterrents  may  seem  unequal,  but  the  poli- 
tical wisdom  of  the  Chinese  legislator  shows  itself  in  observing  and  drawing 
attention  to  those  natural  sanctions,  which  enforce  the  precepts  accepted 
by  the  national  conscience,  rather  than  by  direct  legislative  interference. 
Mencius'  enumeration  of  the  consequences  of  good  administration  is  con- 
ceived in  the  same  spirit.  "  If  the  seasons  of  husbandry  be  not  interfered 
with,  the  grain  will  be  more  than  can  be  eaten.  If  close  nets  are  not 
allowed  to  enter  the  pools  and  ponds,  the  fishes  and  turtles  will  be  more 
than  can  be  consumed.  If  the  axes  and  bills  enter  the  hills  and  forests 
(only)  at  the  proper  time,  the  wood  will  be  more  than  can  be  used.  When 
the  grain  and  fish  and  turtles  are  more  than  can  be  eaten,  and  there  is 
more  wood  than  can  be  used,  this  enables  the  people  to  nourish  their 
living  and  bury  their  dead  without  any  feelings  against  any  one/'"  ~  which 
is  the  first  step  in  the  way  of  royal  government. 

It  would  be  easy  to  multiply  examples  of  this  keenly  rationalistic  appre- 
ciation of  natural  sequences.  'When  Duke  He  of  Loo,  in  the  yth  century 
B.C.,  wished,  in  consequence  of  a  long  drought,  to  burn  (or  expose  in  the 
sun)  a  suspected  witch  and  an  emaciated  person,  the  sagacious  minister  of 
the  moment  advised  him  that  this  was  not  the  proper  course  :  "  Put  your 
walls,  the  inner  and  the  outer,  in  good  repair,  lessen  your  food;  be  sparing 
in  all  your  expenditure.  Be  in  earnest  to  be  economical,  and  encourage 
people  to  help  one  another.  What  have  the  witch  and  the  emaciated 
person  got  to  do  with  the  matter  ?  "  :; 

On  the  other  hand,  to  cut  down  trees  upon  a  hill  as  part  of  a  sacrifice 
for  rain  is  punished  as  the  greatest  of  crimes,  which  is  Chinese  for  a 
blunder.1  Notwithstanding  the  clearances  effected  by  successive  heroes, 
the  hills  of  China  were  not  yet  stripped  of  their  natural  forests,  and  these 
were  administered  by  a  special  officer.  Certain  kinds  of  trees  were  re- 
served :  but  even  in  the  plantations  of  the  State,  the  public  were  admitted 
to  cut  for  themselves  under  prescribed  regulations  for  a  limited  number  of 
days  during  the  year.  In  cases  of  public  necessity  (as  to  procure  coffins  5 
or  make  an  embankment)  trees  might  be  felled  at  irregular  times,  but 
otherwise  the  common  people  were  restricted  to  one  lopping  season  for 
each  kind  of  wood.  A  passage  in  Mencius  shows  incidentally  how  tiie 
fatal  process  of  denudation  went  on,  when  no  longer  controlled  by  a  strong 

1    Teheou-li,  i.  p.  2S2.  2    Works,  i.  i.  iii.  f;  3. 

"   Legge,  Chinese  Classics,  ii.  6.  l  lb.,  v.  66  j. 

"  In  the  Welsh  laws  of  llowel  there  is  a  somewhat  similar  prevision:  "There  are 
three  trees  which  are  free  to  be  cut  in  the  king's  forest  :  timber  for  the  roof  of  a  church  ; 
for  spear  shafts  for  the  king's  use,  and  wood  for  a  bier.': 


52  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

and  watchful  Government.  He  illustrates  the  possibility  of  men  losing  the 
virtues  which  are  natural  to  them,  by  the  loss  of  natural  beauty  undergone 
by  the  mountains  on  the  east  of  Tse  (near  the  present  Tsing-chow).  Being 
on  the  borders  of  a  large  State,  the  trees  were  hewn  down  with  axes  and 
bills,  and  when  new  buds  and  sprouts  sprang  up  from  the  roots,  cattle  and 
goats  came  and  browsed  upon  them,  so  that  the  once  finely  wooded  moun- 
tains appeared  bare  and  stript — as  man  becomes  vicious  when  evil  circum- 
stances trample  down  all  his  good  impulses  and  inclinations.1 

Some  measure  of  the  length  of  time  during  which  China  has  had  a  civil- 
ized history  is  given  by  the  fact  that  the  more  enlightened  provisions  of 
tiie  Chow  Li  were  made  the  subject  of  quite  modern  sounding  comments 
in  what  Europe  calls  the  Middle  Ages.  Towards  the  time  when  England 
was  suffering  from  the  afforesting  of  whole  counties  under  the  Norman 
conqueror,  one  of  the  Sung  commentators  on  the  Chow  code  combined 
his  admiration  for  the  liberality  of  the  ancient  monarchs — who  divided  the 
produce  of  the  woods,  mountains,  and  watercourses  with  their  subjects — 
with  remarks  on  the  necessity  of  regulating  the  human  greed  for  profit, 
which  ends  by  exterminating  the  sources  of  wealth,  unless  the  State  inter- 
venes for  the  protection  of  natural  species  by  imposing  a  close  time.  Ex- 
clusive devotion  to  agriculture  has  led  in  China  to  the  neglect  of  wood- 
craft, but  the  destruction  of  forests  which  goes  on  in  countries  colonized 
by  Englishmen  has  not  that  excuse  ;  it  is  simply  that  our  political  philo- 
sophy allows  to  the  private  proprietor  license  which  the  political  philosophy 
of  ancient  China  denied  to  princes. 

'The  regulations  still  in  force  respecting  the  pasturing  of  the  imperial 
herds-  differ  little  from  those  set  forth  in  the  Chow  Li.  Under  the  head- 
ing which  describes  the  functions  of  the  "  valuer  of  horses,"'  it  is  said  :  "  In 
general  when  an  officer  of  state  receives  a  horse  from  the  hands  of  his 
chiefs,  he  writes  down  the  age  and  colour  and  price  of  the  horse.  If  the 
animal  dies  within  ten  days,  it  must  be  paid  for  in  full.  If  it  dies  after  ten 
days,  the  ear  is  given  as  a  proof;  the  payment  is  made  with  the  body. 
beyond  that  term  there  is  no  reclaiming.1' ;i  From  this  it  appears  that  the 
"hoarding-out"  of  the  royal  cattle,  which  reappears  in  the  Irish  laws  as 
the  "giving  and  taking  of  stock,"  was  an  ancient  Chinese  institution,  not 
invented  or  introduced  by  the  present  Mantchu  dynast)-. 

As  in  ancient  Egypt,  the  charge  was  not  converted  into  a  burden  or 
treated  as  a  source  of  revenue,  and  the  keeper  of  the  herds  was  not  bound 
to  make  good  losses  for  which  lie  was  not  responsible.  It  was  also  the 
duty  of  the  royal  herdsmen  to  provide  the  six  species  of  animals  used  for 
sacrifices  the  ox,  the  horse,  sheep,  pig,  dog,  and  pheasant.  All  animals  for 
sacrifice  were  required  to  be  of  a  uniform  colour,  and  without  spot  or  blemish; 
but  the  commentators  observe  that  the  difficulty  of  observing  this  rule  had 
caused  it  to  be  relaxed.      It  is  possible  that  Sumerian  scholars  may  find  in 


//'  .''  ,  vi.  i.  viii.  s;  2.  2  Post, 

:l    71  hcou-li,  ii.  p.   iH<). 


THE   RURAL   ECONOMY  GF   THE    CHOW.  53 

the  provisions  on  this  subject  some  trace  of  kinship  with  the  sacrificial 
usages  of  ancient  Babylonia.  At  present  this  and  other  equally  inviting 
lines  of  inquiry  have  not  been  followed  up,  on  account  of  the  difficulty  of 
finding  a  scholar  interested  at  once  in  the  subject  matter  of  both  classes 
of  texts,  and  master  enough  of  both  archaic  languages  not  to  be  misled  by 
accidental  or  superficial  resemblance. 


CHAPTER  A". 

IXDUSTRY  AXD   TRADE  IX   THE  MIDDLE  ANTIQUITY  OF  CIIIXA. 

In  the  first  book  of  the  Chow  Li,  which  describes  the  administration 
of  the  Imperial  court  and  the  branches  of  government,  nine  classes  or 
occupations  of  the  people  are  recognised  by  the  legislator.  The  first  class 
of  course  is  that  of  the  cultivators — the  men  of  the  hills,  the  plains,  and 
the  marshes,  who  produce  the  nine  kinds  of  grain.  Then  follow  (2) 
The  gardeners.  (3)  Wood  and  watermen.  ('4)  The  herdsmen  of  the  cul- 
tivated marsh.es,  who  look  to  the  breeding  of  the  beasts  and  herds  native 
to  them.  (5)  The  artisans  of  a  hundred  trades,  by  whom  the  eight  sorts 
of  raw  material  are  manufactured,  i.e.  the  workers  in  stone,  wood,  metal, 
bade,  ivory,  pearls,  skins,  and  feathers.  (6)  Shopkeepers  and  wandering 
dealers  or  pedlars.  (~)  Lawful  wives,  by  whose  labour  silk  and  flax  are 
wrought  into  cloths.  (S)  Servants  of  both  sexes,  including  the  inferior 
wives  who  are  employed  in  domestic  services.  (9)  Individuals  without 
fixed  profession,  who  change  their  occupation  from  time  to  time,  in  whom 
a  commentator  at  the  beginning  of  our  era  recognised  the  counterpart  of 
the  wage-earning  class  of  his  own  time.1 

In  the  section  of  the  Shoo  King  called  the  Officers  of  Chow,  four 
classes  are  mentioned  :  the  scholars  or  officers,  the  cultivators,  the 
mechanics,  and  the  merchants  or  trader-,  :  a   classification   chiefly  remark- 

le  for  its  omission  of  a  noble  or  military  caste.  This  is  the  classifica- 
tion referred  to  in  the  Thsi-yu,  when  it  is  said  :  "The  sons  of  officers  ought 
always  to  be  officers  :  the  sons  of  artisans  ought  always  to  be  artisans  ;  the 
-  ins  of  merchants  ought  always  to  be  merchants,  and  the  sons  of  agricul- 
turists ought  always  to  be  agriculturists."-  The  Tso  Chuen  tells  of  a 
pris  ner  from  Tsoo,  in  the  sixth  century,  who,  when  questioned  by  the 
marquis  of  Tsin  ah  ait  his  family,  replied.  ••  We  are  mush  ians  : ''  and  when 
asked  if  he  <  ouid  play  :  "  Music."  said  he,  '"was  the  pr  ifession  of  my  father : 
1  I  learn  any  other?"  According  to  tradition,  a  certain  quarter  was 
-signed  am  iently  in  Chinese  towns  and  cities  for  mechanics,  and  all  of 
one  art  were  required  to  have  their  shops  together.  The  son  followed  the 
father's  profcs.don,  and  it  was  sm  j  osed  that,  seeing  nothing  else  around 
.    '-..  he  wi  uld  think  of  n  idling  else,  and  so  become  the  more  proficient.  ' 


;   /;  '  -  1 
LY.    7 


'■'    •        i '   '  '  '.'■   -    ■:'■:  -:i  '  •  ".:.  --.to  ir.  :.  in  the  same  way,  tlinl    the 
-  i/t   i  i  m^-ehaYu  no  <J  ;'...-  v.  1    lu  i  c.ich  their  own  ilistric:,  au  i 


INDUSTRY  AND    TRADE.  55 

A  certain  number  of  the  offices  described  in  the  Chow  Li  are  also  charac- 
terized as  hereditary  ;  especially  such  as  might  reasonably  be  supposed  to 
require  hereditary  skill,  like  the  snarers  of  birds,  and  the  tamers  of  wild 
beasts,  or  inherited  knowledge  of  minute  forms  and  ceremonies,  such  as 
those  appropriate  to  the  reception  of  foreign  guests.  \\\  another  passage 
mention  is  made  of  "  hereditary  professions,"'  which  are  explained  to  be 
those  referring  to  magic,  medicine,1  and  divination. 

With  these  exceptions,  the  oldest  and  the  ruling  idea  with  the  Chinese 
is  that  office  should  not  be  hereditary,  but  that  ordinary  employment 
should  be  so.  Mencius  quotes  as  one  of  the  maxims  accepted  by  a  con- 
federacy under  one  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Presiding  States  :  "  Let  not  offices 
be  hereditary,  nor  let  officers  be  pluralists."  2  The  prima  facie  right  of  the 
eldest  son  of  the  king's  lawful  wife  to  inherit  the  throne  was  asserted  less  in 
the  interest  of  the  heir  than  of  the  Government,  which  would  be  distracted  by 
the  intrigues  of  rival  pretenders,  and  endangered  if  the  king  were  induced 
weakly  to  listen  to  the  favourite  of  the  moment,  pleading  for  her  own 
children.  Functions  or  obligations  might  be  hereditary,  but  inherited  privi- 
leges were  equally  dangerous  to  the  giver  and  the  recipient.  There  was 
no  feeling  about  the  right  of  children  to  inherit,  or  the  duty  of  parents 
to  bequeath,  wealth.  A  story  is  told  of  a  retired  statesman  in  the  ist 
century  B.C.,  who  was  reproached  with  spending  his  acquired  wealth  so 
lavishly  that  none  was  likely  to  be  left  for  his  sons  ;  and  he  defended  his 
conduct  on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  injurious  to  the  latter  to  inherit 
the  means  of  living  in  luxury  without  industry:'' 

As  in  Egypt  the  position  of  the  scribe  was  open  to  the  ambition  of 
every  class,  so  in  China  the  lower  offices  of  State  were  open  to  all,  and 
promotion  by  merit  was,  in  theory  at  least,  an  essential  part  of  the  con- 
stitution. 

So  far  as  the  common  people  were  concerned,  each  adult  was  registered 
as  following  some  lawful  pursuit — as  a  matter  of  course  that  of  his  father, 
unless  otherwise  stated  ;  if  he  ceased  to  follow  that  calling  without  being- 
enrolled  in  any  other,  the  presumption  would  be  that  he  was  an  idler, 
seeking  to  evade  the  payment  of  his  lawful  tax,  and  so  obnoxious  to  the 
police,  but  changes  of  occupation  in  the  case  of  individuals  would  be 
discouraged  by  the  mere  fact  of  their  having  to  be  reported,  while  the 
Government  would  consider  any  large  displacement  of  industry  as  matter 
for  regulation,  so  as  to  prevent  any  disturbance  of  the  existing  social 
order  such  as  would  be  caused,  e.g.  by  the  desertion  of  agriculturists  taking 
to  sport  or  traders  abandoning  commerce  for  domestic  industries.  The 
migration  of  households  or  individuals  was  recognised  as  a  normal  incident. 
The  persons  quitting  a  "  neighbourhood"  received  a  pass  or  permit   from 

were  strictly  hereditary,  even  the  rich  being  compelled  to  follow  their  father's  calling  !  > 
the  exclusion   of  any  other. 

1  According  to  the  rules  of  propriety,  ''The  physic  of  a  doctor,  in  whose  family 
medicine  has  not  been  practised  lor  three  generations,  should  not  1  e  taken.'' 

-    U-'t  <"..v,  vi .  ii.  vii.  s  j. 

::  Cj lies'  Gems  of  Chinese  Literature,  p.  97. 


st> 


OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 


the  elder  whose  jurisdiction  they  were  leaving;  and  unless  distance  forba  le, 
they  were  introduced  by  him  in  person  to  their  new  chiefs.1 

The  provisions  regarding  internal  commerce  and  markets  -  are  as  fail 
and  elaborate  as  those  respecting  agriculture.  The  duties  of  the  provost 
of  the  market  are  singularly  extensive.  They  include,  of  course,  the 
regulation  of  weights  and  measures,  the  maintenance  of  order — by  the 
help  of  a  rod.  made  of  the  standard  measure, — and  the  punishment  of 
theft,  fraud,  or  adulteration,  if  the  proportion  of  the  inferior  article  ex- 
ceeded 20  per  cent.  ; :;  the  levying  of  the  octroi  duties  on  the  goods  brought 
in  and  taken  out  for  sale:  and  when,  in  case  of  plague  or  famine,  the  duties 
were  remitted,  he  had  still  to  keep  an  account  of  the  goods  that  passed 
the  harrier,  but  besides  all  this,  the  officers  of  the  market  were  required 
to  regulate  and  equalize  the  quantity  and  prices  of  the  goods  offered  for 
sale,  as  the  superintendents  of  agriculture  were  required  to  regulate  the 
cultivation  of  the  ground  and  equalize  the  burdens  of  the  cultivators  ;  and 
the  legislator  evidently  regards  one  task  as  no  more  arduous  than  the 
other. 

According  to  Ma-twan-lin,  the  system  of  State  purchases  was  not  primi- 
tive, and  the  official  "•purchase  of  grain  at  a  fair  price,"  as  it  was  called, 
was  only  introduced  in  the  7th  century  B.C.  This  was  followed  by  "the 
sale  of  grain  at  a  fixed  price,"  and  the  establishment  of  granaries  to 
supply  the  sale.  It  was  argued  that  if  the  State  began  to  sell  grain  at  a 
moderate  price  in  times  of  scarcity,  private  dealers  would  be  driven  to 
lower  their  prices,  by  the  fear  of  not  disposing  of  their  stocks,  and  the 
idea  is  economically  speaking  in  advance  of  the  mere  attempt  to  fix  the 
price  of  corn  by  edict.  Hut.  like  most  well-meant  experiments  in  the  way 
of  State  trading,  this  ended  by  opening  the  door  to  fresh  abuses.  The 
State  was  tempted  by  the  near  view  of  the  profits  of  commerce  to  make 
its  benevolent  granaries  a  source  of  revenue  ;  and  when  once  the  sale  ot 
ci  rn  had  been  carried  on  for  the  sake  of  profit,  arbitrary  measures  be- 
came necessary  to  secure  a  sufficient  supply  for  sale,  and  the  demand  on 
individuals  to  furnish  a  given  quantity  of  grain,  irrespective  of  the  market 
price,  became  in  time  a  serious  tax. 

but  the  (lovernment  was  not  content  with  trying  to  lower  prices  when 
abnormally  high,  it  also  aimed  at  preventing  the  depreciation  ot  prices 
in  time-  of  exceptional  abundance;  ami  with  remarkable  financial  enter- 
prise, it  undertook  to  buy  from  the  traders  when  goods  were  plentiful  as 
well  as  to  sell  to  the  public  when  commodities  were  scarce.  It  was  the 
business  of  the  off  er  in  1  harge  to  attract  dealers  by  preventing  a  fall  ot 
prices  below  remunerative  rate-,  and  to  attract  customers  by  a  constant 
■  ly  of  provisions  at  uniform  prices.  If  any  commodity  became,  for  a 
season,  a  drug  111  the  market,  the  profit  was  reserved  to  the  State,  wh;<  ii 
alone  could  alford  to  buv  up  go  >ds  on  s;  eculation  at  an  ad  wince  upon  the 
current    market   ra!     :   and  the  profit  secured  by  its  ultimate   sale   was  thus 


•  j ' 


IXDUSTRY  AND    TRADE.  57 

secured  to  the  community  instead  of  being  scrambled  for  by  commercial 
speculation.  In  the  same  way,  if  curiosities  or  valuables  of  any  kind  hung 
long  on  hand,  they  were  purchased  on  account  of  the  treasury  and  re- 
served until  there  was  a  demand  for  them. 

In  the  code  of  laws  now  in  force  it  is  specified  that  if  the  Government 
requires  any  material  for  State  use,  the  commissioners  and  the  prefects  and 
district  magistrates  shall  consult  and  apportion  the  contribution,  and 
decide  whether  it  shall  be  levied  in  kind  or  purchased  in  the  market, 
"having  regard  to  whether  it  is  a  time  of  great  plenty  or  the  reverse.'''1 
With  the  same  object,  money  is  to  be  coined  in  a  time  of  scarcity,  to  en- 
able the  people  to  buy  necessaries;  and,  though  this  expedient  may  seem 
more  well  meant  than  scientific,  it  might  be  resorted  to  occasionally  with- 
out perceptible  damage,  if  the  State  continued  its  purchases  at  the  old  rate 
on  a  large  enough  scale  to  prevent  a  nominal  fall  of  price.  An  early 
commentator  admires  the  wisdom  of  this  device  on  the  ground  that  gold 
and  copper,  which  are  always  valuable,  are  not  subject  to  the  uncertainties 
of  the  seasons. 

Ma-twan-lin  says  of  the  duties  of  the  Chow  treasurer  that  his  operations 
are  analogous  to  those  of  the  officers  of  later  dynasties  who  are  charged  to 
regulate  the  price  of  commodities  by  the  purchases  and  sales  which  they 
effect  in  the  name  of  the  State.  And  Yang-chi  -  describes  him  as  benefit- 
ing the  merchants  by  buying  their  unsold  stock  without  trying  to  profit  by 
its  low  price,  and  benefiting  buyers  by  allowing  them  the  advantage  of 
purchases  made  in  the  favourable  season  ;  but  it  is  evident  that  this  sort  of 
commercial  administration  could  only  be  practised,  on  a  comparatively 
small  scale,  when  the  services  of  the  ablest  and  most  disinterested  states- 
men were  not  pre-engaged  with  matters  of  larger  imperial  concern. 

'Traditions  current  in  the  7th  century  d.c.  claim  for  Yu  and  Tang  the 
casting  of  metallic  money  for  the  relief  of  the  people  ;  but  metal  was 
bartered  by  weight  before  any  approach  was  made  to  a  currency.  The 
annals  of  the  first  Man  (206  B.C.-25  A.D.)  give  an  account  of  the  mone- 
tary arrangements  of  the  nth  century  B.C.,  which,  though  not  very  intelli- 
gible, is  probably  founded  on  authentic  materials.  According  to  this,  gold 
was  moulded  in  cubes  weighing  1  kin,  and  bronze  money  was  round  or 
"tongue-like,"  and  its  weight  estimated  in  tchus.  M.  Terrien  de  la  Cou- 
perie  estimates  the  tchu  at  4/06  grains,  and  the  kin  or  gold  unit  at  1,950 
grains,  i.e.  one-fourth  of  the  hwan,  the  royal  standard  of  7,.Sco  grains  (about 
505  gram.),  which  is  identifiable  with  the  light  Babylonian  talent. :;       M. 

1  China  J\tzir:r,  vol.  viii.  p.  359,  (1.  Jamieson.  Translations  from  the  Lu-li,  or 
Gen,  rat  Cod,  of  I.a-vs. 

-  Post,  pp.  202-5. 

"  Catalogue  oj  Chinese  Coins  from  the.  "]th  century  R.c.  to  A.n.  621,  by  Terrien  de  la 
Couperie.  Nearly  all  tire  following  particulars  are  derived  from  this  valuable  work. 
The  mere  coincidence  of  size  between  any  two  weights,  large  or  small,  gives,  however, 
by  itself,  little  presumption  in  favour  of  a  common  origin,  because  most  systems  have  one 
large  and  one  small  weight— or  coin — serving  nearly  similar  purposes  among  their  various 
adherents.  To  be  convincing,  the  resemblance  must  extend  to  the  various  sub-divisions, 
and  the  relations  of  coins,  weights,  and  measures,  to  each  other. 


58  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

Biot,  the  only  other  writer  who  has  dealt  with  the  subject,  estimated  the 
kin  at  one-third  of  the  hwan. 

Ma-twan-liirs  authorities  speak  of  barter  as  followed  by  the  use  of  shells, 
to  which,  under  the  Ilia  and  Shang  dynasties,  three  metals,  yellow,  white, 
and  red,  were  added.  Ssema-tsicn  understands  by  these  gold,  silver,  and 
copper,  though  one  of  his  commentators  supposes  the  red  metal  to  be  iron. 
In  554  n.c.  a  large  copper  money  was  issued,  as  appears  from  the  text  of  a 
remonstrance  addressed  to  the  king  describing  the  practice  of  his  prede- 
cessors, who  issued  two  sizes  of  coins,  called  the  Mother  and  the  Son,  of 
different  sizes,  according  to  the  needs  of  the  people.  Subsequently  a 
prince  of  d'soo  attempted  to  give  the  value  of  the  large  coins  to  the  small 
onc^,,  with  the  result  that  merchants  deserted  his  markets.1 

A  very  interesting  book  of  the  Shoo  King,-  which  is  the  foundation  stone 
of  the  Chinese  penal  code,  is  assigned  by  Dr.  Legge  to  the  ioth  century 
B.C.  Li  this  the  system  of  pecuniary  commutation  of  penalties  is  applied 
to  various  offences,  the  fines  ranging  from  600  to  6,000  "ounces"  in  Dr. 
Legge's  translation  ;  "rings"'  according  to  Mr.  Terrien  de  la  Couperie, — 
copper  in  each  case  being  of  course  understood.  The  oldest  existing  money 
is  certainly  in  the  form  of  rings,  without  any  inscription,  and  no  other  is 
known  to  have  been  used  till  the  introduction,  early  in  the  7th  century,  of 
metal  knives  as  a  currency.  Large  bronze  knives  of  regular  weight,  with  a 
rude  inscription,  were  also  circulated  by  traders  in  S.  Shantung,  serving, 
like  the  earliest  pi-tchan  or  spade-money,  both  for  use  and  exchange. 
"  Hoes  and  riches,'"'  "  hoes  and  cloth,"  are  general  terms  for  wealth. 

II wan.  prince  of  Tse,  the  first  of  the  "presiding  States,''  attempted  to 
regulate  the  weight  of  the  metallic  currency,  and  had  spade  money  cast 
from  native  mines  ;  he  also  issued  knife-coins  of  practical  shape  and  size, 
bearing  the  important  inscription,  "  returnable-reviving  currency  ot  Tse,' 
and  on  the  reverse  "  30  units"  and  "  yuen  " — a  ring,  doubtless  an  allusion 
to  the  old  metal  rings.  Other  early  inscriptions  are  "exchangeable," 
'"return,"  '"work,"  "sprout,"  "star,"  "family,"  and  "  currency  of  Tsih-moh 
city."  Two  things  are  very  remarkable.  Coins  of  all  kinds  were  issued 
during  the  feudal  period  l)y  individual  merchants,  trading  firms,  guilds  and 
private  families,  as  well  as  by  cities.  And  the  legends  oi  all  seem  to  show 
that,  like  the  first  issues  of  paper  money  many  centuries  later,  the  com  was 
put  forward  rather  as  a  bond- -something  returnable,  a  promise  to  pay 
wilue  to  such  an  amount— than  as  a  mere  medium  of  exchange  tor  uni- 
versal currency. 

About  the  mid' He  of  the  7th  century  the  old  ring-money  of  Chow 
began  to  be  inscribed  and  became  a  coinage,  but  this  use  for  metal  is  still 
only  third  or  fourth  in  importance.  About  the  same  time  one  feudal 
prince,  in  giving  a  present  of  metal  to  another,  stipulated  that  it  was  not  to 
be  used  for  making  weapons  :  and  accordingly  the  recipient  cast  three 
bells  with  it — a  more  respectful  way  of  using  it  than  for  tools.     In  the  next 

1    /  :/;;:.  .-/  .,  31110  st'rie,  iii.   [>.  4,(- 

-     Tl.     Ma     'in       '  Lit  oil  I'ltnL-  kments,  S.J1.,  iii.  pp.  254-264. 


INDUSTRY  AND    TRADE. 


59 


century  a  prince  of  Tsin  refused  to  accept  a  ransom  paid  in  coin,  and 
demanded  silk.  Small  bean-shaped  coins,  called  metallic  cowries,  were 
issued  about  600  B.C.,  and  a  little  later  we  have  large  knife  coins  issued  by 
traders'  monetary  unions,  and  bearing  the  inscription  :  "  Returnable-re- 
viving currency  of  all  travelling  traders  of  Tsi  and  Ivwang-tcliing  "  (Shensi). 
Another  knife-coin  issued  by  the  same  class  is  singular  in  having  a  well- 
executed  figure,  as  well  as  characters,  inscribed  on  it ;  a  lad  bearing  a  flag 
appears  as  a  sort  of  rebus  for  the  word  "to  travel."' 

\\\  523  a  king  of  Chow  issued  coins  of  four  times  the  customary  weight; 
but  they  were  not  accepted  by  the  people,  so  the  old  type  of  ilat  rings  was 
reverted  to.  Spade-money  was  in  use  for  at  least  three  hundred  years  from 
the  7th  to  the  4th  century,  and  for  half  that  time  it  was  the  common 
currency.  The  spades  had  hollow  handles  so  as  to  be  useable,  and.  being 
really  intended  more  for  tools  than  coins,  were  only  roughly  inscribed. 
The  knife-money  was  confined  to  the  Shantung  peninsula  and  its  neigh- 
bourhood. About  the  middle  of  the  5th  century  we  hear  of  three  Boards 
of  Finance  being  established  in  Yueh  by  the  help  of  the  king  of  Tsoo,  for 
tiie  currency  of  gems,  gold,  and  coins  and  silk  ;  coins,  i.e.  metal,  and  silk 
being  bracketed  together  as  utilities,  apart  from  such  merely  precious 
tilings  as  gold  and  gems. 

In  423  a  prince  of  Wei  is  said  to  have  stimulated  the  use  of  metallic 
currency  by  State  purchases,  which  shows  that  the  mass  of  the  people  still 
did  not  feel  the  need  of  a  currency  for  every-day  affairs.  Many  coins  bear 
the  names  of  two  towns — doubtless  those  that  had  a  common  market  ;  and 
the  relative  position  of  towns  in  the  larger  monetary  unions  indicates  the 
fines  of  old  trade  routes.  Ting-chow,  in  the  State  of  Tsin,  was  the  centre 
of  four  monetary  unions.  Coins  were  issued  by  such  unions  from  5S0  to 
380  11. c. ;  but  towards  the  close  of  the  "  Warring  States  "  period,  trade  as 
well  as  everything  else  suffered. 

<  )ther  forms  of  coin  were  called  weight-money,  or  '•'riding-money,"  from 
the  resemblance  of  its  shape  to  a  saddle  ;  and  pu-money,  in  use  from  the 
6th  to  t'ne  3rd  century  n.c,  but  confined  to  the  triangle  bounded  on  the 
west  and  south  by  the  Yellow  River.  The  name  is  translated  "extended," 
and  the  coin  has  been  taken  to  represent  a  cloth  or  garment  :  it  consisted 
ot  a  piece  of  flat,  inscribed  metal,  not  unlike  a  spade  with  an  indentation 
at  the  bottom,  and  was  more  of  a  mere  coin  than  either  spades,  knives,  or 
the  rings,  which  were  a  survival  from  tiie  time  when  metal  for  general  use 
was  cast  in  that  shape  for  convenience  in  porterage  or  storing.  Down  to 
tiie  4th  century  unwrought  metal  continued  to  be  used  for  purposes  ot  ex- 
change, but  in  the  5th  small  spade  and  pu-money,  of  no  intrinsic  use,  were 
also  circulated.  The  knife-money,  as  it  approaches  to  a  token,  has  less 
and  less  blade,  in  proportion  to  the  round  perforated  handle  by  winch  it 
could  be  strung  ;  but  the  modern  cash  is  descended  from  the  still  older 
ring-money,  not  from  a  knife  with  completely  atrophied  blade. 

The  frequent  issues  of  money  by  towns  seems  to  imply  that  municipal 
independence  advanced  during  the  feudal    period  in  China  exactly  as  was 


60  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

the  case  in  Europe,  while  the  number  and  energy  of  the  trading  guilds  is 
shown  by  the  same  evidence.  Their  coins  give  reality  to  the  passages  in 
Mencius,  where  princes  are  promised,  as  a  reward  of  good  government,  that 
<;  tiie  traders  will  all  seek  to  buy  and  sell  "  in  the  markets  of  the  virtuous 
ruler.  The  habit  of  self-government  and  respect  for  local  liberties,  which 
characterize  the  Chinese,  must  have  established  their  deepest  roots  when 
the  government  of  the  States  and  the  Empire  was  in  the  worst  disorder. 
But  the  lines  followed  by  the  independent  townships,  which  coined  money, 
were  probably  substantially  the  same  as  those  embodied  in  the  ideal  legis- 
lation of  the  Chow  Li. 

Written  deeds  and  agreements  were  in  common  use  in  the  Chow  Dynas- 
ty, especially  a  sort  of  indenture  consisting  of  a  tablet  of  bamboo,  upon 
which  the  terms  of  the  contract  were  written  in  duplicate,  and  which  was 
then  divided  between  the  contracting  parties.  According  to  the  Chow  Li, 
these  were  used  for  all  loans  and  lesser  transactions  regarding  tilings  which 
pass  "from  hand  to  hand  ; "  nothing  could  be  sold  without  either  an  in- 
denture or  a  deed  of  warrant}-.1  which  was  used  for  the  greater  sales,  i.e.  of 
slaves,  horses,  and  cattle.  These  documents  were  submitted  to  an  officer 
of  the  market  and  presumably  registered  ;  and.  in  accordance  with  the 
curious  Chinese  tendency  to  regard  all  law  as  penal,  any  dispute  as  to  a 
de'ot  or  contract  was  decided  before  a  judge,  who  called  for  the  two  parts 
of  the  agreement,  and  punished  whichever  party  had  attempted  to  infringe 
it.  Misconduct  was  punished  either  by  the  cangue,  fine,  or  blows:  the 
expression  '"to  be  beaten  in  the  marketplace'''  is  used  in  the  Shoo  King  to 
represent  the  utmost  depth  of  ignominy. 

The  booths  of  the  market  were  grouped  as  far  as  possible  in  accordance 
with  the  analogy  of  the  rural  divisions,  every  twenty  booths  having  a  head- 
man, who  was  responsible  for  the  conduct  of  the  sales  and  the  payment  of 
the  Government  dues.  Three  markets  were  held  in  the  day  :  in  trie  morn- 
ing shopkeepers  and  costermongers  make  their  purchases  :  tiie  great  market 
is  in  the  afternoon,  when  the  townspeople  and  those  from  a  distance  come 
in  and  buy  for  themselves  :  while  in  the  evening  the  retail  dealers  sell  oft 
the  remains  of  the  stock  which  they  purchased  wholesale  in  the  morning. 
A  commentator  of  the  I  Ian  Dynasty  observes  that  these  regulations  are 
only  based  on  the  convenience  and  actual  practice  of  tiie  mass  ot  pur- 
chasers and  traders.- 

The  section  of  the  Chow  Li  which  is  missing  is  the  one  devoted  to  the 
ministry  of  ;  ubii  works,  which  w  raid  have  been  among  tiie  most  interest- 
ing for  us.  Its  place  has  been  supplied  to  a  certain  extent  by  a  treatise 
older  than  the  I'.urning  of  the  I!  inks,  but  later  than  the  rest  of  the  Classic. 
<  f  whii  h  tiie  subject  is  the  "  Examination  of  the  work  of  tiie  artisan-."  :' 
The  tit!  ■  suggests  that  it  is  a  manual  intended  for  the  use  of  inspectors  of 
the  G  ivernment  fact  :  :•  -  an  i  w  rkshops,  and  tiie  limited  number  of  trades 
and  |  r  >cesses  described  ah  >  makes  it  seem  probable  that  only  those  are 
di   tit  with  which   were  carried   on    under  the   immediate    direction    ot   the 

:   7'  :   «-.7.  :.  i .  51S.  -  /.',,  i .  312.  3  /'..  ::.  PP.  456-611. 


INDUSTRY  AND    TRADE.  61 

State,  and  as  a  branch  of  the  public  works  department.  The  work  is  full 
of  technical  details  of  little  general  interest  or  intelligibility,  but  passages 
in  it  help  the  imagination  to  enter  into  the  kind  of  workshop  tradition 
which  must  have  prevailed  in  Egypt,  while  intensifying  our  regret  that  we 
have  no  similar  record  of  the  rules  by  which  "  wise  artists  in  their  art'-' 
built  up  statues  and  temples  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile. 

As  a  specimen  of  the  more  philosophical  portions,  the  following  speci- 
mens may  suffice.  Four  different  provinces  are  mentioned  :  in  one,  "  He 
who  has  no  mattock  cannot  do  without.  Every  man  there  can  make  mat- 
tocks." In  the  next,  armour  is  indispensable,  and  every  one  can  make 
armour;  in  the  next  pike-handles  are  essential,  and  everyone  can  make 
pike-handles,  even  as,  among  the  nomads  of  the  North,  where  bows  and 
chariots  are  indispensable,  every  man  can  make  bows  and  chariots.  "  Sages 
invent.  Men  of  skill  continue  what  the  first  began.  The  artisans  pre- 
serve (the  arts)  from  generation  to  generation.  All  the  operations  executed 
by  the  hundred  artisans  are  the  work  of  the  sages.  They  forge  metal  to 
make  swords.  They  harden  clay  to  make  pots.  They  make  carts  to  go 
on  the  roads.  They  make  boats  to  go  on  the  water.  All  these  arts  were 
created  by  sages.  Four  things  must  come  together  to  produce  good  work  : 
the  season  of  heaven,  the  emanation  of  earth,  good  material,  and  a  skilled 
workman.  If  the  material  is  good,  and  the  workman  skilled,  and  the 
result  of  his  work  is  not  good,  the  fit  season  has  not  been  chosen;  the 
emanation  of  the  earth  has  not  been  favourable.'-'  1  In  illustration  of  which 
view,  the  excellence  of  the  knives,  swords,  and  axes  of  certain  districts  is 
ascribed  to  the  earthly  emanation  ;  the  bows  and  arrows  of  other  parts 
owe  their  quality  to  the  goodness  of  the  material,  the  wood  and  horn  to 
be  found  there,  while  plants  depending  on  climate  and  water  owe  their 
excellence  to  the  seasons  of  heaven.  No  doubt  much  of  the  traditional 
geomancy  of  the  country  started  from  speculations  and  experience  of  this 
degree  of  rationality.  The  skill  of  the  artisan  was  rewarded  by  a  celebrity 
akin  to  that  of  the  artist  in  Europe.  Kung  Chiu,  the  Chinese  Giotto,  who 
could  draw  an  exact  circle  with  the  unaided  hand,  is  called  an  artisan.3 

The  Li  Ki  enumerates  six  kinds  of  public  works — terraces  and  masonry, 
metal  work,  stone  work,  carpentering  and  furniture,  leather  work,  or  the 
preparation  of  skins,  and  basket  work,  or  the  working  of  twigs  :' — but  the 
'■  Examination  "  goes  into  minuter  details.  The  manufacture  of  chariots 
is  the  first  industry  described,  and  the  art  is  said  to  be  a  special  favourite 
with  the  Chow  Dynasty,  as  that  of  the  potter  was  with  Shun,  that  of  house- 
building with  Hia,  and  that  of  making  cups  of  metal  with  Yin.  Elaborate 
numerical  proportions  are  given  for  the  different  parts  of  the  vehicle,  and 
each  piece  is  to  be  separately  examined  and  tested  before  it  is  used.  The 
wheels  are  tested  by  a  compass,  the  straight  parts  by  a  square,  the  uprights 

1    Tiht-oit-li,  ii.  pp.  459,  460. 
-   (dies'  Chuairj  Tzn,  p.  115. 

3  .V. /.'.,  xxvii.  p.  1 10.  The  "Six  Treasuries"  and  the  "Six  Manufacture,'''  of  the 
"  Son  uf  Heaven"  are  somewhat  variously  described. 


62  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

by  a  plumb  line,  the  horizontals  by  a  water  level,  and  the  comparative  size 
of  corresponding  parts  by  weighing  the  pieces  and  measuring  their  cubic 
content  with  grams  of  the  large  millet  :  the  men  who  understand  these 
processes  are  called  royal  workmen. 

A  henever  reasons  are  given  for  any  precept,  they  are  of  the  most  naive 
description  ;  but  it  is  characteristic  of  the  Chinese  mind,  which  has  been 
content  for  4. ceo  years  with  wheels  of  an  elaborately  clumsy  kind,  that 
quite  earl\'  in  the  time,  they  thought  it  worthy  of  solemn  record  that  large 
wheels  go  over  the  ground  more  easily  than  small  ones,  and  that  narrow 
tires  sink  into  the  mud  less  hopelessly  than  wide  ones.  In  wheels,  as  in 
everything  else,  the  test  of  good  workmanship  is  for  a  thing  to  be  service- 
able till  it  is  worn  out  equally  in  ail  its  parts  by  use.  and  the  rules  about 
doing  everything  at  a  prescribed  time  of  year  allow  ample  leisure  for 
"  seasoning  "  the  materials. 

The  next  chapter  is  devoted  to  the  workers  in  metal  :  knives  for  writing 
on  bamboo  tablets,  arrow-heads,  javelins,  swords,  bells,  and  measures  of 
capacity  are  made  by  different  workmen.  Then  follow  the  makers  of 
leather  armour  ami  drum  makers.  The  dyers  and  silk  dressers  are  treated 
next,  with  ail  who  work  in  colours,  then  the  jade  cutters  and  polishers,  the 
arrow-makers,  potters  and  moulders  of  culinary  utensils, — among  which 
we  recognise  the  prototype  of  a  modern  patent  cooking  pot,  for  preparing 
food  b\'  the  use  of  steam  alone.1  The  workers  in  precious  wood  make  the 
cases  for  musical  instruments.  Wooden  targets  and  the  handles  of  pikes 
and  javelins  are  made  by  the  same  class  :  and  a  lung  and  very  elaborate 
chapter  is  given  to  the  manufacture  of  bows,  which  were  made  of  wood 
and  bone,  cunningly  fitted  together  to  form  an  arc  of  greater  or  less  curva- 
ture according  to  the  strength  of  the  bow,  and  strung,  not  like  the  English 
long  bow — by  the  simple  bending  of  a  straight  sapling — but  by  a  tour  .; 
1  rcc.  involving  the  reversal  of  the  curve,  or.  so  to  speak,  turning  the  un- 
strung, manufactured  bow  inside  out.  A  list  of  the  workers  was  ke]  t 
.  ci  1  r  ling  to  their  skill,  and  extra  rations  of  wine  and  meat  were  given  to 
the  best. 

liuiiders  or  architects  form  a  separate  profession,  and  the  occasion  for 
the::"  servf  :s  :-  1  onsidered  to  arise  when  a  capital  city  is  to  be  founded. 
All  the  streets  are  at  right  angles,  and  the  general  plan  of  the  typical  <  ity 
■  :-  the  i  nal  _ry  of  the  nine  squares:  but  instead  of  the  central  plot 
only  being  (  c<  ;::  ied  lor  public  purposes,  that  is  assigned  for  the  palace  of 
the  ;  rii  (  e,  whi<  ..  has  the  public  market  on  one  side  and  tile  place  of  atidi- 
eu<  e  an  !  tiie  ; .:.<  estral  tern]  A  on  the  other.  The  width  of  tiie  streets  is 
;  lei  ui'ed  in  carnage  breadths,  and  the  narrowest  are  required  to  give  a 
g  mg-way  tor  <  irts  in  the  middle,  and  a  path  for  men  on  one  side  and  one 
!or  women  1  n  the  ;  ther.  The  :  roportton  between  the  height  and  thick- 
ness of  tiie  '  ity  wads  is  ]  rescribed  :  that  of  ]  rivate  dwellings  is  left  to  cus- 
tom or  <d  i<  j.  but  the  angle  >  f  ail  roofs  is  determined  by  law,  a  greater 
slope  being  required  in  the  case  of  thatched   than  of  tiled   roots,  as   the 

1    TJ.iOu-lu  ii.  ;  •  ;  A 


IXDUSTRY  A XI)    TRADE.  63 

water  runs  off  them  less  easily.  The  roofs  of  barns  and  warehouses  and 
the  copings  of  walls  are  allowed  to  be  still  Hatter. 

The  construction  of  the  canals  and  water-courses  belongs  to  the  same 
department  of  public  works.  A  double  spadeful  makes  a  furrow  a  foot 
deep  and  wide  ;  it  is  with  such  channels  that  the  cultivator  waters  his  own 
field  ;  a  little  ditch  of  double  this  size  separates  each  field  or  lot  of  100 
mow,  and  the  earth  dug  out  from  it  is  raised  and  forms  a  little  foot-path 
between  the  plots;  the  watercourse  which  surrounds  a  tsing  (the  nine 
plots,  with  a  central  well,  which  form  a  hamlet)  is  four  feet  deep  and  wide, 
and  is  called  a  little  canal,  and  has  a  footway  along  it.  The  hundred  is 
surrounded  by  a  channel  of  eight  feet  and  a  roadway.  All  five  sorts  of 
footway  are  planted  at  the  edges  with  wood,  which  serves  for  a  defence.1 
In  theory  the  departments  are  bounded  by  canals  drawn  direct  from  the 
large  natural  streams  which  have  names  of  their  own.  and  are,  in  fact, 
rivers  controlled  for  irrigation  purposes.  The  size  of  the  rivers  and  the 
necessity  of  providing  against  inundations  caused  by  their  overflow  was 
always  a  force  working  in  favour  of  centralization.  Mencius  contrasts  the 
administration  of  Yu,  which  convoyed  the  waters  safely  to  the  outer  seas, 
with  that  of  his  contemporaries,  who  were  content  if  they  could  only  carry 
their  floods  off  into  the  territory  of  the  adjoining  States  :  a  waste  of  water 
hateful  to  the  benevolent  mind  of  the  sage. 

The  care  of  the  highways  was  regarded  as  of  ecpial  importance  with  that 
of  the  water-courses  and  the  markets.  The  system  of  post  houses  and 
hotels  at  stated  distances,  by  which  mediaeval  travellers  were  so  much  im- 
pressed, dates  from  trie  Chow  Li;  there  was  a  post  house  at  the  distance  of 
every  ten  and  an  inn  at  every  thirty  li,  and  a  market-place  with  hostelry  at 
every  fifty  li.  There  are  five  recognised  sorts  of  roadway,  from  the  foot- 
tracks  along  the  hills,  which  are  trodden  by  use  and  filled  up  by  the  wild 
grass  if  not  frequented,  and  the  paths  along  the  water-courses  of  the  home- 
stead, to  the  roads  for  local  traffic  and  the  great  imperial  highways,  kept 
open,  in  theory  for  distant  tribute  bearers,  feudal  princes  coming  to  pay  their 
homage  at  court,  and  the  imperial  progresses.2  One  of  the  few  signs  ot 
national  unity  to  which  Confucius  could  point,  was  that  the  same  written 
character  was  used,  and  that  all  over  the  empire  "carriages  have  all  wheels 
of  the  same  size/'  which  modern  travellers  find  to  their  cost  is  not  the  case 
now  in  all  the  provinces  of  China. :j 

The  Chow  Li,  besides  contemplating  a  uniform  scale  of  proportion  for 
wheeled  vehicles  and  prohibiting  "  furious  driving.''  also  provides  tor  the 
regulation  of  traffic  at  crowded  crossings,  whether  by  land  or  water  ;  boats 

1  According  to  the  Li  Ki,  "  I  fills  and  mounds,  forests  and  thickets,  rivers  and  marshes, 
ditches  and  canals,  city  walls  and  suburbs,  houses,  roads,  and  lanes  took  up  one-third  ol 
the  whole  country,  the  rest  being  cultivable  fields."     (S.B.,  xxvii.  p.  245.) 

-  TcJicou-li,  ii.  pp.  19S,  280,  564.  The  day's  work  of  the  labourers  employed  in 
digging  canals  is  determined  afresh  for  each  job,  after  the  nature  of  the  -  ii,  an  1  :  :.-.- 
quent  difficulty  of  the  task,  has  been  ascertained.      //'.,  p.  570. 

J  All  the  ordinary  roads  are  cut  into  deep  ruts,  in  which  alone  the  wheels  ca  1  run,  so 
that  the  axle-trees  of  vehicles  have  actually  to  be  changed  on  entering  a  district  where 
the  ruts  form,  so  to  speak,  a  wide  instead  of  a  narrow  gauge,  or  conver-cly. 


64  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

and  carriages  were  only  allowed  to  pass  in  a  prescribed  order,  which  police- 
men stationed  at  the  critical  spots  were  instructed  to  enforce.  The  same 
police  were  charged  to  arrest  persons  of  doubtful  reputation,  or  who  are 
found  in  the  streets  at  improper  hours  or  under  suspicious  circumstances. 
No  one  save  a  criminal,  or  "  one  hastening  to  the  funeral  rites  of  a  parent," 
was  expected  to  commit  the  eccentricity  of  travelling  by  starlight.1 

Uniformity  of  costume  was  already  established,  and,  as  now,  the  chief 
mandarin  of  the  district  gave  the  signal  for  all  under  his  government  to 
begin  or  leave  off  their  summer  hats.  It  was  one  of  the  duties  of  the 
Minister  of  Instruction  to  secure  uniformity  of  costume,  which  the  Han 
commentators  supposed  to  have  been  desired  as  a  check  on  the  extrava- 
gance of  the  well-to-do.  But  the  only  law  of  a  directly  sumptuary  charac- 
ter is  one  limiting  the  expenditure  on  weddings  :  presents  of  silk  were  an 
essential  part  of  the  rites  of  betrothal,  but  not  more  than  ten  pieces  were 
allowed  to  be  given  as  the  marriage  offering. 

1  S.B.,  x.wii.  p.  339. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SOCIAL  AND  DOMESTIC  RELATIONS  IN  MEDLEVAL   CHINA. 

With  regard  to  the  social  and  domestic  usages  of  the  people,  the  Odes 
show  us  things  as  they  were  between  the  rise  of  Chow  and  the  time  of 
Confucius;  and  the  Li  Li  shows  us  things  as  it  was  thought  they  ought  to 
be  between  the  age  of  Confucius  and  the  restoration  of  letters  after  the  fall 
of  Tsin.  But  as  the  Li  Ki  deals  systematically  with  subjects  only  touched 
on  incidentally  in  the  Odes  or  the  Rites  of  Chow,  it  does  not  follow  from 
the  silence  of  the  latter  that  customs  first  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Rites 
were  unknown  to  the  men  of  Chow.  All  the  Chinese  Classics  received 
their  present  form  at  latest  during  the  rule  of  the  Han,  and  accordingly, 
the  least  ancient  passages  in  the  least  ancient  books  must  at  least  be  as  old 
as  that  period.  And  the  customs  of  Chinese  society  are  so  slow  to  change, 
and  change  so  gradually,  that  the  Li  Ki,  which  contains  many  passages 
certainly  due  to  the  disciples  of  Confucius,  may  be  treated  as  continuing 
the  evidence  of  the  Odes  ami  Tso's  commentary. 

Technically  speaking,  "  [Middle  Antiquity'''  in  China  means  the  period 
during  which  the  Chow  Dynasty  nominally  held  the  empire  :  but  the  1.000 
years  (from  800  B.C.  to  200  a.d.)  during  which  the  latest  classics  were 
composed  and  the  whole  canon  compiled,  have  so  much  in  common,  and 
are  so  far  marked  off  by  that  fact  from  later  ages,  that  they  may  be  treated 
as  forming,  in  a  sense,  a  single  period — the  Chinese  Middle  Ages. 

The  relations  between  husbands  and  wives  as  exemplified  in  the  Odes 
are  far  from  unpleasing,  and  it  is  significant  of  the  moral  tone  of  the 
community,  that  this  classical  collection  of  popular  poetry  does  not  con- 
tain the  slightest  hint  of  an  approach  to  indecency,  and  only  a  tew  very 
simple  versions  of  the  world-old  village  idyll  of  unfortunate  or  unauthorized 
courtships.  Whether  in  the  Chinese  version  of  "  Comin'  through  the 
Lye/'  1  and  "  Oil,  had  I  wist  before  I  kissed.''  in  the  maiden's  rebuke  to  the 
adventurous  Air.  Chung,  or  in  the  rather  pretty  allusive  poems  hinting  at 
moonlight,  midsummer,  or  woodland  assignations,  the  Chinese  burns  never 
approaches  to  the  laxity  of  speech  or  morals  usual  with  the  popular 
muse  elsewhere.  The  love  of  nature  and  the  appreciation  ot  delicate 
effects  of  sky  and  foliage,  to  which  the  national  arts  bear  witness.  .-:.  w 
themselves  also  in  the  short  but  significant  and  graceful  retrains  with 
which  most  of  the  stanzas  begin,  like  the  Italian  storm!: i. 

1    Leg-  ',  ;v.   ;  :>.  07,   140.   141. 
VOL.    11.  —  I'.C.  '■"  v 


66  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

There  are  poems  expressive  of  a  lover's  longings  and  a  bridegroom's 
joy,  of  womanly  devotion,  from  the  wife  who  sighs  in  triplets1  for  her  absent 
husband — a  day  without  him  is  as  long  as  three  months,  three  seasons. 
three  years — to  the  constant  widow  who  mourns  :— 

"  Tlie  dolichos  grows,  covering  the  thorn  tree-  ; 
The  convolvulus  spreads  all  over  the  waste." 

But  the  beloved  is  no  longer  here,  she  must  dwell  alone 

"Through  the  days  of  summer, 
Through  the  nights  of  winter, 
Till  the  lapse  of  a  hundred  vears  : 
When  I  shall  go  home  to  his  abode/'  2 

The  ideal  of  conjugal  duty  and  happiness  is  ';  to  grow  old  together,'''  and 
the  poets  are  011  the  side  of  the  old  wife  when  the  husband  neglects  her 
for  a  new  flame  ;  this  is  as  wicked  as  to  use  the  honourable  yellow  dress- 
stuff  for  trousers  and  linings,  and  the  vulgar  green  for  an  upper  robe! 
In  small  household  affairs,  the  husband  as  well  as  the  wife  was  repaired  to 
conform  to  the  dictates  of  social  propriety,  and  a  stinging  epigram  would 
be  launched  against  the  rich  miser  who  allowed  "the  delicate  fingers  of 
the  bride  to  be  used  in  making  clothes  ''  during  the  three  months'  holiday 
honeymoon  of  custom,  or  who  had  his  old  clothes  mended  up,  instead  of 
starting  housekeeping  with  a  proper  trousseau,  as  if  he  were  a  poor  fellow 
who  could  only  afford  canvas  shoes  in  frost.3 

A  common  type  of  poem  expresses  the  sorrows  of  soldiers  on  a  distant 
expedition,  forced  to  leave  their  homes  and  families.  Sometimes  the 
anxious  thoughts  of  the  family  about  the  absent  one  are  expressed,  but  the 
commonest  topics  are  bis  anxiety  as  to  how  his  parents  will  get  food  when 
he  is  not  there  to  plant  rice  and  maize  for  them,  his  concern  at  the  thought 
of  his  mother's  having  to  cook  the  dinner,  and  his  overwhelming  grief 
if  they  both  die  when  he  is  not  there  to  bury  them,  or  to  requite  that 
parental  kindness,  which,  according  to  a  famous  line,  is  "  like  great  heaven, 
illimitable.'"  ' 

They  cry  out  in  longing  to  return  to  their  ordinary  life:  "We  are  not 
rhinoceroses,  we  are  not  tigers  to  be  kept  in  these  desolate  wilds,"5  with 
every  man  ;  rn  trom  bis  wife  and  kept  constantly  on  the  march  !  One 
ot  the  longer  remonstrances  is  rather  amusing,  as  the  officer  who  thinks  he 
-'  ts  ::i  re  tii  .  iiis  share  of  foreign  service  complains  of  the  unfairness  of 
Ins  su]  er;  >rs.  •'making  me  serve  as  if  I  alone  were  worthy!"  Another 
'  »'■'  ins  tiie  phr;]  ;  ■:  read)"  quoted,  which  speaks  volume:-  for  the  whole- 
1  of  tamib.  relations  in  China,  even  in  the  worst  days  of  feudal 
'  t'ohy.  1  ne  crowning  woe  which  saddens  the  sorrowful  hearts  of  the 
w  r;  ' :.      ;..    ,■  caun    t  keel    faith  with  their  wives  :  — 


I  •   - 


SOCIAL    AND    DOMESTIC   RELATIONS.  67 

and  this  cannot  be  if  married  soldiers  are  marched  off  to  die  in  the  dis- 
tant south.1 

A  somewhat  similar  piece  is  ascribed  to  the  Duke  of  Chow  himself;  but 
here — after  describing  the  sufferings  of  the  soldiers  on  a  three  years'  ex- 
pedition to  the  rainy  east,  while  their  hearts  were  in  the  west,  and  deer 
grazed  in  their  paddocks  and  caterpillars  crawled  over  their  mulberry 
trees,  wild  flowers  choked  their  gardens  and  spiders'  webs  hung  over  their 
doors  -the  fortunate  return  of  the  troops  is  also  commemorated,  and  all 
ends  happily  as  the  younger  warriors  receive  the  rewards  of  valour  from 
voung  ladies  with  bay  and  red  horses,  whose  mothers  have  "  tied  their 
sashes."  But  admirable  as  are  these  new  marriages,  the  poet  concludes, 
"  How  can  the  reunion  of  the  old  be  expressed  ?  "2 

A  variety  of  terms  are  used  by  Dr.  Legge  to  describe  the  position  of 
the  one  lawful  wife,  whose  eldest  son  is  entitled  to  perform  the  mourning 
rites  for  his  father.  This  lady  is  spoken  of  as  the  "  established,''  the 
"confirmed."  the  "commissioned,"  the  "acknowledged"  or  the  proper 
wife.  A  Chinaman  can  have  only  one  such  wife  at  a  time,  3  whose  hand 
was  formally  solicited  from  her  parents  with  the  customary  present  of 
pieces  of  silk.  According  to  the  Li  Ki,  "after  three  months  she  presents 
herself  in  the  ancestral  temple,  and  is  styled  "the  new  wife  who  has  come." 
A  day  is  chosen  for  her  to  sacrifice  at  the  shrine  of  her  father-indaw  : 
"  expressing  the  idea  of  her  being  the  established  wife."  *  There  was  an 
ancient  custom  by  which  a  bride  after  a  short  interval  returned  on  a  visit 
to  her  parents,  and  it  seems  as  if  the  marriage  was  not  regarded  as  com- 
plete or  final  till  after  these  months  of  probation.  If  the  bride  dies  during 
this  interval,  "she  should  be  taken  back  and  buried  among  the  kindred  of 
her  own  family,  showing  that  she  had  not  become  the  established  wife."  ° 

These  lawful  wives  took  part  in  most  solemn  ceremonies  ;  the  eldest 
son,  however  aged,  was  required  to  have  such  a  wife  to  preside  over  the 
funeral  rites,  and  the  confirmed  wives  of  great  officers  reproduced  among 
themselves  the  ceremonies  practised  by  their  husbands.  The  ruler  and 
his  wife  owed  certain  observances  to  the  acknowledged  wife  of  a  great 
officer.  The  language  of  a  ruler,  when  demanding  the  hand  of  a  neigh- 
bouring  prince's   daughter,  was,    "  I    beg  you,    0  ruler,  to    give  me    your 

1  Of  course  only  strictly  moral  and  moderate  sentiments  are  to  lie  expected  in  the 
King,  but  feudal  romance  had.  its  extravagances,  and  Chuang-tzu  has  preserved  fi  r  us 
the  memory  <>|  a  Chinese  Leander.  "  Wei  Shane;  made  an  assignation  with  a  girl 
beneath  a  bridge.  The  girl  did  not  come  and  the  water  ruse,  but  Wei  Shanj,  would  no; 
leave  ;  he  grasped  a  buttress  an  1  died."     (II.  A.  Giles'  tr.,  p.  395.) 

3  ddie  teudal  ruler,  according  to  Dr.  I  .egge,  could  only  in  all  his  Ire  have  one  will-, 
une  lady,   that  is.  in  be  called  by  that    name.     Something  answering 

betrothal  of  the  West  seems  to  have  lasted  down  to  the  Three  kingdoms.  The  marriage 
day  was  lived  when  the  present-  were  sent,  at  the  interval  of  a,  year  for  the  emperor,  six 
months  for  the  great  vassals,  and  one  month  for  the  commonalty,  lite  royal  custom  being 
n  >  doubt  the  earliest.  Another  trace  of  archaic  law  is  preserved  in  the  San  Kwo  t  hi, 
where  a  pretender  says  he  will  do  something  "  when  I  have  founded  my  ivn.a'v  in-  the 
marriage  of  my  eldest  son."     (Sd/i  A'rea  Chi,  ii.  p.  S7.      Translated  by  T.    I'avie. 

4  .V.  />'..  xxvii.  pp.  322.  316.  •"'   ( "f.  a;i!i  .  vol.  i.  pp.  e     -   ttid  403. 


63  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

elegant  daughter,  to  share  this  small  State  with  my  poor  Self,  to  do  service 
in  the  ancestral  temple,  and  at  the  altars  to  (the  spirits  of  the  land  and  the 
grain."  The  status  of  such  a  wife  was  equal  and  honourable;  and.  as  in 
the  course  of  history,  the  participation  of  women  in  public  receptions  and 
ceremonies  gradually  ceased,  we  are  justified  in  believing  that  the  position 
of  the  lawful  wife  was  most  distinguished  m  the  remotest  times. 

A  <  unions  circumstance  which  may  be  connected  with  a  forgotten  sense 
of  the  importance  of  female  kinship  is  the  existence  of  three  distinct  terms 
to  describe  affinity  through  women.  There  are  two  words,  answering 
approximately  to  the  Latin  agnate  and  cognate:  the  former  (nei  k 
comprehends  all  kindred  derived  by  descent  in  the  male  line  hum  the 
same  stock  as  the  individual.  The  latter  has  three  subdivisions,  trans- 
lated (bv  Sir  VY.  II.  Medhurst)  as  "mother's  kind'  "wife's  kin.''  and 
"daughter's  kin."  including  all  varieties  of  relations  by  marriage.  ]  In 
hist  ;ric  times  these  relationships  were  regarded  as  unimportant,  and  calling 
only  for  the  slighter  degrees  of  c  miplimentary  mourning  :  but  if  this  had 
always  been  so.  it  is  difficult  to  see  why  such  pains  should  have  been 
taken  t  i  name  them,  or  why  marriage  with  relatives  on  the  mother's  side 
h  ive  been  as  strictly  prohibited  as  is  still  the  case. 

('  mfucius  was  a  great  believer  in  the  due  subjection  of  women,  and 
though  he  was  incapable  of  falsifying  the  classic  texts  to  favour  ins  own 
opinions,  as  editor  and  commentator  he  naturally  gave  precedence  to  the 
phrases  and  interpretations  most  in  harmonv  with  his  views  ot  propriety. 
In  a  book  which  bears  the  title  Concerning  Dykes,  there  is  a  passage  which 
may  refer  to  a  conflict  between  the  modern  and  the  archaic  custom. 
('  infu<  ius  is  made  to  describe  the  proper  forms  of  marriage.  The  bride- 
groom comes  forward  to  meet  his  bride,  and  her  parents  bring  her  f  invard 
and  give  her  to  him.  "  In  tiiis  way  a  dvke  is  raised  in  the  interests  oi  the 
■  c  [)le  :  and  yet  there  are  cases  in  which  the  bride  will  not  go  :  (to  the 
bridegroom ).~  To  found  the  Egvptian,  the  Chinese,  or  any  other  tamiiy 
im  Iving  <  immunity  of  pro]  :rty  and  religious  rites,  it  is  necessary  that 
:     ther  of  the  man  le  should  "  go  "  fr<  r.n  the  old  h  une  to   t:.e 

new:  and  as  the  bald  statements  of  Chinese  tradition  are  never  me  mug 
less,    it    is   very   pass  ole    that   the    sage  meant   to  condemn   the     usage   uf 

-   me  1  .'.,  lit  -  in  wh:   '    tiie    bridegro  >m  was   required  to  join  th  :  :  i y   ot 

i   '  ,v.      'I     :    ;s  tiie   1"--  imorobabie.  as  such  an  inversion  ot   the 

_:.:..      -  .  _■•    :■•    s'         -.    ,c:     tied,  wh  a:    a    rich    citi/  ,-n    w:  to    has    no    ■ 
liesir       '  as  d.iughtei     n   marriage  t      i    poor    scnolar 

d:>t:U'  tion.    ana    t..e        :     : .      \\    v.  . .    -  ■       live  \v;i  .     i  -    ".  a 

a    -       ti        'o    -      ti    m  the  d:\  id    n    o!    their  weal  tin      At    tile    pr< 
' ;    v.  t     '      les'i  "     .  son  a:     ..'....  ^  1  cell  adopted,    so  a-   to    ac- .till 

tl; e  r: _::'.-      :  •:.  firms  exact,}      pon  the  point  '■'•  i  ether  ii  . 


SOCIAL    AND   DOMESTIC    RELATIONS.  69 

worn  for  the  son  of  a  brother  should  be  the  same  as  for  one's  own  son,  the 
object  being  to  bring  him  still  nearer  to  oneself.  An  elder  brother's  wife 
and  his  younger  brother  do  not  wear  mourning  for  each  other,  the  object 
being  to  maintain  the  distance  between  them.'' :  A  man  did  not  wear 
mourning  for  his  step-father,  unless  they  had  lived  together,  the  step-father 
having  no  son  of  his  own.  and  contributing  to  the  sacrifices  which  the  son 
was  bound  to  make  to  his  real  ancestors.  And  as  a  further  illustration  of 
the  effect  of  this  "  companionship  of  the  cupboard.'''  in  giving  reality  to 
the  remotest  ties,  we  learn  that  even  "  the  husband  of  a  maternal  cousin 
and  the  wife  of  a  maternal  uncle,''  should  wear  the  three  months'  mourning 
for  each  other,  '"if  they  have  eaten  together  from  the  same  fireplace.''  In 
the  same  way  the  more  distant  relatives  of  a  parent  are  mourned  for  by 
such  of  the  younger  generation  as  were  personally  acquainted  with  them, 
but   not  by  any  living  at  a  distance  to  whom  they  were  unknown. 

The  existence  of  fostering  as  an  institution  in  ancient  China,  rests  mainly 
on  a  saying  of  Mencius  :  ';  The  ancients  exchanged  sons,  and  one  taught 
the  son  of  another.''  :-  In  the  time  of  Confucius,  it  was  considered  a 
doubtful  point  whether  mourning  should  be  worn  for  a  foster  mother  ;  the 
sage  thought  not,;i  and  endeavoured  to  represent  the  doing  so  as  a  modern 
innovation  ;  but  as  he  implies  that  the  institution  was  more  general  in  anti- 
quity than  then,  we  may  respectfully  venture  to  question  his  infallibility. 
The  foster  mother  was  one  of  the  inferior  wives  or  concubines. — in  fact  a 
step-mother, — and  if  the  lawful  wife  died,  she  might  for  some  purposes 
take  her  place,  and  the  diversity  of  usage  was  probably  owing  to  the  fact 
that  the  character  of  the  relation  varied  much  in  individual  cases.  The 
statement  of  the  Li  Ki,  that  a  man  did  not  wear  mourning  for  the  parents  of 
his  nurse,4  would  hardly  have  been  called  for  unless  the  relation  were  so 
close  as  to  make  it   in  some  cases  appear  natural  that  he  should  do  so. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  principles  followed  in  the  for- 
mation of  new  branch  families.3  Mourning  was  worn  in  theory  for  four 
generations  of  ascendants  and  descendants  in  the  direct  line,  and  for  con- 
temporaries descended  in  the  same  fifth  generation  from  the  "honoured 
head''  of  the  family.  If  a  family  is  kept  up  longer  than  this,  each  fresh 
generation  superannuates  the  "  honoured  head''  recognised  by  the  last; 
that  is  to  say.  his  tablet  is  removed  from  its  place,  by  the  father,  grand- 
father, etc.,  into  the  general  collection  of  such  monuments  preserved  in 
the  ancestral  temple.  h\  the  case  of  a  clan  or  ruling  house,  claiming 
descent  from  some  high  ancestor  of  remoter  antiquity,  the  high  ancestor 
or  great  honoured  head  keeps  his  place  unaltered  "for  a  hundred 
generations:"  but  with  ordinary  private  households  or  branch  families, 
the  person  of  the  honoured  head  changed  in  each  generation,  so  that  the 
honours  appropriate  to  the  position  were  always  given  to  an  ancestor  of 
the  same  degree  of  remoteness  from  the  sacrificer, 


S.B.,  xxvii.  p.   147.  -  iv.  i.  xviii.  3.  ,;  S.T.,   xxvii.  p.  327. 

'  /  .,  xxviii.  p.  51.  5   Vul.  i.  p.  552.      (':.  Ap!  :Vid;\   I\. 


7o  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

The  position  of  the  paternal  grandfather  in  China  bore  some  resem- 
blance to  that  occupied  by  the  maternal  grandfather  in  Egypt.  The  grand- 
son is  conceived,  for  some  purposes,  as  actually  nearer  than  the  son,  and 
it  is  he  who  acts  as  personator  of  the  dead.  A  curious  and  burdensome 
privilege  enjoyed  by  eldest  sons,  throws  light  upon  the  train  of  thought 
which  gives  its  character  to  this  relation.  Only  an  eldest  son  is  required  or 
permitted  to  wear  the  three  years'  mourning  for  his  own  eldest  son,  and 
he  may  do  so  because  this  son  represents  the  direct  line  of  the  father  and 
grandfather.  The  share  taken  by  the  established  wife  in  the  important 
business  of  founding  a  family  is  evidenced  by  a  similar  rule,  a  man,  who 
is  the  lineal  head  of  a  new  branch  family,  being  allowed  to  mourn  the  full 
period  (of  three  years)  for  his  wife,  even  though  bis  own  mother  may  be 
living. 

The  commentators  are  perplexed  by  this  provision,  which  is  inconsis- 
tent with  the  general  rule,  requiring  a  wife  to  mourn  three  years  for  her 
husband  as  for  a  parent,  while  he  only  observes  one  year's  mourning  for 
her.  but  it  becomes  intelligible  and  reasonable  if  viewed  as  a  survival 
from  a  forgotten  period,  when  the  mother,  as  well  as  the  son,  was  con- 
sidered an  essential  link  in  the  genealogical  chain.  Complimentary 
mourning  (for  three  months)  might  be  worn  for  the  head  of  a  clan,  not 
on  the  ground  of  relationship,  which  was  not  counted  for  this  purpose 
through  more  than  five  generations,  but  on  the  ground  of  his  representing 
the  remote  high  ancestor,  from  whom  all  the  different  branch  families 
claimed  descent. 

A  curious  proof  of  the  tenacity  of  Chinese  usage  is  afforded  by  a  pas- 
sage m  the  Chow  Li,  forbidding  a  custom  which  is  still  in  use.  The  officer 
of  marriages,  according  to  this  clause,1  forbids  the  removal  of  the  bodies 
ot  those  who  have  died  unmarried  to  fresh  tombs,  where,  bv  a  sort  of  post- 
humous marriage,  they  are  united  to  girls  who  have  died  before  rea<  hing 
the  marriageable  age.  It  is  not  quite  clear  whether  betrothed  pairs  whose 
marriage  bad  not  been  culpably  adjourned  might  be  united  after  death, 
but  the  intention  seems  to  have  been  to  promote  marriages  by  closing  a  too 
easy  way  of  wiping  oca  the  disgrace  attached  to  celibacy.  One  ot  the  od.es 
ot  ('mow.  which  has  rather  perplexed  the  commentators,  becomes  intelli- 
gible it  we  suppose  this  officer  of  marriages  to  have  taken  his  functions 
seriously  and  have  interfered  to  prevent  love  matches  that  offended  in 
any  way  against  the  rules  of  propriety.  "  Do  not  1  think  of  y<  u,"  is  the 
burden  ot  tiie  quatrains  the  maiden  addresses  to  her  loser,  ''but  1  am 
afiaidol  this  olmvr  and  dare  not  rush  to  you."  And  she  consoles  herself 
with  tlii   h  »pe  oi  th  ■  very  arrangement  proscribed  in  tiie  Rites  :     - 


.    n.l  -    rod- 

n  i>  ir.g  thai    the  n    il  her  \\  -  add  iii 
d.    husiiuiiU  il   thev  had    other  cua: 


ll         ...    : 

;]     w  i  In 

■ 
ll 

•  : 

i v,  i : 

v\i:h   hei- 

ii 

li '  a    - 

SOCIAL  AXD  DOMESTIC  RELATIONS,  71 

A  youth  was  considered  marriageable  at  twenty,  and  a  girl  at  fifteen  ; 
thirty  and  twenty  respectively  marked  the  lawful  limit  for  celibacy  ;  single 
men  and  women  above  those  ages  were  liable  to  be  exhorted  by  the 
officer  of  marriages,  for  it  was  a  part  of  good  government  to  have  no  un- 
married persons  in  the  country. 

An  account  of  the  nine  provinces  and  their  produce  in  the  Chow  Li 
mentions  the  proportion  of  men  to  women  in  each  province,1  which  varies 
extraordinarily,  from  five  to  one  to  one  to  three.  The  average  of  the 
nine  is  possible  enough,  as  it  is  at  the  rate  of  twenty-five  men  to  twenty- 
four  women  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  statistics  give  an  accurate 
account  of  such  variations  as  might  be  noted,  for  instance,  in  the  United 
States  between  Massachusetts  and  Nevada,  though  there  is  no  other  con- 
ceivable explanation  of  the  discrepancy  if  historical. 

Children  were  registered  at  three  months  old,  the  time  when  they  re- 
ceived from  the  father  their  first  or  childish  name.  A  record  was  made  of 
the  child's  birth  on  such  a  day,  month,  and  year,  and  the  secretaries  of  the 
hamlets  made  two  copies  of  it,  one  of  which  was  kept  in  the  village  office, 
and  the  other  passed  to  the  officer  of  the  district.  It  is  thus  evident  that 
in  well  ordered  departments  the  materials  for  a  census  of  some  kind  must 
have  existed  from  very  early  times.  Indeed,  the  very  reasons  given  against 
the  proposal,  when  a  prince  in  the  9th  century  B.C.  was  anxious  to  number 
the  people  of  a  certain  district,  betray  some  experience  of  the  results  of 
statistical  inquiries.  The  wise  minister  of  the  period  observed-  that  it  was 
the  business  of  the  local  officials  to  know  the  number  of  families  and  of 
persons  in  their  departments ;  the  officers  in  charge  of  public  works  must 
know  how  much  labour  they  can  command,  and  the  military  officers  know 
how  many  soldiers  can  be  raised,  and  that  is  all  the  knowledge  required  for 
practical  purposes.  But,  though  the  district  in  question  was  one  of  the 
most  populous  in  the  country,  the  total  number  of  the  inhabitants  was  sure 
to  fall  short  of  the  emperor's  expectations,  while  the  report  of  his  dis- 
appointment would  be  sure  to  reach  the  neighbouring  princes,  and  encou- 
rage them  to  presume  on  his  supposed  weakness. 

A  rural  calendar  of  the  Mia  Dynasty,  supposed  to  have  been  found  in  the 
grave  of  Confucius  in  the  3rd  century  A.D.,  adds  to  our  former  list  of  times 
and  seasons,  the  information  that  at  such  a  day  of  the  second  month  (i.e. 
towards  the  end  of  March),  "  they  execute  the  dance  wan,  they  enter  the 
school.''  boys  were  sent  to  school  at  eight  years  old,  to  learn  the  elements 
of  writing  and  arithmetic.  The  lives  of  both  Confucius  and  Mencius  con- 
tain anecdotes  of  their  school  days,  and  the  mother  of  the  latter  fixed  her 
residence  opposite  a  school,  in  order  that  her  son,  who  was  apt  to  imitate 
what  he  saw  around  him,  should  have  nothing  but  examples  of  studiousness 
and  decorum  in  siuht. 


'    Hook  xxxiii.  ^  S-49. 

-    Do  M.iilh.  Histoire generate  de    la  Chine,    ou   Annates  dc  cet  Empire   :r,:.:ui: 
Tone'- AY- n  Kang-mou,  1777,  ii.  \>.  42. 


72  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHIXA. 

According  to  the  l.i  Ki,1  there  was  anciently  a  school  for  every  twenty- 
five  families,  a  college  for  500  or  tiie  department,  an  academy  fur  2.500 
or  the  county,  and  a  university  for  the  whole  kingdom.  The  ordinary 
curriculum  extended  over  seven  or  nine  years  :  examinations  took  • 
every  other  year,  and  selected  candidates  from  the  ordinary  colleges  were 
transferred  to  the  Imperial  college.  The  competitors  were  exempt  from 
forced  la!  our  in  their  own  villages,  and  the  students  of  the  imperial  college 
were  excused  from  all  manual  work.  Not  less  authentic  and  more  graphic 
accounts  of  the  common  schools  are  given  by  two  writers  of  the  first  cen- 
tury A.T).-  :  '•  When  the  plough  has  been  brought  under  cover,  the  harvests 
gathered,  and  the  operations  of  the  year  ended,  the  unmarried  youths  go 
to  school,  at  fifteen  to  the  lower  school,  at  eighteen  to  the  higher  :  at  the 
winter  solstice  they  leave  school  for  fortv-five  davs  (as  is  the  usage  even 
until  now),  and  prepare  for  the  labours  of  cultivation.'1  So  far  Ma-yong, 
while  Pan-kow  ( 5 S -  76  A.D.),  in  his  historv  of  the  first  Han  Dynasty,  adds 
that  in  winter,  to  save  lights  and  firing,  the  villagers  assembled  in  the 
common  hall,  the  women  with  their  work,  while  the  young  men  not  yet 
taxpayers  repaired  to  the  school-house.  The  lads  who  entered,  the 
elementary  s<  hool  at  eight  begin  at  fifteen  to  learn  music  and  the  Rites. 
Tiie  teachers  in  these  schools  were  not  appointed  by  the  State,  but  the 
district  officers  were  expected  to  keep  an  eye  on  their  efficiency. 

It  would  be  an  anachronism  to  assume  from  these  particulars  that 
during  the  Chow  Dynasty  or  earlier  a  system  of  graduated  schools  pro- 
vided a  complete  ladder  of  learning  from  the  village  to  the  court.  The 
(hand  Director  of  Public  Works  is  required  bv  the  Chow  Pi  to  teach  the 
people  "  the  six  virtue-,  the  six  praiseworthy  actions,  and  the  six  branches 
of  knowledge:"  i.e.  music,  dancinu.  archerv,  charioteering,  writing,  and 
arithmetic.  Put  so  wide  a  curriculum  warns  us  to  understand  the  word 
"to  teach  "  as  referring  to  the  educational  effects  of  good  government, 
rather  than  to  any  special  supervision  of  the  sch  1  T.  where  virtue  can 
hardly  1      taught  in  cl    >s. 

Tiie  fact  seems  to  be  that  under  the  three  first  dynasties  the  idea  of 
■  u!  lii     instru<  :  Si    ■■    :  m<  u     1.  over  and   above   independent  1 

is.  was  mixed  up  with  that  of  other  public  establishments,  such  as 
IT  .  1  a<  idemy  ol  mu.de,  the  Court  of  the  I  leir  Apparent,  with  whom 
the  sons  ot  h:_h  oliii  ers  and  nobles  were  educated,  and  the  '■college,  '  as 
ii  would  be  called  bv  analogy  with  medueval  endowments,  where  State 
oendoners  were  maintained  at  the  pubh'c  cost.  ''It  was  the  universal 
nil  -  in  ai  -  lent  China  ti  at  tli  :  \  >tm_  di  c;l  ght   and   the  old   main- 

tained in  the  same  building."'        A  •  rime  of  Tse,  wi      '.     .  1  ■  1  one     f  the 


..'   . 


. 


' 


.  :  4. 
in.    \ 


:.  <  4. 


. 


..   .  1^24    1204 


127,;    1214 


SOCIAL    AND    DOMESTIC  RELATIONS.  73 

federal  leagues  formed  by  die  feudal  States,  was  credited  with  a  desire  to 
revive  the  educational  as  well  as  the  other  good  customs  of  the  kings  of 
Chow,  His  allies  pledged  themselves  to  "  Honour  the  aged,  protect  the 
orphans,  name  the  deserving  to  office,  nourish  capable  men.  and  bring 
forward  virtuous  ones" — a.ll  of  which  undertakings  would  anciently  have- 
been  included  under  the  head  of  ';  teaching  "  the  six  virtues. 

Ma-twan-hn  saw  plainly  that  the  system  of  examinations  was  only  a 
modern  and  not  very  successful  expedient  for  the  detection  of  capacity 
and  virtue,  and  he  supposes  that  in  the  good  old  times  men  were  first 
recommended  for  employment  on  account  of  their  character  and  reputa- 
tion, arid  were  then  examined  to  see  if  they  possessed  the  special  know- 
ledge required  for  the  discharge  of  their  duties:  whereas  subsequently 
scholars  applied  themselves  to  one  kind  of  study  with  a  view  to  the 
examinations,  and,  as  soon  as  the  examination  was  over,  all  that  they  had 
learnt  was  put  aside  and  neglected,  while  they  began  a  fresh  education  in 
the  practical  work  belonging  to  their  offices,  so  that  science  and  govern- 
ment were  divorced. 

Tiie  enumeration  of  the  duties  incumbent  on  filial  children  in  families 
of  official  rank  l  is  our  best  guide  as  to  the  indoor,  domestic  life  ot  the 
Chinese  during  the  period  of  Middle  Antiquity,  The  housework,  as  we 
should  say,  is  expected  to  be  performed  by  the  children  or  inferior  wives. 
These,  "  at  the  first  crowing  of  the  cock,  should  wash  their  hands  and 
mouths,  gather  up  their  pillows  and  fine  mats,  sprinkle  and  sweep  out  the 
apartments,  hall,  and  courtyard,  and  spread  the  mats,  each  one  doing  his 
proper  work."  The  sons  and  sons'  wives  dress  and  wash  with  care,  and 
hang  at  their  girdle  or  sash  ';  their  articles  tor  use.''"  Both  sexes  carry  the 
'•duster  and  handkerchief,  the  knife  and  whetstone,  the  small  spike  and 
the  metal  speculum  to  get  lire  from  the  sun,  and  the  borer  to  get  tire  from 
wood."  to  which  are  added  the  implements  of  writing  and  archery  for 
men,  and  for  women  a  needle-case,  silk,  and  thread.  When  fully  dressed 
the  children  go  to  impure  after  the  health  of  their  parents  (or  parents-in- 
law),  bring  them  water  to  wash,  and  then  the  best  of  food.  They  "  should 
not  move  the  clothes,  coverlets,  line  mats  or  undermats,  pillows,  and  stools 
of  their  parents."  They  should  reverently  regard  their  staff  and  shoes,  but 
not  presume  to  approach  them,  nor  should  they  meddle  with  their  food 
or  utensils,  unless  it  were  to  eat  what  was  left  from  their  parents'  meals. 
"Sweet,  soft,  and  unctuous  things"  left  by  the  grandparents  should  be 
given  to  the  little  children,  who  are  also  allowed  to  go  to  bed,  to  get  ti]  . 
and  to  take  their  meals  when  they  please. 

It  shows  the  force  of  ideas  in  China  that  the  young  married  people.  '.0 
whose  interests  the  older  generations  are  sometimes  sacrificed  111  other 
communities  of  the  same  type,  are  here  subordinated  to  the  old  and  young. 
It  was  considered  proper  that  children  should  be  petted  and.  in  :  . ..  ■.  1,  as 
they  still  are  in  modern  China.      At  eight  they  begin    to   learn  manners,- 

1    S.I',.,  xxvii.  ; ..  44S  ff. 

-    ';  When  the  cliiM  was  able  to  take  its  own  food,  it  was  taught  tu  use  il  .-  :  _      ha;.:: 


74  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

and  the  art  of  yielding  to  others  ;  and  after  that,  advancing  years  only 
bring  fresh  duties  till  the  son  becomes  himself  a  husband  and  father. 
Klder  children,  however,  are  only  subject  to  a  constitutional  rule.  We 
have  heard  much  about  the  duties  of  the  sovereign,  but  they  are  all  summed 
up  in  tiie  phrase,  he  should  be  the  father  and  mother  of  his  people.  The 
father  and  mother  therefore,  in  private  life,  'nave  to  consider  the  interests 
and  inclinations  of  their  children,  as  the  ruler  should  those  of  the  multi- 
tudes, before  his  parents  a  son  should  not  speak  of  himself  as  old,  and. 
though  he  might  speak  of  the  duty  owing  to  parents,  lie  might  not  speak 
of  the  gentle  kindness  due  from  them  ;  x  but  the  latter  duty  was  not  the 
less  recognised,  and  it  would  evidently  be  a  proper  topic  of  conversation 
in  a  company  of  parents.  If  children  do  not  like  the  food  or  clothes  pro- 
vided for  them,  they  are  required  to  taste  or  put  them  on  without  demur  ; 
but  the  parents  are  expected  to  divine  from  the  nuances  of  still  respectful 
deportment  that  they  are  not  altogether  pleased,  and  the  children  await 
their  further  commands  with  a  reasonable  expectation  that  their  tastes  will 
be  considered. 

On  the  whole  we  should  judge  modest  comfort,  with  an  absence  of 
display,  to  have  characterized  the  family  life  of  ancient  as  of  modern 
( ihina.  The  extent  to  which  the  family  waited  on  itself  reminds  us  of 
what  we  are  told  of  the  Xabatreans.2  Life  was  more  decorous  than  among 
the  Egyptians,  more  formal  than  in  Babylonia,  and  more  elaborate  than 
in  any  other  community  not  dependent  on  slave  labour.  One  note  of 
material  civilization,  a  free  use  of  the  bath,  is  conspicuous.  It  was  the 
duty  of  filial  children  to  prepare  tepid  water,  and  invite  their  parents  to 
take  a  bath  every  fifth  day;  and  the  bathing  tub  of  Tliang  the  Successful 
was  del  crated  with  die  inscription,  "  If  you  can  one  day  renovate  yourself, 
do  so  from  day  to  day  :  yea.  dailv  renovate  vourself."  :; 

d'iie  constant  efforts  after   self-rectification   of  the    Chinese    sage   stand 

midway  between  the  self-discipline  required  from   the  Christian  saint   and 

the  purely  secular  JUUun^  or  culture  of  which  the  greatest  German   poet 

was  an  apostle.      The  "superior  man  :;  in  China  "cultivates  his  person  ;  " 

he   "  internaliy  examines   his   heart/'   he    keeps    watch    over   himself  when 

.    .    ■.'•   an  ..  i  <r  iu's  ow ;.  -  . ':  -:   -  tion  simplv,  strengthens  himself    in  gravity 

; .:.  i  reverein  e.  be    ruse  "  indifference  and  want  of  restraint  lead   to  a  daily 

rati    :..'     The  ceremonies  of  politeness  are  the  outward  and  visible 

signs  of  _  i     twill  and  i    moderateness.       '"'Courtesy  is  near  to   propriety  :" 

...  ,'ery  tar  wn  i :_  whii  h  is  ke]  t  within   the   rules  ot    g  >  d 

ny  i  i>es  the  formal  r  lies  of  ;  ropriety  only  em;  ;i  isi/e  the  re  [uire- 

:  .   .  '  ■  of  :.  ittiral  ]    ilitei     -s  and   _;oo  i   feeling.      Take    the    following   para- 


SOCIAL  AND   DOMESTIC  RELATIONS.  75 

'•  He  who  is  condoling  with  one  who  has  mourning  rites  on  hand,  and 
is  not  able  to  assist  him  with  a  gift,  should  put  no  question  about  his 
expenditure.  He  who  is  inquiring  after  another  who  is  ill,  and  is  not  able 
to  send  (anything  to  him),  should  not  ask  what  he  would  like.  He  who 
sees  (a  traveller),  and  is  not  able  to  lodge  him,  should  not  ask  where  he  is 
stopping.  He  who  would  confer  something  on  another  should  not  say, 
'Come  and  take  it ; '  he  who  would  give  something  (to  a  smaller  man) 
should  not  ask  him  what  he  would  like.''  l 

The  first  clauses  require  no  comment,  though  they  show  that  the  exer- 
cise of  hospitality  and  the  interchange  of  friendly  gifts  were  common  ;  but 
the  last  sentence  shows  that  in  giving  and  receiving  presents  the  self- 
respect  of  both  parties  was  to  be  protected  with  the  utmost  refinement.  A 
poor  man  will  not  ask  for  what  he  wants,  lie  must  be  entreated  to  accept 
it.  Xo  one  will  take  a  gift ;  it  must  be  offered  or  presented  to  a  private- 
person  just  as  much  as  to  a  ruler. 

During  a  famine  a  gentleman  had  food  prepared  on  the  road  to  wait  the 
approach  of  hungry  people.  A  particularly  famished-looking  wretch  came 
up,  and  he  held  out  food  and  drink,  saving.  "  Pour  man  !  come  and  eat." 
"  The  man,  opening  his  eyes  with  a  stare  and  looking  at  him,  said,  '  It 
was  because  J  would  not  eat  "  boor  man  come  here  food  "  that  I  am 
come  to  this  state.'  Khien  Ao  immediately  apologised  for  his  words, 
but  the  man  after  all  would  not  take  the  food,  and  died."  It  is  not  clear 
at  once  to  the  coarse  AVestern  mind  where  the  wrong-doing  of  the  story 
lies,  but  the  opinion  of  one  of  Confucius'  chief  disciples  is  recorded.  The 
gentleman  in  lbs  judgment  had  certainly  behaved  amiss,  but  his  error  did 
not  deserve  the  severe  punishment  inflicted.  "  When  he  expressed  his 
pity  as  he  did,  tiie  man  might  have  gone  away  ;  when  he  apologised,  the 
man  might  have  taken  the  food.'"  "-  Must  we  not.  however,  admit  that 
European  falls  short  of  Chinese  civilization,  while  they  do  and  we  do  not 
feel  it  to  be  unseemly  for  a  gentleman  to  bid  a  pauper  ••  Come  and  eat," 
without  further  demonstrations  of  courtesy  and  respect? 

The  common  people  were  not  expected  to  observe  all  the  minuter  rules 
of  ceremony.  Such  rules  as  that  "  In  a  house  of  mourning  one  should  not 
laugh  :  "  ';  When  eating  (with  others)  one  should  not  sigh  ;"  "  When  there 
is  a  body  shrouded  and  coffined  in  ids  village  one  should  not  sing  in  the 
lanes  ;  "  and  that  in  i;  Walking  with  a  funeral  procession  one  should  not  pick 
his  way/' — these  might  be  observed  by  everybody;  but  it  is  only  the 
superior  man  who  is  required  to  sacrifice  his  convenience  to  decorum  :  lie. 
■•  though  poor,  will  not  sell  Ids  vessels  of  sacrifice  ;  though  suffering  from 
.  he  will  not  wear  his  sacrificial  robes;  though  he  wants  wood  to  build 
a  house,  lie  will  not  cut  down  the  trees  on  his  grave  mounds."  '■'' 

The  superior  man  must  act  consistently,  at  whatever  cost ;  thus  Confucius 
happened    one   day  to   lie  carried  away  by  sympathy,  so   as   to  wail   more 

1    .S'. />'.,  xxvii.  p.  S9. 

-   .S'./>'.,  xxvii.  p,  195.      Cf.  \!vx::.:-.  vi.  i.  x.   ;   6. 

3  S.  />..  xx\  ii.  p.   104. 


7<)  ownership  in  china. 

bitterly  than  was  demanded  by  the  strict  rules  of  propriety  at  the  mourning 
rites  of  an  old  host.  <  )n  leaving  the  house  he  bade  bis  companions  unhar- 
ness two  of  tiie  horses  from  his  carriage  and  present  them  as  lbs  gift.  It 
was  objected  that  such  a  gift  was  excessive,  considering  the  sliyhtness  of 
the  relationship.  The  master  said,  "  I  found  (the  mourner)  so  dissolved 
in  grief  that  my  tear-  flowed.  I  should  hate  it  if  those  tears  were  not 
followed.  Do  it,  my  chiid."  ]  Friendly  regard  and  helpful  action  ought 
to  go  together  :  it  is  equally  improper  to  offer  help  without  expressing 
friendly  feeling  and  to  manifest  friendly  feeling  without  offering  help,  an  1 
having  done  the  one  hue  superior  man  will  not  fail  to  do  the  other  in  due 
proportion. 

The  same  refinement  of  feeling  is  to  be  noted  in  a  varietv  of  other  rules. 
It  is  not  proper  for  a  man  to  take  office  while  in  mourning  for  his  parents  ; 
but  if  his  services  are  needed  by  the  State,  he  may  give  them  gratuitously.2 
During  the  same  period  he  might  speak  of  public  affairs  concerning  his 
superiors,  but  not  of  those  in  winch  he  himself  had  an  interest.''  (  )n  the 
other  hand,  a  prince  may  call  at  the  house  of  a  minister  to  inquire  for  the 
sick  or  to  condole  with  mourner.-,  but  he  must  not  visit  there  for  amuse- 
ment. It  is  not  proper  for  men  to  praise  their  seniors  or  superiors  ;  but  at 
all  times  it  was  a  point  of  good  manners  to  give  somebody  else  the  credit 
of  whatever  merit  one  was  supposed  to  possess.  A  private  citizen  gave 
the  glory  to  his  parents,  a  minister  to  his  prince,  and  the  ruler  to  high 
heaven  :  l   "  it  was  thus  that  thev  showed  submissive  deference.'' 

Minor  instructions  on  points  of  etiquette  are  equally  rational.  "':  When 
sitting  by  a  person  of  rank,  if  he  began  to  yawn  and  stretch  himself,  to  turn 
round  his  tablets,  to  play  with  the  head  of  his  sword,  to  move  his  shoes 
d)oui    or   to  ask  about   the   time  of  day.  one  might   ask  leave  to  retire."  - 

1   S./!..  \w::.  p.    137.  -  /■''.,  ii.  342:   wviii.  46).  ■'   /\.  yy.   rot,  233. 

1    A  fun- hi-  .-'/'.'  •'--. •.'■•!()■  nf  tin:  S  ty,  Sti  Tunjr  1'.  >'  ( 1 036-1 101  A.  n.  1, 

:-     1  '  trine  in  the  verses  ee!e .  .rating  hi-    irhour,  which  wa-  ''  1 e a    rctcr  rain, 

1 '  ■  l  el      1  .'  ■  ■    '    y. "  t  hi-'  ■:   •  I;  v-'  i  ......  in   1 .   ■  .'.'.' 


s 


'   : 


nine 


ini  it  wear  them  a- 


lira 

: :  i!       -. 

'.:''.>..-'..'  :  . 

-  II  -aveii-av-.  ;  N,,:  h  wa<  (h,.!." 

v  .    '  \..  ;   i'  •  Nature." 

'   ■    N.  '   ::    ■   :  r     '■    -\    ,n<]   'he   hell  of  II 

"/,     .  i>.  iS  !•.    Mr.  1  el  ■-"    <  '■.  V.v    ■  li 


he-  1  1 


I  lie;  her   \<  \\\ 

l lie  !  hi]  11 


A 


: 


SOCIAL   AND   DOMESTIC   RELATIONS.  77 

Several  other  passages  recall  fragments  of  the  Egyptian  rules  of  propriety 
—  one  should  not  speak  positively  if  one  has  the  slightest  doubt  ;  but  if  one 
has  no  doubt,  one  should  not  seem  to  be  expressing  one's  own  opinion 
only.  In  the  presence  of  a  superior  one  should  not  answer  a  question 
without  looking  round  to  see  if  any  one  else  is  going  to  speak.  It  is  not 
stated  anywhere  that  unpalatable  advice  or  criticism  ought  not  to  be 
delivered  point-blank,  but  should  be  wrapped  up  in  the  most  delicately 
suggestive  of  allegories.  But  this  sort  of  diplomacy  came  too  much  by 
nature  to  the  Chinese  official  for  it  to  need  enjoining.  One  such  example 
of  ministerial  politeness  may  be  quoted,  which  serves  also  to  illustrate 
the  deeply  rooted  Chinese  conviction  that  the  art  of  government  begins 
at  home.  Duke  Wen  of  Chin  was  going  to  a  confederacy  of  feudal  princes 
to  plan  an  attack  on  the  State  of  Wei.  On  the  journey  his  minister 
laughed.  The  Duke  asked  what  amused  him,  and  he  replied,  that  he  was 
laughing  at  the  thought  of  a  neighbour  of  his,  who  was  escorting  his  wife 
on  a  visit  to  her  parents,  when  he  espied  a  pretty  girl  picking  mulberry 
leaves.  He  stopped  to  talk  to  her,  and  then,  turning  his  head,  he  saw 
somebody  else  paying  attention  to  his  own  wife.  The  Duke  took  the  hint 
and  turned  back,  just  in  time  to  hear  that  an  enemy  had  attacked  his 
northern  frontier.1 

As  in  Egypt,  all  classes  anciently  carried  staffs,-  but  about  500  n.c.  the 
right  to  do  so  was  restricted  to  men  of  rank,  because  a  wheelwright  was 
seen  using  his  as  a  tool.  "  There  was  nowhere  such  a  thing  as  being  born. 
noble."  :;  By  ancient  custom  a  piece  of  jade  or  a  number  of  shells  were 
placed  in  the  mouth  of  the  deceased,  while  the  tuft  of  hair  worn  by  boys 
and  the  observance  of  the  feasts  of  lanterns  and  of  the  moon  are  other 
traits  common  to  both  countries. 

1   F.  II.  Balfour.     Leaves  from  my  Chinese  Note  Book,  p.  132. 
-  See  Appendix  M.  3  S.J!.,  xxvii.  p.  430. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

FEUDALISM  AND   THE  FALL  OF  CHOW. 

The  Odes  confirm  the  witness  of  the  other  classics  upon  a  point  as  to 
which  otherwise  we  might  have  felt  some  scepticism.  That  the  extension 
of  the  royal  authority,  described  in  the  Rites,  was  not  always  a  fiction 
appears  from  the  regrets  expressed,  especially  in  the  smaller  States,  after  the 
setting  in  of  its  decay.  In  one  of  the  odes  it  is  said,  "The  way  to  Chow 
should  be  level  and  easy."  It  used,  according  to  the  malcontents,  "  to  be 
straight  as  an  arrow,  trodden  by  officers  coming  willingly  to  court.''1  Op- 
pressed citizens  of  Kwei  or  Tsa'ou  regret  the  good  old  times  "  when  the 
States  had  their  sovereign"  to  defend  the  weak  and  receive  their  appeals  ; 
and  for  centuries  after  there  had  ceased  to  be  any  real  hope  of  a  deliverer 
from  the  West,  they  would  gaze  with  sad  longings  upon  the  road  to  Chow, 
and  "sigh  as  they  wake  in  the  night  to  think  of  its  capital  city." 

The  orthodox  way  of  maintaining  the  unity  of  the  empire,  notwith- 
standing its  unwieldy  growth,  was  for  the  subordinate  princes  to  present 
themselves  regularly  at  court,  and  for  the  kings  to  make  periodical  pro- 
gresses throughout  the  States  and  receive  appeals  against  evil-doers,  to 
remove  usurpers  and  oppressors,  and  encourage  each  court  to  reproduce 
in  miniature  the  harmonising  influence  of  the  One  Man.  While  this  was 
the  case  all  went  well  :  but.  on  the  other  hand,  "  when  government  is  not 
correct,  the  rider's  seat  is  insecure.  When  the  ruler's  seat  is  insecure,  the 
great  ministers  revolt,  and  smaller  ones  begin  pilfering.  Punishments  are 
made  severe  and  manners  deteriorate." 

In  th.e  olh  cent,  this  process  of  deterioration  had  begun,  but  the  tradi- 
tions of  Wen  and  Wu  were  still  strong  enough  to  enable  virtuous  ministers 
Id  dep'i-e  a  bad  king  without  being  either  suspected  or  guilty  of  disloyalty 
to  th.e  dvnastv.  King  I,i  was  dethroned  or  compelled  to  fly  S41  i:.c.,:-  and 
till  in-;  death,  in  827,  the  Covernment  was  carried  on  by  a  sort  of  protec- 
torate of  virtuous  ministers,  who  reconciled  their  duty  to  both  king  and 
people  by  holding  the  Covernment  in  trust  for  the  king's  son,  till  his 
father's  death.  Iiefore  the  king  was  deposed  by  a  popular  rising,  he  had 
not  only  been  admonished  in  various  odes,  but  also  warned  against  sup- 
ii  ising  thai  tent  could  be  repressed  by  silencing  us  expression,      "i: 

1 1 1 ; i v  be  said,"  observed   the  minister  who  held  the   reins  during   the  subse- 
nient    interregnum,  "that   an    emperor  knows    how  to    govern    when  poets 
!    I."    ;-.  r.r..iv. ,,,,  .5.57,  S5.5. 


>re 


I'.'m'  cnroiii 


FEUDALISM  AND    THE    FALL    OF  CHOW.  79 

are  free  to  make  verses,  and  the  populace  to  act  plays,  historians  to  tell 
the  truth,  ministers  to  give  advice,  the  poor  to  grumble  in  paying  their 
taxes,  the  students  to  learn  their  lessons  aloud,  the  workmen  to  praise  their 
skill  and  seek  for  work,  the  people  to  speak  of  all  it  hears,  and  the  old  men 
to  find  fault  with  everything.  Then  things  go  on  without  much  difficulty  : 
the  tongues  of  the  people  are  like  the  rivers  and  mountains  from  whence 
the  riches  and  necessaries  of  life  are  drawn."  '  Is  there  any  other  text  of 
the  same  antiquity  as  essentially  modern  in  tone  ? 

Later  political  odes  take  the  form  of  laments  or  denunciations  : — 

"  Alas  for  the  men  of  this  time  ! 
Why  arc  they  such  cobras  and  efts?" 

The  wheels  of  the  chariot  of  State  drive  heavily,  but  no  one  looks  after 
the  coachman  nor  helps  the  wheels  out  of  a  rut.      In  a  word, 

"  The  majestic  honoured  capital  of  Chow 

Is  being  destroyed  by  S/.e  of  1'aou," 

the  favourite  concubine  of  the  king.  Another  poem  belonging  to  the 
reign  of  King  Yew   (780-770)  denounces  "  women  and   eunuchs  "  as  the 

twin  sources  of  court  disorder.  "A  wise  man  builds  up  the  wall,  but  a 
wise  woman  overthrows  it  ;  she  is  at  best  an  owl,  a  stepping-stone  to  dis- 
order. Men  had  their  lands  and  fields  in  times  past,  but  these  are  now 
seized  by  the  unworthy  favourites.  For  a  woman  to  leave  her  silkworms 
and  weaving  to  meddle  with  public  affairs  is  as  unseemly  as  for  a  states- 
man to  seek  for  the  300  per  cent,  profit  of  trade.''  The  same  author  in 
the  next  ode  speaks  of  the  people  as  abandoning  their  homes  on  account 
of  famine  :  "  In  the  settled  regions  and  on  the  borders  all  is  desolation,"' 
and  the  kingdom,  instead  of  increasing  its  boundaries  as  heretofore,  is 
diminishing  daily.2 

Among  the  provincial  poems,  two  of  the  odes  of  Wei  apostrophize  the 
swarms  of  corrupt  or  oppressive  officials  in  terms  that  would  admit  of 
tolerably  world-wide  application.  The  woodman's  axe  rings  upon  the 
trees,  he  hews  the  wood  for  wheels  and  spokes,  by  the  banks  of  the 
rippling  stream  :   but  as  for  these  ministers — you  sow  not  nor  reap  :  — 

"  I  Tow  do  you  get  the  produce  of  these  300  farms  ? 
You  sow  not  nor  reap — 
How  do  you  get  your  three  million  of  sheaves? 
How  do  you  gel  the  paddy  for  your  300  round  binns? 

You  do  not  follow  the  chase  — 
I  tow  do  we  see  the  badgers,  the  three-year-olds  and.  the  quails 
Hanging  up  in  your  court  yards  ?  "  :) 

Another  poem  has  the  significant  refrain,  ';  barge  rats,  large  rats,  do  not 
eat  our  millet,  our  wheat  !  "  ^ 

The  abuses  complained  of  in  the  middle  State  spread  to  the  feudatories, 
though  from  time  to  time  ambitious  princes  sought  popularity  by  displaying 
an  ostentatious  regard    for  the  welfare  of  the    multitudes.      Such    lovalty  as 

1    De  Mailla,  ii.  p.  25.  '-    CO.,  iv.  ii.   p.  564. 

3  lb.,  pt.  i.  pp.   170-1.  ''   iv.  p.  504. 


So  OWXERSIIIP  IX  CHINA. 

was  shown  in  these  latter  days  towards  the  ruling  dynasty  was  inspired  bv 
the  mutual  jealousy  of  the  States  ambitious  to  succeed  it,  and  was  as  fitful 
and  exacting  as  tile  loyally  of  the  great  Scotch  nobles  towards  the  Stuart 
kings.  And  just  as  in  Scotland,  when  the  monarchy  was  weakest,  the 
nobles  multi;  lied  leagues  and  bonds  or  covenant-;,  to  secure  whatever  end 
was  at  t'ae  moment  desired  by  the  strongest  subjects,  so  in  China  the 
intercourse  between  the  States  contemplated  by  the  constitutional  law  of 
re  tended  to  be  superseded  by  leagues  and  alliances  for  special 
purp<  >ses. 

Such  covenants  were  often  of  tiie  same  order  as  the  agreement  of  1772 
f  r  the  partition  of  Poland,  and  thus  the  gradual  absorption  of  the  minor 
States  went  on  till  only  three  or  tour  of  the  most  powerful  retained  enough 
independence  to  resist  the  conquering  armies  of  '["sin.1  The  consequences 
t  i  tiie  mass  of  the  population  can  he  inferred  from  the  fact  that  Men 
gives  tiie  second  rank  among  unpardonable  offenders  to  '"  those  who  unite 
t'ae  princes  in  leagues/'  midway  between  those  who  are  guilty  of  skill  in 
war.  and  those  who  enclose  grass  commons  and  make  tiie  cultivators  pay 
taxes  fa-  them  as  for  arable  land,  for  several  centuries  the  consolidation 
of  new  States  and  the  breaking  up  of  old  one-  went  on  together.  The 
princes  who  had  no  allied  houses  of  feudal  nobles  were  regarded  as  weak. 
brot'aerless  and  unfriended.'-  but  where  such  houses  were  numerous  or 
p  overfill,  they  ended  by  overshadowing  their  chief,  as  the  States  had  over- 
shadowed Chow,  and  the  most  masterful  of  the  feudatories  became  inde- 
pendent, and.  in  their  turn,  leaders  of  a  new  confederacy/' 

Tiie  ':  order  States  had  the  advantage  of  being  able  to  strengthen  them- 
selves by  incorporating  friendly  tribes,  instead  of  merely  redistributing  old 
fiefs  among  new  adherents.  The  large,  and  at  one  time  formidable  State 
of  Tsoo  included  many  more  than  half-barbarous  tribe-.'  who  are  probably 
_■  held  responsible  for  the  human  sacrifices  sometime-  offered  in  that 
State.  And  the  Chinese  commentators  themselves  give  tiie  same  explana- 
tion of  the  startling  fact  that  as  lately  as  620  i:.c,  17c  persons  were  buried 
in  '  .  grave  of  a  duke  of  T'sin,  three  of  them  being  officers  of  disting  lisht  '; 
merit,  in  whose  meim  »ry  an  ode  of  ]  rotest  and  lamentation  was  com;  osed."1 
A  geiiei";  '  the  had  example  was  followed  in  the  State  of  Sung,  and 


FEUDALISM  AND    THE   FALL    OF  CHOW.  Si 

for  a  century  or  two  there  seemed  to  be  some  clanger  of  such  sacrifices; 
becoming  usual;  but  reason  and  humanity  prevailed,  assisted,  perhaps,  by 
t'ne  fact  that  the  closeness  of  the  fraternal  relation  in  China  made  it  an 
open  question  whether  the  deceased  should  be  accompanied  to  his  tomb 
by  wives  or  brothers  ;  while  any  relation  who  desired  to  honour  the  de- 
ceased in  such  a  way,  was  liable  to  be  invited  to  lead  the  way  in  person. 

The  forms  in  which  the  ambition  of  the  encroaching  States  displayed  it- 
self are  characteristically  Chinese.  One  symptom  was  to  express  curiosity 
about  the  nine  vases  of  Yu,  the  possession  o(  which  was  associated  with 
that  of  the  imperial  sceptre  ;  another  was  to  offer  a  sacrifice  to  heaven 
and  earth,  or  to  the  progenitors  of  the  royal  house,  as  to  the  sacrificers 
own  ancestors.  In  the  Tso  Chuen,  on  the  other  hand,  the  loyalty  cr 
virtuous  ministers  frequently  shows  itself  by  their  refusal  to  accept  exces- 
sive honours  offered  on  their  arrival  in  other  States.  If  odes  proper  to 
the  reception  of  the  princes  by  the  emperor  are  sung  in  their  honour,  they 
take  no  notice,  though  they  bow  and  respond  politely  when  pieces  of  less 
lofty  import  succeed.  They  "  do  not  presume  to  seem  as  if  they  heard  r" 
what  it  is  contrary  to  propriety  for  them  to  acknowledge. 

As  in  Scotland,  the  tradition  of  the  royal  supremacy  retained  just  so 
much  vitality  that  the  rebels  were  always  anxious  to  obtain  its  nominal 
support.  One  of  the  odes  refers  to  the  request  of  a  usurper  to  be  lawfully 
invested  with  the  fief  which  he  intends  to  retain  whether  or  no  ;  and  in  the 
case  already  referred  to,  when  the  Imperial  sacrifice  to  heaven  and  earth  is 
presumptuously  offered  by  a  prince  of  T'sin,  his  excuse  is  that  a  part  of 
the  ancient  patrimony  of  the  imperial  house  has  just  been  conceded  to 
him.  including  the  spot  where  the  rite  used  to  be  performed.  After  this, 
the  Prince  of  Loo  applied  for  permission  to  offer  a  similar  sacrifice,  and, 
by  way  of  compromise,  an  imperial  officer  was  sent  from  the  court  of  Chow 
to  do  it  for  him,  whom  he  detained,  in  order  to  be  able  to  repeat  the 
ceremony  at  discretion.  In  720  B.C.,  and  again  in  618,  an  envoy  was  sent 
from  Chow  to  Loo  asking  for  contributions  to  the  king's  burial,  winch  is 
e  [uivalent  to  a  demand  for  tribute. 

It  is  curious  to  note  how,  in  this  state  of  general  anarchy,  a  few  rough 
principles  of  feudal  law  struggled  to  the  front,  winch  are  the  more  interest- 
ing to  us  because  of  their  dim  resemblance  to  the  expedients  spontaneous!}' 
adopted  in  mediaeval  Europe.  They  were  not  inspired  either  by  the 
ancient  classics  or  their  modern  admirers,  but  were  the  natural  outcome  of 
the  new  state  of  things  which  required  and  developed  an  etiquette  ot  its 
own.  Tims,  if  an  army  passed  through  neutral  territory,  usage  required 
that  the  prince  (presumably  an  inferior)  should  man  the  walls  of  his  capital 
and  send  an  embassy  to  ask  wherein  he  had  offended,  otherwise  he  was 
liable  to  be  treated  as  an  enemy.  Chinese  etiquette  and  knightly  gener 
osity  were  sometimes  curiously  mixed,  as  in  the  story  ot  the  small  State  o: 
Veil,  which  had  been  attacked  by  Tatars  and  effectively  helped  by  Tse ; 
U]  n  which  the  Prince  of  Yen  accompanies  his  departing  ally  beyond  his 
own  frontier,  a  compliment  properly  due  to  the  emperor  alone.     Tse  there- 


OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 


upon    makes    the  prince  a    present   of  the   lands  lie    has   committed   the 
incorrectness  of  crossing,  so  as  to  put  them  both  "in  order." 

It  is  unchivalreus  to  intlict  a  second  wound,  to  take  prisoner  a  man  with 
grey  hairs,  to  fall  upon  the  enemy  in  a  defile,  or  to  sound  drums  to  attack 
an  unformed  host.  The  Tso  Chtien  is  full  of  stories  of  Chinese  chivalry 
;  ;ul  very  Chinese  magnanimity.  Famous  warriors  are  slain  because  they 
-  annot  resist  the  appeal  of  an  enemy  to  let  him  shoot  first,  and  a  rather 
i  retty  bit  of  courteous  bravado  is  described,  in  which  two  heroes,  who  are 
being  hotly  pursued,  shoot,  not  at  their  enemies,  but  at  a  passing  deer,  stop 
c  'Urteously  to  offer  the  game  to  their  pursuers,  and  then  set  off  again,  re- 
j  eating  the  process  till  the  chase  is  abandoned.  The  mediaeval  counter- 
parts of  these  heroes  would,  however,  hardly  understand  the  view  of  good 
manners,  which  requires  self-depreciation  to  be  carried  so  far  that  trie 
w;  rrior  must  always  preten  i  politely  to  be  the  greatest  coward  present,  like 
tiie  general  praised  by  Confucius  for  saving,  after  he  had  brought  up  the 
rear  of  a  retreating  force.  '•  It  is  not  that  I  dare  to  be  last  ;  my  horse  would 
not  advance."  ! 

The  men  of  letter-,  of  whom  Confucius  is  the  best  known,  and  Mencius 
tiie  ablest  representative,  could  scarcely  he  expected  to  exercise  much  in- 
fluence during  tii.se  ages  of  turbulence.  The  mental  activity  of  tiie  class 
was  nourished  from  three  sources  :  the  doctrines  of  the  ancient  worthies, 
whose  ideal  of  a  paternal  democracy  was  preserved  in  the  Shoo  and  the 
earliest  odes  ;  the  satirical  protests  of  virtuous  ministers  out  ot  work,  em- 
bodied in  the  later  odes  :  and  lastly,  tiie  mental  restlessness  of  their  own 
time,  when  political  instability  and  social  disorders  had  stimulated  a  new. 
if  somewhat  niggling,  intellectual  activity,  corres]  onding  in  circumstance 
to  that  -  f  tiie  mediaeval  S  ihoolmen,  and  approximating  in  its  character  to 
that  of  the  Creek  Sophists. 

It  was   tiie   ambition  of  Confucius.    Mencius.   and   the  minor  contempo- 
:s  :.:.  1  dis<  i|  les  of  i     th.  to  be  employed  as  at  once  guide,  phia  sopher, 
.  nd  ;  rime  minister   bv  the  '  ri  ,   es  oi   their  several   States.       but  they  were 
.1  ..re    that    the    attitude  ot   an  aspirant    :    r  court   favour   is  not   in   itseit   a 
i  unified  one  :     a  i   <  ioui  n  ius,  bv  parabi  as  and    historic  exam  pi  ■-.  preaches 
that  ti.  :  :  iiii  .  T  -  .  iul«i    ;    k  •  oliice  if  it  is  offet'edi    him.  i  at  sh        I  not 

seek  .'  for  liiu  -  -if,  "  I  am  :.  :  >  >n  med  that  I  iiave  no  place.  I  am  <■  >n- 
ccna  ii  ..  nv  1  m  v  :lt  mvs<  ii  :■  r  one.  1  am  no:  <  a  era-  i  tint  1  am  not 
. :  .'.  .1  ■  to  1  \  rthv  to  lie  km  i',vn,:''J  If  the  pnu  'S  and  t.,e  em;  leror 
'  ■  '  lie  rules  oi  propr:  ty.  t.ie  superi  >r  a.  :.  nu_,,t 
a  w  ken  bad  e    \  eminent  ;  revaiied,  the  ]  root   oi 

■  i    ids  i a inokkes  and    kecj    tin in  ins   own 

i  Id  di  -gra<  e. 

ii:    rati  that  the  va<    :a  m;  ntle  of  W  u  ami  Tan 
■  u  uiri  er  w  i.  >  was  m  itiu  r  a  :.    I  le  i  y  '  irth  nor  a 
-.   saew    that   it   w    aid    1  e   •  asv    ;  -r    anv    decently 


t    1 

- 

)': 

:  n 

in 

.'.a 
u 
i, 

i" 

mi   ' 

r  to 
vir: 

;  ..  ...  .:  1 1. 

(  ;.   w  v.;.  Tan 


FEUDALISM  AND    THE   FALL    OF  CHOW.  83 

governed  State  to  seize  the  empire,  but  they  did  not  see  that  first  States 
and  then  the  Empire  were  to  be  had  for  the  winning  by  military  adven- 
turers without  their  help  ;  and  that  therefore,  any  adventurer,  who  would 
restore  enough  of  the  good  old  usages  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  die 
masses,  would  have  a  chance  of  conquering  power  for  himself  and  his 
advisers  without  being  orthodoxly  *"  employed"  at  all. 

Confucius,  notwithstanding  his  pedantic  enthusiasm  for  '''ceremonies/' 
was  not  wanting  in  practical  ability,  and  tradition  represents  him  as  restor- 
ing the  golden  age  of  Yao  and  Shun  in  any  town  or  government  that  was 
entrusted  to  his  care.  But  he  could  not  adapt  his  doctrine  to  the  changed 
political  conditions  of  the  time,  and  his  employers  practically  found  them- 
selves without  compensation  for  the  sacrifices  entailed  by  his  scruples. 
The  Prince  of  Tse,  pleased  with  some  of  his  remarks,  wished  to  give  him 
certain  estates,  and  was  dissuaded  by  his  prime  minister,  upon  grounds  not 
in  themselves  unreasonable.  These  scholars,  it  was  objected,  are  imprac- 
ticable, arrogant,  lavish  in  expenditure  upon  useless  ceremonies,  full  of 
frivolous  ''rules  of  propriety,"  to  which  statesmen  have  no  time  to  attend. 
"  It  would  take  generations  to  exhaust  all  that  this  Mr.  Chung  knows 
about  the  ceremonies  of  going  up  and  going  down."  '  Moreover,  as  the 
customs  he  wished  to  restore  had  fallen  into  disuse,  to  enforce  them 
would  be  an  innovation  tending  to  unsettle  people's  minds  and  cause  dis- 
content. 

It  speaks  volumes  for  the  faithfulness  of  the  Chinese  records  that  we  can 
really  gather  from  them  an  intelligible  summary  of  the  curious  intellectual 
movement  which  gives  its  significance  to  this  question  about  the  employ- 
ment of  sages,  and  the  subsequent  burning  of  the  books.  On  the  one 
hand  the  champions  of  antiquity  represented  the  principles  of  law  and 
order  ;  but  the  laws  and  the  order  belonged  to  a  bygone  state  of  things, 
and  their  restoration  would  imply  the  destruction  of  the  present.  But  the 
state  of  things  present  in  China  from  the  5th  to  the  3rd  century  n.c.  was 
not  wanting  in  vitality  any  more  than  those  days  of  feudalism  from  which 
the  kingdoms  of  Europe  date  their  origin.  \i  the  power  of  Chow  had 
wasted,  that  of  the  various  "presiding  States"  had  increased,  and  in  those 
States  where  the  titular  prince  was  as  feeble  in  proportion  as  the  emperor, 
the  minor  nobles  were  as  ready  to  take  the  role  of  local  ma  ire  de  ftalais  as 
the  various  kings  to  usurp  imperial  prerogatives.  It  was  the  age  of  soldiers 
and  sophists  and  the  event  justified  the  forecasts  of  those  statesmen  who 
felt  that  the  impending  re-organization  of  the  empire  must  be  effected  by 
force  of  arms,  and  that  the  orthodox  school  of  literati  were  more  likely  to 
hinder  than  help  during  the  process.  Neither  they  nor  the  philosophers 
foresaw  that  the  ultimate  victory  would  rest  with  the  latter,  and  that  the 
princes  who  reunited  the  empire  would  end  by  re-conquering  j.cgo  years 
of  more  than  imperial  power  for  the  pedantic  Mr.  Chung. 

Several  centuries  had  to  pass  before  the  beginning  of  this  "revenge,  'and 

1    C.C.,  vol.  i.  Prolegomena,  p.  69. 


S4  OWXERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

the  Taoist  writers  of  the  interval  hardly  exaggerate  the  ill-success  which  up 
to  this  time  attended  on  his  teaching.  One  of  them  preserves  an  anecdote 
which  we  should  be  glad  to  think  authentic.  A  disciple  once  asked  Con- 
fucius why  he  was  sad,  notwithstanding  his  own  doctrine  that  one  who 
was  contented  with  his  lot,  and  prepared  for  the  appointment  of  fate,  had 
no  occasion  to  feci  sorrowful.  To  which  the  sage  replied  that  he  grieved, 
not  for  himself,  but  at  beholding  in  his  own  State  the  neglect  of  all  the 
obligations  of  loyalty  and  charity  which  he  had  sought  to  teach  for  the 
benefit  of  posterity.  If,  therefore,  truth  cannot  prevail  in  one  State  for  a 
single  lifetime,  how.  he  asked  himself,  can  it  prevail  throughout  the  world 
for  all  the  generations  to  come  ?  And  at  this  thought  he  felt  the  sadness 
of  despair. 

In  a  stock  passage,  repeated  with  variations  in  the  works  ascribed  to 
Chuang-tze,  his  sufferings  and  persecutions  are  enumerated  :  he  was  twice 
expelled  from  Loo  ;  his  tree  (i.e.  that  under  which  he  used  to  teach)  was  cut 
down  in  Sung.  Wei  renounced  him  :  he  was  a  failure  in  Shang  and  Chow, 
and  he  passed  seven  days  without  food,  surrounded  by  Ids  enemies,  in  Chen 
and  Tsai.1  The  same  author  represents  him  as  saying  to  Lao-tze,  t;  I  ar- 
ranged the  six  Canons — of  Poetry,  History,  Rites,  Music,  Changes,  and 
Spring  and  Autumn.  I  spent  much  time  over  them,  and  I  am  well  ac- 
quainted  with  their  purport.  I  used  them  in  admonishing  seventy-two 
rulers,  by  discourses  on  the  wisdom  of  ancient  sovereigns,  and  illustrations 
from  the  lives  of  Chou  and  Shao.  Yet  not  one  ruler  has  in  any  way 
adopted  my  suggestions.  Alas  !  that  mail  should  be  so  difficult  to  per- 
suade, and  wisdom  so  difficult  to  illustrate.-'2 

These  confessions  of  failure  are  put  into  his  mouth  by  avowed  critics  : 
l.ut  their  criticisms  rest,  partly  at  least,  upon  the  fact  that  Confucius  aimed 
at  regulating  the  States  by  his  doctrines,  and  producing  definite,  practical 
results,  and  that  he  had  tailed  in  his  aim.  The  Taoists  criticised  his  aim. 
tit  their  evidence  is  good  for  the  fact,  that  throughout  the  latter  years  of 
the  Chow  Dynasty  <!  no  ruler  in  any  way  adopted  his  suggestion-/'  His 
teai  lung  became  familiar  to  all  the  scholars  of  the  empire,  and  exercised  a 
timul  ting  effect  alike  upon  opponents  and  disciples,  but  it  was  not  till 
alter  to  tall  of  Chow  that  the  bread  line  which  now  separates  him  from 
all  tlie  other  writers  of  (  'hina  was  drawn  and  recognised  :  while  it  was  n  )t 
t:  the  o  mg  I  )y nasty  that  M end u  ;  ais  )  was  promoted  to  a  pi  ce  apart  as 
i  .  ■  mast  r's  sin  <     -     w,  and  second  to  him  alone. 

:    '"  ',  .Vo.'S,  J/7\.\7  '   <:>:!  S.-:i.!.'  Ktf-r-n.r.    Tr.  by  I  IerU:i  A.  ( lllcs  1SS0. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE  PHILOSOPHERS   OF  7PIE   HUNDRED  SCHOOLS. 

••  There  are  20. coo  Ralph  Waldo  Emersons  in  China,"'  said  Mr.  Burlin- 
game,  the  United  States  Consul,  to  Mr.  Motley,  the  historian,  who  records 
with  mild  surprise,  the  '''great  admiration  of  the  pigtails''  expressed  by  all 
who  have  become  intimately  acquainted  with  them  in  their  own  land.1  If 
we  had  to  describe  what  is  at  once  best  and  most  characteristic  in  Chinese 
thought  in  terms  of  Western  literature,  we  might  say  that  the  Chinese  philo- 
sopher was  a  compound  of  Goethe,  Emerson,  and  Madame  de  Genlis.  He 
has  something  of  the  calm,  cool,  rational  humanity  of  the  author  of  Faust, 
and  a  great  deal  of  the  same  faith,  in  the  efficacy  of  social,  literary,  and 
dramatic  discipline,  as  a  moral  force,  displayed  by  the  author  of  Wilhelm 
Mcistcr.  For  the  rest,  his  affinities  with  Goethe  are  included  in  his  affini- 
ties with  Emerson,  whose  obligations  to  the  great  German  are  not  so  easily 
defined.  Like  Emerson,  the  Chinese  sage  has  broad,  vague  sympathies 
and  intuitions  of  a  righteous  kind,  and  a  strong,  though  hazy,  apprehension 
of  the  analogies  and  sequences  in  the  world  of  nature  and  man.  Like 
Goethe,  he  has  the  courage  of  his  discernment,  and  asserts  the  moral  and 
political  importance  of  social  minutiae  ;  but  he  dwells  on  them  with  an 
affectionate  diffuseness  which  suggests  the  court  or  the  schoolroom  rather 
than  the  study.  Confucius  himself  is  credited  with  the  observation  that 
the  failing  which  may  arise  in  connection  with  the  practice  of  rites  and 
ceremonies  is  "  fussiness,"  -  while  the  corresponding  virtue  is  a  modest, 
courteous,  and  respectful  gravity.  But  there  is  nothing  in  the  standard 
classic  texts  to  oblige  the  intelligent  Chinese  to  exaggerate  the  importance 
of  forms.  Confucius  is  quoted  for  the  sentiment  :  Exceeding  reverence 
with  deficient  rites  is  better  than  an  excess  of  rites  with  but  little  reverence  :  3 
and  enlightened  conservatism  can  hardly  go  beyond  a  saying  in  one  of  the 
most  esteemed  books  of  the  Li  Ki  :  "  Rules  of  ceremony  are  the  embodied 
expression  of  what  is  right,  if  an  observance  stand  the  test  of  being  judged 
by  what  is  right,  although  it  may  not  have  been  among  the  usages  of  the 
ancient  kings,  it  may  be  adopted  on  the  ground  of  its  being  right/'  !     A 

1  Correspondence  of  John  Lothrop  Motley,  1SS9,  vol.  ii.  p.  211.  "  It  is  strange  what 
•  'lies  they  all  bring  back  from  the  Celestials,  —  Richard  Dana,  l!urlingame,  Sir  1'.  Bruce. 
We  have  everything  to  learn  from  them  in  the  way  of  courtesy.  The}'  are  an  honestcr 
le  than  Europeans.  Bayard  Taylor's  stories  about  their  vices  do  them  great  injus- 
tice.     They  are  from  hasty  impressions  got  in  seaport  towns.'' 

-  S.  />'.,  xxvi'ii.  p.  254.  3  //-.,  xxvii.  p.  141.  4  lb.,  xxvii.  p.  390. 


S6  OWNERSHIP  IN  CII1XA. 

sentence  or  two  further  on  this    is   explained  :  "  Humanity   is   the   root  of 
right,  and  the  embodying  of  deferential  consideration.'' 

Theeflect  of  such  consideration  in  mitigating  the  defects  to  which  differ- 
ent classes  are  chiefly  prone  is  acutely  recognised.  Propriety  is  the  appli- 
cation of  humanity  to  all  the  circumstances  of  life.  "  When  the  rich  and 
noble  know  to  love  propriety,  they  do  not  become  proud  or  dissolute. 
A\  hen  the  poor  and  mean  know  to  love  propriety,  their  minds  do  not  be- 
come cowardly."1  The  small  man.  when  poor,  may  be  tempted  to  steal,  and 
when  rick,,  may  proceed  to  deeds  of  disorder ;  the  rules  of  propriety  serve 
as  dykes  to  keep  these  opposite  tendencies  within  bounds. 

Confucius  was,  perhaps,  the  most  acute  of  Chinese  psychologists  ;  but 
Ins  popularity  is  a  sign  that  his  talent  in  this  direction  was  appreciated. 

A\  estern  moralists  perplex  themselves  to  find  one  formula  for  all  right 
doing,  though  it  is  known  that  tiie  motives  and  propensities  of  indi- 
viduals vary.  Confucius  recognises  three  virtues — wisdom,  magnanimity, 
and  fortitude  ;  but  observes  that  "'Some  are  born  with  the  knowledge  of 
these  (duties),  some  know  them  by  study,  and  some  as  the  result  of  painful 
experience.  Some  practise  them  with  the  ease  of  nature,  some  for  the  sake 
ot  their  advantage,  and  some  by  dint  of  strong  effort  ;"  but  if  the  know- 
ledge and  exercise  of  virtue  are  attained  at  last,  "  it  comes  to  one  and  the 
same  thing  "  "-'■  to  society  as  a  whole,  which  enjoys  the  fruit  of  all  objective 
good  behaviour, 

Menctus  occupies  a  place  midway  between  Confucius  and  the  various 
phases  of  heterodox  mysticism. 

But  there  is  nothing  in  the  Analects  to  be  compared  to  the  fine,  dis- 
interested and  generous  morality  of  a  few  passages  in  the  later  writer. 
Mencius  protests  again  and  again  against  being  consulted  by  princes  as  to 
what  will  ':  profit'"  their  kingdoms.  lie  is  willing  to  speak  of  benevolence 
and  righteousness,  but  not  of  profit  ;  for  if  that  inducement  is  once  recog 
nised.  -;  ministers  will  serve  their  sovereigns  for  the  profit  of  which  they 
cherish  the  thought  ;  sons  will  serve  their  fathers,  and  younger  brothers  will 
serve  their  elder  brothers,  from  the  same  consideration  :  and  the  issue  will 
be  that,  abandoning  benevolence  and  righteousness,  s  ivereign  and  minister. 
father  and  son,  younger  brother  and  elder,  will  carry  on  all  their  intercourse 
with  this  thought  of  ;  rofit  cherished  in  their  hearts,  lint  never  has  there- 
been  such  a  state  without  ruin  being  the  result  ot  it.  '-! 

He  held  that  feeling*  of  benevolence  and  the  love  of  righ'e  aisncss  were 
:.  '.  .:  '  to  mankind,  and  that  it  was  the  business  oi  education  and  philo- 
'.v  to  disentangle  and  reinforce  the  proper  nature  ol  the  mind.  The 
<  ,e  -  for  disinterested,  morality  can  hardly  be  put  more  compendiously 
in  the  following  passage,  whii  h  is  one  of  those  that  earn  for  the  author  th 
name  of  a  Chinese  Socrates  :  Mencius  said,  '•  1  like  fish  and  I  also  like 
1  ear's  j  l1v,-s.      If   1  c  a  net  have  the  two  together,  I  will  let  the  fish  go  and 

;   S.  /',..   x    ...:.<  ;.   xxviii.  ;  .  2s  l. 


THE   PHILOSOPHERS   OE  THE   HUNDRED    SCHOOLS.   87 

take  the  bear's  paws.  So  I  like  life,  and  I  also  like  righteousness.  If  I 
cannot  keep  the  two  together,  I  will  let  life  go  and  choose  righteousness.  I 
like  life  indeed,  but  there  is  that  which  I  like  more  than  life,  and  therefore 
I  will  not  seek  to  possess  it  by  any  improper  ways.  I  dislike  death  indeed, 
but  there  is  that  which  I  dislike  more  than  death,  and  therefore  there  are 
occasions  when  I  will  not  avoid  danger.  If,  among  the  things  which  man 
likes,  there  were  nothing  which  he  liked  more  than  life,  why  should  he  not 
use  every  means  by  which  he  could  preserve  it  ?  If,  among  the  things 
which  man  dislikes,  there  were  nothing  that  he  disliked  more  than  death, 
why  should  he  not  do  everything  by  which  he  could  avoid  danger?  There 
are  cases  when  by  a  certain  course  men  might  preserve  life  and  they  do  not 
follow  it ;  when  by  certain  things  they  might  avoid  danger  and  they  will  not 
do  them.  Therefore  men  have  that  which  they  like  more  than  life,  and 
that  which  they  dislike  more  than  death.  They  are  not  men  of  distin- 
guished talents  and  virtue  only,  who  have  this  mental  nature.  All  men 
have  it ;  what  belongs  to  such  men  simply  is  that  they  do  not  lose  it.''1 
And  he  goes  on  to  contrast  the  proper  pride  of  a  starving  beggar,  who 
will  not  accept  food  that  is  offered  to  him  with  contumely,  with  the  un- 
reasonableness of  one  not  in  urgent  want  who  will  accept  large  gifts  stained 
with  impropriety  and  wrong. 

The  age  of  the  Sophists  in  China  may  be  said  to  extend  from  the  7th 
century,  when  Lao-tze,  the  founder  of  Taoism — or  the  Doctrine  of  the  Way 
— was  born,  to  the  fall  of  Chow,  or  more  accurately  the  rise  of  T?sin  in  the 
middle  of  the  3rd  century  B.C. 

Confucius  was  born  551  B.C.,2 and  is  said  to  have  once  seen  Lao-tze,  while 
later  writers  are  fond  of  inventing  conversations  between  the  two,  in  which 
the  honours  of  debate  are  awarded  as  their  own  personal  sympathies 
prompt.  Mencius  was  born  371  B.C.3  Mih  Teih,  the  founder  of  one  of 
the  rival  schools,  flourished  between  the  two,  and  Vang  Choo,  another 
leader,  was  nearly  or  quite  contemporary  with  Mencius.  Chuang-tze,  the 
Chinese  Hegel,  flourished  about  half  a  century  later,  but  must  have  reached 
manhood  before  Mencius'  decease  :  Hui-tze,  the  most  sophistical  of  all  the 
philosophers  of  the  period,  was  contemporary  with  him.  During  ail  this 
period  teachers  and  disciples  occupied  themselves  with  discussions  con- 
cerning the  practice  of  charity  and  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  the  identifica- 
tion of  like  and  unlike,  the  separation  of  hardness  and  whiteness,  and 
about  making  the  not-so  so,  and  the  impossible  possible  ;  they  examined 
into  the  distinction  of  like  and  unlike,  the  changes  of  motion  and  rest,  the 
canons  of  giving  and  receiving,  the  emotions  of  love  and  hate,  and  the  re- 
straints of  joy  and  anger,4 — -till  the  philosophers  themselves  grew  weary 
and  practical  politicians  became  indifferent  and  exasperated. 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  any  substantial  addition  has  been  made  since 
this  period  to  the  range  of  speculative  thought  in  China  ;  the  doctrines  and 
in  most  cases  the   works  of  these  writers  are  still   familiar   to  the  learned  ; 

1    IVorls,  vi.  i.  x.  -    ]  )ied  47S  li.c. 

;;   Died  2SS  li.c.  4    C/uta/i^-lzit,  pp.  214.  41S. 


ss 


OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 


and  even  those  which  are  not  officially  recognised  as  books  to  be  '"taken 
up"  at  tile  Government  examinations,  have  a  more  than  merely  literary  in- 
terest, because  they  show  how  comparatively  slight  are  the  wi  lot  differences 
which  spontaneously  divide  the  beliefs  and  opinions  of  the  blackdiaired 
people.  The  teaching  of  Confucius  himself  may  be  summed  up  as  incul- 
cating imperial  democracy,  filial  piety,  and  the  rules  of  propriety.  The 
i  m  :epti  m  of  the  duty  of  riders  and  the  duty  of  sons  met  with  in  his  written 
sayings  did  not  originate  with  him,  and  rites  and  ceremonies  undoubtedly 
were  observed  long  before  his  time:  but  it  seems  probable  that  he  brought 
into  prominence  the  idea  to  which  China  owes,  perhaps,  most  of  her  merits 
and  defects. — that,  namely,  of  turning  every  moral  precept  into  a  rale  of 
propriety  :  so  that  every  point  of  conduct  from  least  to  greatest  may  be 
embraced  under  the  same  set  of  regulations,  while  every  virtue  for  which 
occasion  can  be  foreseen  may  be  enforced  as  "  proper/' and  vice  discounte- 
nanced as  unfashionable. 

Confucius  appeals  to  the  reason  and  self-respect  of  individuals,  while  in- 
viting them  to  reform  themselves,  or  to  adhere  spontaneously  to  the  rules 
of  propriety  :  the  ruling  classes  of  his  day  declined  to  accept  the  invitation, 
and  to  such  a  fiat  rejection  he  ha  1  no  answer  readv.  Active  resistance  or 
vehement  denunciation  are  courses  for  winch  no  rules  can  be  given,  since 
ihe\'  imply  the  want  of  mutual  respect  and  consideration  upon  which  the 
rales  of  propriety  are  based.  The  revolt  of  disinterested  energy  against 
oppression  finds  no  prompting  in  his  works:  but  Mencius,  though  not 
self  a  revolutionist,  might  have  inspired  revolutionaries,  and  perhaps 
did  so  in  Persia  centuries  later.1  Putentiallv  there  was  more  difference 
between  Mencius  and  the  master  he  acknowledged  than  between  either  of 
them  and  Mih  or  Chuang-tze,  but  Mencius  did  not  point  to  any  practical 
outlet  for  the  feelings  lie  inav  have  stirred:  and  public  opinion  in  Chin  . 
as  soon  as  it  felt  the  need  for  an  official  philosophy,  pronounce  i  itself  tin- 
c  piivocally  in  favour  of  the  tamer  and  less  militant  teaching  of  Coniucius. 
1  fisinterested  logic-chopping,  about  the  hard  and  white  (to  which  a 
1  .11  iso!  her  of  the  Chao  State  devoted  a  se]  a  rate  treatise  .  the  like  an  . 
unlike  and  the  identity  of  opposite*,  leads  to  no  practical  result,  moral  or 
material.        The    Chinese    comment    on    Hui-tze    and   his    congeners    is  : 

:11?  .  .  .  Alas  for  his  talent-.  lie  is 
He  investigates  all  crea- 
makes  a  noise  t  i  b:  iwn  an  e<  ho. 
adow.  Alasb'-  All  that 
i  ortion  of  Western  inetaphvsics  -and  it  is  surely  not  small  -winch  might 
be  described  in  these  term-,  as  the  endeavours  of  a  man  to  rice  with  his 
own  shad  >w,  was  thus  iwjc  ted  in  advance,  after  a  brief  trial,  as  of  no 
t  >  the  'hi  .  ;  KiiiL  1  m.  h  he  chief  object  of  the  typical  sophist  is 
•■  to  <  hi tradict  other  and  g  i  .  :  me  by  defeating  ail  <  imers.'  but  this  is 
"a  dark  and  narrow  way:''  C  mm.  ianists  and  Taoists  agree  in  desiring  a 


'•  (  >f  what  use  was  he  *,  .  tl 
extr   v,._  mtiy  energetic   and  vet  lias  no  -  icce 
.  but  does  not  i    >n<  hide  in 

He  is  like  a  man  running  a  race  with  ins  own 


454- 


THE  PHILOSOPHERS    OF  THE   HUNDRED   SCHOOLS.  89 

doctrine  which  shall  unite  and  harmonise  instead  of  provoking  controversy, 
and  they  agree  also  in  desiring  to  embrace  ethics  and  physics  alike  in 
their  theory  of  the  universe. 

Yang  and  Mill,  the  founders  of  two  opposite  schools,  which  Mencius 
regarded  it  as  his  mission  to  confute,  had  a  narrower  ambition,  and  their 
leading  principles  applied  only  to  human  conduct.  Yang's  doctrine,  as 
stated  by  Mencius,  is  "  Each  one  for  himself,'"' l  and  the  reports  of  his 
sayings  (none  of  his  writings  exist)  represent  him  as  a  despondent 
Hedonist  and  Egoist.  According  to  him  the  pains  of  life  outweigh  its 
pleasures,  and  the  imagined  compensations  of  posthumous  renown  are  a 
delusion.  Death  comes  soon  or  late  to  all,  and  the  infamous  tyrant  who 
is  cut  short  in  his  sins  may  have  got  more  enjoyment  out  of  his  life  than 
the  ruler  who  has  spent  his  days  in  hardship,  toiling  for  the  service  of  his 
people.  "  The  virtuous  and  the  sage  die;  the  ruffian  and  the  fool  also 
die.  Alive  they  were  Yao  and  Shun  ;  dead  they  are  so  much  rotten  bone. 
Alive  the}-  were  Ke:eh  and  Chow  ;  dead  they  were  so  much  rotten  bone. 
'Who  could  know  any  difference  between  their  rotten  bones  ?  While  alive, 
therefore,  let  us  hasten  to  make  the  best  of  life  ;  what  leisure  have  we  to  be 
thinking  of  anything  after  death  ?  "  ~ 

It  is  sometimes  argued  at  the  present  day,  in  the  "West,  that  this 
doctrine,  "  bet  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow  we  die,"  must  prevail  both 
logically  and  in  practice,  wherever  the  human  taste  for  pleasure  is  not 
controlled  by  revealed  religion.  Confucius  himself,  as  Dr.  Legge  ob- 
serves, though  not  irreligious,  is  emphatically  ////-religious,  and  the  same 
remark  applies  to  the  mind  of  the  people  of  whom  Confucius  is  the  chosen 
teacher;  yet  so  far  from  the  crude  Epicureanism  of  Vang  Choo  having 
proved  dangerously  attractive,  he  alone  has  found  no  champions  in  pos- 
terity, and  has  added  nothing  to  the  common  stock  of  Chinese  ideas, 
except  so  far  as  the  Taoists  have  borrowed  from  him  some  phrases  in 
disparagement  of  laboured  virtue. 

Tiie  leading  doctrine  of  Mill  seems  so  entirely  edifying  that  the  general 
reader  will  doubtless  share  the  surprise  expressed  by  Dr.  Legge  and  the 
Prince  of  Literature,  Han-wen-kung,  at  the  zeal  with  which  he  is  denounced 
by  Mencius,  and  the  habit,  which  seems  to  have  been  common,  of 
bracketing  Vang  and  Mill  together,  as  the  authors  of  disturbing  specula- 
tions. Mih's  principle,  according  to  Mencius,  is  :  To  love  all  equally,  and 
lie  objects  to  this  as  ignoring  and  denying  the  special  regard  due  to  a  father 
or  a  sovereign.  But  from  the  summary  of  his  views  given  by  a  disciple, 
it  seems  more  as  if  it  were  the  universality  and  reciprocity  of  such  affection 
than  its  equality  which  is  meant  to  be  insisted  on.  Mih  does  not  wish 
people  to  love  their  fathers  less,  but  to  love  everybody  else  as  well.-' 
In  this  lie  seems  to  go  somewhat  beyond  Confucius,  who  explains  "'re- 
ciprocity," the  one  word  upon  which  a  rule  of  practice  might  be  based,  by 

1    Works,  iii.  ii.  ix.  >j  q,   vii.  i.  xxvi.  S  i. 

-   Life  and  Works  of  Alciuius,  by  Dr.  Legge  U&75),  P-  93- 

'■'    Work:,  iii.  ii.  ix.  S  9. 


go  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

a  negative  version  of  the  golden  rule,  not  to  do  to  others  what  we  would 
not  have  them  do  to  ourselves.  But  Confucius  avowedly  regarded  the 
"loving  of  relatives''"  as  the  chief  field  for  the  exercise  of  the  human 
virtue  of  benevolence.  When  questioned  concerning  the  principle  of 
returning  kindness  for  ill-treatment,  he  said,  "  With  what  then  will  you 
recompense  kindness  ?  Recompense  injury  with  justice,1  and  recompense 
kindness  with  kindness.'"' 

Mih  is  said  to  have  rebuked  Confucius  for  standing  in  awe  of  great  men. 
and  not  blaming  the  officers  of  the  State  where  he  resided  ;  and  the 
criticisms  of  the  existing  state  of  society,  in  which  Mih  indulges,  to  show 
tiie  consequences  arising  from  the  want  of  universal  love,  might  seem 
somewhat  offensive  to  the  strictest  champions  of  authority,  since  it  is 
from  some  points  of  view  disrespectful  to  suppose  that  the  duties  of  rulers 
and  subjects  to  each  other  are  identical.  Mih  holds,  with  the  orthodox 
school,  that  it  is  the  business  of  the  sages  to  effect  the  good  government 
of  the  empire  ;  they  must  therefore  examine  into  the  causes  of  disorder, 
and  point  out,  with  a  view  to  their  removal,  whatever  is  injurious  to  the 
kingdom.  Under  this  head  he  includes,  "  The  mutual  attack  of  State  or. 
State:  the  mutual  usurpations  of  family  on  family  ;  the  mutual  robberies 
of  man  on  man  ;  the  want  of  kindness  on  the  part  of  the  sovereign  and 
of  loyalty  on  the  part  of  the  minister;  the  want  of  tenderness  and  filial 
duty  between  father  and  son  ;  these,  and  such  as  these,  are  the  things 
injurious  to  the  empire."  ~ 

All  this  would  be  remedied  if  mutual  love  and  mutual  benefits  were 
universal,  as  they  might  become,  Mih  supposes,  if  the  doctrine  were 
accepted  by  the  superior  class,  and  rewards  and  punishments  enlisted  on 
its  behalf.  It  is  difficult,  he  admits,  to  get  everybody  to  love  everybody 
else,  but  they  might  be  induced  to  try  if  their  rulers  insisted  011  it  ;  and 
having  tried,  they  would  need  no  further  pressure  to  make  them  persevere., 
because  they  would  at  once  feel  the  advantages  of  the  change.  At  this 
point  Mih  lays  himself  open  to  condemnation  as  one  of  those  who  re- 
commend virtue  for  the  sake  of  profit;  and,  in  fact,  his  argument  on 
behalf  of  mutual  benefits  and  love  is  distinctly  utilitarian;  men  are  to 
love  and  benefit  other  people's  parents,  in  order  that  other  people  may  be 
induced  to  love  and  benefit  their  parents. 

When  we  consider  the  history  of  Confucianism,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
Mih  over-estimated  the  power  of  organized  public  opinion  in  producing 
uniformity  of  belief;  but  he  seems  to  have  been  at  variance  with  the 
( 'onfucianists,  not  merely  in  wishing  to  denounce  ministers  and  rival 
princes  more  severelv  than  the}'  thought  respectful,  but  apparently  also  in 
contemplating  an  extension  of  the  imperial  prerogative,  if  the  sovereign 
once  adopted  his  own  svstem.  In  an  essay  on  ■•'The  estimation  to  be 
attached  to  concord,"    he   is   accused  of  asserting  :    '■  What   the  sovereign 

,'"  •.'    .'  ,  \:v.,  \xwi.  ?'.;'  2.    }.      (  f.   Plato,  A' ■'■//':'/  .  i.  S  332  ft'.      The  obvious  Greeb 
.',■:';;,::   ■  ■  i  ■  I  to  IVifti'U  aiul  harm  t<  >  enemies. 

-    \h-nciu-,   /.//    ■•//:'  //'  ;■     ,  p.   ion. 


THE   PHILOSOPHERS   OF  THE   HUNDRED    SCHOOLS.   91 

approves,  all  must  approve ;  what  the  sovereign  condemns,  all  must  con- 
demn ;  "  and  that  the  rule  of  truth  and  right  must  be  accepted  from  him 
as  "Infallible  head.''  1  le  lias  already  illustrated  the  possibility  of  induc- 
ing men  to  become  universally  affectionate  by  quoting  the  unreasonable 
things  done  and  suffered  by  officers  and  courtiers  to  please  their  ruler  ; 
and  though  we  cannot  suppose  him  to  mean  that  universal  hate  would 
be  right  if  approved  by  the  prince,  it  is  possible  that  his  teaching  really 
pointed  towards  political  centralization  and  the  establishment  of  a  less 
conservative  and  less  anarchically  democratic  doctrine  than  that  of  Con- 
fucius. The  politics  of  Hobbes  and  the  ethics  of  Adam  Smith  are  not 
essentially  incompatible.  As  a  utilitarian,  he  advocated  simplicity  and 
economy  in  funeral  rites,  while  the  aim  of  his  adversaries  was  to  restore 
and  amplify  every  ancient  ceremony;  and  it  is  possible  that  his  contempo- 
raries had  better  reasons  than  we  can  now  discern  for  regarding  his  school 
with  mistrust,  such  as  would  have  been  justifiable  if  its  actual  tendency 
was  to  pave  the  way  for  Li-sze  and  the  burner  of  the  books. 

The  alternative  is  to  believe  that  there  was  no  really  fundamental 
difference  between  the  two  schools,  and  that  their  hostility  was  owing  to 
the  jealousy  felt  by  rival  dialecticians  for  every  one  using  a  different 
vocabulary  from  his  own.  This  opinion  seems  to  have  in  its  favour  the 
high  authority  of  Han-yu.  who  concludes  his  reconciliation  of  the  two  sets 
of  opinion  :  ''The  literati  and  Mih  equally  approve  of  Yao  and  Shun  and 
equally  condemn  Keeh  and  Chow  ;  they  equally  teach  the  cultivation  of 
the  person  and  the  rectifying  of  the  heart,  reaching  on  to  the  good  govern- 
ment of  the  kingdom  with  all  its  states  and  families  ;  why  should  they  be 
so  hostile  to  each  other?  In  my  opinion,  the  discussions  which  we  have 
are  the  work  of  their  followers.  .  .  .  there  is  no  such  contrariety 
between  the  real  doctrine  of  the  two  teachers."  l 

It  only  remains  for  us  to  consider  the  doctrines  of  the  philosophers  who 
had  the  audacity  not  to  approve  of  Yao  and  Shun,  and  the  ingenuity  to 
give  profounder  reasons  for  the  paradox  than  those  advanced  by  the 
cynicism  of  Yang.  Confucianism  and  the  Classics  agree  in  conceiving  it 
to  be  the  business  of  the  individual  to  rule  his  passions  and  regulate  his 
conduct  so  that  his  life  may  be  in  harmony  with  the  permanent  influences 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  they  agree  in  considering  that  the  true  wisdom 
of  the  ruler  of  men  lies,  not  in  imposing  his  own  will  upon  them  from 
without,  but  in  enabling  them  to  follow,  widi  the  tranquillity  of  external 
nature,  the  satisfaction  of  their  normal  impulses  and  desires.  The  familiar 
names  of  Yao  and  Shun  represent  to  Chinese  imagination  the  realization 
of  this  ideal. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  3rd  century  B.C.  this  version  of  the  teaching 
of  antiquity  had  become  again,  thanks  to  the  exertions  of  Confucius. 
thoroughly  familiar  to  the  generations  whose  lot  was  cast  in  the  historic 
period  known  as  the  Warring  States.  The  orthodox  opinion  was  that 
the  Middle  Kingdom  had  degenerated,  for  the  third  time,  as  it  had  done 
1    I.v^'jA.s  Mencitis,  p.  12c. 


<j  2  OWNERSHIP  IX   CIIIXA. 

before,  prior  to  the   restoration  of  the  virtues   of  antiquity   under   Thang 
the  Successful  and  the  never-to-be-forgotten  Wen  and  Wu. 

There  may  have  been  some  excuse  for  Confucius,  who  had,  as  it  were, 
like  Hilkiah,  re-discovered  the  Book  of  the  Law,  and  might  hope  to 
inspire  a  new  restorer  of  the  empire:  but  when  centuries  had  gone  by 
without  this  result  doing  anything  but  recede  in  probability,  it  was  not 
unnatural  for  men  to  say,  li  the  doctrine  of  Vao  and  Shun  presided  over 
tiie  foundation  of  i  ur  State,  Vao  and  Shun  must  have  advised  amiss  or 
the  Commonwealth  would  not  have  reached  this  hopeless  plight.  But, 
while  Vang  and  Mill  diverge  from  the  ancient  paths  in  directions  which 
bring  them  nearer  to  the  erratic  individualism  of  Western  Europe,  Chuang- 
t/.c  and  the  philosophic  Taoism,  of  which  he  is  tiie  ablest  exponent,  differ 
only  from  classic  orthodoxy  in  going  yet  a  degree  or  two  beyond  the  point 
at  which  this  orthodoxy  appears  to  us  most  characteristically  and  ex- 
clusively Chinese. 

Chuang-tze  represents  the  orthodoxy  of  his  time  as  regarding  the  t;  dis- 
cussion of  holiness  and  wisdom  and  the  practice  of  charity  and  duty  to 
one's  neighbour,  as  the  utmost  ;  tints  attainable."1  The  adherents  of 
Lao-tze,  on  the  other  hand,  make  it  their  aim  '•  not  to  interfere  with  the 
natural  go  idness  of  the  heart  of  man."  '•  The  people  have  certain  natural 
instincts  ;  to  weave  and  clothe  themselves,  t  >  till  and  feed  themselves. 
These  are  common  to  ail  humanity  and  all  are  agreed  thereon.  Such 
instincts  are  called  "  1  le.iven-seiit.'  And  so  in  the  days  when  natural 
instincts  prevailed,  men  moved  quietly  and  gazed  steadily.  At  that  time. 
there  were  no  roads  over  mountains,  nor  boats,  nor  bridges  over  water. 
All  things  were  produced,  each  for  its  own  proper  sphere.  Birds  and 
beasts  multiplied  :  trees  and  shrubs  grew  up.  The  former  might  be  led 
by  the  hand  ;  you  could  climb  up  and  peep  into  the  raven's  nest.  For 
then  men  dwelt  with  birds  and  beasts,  and  ail  creation  was  (me.  There 
'.'.'ere  no  distinctions  of  good  and  bad  men.  Being  ail  equally  with  nit 
knowledge,  their  virtue  could  not  go  astray.  Being  all  equally  without 
evil  desires,  they  were  in  a  state  of  natural  integrity,  tiie  perfection  of 
human  existence.  But  when  sages  a]  |  eared,  tri]  ]  ing  ;  ■:■  ]  le  over  charity 
and  lettering  with  duty  to  one's  neighbour,  doubt  tound  it-  way  into  the 
w  rid.  And  then  with  their  gushing  over  music  and  fussing  over  cere- 
monies, the  en. giro  be'  me  'la. del  against  itself."''-  At  best  "charity 
:,::>'.  duty  to  one's  neighbour  are  as  caravanserais  :  you  may  stop  there  one 
i.iAu.  .  it  n  t  :  i'  iong,  or  you  will  incur  reproach.  Tiie  perfect  men  of 
-  '.  1  t  k  th  .:"  way  thro  ;gh  i  liarity,  st  i]  uing  a  night  with  duty  to  their 
neighbour,  i  n  their  wav  to  ram:  ie  through  transcendental  space. ":i 

S  .:..  til ii-  i  ii  vang-ti,  the  Vellow  Lmperor.  is  represented  as  the  first 
!'.  ist,  and  ;  resi  ;inc  over  the  it  usseau-iike  state  of  nature  in  which  men 
:  'iced  bciore  runnwe  ._■:  and;  .  iw  i  ;..  ..  the  gates  oi  evil.  Llsewhcre 
he  i-  bracketed  with  \;io  and   Shun,  as  causing  charity  and  duty  to  one's 


THE   PHILOSOPHERS    OF   THE   HUNDRED   SCHOOLS.   93 

neighbour  to  interfere  with  the  natural  goodness  of  the  heart  of  man. 
Thus  these  deluded  princes  "  wore  the  hair  off  their  legs  in  endeavouring 
to  feed  the  people,  and  exhausted  their  energies  in  framing  laws  and 
statutes.  Still  they  did  not  succeed/'1  They  made  it  customary  "to 
honour  the  virtuous,  advance  the  able,  give  precedence  to  the  good  and 
useful."  But  with  what  result?  "  If  the  virtuous  are  honoured,  emulation 
will  ensue.  If  knowledge  be  fostered,  the  result  will  be  theft."2  ';It  was 
the  appearance  of  sages  which  caused  the  appearance  of  great  robbers."  3 
'•'There  lias  been  such  a  thing  as  letting  mankind  alone;  there  has  never 
been  such  a  thing  as  governing  mankind."'  l  and  the  abortive  attempts  that 
have  been  made  towards  doing  it  by  way  of  rewards  and  punishments, 
have  only  deprived  them  of  all  leisure  "for  adapting  themselves  to  the 
natural  conditions  of  their  existence."  "  Only  bald  men  use  wigs  ;  only 
sick  people  want  doctors;"  and  if  the  State  is  in  a  healthy  condition,  it  will 
only  want  to  be  let  alone."' 

This  thesis  is  insisted  upon  in  a  variety  of  forms,  with  copious  illustra- 
tions ;  the  wisdom  of  statesmen  is  likened  to  the  bootless  ingenuity  of 
those  who  secure  their  valuables  in  corded  trunks,  with  locks  and  bolts  as 
a  precaution  against  thieves,  but  are  at  the  mercy  of  the  sturdy  villain  who 
carries  off  box  and  bolts  together.  But  the  argument  is  evidently  exagger- 
ated in  protest  against  such  teaching  as  that  of  a  later  philosopher, 
Seun-king,  who,  unlike  Mencius,  insisted  that  the  nature  of  man  is  evil, 
and  ';  self-denial  and  yielding  to  others  are  not  to  be  found  in  it," 
and  that  it  can  only  be  converted  to  propriety  and  righteousness  by  the 
influence  of  teachers  and  laws. 

Notwithstanding  the  quaintness  of  the  style,  and  the  looseness  of  the 
reasoning,  it  is  evident  that  the  ideas  which  Chuang-tze  represents  are 
those  of  a  rather  aged  society.  It  is  always  a  sophisticated  age  that 
believes  in  the  prehistoric  bliss  of  a  state  of  nature  :  the  last  word  of  philo- 
sophy is  generally  a  doubt  as  to  the  possibility  or  the  value  of  philosophic 
certainty:  religions  begin  by  inculcating  moral  duties,  and  end  by  de- 
nouncing the  worthlessness  of  mere  morality,  and  the  spirit  of  antinomian 
quietism  flourishes  when  the  law  and  morality  of  a  period  have  visibly 
broken  down.  In  the  acre  of  the  Warring  States,  robbers  of  every  degree 
abounded,  princes,  ministers  and  heads  of  clans  robbed  one  another,  and 
private  adventurers  who  adopted  the  same  career  in  some  cases  obtained  a 
renown  co-extensive  with  the  empire.  At  the  self-same  time,  philosophers 
and  philosophic  schools  were  multiplied,  and  sages  sprang  up  everywhere, 
and  the  people  crowded  after  them  excitedly.  If  the  sages  did  not  produce 
the  robbers,  the  robbers  must  have  produced  the  sages,  unless  both  alike 
were  the  fruit  of  a  general  disregard  of  Tao. 

Lao-tze  teaches  that  perfection  does  not  consist  in  charity  and  duty  to 
one's  neighbour,  but  in  yielding  to  the  natural  conditions  of  tilings. 
•"  Therefore  the  truly  great  man.  although  he  does  not  injure  others,  does 

!  CkuanS-!zit,  p.  123.  -  lb.,  p.  zy '.  ■•  lb.,  p.  113.  *  /•'.,  P-  "9- 

6  It\,   p.   i;j.  °  lb.,  p.  77.      He  was  in  uiiice  271-20  1  n.c. 


94 


OWNERSHIP  J.Y   CHINA. 


not  credit  himself  with  charity  and  mercy/'1  He  dues  not  seek  wealth, 
nor  yet  praise  for  disregarding  it  :  perfect  wisdom  and  virtue  are  spon- 
taneous, easy,  and  unmeritorious  :  their  crowning  fruit  is  inaction  and 
indifference,  the  former  so  far  as  the  man  himself,  and  the  latter  so  far  as 

his  relation  to  external  objects  is  concerned.  Vice  is  not  represented  as 
good,  or  virtue  as  evil  j  but  laborious  virtue  is  proved  to  be  a  mistake, 
because  the  virtue  of  sages  and  sovereigns  lias  not  availed  to  keep  the 
world  at  peace.  It  is  not  a  virtue,  according  to  Chinese  philosophers,  to 
labour  in  vain,  and  the  Taoists,  having  satisfied  themselves  that  action 
modelled  upon  the  examples  of  Yao  and  Shun  was  socially  unfruitful,  pro- 
ceeded to  include  abstention  from  such  vain  efforts  in  their  ideal  of  personal 
moralitv.  Men  have  the  same  duty  to  the  State  as  to  their  own  body,  and 
die  weariness  which  comes  of  much  serving  is  an  offence  against  the 
hitter.  •"Let  there  be  absolute  repose,  and  absolute  purity;  do  not 
wearv  vour  body,  nor  disturb  your  vitality,  and  you  will  live  for  ever.  .  .  . 
Cherish  and  preserve  your  own  person,  and   ail  the  rest  will  prosper   of 


The  original  idea  of  philosophic  Taoism  was  no  doubt  that  to  apprehend 
all  truth  it  was  necessary  to  cultivate  a  state  ot  intellectual  passivity,  in 
which  the  superficial  distinctions  between  being  and  not-being  disappear. 
but  the  disappearance  of  these  distinctions  has  a  further  result  :  for  if  Xot- 
bein^  is  the  same  as  Heine',  why  should  not  inaction  produce  the  same 
results  as  action,  or  rather,  since  inaction  is  the  higher  and  purer  state, 
results  much  greater  and  more  valuable  ?  The  Classics  themselves 
recognise  the  idea  of  immaterial  influences  radiating  from  the  person  of  the 
virtuous  sovereign,  and  the  occult  action  attributed  to  the  possessors  of 
Tao  is  scarcely  more  mysterious  than  that  ;  but  while  the  Confucianists 
practically  contemplate  only  an  imitative  or  contagious  virtue,  among  those 
exposed  to  the  harmonising  and  instructive  influence  of  a  Yao  or  Shun,  the 
Taoists.  having  lost  hold  of  the  limitations  of  sublunary  experience,  see 
no  reason  why  the  inactive  master  ot  the  "Way  should  not  remove  moun- 
tains and  live  for  ever,  as  well  as  ramble  at  pleasure  m  transcendental 
space. 

Chuanc-t/.e  himself  does  not  indulge  in  much  more  magical  formuke 
than  Heeel,  and  ids  anarchism  is  only  a  degree  more  radical  than  that  ot 
p  lC  -;h  i  )-Kinu.  He  looks  upon  hie  and  death  as  immaterial,  because  : 
]  :  p  in  d  e  course  of  nature,  and  neither  affect  tiie  eternal  essences  of 
things.  Nature,  as  the  great  parent,  comes  in  for  some  of  the  filial  piety 
which  in  y'./.:.°.  is  independent  of  special  gratitude  for  any  benefited  ais 
,  lVcr  and  ;  >\  the  first  great  git ts  ot  lite  and  nurture.  A  son  must  ^o  where 
'  ;s  •  rent-  '  :  i  him.  and  to  a  philosopher  there  is  nothing  terrible  in  the  idea 
• n  )t-  p>  tleui  and  bon  -  will  1  e  scattered  over  the  lair  surface  of  the  world. 
t,)  reaMiear  in  iresh  combinations.  "  1  ur  those  who  accept  the  pheno- 
menon of  birth  and  d  at  .  in  this  sense,  lamentation  and  sorrow  have  no 
jdace  "  even  at  tiie  death  of   friends:  and  the  desire  li  to  prolong  life,  and 

;    </:.:  ;::,-.'o..   ;  ,   204.  -    /.'.,   p.   127. 


THE   PHILOSOPHERS    OF   PJLE   HUNDRED    SCHOOLS. 


91 


to   do  away  with    one's  end,"  incurs   the   condemnation  due  to  one  who 

misunderstands  his  destiny.1 

The  later  TaoLsts,  who  practise  legerdemain  and  seek  for  elixirs  of 
immortality,  grossly  misunderstood  the  doctrine  of  their  masters;-  out 
abstract  philosophy  is  not  the  forte  of  the  Chinese,  and  it  is  easy  to  see- 
now  the  doctrine,  that  mind  is  superior  to  ail  the  restraints  imposed  by 
phenomenal  existence,  and  that  the  preservation  of  the  body  is  at  once  a 
duty  imposed  by  nature  and  proof  of  conformity  therewith, — should  lend 
itself  to  the  corrupt  reading  which  lias  enjoyed  a  vogue  equal  in  duration  if 
not  in  extent  to  that  of  the  established  orthodoxy. 

Philosophic  Taoism  is  cultivated  now  mainly  by  the  literati  who  do  not 
take  office,  or  by  officials  who  have  retired  ;  and  as  tiie  only  criticism  of  any 
weight  which  can  be  directed  against  orthodox  Confucianism  proceeds  from 
this  quarter,  it  is  notable  that  the  critics  plead  always  for  less,  not  different 
government,  and  undervalue  the  charms  of  office  instead  of  competing 
for  it.  The  opinion  of  the  school  on  this  subject  was  epigrammatically 
expressed  by  Chuang-t/.e.  when  the  prince  of  Ch'u  sent  two  high  officials  to 
invite  him  to  undertake  the  administration  of  the  State.  He  was  fish- 
ing when  they  reached  him,  and,  without  turning  his  head,  said  to  the 
envoys:  '' Y  have  heard  that  in  Ch'u  there  is  a  sacred  tortoise  which  has 
been  dead  now  some  3.000  years,  and  that  the  prince  keeps  this  tortoise 
carefully  enclosed  in  a  chest  on  the  altar  of  his  ancestral  temple.  Now 
would  this  tortoise  rather  be  dead  and  have  its  remains  venerated,  or  be 
alive  and  wagging  its  tail  in  the  mud  ?  "  "  It  would  rather  be  alive."  re- 
plied the  two  officials,  '"and  wagging  its  tail  in  the  mud.'''  "Begone," 
cried  Chuang-tze  :  '"I  too  will  wag  my  tail  in  the  mud."  ;; 

On  the  whole,  the  criticism,  assigned  to  Confucius  by  tiiis  author  him- 
self, can  hardly  be  improved  upon.  "These  men,"  he  said,  "travel  be- 
yond the  rule  of  life.  I  travel  within  it:  consequently  our  paths  do  not 
neet."  {  China  has  two  ideal  characters — the  sage  or  scholar  in  office,  who 
••  turns  night  into  day  in  his  endeavours  to  compass  the  best  ends,"  and 
the  sage  or  scholar  in  retirement.  Confucius  wishes  the  sage  to  be  em- 
1  loved,  though  admitting  tiiat  it  maybe  Ids  duty  to  retire  if  debarred  from 
executing  his  virtuous  intentions.  The  Taoists,  on  the  other  hand,  see  in 
this  daily  and  nightly  toil  itself  a  divergence  from  the  true  way,  and  regard 
tiie  retired  scholar  as  having  chosen  the  better  part. 

Buddhism  as  a  religious  philosophy,  appealed  to  the  same  class  of  minds 
as  Taoism,  and  its  greater  vogue  in  China  since  its  introduction  is  only 
iwing  to  tiie  fact  that  it  provides  for  the  "  retirement  "  of  persons  who  are 
neither  scholars  nor  sages,      buddhism,  like    Confucianism,  has  something 

:    /'    .  my  Chine     Scrap-Boo!:.      V.    II.    Hal  four   (1SS71,  p.  So.      Lieh-Ue,    the 

author  of  this  sentiment,  was  a  disciple  of  Lao-tze,  and  flourished   :ir:.  400  11. r. 

-  "How  ■■  .  ■■.'.■::  is  it."  exclaimed  Yen-t/.u,  "that  from  all  nti  piity  1  th  1  -  !  ■  •■ 
minion  lot  of  men  !  It  is  rest  for  the  virtuous  and  a  hidin^-away  of  the  had.'  /'. 
!>.  ()2.  Cf.  in  the  Egyptian  ritual  the  conclusion  ol  an  add:  -s  to  iIk  lead  :  "  Thy  ex- 
istence is  at  res-.." 

3   Chuoi^-tzu.  p.  217.  4  /-'.,  p.  S4. 


9 6  OWNERSHIP  IX  CIIIXA. 

for  all  classes,  but  it  provides  no  formula  for  practical  every-day  life  :  and 
as  the  Chinese,  like  their  national  teacher,  are  practical  and  positive  rather 
than,  devout,  all  their  serious  interests  are  regulated  by  Confucius,  and  only 
the  idle  after-beliefs,  superstition  pure  and  simple  is  left  for  Buddha. 

The  two  social  ideals  of  Chinese  thinkers  are  anarchy  with  the  iiis  of 
nature  tempered  to  the  masses  by  imperial  benevolence,  and  anarchy  with 
the  ills  of  nature  tempered  to  the  wise  by  philosophic  quietism.  And  the 
course  of  Chinese  history  for  more  than  2, ceo  years  has  been  so  much  in- 
fluenced, positively  and  negatively,  by  this  fact,  that  it  can  hardly  be  passed 
over  in  the  most  summarv  account  of  the  nation. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE  US  UK  PA  TfON  OF  T'SfN  AND   THE  BURNING  OF  THE  BOOKS. 

The  fall  of  the  Empire,  as  distinct  from  that  of  the  State  of  Chow,  practi- 
cally dates  from  the  fall  of  Tsao  and  Wu  (two  of  the  States  founded  some 
six  centuries  and  a  half  before  by  King  Wu)  in  485,  an  event  which  imme- 
diately preceded  the  regime  of  the  Warring  States.  This  period  (480-221 
11. c.)  begins  just  two  years  before  the  death  of  Confucius,  and  the  co- 
existence of  political  and  philosophic  discord  which  characterized  it  was  a 
matter  of  general  observation.  The  official  history  of  the  first  Han  Dynasty 
observes  :  "  Amid  the  disorder  and  collision  of  the  Warring  States,  truth 
and  falsehood  were  still  more  in  a  state  of  warfare,  and  a  sad  confusion 
marked  the  words  of  the  various  scholars."  l 

The  great  agent  in  the  revolution  which  threatened  to  destroy  the  in- 
fluence of  the  literary  class  and  the  whole  classic  literature,  was  the  State 
of  T'sin,  which  included  virtually  all  the  settled  part  of  China  west  of  the 
State  of  Chow,  and  the  eastern  reach  of  the  Yellow  River  in  its  great  bend, 
while  the  borders  of  Chow  itself  were  narrowed  by  grants  made  to  T'sin  of 
Sue  oldest  possessions  of  the  ruling  house.  This  cession  encouraged  the 
prince  to  commit  the  tentative  usurpation  of  offering  a  sacrifice,  to  Heaven 
with  imperial  ceremonies  and  establishing  a  bureau  of  state  historians. 
But  it  was  not  till  the  first  half  of  the  4th  century  i:.c.  that  T'sin  became 
a  formidable  candidate  for  the  reversion  of  the  empire.  From  the  8th 
century  onward  the  north  and  western  States  had  been  disturbed  at  in- 
tervals by  incursions  of  the  Tatars.  The  troops  of  T'sin,  in  consequence 
of  their  position  on  the  frontier,  thus  became  practised  in  war,  and  the 
State  came  to  be  regarded  by  all  the  neighbouring  princes  as  the  most 
desirable  of  allies  and  the  most  dangerous  of  foes. 

The  reign  of  Heaou  (360  336  u.c),  whose  son  and  successor  t  ink  the 
title  of  king,  was  memorable  for  other  innovations,  which  ended  by  in- 
troducing private  ownership  of  land  and  abolishing  the  Chow  system  o\ 
common  fields.  Apparently  the  revenue  of  T'sin  was  found  to  be  in- 
sufficient as  the  power  and  ambition  of  its  rulers  grew.  The  State  was 
large,  but  less  populous  than  its  neighbours,  and  wide  tracts  of  land  there 
tore  remained  uncultivated  between  the  village  enclosures.  Chan,;  vang, 
the  duke's  minister  and  adviser,  whose  name  deserves  to  be  recorded,  since 
China  owes  to  him  her  first  experience  of  an  agrarian  difficulty,  was  an 
able  and  original,  if  unscrupulous  statesman  ;  and  he  conceived  the  idea  ot 

1   Legge's  Confucius  (6th  Ed.),  vol.  i.  p.  3. 
VOU.   II. — P. C.  97  h 


9S  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

increasing  the  fighting  population  of  the  State,  by  abolishing  the  Chow 
svsteni  of  grouping  the  village  households  for  purposes  of  cultivation 
and  taxation,  while  retaining  the  corresponding  arrangement  for  military 
levies.1 

Separate  ways  were  made  between  the  homestead.-,  and  each  plot  was 
taxed  separately.  According  to  some  authorities  the  taxes  were  raised  <o 
as  to  amount  to  one-third  of  the  whole  produce,  but  the  change  seems  to 
have  been  more  radical  than  a  mere  increase  of  taxation,  and  it  is  pro- 
.  le  that  the  innovation  really  consisted  in  the  substitution  of  a  fixed 
and  uniform  contribution  for  a  proportion  of  the  varying  annual  crop. 
Such  a  change  has  always  been  found  profitable  by  financiers  and  burden- 
s  me  by  the  agricultural  masses,  and  it  is  certain  that  the  measures  taken 
were  unpopular,  and  gave  rise  to  disturbances  which  called  for  severe 
repression. 

As  an  attraction  to  settlers  from  other  States,  land  was  ceded  for  the 
first  time  in  absolute  ownership  :  vacant  lands  were  sold  in  freehold,  and 
both  these  classes  were  freely  saleable,  which  the  village  allotments  never 
had  been.  With  increase  of  population,  of  course  inequality  and  distress 
began;  war  impoverished  seme  and  enriched  others,  and  after  a  time  we 
find  a  Chinese  author  lamenting:  "The  owner  of  the  land  is  one.  but 
those  who  cultivate  it  are  ten."  '-'  Another  complaint  to  the  same  effect 
was  that  T'sin  "•  neglected  the  fields  and  taxed  men;"  '■'  the  taxes  on  persons 
being  largely  increased!,  while  the  State  ceased  to  provide  all  its  subjects 
with  lands  out  of  which  they  could  both  live  and  pay  the  ordinary  bar,  1 
tax.  The  holders  of  large  estates  brought  the  poorer  cultivators  intn  a 
state  of  dependence  by  paying  the  personal  tax  for  them,  and  thus  assum- 
ing towards  them  the  place  of  the  State  and  the  rights  of  a  ]  olitical 
superior  :  a  transaction  which  has  far  more  to  go  with  the  origin  of  rent 
than  the  competition  i  f  cultivators  tor  land  of  a  superior  quality,  but 
which  in  China  has  always  been  discouraged  instead  of  favoured  by  the 
laws.'1 

In  I  )e  Manila's  account  of  the  innovations  of  Kong-sun-yang,  as  he  calls 
him.  he  is  said   to  have  grouped   the  families   by   fives  and   tens   for  the 

.]/     ■  /        <tr  'a      ■'.*-•/."     '.*  A    !a    '   c/rie'ie  territorial   en  Chine   e. '  euie  .' 
M.   lvi.   11  7.  .-/.-..   }me  -er.,    vol.  vi.  pp.    2^-336.      T 

M 


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THE    USURPATION  OF   T'SIN.  99 

maintenance  of  order  by  mutual  responsibility  ;  idleness  was  punished,  and 
skilled  artisans  were  exempted  from  the  great  corvees.  The  tutor  of  the 
heir  apparent  was  put  to  death  when  the  latter  joined  the  party  of  mal- 
contents. The  separation  of  families  was  forbidden  during  the  father's 
lifetime,  and  scattered  families  were  brought  together  and  settled  in  town- 
ships, so  that,  according  to  this  version,  die  tendency  of  his  measures  was 
to  restore  rather  than  to  abrogate  the  system  of  ('how.  It  was  said  at 
this  time  that  while  T'sin  possessed  a  fifth  of  the  territory  of  the  empire, 
it  only  possessed  a  tenth  part  of  the  troops,  and  the  prince  was  accordingly 
urged  by  his  admirers  to  encourage  the  growth  of  population,  and  to  avoid 
the  dangerous  hostility  of  neighbouring  States  by  extending  his  possessions 
only  towards  the  west  at  the  expense  of  the  barbarians. 

De  Mailla's  original  is  so  late  that  his  authority  cannot  over-ride  that  of 
any  earlier  texts,  and,  in  fact,  the  policy  here  attributed  to  Chang-Yang 
bears  a  suspicious  resemblance  to  that  of  a  less  notorious  worthy.  The 
Tso  Chuen  records  a  successful  attempt  made  in  the  6th  century  B.C.,  in 
the  small  State  of  Ching,  to  restore  the  system  of  common  fields,  and, 
though  at  iirst  the  people  murmured  at  having  "  to  count  their  fields  and 
villages  by  fives,  and  accept  a  mutual  responsibility,"  within  three  years 
the  burden  of  the  popular  songs  was  changed,  and  they  hailed  the  inno- 
vating minister  as  their  own  and  their  children's  benefactor.1  This  ap- 
pears to  have  been  the  last  of  the  thoroughly  popular  restorations  of  the 
Tsing  system,  though  it  is  difficult  to  tell  how  far  the  unpopularity  of 
Wang  Mang  ''  was  due  to  his  attack  on  private  property,  and  how  far  to 
his  other  measures.  But  from  the  days  of  the  T'sin  innovations  onwards 
it  seems  to  have  been  usual  for  those  politicians  who  aimed  at  the 
aggrandisement  of  the  central  authority  to  disguise  their  encroachments 
by  a  professed  desire  to  restore  the  ancient  forms  of  communistic  agri- 
culture.''' The  distrust,  which  seems  to  have  been  generally  felt  towards 
such  professions,  rested,  so  far  as  we  can  judge,  upon  a  correct  impression 
that  local  self-government  was  a  better  protection  to  the  proprietary  rights 
of  individuals  and  communities  than  any  extension  of  the  imperial 
authority,  which  was  never  likely  in  practice  to  stop  short  at  enforcing  the 
joint  enjoyment  and  use  of  village  lands. 

Early  records  of  primitive  custom  sometimes  omit  to  mention  just  those 
points  which  are  of  most  importance,  and  so  are  treated  as  too  notorious 
to  need  description.  And  this  is  probably  the  reason  why.  as  already 
observed,  there  is  nothing  in  the  Chow  I.i  concerning  any  redistribution 
of  the  village  lands  at  intervals,  in  the  manner  recognised  by  most  archaic 
systems  of  village  ownership. 

1    Legge,  C.C.,  v.  pt.  ii.  p.  557. 

"    1  'ide   t  '■■'.',  p.  116. 

"  The  la»t  experiment  of  the  kind  was  made  as  recently  as  1724.  when  a  colony  of 
tifty  Mantchus,  fifteen  Mongols,  and  fifteen  Chinese  was  established  in  accordance 
with  the  "  Rites  of  Chow."  It  was  given  up  at  the  I  eginning  of  the  next  reign  in 
1730.  but  its    failure   or   aban  lemment  of  course  pi        -  iiing  as   1      the  m  Tits 

svstcm,  which  demands,  above  everything,  a  thoroughly  horn  'gene  ais  population. 


100  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

According  to  Ma-twan-lin,  under  the  first  three  dynasties,  all  lands 
belonged  to  the  State,  hut  not  to  the  Emperor,  whose  authority  over  the 
feudal  princes  was  like  theirs  over  the  cultivators  on  their  appanages.  The 
T'sin  were  the  first  to  make  one  man  master  of  everything,  "  but  when 
they  did  away  with  the  ancient  redivisions,  and  abandoned  the  ownership 
of  land  to  the  people,  so  as  to  form  a  divisible  inheritance,  they  gave 
what  they  had  no  right  to  give,  and  took  what  they  had  no  right  to  take." 
In  other  words,  the  clan  or  primitive  community  was  conceived  as  having 
a  title  to  the  land  it  occupied,  superior  to  that  of  the  sovereign  or  any 
individual  tenant  of  his.  but  Ma-twan-lin  obviously  regards  the  joint 
ownership,  subject  to  rt distribution,  of  the  village  lands  as  the  essential 
ire  of  the  Chow  system  ;  and  he  writes  as  if  this  feature  had  survived, 
as  it  easily  might,  the  more  conventional  nine-square  division  of  the  Tsing. 

With  the  institution  of  private  property  in  land,  the  State  ceased  on  the 
one  hand  to  consider  itself  responsible  for  providing  each  individual  with 
land  enough  to  live  by:  and  at  the  same  time  it  ceased  to  regulate  its  de- 
mands upon  the  taxpayer  by  his  known  circumstances  and  ability.  From 
the  days  of  Yu  the  land  was  divided  into  nine  classes,  which  were  taxed 
in  proportion  to  their  fertility;  but  T'sin  ''neglected  the  fields  and  taxed 
men,"  making  the  same  demands  upon  all  to  the  ruin  of  the  poorest. 

We  cannot  pretend  to  trace  in  detail  either  the  course  or  the  conse- 
quences of  this  economic  revolution.  It  was  the  first  example  of  an 
experiment  made  more  than  once  in  the  future,  an  attempt  to  combine 
political  absolutism  with  economic  individualism,  or  in  other  words  to 
subvert  at  once  the  two  mainstays  of  social  life  and  morals  in  China.  The 
heroes  of  these  adventures  have  never  won  the  final  victory,  which  carries 
1;  the  light  to  tell  their  own  story  to  posterity;  but  the  judgment 
due  to  the  unsuccessful  revolutionaries  is  implied  in  that  passed  upon  the 
system  which  thev  failed  to  subvert  :  and  those  who  value  what  survives 
in  modern  China  from  the  ritual  of  ('now  will  join  in  the  orthodox  con- 
demnation of  the  Emperor,  who,  in  the  year  255  n.c,  founded  the  famous, 
ived,  d\  ua-tv  of  T'sin. 

'1  he  final  1     :.        -t  w  is  .  ffei  ted  almost  without  a  blow  :  but  as  usual,  the 

date   given    :    1    the  ai  cession  of  the  dvnastv  somewhat  anticipates   the   full 

ap;  in  ipriatiou  of  all  il  ]  iren  igatives,  and  it  was  not  till  321   \\x.  that  a 

new    beginning   was   tr-tointe-i    for   the     vear,    and     black     chosen    as    the 

>ur.         !  - in  i    ....■.:.• :.    t     :    em]  ier< >r    fain  ms    as    bail'  ier    ot 

the  (heat  W     1   and        :      r  of  1         1       '.-.    was    said    to   be    the   son    of  a 

t.  v.       se   slave   the   re:_ning    prince  carried  off  when  cnct'uitc  ;   and 

■  tradition  represents  the  consensus   among  historians  to  disparage  the 

K  .  itimin  y  >  a  hi-  1  retell- 

'  :        dvi  ■  is  best    known   tor    the   destruction 

:  .   -:.  :  for  the  number  of  its  in  is,  eight  of 

wl    '  h  have  keen  pr     er\     id       I'lie    fir.it    of  them    has    been   attributed    by 


THE    USURPATION   OF  TSIN.  101 

Chinese  scholars,  whom  M.  Chavannes  follows,  to  the  King  of  T'sin,  reign- 
ing 327-294  n.c.  Its  authenticity  is  not  quite  unimpeachable,  hut  tiie 
balance  of  opinion  is  in  its  favour.  It  denounces  the  king  of  Chow  for 
his  improprieties,  cruelty,  and  impiety,  and  represents  T'sin  as  only  defend- 
ing itself  and  its  altars  against  unjustifiable  agressions.  A  suspicious 
phrase  is,  "He  came  to  take  possession  of  my  rampart  and  my  new 
ditch  ;  "  but  it  is  possible  that  a  wall  against  Chow  was  begun  by  an 
ancestor  of  the  emperor,  who  completed  the  wall  against  the  outer 
barbarians. 

The  second  inscription,  by  Tsin-chi-hwang-ti  himself,  speaks  of  his 
ordering  the  measures  and  standards  of  length  and  capacity  to  be  made 
uniform.  It  is  dated  the  26th  year  of  ins  reign,  when  he  had  "united  all 
the  earth  in  Ins  hand,  so  that  the  lords  and  the  black  heads  enjoyed  great 
tranquillity." 

The  third  inscription  disappeared  in  the  icth  century  a.d.,  but  was 
engraved  on  stone  by  a  scholar,  who  had  received  a  cast  of  it  from  his 
teacher.  The  remaining  inscriptions,  by  the  son  and  successor  of  the 
founder  of  the  dynasty,  and  by  his  officers  in  his  praise,  are  preserved  by 
Ssema-tsien.  They  are  diffusely  eulogistic,  and  suggest  that  the  flattering 
premier,  Le  Sze,  had  a  hand  in  their  composition.  If  the  black  heads 
had  been  as  virtuous  and  prosperous  as  the  inscriptions  declare,  it  would 
hardly  have  been  necessary  to  tell  them  so  at  such  length. 

The  fall  of  T'sin  was  caused,  in  the  belief  of  posterity,  by  ten  follies, 
among  which  the  erection  of  the  Great  Wall  was  counted.  But  parts  of  it 
had  been  erected  by  different  States  before  Hwang-ti's  accession,  and  if  he 
had  given  no  other  offence  to  the  prejudices  or  principles  of  his  subjects,  it 
is  not  probable  that  he  would  have  been  condemned  merely  for  completing 
and  connecting  the  defensive  works  already  begun,  the  need  of  which,  as 
already  observed,  had  been  specially  felt  in  his  own  State. 

The  first,  though  by  no  means  the  last,  of  his  unpopular  innovations  was 
the  extension  of  the  new  agrarian  system  of  T'sin  to  the  rest  of  the  empire. 
It  will  be  remembered  that  the  founders  of  the  Shang  and  Chow  dynasties 
both  came  forward,  not  as  destroyers  or  innovators,  but  as  restorers  of  die 
good  old  usages  of  the  past,  which  had  fallen  into  neglect  in  the  degene- 
rate hands  of  the  last  kings.  There  was  probably  no  constitutional 
principle  better  known  to  the  mass  of  black-haired  politicians  than  those 
regulating  a  change  of  dynasty.  That  T'sin  should  take  the  empire  was 
one  thing,  that  it  should  impose  its  own  new  laws  was  another,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  every  student  of  Chung  and  Mang1  who  had  learnt 
to  reverence  the  divine  memory  of  the  Duke  of  Chow,  would  be  pre] 
to  denounce  as  sacrilegious  any  proposal  to  abolish  the  common  fields,  the 

nlet    enclosures,    with    their    virtuous    ditches,    and    the    timed 
system  of  moderate  tithing.      What  had  provoked  discontent,  even  among 
the    unlettered   and   scattered    population    of    T'sin,    was    likely    to    rouse 
rel  elliuii  elsewhere  ;  and  while  the  scholars  would  be  as  usual  on  the  side 

1    CI    in::-!    ■     :.  '    M    :.._■•-.••  '  '  -  '  '  -•  -    '    '■•      ■ 


io2  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

of  the  populace,  the  nobles  and  princes  would  not  be  on  the  side  of  the 
Crown  :  for  ever}'  Suite  had  the  memory  of  some  injury  or  affront  to  redress, 
to  say  nothing  of  the  humiliation  inflicted  on  all  the  princes,  who  found 
themselves  deprived  of  their  virtual  independence  by  the  restoration  of  a 
central  authority. 

Bearing  these  facts  in  mind,  we  shall  be  able  to  understand  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  great  council  held  in  the  year  212  B.C.,  as  reported  by  the 
historian.  Ssema-tsien,  a  century  later,  and  translated  by  Dr.  Legge  in 
the  prolegomena  to  the  first  volume  of  his  invaluable  edition  of  the  Chinese 
Classics.  In  the  eighth  year  after  his  recognition  as  emperor,  and  the 
thirty-fourth  of  his  reign  as  king  of  T'sin,  Chi-hwang-ti  gave  a  feast  to  the 
--event)-  great  scholars  of  the  empire,  whose  official  position  very  likely 
gave  the  suggestion  of  the  still  famous  Haniin  College,  founded  at  the 
beginning  of  the  Tang  Dynasty.  The  emperor  was  of  course  concerned  to 
conciliate  these  potentates,  and  Chinese  usage  warranted  him  in  expecting 
more  or  less  extravagant  compliments  from  his  guests. 

The  first  to  speak  was  one  of  his  chief  ministers,  who,  after  giving  a 
glowing  picture  of  the  happy  tranquillity  of  the  whole  empire,  concluded  : 
"This  condition  of  tilings  will  be  transmitted  for  10,000  generations. 
Prom  the  highest  antiquity  there  has  been  no  one  in  awful  virtue  like  your 
majesty."  The  emperor  was  pleased  with  this  flattery,  but  one  of  the 
great  scholars,  a  native  of  Tse — the  latest  and  most  formidable  of  the 
rivals  of  T'sin — advanced  and  said:  "  The  sovereigns  of  Yin  and  Chow, 
for  more  than  a  thousand  years,  invested  their  sons  and  younger  brothers, 
and  meritorious  ministers,  with  domains  and  rule,  and  could  thus  depend 
upon  them  for  support  and  aid ;  that  1  have  heard.  But  now  your 
majesty  is  in  possession  of  all  within  the  four  seas,  and  your  sons  ami 
younger  brothers  are  nothing  but  private  individuals.  .  .  .  Without 
the  support  (of  relatives),  where  will  you  find  the  aid  which,  you  may 
require?  That  a  state  of  things  not  modelled  from  the  lessons  of 
antiquity  can  long  continue  : — that  is  what  1  have  not  heard.  Tsing  (the 
former  speaker)  is  now  showing  himself  to  be  a  flatterer,  who  increases  the 
errors  ot  your  majesty,  and  not  a  loyal  minister." 

Thi  '    m    here   raised   was   not    new.      The   creation   in   the    12th 

century  n.c.  of  hereditary  ,     ;   mages,  held  by  branches  of  the  ruling  house, 
was  an  innovation,   to  which  the  dynasty   of  Chow  was  supposed   to  have 
'  ■  .  for  much  of  its  success,  though  it  is  sufficiently  obvious  now 
the  t!     .  ot    the  Warring  States  were  d\\^  to  the  resulting  multipli- 

cation   ot    feudal    princes.       In    consequence   of  a    palace   plot    by  a   step- 
ther,  th   was  taken   in  Tsin,  at  the   beginning   of  the   ;th  century 

i  a  ..  that  they  \vi  din  i  n  in:  tin  in  the  State  any  of  the  sons  ot  their 
marquises  :  ,  :  !  ::  m  that  time,  f  r  nearly  a  centurv,  aci  ording  to  the  Tso 
1     .  .    ".  ■"thei      wei  in  it  which    were    branches    ot    the   ruling 

The  <     ns      uent    im     nveniences    are   not    described,  but    we    are 
told  tiiat  a  1  ...        -■  .I2,h t  to  avoid  them    by   giving    offices    ol    various 

:  '    ;■...'!<  v, ■■■:-.  ( '.  C.  v.  p.  291. 


THE    USURPATION  OF  T'SIN.  103 

degrees  to  the  sons  of  his  ministers,  so  as  to  create  an  artificial  set  of 
branch  families.  The  end  of  this  State,  however,  did  not  form  an  inviting 
precedent,  for  after  figuring  as  one  of  the  presiding  States  and  a  rival  of 
T'sin,  Tsoo,  and  Tse,  about  400  r.c,  Tsin  had  been  broken  up  into  three 
marquisates  and  lapsed  into  insignificance.  Under  these  circumstances, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  politicians,  of  what  we  may  call  the  new  Imperialist 
School,  suspected  the  provincial  scholars  of  invoking  the  authority  of  the 
ancients,  to  weaken  the  imperial  power,  by  restoring  the  disorganization 
and  turbulence  of  the  period  of  feudalism. 

The  emperor,  we  are  told,  invited  others  of  the  assembly  to  express  their 
opinions,  upon  which  the  premier,  Le  Sze.  spoke  as  follows:  "The  five 
emperors  were  not  one  the  double  of  the  other,  nor  did  the  three  dynasties 
accept  one  another's  ways.  Each  had  a  peculiar  system  of  government, 
not  for  the  sake  of  the  contrariety,  but  as  being  required  by  the  changed 
times.  Xow,  your  .Majesty  has  laid  the  foundations  of  imperial  sway,  so 
that  it  will  last  for  io.oco  generations.  This  is  indeed  beyond  what  a 
stupid  scholar  can  understand.  And  moreover,  Yue  only  talks  of  things 
belonging  to  the  three  dynasties  which  are  not  fit  to  be  models  to  you. 
At  other  times,  when  the  princes  were  all  striving  together,  they  en- 
deavoured to  gather  the  wandering  scholars  about  them;  but  now  the 
empire  is  in  a  stable  condition,  and  laws  and  ordinances  issue  from  one. 
Let  those  of  the  people  who  abide  in  their  homes  give  their  strength  to 
the  toils  of  husbandry,  and  those  who  become  scholars  should  study  the 
various  laws  and  prohibitions.  Instead  of  doing  this,  however,  the 
scholars  do  not  learn  what  belongs  to  the  present  day.  but  study  antiquity. 
They  go  on  to  condemn  the  present  time,  leading  the  masses  of  the 
people  astray  and  to  disorder. 

"At  the  risk  of  my  life,  I,  the  prime  minister,  say. — Formerly  when  the 
empire  was  disunited  and  disturbed  there  was  no  one  who  could  give 
unity  to  it.  The  princes  therefore  stood  up  together;  constant  references 
were  made  to  antiquity  to  the  injury  of  the  present  state:  baseless  state- 
ments were  dressed  up  to  confound  what  was  real,  and  men  made  a  boast 
of  their  own  peculiar  learning  to  condemn  what  their  rulers  appointed. 
And  now  when  your  Majesty  has  consolidated  the  empire,  and  distinguish- 
ing black  from  white  has  constituted  it  a  stable  unity,  they  still  honour  their 
peculiar  learning  and  combine  together;  they  teach  men  what  is  contrary 
to  your  laws.  When  they  hear  that  an  ordinance  has  been  issued,  every 
one  sets  to  discussing  it  with  his  learning;  in  the  court  the}'  are  dissatis- 
fie  1  in  heart  :  out  of  it  they  keep  talking  in  the  streets.  While  they  m 
a  pretence  of  vaunting  their  master,  they  consider  it  fine  to  have  ex 
ordinary  views  of  their  own.  and  so  they  lead  on  the  people  to  be  guilt}"  or 
muring  and  evil  speaking.  If  these  things  are  not  prohibited,  your 
sty's  authority  will  decline  and  parties  will  be  formed.  The  best  way 
is  to  prohibit  them.  I  pray  that  all  the  records  in  charge  of  the  historio- 
graphers be  burned,  excepting  those  of  T'sin;  that  with  the  exception  ot 
those  officers  belonging  to  the  Board  of  Great  Scholars,  all  throughout  the 


ic4  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

e:i  pire  who  presume  to  keep  copies  of  the  Shi-King,  or  of  the  Shoo-King, 
or  of  the  books  of  the  hundred  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  Shi  and  the  Shoo  be  put  to  death, 
and  their  bodies  exposed  in  the  market  place;  that  those  who  make 
mention  of  the  past  so  as  to  blame  the  present,  be  put  to  death  along  with 
their  relatives  :  that  officers  who  shall  know  of  the  violation  of  those  rules 
and  not  inform  against  the  offenders,  be  held  equally  guilty  with  them: 
and  that  whoever  shall  not  have  burned  their  books  within  thirty  days 
after  the  issuing  of  the  ordinance,  be  branded  and  set  to  labour  on  the  wall 
for  four  years.  The  only  books  which  should  be  spared  are  those  on 
medicine,  divination,  and  husbandry.  Whoever  wants  to  learn  the  laws 
may  go  to  the  magistrates  and  learn  of  them/''  The  imperial  decision  was 
"  Ap;  roved.-'' 

As  the  posses-ion  of  a  common  writing  and  a  common  literature  has 
always  been  one  of  the  strongest  influences  at  work  in  maintaining  the 
unity  of  die  Chinese  Empire,  it  is  carious  that  this  attack  upon  letters 
and  the  literati  should  haxc  been  made  in  the  interests  of  centralization. 
bur  the  same  minister  who  is  made  answerable  for  the  burning  of  the 
i  ks  addressed  another  memorial  to  the  emperor,  when  if  was  proposed 
to  banish  all  natives  of  other  States,  in  which  he  urged  the  importance 
of  employing  all  the  talent-  of  the  empire.  So  that  it  is  probable  that 
after  all  his  ambition  was.  rather  to  substitute  a  hierarchy  of  practical 
st  itesmen  for  the  arrogant  and  unworldly  students  of  antiquity,  than  to  do 
iway  with  the  peculiarly  Chinese  notion  of  absolute  government,  su 
the  :.  Ivice  of  intelligent  ministers. 

The  (  ondemned  books  included  the  popular  'poetry  and  sacred  lit  irgi  :s 
a-  well  a-  the  law-,  the  legends,  and  the  history  of  antiquity.  So  far  as 
Confucius  car.  be  said  to  have  founded  a  religion  it  was  the  religion  ot 
.  tters  and  ot'  prietv.  and  this  religion  was  to  be  outraged  by  a  new  Inqui- 
sition, Martyrs  were  not  wanting.  The  persecution  cannot  haver  ged 
for  more  th       three  vears.  but   on  one  occasion  46c  lars  were  bun     1 

live  1    r  i     vim:  the  1    rbi dden  bd  iks  in  their  p  issessi  in.  and  the  emperor's 
rld'-st  s  >n.  who   had  ventured  to  intercede  for   them,  was   banished   to  the 
(irea!  \V;    1.      Three  years  after  the  passing  of  the  edict   the  emperor  died, 
and    his    successor,  after   a    troubled    reign    of    another    three    years,  a    - 
1  ■  1    bv    the    unlearned     bat    goo  1-n  itured    -    i  iter    1  :    1    mine    \vh  1 
)\ ::  stv,  and  t  1  ik  the  title  1  :   Km;  er   r,  201  1 

:'  and  imarj  u  Lenta;  iv  ■  :  he  came 
air  \  oke  of  TVm  :  aii  1  _■  ...  ws  1  a  the  late 
■  i.  an  I  in  t;i  -ir  pi ace  three  pi  nalfies  alone  imposed.  - 
hate  punishment  for  as.-aait  and  thett. 
ail  of  the  ]  ■'.  -a  •  iting  b\  nasty  were  n<  a 
-  oi    t..e  -a: a  .....  _  liter   ti    those  1 

bad  i  ulers.      The 
-   '     '    r    v,  h     - :    jd  high  in    .  .  - 


1   sty,  a: 

■  • 

a. on    w 

m  ti;  : 

.and  i: 

d    prop 

1  t 

n    .  a ,  , 

mi; 

r  1 '  j  t'n 

THE    USURPATION   OF   T'SIN.  105 

favour,  to  restore  the  ancient  books.  "  What  do  I  want  of  year  books?  " 
he  asked  with  some  scorn.  ,:  I  have  conquered  the  empire  on  horseback  and 
made  myself  your  master  without  any  help  from  Shoo  or  Shi.:'  To  which 
of  course  it  was  replied,  that  the  empire  may  be  conquered  from  the  back 
of  a  horse,  but  that  it  must  be  preserved  and  administered  by  the  help  of 
wisdom  and  justice,  as  the  disasters  of  the  house  of  T'sin  abundantly 
showed.  The  temporary  misunderstanding  which  had  led  to  the  scholars 
appearing  as  the  champions  of  feudalism  was  cleared  up,  and  they  began 
again  to  take  the  position  which  they  regarded  as  their  due,  as  advisers 
and  spiritual  auxiliaries  of  the  strongest  depository  of  temporal  power. 

( )ne  traditional  classification  gave  as  the  four  sources  of  disorder  <;  equal 
queens"  (or  the  concubine  put  on  a  level  with  the  first  wife),  "equal  sons''' 
(younger  or  halt-brothers  put  on  a  level  with  the  heir),  "  two  governments" 
{i.e.  favourites  on  a  level  with  ministers),  and  '"  equal  cities/'  '  or  provincial 
towns  allowed  to  rival  the  capital.  The  orthodox  doctrine  was  distinctly 
in  favour  of  a  strong. central  government,  and  though  it  was  also  in  favour 
of  a  benevolent  government,  the  Han  Dynasty  soon  came  to  understand 
that  they  could  afford  not  to  oppress  the  masses  of  the  people,  if  they 
could  succeed  in  abolishing  the  feudal  aristocracy  and  establish  themselves 
as  its  only  heir.  The  soldierly  emperor  paid  a  solemn  visit  to  the  grave 
of  Confucius  and  rendered  imperial  honours  to  his  memory  (195  i:.c.  , 
"which  had  never  been  done  before;"  he  employed  scholars  to  prepare 
official  treatises  on  government,  music,  tactics,  and  the  like,  and  his 
successors  not  only  had  the  ancient  texts  restored,  edited  and  commen- 
tated by  the  learned,  but  also  listened  favourably  to  the  advice  of  scholars, 
who  wished  to  have  ail  doctrines  save  those  of  Confucius  proscribed,  and 
to  have  the  doors  of  office  closed  against  all  who  had  not  passed  through 
the  schools  established  for  the  study  of  orthodox  learning. 

The  T'sin  Dynasty  was  allowed  to  bear  all  the  odium  of  the  change  from 
a  feudal  to  a  centralized  government,  but  the  Han  emperors  surrendered 
none  of  the  ground  gained  by  their  unpopular  predecessor.  They  made 
no  attempt  to  restore  the  feudal  system,  the  destruction  of  which  was 
counted  among  the  ten  great  follies  of  the  fallen  dynasty.  On  the  contrary. 
they  were  on  their  guard  against  the  growth  of  a  new  aristocracy  of  royal 
kinsfolk,  and  when  the  great  emperor  Wu-ti  was  warned  that  many  princes 
of  the  imperial  house  held  territories  of  1,000  li  in  extent,  he  issued  an 
edict  (128  e.g.),  o  mpelling  all  the  feudal  nobles  to  divide  half  their  domain.-, 
e  inally  amongst  their  younger  sons,  leaving  only  the  other  half  to  the 
eldest,  whose  portion  would  be  again  subdivided  in  the  next  generation. 

It  is  more    difficult   to  estimate    the  effects  of  another  of  the  ten  follies. 
the  erection  of  the  Great  Wall  of  China  ;  but  it   is  remarkable   to  rind   ;'..- 
once   admired   contribution   to  the  wonders    of  the  world,  uniformly   t    . 
demned   by  native   writers  as  a  costly  and   injurious    blunder.      U   r  >i 
Richthofen    has   suggested   that   the    strength   of  this   barrier   contributed 
indirectly  to  the  fall  of  Rome  ;  that  the  Tatar  hordes  which,   for   centuries 

1    '  \C,  vul,  v.  p.   71, 


io6  OWNER  Sill  J'  IN   CHINA. 

had  been  seeking  an  outlet  on  the  east,  finding  their  path  blocked  in  that 
direction,  turned  their  faces  westward,  and  gave  the  first  impetus  to  the  fall 
of  that  human  avalanche,  which  afterwards  swept  like  a  Hooded  mountain 
torrent  over  Europe.1  There  is  something  fascinating  in  the  hypothesis 
which  establishes  an  unconscious  link  between  the  histories  of  the  greatest 
empires  of  the  East  and  West  :  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the 
military  revival  of  the  Chinese  empire  was  one  of  the  causes  which  contri- 
buted to  make  the  line  of  least  resistance  to  barbarian  invasion  point 
Romewanls. 

But  the  disapprobation  with  which  serious  Chinese  politicians  always 
regarded  the  Great  Wall  was  not  based  merely  on  prejudice  against  its 
maker,  nor  entirely  upon  the  useless  and  oppressive  expenditure  connected 
with  it;  and  the  safety  of  the  Chinese  border  province  after  its  erection 
was  not  believed  to  be  owing  to  its  protection.  The  safety  of  the  frontier 
depended  on  the  existence  behind  it  of  a  force  strong  enough  to  take  the 
offensive  against  an  insolent  neighbour,  and  the  early  Han  emperors  used 
the  wall  rather  as  a  base  for  their  own  campaigns  in  Central  Asia  than  as 
a  rampart  behind  which  to  shelter  themselves  from  attack.  The  feeling  ot 
the  historians  in  regard  to  frontier  defences  is  like  that  concerning  the 
varying  preferences  of  successive  emperors  for  the  Western  or  the  Eastern 
court,  as  the  cities  of  Si-ngan-iu  and  Loyang  (the  modern  Honan-fu)  are 
respectively  called.  Loyang  means  luxury  and  love  of  peace  in  the  heart 
of  the  kingdom,  and  probable  encroachments  from  the  neglected  enemy  on 
the  borders.  Si-ngan-fu  means  a  strong  government,  and  a  ruler  prepared 
in  his  own  person  to  stand  between  the  peace-loving  masses  and  the  pre- 
sumption of  barbarians  beyond  the  pale. 

Something  of  the  same  idea  no  doubt  underlies  the  d'.ctum  of  the  Ei  Ivi  :~ 
".Many  ramparts  in  the  country  round  and  near  (its  capital  city),  are  a 
disgrace  to  its  high  ministers  and  great  officers."  With  slight  variation  the 
experience  of  Chow  repeated  itself  so  often  in  the  revolving  centuries  that 
it  became  an  historical  commonplace  at  last  that  the  safety  of  a  province 
depended  on  the  army,  or  the  general,  and  not  upon  the  wall.  '1  lie  decay 
of  a  dynasty  was  always  at  hand,  when  the  emperor  sought  ease  and  luxury 
in  the  centre  or  southern  provinces,  instead  of  heading  campaigns  himself 
beyond  the  frontier,  or  giving  peace  to  the  frontier  provinces  by  his 
vicinity. 

In  general,  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  usurpation  of  T'sin,  and  the 
accession  of  the  Hans,  did  not  together  do  more  to  restore  the  monarchy 
to  the  position  it  occupied  under  the  first  kings  of  Chow  than  to  alter  or 
revolutionize  t  al  constitution.     T'sin-chi-hwang-ti   certainly  aimed 

at  reviving  the  ;  n<  ient  Empire  in  fact  and  name,  and  die  pertormance  ot 
•//gaud   r/w  ceremonies,  with    which  lie  vainly  son-lit   to  consolidate 

;  dynast}',  was  evidently    regarded    as  meritorious,  when  etlected    by   the 

ror  Wu  in   mo  i:.c.       The    correct   form  of  these  ceremonies  was    not 

c;ir-y  to    ascertain,  owing  to    their    being    normally   repeated    only  alter   an 

1    Chin  i,   i.   p.  445.  '-'   S.Jh,  xwii.   D2. 


THE    USURPATION    OF   T'SIN.  :o7 

interval  of  centuries.  The  account  of  them  by  Ssema-tsien  no  doubt  em- 
bodies all  that  was  ascertainable  by  the  learning  of  his  age.  For  the  fotig 
ceremony  the  Emperor  ascends  a  high  hill  towards  the  east,  raises  a  mound 
upon  it.  invokes  the  gods,  and  adjures  them  to  favour  the  Hundred 
Families.  Then  he  descends  ;  a  space  is  levelled  on  some  adjoining  hill, 
and  there  he  invokes  the  gods  of  earth,  and  this  completes  the  clian 
ceremony,  the  idea  clearly  being  to  worship  heaven  upon  a  site  naturally 
and  artificially  raised,  and  earth  upon  one  artificially  levelled. 

Han-wu-ti  chose  an  auspicious  time  for  his  celebration  ;  two  years 
before  (112  B.C.),  he  passed  by  Loyang,  and  granted  thirty  //  of  ground 
and  the  title  of  Prince  of  Chow,  to  a  representative  of  the  Chow  Dynasty, 
to  enable  him  to  accomplish  the  sacrifices  to  his  ancestors ; x  and  for  a 
Chinese  ruler  to  deal  in  this  way  with  his  predecessors  is  always  an  indica- 
tion that  the  "  Appointment  of  Heaven  "  has  declared  unequivocally  in  his 
favour.  After  the  important  ceremony,8  the  emperor  bestowed  an  ox  and 
ten  measures  of  wine  on  every  group  of  100  hearths,  while  orphans,  widows, 
and  octogenarians  received  a  piece  of  silk  and  cloth.  The  places  through 
which  he  had  passed  were  also  exempted  from  corvees,  and  those  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  place  of  sacrifice  from  all  taxes,  to  make  up  for  the 
expenses  thrown  on  them  by  the  royal  progress.  A  general  amnesty  was 
also  proclaimed,  and  all  charges  which  had  been  pending  for  two  years  or 
longer  were  to  be  dropped. 

1  Joum.  Pel:  Or.  Soc,  iii,  p.  50.  "-  /{>.,  p.  bo, 


CHAPTER  X. 
REIGN   OF   THE    HAN  DYNASTY. 
(206  B.C.-229  A.D.) 

Tin-:  disorders  which  had  preceded  the  rise  of  the  Han  Dynasty  had  im- 
poverished all  classes,  except  the  speculative  traders,  whose  nets  generally 
secure  the  largest  haul  when  cast  into  the  troubled  waters  of  a  long  war. 
Prosperity  was  long  in  returning.  The  able-bodied  men  had  been  taken 
off  to  the  army,  the  old  and  Noting  were  employed  in  carrying  food;  the 
rich  drove  in  bullock-carts  for  chariots,  and  even  the  emperor  could  not 
afford  a  team  ot  horses  to  match.  Corn  was  scarce,  and  monopolists  drove 
up  prices,  holding  out  for  a  rise  till  rice  was  3:/.  a  pound  and  famine  was 
in  sight. 

The  traders,  who  alone  had  prospered  during  the  war,  were  held  answer- 
able by  the  impoverished  people  tor  their  sufferings,  and  the  soldier 
Kmperor  found  it  popular  as  well  as  convenient  to  levy  additional  taxes 
upon  this  class  in  order  to  keep  them  down,  while  they  were  also  forbidden 
to  wear  silk,  or  drive  in  carriages  :  and  when  a  t\-\\-  years  later,  these 
restrictions  were  withdrawn,  the  sons  ot  traders  were  still  disqualified  from 
holding  official  rank.1  At  the  same  time  money  was  raised  by  selling 
titles  of  honour  and  rank  to  rich  persons  willing  to  contribute  grain  for 
the  public  service,  while  rich  criminals  were  allowed  to  commute  their 
penalties  for  a  tine.  by  this  means  the  burdens  of  the  cultivators  were 
relieved  -  >  that  the  peasants  no  longer  had  to  sell  their  crops  at  half  va 
or  to  borrow  money  at  usury,  or  to  sell  their  children  or  the  ancestral  home- 
stead to  swcil  the  gains  of  unprofitable  idlers. 

With  the  return  of  peace  abundance  reigned  again.  Village  elders  ate 
meat  and  drank  wii  is  in  the  golden  age  ot  Wen  and  \\  11  :  the  Govern- 
ment :  "  is  ries  were  fuil,  t'ne  ]  ul  lie  granaries  were  well  st  K/ked,  the  im- 
perial storehouses  were  crammed  to  overflowing,  so  that  the  grain  grew 
mou'.dv  because  there  were  none  to  eat  it.  though  horses  were  again  plenti 
:  1]  .,:  in  droves  along  the  high  road.      With  the    growth  of 

-.  n  :  mbition  revived,  and  the  military  c.\- 
■  iitions,  .'...'  ■  i\  red  t'ne  Han  emperors  with  gl  ry.  and  spread  the 
sway  ot  ( 'iiin     ir    .,:       Core.i  to  Khotan,'-'  pre]  ired  the  dynasty's  decay. 

The  11  lib     re   tne  oul\   Cninese  emperors  who   seem    to  have   aimed   at 


u  ]  n  _  ' 


ie    ordinary  arts  ot  war  and   conquest. 
!■;.-  I!  •.'     ;-.  A    1  ;  :    -.    i>*>  ;.  ;  .   5;. 


.   7. 


::.    1  : 


REIGN  OF   THE  HAN  DYNASTY.  109 

123rd  book  of  Ssema-tsien's  history,  which  treats  of  the  trading  expedi- 
tions and  commercial  wars  of  the  first  Hans,  during  the  years  between 
140  and  97  B.C.,  has  been  translated.1  and  gives  a  very  graphic,  circum- 
stantial and,  to  all  appearance,  accurate  account  of  the  Chinese  campaigns 
with  the  kingdoms  east  of  the  central  desert  and  the  motives  which  led 
to  them.  The  chief  of  these  kingdoms,  Ta-ouan  and  Ou-sun,  were  identi- 
fied by  Klaproth  approximately  with  the  modern  districts  of  Hi  and  Fer- 
ghana. They  were  reported  to  be  populous,  civilized,  resembling  the 
I  Ian  in  their  government,  and  to  contain  rare  and  valuable  commodi- 
ties. It  was  therefore  represented  to  the  emperor  that  they  might  be  in- 
duced by  presents  to  bring-  t lie  homage  of  their  commerce.2  Caravans  were 
accordingly  sent  to  explore  alternative  routes;  those  to  the  north  of  the 
desert  were  rendered  insecure  by  the  Huns  and  other  barbarians,  while  to 
the  south  food  and  water  were  lacking,  so  that  half  the  members  of  a 
single  expedition  perished. 

The  number  of  caravans  sent,  notwithstanding  these  difficulties,  varied 
from  five  to  ten  in  a  year,  the  longest  journey  occupying  nine  years. 
Embassies  were  exchanged,  and  the  Emperor  of  China  was  particularly 
anxious  to  obtain  horses  of  a  rare  breed  from  Ta-ouan.  But  the  Western 
kingdoms  had  apparently  as  much  trade  as  they  wanted,  and  believed  the 
Hans  to  be  too  far  off  to  be  dangerous,  so  even  food  was  refused  to  the 
Chinese  caravans.  "One  was  discredited  in  the  exterior  countries/'''1 
The  Huns  were  near  and  formidable,  so  traders  protected  by  the  Huns 
were  secure,  while  "those  of  the  Hans,  on  the  contrary,  only  obtained  food, 
baggage  animals  and  admission  to  the  bazaars  by  producing  their  wares."  l 

Finally  war  was  declared,  and  expeditions  sent  both  against  Ta-ouan 
and  Ou-sun.  The  Chinese,  who  seem  to  have  begun  where  Western 
kingdoms  end,  went  through  the  experience  common  to  Europeans  who 
indulge  in  the  luxury  of  little  wars  ;  they  suffered  much  loss  and  privation 
before  learning  how  to  manage  their  campaigns,5  but  when  at  last  they 
succeeded  in  bringing  an  army  to  the  gates  of  the  hostile  capital,  their 
victory  seemed  certain.  After  a  sieure,  the  capital  hoped  to  escape  a 
capitulation  by  offerii  g  to  send  the  horses  previously  refused  and  by 
appointing  a  ruler  approved  by  the  Chinese.  The  army  was  evidently 
thankful  to  accept  anv  approach  to  submission,  and  the  minor  kingdoms 
on  the  road  also  rendered  homage.  This  successful  expedition  lasted  four 
years,  till  97  i;.c.  and  was  comparatively  inexpensive. 

T'ne  pains  taken  in  the  vain  endeavour  to  open  up  a  trade  route  to 
India  made  it  possible  to  introduce  a  less  valuable  commodity,  the  wor- 
-1  ip  of  bo  :  ,;  but  the  drain  upon  the  resources  of  the  country  was  so  great 
that  the  spreading  reputation  of  the  Sons  of  Han  proved  to  be  too  dearly 
bought.       To    provide   for  the    army  the   currency  was   debased,  and   even 

-'.".."    ut  yourna!  A  iaii >i(<\  1S2S.  vol.  ii.  p.  41S. 
-   /-'■.,  p.   427.  3  /'..  p.  435.  4  /•'..  p.  43S. 

'   f.  <  iik-s,   (/,   ■:  ;  pp.  f)S    72. 
0  M.  Terricn    <lc  1  !  '  :  .  ■  :.    w    I  ..'  >.     0.  1  :'::■-•    intr    1     tion   of  E 

before  the  accession  of  the  Hans. 


no  OWNERSHIP   IN  CHINA. 

victories  proved  expensive  because  every  band  of  tribute-bearers  was  en- 
tertained at  the  Imperial  cost,  and  dismissed  with  presents  far  exceeding 
the  value  of  their  own  offerings.  This  magnificence,  which  was  politic  in 
a  power  aiming  only  at  an  honorary  protectorate  over  the  whole  continent, 
was  found  bv  the  weaker  princes  of  the  line  to  be  so  heavy  a  burden,  that 
it  was  once  seriously  proposed  to  decline  to  receive  an  envoy  from  the 
Huns  on  the  ground  of  expense.  And  when  the  records  of  the  Han 
Dvnastv  were  closed,  the  chief  moral  which  they  seemed  to  posterity  to 
point  was  a  warning  against  military  ambition  and  the  sacrifice  of  the  in- 
ternal administration  to  a  brilliant  foreign  policy.1 

It  was  t'ne  boast  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  that  it  accomplished  by  peaceful 
policy  more  than  was  attempted  unsuccessfully  by  the  warlike  Hans.  The 
ideal  of  the  native  statesmen  was  a  government  too  formidable  to  be 
attacked  and  too  prudent  to  be  aggressive  ;  and  the  Hans,  notwithstand- 
ing their  brilliant  campaigns  in  Central  Asia,  were  exposed  to  incursions 
on  the  east  anil  south  of  so  foraiidable  a  character  that  in  one  case  the 
people  of  a  border  principality  were  removed  en  masse  to  a  more  sheltered 
settlement  north  of  the  Kiang. 

Trade  with  foreigners  is  said  to  have  been  carried  on  at  Canton  since 
1 76  A.i).,-  but  it  is  doubtful  from  wiiat  distance  t'ne  traders  may  have 
come.  The  Cingalese  told  the  ambassador  of  the  Emperor  Claudius  that 
they  traded  with  the  Seres,  but  as  they  described  the  people  so  designated 
as  tall,  with  blue  eyes  and  red  hair,  t'ne  name  in  this  case  clearly  does  not 
refer  to  the  Chinese. 

The  rumours  about  the  remote  people  of  silk  makers,  which  had 
reached  the  Western  world  in  the  days  of  Augustus,  refer  to  the  China  of 
the  Hans  :  and  we  can  judge  from  them  how  far  the  native  historians  are 
from  exaggerating  the  strength  and  fame  of  the  empire.  While  intelligent 
criticism  at  home  was  pointing  a  remorseless  finger  at  social  and  eco- 
nomic evil-,  which,  however  real,  are  only  explicitly  recognised  as  such 
by  a  comparatively  advanced  civilization,  the  inquiries  of  distant  savants 
like  Pliny  and  Ptolemy,  elicited  nothing  but  praise  of  t'ne  powerful, 
y.  and  humane  community. 

Sir  Henry  Yule  has  brought  together  all  the  passages  in  classical  litera- 
ture referring  to  the  Seres,  and  his  summary  of  their  substantial  purport 
may  be  accepted  as  a  fair  account  of  what  well-informed  Europeans  knew 
ot  China  [,Soo  year-  ago.:J      "The   region  of  the  Seres  is  a  vast  and  popu- 

1    'I'll---  av.'.l;    lity  oi   the    [;         <,f  ( )des  mi^ht    have  been,  arnl  no  uYmbt  was,  ([noted  to 

"  I  > '  ::    ".  '  ry  to  cultivate  Ileitis  too  lar^e, 
I  he  \w<    N  wili  only  e,o>\v  lu.Mtriantlv  ; 

|ii  111  ile  tai   :  v\ ..'.'. 


-    C>. 

;i    ,  ■  . 


Do    1, 
\       . 

'  '.        ' 

\v  i  n  n  i  n 

'  f'lii 

■;?>■'"    'I 

:,, 

o.luctio] 

v.  4  i 

\-:  '   ~ 

L!V- 

■  that  tl 

.'.':';:,;.  v 


iinv. 

W'lll  1    - 

lly  ment 

:  - 

.;e,h  1 

ivil 

:     '   - 

•  i 

nark 

■.'.  hi   h  \vi    ; 

,'L' 

1! 

:  v.  a 

•  writttn. 

REIGN   OF  THE    HAN  DYNASTY.  in 

lous  country,  touching  on  the  east  the  ocean  and  the  limits  of  the  habit- 
able world,  and  extending  west  nearly  to  Imaus  and  the  confines  of 
Eactria.  The  people  are  civilized  men,  of  mild,  just  and  frugal  temper, 
eschewing  collisions  with  their  neighbours  and  even  shy  of  close  inter- 
course, but  not  averse  to  dispose  of  their  own  produce,  of  which  raw  silk 
is  the  staple,  but  which  include  also  silk  stuffs,  furs,  and  iron  of  remarkable 
quality."  For  a  report  like  this  to  travel  from  the  inaccessible  kingdoms 
of  Central  Asia  to  Imperial  Rome,  it  is  obvious  that  China  must  have  been 
well  known  in  regions  that  were  in  constant  communication  with  the  wes- 
tern parts  of  Asia,  accessible  to  the  commerce  of  the  Mediterranean.  The 
impression  so  transmitted  was  vague,  and  liable  to  mistakes  of  the  sort 
embodied  in  Virgil's  pretty  confusion  of  the  mulberry  leaves  with  the 
silkworms  ;  l  but  it  rested  upon  a  ground  of  real  knowledge,  and  it  is 
significant  to  note  that  the  widest-spread  rumours  spoke  of  a  civilized 
and  industrious  trading  population  rather  than  of  a  mighty  emperor. 

For  descriptive  purposes  it  is  natural  to  regard  the  Han  Dynasties  as 
forming  a  single  period,  and  this  period  is  so  much  foreshortened  by  its 
remoteness  in  time  that  we  do  not  at  once  remember  that  it  represents  an 
interval  like  that  which  separates  the  accession  of  Queen  Victoria  from 
that  of  Henry  V.  Evidently,  therefore,  there  is  room  for  a  good  many 
discordant  estimates  of  the  national  prosperity  to  be  appropriate  in  their 
turn.  The  reign  of  the  warlike  Wu-ti  was  marked  by  the  spread  of  luxury; 
many  wives,  many  horses,  many  clothes,  and  a  thousand  costly  ornaments 
seduce  the  prince  to  abandon  the  antique  simplicity  of  his  ancestors.  A 
memorialist  in  a  subsequent  reign  (48  b.c.)  reiterates  the  same  complaints, 
and  is  particularly  scandalized  at  the  thought  of  horses  eating  grain  and 
growing  so  fat  and  frisky  that  they  have  to  be  taken  out  to  exercise  merely 
to  subdue  their  spirits,  and  this  while  the  emperors  subjects  are  dying  of 
hunger.  "  Is  this  to  be  the  father  and  mother  of  his  people  ?  Is  great 
heaven  blind  ?  " 

These  remonstrances  are  not  mere  literary  exercises  in  the  manner  of 
Mencius  ;  they  have  a  direct  bearing  on  the  most  crying  evils  of  the  times, 
and  the  chroniclers  always  record  whether  any  action  was  taken  in  conse- 
quence. The  men  of  letters  for  the  most  part  remained  faithful  to  the 
belief  that  poverty  and  wealth  were  equal  and  correlative  evils  :  but  there- 
were  not  wanting  apologists  for  the  existing  state  of  things,  who  forestalled, 
after  the  Chinese  fashion,  most  of  the  arguments,  which  have  been  in- 
vented since,  in  praise  of  the  social  utility  of  wealth.  Poor  people,  it  was 
said,-  who  have  no  property  of  their  own,  are  able  to  take  a  farm  from  the 
rich  and  live  as  tenants.  In  time  of  want  and  famine,  the  poor  apply  to 
the  wealthy  for  a  loan  of  bread  or  money.  Shopkeepers,  artisans,  and  all 
the  minor  industries  are  supported  at  the  expense  of  the  rich.  They  make 
special  contributions   to   the  revenues  of  the  State,  officials   apply  first  to 

1    Gt  orgies,  ii.   121.      Pliny  calls  silk  a  wool  growing  on  trees. 

-  Uc'<cr  das  Grundeigenthum  in  China,  1.  SacharoiT.  Arbiitcn  Jcr  Russi  :  n  Gc- 
sandschaft,  p.  14,  tr.  by  Abel  and  Mecklenburg. 


ii2  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

them  for  assistance,  and  thus  they  arc  the  support  of  high  and  low  alike. 
It  is  true  they  enjoy  great  advantages,  but  when  their  labours  and  sacri- 
fices are  considered,  it  will  be  admitted  that  they  deserve  a  proportionate 
reward  ;  even  if  some  act  as  heartless  oppressors  of  the  poor,  that  must  be 
dealt  with  in  other  ways,  not  by  depriving  them  of  property  acquired  by 
their  personal  exertions  !  If  the  modern  Chinese  undervalue  the  deserts 
of  tiie  trading  class,  it  is  evidently  not  for  want  of  having  had  the  opposite 
doctrine  set  before  them. 

Jn  the  year  163  B.C.  an  imperial  manifesto,  issued  in  a  season  of  scar- 
city, suggests  among  the  points  to  be  considered  by  the  contrite  rulers  : 
"Is  there  unoccupied  land  or  a  surplus  population?  Is  agriculture 
neglected  for  commerce?  Is  too  much  grain  used  for  making  wine?" 
To  guard  against  the  neglect  of  agriculture,  the  rite  of  the  Imperial  plough- 
ing had  already  been  revived  (1  ;S  B.C.),  and  the  classical  doctrine  as  to  the 
connection  between  crime  and  poverty  found  an  able  exponent  in  Cha'o 
Tso',  a  general  who  tell  a  victim  (1=15  B.C.)  to  the  hostilitv  of  the  nobles, 
provoked  by  lbs  steady  resistance  to  any  revival  of  the  feudal  system. 

"('rime,''  he  says,  "begins  in  poverty;  poverty  in  insufficiency  of  food  : 
insufficiency  of  food  in  neglect  of  agriculture:"1  and  he  dwells  upon  the 
moralizing  effect  of  the  tie  which  holds  a  man  to  the  soil  from  which  he 
draws  his  nourishment  in  exactly  the  same  spirit  as  the  modern  Chinese 
scholars,  whose  conversation  is  reported  by  M.  Eugene  Simon.'-  Jealousy 
of  the  merchant's  larger  profits  is  frankly  expressed  and  justified;  these 
men  rear  no  grain  crops,  their  women  spin  no  silk,  yet  they  draw  from  the 
labour  of  others  rewards  far  exceeding  those  which  compensate  the  hus- 
bandman for  his  necessary  toil.  The  love  of  gold,  silver,  and  jewels  seems 
to  this  earl\"  economist  to  be  the  root  of  all  social  evil.  ''  Man  makes  tor 
grain  as  water  flows  down  hill.  Cold  and  jewels  are  easily  portable, 
bribing  thieves  and  traitors  ;  grain  and  cotton  come  from  the  earth,  by  the 
labour  of  man,  and  a  \c\y  hundredweight  are  more  than  a.  man  can  carry. 
They  offer  no  inducement  to  crime.  Therefore  the  wise  ruler  holds  -rain 
111  high  honour,  but  degrades  gold  and  jewels."  Faith  and  honour,  that 
would  be  proof  against  bulkv  bribes  ;!  in  common  articles  ot  use,  yield  to 
trie  offer  of  a  handful  of  valuables,  warranted  to  buy  luxury  in  any  quarter 
of  the  globe.  The  conclusion,  that  gram  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be 
treated  as  the  staple  eurrcnov  is  not  quite  satisfactory.  bat  there  is  an 
element  of  truth  in  the  somewhat  Lvcurgean  theorv,  and  at  all  events  the 
influence  oi  kindred  ideas  on  the  economic  development  of  China  has  been 
too  eonsidi  r  ible  to  be  ign<  ired. 

So  tar  as  can  be  ascertained,  the  price  of  grain,  as  expressed  in  copper, 
after  the  first  few  years  of  distress,  was  exceedingly  low  during  this  whole 
period;     sometimes    lower    even    than    the  authorities  approved.       It   was 

C  ■        r  r:.  ! i  Herbert  dies,   p.  74. 

it.  ['..]    .     1/  ■  .'.'/      ■:   .  iii.  .\S  71  :- 

'•  ( )li  ilnit  -ti  ".'     1"    -  ■'.•-'-. 

Still,  n      <\    >!    ,  encumbered  villi  m\  !  " 


REIGN   OF  THE   HAN  DYNASTY.  113 

actually  proposed,  in  the  middle  of  the  2nd  century  a.d.,  to  issue  coins  of 
a  higher  value  than  those  in  common  use,  as  a  device  for  raising  prices. 
And,  though  the  remedy  is  singular,  experience  shows  1  that  the  value  of 
the  lowest  monetary  unit  is  not  without  effect  upon  the  price  of  commo- 
dities. 

We  are  indebted  to  Ma-twan-lin  for  an  account  of  the  annual  expenses 
of  a  small  cultivator  under  the  Hans.  The  State  of  Wei  seems  to  have 
been  fortunate  in  the  number  of  paternally  disposed  princes  to  whom  the 
government  was  committed.  The  minister  of  one  of  these  makes  the 
following  report,  near  the  middle  of  the  1st  century  n.c.  :  "A  householder 
undertakes  the  cultivation  of  100  mow;  the  gross  return  of  grain  per  mow 
is  1 1-  chi,  giving  a  total  of  150  chi.  One  householder  represents  five  persons, 
bach  person  consumes  1 .',  chi  monthly  :  from  the  produce  of  his  100  mow 
the  cultivator  pays  his  taxes  with  15  chi  (i.e.  10  per  cent,  of  the  gross  pro- 
duce of  his  holding),  with  90  chi  he  has  the  food  for  his  family,  and  there 
remain  45  chi,  which,  at  30  tsien  the  chi,  are  worth  1,350  tsien  A  the  cere- 
monies celebrated  in  every  village  at  spring  and  autumn  cost  300  tsien,  and 
the  surplus  serves  to  clothe  the  five  members  of  the  family.''3 

Other  authorities  cited  by  Ma-twan-lin  estimate  the  taxation  of  a  family 
under  the  Hans  at  200  tsien  only,  and  it  is  possible  that  the  imperial 
authorities  did  not  exact  more,  the  rather  that  the  commentator  clearly 
considers  the  Wei  cultivator  to  have  been  hardly  treated.  Ma-twan-lin.  in 
a  note  on  this  passage,  estimates  the  cost  of  clothing  at  300  tsien  per  head, 
and  taxes  the  budget  with  a  deficiency  of  450  tsien,  cr  about  6  shillings  ; 
and  he  exclaims  against  the  impossibility  of  clothing  being  so  cheap  as  to 
allow  the  cultivator  to  live  with  so  narrow  a  margin.  The  learned  ency- 
clopaedist, however,  probably  failed  to  allow  for  the  lower  value  of  money 
at  the  earlier  period  ;  and  so  far  from  pitying  the  poverty  of  the  Wei 
cultivator,  we  are  compelled  to  wish  that  an  equally  satisfactory  budget 
could  be  drawn  up  for  the  agricultural  millions  subject  to  British  rule  in 
India. 

The  standard  of  comfort  was  no  doubt  higher  in  China  than  Egypt, 
where  the  loin  cloth,  which  formed  the  labourer's  ordinary  dress,  would 
certainly  not  cost  the  wearer  5^.  a  year,  but  the  Egyptian  estimate  of  the 
cost  of  a  labourer's  maintenance  was  a  little  over  1 .',  centimes,  while  the 
Chinese  budget  gives  at  the  rate  of  2\  c.  per  diem  for  each  member  of 
the  family  :  and  if  the  lower  sum  did  not  imply  penury,  the  higher  is  not 
incompatible  with  comfort.  Xo  allowance  is  made  for  the  flax.  silk,  and 
other   plants  cultivated   to  provide   clothing   materials,  nor   for  the   fruit. 

1    [11  Oc'       '.'.   1  Vn  : .   -: '        :'  '-:.    -  '  -    I    to  revive   ihe  old    law?  wing  municipal 

mil'?  to  fix  :  f  oread  in  Y ranee,  t he    f    "    that    t!    :        ■         five        ''//.'/ 

I  c  irrent    use.  v     ■;  aliened  as  oi      r  ■   -       w  \  'revents  sm  i 

t ions  in  !        ■    :  ■      ■:'  i     'ad  folio  wine;  a  fail  in  that  of  corn  or  flour.      A:.      ■:.  •    '. 

v  oi  .  j;    the  waives    of   journeymen  bakers    in    Kn^iand.  is     that    the   -:n;i     ■-'- 

.  '  rice     '     r  'ad     j  :'■  |  er  loaf    is  ■  nit  1  if  ali  '  r   ;    irti  ■..  I  itieii   t 

Cover   the  increase  of  wayes  asked  for. 

-   A  lint,r  to  M.  ]!     t.  22  :':'.  v  ■  .'.     f  modern  French  m    ney. 

"   f':tni.  As.,  3111c  ser. ,  vol.   iii.   p.  456  u. 

\    iL.    I  I.-  -    I'.C.  1 


ii4  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

vegetables,  pigs  and  poultry  reared  by  every  cultivator  of  too  mow,  and 
serving  both  to  vary  his  diet  and  increase  his  surplus  of  saleable  pro- 
duce. 

The  development  of  slavery  in  China  dates  from  the  Han  Dynasty,  and 
the  impoverishment  of  the  lower  orders  through  war  and  famine.  The  in- 
jurious results  of  this  change  were  more  felt  by  the  State  than  by  the  enslaved 
individuals.  The  slaves,  of  course,  paid  no  land  tax  :  and  as  noble  proprie- 
tors and  officials  were  also  exempt,  it  was  estimated  that  about  a  quarter  of 
the  whole  population  made  no  contribution  to  the  revenue.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  maintenance  of  the  State  slaves  ('condemned  criminals,  or  rebels) 
was  a  heavy  burden  in  times  of  scarcity,  and  we  hear  at  intervals  of  their 
emancipation  in  numbers,  avowedly  to  relieve  the  community  from  the  ex- 
pense of  their  support.  One  of  the  minor  dynasties,  in  the  6th  century, 
improved  upon  this  somewhat  ambiguous  boon  by  enfranchising  all  public 
slaves  of  the  age  of  sixty-five  years  and  upwards.1 

Besides  the  case  of  those  who  had  lost  their  liberty  through  poverty, 
there  was  also  a  large  and  increasing  class  who  had  lost  their  lands  from 
the  same  cause.  The  historians  use  a  special  term  signifying  agglomeration 
to  desi  ribe  the  accumulation  by  one  owner  of  more  land  than  he  could 
cultivate  himself;  and  it  was  by  these  great  land-owners  that  the  free,  but 
landless  cultivators  were  reduced  to  a  state  of  semi-feudal  dependence,  the 
landlord  taking  half  their  crop  in  consideration  of  his  engaging  to  [jay  their 
taxes.  But  as  it  was  contrary  to  propriety  for  the  imperial  taxes  to  exceed 
a  tithe,  it  was  clearly  incorrect  for  pne  dial  lords  to  derive  five  times  as 
much  revenue  from  the  same  source.  And  hence  the  encroachments  of 
the  aggiomerators,  even  when  tolerated  fur  a  time,  never  ceased  to  be  re- 
garded as  unlawful  and  inexpedient.  As  a  rule,  taxation  was  light  under 
the  Hans  ;  and  this  moderate  :.  bad  the  incidental  advantage  of  discourag- 
ing fraudulent  understatements  of  population,  so  that  the  census  returns  of 
tl  i        may  be  relied  on. 

Sh  irtiy  before  the  innovations   of  Wang-mang.  the  cash  in  the  imperial 
treasury    ami    inti  I    to    ab   ut    :.:::.:::.    according   to    Ma-twan-lin,    who 
Bat  as  the  proportion  of  the  revenue  whii  h   con- 
lid  in  kind,  went  on  diminishing,  and  was  greater 
it  any  later  time,  the  two  millions  would  represent  a 
■  he  i  3th  century.     The  cust<  m   of 
;is  of  making  "  returns  "  oat  ot  rent  was  followed 
ay  p.  ■  ul  ir  :  rince-s.      A  vcar's   taxes  were  frequently 
rnii  ■   had    a; a     ,    rished   a    neigiibour'n       I, 
the  -    me    gr;      ■   w;  -   acci  n  led   a-    olten    as    the 
aalgeni-e.      A:;  ...    es.T  a  1  a'  marriage   w  .-   <  on- 
:   :    remitting  taxes,  as    well    as    for   amnestying 

'     .■  eS. 

i  an   approached    more   to   the  ordinary 

•      'c   .' :  :'        ;'      (     '  -       ■  :    ;',       -:r:  itcitr    ga.        ■:>:    Chin  .       1..   la   a 

M.uch,  ia ;;  .  y.  255. 


- :  - '  ■    i 

if    CJ 

11  )  1 1 11     .-  1  1  1 . 1  ■  1 . 

mtribt::     a  - 

under  ' 

1 

laris  ti     :. 

m 

■ 

r  gross  t  ■ .  ■] 

beC    .'    1 

'.  e  1 1 1 

Ma_A 

in  r  •_ 

-.1   ! 

•         '     ■    - 

exi   .si  ' 

:.  1  -.'..   a',   r 

1 

i'i  us  tin 

tre  ;-ur 

V   CO 

0!    a 

:      : 

,  ,ci     ■ 

prb.au 

dor       :  '    : 

la  rj 

a  a  r 

c  t  s  ( '  h 

REIGN  OF  THE   HAN  DYNASTY.  115 

type  of  oriental  monarchy  than  during  the  decadence  of  the  Han  Dynasty. 
The  influence  of  eunuchs,  and  of  the  favoured  relations  of  successive  em- 
presses, gave  occasion  to  frequent  complaints.  The  bonds  of  alliance,  it 
was  said,  were  preferred  to  those  of  blood  ;  and  the  wealth  accumulated  by 
the  favourite  of  a  single  reign  reached  such  an  amount  that  its  confiscation 
seemed  rather  a  judicial  penalty  on  extortion  than  a  fresh  oppression.  By 
the  time  the  dynasty  was  thoroughly  enfeebled  and  discredited,  it  was  over- 
thrown for  a  time  by  Wang-mang,  a  usurper  who  reigned  from  9-23  a.u., 
after  ten  years  of  virtual  supremacy,  during  which  he  had  followed  the 
policy  of  the  unjust  steward  at  the  expense  of  the  titular  sovereign. 

Like  most  oi  the  Chinese  rulers  who  have  got  a  bad  name  as  innovators, 
Wang-mang  professed  to  aim  at  restoring  the  Rites  of  Chow  ;  and  Chi- 
nese scholarship  points  to  passages  in  that  sacred  text  which  were  interpo- 
lated by  him  to  justify  his  measures.  As  prime  minister,  he  had  advised 
the  Empress,  to  whom  he  was  related,  and  by  whose  favour  he  had  been 
raised  to  power,  to  reduce  the  expenses  of  her  household,  while  he  himself 
set  an  example  of  economy  and  simplicity,  distributing  large  sums  of  money 
to  the  poor,  and  ceding  to  them  3,000  acres  of  his  own  land  for  cultivation. 
He  showed  his  respect  for  antiquity  by  proposing,  in  our  year  one,  to  revive 
the  names  of  the  ancient  astronomical  clans  J  as  honorary  titles  for  the  im- 
perial board  of  mathematicians.  And  his  first  extraordinary  measures  for 
raising  money  might  have  seemed  to  be  dictated  by  a  real  concern  for 
the  welfare  ot  the  impoverished  masses. 

He  prevailed  upon  the  empress  to  allow  him  to  open  the  tombs  of  the 
royal  family,  as  well  as  of  wealthy  private  persons  ;  and  he  issued  an  edict 
forbidding  in  future  the  burying  of  valuables  in  the  graves  of  the  deceased. 
He  offended  the  moral  sense  of  the  community  by  confiscating  the  treasures 
brought  to  light  by  his  sacrilegious  researches,  but  the  prohibition  itself 
was  only  slightly  in  advance  of  the  time.  In  the  reign  of  Hwan-ti  (147  A.o.) 
a  benevolent  officer  opened  his  lather's  grave  in  order  to  give  away  the 
buried  treasures  it  contained  during  a  time  of  distress,  and  the  fact  is  re- 
corded without  censure.  It  was  contrary  to  the  national  creed  to  dedicate 
to  the  unconscious  spirits  of  departed  ancestors  valuables  which  could  be 
converted  into  food  for  men  in  want  ;  and  besides,  when  distress  was  com- 
mon and  intense,  the  tombs  were  certain  to  be  vi  dated  by  force.  This  was 
the  case  with  the  tomb  of  the  emperor  just  mentioned  :  and  the  dvn  isty 
which  succeeded  the  Three  Kingdoms  in  275  a.o..  is  said  to  have  intro- 
duced the  custom,  still  in  use.  of  burning  paper  representations  of  valu- 
ables, instead  of  burying  the  things  themselves  in  graves,  so  as  to  avoid  the 
double  sin  of  extravagance  and  sacrilege. 

But  to  return  to  the  innovations  of  Wang-mang.  He  altered  the  currency. 
introducing  gold,  silver,  tortoise-shell,  and  cowries  as  mediums  of  exchange, 
in  addition  to  copper  ;  and  when  an  immense  quantity  of  counterfeit  coin 
was  issued  in  consequence,  a  hundred   thousand    forgers  were  condemned 

1   The  Hi  and  I  Jo,  who  were  to  be  put  to   death  if  the  eclipses  were  not  correctly  fore- 


irG  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

to  slavery  by  a  single  edict.1  Besides  his  interference  with  the  currency, 
he  imposed  vexatious  duties  on  trade.  The  taxes  on  salt,  iron,  and  wine 
had  been  abolished  by  an  emperor  nearly  ico  years  before:  but  when  a 
local  governor  proposed  to  restore  order  in  his  district  by  reducing  or 
abolishing  the  unpopular  imposts,  Wang-mang  turned  upon  him  and  con- 
fiscated his  wealth,  which  proved  to  be  very  great.  He  then  directed  his 
attention  to  the  official  class  generally,  and  to  all  those  whose  riches  ex- 
ceeded the  lawful  profits  of  their  ostensible  callings,  confiscating  four-fifths 
of  ah  the  treasures  thus  discovered.  He  also  forestalled  VYang-ngan-chi,  the 
great  innovating  financier  of  the  -Sun:,''  Dynasty,  by  a  scheme  for  State  bank- 
ing; and  the  edition  of  tiie  Chow  Li  which  was  published  under  his  in- 
spiration containedi  a  spurious  passage,  making  it  one  of  the  duties  of 
the  treasurer  to  fix  the  rate  of  interest  on  loans  in  accordance  with  the 
requirements  of  the  State. 

At  the  same  time  he  attempted  to  restore  the  old  system  of  common 
cultivation,  and  the  tsi//,z,  which  were  called  '"'imperial  fields/'  because  of 
an  edict  bv  which  he  prop  >sed  to  abolish  private  property  in  land,  and  to 
claim  again  for  the  emperor  the  role  of  universal  landlord.  Xo  subject 
was  to  be  allowed  to  hold  more  than  a  certain  amount  of  land,  and  the  ex- 
cess was  to  be  forfeited  to  the  Crown,  and  allotted,  as  required,  to  the  vil- 
lages :  while  the  sale  of  land  was  forbidden  that  ail  might  retain  the  means 
nf  subsistence.  The  edict  was  repealed  after  three  years,  and  it  was  said 
that  Ya  and  Shun  themselves  could  not  have  restore  1  the  common  fields  ; 
the  very  rivers  had  changed  their  beds  -  since  the  days  of  old.  and  how 
<    mid  bvgone  customs  be  renewed!  ? 

One  token  of  YYang-mang's  unp  ipul  rity  was  the  fact  that  the  copper 
monev  issu  d  bv  him  used  to  be  re-cast  secretly  in  the  form  of  the  favourite 
c  inage  of  VYu-ti  :  and  the  use  of  this  money  came  to  be  regard  d  as  a 
tacit  pr  fession  of  1  oval tv  to  the  dynasty  by  which  it  was  originally  issue  i.,: 
Warnr-mat.^  was  fmaliv  defeated  and  put  to  death  in  23  a.i>..  the  Han 
dvnastv  restored,  and  its  lustre  revived  by  a  succession  uf  able  and  en- 
he'  '  ne  1  rulers.  between  25  and  So  A. l>.  three  emperors  ot  go  id  repute 
m  [the  throne.'1  though  the  second.  Han-ming-ti,  is  ';:■■'.<':  to  have 
•  •'■■  :-'  ■■  *  -  idorv  bv  formaliv  introducing  the  \vi  irshi]  ol  1  lluudha). 
•...!>.     ();:':  orrupti    nw   ~      valt  with  in  the  most  elticient  manner  by 

r;  idn_    d      sb   t;es   o|    res]  onsib  e   oftb  •  rs,  while   oppress    >n  ,  ;■   ■ 
were   pur.bhed    '.'.  d     ins'aut    dismissal,    or  death.      bur    more    than   hail    a 


-  3  '  '■ 


A  . .   '.-. 

\    ■     I' 


REIGN  OF   THE   BAN  DYNASTY.  117 

century  the  country  enjoyed  one  of  those  periods  of  peace  and   prosperity 

which  recur  often  enough  in  the  history  of  China  to  furnish  each  great 
dynasty  with  a  standard  of  comparison  within  itself. 

In  78  A.D.  financial  difficulties  were  beginning  to  be  felt  again.  Grain 
was  dear  and  scarce,  and  money  depreciated,  so  that  the  land  tax  was  re- 
quired to  be  paid  in  pieces  of  silk  or  cloth.  These  troubles,  however,  might 
be  regarded  as  the  price  paid  for  the  military  glory  which,  at  this  time,  was 
rewarding  the  campaigns  of  Pan-tchao.  In  the  year  72  this  officer  was 
sent,  for  the  first  time,  to  restore  the  federal  supremacy  which  China  had 
obtained  over  the  princes  of  Western  Asia  under  the  first  Han  Emperors. 
Only  eight  of  these  princes,  beginning  with  Ivashgar,  had  acknowledged 
themselves  tributary  ;  but  in  94  a  stronger  force  was  despatched,  and,  with 
the  help  of  the  eight  allies,  victories  were  obtained  over  the  Northern  Huns, 
and  so  much  of  Bokhara  conquered  that  fifty  different  princes  submitted, 
and  sent  hostages  to  China.  All  Asia,  from  the  sea  of  Japan  to  the  Cas- 
pian, was  tributary  to  the  Middle  Kingdom. 

Pan-tchao  despatched  one  of  his  lieutenants  to  reach  the  "  western  sea" 
and  proceed  to  Ta  Tsin,  that  great  western  empire  of  which  dim  rumours 
had  arrived  as  far  as  China.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  western  sea 
reached  by  this  officer  was  anything  more  distant  than  the  Caspian,  or  at 
most  the  Persian  Gulf;  at  any  rate,  the  Persian  accounts  of  the  long  and 
dangerous  journey  between  them  and  Rome  served  to  deter  him  from  exe- 
cuting his  commission  in  full.  Persia,  however,  was  more  or  less  subdued, 
and  it  is  evident  from  native  sources  that  China  was  at  this  time  willing, 
and  even  anxious,  to  enter  into  direct  commercial  intercourse  with  the 
Roman  empire,  and  was  only  hindered  from  doing  so  by  the  jealousy  of 
the  Parthians  and  other  nations  in  Western  Asia,  who  feared  to  lose  the 
profitable  business  of  intermediaries.  The  Chinese  had  heard  of  the  coral 
fisheries  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  Romans  wished  to  obtain  raw  silk 
for  their  dyers  and  weavers  to  manipulate.  An  embassy,  sent  by  Marcus 
Aurelius,  reached  Southern  China  by  way  of  the  sea  and  Tonquin  in  166, 
and  the  arrival  of  other  ambassadors,  described  as  bringing  "  tribute,'''  is  re- 
corded in  the  next  century.  Put  Roman  commerce  seldom  outstripped  the 
march  of  Roman  armies,  while  China  was  never  at  a  loss  for  markets  nearer 
home  ;  so  the  chances  of  closer  intercourse  between  the  two  empires  were 
never  realized. 

The  emperor  Ho-ti,  in  whose  reign  tins  great  expedition  was  undertaken, 
is  also  known  as  the  patron  of  Pm-hoeiq>an,  a  sister  both  of  the  general 
Pan-tchao,  and  of  an  eminent  historian  Pan-kou.  Pan-hoei  assisted  her 
brother  in  his  literary  labours  during  his  life,  and  completed  his  historical 
manuscripts  after  his  death.  She  also  wrote  on  her  own  account  a  curious 
treatise  on  the  duties  of  her  sex,  the  humility  of  which  is  perhaps  less 
profound  than  it  seems,  for  when  emperors  issue  proclamations  about  their 
own  lack  of  virtue,  a  learned  lady  with  pretensions  to  good  manners  could 
hardly  do  less  than  claim  for  her  sexto  ■'occupy  the  lowest  rank  in  the 
human  species."     Pan-hoei,  at  all  events,  was  not  without  honour  in  her  own 


nS  OWXERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

country  :  all  the  treasures  of  the  Imperial  Record  Office  were  placed  at  her 
disposal,  and  the  history  of  the  first  Han  empire,  which  she  published  in 
her  brother's  name,  and  for  which  she  received  quite  half  the  credit,  still 
ranks  among  the  best  of  the  ancient  historical  works  which  survive.  She 
occupied  a  special  post  as  instructress  of  the  Empress  and  the  other  ladies 
ot  the  palace,  and  her  example  must  have  produced  an  appreciable 
number  of  femmes  saranfes,  as  she  thinks  it  necessary  to  explain  in  her 
treatise  that  a  lady  who  is  always  quoting  the  Classics  will  not  be  thought 
agreeable  in  society,  and  that  she  should  keep  her  learning  in  reserve  till 
it  is  asked  for.1 

The  best  known  of  Chinese  institutions,  the  system  of  literary  examina- 
tions, dates  from  the  Han  Dynasty.  The  revival  of  letters  was  followed, 
or  rather  accompanied,  by  the  restoration  of  schools,  where  the  literati 
were  once  more  free  to  discuss  the  principles  of  government.  In  170  B.C. 
Wen-ti  repealed  the  law  of  T'sin,  which  made  it  a  crime  to  speak  against 
the  government,  on  the  ground  that  without  free  criticism  the  emperor 
could  not  tell  what  to  amend  in  his  administration.  The  existing  schools 
seem  to  have  enjoyed  some  degree  of  official  recognition,  as  \\  u-ti  was 
asked,  in  140  B.C.,  to  cause  all  officers  to  be  taken  from  them.  The 
Imperial  college,  called  Thai-hio,  however,  was  not  founded  till  124  B.C.  : 
it  was  to  admit  fifty  scholars,  iS  years  old  or  upwards,  chosen  trom  lists 
presented  by  the  Minister  of  Rites  on  the  one  hand,  arid  the  provincial 
officers  on  the  other.-  These  pupils  were  regularly  examined  and  pro- 
moted according  to  merit.  Admission  to  these  scholarships,  as  they  may 
be  called,  was  by  nomination  :  but  unsuitable  or  incapable  candidates  were 
dismissed  at  the  first  examination,  and  the  patron  was  punished  for  a  bad 
choice  as  for  corruption  in  levying  the  taxes. 

The  men  of  letters  of  the  Han  period  were  by  no  means  mere  formalists. 
The  '•  Record  on  the  subject  of  Education."  which  forms  one  of  the  books 
of  the  Li  Ivi,  is  evidently  the  work  of  a  time  when  the  theory  and  practice 
of  education  were  a  subject  of  discussion  and  reflection.  There  are,  it  is 
said,  teachers  who  content  themselves  with  multiplying  questions,  and 
humming  over  the  tablets  whi<  h  they  see  before  them,  who  speak  of  the 
r's  m  king  rapid  advances  and  pay  no  regard  to  their  ''reposing" 
11  v\  m  1  -.  •  learnt).      The  authors  of  the  Record  do   not  value   this 

merely  :::■■<  hanical  instruction  or  "cramp'  the  effects  of  which,  moreover, 
are  su;  riicial  and  evanescent.  Their  description  of  the  superior  man 
who  is  111  to  become  a  teacher  of  others  ;i  is  mature  and  graphic.  '•  In  his 
<is,  and  does  not  dra'i  ;  he  strengthens,  and  does  not  dis- 
courage :  he  op  'us  the  wav,  b  it  does  not  conduct  to  the  end  (without  the 
learner'.-,  own    efforts).       Leading    and    not  dragging    produces    harmony. 

•    I '    i-         ""i      f  1        .'.■'..■■'.-   '..'  -■    riai     '■"  as  an   1  '  ■  ■  1    her 

-   /•.  '.'.   '    .        .-  /  ■<  .'/■■.    ciiC'Uii   ■.  C  ■;   ■  ::.  n  u    leiti\s.    K.  Mi  >:.  1S45, 


REIGN  OF  THE   HAN  DYNASTY.  119 

Strengthening  and  not  discouraging  makes  attainment  easy.  Opening  the 
way  and  not  conducting  to  the  end  makes  (the  learner)  thoughtful.  He 
who  produces  such  harmony,  easy  attainment,  and  thoughtfulness  may  be 
pronounced  a  skilful  teacher."' 

Different  studies  require  different  methods,  and  so  do  different  students  ; 
the  teacher  must  be  able  to  adapt  himself  to  both  ;  but  after  all,  much 
rests  with  the  pupil,  a  good  learner  will  profit  more  by  a  bad  master  than 
a  bad  one  by  the  most  diligent  teacher.  The  ideal  is  reached  when  the 
"pupil  and  master  talk  together,  and  the  subject  is  explained."1 
';  The  master  who  skilfully  waits  to  be  questioned,  may  be  compared  to  a 
bell  when  it  is  struck  ...  let  it  be  struck  leisurely  and  properly,  and 
it  gives  out  all  the  sound  of  which  it  is  capable.  .  .  .  He  who  gives 
('only)  the  learning  supplied  by  his  memory  in  conversations  is  not  lit  to 
be  a  master.  Is  it  not  necessary  that  he  should  hear  the  questions  (of  his 
pupils;  ?  Yes  ;  but  if  they  are  not  able  to  put  questions,  he  should  put 
subjects  before  them.  If  he  do  so  and  they  then  do  not  show  any 
knowledge  of  the  subjects,  he  may  let  them  alone." 

The  language  of  these  passages  is  difficult,  and  they  have  evidently 
suffered  somewhat  in  translation,  but  they  could  only  have  been  written 
in  a  country  where  the  learned  class  looked  upon  instruction  as  a  part  of 
education,  and  where  a  teacher  aimed  at  being  the  Master  of  a  school 
rather  than  a  schoolmaster.  "  Idle  good  singer  makes  men  fable)  to 
continue  his  notes,  and  the  good  teacher  makes  them  able  to  carry  out 
his  ideas.  His  words  are  brief,  but  far-reaching  ;  unpretentious,  but  deep; 
with  few  illustrations,  but  instructive.  In  his  way  he  may  be  said  to  per- 
petuate his  ideas.''  The  best  witness  to  the  skill  of  the  teachers  of  the 
age  is  to  be  found  in  the  success  with  which  their  ideas  have  been  per- 
petuated, even  to  the  present  day,  by  generations  of  teachers  trained  out 
of  this  "  Record. " 

The  introduction  of  the  ''Competition  Wallahs  :'  into  the  public  service 
must  have  been  effected  gradually.  It  was  specified  what  offices  they 
were  at  each  stage  qualified  to  hold — those,  for  instance,  who  could  write 
9.000  characters  or  more  were  eligible  as  annalists, — but  as  offices  of  the 
same  grade  were  already  tilled  by  non-collegians,  the  grades  reached  by 
examination  are  liable  to  be  confused  with  the  functions  of  equal  profit 
and  dignity  not  so  reached.  While  only  a  few  scholars  were  turned  out 
every  year,  they  were  naturally  absorbed  by  the  teaching  and  examining 
bodies  employed  by  the  State,  so  that  the  first  effect  of  the  literary  revival 
seems  to  have  been  mainly  the  addition  of  some  endowed  schoolmasters 
to  the  ranks  of  the  official  hierarchy. 

Shortly  before  the  usurpation  of  Wang-mang,  the  number  of  scholars  on 

the  imperial  foundation  was  raised  to  3, coo,    in   memory  of  the    number  of 

disciples  said  to  have  followed  the  teaching  of   Confucius.     The  revival  of 

a  systematic  scheme  of  local  instruction  is  ascribed  to  a  governor  of  Ching- 

1.   about   140  u. c.  and  the   example  of  this   distant  and  isolated  settle- 

1  S.  B.  xxviii.,  p.  S9. 


izc  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

inciit  was  recommended  for  general  imitation  throughout  the  empire. 
Tnere  were  two  grades  of  local  schools  and  two  of  higher  colleges,  and 
many  scholars  are  commemorated  in  later  ages  in  connection  with  their 
care  for  these  schools  in  their  native  places  or  in  the  districts  under  their 
government.  In  less  than  150  years,  twenty  edicts  were  issued,  urging 
the  importance  of  employing  capable  persons  in  the  public  service  ;  and 
the  informal  review  of  all  the  talents  and  all  the  virtues  of  a  district,  which 
would  enable  a  provincial  governor  to  "'  present  ''  such  persons  to  the 
emperor,  seems  to  have  been  the  germ  out  of  which  the  present  examina- 
tion system  grew. 

There  was  an  intermediate  stage,  when  the  State  aimed  at  conducting 
the  higher  education  of  its  future  employees  ;  and  then  success  in  the  pro- 
vincial examinations  was  the  most  obvious  qualification  for  selection  as 
an  imperial  scholar.  Subsequently  the  examination  test  was  retained  and 
used  more  and  more  widely,  without  reference  to  the  imperial  colleges. 
The  number  of  students  allowed  to  be  recommended  for  examination  was 
limited  in  proportion  to  the  population,  as  the  number  of  degrees  to  be 
conferred  annually  is  now.  In  the  reign  of  Ping-ti  (1-6  a.d.  >.  we  are  told 
that  forty  of  the  first  class  of  competitors  became  officers,  twenty  of  the 
second  class  were  joined  to  the  household  of  the  Heir  Apparent,  and  forty 
of  tile  third  class  entered  the  department  of  the  .Minister  of  Rites.  One 
ot  the  innovations  of  Wang-mang  was  that  he  obliged  the  sons  of  superior 
officers  to  pass  the  public  examination  as  a  condition  of  receiving  office. 

It  is  clearly  explained  that  under  the  Eastern  Hans  there  were  two 
alternative  modes  of  entry  to  the  public  service:  promotion  from  inferior 
posts,  in  which  the  aspirant  was  the  employee  of  an  officer,  not  ot  the 
State  :  and  appointment  to  office  as  a  reward  for  success  in  the  examina- 
tions, besides  the  casual  admissions  granted  on  the  ground  of  birth  or 
favour.  An  empress  in  the  2nd  century  a.d.  founded  a  school  tor  the 
educati  >n  ofroval  children  of  both  sexes,  and  as  it  was  to  be  open  to  the 
••  four  families  ';  '  of  external  relations,  it  would  seem  that  the  empress  had 
intention  of  assailing  the  established  mode  of  tracing  relationships 
le  male  line  only  :  and  as  tiie  logical  result  of  this  would  have  been 
to  en  '  ie  women  to  reign  in  their  own  ri_:;t  —  which  the  empress  motners 
often  felt  well  able  to  do — it  is  :.  t  surprising  that  the  scheme  :  r  the 
higher  education  of  women  met  with  little  favour,  and  was  allowed  :  • 
■  cri  -i.  u  itii  its  origin   !    r. 

L*p  to  this  time  the  jealousy  felt  by  tiie  race  of  practical  politicians 
for  t  !  ill  •.  j   ;        m  lo  compete   with  them  tor 

tiie  s]    uls  of  office,  seems  to   haw    resembled  the   natural    rivalry  between 
the  1         nd  tiie  1    ,-ri      .     .    m         ...     th   r  countries       butt    w   : 
of  tiie  211  i  <  en:  try    the  intr  won  of  a  third  net   of  <     m;    oil  ;rs    resulte  1  in 
,    -    rt    ntri.inj  li  .r  d  :el.  f  r   wii:     ,  it   would   be    hard  to  find  a   parallel   or 


REIGN  OF  THE   HAN  DYNASTY.  121 

precedent  in  history.  The  emperor  Ho-ti  (89-105  a.d.)  was  the  first  to 
raise  eunuchs  to  the  highest  office,  and  for  long  afterwards  their  employment 
as  generals  or  in  other  posts  of  authority  outside  the  court  was  regarded 
as  a  grave  scandal.  But  the  elaborate  forms  and  ceremonies  of  the 
Chinese  court  gave  these  official  chamberlains  peculiar  opportunities  for 
entangling  their  imperial  master  in  a  maze  of  etiquette,  of  which  none  but 
themselves  had  the  clue,  so  that  even  duly  appointed  ministers  could  only 
obtain  access  to  the  emperor's  person  by  their  favour.  The  literati  had 
more  reason  to  resent  this  innovation  than  the  nobles,  because  the  weak- 
ness of  the  royal  power,  of  which  the  influence  of  these  palace  slaves  was 
a  symptom,  gave  to  the  holders  of  provincial  governorships  the  very  oppor- 
tunity they  most  desired,  tor  re-establishing  the  hereditary  character  of  their 
charges  and  therewith  their  own  feudal  independence. 

The  literati  had  no  such  compensation,  and  their  disaffection  showed 
itself  in  cabals,  not  to  say  conspiracies,  of  which  the  importance  may  be 
measured  by  the  fact  that  a  private  "  authors'  association  "  was  made  the 
subject  of  criminal  prosecution  in  the  year  166  a.d.1  The  party,  however, 
was  not  broken  up  by  the  attack,  for  twelve  years  later  the  attempt  to 
found  a  new  imperial  academy  broke  down,  because  of  the  refusal  of  all 
the  leading  scholars  to  take  part  in  the  project,  private  schools  under  their 
direction  being  preferred  to  the  imperial  establishment  with  a  staff  of 
mediocrities.  The  discontent  was  not  limited  to  the  orthodox  school,  for 
the  insurrection  of  the  "  Yellow  caps,"  which  was  not  suppressed  without 
great  bloodshed,  was  headed  by  three  brothers,  who  professed  an  ardent 
devotion  to  the  doctrines  of  Lao-tsze. 

In  t'ne  latter  half  of  the  2nd  century  a.d.,  the  double  demand  for  copper, 
for  religious  images  and  weapons  of  war,  left  so  little  available  fur  t'ne 
currency  that  its  depreciation  followed  as  a  matter  of  course.  At  the 
same  time  (165—185  a.d.)  the  land  tax  had  been  raised  to  10  tsien  per  mow, 
which  would  make  the  burden  of  t'ne  tenant,  with  100  mow,  five  times  as 
heavy  as  in  the  earlier  years  of  the  dynasty."  Over-taxation,  civil  war,  and 
a  pestilence  which  raged  between  170  and  175,  combined  to  desolate  the 
provinces,  and  during  t'ne  reign  of  the  last  Emperor  (190-220  a.d.)  tiie 
virtual  dismemberment  of  the  empire  had  gone  so  far  that  the  generals,  who 
founded  the  three  kingdoms,  did  so  at  t'ne  expense  of  other  rebels,  rather 
than  at  that  of  any  legitimate  ruler. 

With  all  its  social  and  political  vicissitudes,  the  reign  of  the  Han 
sovereigns  remains  one  of  tiie  most  important  epochs  in  the  history  ot 
China,  as  the  fact  that  the  whole  race  has  been  called  by  their  name  —the 
si  mis  of  Han— sufficiently  proves.  The  Middle  antiquity  of  China  ends 
with  t'ne  Chow  Dynasty,     T'ne  modern  history  of  t'ne  empire  must  be 


1    It:  it,  /.7//  'ruction  puhlique,  p.   1S9.      De    Mailla.  iii.  p.  473.      Scci 
.     ;.  lander  ::    China.      Chuang-tze  (p.  272)  instances,  amon:.; 

appointment  by  Win  Want;   of  a    minister   who    ''issued    no  unjust  1'cl; 
■'  m^erous  organizations  were  broken  up. "' 

-  J  urn.  As.,  .'....  p.  270, 


122  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

to  begin  with  the  Tang  Dynasty,  but  its  foundation  may  be  attributed  to 
the  Hans,  who  codified  its  law,  edited  its  classics,  extended  its  renown,  and 
witnessed  the  invention  of  its  most  distinctive  manufacture,  the  porcelain, 
which  was  first  made  during  this  period,  in  lieu  of  common  earthenware, 
till  then  used  in  China  as  elsewhere. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

FROM  THE    THREE   KINGDOMS    TO    THE   SOUY  DYNASTY. 
(221-620  A.D.) 

The  history  of  the  next  400  years  may  be  passed  over  briefly,  not  that  it  is 
wanting  in  matter  of  human  interest,  but  because  the  enduring  features  of 
Chinese  civilization  are  elaborated  in  the  flourishing  days  of  a  united 
empire.  Yet  we  must  not  exaggerate  the  extent  to  which  the  country  as  a 
whole  is  affected  by  the  intervening  periods  of  comparative  anarchy  or 
disruption.  Of  course  the  people  suffered  severely  from  the  outbreaks  of 
rebellion  and  civil  war  which  heralded  and  succeeded  every  change  of 
dynasty,  but  outside  the  actual  seat  of  war,  life  went  on  as  usual,  and 
there  was  seldom  a  time  when,  taking  the  empire  all  through,  disorder  was 
not  the  exception  and  peaceful  industry  the  rule  ;  so  that,  even  during  the 
most  inglorious  periods,  the  habits  of  settled  application,  which  had 
always  characterized  the  peasantry,  were  able  to  go  on  gradually  and 
silently  gathering  the  strength  of  a  second  nature,  till  they  appear  as  the 
essential  and  dominant  feature  of  the  whole  social  body. 

Ssema-tsien,  and  later  historians  and  philosophers  after  him,  speak  as 
of  an  everlasting  law,  of  the  sequence  of  prosperity  and  decay  ;  but  on 
looking  back  over  the  2,000  years  during  which  the  history  of  China  has 
been  recorded  at  length,  we  see  that  in  each  period  of  prosperity,  the 
standard  of  civilization  and  well-being  stands  a  degree  higher  than  that  of 
the  last  corresponding  period.  The  proportion  of  the  population  un- 
touched by  the  horrors  of  civil  disorder  was  greater  during  the  period  of 
the  three  kingdoms,  which  followed  the  fall  of  the  Eastern  Hans,  than  in 
the  days  ot  the  Warring  States  before  the  reunion  of  the  empire  under 
Chi-hoang-ti.  The  prosperity  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  was  wider  spread  and 
more  deeply  rooted  than  that  of  the  Hans,  and  the  reaction  under  the 
five  Posterior  dynasties  did  not  reproduce  all  the  anarchy  of  the  Three 
kingdoms.1  Chinese  literature  reached  its  golden  age  under  the  Sung 
1  lynasty,  which  in  most  other  respects  was  an  advance  upon  that  of  Tang. 
and  henceforward  the  whole  empire  was  never  broken  up  into  disordered 
fragments.  The  Mongols  sought  to  keep  the  empire  in  the  state  they 
found  it,  since  in  no  other  could  its  sovereignty  be  so  rich  a  prize.  The 
native  Ming  Dynasty,  which  succeeded  the  warlike  Yuen,  was,  as  com- 
pared   with    the    latter,    as    the   politic  Tang   emperors    compared  to   the 

1    For  the  order  of  the  dynasties   see  Appendix  I.,  and    for  specimens  of  the    materi  ■'. - 
>r  the  historv  of  China  even  in  us  obscurer  periods,  Prizmaier,  N-:    )  i  ::fcn  aits 


i -M  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

military  Hans,  exercising  with  less  effort  a  more  potent  sway;  while 
there  can  be  little  question  that  the  founders  of  the  Mantchu  Dynasty  were 
centuries  ahead  in  civilization  of  Genghis  and  Kubla. 

Whether  the  civilization  of  the  masses  in  China  proper  has  made  much 
progress  between  the  days  of  Marco  Polo  and  of  Father  Ricci,  or  between 
those  of  Ricci  and  Dr.  Legge,  is  not  so  easy  to  determine;  but  the  civili- 
zation, such  as  it  is,  has  never  ceased  to  spread  over  a  wider  area,  an  1. 
while  its  volume  does  not  detract  from  its  vitality,  there  is  always  the 
presumption  in  human  affairs  that  the  quantity  of  a  torce  will  in  some 
measure  re-act  upon  its  quality.  It  is  a  reasonable  conjecture  that  there 
has  been  as  much  progress,  in  regard  to  the  minor  derails  which  constitute 
the  finish  of  material  civilization,  during  the  last  five  or  six  centuries  in 
China  as  during  the  last  five  or  six  decades  in  Europe.  This  kind  of 
progress,  like  the  motion  ot  a  glacier,  is  easily  mistaken  for  a  state  of  rest  : 
but  2.000  years  of  it  are  no  more  than  sufficient  to  account  for  the  positive 
level  of  general  culture  and  comfort  in  the  Middle  Kingdom  of  to-day. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Hans  the  empire  was  divided,  for  forty-five  years, 
into  three  kingdoms.  This  is  the  period  celebrated  in  the  San-kwo-chi,  a 
vast  historical  romance  with  a  large  substratum  of  fact,  from  which  Chinese 
dramatists  are  chiefly  wont  to  derive  the  plots  and  incidents  of  their 
historic  plays.  Of  the  three  kingdoms,  the  most  powerful  bore  the  name 
of  Wei,  and  included  the  northern  provinces  of  China  with  Loyang  for 
its  capital.  The  second,  of  which  the  capital  was  ultimately  fixed  at 
Nanking,  embraced  most  of  the  south  ;  while  the  after  Hans,  who  alone 
claimed  the  throne  by  inheritance,  were  restricted  to  the  provinces  of  the 
south-west,  of  which  Tching-tu-fu  was  the  natural  capital.  The  empire  was 
reunited  in  265  a.d.,  after  which  six  minor  dynasties  reigned  in  succession  ; 
the  fourth  of  these  bore  the  name  of  Sung,  but  must  not  be  confounded 
with  the  great  dynasty  which  precede]  the  Mongols.  The  empire  was 
again  divided  on  its  accession,  420  a.d.,  and  the  Sung  and  successive 
imperial  dvnasties  ruled  over  S  ruthem  China;  while  a  Tatar  dynasty, 
which  had  taken  the  name  of  Wei,  was  supreme  in  the  north.  This 
period  lasted  from  420  a.d.  to  5S9  a.d.  and  is  called  the  age  of  the 
Northern  and  Southern    Kmpires. 

It  was  m  tiie  year  335  a.d..  in  one  of  the  seventeen  small  kingdoms 
which  divide  1  China  d  iring  the  short  and  feeble  rale  o(  the  T'sin  Imperial 
Dynast}',  t  mt  natives  of  the  empire  were  first  allowed  to  take  Lluddhist 
-  :  -ti  vow  .  !:;•-■:.  \  ears  later  there  were  as  many  as  forty-two  pagodas 
enum  a;  te  1  ..1  1.  ivang.  an  :  the  Taoists  began  to  deprecate  the  antagonism 
ol  t'ne  rehgi  m,  wha  h  they  saw  was  likely  to  prove  a  danger  >us  rival,  by 
claiming  LuTlhu  is  .01  ::.  imati  11  of  La o-tsze ;  but  the  overture  was 
met  by  a  revision  0!  the  eiastii  lluddhist  chronology  throwing  t'ne  date  o! 
I 'riii  e  Sakhyu  Mutmi  far  en  tigh  back  to  exclude  the  possibility  of  such  a 
deroeiatorv    hyputhe-T.      In    40c    a.d.,  the    first    of  the   string    of  Chinese 

pi  1_ rim-  to   !         :'  1 1     Idh         his    i\     >rded  travels,  ait  i    :r  >m    l-'a- 

i.ie:    and    h:>.  success   rs,  the  Brahmans    quoted  by  the  Armenian  Cosmas, 


FROM  THE  THREE  KINGDOMS  TO  SOUY  DYNASTY.    125 

(550  a.d.)  learnt  to  think  of  China  as  equal  in  size  to  half  the  world.  In 
518   an   embassy  was  sent   from   the  Northern  empire   to  bring  Buddhist 

books  from  India,  and  the  division  of  the  empire  was  known  in  the  West 
without  prejudice  to  the  reputation  of  the  people,  of  whom  a  writer  early 
in  the  7th  century  tells  us  that  ''they  have  just  laws  and  their  life  is  full  of 
temperate  wisdom/' 

In  43^  a.d.,  a  provincial  governor  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  emperor 
on  the  dangerous  spread  of  Buddhism  in  the  past  400  years.  Temples  of 
Fo,  he  complains,  are  to  be  seen  in  the  smallest  villages  ;  to  say  nothing 
of  the  waste  of  labour,  valuable  building  materials,  stone,  bricks,  and 
timber  are  thrown  away  upon  these  useless  structures,  while  quantities  of 
gold,  silver,  and  copper,  that  might  otherwise  be  used  in  the  public  service, 
are  consumed  to  make  the  idols  worshipped  by  the  perverted  people. 
The  memorialist  concludes  by  begging  that  the  temples  may  be  destroyed 
and  the  materials  used  for  the  repair  of  public  buildings.  Tim  Emperor 
approved  of  the  suggestion,  and  issued  an  edict  in  accordance  with  it, 
almost  exactly  to  the  same  effect  as  those  which,  1,300  years  later,  put  a 
stop  to  the  spread  of  Catholic  Christianity  in  China.1 

We  may  be  sure  that  at  the  earlier,  as  at  the  later  date,  there  was  no 
intolerance  of  speculative  opinion  at  work.  The  Chinese  dread  of  clerical 
aggression  is  purely  civil  and  economical.  The  temporal  authority  cared 
nothing  about  the  beliefs  or  opinions  of  its  subjects,  but  it  claimed  to 
control  their  conduct,  and  it  was  contrary  to  the  public  interest  that  they 
should  systematically  waste  their  substance  in  endowing  convents.  Their 
money  was  their  own  as  long  as  they  spent  it  properly — in  nourishing 
parents  and  children,  in  paying  taxes  and  performing  the  customarv  cere- 
monies,— -but  if  the  emperor's  subjects  tried  to  subsidize  an  independent, 
spiritual  authority  by  temporal  gifts,  it  was  at  their  peril,  and  the  gifts 
were  liable  to  be  confiscated,  like  the  treasures  of  a  rebellious  prince. 

The  material  progress  of  Buddhism  was  not  arrested  and  scarcely  checked 
by  these  edicts,  but  they  were  really  successful  in  resisting  the  danger — 
which  the  biography  of  Hiouen-thsang  shows  not  to  have  been  chimerical 
— of  the  machinery  of  public  instruction  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  heresi- 
archs  and  being  used  to  train  priests  for  the  service  of  the  religious  sects, 
instead  of  scholars  for  the  service  of  the  State.  Hitherto,  as  subsequently, 
independent  scholars  had  led  the  way  in  literature,  and  the  imperial  c  illeg  :s 
depended  for  their  popularity  and  success  upon  the  eminence  of  the 
teachers  they  could  enlist. 

The  doom  of  orthodoxy  would  have  been  sealed  if  its  defence  had  been 
abandoned  to  the  State  schools,  while  heretical  teachers  succeeded  to  the 
:  an  1  influence  of  the  unofficial  Confucianists.  Naturally  the  new 
teachers  fought  less  hard  for  the  control  of  the  schools,  about  whr  1,  they 
cared  little,  than  for  the  endowments  of  temples  and  monasteries,  about 
which  they  cared  a  great  deal  ;  and  so  the  state  of  antagonism  was  per- 
petuated  between  the   ic\\\  who  knew  much  and    believed    little,  and    the 

!   1  >e  Mailla,  v.  p.  42. 


i26  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

many,  whose  credulity  was  to  be  excused  by  their  ignorance.  As  regarded 
temporalities,  the  struggle  with  Buddhism  did  not  reach  its  height  tor 
some  centuries,  but  the  intellectual  supremacy  of  Confucianism  was  not 
seriously  endangered  by  its  rivalry  after  the  stringent  measures  of  the 
5th  century. 

The  gco  years  before  the  accession  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  belong  to  the 
Dark  Ages  of  Chinese  history.  It  was  complained  that  not  one  in  forty  of 
the  dignitaries  employed  at  court  knew  how  to  handle  a  pencil.1  The  State 
colleges  seem  to  have  degenerated  into  boarding  schools  for  a  class  of 
privileged  idlers,  as  their  endowments  survived,  while  the  custom  of  employ- 
ing collegians  fell  into  abevance.  The  private  schools,  which  generally  en- 
joyed and  deserved  the  confidence  of  the  learned,  were  refused  all  official 
countenance,  apparently  from  the  suspicion  that  voluntary  schools,  as  we 
may  call  them,  were  destined  to  promote  the  interest  of  religious  se<  ts 
rather  than  disinterested  study  of  the  native  classics  ;  and  even  if  this  sus- 
picion was  to  some  extent  justified  by  fact,  it  is  certain  that  the  discourage- 
ment of  ail  private  schools  indifferently  had  an  injurious  effect  on  the 
standard  of  education.2 

Xo  material  change  in  the  condition  of  the  industrial  population  took 
place  during  this  period.  The  T'sin  (280-419  a.d.)  divided  able-bodied 
workers  into  classes  according  to  age,  giving  each  a  certain  allowance  of 
land,  with  extra  quantities  for  nobles  and  princes.  This  example  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  northern  Wei  Dynasty,  and  in  485  the  latter  made  a  serious 
attempt  to  revive  the  agrarian  policy  of  the  ancients.  Every  adult  male 
was  allowed  40  mow  for  corn  and  every  female  20,  besides  20  mow  for 
mulberry  trees  allotted  to  every  house,  which  latter  portion  became  inalien- 
able/1 Land  in  excess  of  this  amount  was  not  confiscated,  but  was  allowed 
to  be  sold,  which  the  duty  fields  were  not.  At  the  beginning  of  the  same 
century  the  Government  endeavoured  to  promote  the  plantation  of  mulberry 
trees  and  the  cultivation  of  waste  lands  by  giving  distinctions  to  the 
families  which  had  oxen  tor  the  plough.  It  is  curious  that  those  who  had 
no  oxen  were  expecte  :  t >  have  slaves,  for  the  law  seems  intended  to  limit 
th  :  1  :  r  :  slaves  held  by  one  owner,  while  it  is  scarcely  likely  ti  at  cul- 
tivators too  poor  to  have  anv  oxen    should  have  too   many   slav  s.      High! 

.  -.  th  unber  allowed  to  a  married  householder,  were  reckoned  for 
pur;         '  of  cultivation  as        ii\    lent  to  a  v   ke  of  ten  1  >xen. ; 

By  ti      legislati    :.  ;:.  :  or-  i    ■•  .-.      :.  4--  .\.I>.  and  499  A.O..  ah  cultivators 

had  a    1  .■!■'.;  in  -h   re  of  i    •  tted  to  them  :    land  held  in    e\>  ess  of  this 

1    o        >c  sold,  and  no  excess  might  be  bought.      It  a  house- 

blcr  .        nn   re]  resentative.  hi-  relations,  i.e.  the  <  Ian  or  family 

community.  re<eiv<   1'    e  ml  ,-ritance  in   preference  to  strangers;  but  failing 

tafives,  tin  State    resumed   possession  of  the  land,  in  whii  h 

the  grantee  h  .0  no:;,:-:  Lily  onh  interest.      Migration  was  again  recog- 

.  b}  the  State    sa    means  ot    providing  for  surplus   population,  and  it 

:    /      :.•'    .7"  rir.-ini  ■;'  a  ,Ait: .7.7.    a:  C/'r'i:-;,  y.  211.      -    I  '  -M ..'.'.'.?..  v.  ;'...:.   :.;. 

'J  ••'■»•  -; ;■  -\':  ;  '  ■-  v-  2S7. 


FROM  THE   THREE  KINGDOMS  TO  SOUY  DYNASTY.    127 

the  people  refused  to  move  when  in  want,  they  were  compelled  to  cut  down 
their  trees  and  plough  up  their  orchards  to  leave  more  room  for  grain. 
Northern  China  was  colonized  at  this  time,  and  it  was  noted  that  property 
was  much  less  unequally  divided  there  than  in  the  south,  where  positive 
legislation  could  not  entirely  undo  the  effects  of  feudalism  and  the  con- 
centration of  wealth  in  a  few  hands,  which  had  gone  on  in  times  of  dis- 
order. 

It  is  not  clear  how  the  enactment  providing  for  home  colonies  was  car- 
ried out  in  fully  settled  parts,  where  there  were  few  or  no  waste  lands  at 
the  disposal  of  the  Crown  ;  but  in  4S4  a.d.  the  system  of  paying  officers  by 
salaries  instead  of  land  grants  was  introduced,1  and  this  change  would  no 
doubt  set  free  a  good  deal  of  State  property.  At  all  events,  in  the  next 
century  we  read  of  persons  renting  the  public  lands,  so  that  these  cannot 
have  been  exhausted  by  the  allotments. 

The  system  of  land  tenure  was  never  independent  of  that  of  taxation. 
From  the  days  of  Chow  two  main  sources  of  revenue  had  always  been  re- 
cognised -the  land  tax,  which  was  liable  to  fall  off  when  from  any  cause  the 
cultivators  ceased  to  form  the  bulk  of  the  population,  and  the  personal  tax, 
paid  in  respect  of  what  we  should  still  call  personal  property.  The  govern- 
ment allotments  of  land  were  not  apparently  intended  to  represent  what 
was  required  for  the  maintenance  of  a  family,  but  only  to  furnish  where- 
withal to  meet  the  demands  of  the  tax  collector:  hence  the  tax  payable  in 
respect  of  these  allotments  seems  extraordinarily  high  for  China,  reaching 
a  third  of  the  produce,  while  those  who  rented  a  whole  farm  only  paid  about 
a  tenth,  which  was  always  regarded  as  the  legitimate  proportion,  whether 
levied  under  the  name  of  rent  or  land  tax.  It  is  obvious  that  the  condition 
of  tree  cultivators  without  land  could  not  become  intolerable  so  long  as 
they  were  able  to  rent  it  on  the  simple  condition  of  paying  the  ordinary 
tax  :  and  as  long  as  the  State  had  land  to  let  on  these  terms,  private  agglo- 
merators  would  be  unable  to  get  farmers  to  pay  more  to  themselves  :  so 
that  large  estates  could  only  be  profitable  on  condition  of  evading  the  land 
tax,  or  being  tilled  for  the  owner  by  servile  labour. 

Tile  gradual  pacification  of  the  empire  was  much  assisted  by  the  reluc- 
tance of  the  free  cultivators  to  leave  their  homes,  when  not  suffering  from 
distress,  to  fight  for  one  feeble  ruler  rather  than  another.  At  the  end  of 
the  5th  century  a  general,  summoned  to  lead  his  troops  to  a  distant  province, 
demurred  on  the  ground  that  the  men  of  the  north  do  not  willingly  go 
far  from  their  homes,  and  can  only  be  depended  on  to  keep  together  for 
short  raids  where  booty  is  to  be  got.'-'  The  mercenary  element  in  the 
Chinese  character  was  by  preference  pacific,  and  it  was  never  necessary  to 
prolong  a  war  for  fear  of  leaving  the  army  out  of  work. 

It   appears  from  the   edifying   anecdotes   preserved   in    history   that  the 

pleasures  of  the  chase  were  still  a  snare  to  Chinese  monarchs,  but  they  were 

seldom  left  without   some   superior   man    to   keep   before    them    the    moral 

ideals  of  earlier  and  greater  days.      The  hereditary  prince  while  out   hunt- 

1  L.c,  p.  2S8.  -  De  Mailla,  v.  p.  iSS. 


128  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

ing  admires  the  beauty  of  a  waving  corn-field — the  sight  which  filled  Keats 
with  ecstasy — and  he  is  at  once  reminded  of  the  labours  that  have  been 
spent  on  it  and.  by  implication,  of  the  wickedness  of  destroying  their  fruits 
by  letting  the  hunt  sweep  over  them.  And  an  emperor  who  had  stayed  out 
bevond  the  customary  hour,  was  rebuked  by  the  officer  on  guard,  who 
affected  not  to  recognise  him.  The  emperor  had  gone  out  early,  and  it 
was  impossible  that  he  should  so  far  have  neglected  the  duties  of  his  office 
and  the  rules  of  propriety  as  to  stay  out  hunting  all  day!  It  was  also 
regarded  as  the  extremity  of  license  for  the  palace  gates  to  stand  open  by 
night,  or  for  the  heir  apparent  to  mix  freely  for  pleasure  with  the  common 
people  or  discard  the  orthodox  robes  of  state.  Anarchy  could  hardly 
obtain  in  the  kingdom,  when  the  court  was  in  such  rigid  subjection  to  the 
Rites  and  their  interpreters. 

The  license  refused  to  members  of  the  imperial  family  or  persons  still 
holding  official  rank  might  be  taken  without  censure  by  those  who  delib- 
erately preferred  a  private  station.  A  poet  who  flourished  towards  the 
close  of  the  T'sin  Dynasty  gave  un  official  life,  after  three  months'  trial, 
rather  than  •  tit  on  a  dress  of  ceremony  to  visit  the  provincial  inspectors, 
and  after  his  retirement,  -gent  his  tune  in  drinking,  studying,  and  writing 
verses — a  record  which  was  not  considered  discreditable.  Besides  this 
•■('■-tor  of  the  five  willows."  there  was  a  scholar  who  held  office  with 
credit,  in  the  -  ond  carter  of  the  5th  centurv,  in  spite  of  his  passion  for 
roaminu  al  ne  upon  solkary  hill-tops  or  in  wooded  ravines  :  so  that  it  seems 
;is  if  in  China,  unlike  Europe,  tiie  taste  for  wild  scenerv  had  preceded  that 
for  tame  and  cultivated  country.  In  China,  as  in  f.gvpt.  the  enjoyment  of 
natural  beauty  seems  to  have  been  frank  and  keen.  "The  Master  said. 
'The  wise  find  pleasure  in  water;  the  virtuous  find  pleasure  in  hills,''"1 
and  the  extent  to  which  the  pleasure  is  experienced,  without  pedantry  or 
affe  '  tti  n.  is  a  str  >ng  testimony  to  the  diffusion  of  wisdom  and  virtue,  in 
the  Middle  Kingdom.  And  we  should  undervalue  the  decree  of  civilization 
attained  in  it.  even  during  these  dark  aires,  if  we  did  not  realize  that  the 
modem  taste  f  <r  flowers  and  scenery  was  already  developed. 

Inter*  ;  urse  with  Western  Asia  was  kept  up  oc  •asionallv.  Wen-ti  ol  the 
Wei  ])\:  i-^ty  received  ambassadors  from  three  kings — of  Khotan.  of  another 
rhbtrii  t  on  t    •■  river  Hi.  an  1  one   near  Lop-nor — and   published  a  deer 

ur  of  tl    ■    've  .'.  in  wi  ii  h  he    ju  •'    1  the  Shi  and  SI  00  for  the  praise  of 

submissive   barbari   ns,   and   conclude  1  :    "  Xow  that    the   strangers  oi   the 

western  1  n    A  com  :  with  sincei —  !  1  s   licit  reunion  with  the  em:  ire.  1   '  th  : 

-  A        t:     t  t!     v  S'-ii'l  be  rei  eived  and  supported."-    <  'tl    :r  e    il    issies 

were   i  in    46A    n    d     i/A    .\.o.,   and    one    was    sent    Acn    a.d.)   with 


:  -     en.ts     v  tne  I    :r-ua:i    Kin;.   konan,  wnose  reiun  is  ot  lerwi-v   1     :m 


f  :  •'  'i  uver  ft  lie  so  :  list  M  zdek.  The  inter'  rirse  :  ietween  the  1  I'.trts 
rif  (  ":.i:  nd  1  'erb  1  rem  ws  auv  dun*  ultv  that  mi:  t  oti  :rw  is  A.  ive  ;  >een 
felt  ::  '  -    M     '  A  .  as    1  discinle  of  Men<  i  is.  and   the   resemblan     : 


FROM  THE  THREE  KINGDOMS  TO  SOUY  DYNASTY.    129 

some  remarks,  attributed  to  him  in  the  Shah-nameh,  to  those  of  Mencius 
quoted  above  is  too  close  to  be  accidental. 

There  was  a  drought,  we  are  told,  causing  famine,  and  great  and  small 
came  to  the  palace  asking  for  food.  Mazdek  said  to  the  king:  "  A  man 
has  been  bitten  by  a  serpent,  another  has  an  antidote  and  will  not  give  it  : 
what  shall  be  done  to  him  ?  "  "He  is  a  murderer,"  replied  the  king,  "and 
shall  be  slain  before  my  gate  as  soon  as  the  family  of  the  dead  can  seize 
him."'  '['he  next  day  Mazdek  begged  to  be  instructed  again  :  "  Suppose  a 
man  has  been  bound  with  chains  and  would  give  his  life  for  a  loaf  of  bread, 
and  it  is  refused  him  and  he  dies,  what  should  be  the  punishment  of  him 
who,  having  bread,  refuses  it  to  the  prisoner?  "  The  king  replied,  "  He  is 
a  wretch,  and  is  answerable  for  the  death  which  he  might  have  prevented." 
Then  Mazdek  went  out  at  the  palace  gate  and  bade  the  hungry  crowd  go 
and  wherever  they  could  find  corn  concealed,  take  it  for  themselves,  and  if 
they  were  asked  to  pay  for  it,  burn  the  village.  His  own  granaries  and  the 
king's  were  plundered  like  the  rest,  and  when  people  came  to  the  king  to 
remonstrate,  Mazdek  declared  that  he  had  only  followed  the  royal  in- 
structions, for  bread  was  the  antidote  to  the  mortal  poison  of  hunger. 

He  then  delivered  a  discourse  which  seemed  to  his  hearers  so  just  that 
they  all,  including  the  king,  expressed  their  assent  to  it.  The  man  with 
nothing,  he  contended,  is  the  equal  of  the  rich,  and  no  one  should  be 
suffered  to  retain  superfluous  possessions.  The  rich  should  be  the  warp 
and  the  poor  the  woof;  there  should  be  equality  in  the  world,  and  the 
excess  of  wealth  is  bad  and  unlawful.  Women,  houses,  and  goods  should 
be  shared,  and  the  poor  made  the  equal  of  the  rich.  Chinese  radicalism, 
it  seems,  lost  some  of  its  sweet  reasonableness  and  temperance  in  the 
course  of  transmission,  and  the  communistic  element  in  Mazdek's  doctrine 
is  a  purely  Persian  addition.  The  king's  son,  Kesra  (Chosroes),  who  was 
not  converted,  among  other  objections  urged  that  if  the  new  and  revolu- 
tionary doctrine  was  received,  the  father  would  not  know  his  son  ;  and  in 
the  eyes  of  the  domestic  races,  it  would  be  not  less  certainly  condemned  if 
children  as  well  as  wives  were  to  be  common,  so  as  to  disable  the  son  from 
knowing  his  own  mother.  Yet  the  tragic  conclusion  of  the  tale  leaves 
modern  sympathies  rather  on  the  side  of  the  revolutionary.  Prince  Kesra 
spent  six  months  in  exhausting  all  the  wisdom  of  Zoroastrian  sages,  and 
then  proceeded  to  re-convert  his  father  by  such  arguments  as  these. 

"It  men  are  all  equal  and  there  is  no  difference  between  great  and  small, 
who  will  be  willing  to  serve,  and  how  can  authority  be  exercised?  Who  will 
work  for  you  and  me,  and  how  will  the  good  be  separated  from  the  bad  ? 
W  hen  a  man  dies,  to  whom  will  his  house  and  fortune  belong  if  the  king 
and  the  mechanic  are  equal  ?  When  all  are  masters,  where  are  the  paid 
servants?  When  all  have  treasures,  where  is  the  treasurer?  Xo  founder  of 
religion  has  ever  spoken  like  this  before."  Ivobad,  like  some  social 
philosophers  of  a  much  later  date,  thought  these  criticisms  convincing,  and 
gave  Kesra  carte  blanche  to  deal  with  the  heresiarch  and  his  followers. 
He  planted  the  latter,  to  the  number  of  3,000,  head  downwards,  along  the 

VOL.   II.  —  P.C.  K 


i;;o  OWNERSHIP   IN   CHINA. 

walls  of  his  garden,  and  then  summoned  Mazdek  to  see  the  fruit  borne  by 
the  seed  he  had  sown.  Then  he  hung  the  teacher  head  downwards  from 
a  high  gibbet,  and  slew  him  with  arrows.1 

The  story  shows  that  Chinese  literature  was  known  to  serious  thinkers 
in  other  countries,  though  the  influence  of  the  Middle  State,  as  a  civilizing 
force,  was  strictly  limited  to  its  own  subjects.  A  generation  or  more 
before,  Moses  of  Chorene  spoke  of  the  Chinese  people  as  wealthy/civilized, 
and  eminently  pacific,  and  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  trade  with  Persia 
and  the  various  kingdoms  bordering  the  desert  went  on  continuously  in 
spite  of  the  subdivision  of  the  empire.  The  superior  safety  and  quickness 
of  the  land  traffic  is  alleged  by  Cosmas  as  a  reason  why  there  was  so  much 
silk  in  Persia,  and  the  quantity  exported  is  proved  to  have  been  consider- 
able, by  its  reaching  the  empire  of  fustinian  in  quantities  sufficient  to 
suggest  the  thought  of  acclimatizing  the  precious  worm.  Another  Persian 
embassy  was  received  in  567  a.d. 

The  last  of  the  six  minor  dynasties  preceding  the  Tang  did  a  good  deal 
to  facilitate  its  work  by  consolidating  the  imperial  authority.  In  607  the 
emperor  threatened  to  drop  all  correspondence  with  Japan,  because  it  was 
addressed  from  the  ''Great  son  of  heaven  in  the  East"  to  the  "  Great  son 
of  heaven  in  the  West,'''  and  this  was  "contrary  to  the  Rites."  This  was 
equivalent  to  a  declaration  of  hostility,  because,  as  Amyot  observes, 
"tributary"  in  Chinese  history  means  virtually  ally,  and  Japan  conse- 
quently protested  against  being  erased  from  the  list  of  tributaries.  The 
Chinese  were  forbidden,  in  the  same  reign,  to  carry  arms — a  change  always 
significant  of  an  important  stage  in  national  progress.  The  Sony  emperors 
(589-619  a.o.)  gave  some  attention  to  letters,  though  the  attempt  to  take 
stock  of  t'ne  surviving  literary  monuments  of  former  ages  ended  in  the 
discovery  that  60  or  70  per  cent,  of  the  works  known  to  have  existed 
under  the  Hans  had  been  lost  beyond  recovery.  The  form  of  character 
now  in  use  was  adopted  (375  A.o.)  towards  tiie  close  of  the  T'sin  Dynasty. 

About  the  same  time  (350  a.d.)  the  earliest  mention  of  the  tea  plant 
being  cultivated  lor  the  infusion  made  from  its  leaves  is  met  with,  and  it 
is  noticeable  that  references  to  drunkenness  become  much  rarer  in  future 
than  in  the  literature  of  the  earlier  times.  The  general  use  of  hot  tea  as  a 
beverage  lias  also  contributed  to  the  remarkable  freedom  from  epidemics 
of  modern  China;  the  water  boiled  fur  tea  is  rendered  innocuous,  and 
besides,  since  the  habit  of  taking  'not  drinks  lias  been  formed,  it  lias 
become  usual  tor  those  who  cannot  obtain  tea,  to  drink  always  hot  water, 
instead  ol  cold.  One  other  worthy  of  the  3rd  century  should  be  men- 
id,  the  doctor  Chua-to,  because  he  is  stiil  venerated  as  the  patron 
saint  of  t'ne  medical  profession,  and  has  incense  burnt  before  his  tablet  by 
every  member  ot  the  faculty.  He  is  said  to  have  invented  amesthetics 
and  to  have  been  put  to  death  by  a  general  who  suspected  the  motives 
of  Ids  offer  to  try  trepanning  as  a  cure  for  headache. 

:  I.  MoliI,  /  •'  I.ivre  Jt  /':.  vjl.vi.ji.  109.  The  puet  concludes:  "  It'thou  art  a 
n.aii  of  -'".i~'',  (lu  nut  lulluw  tiic  way     i  M.i/  irk." 


FROM  THE  THREE  KINGDOMS  TO  SOU Y  DYNASTY.     131 

The  arts  as  well  as  letters  were  held  in  honour  under  the  Sony  princes, 
for  besides  the  production  of  a  famous  green  porcelain,  the  dynasty  is 
notable  as  the  first  in  which  a  famous  artist  in  pottery  is  commemorated  by 
name,  an  honour  conferred  upon  one  who  brought  to  the  capital  some 
vases  which  were  described  as  "artificial  jade."1  Manufactories  had 
previously  been  established  at  Si-ngan-fu  and  Loyang  under  the  first  Wei 
(220-264  ad.)  and  under  the  T'sin  Dynasty  (265-419  a.d.)  blue  china  of 
high  repute  was  made  in  the  province  of  Tche-kiang.  The  prosperity  of 
different  parts  of  the  empire  was  unequal,  but  all  the  rich  towns,  which 
Tai-tsong-tang  was  shortly  to  gain  credit  by  refusing  to  sack,  could  not 
have  existed,  if  the  individual  life  of  the  people  had  not  gone  on  its 
tranquil  course,  habitually  unmolested  even  by  the  weak  and  tyrannical 
rulers  whom  he  superseded. 

1  Histoire  ct  Fabrication  de  la  Porcelaine  Chinoise.  Ouvragc  tradiiit  Ju  Chinois,  par 
M.  Stanislas  Julien,  1S56,  xxiv. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THE    TAXG   DY.XASTY. 
(620-907   A.D.) 

§  i.     Historical  Sketch. 

With  the  accession  of  Kao-tsou,  the  founder  of  the  Tang  Dynasty,  a  new 
period  begins — a  period  not  cut  off  from  what  precedes  it  by  any  great  up- 
heaval or  transformation  of  the  national  life,  but  one  which  joins  on  still 
mi  ire  closely  to  the  ages  which  follow  it.  The  first  Tang  emperor  did  not 
long  survive  his  triumph  ;  he  scandalized  the  tribunal  of  Rites  by  insisting 
on  having  one  of  his  daughters  buried  with  military  honours,  because  she 
had  raised  an  army  and  marched  to  his  relief  when  hard  pressed  ;  and  he 
was  also  accused  of  a  leaning  towards  Taoism.  A  palace  intrigue  to  get 
rid  of  the  younger  son.  whose  victories  had  done  much  to  establish  the 
dynasty,  was  defeated,  and  in  626  a.d.  Rao-tsong  abdicated  in  favour  ot 
this  prince. 

The  reign  of  Tai-tsong  opens  with  the  exchange  on  all  hands  of  senti- 
ments appropriate  to  the  dawn  of  a  new  golden  age.  The  Emperor  deters 
piously  to  the  patriotic  counsels  of  his  mother,  cultivates  sincerity  of  speech, 
rejects  flatterers,  discourages  superstition,  and  gives  his  confidence  to 
worth}'  ministers,  all  of  which  traits  are  illustrated  by  edifying  anecdotes 
which  it  is  not  necessary  to  quote.  The  late  emperor  had  made  all  mem- 
bers of  his  family  princes  of  the  first  rank,  and  complaints  were  heard  ot 
the  expense  thus  imposed  on  the  country.  Tai-tsong  accordingly  reduced 
die  number  of  princes,  allowing  those  only  to  retain  the  first  rank  who  had 
deserved  their  place  by  services  rendered  to  the  State.  In  637  a  new  code 
was  drawn  up  in  500  articles.  Milder  penalties  were  substituted  tor  ninety  - 
two  causes  of  death,  and  seventy-one  of  exile  previously  recognised,  and 
the  total  number  of  penalties  was  reduced  to  twenty  :  1.500  rites  and  cere- 
monies, having  the  force  of  law,  were  enumerated,  but,  a-  usual,  these  were 
mostly  derived  from  former  codes. 

I'.y  hi-  orders  an  eminent  scholar  drew  up  a  report  upon  the  popular 
manuals  of  astrology,  which  were  denounced  as  pernicious  and  delusive. 
In  pursuat.ee  of  the  d  lightfu  Chinese  plan  of  giving  reasons  for  every  offi- 
cial decree,  it  is  explained  that,  according  to  the  astrologers,  all  persons 
born  at  the  same  day  and  hour  should  have  a  similar  fate,  which  experience 
:  -  ves  not  to  be  the  case  :  while  many  of  those  who  are  actually  overtaken 
by  the  same  destiny — as.  for  instance,  the  soldiers  who  perished  in  a  great 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  133 

historical  massacre — were  certainly  not  all  born  under  the  same  constella- 
tions.1 The  same  manifesto  contains  a  warning  against  the  arts  of  diviners 
who  profess  to  tell  what  burial-places,  if  chosen,  will  bring  good  luck  to  the 
survivors.  It  is  mentioned  incidentally  that  burial-places  used  always  to 
be  on  the  north  side  of  a  town,  which,  as  the  cold  or  shady  side,  might 
originally  have  been  preferred  on  hygienic  grounds.2  But  the  superstitions 
attacked  were  too  thoroughly  indigenous  to  be  suppressed  by  edict,  and 
the}'  survive  at  the  present  day  in  the  well-known  form  of  Feng-shwuy. 
The  Emperor  declined  a  flattering  invitation  to  have  his  public  utterances 
collected  in  a  book,  as  three  emperors  of  recent  short-lived  dynasties  had 
done  :  but  he  finally  bequeathed  a  book  of  instructions,  called  Ti-fan-fu,  for 
the  use  of  his  son  and  successor. 

The  next  reign  was  disturbed  by  Tatar  incursions,  Tibetan  aggressions. 
and  palace  intrigues,  the  lawful  Empress  having  been  supplanted  by  a  ci-de- 
vant Buddhist  nun,3  whom  she  herself  brought  to  court  to  supersede  another 
favourite.  The  new-comer  obtained  complete  ascendancy  over  the  em- 
peror, and,  on  his  death,  she  took  upon  herself,  as  empress  mother,  to  de- 
pose the  emperor  for  having  raised  his  wife's  father  to  an  unsuitable  dignity, 
and  reigned  herself  in  his  stead.  The  usurpation  was  successful,  and  if  the 
supreme  power  had  come  legitimately  into  her  hands,  the  Empress  Wu-heou 
would  probably  have  been  allowed  to  count  among  the  capable  and  suc- 
cessful rulers  of  the  dynasty.  As  it  was,  insurrections  were  frequent,  and 
many  officers  of  high  standing  held  aloof  from  her  administration.  She 
attempted  to  change  the  name  of  the  dynasty,  and  by  raising  her  ances- 
tors to  the  imperial  rank,  attempted  to  substitute  her  own  family  for 
that  of  Tang. 

She  is  said  to  have  established  examinations  for  women,  with  a  view  to 
admitting  them  to  the  civil  service.  And  she  provoked  a  dangerous 
amount  of  discontent  by  allowing  and  inviting  secret  reports,  addressed  to 
herself,  not  through  ministers,  which  it  seems  took  the  form  of  delations. 
In  689  a.d.  she  had  the  unparalleled  audacity,  in  her  own  womanly  person, 
to  offer  sacrifice  in  the  imperial  robes.  The  comparative  leniency  with 
which  the  historiographers,  nevertheless,  record  her  offences,  may  be  due 
to  the  fact  that  she  felt  herself  strong  enough  to  tolerate  the  usual  amount 
of  free-spoken  criticism,  as  to  the  favour  shown  to  her  own  relations  and 
the  like.  The  best  princes  heed  such  remonstrances  in  Chinese  story,  but 
the  praise  of  second-bestness  is  always  allowed  to  those  who  listen  without 
resentment,  even  when,  it  is  added,  they  take  no  further  notice.  In  705 
a.d.,  after  twenty  years  of  empire,  and  shortly  before  her  death,  at  the 
venerable  age  of  eighty-one,  Wu-heou  was  forced  to  make  way  for  her  son, 
who,  in  his  turn,  was  ruled  by  his  wife,  a  lady  whom  the  candid  historians 
admit  to  have  been  much  cleverer  than  himself,  though  she  failed  in  the 
attempt  to  interrupt  the  succession  as  Wu-heou  had  done. 

1    IV-  Mailla,  vi.  p.  94.  2  Cf.  S.  H. .  xxvii.  p.   170. 

"  (  >r  rather  by  a  member  of  the  late  emperor's  harem,    who,  ac  :■  r  liny  to   the  .  :-l     i1 

if  the  period,  ha  !    >een  f  reel  to  retire  to  a  convent. 


1,34  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

After  another  short  reign,  we  come  to  that  of  Hiuen-tsong,  714-756  A.D., 
which  began  prosperously,  but  ended  in  disaster  and  abdication.  The 
faults  which  the  historians  lay  to  his  charge  are  the  want  of  self-control,  the 
love  of  women,  elevation  of  eunuchs,  and  addiction  to  magic  rites  and  reli- 
gious superstitions.  But  the  troubles  were  at  first  local,  and  did  not  pre- 
vent a  moderate  increase  in  the  numbers  of  the  tax-paying  population  :  a 
census  of  726  gives  over  seven  million  families  or  forty-one  million  persons 
in  the  empire,  besides  those  employed  in  the  army  or  the  civil  service,  and 
in  754  the  families  exceed  nine  millions,  and  the  total  population  fifty-two 
millions.  In  746  the  revolt  which  endangered  the  dynasty  began.  It  was 
headed  by  a  successful  general,  and  former  favourite  of  the  emperor,  of 
barbarous  origin,  who  took  that  means  of  defending  himself  against  rivals 
and  detractors.  The  capital  and  central  provinces  suffered  most  severely, 
and  before  his  abdication,  Hiuen-tsong  had  been  driven  to  take  refuge  in 
Sz'chuen.1 

The  census  of  764  a.d.  shows  an  almost  incredible  falling  off  in  the  popu- 
lation during  the  decade,  less  than  three  million  householders  being  regis- 
tered. The  figures  may  be  taken  as  an  authentic  record  of  the  empire's 
weakness,  though  the  actual  loss  of  life  in  battle  and  famine  cannot  have 
been  so  great  as  they  imply.  Some  districts  were  depopulated,  and  it  is 
stated  that  during  one  siege,  in  Honan,  human  flesh  was  eaten.  Si-ngan-fu 
also  suffered  from  famine  owing  to  the  blocking  of  the  canals,  by  which 
grain  was  imported  from  the  south.  But  the  census  returns  would  also  be 
affected  by  the  necessary  omission  of  all  districts  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels, 
as  well  as  those  temporarily  deserted  by  the  cultivators,  to  say  nothing  of 
all  that  would  profit  by  the  disturbances  to  make  fraudulent  returns. 

At  the  same  time  a  determined  attempt  was  made,  especially  in  Honan, 
Shantung,  and  Petcheli,  to  restore  the  hereditary  character  of  provincial 
governorships,  and  in  784  a.d.,  a  number  of  these  governors  united  to- 
gether to  force  the  emperor  to  appoint  the  sons  of  all  the  allies  to  succeed, 
on  their  fathers'  death.  The  fate  of  the  provinces  at  this  time  depended 
much  on  the  local  governors,  who  for  good  or  evil  were  able  to  make 
themselves  tolerably  independent  of  the  empire.  Sz'chuen  seems  to  have 
enjoyed  exceptional  good  fortune  in  this  respect.  The  law  provided  (as 
it  still  does)  that  rations  should  be  given  to  the  families  of  soldiers  on  a 
campaign,  in  addition  to  their  regular  pay  ;  but  the  general  in  charge  of 
this  province  earned  much  gratitude,  by  continuing  the  allowance  to  the 
widows  and  children  of  deceased  soldiers,  till  the  former  married  again 
and  the  latter  were  of  age  to  work.  And  this  liberal  ruler  was  so  good 
an  economist  in  other  respects,  that  he  was  able  to  remit  the  usual  tribute 
to  court  and  at  the  same  time  levy  less  than  the  customary  amount  of 
taxes. 

Tibet  and  the  Tatars  were  still  the  most  formidable  neighbours,  and  the 
relations  with  the  latter  are  a  curious  commentary  on  the  Chinese   preten- 

1    Mt'm  in    tit r  ia  I  'ti  '     !e  la  Chiin  d  scs  variations.      E.   Biot,  Joitrn.  As.,  1836, 

1  ■  ■!"• 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  135 

sions  to  have  to  do  only  with  tributaries.  It  had  been  agreed  that  the 
Tatars  should  bring  in  so  many  horses  annually,  which  the  Chinese  Govern- 
ment undertook  to  buy.  The  Tatars  looked  upon  the  agreement  as 
entered  into  for  their  own  interest,  and  brought  in  all  their  worn-out  beasts, 
to  the  disgust  of  the  Chinese  officers.  On  appealing,  however,  to  the 
emperor  in  773,  they  were  instructed  not  to  trouble  themselves  about  the 
quality  of  the  horses,  but  to  pay  a  fixed  price  in  silk  for  every  animal,  and 
take  their  chance  of  finding  a  few  available  as  cavalry  mounts  :  an  arrange- 
ment with  which  the  Tatars  were  graciously  pleased  to  rest  contented  for  a 
while.1 

By  the  accession  of  Te-tsong,  the  ninth  Emperor  of  this  dynasty 
(779-802  a.d.),  open  rebellion  had  been  suppressed,  and  his  reign  began 
peaceably  and  in  good  hope.  He  ordered  exact  registers  to  be  kept  of  all 
that  was  brought  into  the  imperial  treasuries  to  check  waste  and  peculation, 
and  he  won  great  popularity  by  establishing  a  special  tribunal  to  hear 
appeals  from  the  people  who  considered  themselves  wronged  by  any  of 
the  officers  of  State.  He  also  revived  the  legendary  use  of  the  drum,  by 
which  those  who  had  vainly  sought  to  obtain  justice  elsewhere  made  their 
appeal  resound  in  the  ears  of  the  emperor  himself.  But  the  time  for  this 
primitive  remedy  was  found  to  have  gone  by,  and  so  many  frivolous  cases 
were  brought  before  the  e.nperor  that  he  ordered  all  causes  to  be  first  con- 
sidered by  the  new  tribunal  and  only  those  of  importance  finally  referred 
to  himself.  The  same  edict  forestalled  the  more  stringent  prohibitions  of 
Hien-tsong,  by  making  it  illegal  to  erect  any  new  temples,  or  receive  fresh 
candidates  for  Buddhist  orders. 

In  the  year  78c  a.d.  the  census  returns  showed  an  increase  of  about  a 
million  families  since  the  disasters  which  were  at  their  height  in  764;'-  die 
army  at  the  same  period  consisted  of  86S,ooo  effective  soldiers,  and  the 
revenue  is  given  at  20,557,000  measures  of  grain,3  and  30,898,000  taels  ; 
but  internal  peace  was  not  long  maintained  ;  local  governors  drove  the 
people  to  revolt  by  oppressive  taxes,  and  when  the  revenue  fell  off  it  was 
impossible  to  pay  the  soldiers,  who  were  ready  to  follow  any  leader  who 
ottered  them  a  chance  of  plunder.  In  784  the  Emperor  proclaimed  a 
general  amnesty,  and  in  one  of  the  penitent  manifestoes,  to  which  Chinese 
sovereigns  are  addicted,  he  takes  to  himself  the  blame  for  the  misdeeds  of 
all  his  subordinates  and  appeals  to  them  to  help  him  to  behave  better  in 
future.  The  curious  document  served  its  purpose  for  a  time,  peace  was 
restored,  the  harvests  were  abundant,  and  the  emperor  allowed  himself  to 
believe  that  the  people  must  be  prosperous  at  last.  In  7S7  a.d.,  com- 
plaints were  made  of  a  dearth  of  horses,  animals  which  seem  never  to 
have  been  really  naturalized  in  China.  In  793  a  tax  was  for  the  first  time 
levied  on  tea. 

1    De  Mailla,  vi.  p.  311.      An    abridged   history  of  the  Tang  Dynasty,  translated  by  P. 
Gaubil,  supplements  De  Mailla  fortius  period. 
■  fount.  A;.,  1836.  p.  457. 
;i  Of  100  lbs,  each. 


156  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

The  reign  of  Hien-tsong  (805-820'  began  with  virtuous  protestations 
that  "not  a  piece  of  silk  is  used  in  the  palace  without  being  recorded,'''1 
whereby  he  was  enabled  to  use  the  more  liberality  in  dealing  out  grain  to 
the  distressed  ;  but  later  in  the  reign  he  is  accused  both  of  wasting  his 
treasures  in  lavish  gifts  to  unworthy  favourites,  and  of  accepting  large 
gifts  one  of  a  million  pieces  of  silk)  from  officers,  who  it  was  notorious 
could  only  have  obtained  them  by  oppressing  the  people.  This  reign  is 
also  memorable  for  the  revival  of  the  political  power  of  the  eunuchs,  with 
results  to  the  dynasty  like  those  of  a  similar  development  in  the  last  cen- 
tury of  the  Han  rule.  In  809  a.d.,  an  eunuch  was  appointed  general,  in 
defiance  of  public  opinion,  and  the  division  between  the  officers  of  the 
interior,  and  those  of  the  exterior,  began  to  assume  importance.  The 
eunuchs  succeeded  in  nominating  a  majority  of  the  officers  of  State,  and  re- 
sented as  an  interference  with  their  rights  the  attempt  of  YVen-tsong  826- 
.S40  a.d.)  to  promote  meritorious  officers  for  their  services  without  money 
or  interest. 

In  S28  the  subject  for  an  essay  given  at  the  public  examination  was  that 
of  duty  and  fidelity  to  princes.  The  most  brilliant  composition  sent  in 
was  an  elaborate  attack  on  the  eunuchs,  and  an  appeal  to  the  emperor  to 
suppress  their  brigandage  and  cruelty.  The  examiners,  while  privately 
loud  in  the  praise  of  this  piece,  did  not  dare  to  select  its  author,  and 
recommende  1  twenty-two  others,  who  were  at  once  provided  with  places. 
The  twenty-two  memorialized  the  emperor  a_rainst  the  injustice,  but 
without  obtaining  redress  for  their  daring  comrade. - 

In  .S34  a.d.,  the  Emperor  complained  that  the  dissensions  of  the  nobles 
gave  him  more  trouble  than  the  raids  of  Tatars  or  Tibetans.  He  attempted 
to  reduce  the  power  of  the  chamberlains  by  degrees,  but  with  so  little 
success,  that  in  S35  he  joined  in  a  kind  of  conspiracy  with  two  officers  to 
have  them  massacred.  The  plot  failed,  apparently  because  the  officers  in 
command  of  the  palace  guard  were  not  in  the  secret  ;  and  the  eunuchs' 
party  was  so  strengthened  by  the  abortive  attack,  that  they  compelled  the 
emperor  to  decree  that  henceforward  all  affairs  should  be  discussed  and 
decided  in  their  tribunal  (that  of  the  interior;,  and  the  rest  of  the  Govern- 
ment reduced  to  pure!}'  ministerial  functions. 

Between  839.  and  845,  the  census  returns  showed  a  falling  oft"  in  the 
population  of  over  40x00  families,  which  caused  some  surprise,  as  there 
had  been  no  war,  famine,  or  pestilence  to  account  for  the  loss.  In  the 
eight*  .•:/..  ;  :ign  ■■:  the  dynasty,  iisorders  prevailed  everywhere;  a  popu- 
lar minister  was  p  jisoned  by  the  eunuchs  ;  rebellion  was  rife,  and  popular 
subs'  r;;  ti  iii-  ii.id  to  be  invited  to  provide  funds  for  the  imperial  troops, 
i.oyang  was  cip:  ired  without  resistance  by  a  rebel  leader,  and.  though 
11  is  s  id  that  the  inhabitants  were  not  molested,  a  few  vears  later  the 
>..  ■  r;  ..  and  populous  city  an  1  suburbs  are  des  ribed  as  ruined  and 
deserted. 

The  corruption        .  of  the  eunuchs  still  increased  :  in  886  a.i>. 

;    io    M    ;::.!,  \\.   :  .    ;m.  -   /.'.,  ;  .  4;;. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  137 

one  of  them  attempted  to  obtain  control  of  some  salt  mines,  which  under 
honest  management  were  bringing  in  a  large  revenue  to  the  State,  and  on 
the  refusal  of  the  governor  to  surrender  his  charge,  an  accusation  of  dis- 
loyalty was  brought  against  him  by  the  eunuch's  adopted  son.  From 
henceforward  to  the  close  of  the  dynasty,  the  palace  officials  fought  vigor- 
ously, and  with  ability  worthy  of  a  better  cause,  in  defence  of  their  own 
disastrous  supremacy,  and  they  would  probably  have  succeeded  in  holding 
their  own  against  domestic  rivals  for  imperial  favour,  if  their  parasitic  clutch 
had  not  once  more  proved  fatal  to  the  imperial  house,  to  which  they  clung 
and  which  buried  them  in  its  fall. 

Formerly  the  eunuchs'  had  been  content  with  personal  influence  within 
the  palace,  and  the  opportunities  of  enriching  themselves  so  afforded.  For 
them  to  form  a  political  party  shows  the  weakness  of  other  interests,  as  well 
as  the  Chinese  aptitude  for  association  under  the  least  encouraging  con- 
ditions. It  was  said  on  one  occasion,  when  it  had  been  attempted  to 
weaken  them  by  detaching  some  from  the  cabal  or  sowing  dissension 
among  them,  that  they  all  held  together,  and  that  if  one  was  attacked,  the 
others  would  all  sink  their  differences  and  come  to  his  assistance.  Such 
instances  of  esprit  de  corps,  apart  from  family  ties,  are  of  course  not  un- 
known, and  the  partisanship  of  a  celibate  clergy,  of  mercenary  troops,  or 
a  mixed  society  like  the  Knights  Templars,  is  not  altogether  unlike  the 
spirit  of  these  Chinese  officers  of  the  Interior.  Politically  their  influence 
would  naturally  differ  from  that  of  outside  politicians,  as  the  temper  of 
the  permanent  staff  in  a  Government  office  differs  from  that  of  the  respon- 
sible statesmen  from  time  to  time  placed  at  the  head  of  the  department. 

But  to  make  themselves  formidable  beyond  the  palace  as  well  as  in  it, 
it  was  indispensable  for  them  to  obtain  adherents  outside  their  own  body  ; 
and  about  this  time  the  chief  eunuchs  set  themselves  to  strengthen  their 
party  by  adopting  young  men  of  promise  as  their  sons,  whose  promotion 
they  were  of  course  able  to  ensure,  and  who,  as  great  officers  or  generals, 
were  entirely  devoted  to  their  "fathers'  "  interests.  In  891  there  were  as 
many  as  600  of  these  adopted  sons,  most  of  whom  held  office.  The 
adherence  of  other  officers  and  troops,  and  especially  of  the  palace  guards, 
was  secured  by  largesses,  while  the  soldiery  were  instigated  to  mutiny 
against  hostile  nobles. 

The  climax  was  reached  in  900  A.D.,  when  the  emperor  was  imprisoned  in 
his  own  palace  by  the  eunuchs.  He  was  released  by  force  of  arms  the  next 
year,  but  even  then  the  proposal  to  exterminate  the  rebels  was  rejected  on 
tiie  ground  of  the  immense  number  of  them  employed  about  the  palace. 
They  thought  themselves  powerful  enough  to  refuse  all  offers,  even  of 
honourable  employment,  which  would  take  them  away  from  the  court  :  but 
in  903  the  coalition  between  a  successful  general  and  a  loyal  minister  pre- 
vailed. An  edict  was  published  abolishing  the  custom  of  reporting  affairs 
of  State,  first  to  an  '•  inner  tribunal"  of  eunuchs,  who  were,  it  was  claimed, 
able  to  discuss  them  more  intimately  with  the  emperor,  and  therefore  decide 
them  better;  though,  in  fact,  the  only  decision  taken  was  often  to  keep  the 


i3S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

whole  matter  from  the  emperor's  knowledge.  The  ministers  were  now 
required  to  report  direct  to  the  emperor  himself,  and  the  emperor's  new 
masters  demanded  the  abolition  of  all  the  "  interior  tribunals,"  and  the 
recall  of  the  provincial  inspectors  employed  by  the  eunuchs  to  terrorize  the 
local  officials. 

As  in  the  days  of  the  Warring  States,  local  governors  seized  provinces 
for  themselves,  only  asking  formally  for  the  emperor's  sanction  to  the.  fait 
accompli.  The  country  was  desolated  by  their  private  wars,  and  these 
revolts  too  were  laid  to  the  eunuchs'  charge,  since  they  were  caused  by 
impatience  of  the  authority  exercised  by  such  unfit  menials.  After  this  the 
massacre  began,  and  thousands  were  put  to  death  :  only  a  few  boys  and 
old  men  were  spared  to  sweep  the  courts  of  the  palace,  and  the  emperor's 
orders  were  conveyed  directly  to  the  nobles  ;  but  so  deeply  rooted  had  the 
habit  of  employing  god:ietweens  become,  that  women  were  employed  in  the 
mechanical  office  of  receiving  the  memorials  to  be  handed  to  the  emperor, 
and  of  transmitting  his  replies  to  the  ministers. 

The  emperor  had  long  been  treated  only  as  a  puppet,  the  charge  of 
whose  person  gave  a  certain  advantage,  in  the  game  of  civil  war,  to  the 
leader  who  secured  it.  The  chiefs  of  the  movement  against  the  eunuchs 
had  fallen  out  amongst  themselves,  and  in  904  a.d.  the  emperor's  gaoler, 
the  general  Tchu-wen,  put  him  and  his  family  to  death,  sparing  only  one 
younger  son,  whom  he  proclaimed  emperor.  Then  follow  massacres  of 
the  best  remaining  nobles,  and  as  the  patriotic  clubs  or  secret  societies, 
which  had  tried  to  stem  the  disorders  of  the  last  reign  or  to  pave  the  way 
for  a  new  order,  had  been  stamped  out,  no  further  resistance  was  possible. 
The  titular  monarch  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  father's  murderer,  and  so 
the  dynasty  ends  ;  but  the  usurper  was  not  held  to  have  succeeded  by  the 
appointment  of  heaven,  as  ids  elder  brother  condemned  his  disloyalty  and 
refused  to  accept  rank  or  honours  at  his  hands. 

j  2.     Intercourse  with  Foreigners. 

During  the  Tang  Dynasty  the  intercourse  between  China  and  other  con- 
siderable powers  was  not  only  closer  but  conducted  on  more  nearly  equal 
terms  than  at  any  other  time.  In  632  the  ancient  settlement  of  lvhotan, 
or  the  ''  breast  of  the  world."  reappears  in  Chinese  history  as  sending  an 
ambassador,  while  the  account  of  the  people  given  by  our  Chinese  author- 
ities is  -t  11    ->trangely   sympathetic.      "They   understand   rites   and  justice. 

1  ;•'':.  gentle,  studious,  and  ingenious,''  1  possessing,  that  is.  just 
those  qualities  in  the  cultivation  of  winch  the  Chinese  esteem  their  own 
super:  >rity  to  i.e.  and  for  the  want   of  which   they  pity  and   despise  ail  the 

:  barbarians  with  whom  thev  are  brought  in  contact.  The  men  of 
Khotan,  it  was  reported,  even  went  beyond  trie  Chinese  in  ceremoniousness. 
for  trie}"  were  said  formerly  to  put  a.  knee  to  the  ground  in  greeting  eacii 
(■tiler.  Iliouen-thsang  speaks  of  their  capital  as  a  city  which  no  one  lias 
been  able  to  capture,  and  notices  the  decorous  and  equitable  manners  of 
1   lli.i.    •'•    '•:.'.'.':    h   h'hetan.     A.  Remusat,  p.  32  ft". 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  139 

the  people,  their  courteous  and  law-abiding  temper,  their  love  of  music  and 
dancing,  and  their  skill  in  weaving  fine  felt  and  taffetas. 

The  neighbouring  kingdom  of  Tibet  is  first  mentioned  in  the  annals  for 
634  a.d.  as  sending  ambassadors  with  tribute  and  being  able  to  raise  a 
large  and  formidable  army.  The  first  conquests  attempted  by  it  are  over 
the  petty  kingdoms  of  the  West,  and  in  669  the  intercourse  with  China  is 
still  of  a  friendly  character,  by  which  the  Tibetan  envoy  profited  to  give  a 
glowing  description  of  the  simple  virtue  and  patriotism  of  his  people.  But 
half  a  century  later,  when  in  reply  to  an  embassy  from  Cashmere,  the 
Chinese  Government  had  sent  to  assist  Cashgar  and  the  neighbouring 
States  against  the  troops  of  the  Caliphs,  the  Tibetans  formed  an  alliance 
with  the  Turks  against  China.  The  relations  were,  however,  more  often 
friendly  than  not;  and  in  731,  when  the  question  of  sending  copies  of  the 
Chinese  Classics  to  the  king  of  Tibet  was  discussed,  it  was  decided  not  to 
withhold  from  him  those  means  of  spiritual  improvement.  The  profit 
thence  derived  must  have  been  small,  for  in  787  a.d.  China  was  actually 
induced  to  seek  alliances  in  Yunnan  and  India  with  the  Caliph  and  the 
Uigours  against  the  Tibetans,  whose  incursions  were  felt  in  Shensi  and  the 
settlements  north  of  the  desert  as  well  as  in  Sz'chuen,  till  peace  was  re- 
stored in  821  a. v.,  by  a  treaty,  which  is  said  to  be  still  preserved  at 
Lhassa. 

Appeals  from  Persia  and  India  for  help  against  the  Saracens  were 
addressed  to  China  more  than  once  in  the  7th  and  8th  centuries  ;  and  the 
heir  apparent  to  the  Persian  throne  resided  for  a  time  as  hostage  at  the 
court  of  China.  An  embassy  was  actually  sent  from  Constantinople  in  the 
time  of  Leo  the  Isaurian  to  the  great  power  of  the  East.  In  798  the  kotow 
was  performed — not  without  reluctance — by  an  embassy  from  a  Caliph 
Galun,1  but  a  politic  mandarin  in  Central  Asia  received  Turkish  princes 
according  to  their  own  rites,  and  rebuked  the  Chinese  officers  who  ridiculed 
all  strange  usages  as  barbarous.  But  for  the  physical  structure  of  the  con- 
tinent, which  isolates  India  and  China,  while  freezing  Tibet  and  nomadizing 
Tartary,  the  spread  of  Arab  conquest  round  or  across  the  desert  would 
have  reached  a  point  near  enough  to  bring  about  a  collision  with  China. 
As  it  was,  a  general  impetus  was  given  to  foreign  travel  and  foreign 
commerce;  and  while  the  court  was  filled  every  year  by  strangers  coming 
peaceably  from  regions  that  Han-wu-ti  had  vainly  endeavoured  to  subdue 
by  force  of  arms,  colonies  of  traders  established  themselves  in  the  southern 
ports,  as  well  as  along  the  continental  trade  routes. 

In  648  a.d.  a  kingdom  hitherto  unknown  sent  ambassadors,  who  are 
described  as  tall,  martial  men  with  red  hair  and  blue  eyes  ;  and  they  had 
been  preceded  by  messengers  from  a  kingdom  in  the  far  North- west,  where 
the  days  are  long  and  the  nights  short,  and  not  dark,  even  when  the  sun 
has  set,  because  of  the  twilight  that  never  leaves  the  horizon.  About 
the  year  700  a.d.   a  market  for  strangers   was  opened  at  Canton,  and  an 

'  The  famous  Harun  al  Raschid,  7S6-S0S  A. D.,  correspondent  also  of  Charlemagne. 
Gaubil's  Histoire  ties  Tha>ig,  79S  A.D.  :  Mem.  cone,  les  Chinois,  vol.  xvi.  p.   144. 


1 4o  OWNERSHIP  IN  C II IX A. 

imperial  commission  appointed  to  levy  duties.  In  714  a.d.  we  hear  of  a 
petition  of  foreign  merchants,  arriving  by  way  of  the  southern  sea,  which 
is  forwarded  from  the  coast  in  quite  modern  fashion  for  the  emperor's  con- 
sideration. It  set  forth  all  the  precious  things  which  the  merchants  could 
bring  from  the  countries  of  the  West,  and  represented  them  as  only  desirous 
of  collecting  medicinal  drugs  and  simples.  Unfortunately  for  the  traders, 
they  arrived  at  the  beginning  of  a  new  reign,  when  a  vigorous  attempt  had 
been  made  to  put  down  the  luxury  of  the  court,  and  the  Emperor,  after 
proscribing  the  use  of  gold  and  silver  ornaments,  had  given  directions 
for  a  great  "  burning  of  the  vanities  "  at  the  gate  of  the  palace.  Hence, 
when  he  proposed  to  send  one  of  the  censors  to  question  the  strangers,  he 
was  reminded  of  the  praiseworthy  indifference  shown  by  the  ancient  kings 
to  useless  curiosities  and  the  interested  pleas  of  foreign  merchants,  and  it 
was  concluded  to  take  no  further  notice  of  the  petition. 

Foreign  trade  continued  to  exist  on  sufferance,  but  so  far  as  the  Chinese 
were  concerned,  it  was  limited  by  the  attitude  of  the  Government  to  a 
moderate  exportation  of  staple  commodities,  paid  for  in  foreign  coin  or 
precious  metals.  What  China  had  to  sell  was  much  more  important  to  the 
Western  nations  than  anything  she  or  her  rulers  could  be  prevailed  upon  to 
buy  :  and  so  long  as  the  trade  dealt  with  surplus  manufactures,  like  silk,  or 
natural  products,  like  musk  or  rhubarb,  and  did  not  endanger  the  local 
food  supply,  it  was  not  interfered  with.  In  794  a.d.  complaints  were  made 
that  trade  was  leaving  Canton  for  Cochin  China,  but  the  traders'  schemes 
for  recovering  or  pursuing  it  were  discouraged  by  the  Government,  which 
(-pined  that  there  must  have  been  intolerable  extortions  used  to  drive  it 
away,  or  a  want  of  natural  inducements  to  bring  it,  and  quoted  the  Shoo  : 
'•  Do  not  prize  strange  commodities  too  much,  and  persons  will  come  from 
remote  parts.''' 

Arab  geographers  and  travellers  of  the  9th  century  show  what  a  develop- 
ment had  been  reached  by  foreign  commerce  under  this  modified  freedom. 
The  Jewish  merchants  described  by  Ibn  Khordadbeh  as  speaking  Persian, 
Latin.  Greek,  Arab,  Spanish,  Slavonic,  and  Lingua  franca,  and  trading  by 
sea  and  land  to  the  remotest  regions,  had  their  representatives  at  Canton  : 
and  the  four  trade  routes,  enumerated  by  Sir  Henry  Yule.1  enabled  all 
the  great  commercial  communities  to  try  their  hand  at  the  China  trade. 
The  first  of  these  routes  led  from  the  Mediterranean  over  the  Isthmus  of 
Suez,  and  onwards  by  sea  :  another  reached  the  Indian  sea  via  Antioch, 
Bagdad  and  Bussora  and  the  Persian  Gulf;  a  third  followed  the  coast  of 
Africa  by  land  from  Tangiers  to  Egypt  and  thence  by  Damascus  to 
Bagdad,  while  the  fourth  led  south  of  the  Caspian  Sea  and  north  of  the 
central  Asian  desert  to  the  gates  of  the  Great  Wall.  The  Chinese  traders 
either  met  the  Western  merchants  at  Ceylon,  or  themselves  came  as  far  as 
the  mouth  ol   the  1  Aiphrate.s. 

1    C.i'.k: iv,     nit       »;".;/  '..':  ',•■•--,  v oh  ii.  p.   550.      Another   indication  of  the   ran; 

1  -        ...  .  the    <    hilie.-e    Vel'>ion    of    the     Yelli.-ei  il.S     A     ';/., 

\.  2    .   1  >u4    •.', .  v  -  ■ ;  ■■    :,.    :..::.;.,.'-■:  tearing  other   in.-  riptions    in    an    unk:, 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  141 

The  account  of  Chinese  manners  and  customs  given  by  two  Arab 
travellers  in  the  middle  of  the  9th  century  is  particularly  interesting,  as  they 
are  the  first  eye-witnesses  whose  impressions  we  are  able  to  compare  with 
the  sketches  of  the  black-haired  people,  as  painted  by  themselves,  upon 
which  we  have  hitherto  been  obliged  to  rely.  Their  standard  of  civiliza- 
tion must  of  course  be  based  upon  that  of  the  Caliphate,  which  in  85 1  a.d. 
was  already  past  its  prime,  but  still  outwardly  magnificent,  and  in  material 
civilization  ahead  of  any  Christian  court  in  the  West.  Every  traveller  in 
China,  we  are  told,1  is  furnished  with  a  pass  for  himself  and  his  goods,  so 
that  the  latter  cannot  be  carried  off.  The  Chinese  "administer  justice 
with  great  strictness  in  all  their  tribunals,"  and  both  parties  to  a  suit  are 
warned  that  they  will  be  beaten  if  guilty  of  perjury.  When  any  dearth 
makes  the  necessaries  of  life  very  dear,  "then  does  the  king  open  his  store- 
houses and  sell  all  sorts  of  provisions  much  cheaper  than  they  are  to  be 
had  at  market,"  2  and  hence  no  scarcity  can  be  of  long  continuance. 

The  Chinese  "  have  gold,  silver,  pearls,  silk,  and  rich  stuffs  in  great 
abundance,  but  they  consider  them  only  as  movables  and  merchandise, 
and  copper  pieces  are  the  only  current  coin.":!  The  men  "adorn  their 
girdles  "  with  these  things  and  with  tortoise-shell,  and  ivory,  and  these 
girdles  and  rich  apparel  used  to  be  buried  with  their  kings  and  princes  ; 
"  but  this  custom  is  now  no  more  "  because  of  thieves  who  dug  them  up. 
The  same  writer  says  that  there  is  no  land  tax  in  China — a  mistake  which 
would  be  excusable  if  his  inquiries  were  limited  to  the  commercial  towns 
of  which  the  statement  would  be  true.  Another  remark  is  very  significant 
of  the  difference  between  China  and  other  Oriental  countries  where 
diseased  mendicancy  is  so  common  that  the  absence  of  it  strikes  a 
traveller  with  surprise  :  "  Scarce  a  one-eyed  or  a  blind  person  is  to  be 
seen  or  any  one  subject  to  the  like  afflictions.  "  4 

The  populousness  of  the  fertile  plains  was  then  as  now  an  object  of 
remark  :  the  villages  seemed  so  close  as  almost  to  touch,  and  the  cocks 
answer  each  other  continuously  from  hamlet  to  hamlet  for  100  leagues 
together."'  The  people  "  are  divided  among  themselves  into  families  and 
tribes  like  the  Arabs  and  some  other  nations,  and  they  know  each  other 
by  the  difference  of  their  descents.  Xo  one  marries  in  his  own  tribe,  and 
a  man  of  one  family  espouses  not  a  woman  of  the  same;  but  as  if,  for 
example,  a  man  of  the  family  of  Robayat  marries  into  that  of  Modzar,  and 
inversely  a  Modzar  conjoins  with  a  Robayat.  They  are  of  opinion  that 
such  alliances  add  to  the  nobility  of  the  children."  The  last  sentence 
seems  to  show  that  tradition  had  not  yet  lost  sight  of  the  reason  which  had 
led  to  the  general  adoption  of  the  rule,  under  the  Chow  Dynast}',  when 
intermarriages  within  the  narrow  limits  of  the  hamlet  were,  if  unchecked, 
almost  sure  to  result  in   physical   degeneracy.     Allowing  for   a   moderate 

1   Ancient  Accounts  of  India  an  I    China  by  t:eo  Maiiomincdau  travellers  xvho  -oent  to 
those  farts  in  the  gih  century,  translated  from  the  Arabic  by  Eusebius  Renaudut,  p.  26. 
-  lb.,  p.  24.  ■■  lb.,  p.  20. 

4  //'.,  p.  37.  h  lb.,  p.  62.     Cf.  Mencius,  Life  and  Works,  p.  161. 


142  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

proportion  of  travellers'  wonders  and  misunderstandings,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  our  two  Arabs  saw  and  admired  a  China  very  like  that  of  later 
travellers,  and  corresponding  in  external  features  to  that  which  is  more 
completely  portrayed  by  native  historians. 

The  first  of  the  memoirs  was  written  in  851  A.D.  :  by  877,  according  to 
the  second  writer,  the  Arab  trade  with  China  was  interrupted  by  the  internal 
troubles  which  had  "  put  a  stop  to  the  justice  and  righteousness  there 
formerly  practised."  Two  rebel  armies  were,  in  fact,  ravaging  Southern 
China,  and  one  of  the  rebels,  having  vainly  demanded  to  be  installed  as 
governor  of  Canton,  besieged  and  captured  that  rich  and  populous  town  ; 
and,  according  to  the  Arab  account,  massacred  the  whole  of  its  large 
foreign  population,  of  jews,  Mahommedans,  Christians,  and  Parsees.  As 
many  as  100.000  are  said  to  have  perished,  and  the  numbers  are  defended 
on  the  ground  that  an  accurate  register  of  the  strangers  was  kept  for  the 
sake  of  the  poll  tax  levied  on  them.  It  is  scarcely  possible,  however,  that 
so  large  a  foreign  colony  should  have  been  tolerated  in  a  single  town,  and 
the  numbers  given  may  have  included  both  the  Chinese  servants  of 
the  foreigners  and  all  the  natives  exclusively  engaged  in  dealings  with 
them.  The  fall  of  the  Tang  Dynasty,  which  followed  in  908  a.d.,  co- 
operated with  the  decline  of  the  Arab  power  to  break  off  the  growing 
intercourse  between  South  China  and  the  Western  nations  by  way  of  the 
Indian  seas.  The  journey  was  too  long  to  be  undertaken  without  the 
assurance  of  a  peaceful  market,  while  the  supply  of  merchandise  itself 
must  have  fallen  short  for  the  time,  as  the  rebel  armies  are  accused  of  the 
supreme  barbarism  of  cutting  down  the  mulberry  trees. 

§  3.     Literature,  Orthodoxy,  and  Buddhism.- 

It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  political  influence  of  the  literati  stood 
as  high  during  this  period  as  under  the  Hans.  They  had  to  contend  for 
the  maintenance  of  their  spiritual  authority  against  Buddhists  and  Taoists, 
and  both  they  and  their  rivals  had  comparatively  little  to  do  with  the 
other  struggle  being  waged  meanwhile  between  courtiers,  condottieri,  and 
feudalizing  nobles  for  the  spoils  of  empire.  Confucianism  alone  was  not 
compromised  in  the  disasters  of  the  dynasty,  since  it  alone  had  not  con- 
tributed to  produce  them.  The  system  of  examination  as  a  means  of 
selecting  officers  was  not  condemned,  for  it  had  not  been  fairly  tried, 
though  the  machinery  of  the  examinations  themselves  had  been  elaborated, 
as  it  in  preparation  for  a  time  when  its  importance  would  be  more  fully 
rccognisc<  1. 

The  so-called  Imperial  College'  consisted  of  six  higher  schools,  to  which 
youths  were  admitted  between  the  ages  of  14  and  19  ;  the  total  curriculum 
extended  at  furthest  over  io.1,  years.  The  first  school  received  300 
students,  and  corresponded  to  that  in  which  the  emperor's  sons  were 
anciently  supposed  to  receive  their  education  along  with  the  sons  of 
higher  officers  of   State;   it  was  open  to  the   sons  of  lower,  and    the    sons. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  143 

grandsons  and  great-grandsons  of  higher  officers.  The  second  school,  or 
"Great  College,"  admitted  500  sons  or  remote  descendants  of  inferior 
officers.  The  third,  or  "  College  of  the  four  gates,"  received  1,300  students 
—  500  drawn  from  the  class  of  landowners  and  inferior  officials,  while  Soo 
were  "  men  of  the  people"  distinguished  in  the  examinations  held  all  over 
the  kingdom.  The  fourth,  or  school  of  laws,  had  only  50  students,  and 
the  schools  of  writing  and  arithmetic  only  30  each,  all  of  whom  were 
taken  cither  from  among  the  people  or  the  sons  of  the  lower  officers,  and 
these  were  doubtless  intended  to  provide  a  kind  of  technical  training  for 
clerks  on  the  permanent  staff  of  Government  boards.1 

The  actual  number  of  the  students  probably  fluctuated  with  the 
imperial  liberality  and  the  reputation  of  the  schools,  and  it  was  said  to 
have  reached  10,000  in  the  reign  of  Tai-tsong  (629-649).  Students  of  the 
great  college  who  distinguished  themselves  might  be  promoted  to  the 
college  of  superior  dignity  nominally  reserved  to  the  sons  of  high  officers. 
In  729  a.d.  we  meet  with  the  complaint  that-  correct  pronunciation  was 
more  attended  to  than  the  meaning  of  words,  and  Han-yu  pleads  for  less 
respect  of  persons  and  greater  strictness  in  the  examinations.  But  the 
purely  literary  and  unpractical  character  of  the  tests  was  not  yet  acquiesced 
in.  Three  papers,  so  to  speak,  were  set — one  in  the  classics,  one  to  test 
the  candidate's  style  and  literary  attainments,  and  one  containing  five 
questions  relating  to  affairs  of  the  day,2 — to  one  of  which  the  famous 
denunciation  of  the  eunuchs  was  an  answer. 

By  an  edict  of  706  a.d.  the  payment  to  be  made  by  scholars  to  their 
teachers  was  laid  down.3  Tuition  has  always  been  cheap  in  China,  where 
the  remuneration  of  the  learned  professions  is  still  as  nearly  on  a  level 
with  that  of  the  mechanical  arts  as  it  was  in  medireval  Europe  ;  and  the 
presents  of  silk,  wine,  and  meat  required  from  the  students  were  very 
modest  in  amount.  The  reason  for  prescribing  the  payment  probably  was 
that  the  State  had  hitherto  paid  the  teachers'  salary,  and  that  it  was  an 
innovation  for  the  professors  to  depend  on  the  students'  fees.  The  imperial 
library  was  founded  in  723  a.d.,  but  the  funds  at  its  disposal  must  have 
been  scanty,  as  the  buildings  when  injured  by  rain  were  not  repaired.  The 
famous  Han-lin  college,  which  now  furnishes  the  imperial  historiographers, 
examiners,  and  directors  of  public  instruction,  was  founded  in  740  a.d.  to 
"  answer  the  emperor's  questions  about  language  and  literature."4  The 
period  was  one  of  considerable  literary  activity,  and  the  brilliant  original 
writings  of  the  day  distracted  attention  from  the  mechanical  cares  of 
bibliography,  so  that  many  works  of  repute  were  found  to  have  disappeared 
when  the  erudite  compilers  and  commentators  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  began 
their   researches.     Ssema-tching,  who  flourished  at  this  period,  is  the   first 

1  V Instruction  pnblique  en  Chine,  p.  256. 

2  /■'*.,  pp.  270-9. 
•>  lb.,  p.  283. 

4  lb.,  p.  305.  Pauthier  gives  712  a.d.  as  the  date  of  the  foundation.  But  its  com- 
plete constitution  mi-ht  easily  occupy  a  generation. 


r44  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

historian,  at   least  the  first  whose  works  survive,  who  gives  an  account  of 
the  legendary  period  preceding  the  sufficiently  mythical  emperor  Fou-hi. 

In  736  A.D.  an  important  change  was  made,  which  on  the  one  hand 
raised  the  standard  of  the  examinations  and  on  the  other  diminished  the 
chances  of  the  successful  candidates  obtaining  office.  'The  direction  of 
the  examinations  was  transferred  from  the  "minister  of  Offices'"'  to  the 
minister  of  Kites,  presumably  because  the  former  allowed  extraneous 
circumstances  to  weigh  in  the  bestowal  of  degrees.  But  as  the  bestowal 
of  office  still  rested  with  the  department  by  which  the  officers  were 
employed,  a  constant  feud  between  the  two  was  kept  up  for  several 
centuries.  Candidates  who  had  passed  successfully  the  examination  con- 
ducted by  the  board  of  Rites  were  only  thereby  qualified  for  appointment 
to  office  ;  their  actual  nomination  for  active  service  rested  with  the  Board 
of  Offices,  which,  not  being  able  to  employ  all  the  successful  candidates, 
used  its  discretionary  powers  of  rejection  in  a  way  which  the  mass  of 
graduates  resented  as  unfair,  even  when  preceded  by  a  third  examination.1 

In  the  middle  of  the  8th  century  orthodoxy  was  exposed  to  a  danger 
like  that  which  threatened  under  the  Sony  Dynasty,  when  public  examina- 
tions were  held  in  the  works  of  Buddhist  theology.  Hiouen-tsong's 
partiality  for  Taoism  showed  itself  by  the  attempt  to  add  the  works  of 
Lao-tze  to  the  official  literature,  and  between  741  and  763  a.d.,  students 
were  allowed  to  "  take  up  "  the  works  of  this  philosopher,  either  instead  of  or 
in  addition  to  the  regular  classics.'-  In  the  next  reign  this  concession  was 
revoked,  and  we  hear  no  more  of  Taoist  degrees  till  the  beginning  of 
the  1 2th  century;  but  learning  was  affronted  by  the  appointment  of  an 
ambitious  eunuch  as  examiner,  and  scholarship  was  so  ill  paid,  that  pro- 
fessors complained  they  had  to  eke  out  their  salaries  by  taking  to 
agriculture.  That  the  importance  of  success  in  the  examinations  on  the 
whole  continued  to  increase,  is  proved  by  the  precautions  first  taken  at 
this  time,  by  order  of  the  Empress  U  u-heou,  to  prevent  favouritism  or 
corruption,  by  concealing  the  authorship  of  the  papers  given  in. 

The  career  of  1  liouen-thsang,  the  famous  traveller,  who  was  born  602  a.d., 
is  thoroughly  illustrative  of  the  mixed  tendencies  of  the  age.  His  lather 
had  wisely  withdrawn  from  office  in  view  of  the  prevailing  disorder,  and 
passed  his  time  in  private  study.  His  grandfather  had  presided  over  the 
Imperial  College  under  the  Thsi  Dynasty,  and  received  byway  of  salary  the 
luxes  of  an  important  town  ;  and  his  great-grandfather  had  held  a  governor- 
ship under  the  most  enlightened  of  the  northern  dynasties,  the  Yuen  Wei. 
He  thus  belonged  by  birth  to  the  class  from  which  successful  students  and 
officers  are  drawn,  and  he  was  taught  to  read  by  his  father  out  of  the 
classical  books.  but  one  of  his  elder  brothers  had  entered  a  Buddhist 
convent,  and  saw  in  the  grave  and  studious  boy  an  excellent  recruit  for  the 
propagation  of  the  same  faith.  Ami  while  still  under  thirteen,  he  was 
diverted  from  the  study  of  the  classics  to  that  of  Buddhist  books  of 
devotion.  Soon  afterwards,  the  emperor  issued  a  sudden  decree,  com- 
1    /'//;  tntiden  pubtiquc  m  Chine,  p.  310.  -  lb.,  p.  2S9. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  145 

manding  the  ordination  of  twenty-seven  monks,  at  Loyang,  and  by  a 
curious  jumble  of  ideas,  the  privilege  was  to  be  accorded  to  the  successful 
candidates  in  an  examination.  There  were  several  hundred  competitors, 
all  remarkable  for  their  learning,  and  Hiouen-thsang,  though  too  young  to 
be  allowed  to  compete,  was  accepted  without  examination,  on  account  cf 
his  promising  appearance  and  discreet  conversation.  For  the  next  few 
years  he  devoted  himself  to  study,  and  obtained  a  great  reputation  in 
theological  circles. 

It  is  after  all  no  great  reflection  on  the  intelligence  of  a  Chinese  con- 
temporary of  St.  Columban,  that  he  was  more  attracted  by  the  doctrines  of 
Buddhism  at  its  best  than  by  Confucianism  at  its  worst.  But  the  ration- 
alistic bent  of  the  Chinese  mind  showed  itself  with  Hiouen-thsang  in  the 
elaboration  of  doubts  and  difficulties,  which,  fortunately  for  his  spiritual 
peace,  admitted  of  being  traced  to  an  imperfect  possession  of  the  sacred 
texts.  And  it  was  for  the  satisfaction  of  these  doubts  that  he  determined 
upon  the  journey  to  India,  by  way  of  Central  Asia,  to  which  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  Si-Yu-ki/  and  the  pilgrim  himself  for  a  cosmopolitan 
celebrity.  He  started  at  the  age  of  twenty-seven  (629  A.D.),  early  in  the 
reign  of  Tai-tsong,  to  whom  he  had  applied  without  success  for  per- 
mission to  leave  the  country.  He  returned  in  645  with  twenty-two  horse- 
loads  of  books  and  statues,  and  relics  innumerable.  He  was  favourably 
received  at  court,  where  the  best  emperors  were  always  eager  to  cross- 
examine  intelligent  travellers  about  the  customs,  products,  and  government 
of  foreign  lands  ;  and  he  was  even  invited  to  lay  aside  the  "  yellow 
mantle  "  and  abandon  the  religious  life,  so  that  he  might  be  employed  as 
a  minister  of  State. 

His  answer  is  curious,  and  shows  that  the  most  disinterested  votaries  of 
the  new  law  had  not  thought  of  supplanting  the  Confucian  hierarchy  in 
the  regulation  of  secular  affairs.  He  had  "  left  his  family  "  2  in  childhood, 
and  ever  since  devoted  himself  with  ardour  to  the  study  of  the  mysteries 
of  the  law  of  Buddha.  He  knew  nothing  of  the  doctrine  of  Confucius, 
which  was  the  life  and  soul  of  the  government,  and  if  he  left  his  vocation 
tor  a  secular  life,  he  would  resemble  a  vessel  under  full  canvas,  which  left 
the  sea,  and  tried  to  sail  on  dry  land  ;  he  would  not  only  fail,  but  would 
destroy  himself  in  the  attempt. 

This  glimpse  of  things  from  the  Buddhist  point  of  view  is  an  instructive 
supplement  to  that  presented  by  the  official  histories.  Three  years  before 
the  departure  of  Hiouen-thsang  for  the  countries  of  the  West,  a  scholar 
named  h'ou-y  had  addressed  a  memorial  to  the  emperor  Kaotsong, 
against  the  two  heretical  sects  of  Buddha  and  Lao-tze.  He  accuses  the 
first  of  despising  the  virtues  of  loyalty  and  filial  piety,  and,  without  carica- 
turing the  doctrines  he  attacks,  he  briefly  accentuates  their  fundamental 
incompatibility  with  the  Chinese  ideal  of  family  life  and  social  duty.      Both 

1   Memoires  sur  les  con  trees  occidentales  traduites  du  San  crit  en  C  hinds  en  l\in  ('-Is  t  ir 
Hiouen-lhsan^  et  du  Chinois  en  Franaiis,  par  M.  Stanislas  Julien,  1S5S. 
'   I.e.  entered  a  convent. 
VOL.    II,  —  P.C.  I. 


146  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

doctrines  are  accused  of  promoting  an  immoral  quietism,  resignation  to 
the  law  of  Fo  taking  the  place  of  a  wholesome  regard  for  the  natural 
system  of  rewards  and  punishments  administered  by  princes  who  under- 
stand the  laws  of  Heaven  and  Karth.  The  Taoist  dreams  of  immortality 
have  the  same  effect  in  making  men  indifferent  to  the  consequences  of 
their  actions.  All  the  evils  which  had  fallen  on  China  since  the  decadence 
of  the  Hans  are  attributed  to  the  spread  of  false  doctrines,  and  the  fate  of 
Wu-ti,  the  founder  of  the  Leang  Dynasty,  is  quoted  as  a  warning.1 

In  conclusion.  Fou-y  points  out  that  there  are  100,000  Buddhist  monks, 
and  as  many  nuns,  living  in  celibacy,  and  that  if  they  were  obliged  to 
marry  each  other  there  would  be  100,000  families  to  contribute  soldiers  to 
the  defence  of  the  country  and  labourers  for  its  support.2  To  please  the 
emperor,  who  was  supposed  to  have  a  penchant  for  Taoism,  the  nobles 
to  whom  this  memorial  was  referred,  in  Chinese  fashion,  for  consideration 
and  report,  concurred,  with  one  exception,  in  condemning  the  proposition  ; 
but  the  instincts  of  the  emperor  were  stronger  in  Kao-tsong  than  those  of 
the  sectary,  and  he  could  not  approve  of  having  so  many  of  his  subjects 
withdrawn  from  productive  pursuits.  The  local  officers  were  therefore 
commanded  to  ascertain  the  number  of  the  religious  orders,  with  a  view 
to  reducing  it,  and  they  were  instructed  to  tolerate  one  temple  only  in 
each  town  of  the  first  class,  and  presumably,  none  elsewhere. 

Nearly  200  years  after  the  memorial  of  Fou-y,  the  unsatisfactory  state  of 
the  revenue,  even  in  time  of  peace,  led  to  an  inquiry  ;  and  the  ministers 
reported  that  there  were  at  that  moment  (811  A.D.)  S00.000  troops  in  the 
empire,  and  that  a  full  half  of  the  rest  of  the  population  consisted  of 
merchants,  priests,  and  others,  who  did  not  cultivate  the  ground,  so  that 
really  three-tenths  of  the  population  did  the  work  necessary  to  feed  anil 
clothe  the  remaining  seven. ;;  The  number  of  officials  had  increased 
to  no  less  than  10,000,  and  their  salaries  had  been  gradually  increased  by 
raising  towns  of  the  third  rank  to  the  second,  and  so  on,  in  order  that 
their  governors  might  be  paid  the  salaries  belonging  to  the  higher  grade. 
Formerly,  mandarins  of  the  first  rank  received  a  monthly  allowance  ot 
1, coo  large  measures  of  grain,  and  3,000  strings  of  cash;  but  in  the 
reign  of  Tai-tsong  (762-77S  a.i>.).  the  latter  amount  was  trebled,  and 
now  the  governor  of  the  least  third-class  town  received  several  thousand 
strings  monthly.  While  learning  was  thus  honoured  —for  these  posts  ot 
growing  value  were  being  granted  in  larger  measure  than  before  to  the 
successful  candidates  in  the  examinations — the  literati  in  and  out  ot  office 
must  have  watched  with  comparative  equanimity  the  spread  of  Buddhism,  a 
doctrine  which,  in  the  words  of  a  writer  of  the  period,  '•admits  no  envious 
rivalry  for  place  or  power.''  The  remedy  proposed  by  the  censors  was 
simple  and  effective,  being  merely  to  reduce  the  number  and  the  salaries  ot 

1  Like  pi  on-  prince^  in  India,  lie  pledged  hi-;  own  person  as  a  security  for  promised  ra::  s, 
which  was  of  eotii    •.  iii  '  ntoleralile  degradation  of  the  imperial  dignity. 

-    I)e  Mai!!  i.  vi.  p.  .:<>. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  147 

the  official  class  ;  but  after  this  display  of  impartiality,  there  was  a  notable 
revival  of  anti-Buddhist  zeal. 

This  memorial  was  presented  in  the  reign  of  Hien-tsong  (S05-S20  A.D.). 
The  Emperor  himself  was  an  ardent  Buddhist,  and  received  with  ex- 
travagant demonstrations  of  honour  and  respect  a  relic  of  Buddha, 
consisting  of  a  finger  which  was  supposed  to  unbend  itself  once  in  thirty 
years.  Han-yu,  otherwise  called  Han-wen-kung,  a  brilliant  writer  of  the 
period,  known  as  the  Prince  of  Literature,  addressed  an  indignant  memorial 
to  the  emperor,  recapitulating  the  warnings  of  history,  and  pointing  out 
that  Buddha  himself  was  a  man  from  the  barbarous  West,  whom,  if  living, 
the  emperor  could  only  receive  with  moderate  and  appropriate  courtesy,  in 
which  the  general  public  would  take  no  part.  How  unfitting,  then,  that 
when  the  man  is  dead,  the  reception  of  one  of  his  bones  should  be 
treated  as  a  matter  of  imperial  importance,  and  an  occasion  of  national 
rejoicing  1  Han-yu  concludes  by  defying  the  power  of  this  foreign  idol, 
much  as  Christian  missionaries  in  barbarous  lands  were  wont  to  do,  in  the 
hope  of  proving  the  impotence  of  false  gods  to  execute  judgment  on  the 
blasphemers  of  their  claims.  Unfortunately  for  the  argument  on  this 
occasion,  Fo  had  the  emperor  for  an  ally  :  and  the  bold  memorialist,  barely 
escaping  with  his  life,  was  sent  in  virtual  exile  to  the  barbarous  South, 
where  he  was  appointed  co  the  governorship  of  a  town  in  Kwang-tung.1 

This  was  a  favourite  way  of  punishing  inconveniently  scrupulous 
officials;  and  though  some  of  them  indulged  in  Ovidian  laments  over  their 
hard  fate,  others,  like  Han-yu,  solaced  themselves  by  putting  in  practice,  at 
a  safe  distance  from  envious  eunuchs  and  mercenary  rivals,  all  those 
maxims  of  good  government  which  they  had  vainly  tried  to  carry  out  at 
court.  The  local  popularity  which,  then  as  now,  rewarded  a  disinterested 
administrator  was  a  sort  of  compensation,  and  there  was  always  the 
probability  of  the  exile  being  recalled,  by  another  turn  of  the  wheel  of 
fortune,  as  was  the  case  with  Han-yu  in  the  next  reign.  When  we 
remember  how  much  the  Roman  Empire  suffered  from  the  oppressive  and 
extortionate  administration  of  corrupt  provincial  governors,  we  are  almost 
tempted  to  see  a  kind  of  Macchiavellian  cunning  in  this  way  of  employing 
honest  officials  wherever  their  honesty  was  not  inconvenient  to  the  corrup- 
tion at  headquarters.  Whether  the  policy  was  deliberately  followed  or 
not.  it  was  certainly  one  of  the  causes  which  contributed  to  the  spread  and 
consolidation  of  a  civilized  order  in  the  more  distant  parts  of  the  empire 
during  this  and  other  dynasties. 

On  the  subject  of  the  prevailing  latitudinarianism,  Han-yu  complains 
that  even  Confucianists  talk  of  their  master  as  having  shown  respect  for 
Lao-tze  and  Buddha — though  the  worship  of  the  latter  was  not  known 
m  China  till  the  eastern  Hans — and  he  denounces,  as  the  great  evil  of 
the    day,   the    craving  after    the  supernatural,   which    Confucianism   most 

1  For  Life  of  Han-yu,  by  T.  Walters,  see  N.  China  Branch  of  R.  As,  Soc,  X.S..  vii. 
p.  16;.  'J he  Ami-Buddhist  Memorial  is  translated  by  Mr.  Giles,  in  The  Cciis:ial 
F.mtfn . 


148  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

emphatically  discourages.1  But  the  a  priori  arguments  of  the  ancients  are 
rather  taken  for  granted  by  the  later  controversialists,  and  Han-vu  insists 
principally  upon  the  practical  disadvantages  of  tolerating  two  new  classes 
of  non-producers.  Anciently  the  people  were  divided  into  four  classes, 
the  scholars,  husbandmen,  artisans,  and  traders,  of  whom  the  first  onlv  had 
to  be  maintained  out  of  the  labours  of  the  rest  :  but  now  six  classes  have 
to  be  maintained  by  three,  so  who  can  wonder  if  crime  and  beggary 
prevail  ? 

Another  brilliant  writer,  a  friend  and  contemporary  of  Han-yu,  had 
consorted  with  educated  Buddhists  and  found  much  to  approve  in  their 
doctrines  of  morality,  while  he  sympathised  with  their  taste  for  a  life  of 
calm  study  and  contemplation,  lint  though  a  scholar  might  lead  a  life 
of  studious  contemplation  if  his  means  allowed,  or  if  his  philosophy  was 
sturdy  enough  to  put  up  with  peasant  fare,  such  a  life  was  not  the  highest 
ideal  of  a  Chinese  statesman.  Self-culture  was  a  part  of  the  duty  of  every 
citizen,  but  the  proof  of  eminence  in  that  art  was  the  production  of  a  self 
admirably  adapted  for  the  service  of  society,  a  :i  man  useful  to  others.''''  2 
and  such  service  was  the  duty  as  well  as  the  privilege  of  the  select  few. 
For  individuals,  who  did  nothing  but  try  to  save  their  own  souls,  to 
demand  to  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  community  while  so 
engaged,  was  not  only  absurd  but  anti-social.  And  in  fact,  so  long  as  the 
quarrel  between  religious  asceticism  and  political  secularism  continued  in 
China,  the  secularists  posed  consistently  as  the  champions  of  social  duty 
as  opposed  to  spiritual  egotism. 

The  next  attack  upon  the  new  religions  came  from  a  different  quarter,  and 
was  aimed  at  the  Buddhists  only,  by  Wu-tsong  (841-864  A.D.),  an  emperor 
who  shared  the  weakness  of  his  house  for  the  Taoist  sect.  He  began  by 
ordering  the  destruction  of  all  pagodas  erected  by  private  persons  without 
authority,  and  renewed  the  prohibition  against  tolerating  more  than  one 
temple  of  the  sect  in  provincial   towns.      The  two  temples  allowed  to  the 

1   Tii"    -  •-.  we   are    told,  on   which    the  Master  did  11  it   talk    were   extraordinary 

,::::.:;-.  feat-  of  strength,  disorder,  and  spiritual  beings.  When  .  lb  iple  a-ked  him 
abrr.u  serving  the  Spirits  of  the  dead,  he  answered  :  "  While  you  are  not  able  to  serve 
men.    h  :    -erve   their  spirits?"  \Atiah   r.   xi.    in.      And   when   the   indbcre  t 

scholar  l-.r.i  eeded  "to  ask  about  death  :  "  "While  you  do  not  know  about  life,  how 
ran  you  ;i  w  a'  u!  death?"  was  the  reply.  Still  in  re  ingenious  ;<  the  recorded 
eva-dot  of  the  1  vies' i  n  whether  the  dead  have  knowledge  of  the  hon  ir-  at  I  -a  ril  :es 
•    .id  t1  The  Master  replied  :    "  If  I  w.  r  •  to  >ay  that  the  dead  ha\     -  .   h  i.:     v.  '.■:  ige, 

I  .'in  ••■  !  th  -  :"  'son-;  nd  du'iful  ijTan  Isons  •■'  mid  injure  tl  :  -  •  -'  n  '  in  paving 
the  in.>;     ::.     -   •     '  •   tried  :  an  I  if   I  were  to  -ay  thai    tl  e  have  no  such    kn  nv- 

led„'e,    [  ■:'.':    !e-'    unfdial    sons    should    leave    their    'parent-    unburie  :.       Vou    need 

>     •    — k   to  know  whether   th  11   ive   ki        '    '.    ■      r  not  :  1     ref:       \     1   \\    .    know- 

it  v   ur-elf."      hi    •'■  -  -   me  spirit    it    is  ex  til  ail      :    :"    t  lie  Id    Ki.  tl     I     ■:':'■    n    ■;  are  made  to 
■   • '  ■     ■  f  the   -     viv    rs.  not    to  supply  the  w    :.'  -      '    the   departed.       "  I  >   es 

he  know  tl     '    ■'      -:  ir: *  v.dll  ■     t!     m    ?      i  Ie  is  guided  <  mly  :  v 

heart.'1      It   v  '-■.-'•'     t   th       e.id         '     '.-'■    r  -  ■   '    '      |      tak     of  the  1  >tf   'int,rs,  and 

' '  I  'er-  inat*  ir  of  the  dead  "    see  for  th.is  ]  -  S,ic. 

.'"     '  -.  iii.'i  .  ;,oi    .,',  ■•  ',..,-  w];;  •    •;    .  ..  ir;ls   have   left.''  ace  -    tit  g  the  ;  r  .vi.-i    :.-  as  a  glh 

-  The  Master  said.  "  The  meritori  >v,s  -ervices  of  Han  Ki  were  the  greatest  of  ail  in    ier 
i  I      ven      .      .      .      there:         I  him-elf  that    he    was    dm;  ly    '  a    m  m    tt.-ef  1  t 

ithers.'"        '.i  A'i.  xxix.  :   S./l.,  xxviii.  p.  340.) 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  149 

capital  were  limited  to  thirty  priests  each,  the  remainder  to  five  or  ten  ;  and 
the  inmates  of  all  the  other  monasteries,  male  and  female,  to  the  number 
of  265,000,  were  commanded  to  return  to  their  homes  and  resume  their 
place  in  the  taxpaying  community.  In  all,  44,600  monasteries  and  temples 
were  condemned,  of  which  only  a  tithe  had  received  official  sanction.  The 
number  of  the  monasteries  is  not  given  separately  ;  but  judging  from  the 
numbers  of  their  inmates  it  must  have  increased  formidably  since  the 
middle  of  the  7th  century,  when,  according  to  the  memoirs  of  Hiouen- 
thsang,  there  were  3,716  convents  in  the  whole  Empire,  and  the  ordination 
of  1S.500  monks  and  nuns,  authorized  upon  the  traveller's  intercession, 
was  sufficient  to  make  up  for  the  depopulation  of  the  monasteries  during 
the  stormy  close  of  the  Souy  Dynasty. 

The  convent  lands  were  confiscated,  the  materials  of  the  temples  used 
for  the  repair  of  public  buildings,  the  copper  statues  melted  down  to  make 
money,  and  the  lesser  movables  most  probably  annexed  by  the  officials 
sent  to  cany  out  the  Imperial  edict.  The  slaves  of  the  monasteries,  to 
the  number  of  150,000.  were  set  free,  and,  like  the  monks,  added  to  the 
ranks  of  the  common  people,  who  were  liable  to  the  payment  of  land  and 
labour  tax.  The  stringency  of  these  anti-Buddhist  edicts  was  partly  re- 
laxed at  the  beginning  of  a  new  reign  in  the  following  year,  but  the 
indulgence  was  abused  so  that  in  852  the  Chinese  were  again  forbidden  to 
take  Buddhist  orders. 

The  intercourse  with  the  West,  which  was  closer  under  this  dynasty  than 
at  any  former  period,  had  opened  the  door  to  other  strange  religions,  two 
of  which  were  dealt  with  in  a  second  edict.  The  priests  of  foreign  origin 
were  to  be  conveyed  to  the  frontier  nearest  their  own  country,  while  the 
Chinese  converts  were  required,  like  the  Buddhists,  to  return  to  their 
secular  duties.  As  there  were  3,000  priests  or  monks  affected  by  the 
edicts,  it  is  obvious  that  the  congregations  cannot  have  consisted  ex- 
clusively of  foreigners,  and  the  clash  of  different  proselytizing  sects,  com- 
peting for  the  contributions  of  the  ignorant  populace,  was  particularly 
abhorrent  to  the  rulers.  The  banished  religions  were  those  of  Ta-tsin, 
which  is  described  as  "  a  kind  of  Fo  religion,"  and  is  certainly  Christianity, 
and  that  of  Mou-hou-fou,  a  name  which  suggests  Mohamedanism,  though 
the  description  given  answers  better  to  some  form  of  Magianism  or  Mani- 
chajism  {  imported  from  Persia. 

It  is  curious  that  at  the  same  time  (845  A.D.)  the  control  of  the  surviving 
monasteries  was  put  under  the  Chinese  Foreign  Office,  for  the  very  logical 
reason  that  "  the  religion  of  Fo  came  from  India/'  The  official  religion 
was  a  part  of  the  internal  polity  of  the  realm,  and  the  Board  of  Rites  could 
no  more  be  asked  to  look  after  foreign  superstitions  than  a  European 
minister  of  religion  to  look  after  secular  education. 

1  According    to     Ma-udi.    the     Manich-.eans    had    considerable    influence    in     Eastern 

Turkestan,    as    late    as   044   a.i'j.      Kinistan,    a    name   sometimes   sup]     -    I    '  let    to 

Samarcand,    is   also  used    [lluudahcsh,    w.    29;   S.B.,   v.    pp.    59.    2901    for    Sinik,    the 

try  of  the    Senior   Chine-e  ;  and   there  are  either   indications  in   the  L'ehlevi  texts    if 

Persian  intercourse  with  China  and  Chinese  dependencies. 


150  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

§  4.     Agrarian   Economy  of  the  Tang. 

The  encyclopaedist  Ma-twan-lin  mentions  the  period  between  627  and 
649  a.I).  as  the  last,  during  which  the  Government  attempted  to  restore 
the  old  agrarian  customs.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  the  revival  can 
have  been  actually  carried  out  all  over  the  empire,  but  the  intention  was 
to  give  every  householder  one  lot  of  land  for  perpetual,  and  another,  con- 
sisting of  orchard,  for  temporary  ownership,  the  last  answering  to  the  duty 
fields  of  the  .Sony.  These  lots  as  a  rule  were  to  consist  of  eighty  and 
twenty  mow  respectively,  and  the  repartition  took  place  after  the  last  of  the 
crops  were  gathered  in.  The  restrictions  on  sales,  enforced  by  the  Yuen 
Wei,  were  retained,  but  land  might  be  pledged  by  an  absentee  owner,  who 
had  no  natural  representatives  to  occupy  it  for  him,  and  a  cultivator, 
desirous  of  migrating  to  another  district,  might  sell  his  allotment  and 
employ  the  purchase  money  in  obtaining  another  elsewhere. 

The  limits  on  purchases  were  evaded  by  rich  men  who  bought  land  in 
the  name  of  agents  or  farmers,  and  the  practice  of  subletting,  which  reached 
a  considerable  development  under  the  Sung,  seems  to  have  originated  at 
this  time,  as  the  reserves  of  State  land  became  exhausted  and  the  low 
official  rent  ceased  to  act  as  a  check  upon  private  owners.  The  fixity  ot 
tenure  allowed  by  the  State  to  its  tenants  contributed  to  this  result,  for 
land,  let  to  one  generation  after  another,  came  to  be  regarded  as  private 
property  subject  to  land  tax.  which  it  resembled  in  all  particulars  except 
the  original  title. 

It  had  formerly  been  a  maxim  of  State  that  the  land  tax  should  be  paid 
by  the  occupier,  who  was  normally  also  the  owner  ;  but  as  the  effect  of  the 
redistribution  of  lands  at  the  beginning  of  the  dynasty  wore  off,  some  of 
the  cultivators  fell  again  into  poverty  and  the  land  tax  into  arrears.  Yang- 
j in,  one  of  the  innovating  financiers,  then  hazarded  the  startling  doctrine 
that  it  did  not  matter  who  paid  the  taxes  provided  enough  was  paid.1  He 
therefore  introduced  a  new  plan  of  taxing  artisans  and  tradesmen,  so  as  to 
make  the  personal  tax  of  these  classes  as  remunerative  as  the  land  tax.  A 
great  development  of  trade  is  said  to  have  followed  this  measure,  so  we 
must  suppose  that  previously  the  Government  had  put  difficulties  in  the 
way  nt  the  cultivators  leaving  the  land  for  other  pursuits.  The  same 
principle  served  to  justify  the  indulgence  now  extended  to  the  rich  pro- 
prietors  who  undertook  to  pay  the  personal  taxes  of  their  dependants, 
while  taking  their  chance  of  evading  the  kind  tax  altogether.  The  increase 
111  the  amount  levied  gave  the  landless  poor  an  additional  motive  for 
accepting  the  protection  thus  offered,  without  regard  to  its  probable 
ulterior  results. 

Taxation  was  on    the   whole    much  heavier  than   under  the  Hans.       hue 

demand  for    monev   payments   in    766  a. p.  was   in    itself  burdensome,  and 

when  three  years   later  this  was   commuted   into  a  biennial   grain  payment, 

rop   rtion  of  the  produce  taken,  in  the  case   of  tiie  more  fertile  binds, 

!   A>     .*'.'  '.'    '.  /  •  G    ..  p.  20:  jiiirn.  As.,  iSjS,  p.  .500. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  151 

was  nearer  25  than  10  per  cent.  Another  account  describes  the  people  as 
divided  into  three  classes,  each  comprising  three  sections  and  paying  a 
kind  of  graduated  income  tax  ranging  from  4,000  tsien  in  the  highest  of 
the  first  class  to  500  in  the  lowest  of  the  third  class.1  The  rate  of  pay- 
ment is  thus  twenty  times  as  much  as  that  paid  by  an  ordinary  cultivator 
under  the  Mans  ;  but  the  great  falling  off  in  the  number  of  the  taxpayers 
is  the  cause  of  the  apparent  increase. 

Vang-jin,  already  quoted  as  maintaining  that  it  did  not  matter  who  paid 
the  taxes,  gave,  in  the  early  years  of  Te-tsong  (780  A. n.),  the  formal  sanction 
of  the  exchequer  to  the  feudalizing  tendency  of  rich  landowners,  by  taxing 
the  estate  as  a  whole,  and  making  the  landlord  responsible  for  taxes  levied 
on  all  the  landless  families  settled  under  his  protection.  Free  labourers 
with  no  fixed  settlement  or  occupation  were  called  "strangers;'''  and  as 
this  class  increased  in  numbers,  the  loss  to  the  revenue,  from  the  impos- 
sibility of  taxing  the  migratory  poor,  became  considerable. 

'five  ncx  measure,  though  taxing  land  which  had  previously  escaped, 
was  not  unpopular  with  the  rich,  because  it  gave  for  the  first  time  a  kind 
of  legal  sanction  to  the  system  of  '•agglomeration;'-'  and  by  allowing,  so 
to  speak,  the  lord  of  the  manor  to  stand  between  the  State  and  the  culti- 
vators, it  sanctioned  his  usurpation  of  those  imperial  functions  which  had 
hitherto  been  sedulously  guarded.  The  State,  in  fact,  waived  its  right  of 
determining  what  burdens  should  be  imposed  on  the  peasantry,  in  order 
to  facilitate  the  collection  of  revenue,  and  the  result  was  much  the  same  as 
in  the  case  of  more  deliberate  attempts  at  farming  the  taxes.  The  new 
feudal  chiefs  used  their  power  to  make  themselves  independent  of  the 
Crown,  the  land  tax  became  a  sort  of  tribute,  to  be  refused  by  those  who 
were  strong  enough  to  do  so  with  impunity,  and  the  gradual  decay  of  the 
imperial  authority  which  led  to  the  fall  of  the  dynasty,  was  held  to  begin 
with  this  surrender  of  direct,  influence. 

In  somewhat  the  same  way,  though  more  legitimately,  the  revival  of  the 
village  system  was  used  as  a  means  of  increasing  the  corvees,  which  at 
this  time  formed  a  serious  and  unpopular  burden.  The  payment  required 
in  lieu  of  personal  services  was  three  times  as  much  as  that  paid  for  the 
duty  fields,  and  instead  of  the  three  days'  labour  required  by  the  Chow  Li, 
it  was  regarded  as  a  concession  to  demand  only  twenty-two  days'  labour  in 
the  year.  Individual  labourers  apparently  had  succeeded  in  evading  the 
demands  on  them,  and  the  labour  tax  was  therefore  assessed  upon  the 
village  as  a  whole,  so  that  the  local  authorities  were  obliged  in  self-defence 
to  force  all  the  inhabitants  to  contribute.  The  central  government  was 
apt  to  transfer  unpopular  duties  like  this  to  the  village  authorities  in  other 
cases.  Thus,  for  example,  in  683  A.D.,  when  the  issue  of  counterfeit 
money  was  punished  by  death,  the  neighbours  in  towns  and  villages  were 
made  responsible  for  each  other,  so  as  to  prevent  tacit  complicity. 

As  an  encouragement  to  agriculture,  newly  reclaimed  land  was  allowed 
to  be  held  h~tc  of  tax,  and  it  is  significant  of  the  depressed  state  in  which 
'/«"•".  A:.,  I.e.,  p.  299. 


152  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

the  cultivators  found  themselves,  that  this  permission  was  followed  by 
complaints  that  the  old  taxed  land  was  being  abandoned  in  favour  of  the 
free  wastes.  Several  memorials  were  addressed  to  Tai-tsong,  against  the 
oppression  caused  by  public  works,  and  he  was  reminded  of  the  full 
treasuries  left  by  the  deposed  Souy  Dynasty,  to  show  how  little  a  ruler  is 
likely  to  gain  by  economies  made  at  the  expense  of  his  subjects.  Through- 
out the  prosperous  times  of  the  dynasty,  it  seems  to  have  been  a  standing 
source  of  surprise  and  disappointment  to  the  more  thoughtful  politicians, 
that  the  common  people  were  not  as  much  better  off  as  was  to  be  expected 
from  the  aggrandizement  of  the  empire  ;  and  the  only  explanation  that 
presents  itself  is  that  the  Government  was  more  expensive  as  well  as 
stronger  than  its  predecessors. 

The  emperor  Te-tsong  (779-802  a.d.)  is  reported  to  have  held  a  conversa- 
tion with  a  peasant,  whom  he  met,  when  incognito,  on  a  hunting  expedition, 
which  explains  why  even  the  best  days  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  fail  to  rank 
among  the  golden  ages  of  popular  tradition.  Instead  of  the  lawful  tribute 
collected  twice  a  year  from  the  cultivator,  this  rustic  complains  that  he  is 
burdened  with  all  sorts  of  mysterious  and  additional  charges.  He  has  to 
deliver  the  grain  at  court  himself,  without  being  paid  a  better  price  than 
when  the  Government  collected  it,  though  he  has  either  to  hire  animals  to 
bring  it  or  wear  out  his  own  on  the  journey  ;  and  when  by  any  chance  a 
favourable  harvest  might  make  amends  for  his  losses,  he  is  obliged  to  sell 
his  surplus  at  the  lowest  price  and  buy  it  back  again  at  the  highest,  the 
first  time  he  is  in  want.1  In  other  words,  the  abuse  which  Ma-twandin 
describes  under  the  name  of  "grain  purchase  by  agreement"  was  rife  at 
this  time,  and  the  so-called  voluntary  contract  was  forced  on  the  helpless 
cultivators  by  the  ever-growing  army  of  tax  collectors. 

An  apologue,  by  Lin-tsung-yuan  (773-819),  the  philosophic  defender  of 
buddhism  against  the  diatribes  of  Han-wen-kung,  represents  the  people  as 
suffering  quite  as  much  from  the  indiscreet  zeal  of  their  rulers  as  from 
direct  oppression.  A  certain  market  gardener"-  is  described  as  famous  be- 
cause everything  he  plants  is  sure  to  thrive,  and  bear  fruit  or  flowers  early 
and  abundantly.  He  is  asked  to  describe  his  method,  and  explains  that 
it  (''insists  only  in  letting  tilings  alone,  in  not  worrying  the  plants  with 
watching  or  training,  but  allowing  them  to  grow  as  nature  prompts  when 
they  are  once  well  planted  in  good  soil.  He  is  asked  it  these  principles 
can  be  applied  to  government.  "Ah,"  he  replied,  "1  only  understand 
nursery  gardening  ;  government  is  not  my  trade.  Still,  in  the  village 
where  I  live,  the  officials  are  for  ever  issuing  all  kinds  of  orders,  as  it' 
^really  compassionating  the  people,  though  really  to  their  utter  injury, 
Morning  and  night  the  underlings  come  round  and  say,  '  His  honour  bids 

1  I  v  Mailla.  vi.  p.  350.  \\.  the  -ame  reign  it  was  complained  of  as  a  serious  griev- 
ance thai  an  avaricious  mini-ter  I.  il  !  to  provide  the  troops  called  out  for  a  campaign 
ivil      full  rations,  ii  1    to    the    pay  reserved  for  the  maintenance  ol    their  families. 

It  \vn  c-timated  that  their  li  ;.  pay  was  practically  tripled  during  their  time  ol 
■    !ive  s    r vi    e.       I  /' . .  p.   33  I.) 

-    I  leii'crt  ( ii'e-.   '.J,  ;n    uf Chin       Literature,^*.   [48. 


THE    TANG   DYNASTY.  153 

us  urge  on  your  ploughing,  hasten  your  planting,  and  superintend  your 
harvest.  Do  not  delay  with  your  spinning  and  weaving.  Take  care  of 
your  children.  Rear  poultry  and  pigs.  Come  together  when  the  drum 
beats.  Be  ready  at  the  sound  of  the  rattle.'  Thus  are  we  poor  people 
badgered  from  morn  till  eve.  We  have  not  a  moment  to  ourselves.  How 
could  any  one  flourish  or  develop  under  such  conditions  ?  " 

The  fable,  which  is  evidently  by  a  disciple  of  Chuang-tze,  has  an  18th 
century  sort  of  sound,  which  makes  it  difficult  to  realize  that  it  comes  to  us 
from  the  age  of  Egbert,  but  there  is  at  least  no  difficulty  in  understanding 
how  even  a  well-meaning  oriental  Government  at  that  date  might  over- 
govern  and  over-burden  its  subjects  in  the  name  of  progress.  Like  the 
contemporary  secularism  of  Han-yu,  the  fabulist's  belief  in  free  industry 
survives  in  modern  China,  less  as  a  speculative  opinion  than  as  an  organic 
habit  of  mind  and  manners. 

There  is  a  Chinese  proverb  :  "  When  swords  are  rusty  and  spades 
bright,  prisons  empty  and  granaries  full,  the  steps  of  the  temples  covered 
with  mud  and  the  courts  of  the  tribunals  filled  with  grass,  doctors  on  foot 
and  bakers  on  horseback,  when  old  men  and  children  abound,  the  empire  is 
well  governed."  Except  with  regard  to  the  frequentation  of  temples,  the 
Tang  Dynasty  did  not  as  a  rule  stand  very  high  in  its  conformity  to  these 
tests.  The  whole  period  was  one  of  increasing  commercial  activity  rather 
than  one  of  increasing  industrial  prosperity.  Both  industry  and  commerce 
were  hampered  by  Government  interference,  which  was  at  least  as  often  as 
not  of  an  interested  kind,  and,  as  we  have  seen,  resulted  in  the  conversion 
of  some  of  the  leading  writers  of  the  day  to  the  doctrine  of  laissez  faire  in 
its  most  extreme  form. 

But  some  of  the  legislation  was  honestly' meant  to  check  the  danger  of 
excessive  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth,  to  which  the  Government 
had  always  been  alive ;  and  even  the  clumsy  restrictions  on  trade,  in  the 
supposed  interest  of  the  treasury,  had  at  worst  the  same  tendency.  No 
country  in  the  wond  has  really  less  to  gain  than  China  by  foreign  commerce, 
and,  blunder  for  blunder,  it  is  less  unintelligent  for  a  Government  which 
distrusts  the  mercantile  class  to  discourage  trade  by  legislative  restraints, 
than  for  those  which  intend  to  promote  trade  and  manufactures  to  hamper 
both  by  would-be  protective  regulations,  such  as  were  universally  believed 
in  by  European  rulers  till  within  the  last  century  or  two. 

The  Chinese  method  of  utilizing  experiments  in  the  art  "  how  not  to 
do  it  "  is  in  the  main  negative.  When  legislation  of  one  sort  has  missed 
its  aim  or  proved  vexatious  in  fresh  ways,  the  legislation  is  allowed  to 
drop  ;  it  is  not  thought  necessary  to  try  a  new  plan  at  the  risk  of  new 
inconveniences.  The  State  learns  what  to  let  alone,  and  the  people  profit 
by  their  widening  liberties  to  do  for  themselves  what  the  Government  had 
failed  to  do  for  them.  The  result  is  that  industry  and  commerce  are  at 
the  present  moment  more  entirely  left  to  themselves  in  China  than  in 
any  other  civilized  country,  with  in  the  main  satisfactory  results.  But  it 
is  only  just  to  her  earlier  rulers  to  point  out  that  this  paradisaical  state  of 


154  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

laissez  faire  was  not  reached  by  popular  wisdom,  in  spite  of  State  bungling, 
but  under  cover  of  legislation,  wise  and  otherwise,  yet,  in  the  main,  de- 
signed to  compass  the  identical  results  which  now  commend  themselves  to 
public  opinion  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  In  other  words,  the  experience 
of  China  proves  that  the  industrial  condition  of  a  country  may  be  per- 
manently influenced  by  its  legislation,  when  that  legislation  gives  voice  to 
powerful  and  deep-rooted  national  tendencies. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

CHINESE  FINANCE  FROM  THE  II AN  TO   HIE   TANG  DYNASTY. 

The  leading  ideas  and  recurring  difficulties  of  Chinese  financiers  did  not. 
undergo  any  material  change  between  the  Han  and  the  Tang  Dynasties. 
One  of  the  chief  difficulties  of  the  Government,  the  prevalence  of  illicit 
coining,  was  mainly  owing  to  the  simplicity  of  the  mode,  still  in  use.  of 
casting  money — a  process  which  was  easily  imitated.  Some  ancient  moulds, 
as  well  as  coins,  have  been  found,  and  in  some  cases  the  forger  actually 
renders  a  service  to  the  antiquary  by  preserving  a  piece  which  is  ancient 
in  everything  except  the  date  of  casting.  A  curious  bird-headed  piece  in 
the  British  .Museum  is  a  forgery  of  this  kind,1  representing  a  rare  issue, 
dated  between  the  T'sin  and  the  Han.  The  legend  has  some  reference  to 
measures  of  corn,  and  it  may  possibly  have  been  mure  like  the  tea  or  salt 
bonds  of  later  times  than  a  regular  money. 

Another  curious,  half  scarab-shaped  piece  is  known  only  from  Chinese 
works.  Members  of  the  Han-lin  College,  towards  the  end  of  the  Tang 
Dynasty,  deciphered,  but  did  not  interpret,  the  characters  on  it.  The 
collector  must  have  begun  his  work  in  China  with  the  literary  revival  of 
the  Han.  Quotations  from  native  catalogues  of  collections  made  in  the 
6th  century  a.i>.,  are  met  with  in  recent  native  works,  and  M.  Terrien  de 
la  Couperie  refers  to  five  such  of  the  present  century  which  "  are  remark- 
able for  the  accuracy  of  their  reproductions  of  coins,  engraved  from  actual 
rubbings."  2  Indeed,  it  is  probable  that  coins  have  been  regarded  as  his- 
torical records,  and  consequently  of  value  as  such,  for  nearly  as  long  as 
they  have  been  in  use. 

Twenty  years  after  the  establishment  of  the  Han  Dynasty,  another 
attempt  at  an  enlarged  issue  was  made  with  eight-tchu  pieces  ;  eleven  years 
later  Han-wu-ti  issued  cash  of  four  tchu  again  ;  but  free  trade  in  coin  was 
already  permitted  (177  li.c.)  in  the  hope  of  putting  down  illicit  coining. 
It  was  only  stipulated  that  private  mints  should  conform  to  the  official 
standard  of  weight,  shape,  and  purity. :!  Under  the  Chow,  kings  and  princes 
'had  coined  money  in  such  quantities  as  suited  themselves,  leaving  traders 
and  towns  to  provide  for  their  own  needs  as  they  pleased.  It  was  not  till 
the  central  authority  was  powerful  enough  for  its  issues  to  be  generally  pre- 
ferred that  the  temptation  to  fraudulent  coining  began  ;    and  the  toleration 

1    Catalogue  of  Chinese  Coins,  p.  xxi. 

-   lb. .  lwiii. 

'■'  Mini  ire  sitr  L  Sys'iim  monetairc  des  Chinois,   par  E.  Bint,  Journ.  As.,  1 S  3  7 .  i>.  447. 


156  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

of  free  trade  in  money,  which  seems  so  paradoxical,  all  through  the  financial 
history  of  China,  is  really  to  be  explained  by  this  early  experience,  that  it 
would  not  pay  to  counterfeit  the  money  of  the  State,  if  there  were  a  number 
of  equally  popular  mints  open. 

About  t'ne  middle  of  the  2nd  century  B.C.,  a  prince  of  Wei  issued  a  success- 
ful round  money  with  rimmed  edges;  and  a  coinage,  of  which  no  specimens 
remain,  was  cast  at  the  same  time  in  North  Sz'chuen,  by  Teng  T'ung,  the 
man  whose  name  stands  as  a  proverb,  like  that  of  Croesus,  for  the  uttermost 
possibilities  ot  wealth.  He  had  a  concession  to  work  the  copper  mines  of 
Va-chu-fu  in  that  province  ;  and,  while  Ids  money  was  preferred  on  account 
of  its  purity  to  that  of  the  Covernment,  the  great  wealth  he  had  accumulated 
was  regarded  as  a  warning  against  the  toleration  of  such  monopolies  in 
private  hands.  In  the  year  135  B.C.,  free  coining  was  again  forbidden,  and 
ancient  coins,  knife,  leaf,  saddle,  and  other  old  currencies  were  demonetized. 
In  1 1  y  a  white  metal  currency  of  tin  and  silver  was  tried,  and  in  the  fol- 
lowing year  Han-wu-li  issued  tiie  favourite  tchu  coinage,  which  remained 
a  standard  down  to  the  Tang  Dynasty.  The  new  cash  were  made  with  a 
rim  to  prevent  forgery.  The  edict  of  135  must  have  been  disregarded,  for 
Wu-ti  issued  another  in  112  B.C.,  suppressing  private  mints,  and  ordaining 
that  the  most  skilful  of  the  coiners  should  be  employed  in  t'ne  Imperial 
Mint.  He  at  the  same  time  appointed  three  officers  to  watch  over  the 
currency,  and  the  money  issued  at  this  period  became,  and  long  continued, 
exceedingly  popular.  It  must  be  admitted  that  the  Chinese  Government 
was  hardly  dealt  with  in  the  matter  of  coining,  for  if  it  issued  good  money 
it  was  clipped,  and  base  coin  made  of  the  clippings,  while  if  it  issued  bad 
coins  the  people  declined  to  use  them,  multiplying  instead  imitations  ot 
the  earlier  issues  it  preferred.  In  190  A.D.,  coins  were  cast  like  those  ot 
Wu,  only  without  tiie  rim,  which  used  to  be  clipped  off. 

It  is  almost  incomprehensible  that  the  nation  which  first  invented 
letters  of  credit,  exchequer  bonds  and  bank  notes,  should  have  been  so 
slow  to  adopt  the  use  of  money  at  all,  and  should  have  continued  to  limit 
its  currency  to  the  tiny  copper  coins  of  which  a  hundred  pounds  worth 
weighs  a  ton.  Vet  if  t'ne  question  is  looked  at.  as  the  advisers  of  the  best 
emperors  always  sought  to  look  at  it.  from  the  point  of  view  ot  the  small 
cultivator's  interest,  it  is  not  so  evident  what  this  class  had  to  gam  by  the 
introduction  of  a  gold  or  silver  coinage.  So  long  as  the  Government 
allowed  the  taxes  to  be  paid  111  kind,  t'ne  villagers  only  needed  money  to 
effect  occasional  exchanges  of  produce,  or  for  small  marketings,  both  ot 
v.  ii  h  might  at  times  take  tiie  form  of  simple  barter.  The  value  ot  the 
coins  could  hardly  be  too  trilling  when  their  chief  function  was  to  enable 
one  villager  to  pay  another  for  a  handful  of  seed  or  a  pair  ot  sandals. 

The  transactions  of  tiie  merchant,  who  bought  the  produce  at  one  dis- 
trict in  order  to  sell  it  in  another,  were  normally  upon  something  the  same 
scale.  The  primitive  merchant  is  little  more  than  a  carrier,  and  it  is  only 
in  the  case  ot  exceptional  commodities,  like  rare  drugs  and  precious  stones 
or  metal.-,  tiiat   the    load,  personally  convoyed   by  a  single  dealer,  can   re- 


CHINESE  FINANCE.  157 

present  much  wealth.  Any  rudimentary  tendency  amongst  traders  to 
convert  their  whole  store  of  useful  commodities,  i.e.  their  private  capital 
into  coin,  to  be  spent  in  buying  up  commodities  for  sale  at  an  advanced 
price,  would  have  seemed  to  the  legislators  of  the  period  as  a  diversion 
of  industry  from  its  proper  functions,  which  should,  as  far  as  possible,  be 
discouraged  and  deprived  of  all  convenient  implements.  As  la  petite  eidture 
has  been  advocated  by  modern  economists  in  the  West,  ia  petite  commerce 
would  have  been  deliberately  defended,  by  all  the  generations  of  Chinese 
statesmen,  whose  policy  has  actually  resulted  in  making  every  other  China- 
man a  little  trader. 

If  the  coinage  was  scarce,  inconvenient,  or  unpopular,  the  people  readily 
improvised  standards  of  value,  and  used  handfuls  of  grain  for  small  change, 
and  lengths  of  silk  for  larger  values,  as,  to  this  day.  salt  is  used  in  Yunnan 
and  brick  tea  in  Mongolia.  Additional  taxes,  however  oppressive,  did  not 
increase  the  demand  for  coin,  as  salt,  iron,  wine,  and  other  articles,  on 
which  duties  were  from  time  to  time  imposed,  were  all  as  acceptable  to  the 
treasury  as  the  normal  payments  of  grain.  A  small  token  coinage  seemed 
to  meet  the  practical  needs  of  the  people,  and  the  ideal  of  the  Government 
thenceforward  seems  to  have  been,  more  or  less  consciously,  to  bar  the  way 
to  accumulation  by  not  recognising  money  as  a  commodity  at  all. 

The  Chinese  emperor  had  less  to  gain  than  most  European  princes  by 
tampering  with  the  currency,  because  there  was  no  public  debt,  and  most 
Government  expenses  were  borne  locally,  while  salaries  still  consisted 
partly  in  allowances  of  grain.  And  provided  the  Government  were  honestly 
intent  on  doing  so,  it  would  have  no  more  difficulty  in  limiting  the  issue 
of  a  token  coinage,  which  represented  the  circulating  surplus  of  silk  and 
grain,  than  in  limiting  the  issue  of  a  token  coinage  representing  the  pro- 
portion of  gold  or  silver  available  as  money.  The  functions  of  such  a 
token  coinage  are  necessarily  limited  ;  but  it  is  admitted  by  economists 
that  a  community,  which  agreed  to  use  the  tokens  as  machinery  for  the 
exchange  of  commodities,  would  not  find  the  comparative  value  of  the 
goods  themselves  affected  by  its  substitution  for  metal. 

Some  of  the  economic  heresies  of  the  Chinese  seem  to  have  been  on 
the  whole  original  and  peculiar  to  themselves.  The  words  used  to  de- 
scribe money  as  cheap  or  dear  have  reference  to  weight,  not  price  or 
scarcity.  Money  is  "heavy."  i.e.  dear,  when  a  coin  of  fixed  nominal 
value  will  buy  a  larger  weight  of  commodities  than  usual,  and  it  is  "light," 
or  cheap,  when  the  reverse  is  the  case.  But  by  a  confusion  of  ideas, 
such  as  abound  in  the  history  of  economic  speculation,  it  seems  to  have 
been  thought  that  the  value  of  the  money,  or  its  purchasing  power,  could 
be  increased  by  the  simple  increase  of  its  weight:1  in  fact,  it  was  proposed 
to  aim  at  the  desirable  result  of  cheap  commodities  and  "*  heavy  '"  money 
by  raising  the  value  of  the  money  issued.      The  quantity  of  copper  coin 

1  I:  is  recorded  that  in  524  B.C.  the  emperor  was  desirous  of  having  "large  money" 
cast,  and  was  dissuaded  from  doing  so  by  his  council,  so  currency  questions  were  evi- 
dently discussed  at  an  early  period. 


158  OWNERSHIP   IN   CHIN  si. 

in  circulation  remaining  the  same,  of  course,  the  people  suffered  incon- 
venience from  not  having  money  small  enough  to  serve  for  trifling  trans- 
actions; but  the  error  of  the  Government  was  not  more  gross,  and  certainly 
more  disinterested,  than  the  far  more  common  mistake  made  in  the 
opposite  direction,  by  rulers  who  have  expected  to  enrich  themselves, 
without  impoverishing  their  subjects,  by  issuing  "light"  money  at  the 
nominal  price  of  "  heavy."  In  the  "  Rites  of  Chow,"  one  of  the  recognised 
methods  of  regulating  prices  is  tor  the  State  to  issue  money  when  prices 
are  high,  and  to  withdraw  from  circulation  the  cash  received  in  payment 
of  taxes  when  they  are  low.1  One  of  the  arguments  urged  against  free 
coining2  is  based  on  the  inexpediency  of  surrendering  this  part  of  the 
supreme  power.  "  Riches  are  the  handle  held  by  the  riders  of  men,"  and 
to  give  up  the  handle  is  to  endanger  the  rule. 

The  currency  continued  to  be  a  source  of  great  embarrassment,  and 
from  time  to  time  the  Government  was  on  the  [joint  of  reverting  to  the  use 
of  silk  ami  grain  as  a  medium  of  exchange  instead  of  copper,  though  a 
very  short  experience  showed  that  it  was  as  easy  to  tamper  fraudulently  with 
the  natural  weights  of  these  substances  as  to  manufacture  copper  money 
with  an  undue  proportion  of  alloy.  One  of  the  nameless  emperors,  whom 
history  knows  only  as  "the  Deposed,"  in  465  A.D.,  reverted  to  the  experi- 
ment of  Wen-ti,  and  allowed  the  people  to  cast  their  own  money;  the  result 
was  seen  in  the  production  of  diaphanous  tokens,  fit,  according  to  the 
contemporary  phrase,  to  "  float  on  water  or  fly  in  the  wind,"  of  which  it 
took  ten  thousand  to  pay  for  a  bushel  of  rice.''  This  license  was  nonii- 
nallv  withdrawn  in  494;  but  there  was  still  no  uniformity,  and  each  district 
did  the  best  it  could  for  itself,  using  silk  and  grain  whenever  the  copper 
money  was  hopelessly  depreciated. 

The  Leang  Dynasty  issued  iron  money,  which  was  open  to  all  the  same 
objections  as  the  copper  ;  and,  for  a  short  time,  tin  was  used  in  addition 
to  grain  and  silk.  This  dynasty  has  also  the  credit  of  a  curious  device 
for  testing  the  value  of  the  coin  in  circulation  in  different  districts.  It  was 
proposed  to  send  silk  worth  two  hundred  good  copper  coins  for  sale  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  which  in  some  places  fetched  as  much  as 
three  hundred  coins,  "not  because  the  side  was  higher  valued,  but  because 
the  money  was  debased."  J  In  the  Northern  Empire  at  the  same  time  the 
salaries  of  officers  were  paid  alternately  in  silk  or  copper,  while  private 
coining  was  allowed,  providing  the  Government  standard  of  purity  was 
adhered  to. 

d'iie  short-lived  Sony  Dynasty  set  itself  seriously  to  do  away  with  the 
multiplicity    of    coins    of    every    degree    of  worthlessness.       Payment    for 

'    A>  tin"  bank  ol   I .-.,._'..  n  I  i  lis  •-  the  rate  of  discount  when  money  is  scarce. 

'-'  YY.  \'i>-rriiiL,r,  On  dim  ,  Currenry,  p.  36.  'l'liis  useful  essay  consists  of  translations 
from  Ma-iwan-lin\s  ^real  work,  in  which  the  very  words  of  ancient  speakers  or 
nieiiioriali.-s  art.:  reproduced  for  the  instruction  of  posterity.  Reviewed  by  Sir  John 
Lubbock.  Xiii<  t,rnl>,   Cenfnry,   Nov.    1S70. 

"   /  urn.  A  .  (An;.),  1837,  p.   loo.      Catalytic  of  Chinese  Coin;,  p.  425. 

4'Vi,,eiin-,  p.  91. 


CHINESE   FINANCE.  159 

officers'  salaries,  taxes,  octroi  and  market  duties  were  accepted  in  the  old 
money,  which,  as  it  came  in,  was  broken  up  and  the  metal  appropriated 
by  the  administration.  Five  of  the  old  issues  were  tolerated,  but  any 
other  money  found  in  circulation  was  confiscated.  Unfortunately  for  the 
success  of  these  reasonable  measures,  the  trade  of  the  coiner  was  always 
briskest  when  the  copper  coinage  was  unadulterated  ;  and  it  was  in  vain 
that  the  State  prohibited  the  working  of  tin  and  lead  mines,  which  had 
hitherto  been  free,  so  as  to  monopolize  the  illicit  as  well  as  the  lawful 
materials  used.  Before  the  fall  of  the  dynasty,  things  were  as  bad  as  ever, 
and  the  people  practically  used  for  purposes  of  exchange  any  article  — 
cloth,  grain,  paper,  or  metal — which  was  in  common  demand  and  easily 
divisible. 

The  fact  that  the  copper  tsien  had  always  been  cast,  instead  of  stamped 
or  hammered,  of  course  made  the  coiners'  work  easier  ;  but  this  would 
not  of  itself  make  the  work  so  profitable,  as  to  explain  why  the  offence 
continued  for  ages  to  be  so  common,  that  the  Government  was  again  and 
again  compelled  to  condone  it.  In  713  A.D.  a  million  bushels  of  grain 
were  issued  from  the  public  storehouses  and  sold  to  the  people,  payment 
being  accepted  in  the  counterfeit  coins,  which  it  was  desired  to  call  in  and 
destroy,  an  end  which  could  not  be  secured  by  penal  measures. 

The  explanation  of  the  forgers'  persistency  is  so  simple  that  nothing 
but  force  oi  habit  can  have  prevented  its  discovery  by  Chinese  financiers. 
The  State  charged  25  per  cent,  for  manufacture.  The  copper  coinage  was 
never  really  adequate  to  the  commercial  requirements  of  the  people,  so 
that  private  coiners  of  good  money  were  meeting  a  real  want  while 
realizing  a  satisfactory  profit  to  themselves.  The  trade  was  therefore  not 
regarded  as  essentially  discreditable,  and  to  allow  private  issues  of  copper 
coin  was  no  more  considered  as  a  concession  to  the  criminal  classes  than 
the  license  given  to  bankers  to  issue  private  notes.  But  the  mistaken 
habit  of  charging  25  per  cent,  on  the  cost  of  the  metal  and  labour1  clung 
to  the  private  mints,  and  hence  free  competition  did  nothing  to  put  down 
forgery. 

The  total  supply  of  copper  was  not  materially  increased  by  the  abolition 
of  the  Government  monopoly,  and  the  comparative  scarcity  of  good  money 
made  the  manufacture  of  bad  money  always  a  possible  source  of  profit, 
till  the  competition  of  private  debasers  forced  other  private  issuers  to 
lower  their  standard  of  quality.  So  that  an  increase  of  the  currency,  which 
was  not  excessive  in  quantity,  led  to  its  depreciation,  because  needlessly 
associated  with  its  debasement.  It  seems  simply  not  to  have  occurred  to 
any  one  that  the  whole  difficulty  would  disappear,  if  the  State  issued  at 
cost  price  as  much  money  as  was  required  for  circulation,  and  allowed  free 
trade  in  copper  for  other  purposes. 

As  it  did  neither,  the  two  mistakes  aggravated  each  other.  Copper 
was  largely  in  demand  for  the  construction  of  Buddhist  images,  and  in- 
creasingly so  for  the  manufacture  of  various  domestic  utensils.  As  the 
1  fount.  As.,  I.e.,  p.  1  iS. 


160  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

copper  mines  were  a  Government  monopoly,  metal  for  these  purposes 
could  only  be  obtained  by  melting  down  the  best  of  the  current  coins. 
This  was  illegal,  but  of  course  even  more  impossible  to  prevent  than  the 
manufacture  of  base  coin,  and,  being  illegal,  its  results  in  making  good 
money  scarce  were  not  provided  against  by  fresh  issues. 

The  first  decree  limiting  the  amount  of  copper,  lead,  or  tin,  to  be 
possessed  at  one  time  by  a  single  person,  was  issued  in  769  a.d.  ;  and  it 
seems  to  have  been  aimed  merely  at  the  coiners,  on  the  supposition  that 
no  one  else  would  think  of  hoarding  a  large  stock  of  such  metals.  The 
small  coiners,  who  carried  on  their  trade  in  river  boats,  had  a  stock  worth 
at  most  a  few  pounds,  and  it  was  thought  feasible  to  prevent  the  storage  of 
metal  in  quantities  sufficient  to  make  more  than  ten  or  twelve  taels,  or 
strings  of  a  thousand  tsien.  The  forger's  industry,  like  all  others,  was 
carried  on  upon  a  modest  scale,  and  any  larger  stock  would  have  been 
sufficient  for  a  brisk  trade. 

The  accumulations  attacked  in  the  second  edict  are  on  a  much  larger 
scale.  Whether  at  the  expense  of  the  suffering  peasantry  or  the  imperial 
treasury,  or  from  the  profits  of  foreign  trade,  large  fortunes  had  by  this 
time  begun  to  he  amassed  by  individuals,  who.  unmindful  of  the  lessons 
of  Chao-tso.  had  transmuted  them  into  the  most  precious  metals  in  reach, 
so  that  there  were  actually  individuals  whose  hoards  of  copper  money 
were  worth,  according  to  M.  Biot's  estimate,  something  like  ,£150.000 
sterling.1  When  the  purchasing  power  of  money  at  this  time  is  con- 
sidered, the  amount  seems  incredible  ;  however,  only  five  officers  are  said 
to  have  had  as  much  as  this,  and  they  may  have  held  lucrative  govern- 
ments and  taken  toll  of  the  taxes.  These  moneys,  we  are  told,  were 
intended  to  be  used  in  buying  lands,  and  the  alleged  motive  of  the  edict 
was  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of  large  estates  in  the  hands  of  a  ic\\\ 
who  would  turn  the  cultivators  into  mere  servants  or  tenants. 

No  person,  of  whatsoever  class,  noble,  scholar,  merchant,  or  priest,  was 
to  be  allowed  henceforward  to  keep  in  his  own  hands  more  than  5.000 
strings  of  cash,  or  at  the  same  rate  of  valuation  as  before,  about  ^.£,  r.'oc. 
A  month's  grace  was  given  to  put  the  surplus  coin  in  circulation,  while 
the  officers  were  condemned  offhand  to  surrender  one-fifth  of  their,  pro- 
bably ill-gotten,  gams.  Some  of  the  hoards  consisted  of  old  metal  issues, 
since  proscribed,  and  kept  by  speculators  in  the  hope  of  their  being 
tolerated,  and  therefore  worth  more  as  coin  in  future  than  as  metal  at  the 
moment.  Th  s.  of  course,  tended  to  defeat  the  intention  of  the  Govern- 
ment in  calling  in  these  c  >ins  :  but  the  offence  is  quite  different  from  that 
of  having  too  mm  h  ready  money  to  invest  in  land  on  the  one  hand,  or  of 
withdrawing  too  much  ot  the  lawful  coin  of  the  realm  from  circulation  on 
the  other. 

All  the  ec  itiomic  ideas  of  the  time,  and  especially  those  relating  to  the 
currency,    o  much   at   variance  with    European   usages  and    principles 

that  it  :-    diffi     lit    to  1  e  -are   of  our  ground   in    any  interpretation:   but   it 

1     /   .,    «..-/-       ....  p.   I2S. 


CHINESE    FINANCE.  161 

seems  as  if  the  speculators  of  the  period  had  been  addicted  to  "  forestall- 
ing," or  something  of  the  kind,  in  relation  to  the  copper  currency.  Money 
being  scarce,  prices  were  always  low  ;  but  for  some  purposes  money  was 
indispensable,  especially  when  the  Government  interfered  with  the  popular 
attempts  at  self-defence  against  the  scarcity,  by  forbidding  the  use  of  silk 
and  grain  for  exchanges.'  On  such  occasions  one  may  feel  sure  that 
copper  money  was  not  to  be  bought  in  small  quantities  by  the  people 
from  the  capitalists — who  were  aggravating  the  scarcity  by  locking  up  their 
coin — at  a  cost  at  all  proportioned  to  the  value  of  the  copper  regarded  as 
a  commodity,  or  even  to  the  price  at  which  it  came  from  the  mint. 

Ma-twan-lin  criticises  the  measure  as  ill-judged,  on  the  ground  that  it 
would  be  better  to  attack  the  evil  complained  of,  directly,  and  forbid  the 
acquisition  of  landed  properties  beyond  a  certain  size.  It  should  be  the 
object,  he  assumes,  of  the  Government  so  to  administer  the  national 
wealth  as  to  equalize  as  far  as  possible  the  fortunes  of  the  rich  and  poor, 
but  from  this  point  of  view  he  regards  the  landowner  as  a  more  dangerous 
enemy  than  the  capitalist.  Those  who  buy  land  do  so  in  order  to  keep 
it,  those  who  amass  money  do  so  in  order  to  profit  by  circulating  it  :  and 
when  commodities  are  cheap,  self-interest  alone,  he  thinks,  would  suffice 
to  make  the  accumulators  unlock  their  money-bags. 

Of  course  we  should  not  expect  a  contemporary  of  Chaucer  to  be  an 
infallible  authority  as  to  the  economic  problems  of  the  reign  of  Alfred, 
and  it  seems  certain,  whether  the  Sung  writer  understood  the  bearing  of 
the  fact  or  not,  that  the  Tang  Emperors  felt  their  own  prerogative  and 
the  common  weal  to  lie  menaced  by  the  accumulation  in  private  hands 
of  wealth,  vast  enough  to  affect  the  general  range  of  prices  by  its  use  or 
withdrawal  from  use.  They  seem  to  have  suspected  the  moneyed  classes 
of  conspiring  to  "  bear  "  the  price  of  land  and  agricultural  commodities, 
which  was  in  effect  to  aim  at  undermining  tiie  national  wealth  ;  and  no 
measures  taken  to  prevent  such  a  result  were  likely  to  be  thought 
arbitrary  in  China.  The  Government,  by  forcing  all  the  holders  of  capital 
to  realize  at  the  same  time,  certainly  obliged  them  to  do  so  on  disadvanta- 
geous terms,  as  shown  by  a  passage  referring  to  the  legislation  of  Si  7  a.u., 
which  concludes  :  "  Then  the  people  bought  on  a  large  scale  farms  and 
houses  to  convert  their  fortune,  and  precious  things  fetched  a  high  price  : ':  '-' 
a  result  which  must  have  been  satisfactory  to  the  Government,  as  the 
coffers  of  the  accumulators  were  drained  by  the  high  prices  they  had  to 
pay. 

The  mutual  denunciations  of  officers  and  merchants,  jealous  of  each 
other's  wealth,  also  helped  to  make  it  easier  for  the  Government  to 
-:  squeeze ''  both  in  succession.  At  one  moment  foundries  were  granted 
to   princes  and   high    minister-,  like    the    Stuart   monopolies,   as   a    sort   oi 

1    \)y  a  decree  of  734   a.!).,   it  was   forbidden  to    measure   silk    by  feet   and    in  !    -. 

Ifuls,  as  urns  oi    exchange.     This  was  repeale   .  ..  .  : 

end  01  the  :entury,  stones  for  grinding  rice  were  received  as  '"money  of  an  ir.t:  de 
v  ilue,"  and  exchanged  at  the  rate  of  one  for  ten  copper  cash. 

J   \  i-ering,  p.  123. 

VOL.    II. —  I'.C.  M 


1 62  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

license  to  grow  rich.  At  another  (738)  the  old  experiment  of  free  trade 
in  coining  was  revived.  The  arguments  formally  adduced  on  both  sides 
of  the  latter  question  have  been  preserved,  and  the  balance  of  opinion 
seemed  unfavourable  to  the  course.  "  If  you  allow  private  persons  to 
cast  money,  the  poor  will  not  be  rich  enough  to  be  able  to  do  it  ;  and  if 
the  rich  families  occupy  themselves  with  it,  they  will  steal  the  more,  and 
the  poor  will  grow  poorer  and  more  overawed  by  the  power  of  the  rich. 
Free  coining  caused  princes  under  the  Hans  to  be  as  rich  as  the  emperor.'' 
If  private  coining  is  allowed  and  is  profitable,  other  trades  will  be  deserted 
for  it  ;  but  if  the  quantity  of  coin  is  kept  up  by  the  State,  there  is  no  such 
tempting  profit  without  adulteration.  "  When  commodities  are  cheap, 
this  is  prejudicial  to  agriculture,  and  when  the  money  is  base  it  affects 
trade,  therefore  the  duty  of  a  good  ruler  is  to  control  the  relative  value  of 
commodities  and  the  quality  of  money."  1 

Many  of  the  phrases  used  show  that  the  value  of  the  copper  coins  ran 
up  simply  because  there  were  not  as  many  of  theai  as  were  required  for 
use.  The  quality  remained  good  in  the  capital,  but  vast  loads  of  it  were 
transported,  and  rich  merchants  were  accused  of  gradually  collecting  the 
good  money  to  sell  it  to  the  false  coiners  of  Kiang-hoai.  The  Government 
could  not  make  up  its  mind  whether  to  suppress  or  take  part  in  the 
financial  speculations  of  the  age.  The  Government  monopoly  of  copper, 
as  already  observed,  had  the  effect  of  compelling  those  who  required  that 
metal,  for  any  other  purpose  than  as  money,  to  melt  down  the  copper 
coinage  and  recast  the  metal.  As  the  nominal  value  of  the  copper  money 
was  25  per  cent,  above  its  cost,  this  was  a  serious  tax  upon  the  copper- 
smith's trade;  and  as  the  trade  flourished  nevertheless,-  while  the  Govern- 
ment had  to  issue  fresh  coins  to  make  up  for  what  was  melted,  it  occurred 
to  some  inventive  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  that  the  State  itself  had 
better  turn  coppersmith,  and  sell  manufactured  articles  at  the  advanced 
price  fixed  by  its  own  fancy  valuation  of  the  raw  material. 

It  was  not  proposed  to  increase  the  output  of  copper  from  the  State 
nunc-,  but  the  amount  of  metal  formerly  allotted  to  make  coin  for  a  cer- 
tain district  was  ordered  instead  to  be  delivered  at  court  and  worked  up 
into  articles  for  ordinary  use.  The  profit  on  this  undertaking  was  so  large 
that  tile  State  was  tempted  to  over-reach  itself,  and  so  many  provincial 
copper  foundries  were  opened  that  supply  began  to  overtake  demand,  and 
the  price  of  coj  per  fell.  Then  attempts  were  made  to  suppress  all  private 
foun  iries.  and  on  their  failure  a  still  more  absurd  enactment  was  passed, 
requiring  ail  manufactured  articles  of  copper,  however  elaborate  the 
workmanship.  :  )  be  sold  by  weight  at  the  same  rate  as  the  current  c  tin. 
This,  of  1  urse,  could  not  be  carried  out,  and  trade  was  still  furthei  dis- 
till! :d  1  ■  \  . -'  )  is  chei  .:-  '.in  the  circulation  of  money  between  different 
provim  es,  octrui  duties  being  imposed  on  its  exportation. 

;    Vi,  L-rir.-.  ;  .   1  :    . 

i;u  '.  -    -in    . .  :.    in  cr,.-h  wa.-   ;6o  ve-r  cent. 


CHINESE   FINANCE.  163 

This  fresh  blunder  seems  to  have  led  the  way  to  a  valuable  innovation, 
and  the  first  use  of  a  kind  of  paper  money  in  the  shape  of  treasury  bonds. 
In  807,  ten  years  before  the  edict  against  hoarding  coin,  the  Emperor 
Hien-tsong  required  all  merchants  to  deposit  their  available  specie  in  the 
Imperial  treasury  in  exchange  for  bonds  called  fey  tsien,  or  "  light  money," 
which  were  payable  on  demand  in  the  chief  towns  of  the  province.  The 
main  object  of  the  Government  was,  no  doubt,  to  obtain  an  immediate 
supply  of  cash,  though  the  measure  may  also  have  been  a  first  step  in  the 
campaign  against  moneyed  monopolists.  But  it  was  really  useful  as  in- 
creasing the  currency  to  the  extent  of  a  moderate  issue  of  bank  notes,  and 
as  saving  the  merchant  trouble  and  expense  in  transporting  large  quantities 
of  the  cumbrous  medium  of  exchange. 

The  gain  to  the  merchants  was  more  obvious  than  that  to  the  court, 
and  when  the  fey  tsien  were  abolished,  provincial  governors  sent  in  me- 
morials begging  for  their  continuance,  with  a  special  view  to  prevent 
hoarding  and  low  prices.  As  already  described,  the  hoarding  of  copper 
money  was  about  to  be  attacked  more  directly,  but  fey  tsien  were  issued 
again  in  return  for  deposits  of  salt  and  iron,  and  they  were  allowed  to 
serve  as  a  medium  of  exchange  between  the  merchants  of  the  capital  and 
the  provinces. 

All  this  time  gold  and  silver  were  too  scarce  to  count  for  much  in  the 
financial  problems  of  the  time.  In  683  A.D.  the  exportation  of  grain  to 
foreign  parts  had  been  prohibited,  ostensibly  because  the  strange  money 
received  in  payment  interfered  with  the  ordinary  exchanges,  but  more 
probably  because  the  immediate  result  of  such  an  export  trade  was  to  in- 
crease the  treasure  hoards  of  rich  traders,  and  diminish  the  grain  reserves 
of  the  cultivators.  In  the  9th  century  gold  and  silver  were  put  into  cir- 
culation to  a  limited  extent  by  the  Government  itself,  apparently  with  the 
intention  of  raising  prices,  but  with  the  result  of  lowering  them  still 
further,  it  is  hard  to  say  why,  unless  copper  was  withdrawn  from  circulation 
faster  than  the  gold  was  brought  into  it.  This  may  well  have  been  the 
case  as,  in  825  a.d.,  new  edicts  forbade  the  melting  copper  money  into 
statues  of  Buddha,  under  the  same  penalties  as  those  attached  to  coining; 
and  shortly  afterwards,  by  way  of  conciliating  the  obstinate  devotees, 
they  were  permitted  to  make  their  statues  of  any  metal  except  copper,  such 
as  gold,  silver,  lead,  or  tin. 

The  following  year,  830  a.d.,  the  regulation  of  81  7  was  renewed  in  a  milder 
form.  The  limit  of  coin  allowed  to  be  hoarded  by  a  single  person  was 
raised  to  something  over  /,  2x00,  and  a  respite  of  a  year  was  granted  to 
those  whose  stores  reached  ^30,000,  and  two  years  to  those  with  twice 
as  much.  A  curious  provision  is  added,  that  in  transactions  involving  a 
-urn  of  ,C?)°  and  upwards,  half  the  price  shall  be  payable  in  silk,  rice,  or 
other  grain  ;  and  this  device,  if  it  could  have  been  carried  out,  would  have 
ruined  the  game  of  those  who  were  speculating  for  a  fall  of  prices,  which 
at  this  rate  would  have  told  disadvantageous^  on  their  own  bargains. 

The   suppression  of   the  monasteries  in   the  9th  century  set  so   much 


164  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

copper  free  that  foundries  were  opened  in  every  district,  and  money  was 
again  abundant.  The  supply  was  thus  for  a  time  independent  of  the 
Government  mines,  and  the  provincial  Governments  took  advantage  of  this 
circumstance  to  propose  that  each  province  should  cast  its  own  money  at 
discretion,  only  adhering  to  the  Government  standard  of  size.  After  this 
arrangement  was  adopted  we  hear  no  more  of  economical  questions  amid 
the  wars  and  tumults  which  lasted  till  the  close  of  the  dynasty.  Notwith- 
standing the  chronic  complaints  of  low  prices,  the  cost  of  necessaries 
seems  to  have  doubled  since  the  Hans. 

Agriculture  had  made  no  progress,  as  the  area  estimated  to  produce  a 
year's  food  for  one  person  is  slightly  larger  than  before.  The  cost  of  living 
had  risen  to  something  like  a  halfpenny  a  day.  A  piece  of  silk  was  equal  in 
value  to  100  lbs.  of  cleaned  rice  ;  the  size  of  the  pieces  is  not  given, 
but  then  as  now  it  would  be  the  length  woven  on  the  loom  in  common 
use.  and  may  have  varied  little  in  i.coo  years.  The  equivalence  of  these 
two  values  is  certain,  but  the  estimate  of  the  price  in  copper  money  in- 
volves a  good  deal  of  guess  work.  M.  Biot's  calculations  would  make 
both  worth  about  y.  3d.,  which  is  intrinsically  probable  enough.  The 
estimated  consumption  of  rice  is  t3,  lb.  a  day  for  each  person,  which  is 
midway  between  average  plenty  and  dearth  according  to  the  standard  of 
the  Chow  Li.1 

In  763-5  A.D.,  a  writer  attempted  to  calculate  the  amount  of  money  re- 
quired for  circulation  by  estimating  the  annual  outlay  of  the  people  in  rice, 
clothes,  sacrifices,  etc.  He  estimates  the  individual's  daily  consumption  of 
rice  at  a  little  over  two  quarts,  and  the  other  items  as  each  as  much  again, 
so  that  the  general  rate  of  expenditure  upon  other  articles  than  food,  re- 
garded as  necessaries,  had  risen  considerably  since  the  time  of  the  Wei 
peasant,  whose  balance  sheet  was  drawn  up  under  the  Hans. 

1  Journ.  As.,  I.e.,  p.  120. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   POSTERIOR   DYNASTIES   AND    THE   SUNG. 

(907-12S0    A.D.) 

The  period  of  disturbance  intervening  between  the  fall  of  the  Tang  and 
the  foundation  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  extends  over  little  more  than  half  a 
century  :  but  during  this  interval,  fifteen  emperors  and  five  dynasties  suc- 
ceeded each  other.  They  are  known  as  the  "posterior  dynasties  :'  because 
they  all  reproduce  the  name  of  some  former  ruling  house.  The  Heou  or 
"after"  Leang  reigned  for  sixteen  years,  and  their  fall  required  little  further 
explanation  to  posterity  than  that  a  favourite  musician  had  been  employed 
as  general.  The  Heou  Tang  occupied  the  throne  for  fourteen  years  :  the 
dynasty  was  founded  by  a  son  of  Li-ke-yong,  "  the  one-eyed  dragon,"  a 
Tatar  prince  who  had  helped  the  last  but  one  of  the  Tang  emperors  to 
suppress  a  rebellion,  and  who  stands  high  in  the  favour  of  the  historians. 
He  is  repeatedly  mentioned  as  a  loyal  ally  who  might  have  saved  the  Crown 
if  he  had  not  been  distrusted  and  kept  unduly  at  a  distance,  on  account  of 
his  extraction. 

The  name  of  the  short-lived  dynasty  was  adopted  as  a  compliment  to 
their  former  patrons.  The  first  emperor  of  the  stock  was  an  enthusiast  for 
the  stage,  and  comedians  are  mentioned  as  taking  the  place  of  eunuchs  in 
his  favour.  They  not  only  enjoyed  the  license  accorded  to  court  fools  in 
mediaeval  Europe,  but  (924  a.d.)  one  of  them  was  appointed  to  an  impor- 
tant governorship,  and  they  and  the  eunuchs  together  had  influence  enough 
to  discredit  any  statesman  who  sought  to  reduce  the  expenditure  of  the 
court. 

Two  measures  of  far-reaching  consequences  were  taken  in  the  middle  of 
this  10th  century;  one  was  the  sub-division  of  provincial  governorships, 
which  increased  the  number  of  officers  who  could  look  to  the  Crown  for 
profitable  emplpyment,  while  it  lessened  each  governor's  power  of  making 
himself  dangerously  formidable.  The  Sung  Dynasty  subsequently  reaped 
the  advantage  of  this  change  ;  it  fell  by  attacks  from  without,  not  from  in- 
ternal disorganization,  and  its  feebleness  in  resisting  the  foreign  foe  could 
nut  seriously  be  attributed  to  the  decay  of  feudalism,  since  the  local  poten- 
tates, who  flourished  at  the  expense  of  the  empire,  had  never  been  famous 
tor  patriotic  resistance  to  alien  armies. 

The  other  and  more  calamitous  step  was  taken  when  the  founder  of  the 
third  minor  dynasty,  the  Heou  Tsin  (936  a.d.),  summoned  the  Khitan 
Tatars  to  his  assistance,  offering  them,  in  return,  a  share  in  the  northern 


1 66  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

provinces  of  China.  He  promised  a  yearly  tribute  of  300.000  pieces  of 
silk,  and  ceded  at  once  sixteen  frontier  towns,  thus  throwing  all  China  open 
to  the  Khitan  armies.  Some  of  the  ceded  towns  rebelled,  thinking  it  un- 
worthy of  their  civilization  "  to  submit  to  barbarians  ;"  but  parts  of  Shansi 
and  Pecheli  remained  in  the  Tatars'  hands,  in  addition  to  the  wide  region 
on  the  Xorth  already  held  by  them.  The  Khitan  Dynasty  at  this  stage 
took  the  name  of  Leao,  by  which,  it  is  afterwards  known,  from  the  province, 
Leao-tong,  row  in  its  possession;  its  capital  was  subsequently  placed  at 
Peking. 

The  Heou  Han,  shortest  lived  of  all  these  shortdived  families,  was 
founded  in  947  a.d.  by  a  general  of  the  emperor,  who  had  previously  been 
taken  prisoner  by  the  Khitan  Tatars.  He  fixed  his  capital  at  and  fortified 
Cai-fong-fu  in  Honan.  The  third  prince  of  the  line  was  deposed  as  soon 
as  proclaimed,  by  the  leader  of  an  army  which  had  gained  some  victories 
in  the  north.  The  Heou  Chow  (951-9 )  are  regarded  with  less  disfavour 
by  the  historians  than  any  of  their  predecessors,  and  Chi-tsong  (954  a.d.), 
hist  but  one  of  the  fifteen  "  posterior  "  emperors,  may  be  held  to  have  begun 
the  work  of  restoration  continued  by  the  founder  of  the  Sung  Dynasty. 
Under  him,  we  hear  of  a  town  changing  hands  without  loss  of  life  or  dis- 
turbance of  trade,  and  he  gave  his  personal  name  to  a  very  exquisite  blue 
china,  manufactured  at  Cai-fong-fu — a  thing  for  collectors  to  dream  of  in 
fond  despair. 

He  was  asked  to  give  an  order,  and  commanded  that  the  china  for  Im- 
perial use  should  be  henceforward  "  blue  like  the  sky  between  the  clouds 
after  rain/'  His  instructions  were  obeyed,  the  product  being  as  thin  as 
paper,  lustrous,  resonant,  highly  polished  and  delicately  veined  ;  colour  and 
texture  were  so  perfect  that  in  later  years,  when  it  had  become  rare,  small 
fragments  of  it  were  used  for  ornaments,  like  precious  stones.1  Chi-tsong, 
had  he  lived,  might  have  founded  a  great  dynasty  :  as  it  is,  he  deserves  to 
be  remembered  kindly  by  all  who  find  delight  in  that  purest,  deepest,  and 
brightest  of  heaven's  blues,  which  is  seen  in  precious  morsels  through  the 
ragged  rain-clouds,  and  which,  since  his  day,  no  human  art  has  succeeded 
in  reproducing  on  the  lower  earth.  The  seif-consciousness  of  Chinese 
civilization  has  been  noticed  already,  but  it  is  curious  to  find  that  element 
mingling  in  what  seems  so  purely  spontaneous  an  art  as  Chinese  pottery.3 

Chi-tsong  also  recommended  himself  to  t'iie  chroniclers  by  a  revival  of 
the  anti-liuddhist  edicts.  The  consent  of  all  the  elders  of  a  family  was 
required  before  monastic  vows  could  be  taken,  and  all  unauthorized 
temples  were  ordered  to  be  destroyed:  vet  there  still  remained  60.000 
priests  and  nuns  within  the  comparatively  narrow  limits  of  the  imperial 
State,  and  statue-  of  Buddha  were  as  numerous  as  coin  of  the  realm  was 
scarce.     Chi-tsong's  treatment  of  the  religio-financial   difficulty   is  in   the 

1    /...'  IVvc.'uin    C:;:it    '    .  tr.  S;  1    islas  J'llicn,  p.   12. 

-   "  Wiv:-]'-  on  .  r:  .'  ivi.-e  artio-     ...       to  \vntc!i   the  shadow     ist  ii     I  ri«jjli t    1 
litrln  by  a  1  1  v/hil    v.  ill."  ■;>?.  by  Robert  K.  1)   v'    -■  >    [9-b)     The 

•,...-■     nisi     !.■-:.■'   id  ■"..-.  .        it    by  for  .    .      thelic     b-  :rva.ii<  ■  : ;    he      .*:  :t     :    r 

repr     ,  ,   •     11  th  .  '  -  '     ■ '     re  ideally  per; ect  as  they  .--tand. 


THE   POSTERIOR   DYNASTIES   AND    THE   SUNG.    167 

best  Chinese  manner.  He  explained  that  lie  did  not  wish  "to  raise  doubts 
amongst  the  people  by  the  confiscation  of  the  Buddhas,  but,"  he  inquired, 
are  these  copper  statues  really  what  is  called  Buddha  ?  he  had  heard  that 
.he  virtue  of  Buddha  was  to  do  good  to  the  people,  and,  in  that  case, 
since  it  is  for  their  good  to  have  more  good  copper  cash  for  use,  presum- 
ably Buddha  would  have  wished  to  have  his  statues  melted  ! 

A  contemporary  statesman  ventured  to  suggest  a  doubt  as  to  whether 
the  scarcity  of  copper  could  really  be  accounted  for  by  the  comparatively 
small  quantity  used  for  tools  and  Buddhas  ;  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  ask 
whether,  if  it  were  due  instead  to  the  exportation  of  copper,  this  must  be 
looked  upon  as  a  calamity  or  loss,  since  commodities  of  some  kind,  and 
presumably  of  at  least  equal  value,  must  have  been  received  in  exchange 
for  it.  And,  though  this  view  does  not  seem  to  have  commended  itself 
even  to  so  enlightened  a  ruler  as  Chi-tsong,  it  is  interesting  as  one  among 
many  evidences  that  the  Chinese  have  not  rejected  without  consideration 
the  political  and  economical  ideas  now  prevalent  in   Europe. 

Apart  from  Tatar  encroachments,  none  of  the  five  dynasties  had  been 
acknowledged  in  the  whole,  or  even  the  greater  part,  of  China.  The  Im- 
perial Dynasty  held  indeed  the  Middle  State,  as  in  the  degenerate  days  of 
Chow,  but  it  was  surrounded  by  a  fluctuating  number  of  minor  States, 
sometimes  as  many  as  twelve,  some  of  which  were  always  intriguing  with 
the  Tatars,  while  others  were  at  war  among  themselves. 

The  founder  of  the  Sung  Dynasty,  who  was  known  as  Tai-tsou  (960  a.d.  ), 
had  served  successfully  against  the  Tatars  under  Chi-tsong.  When  the 
latter  died,  leaving  only  an  infant  son.  what  was  left  of  the  empire  was 
threatened  by  a  coalition  between  the  Leao  and  the  northern  Hans,  who 
held  Tai-yuen  and  a  territory  comprising  over  forty  towns  ;  and  the  army 
proclaimed  their  favourite  general  by  force,  the  people  approving,  and  the 
nobles  not  venturing  to  oppose.  The  new  Emperor's  first  thought  was  how 
to  put  a  stop  to  the  incessant  revolutions  of  the  last  half-century.  At  the 
time  of  his  accession,  besides  the  Khitan  empire,  seven  separate  princi- 
palities divided  with  him  the  inheritance  of  Tang.  These  were  held  by 
descendants  or  successful  rivals  of  the  governors,  who  secured  hereditary 
offices  for  themselves  in  the  degeneracv  of  the  empire  ;  and  Tai-tsou's  first 
object  was  to  guard  against  the  growth  of  similar  dangers  in  the  future, 
even  before  reclaiming  the  severed  fiefs. 

His  first  centralizing  measure  was  well  adapted  to  put  the  people  on  his 
side.  He  reserved  to  himself  the  power  of  passing  capital  sentences,  and 
so  gave  a  right  of  appeal  to  the  emperor  from  the  judgment  of  all  provin- 
cial officers  ;  and  in  the  same  year  he  withdrew  from  them  the  command 
oi  provincial  troops,  and  required  them  to  pay  all  tribute  in  full  to  the 
Imperial  treasury,  through  which  disbursements  for  local  purposes  were  in 
future  to  be  made.  Without  control  of  money  or  troops,  the  highest 
officers  became  powerless  for  evil,  and  their  ambition  was  driven  to  content 
itself  with  the  prizes  that  a  powerful  prince  could  bestow,  in  return  for 
loval  and  diligent  service. 


i6S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

It  took  eighteen  years  to  subdue  all  the  minor  States  so  as  to  re-unite 
tiie  empire  ;  the  central  ones  between  the  Yellow  River  and  the  Yang-tse- 
kiang  fell  first  with  little  resistance  ;  then  the  second  Chow,  under  whom 
S/'chuen  had  been  independent  for  forty  years  ;  then  the  important  district 
held  by  the  southern  Han,  with  Canton  for  its  capital ;  and,  finally,  the 
remainder  of  the  south,  while  a  voluntary  cession  by  the  prince  of  Wu- 
yuei  added  a  territory  nearly  equal  to  that  of  the  reduced  empire  taken 
over  by  Tai-tsou  in  960  a.d.  ;  the  northern  Mans  also  surrendered  voluntarily, 
and  their  officers  were  retained  in  the  service  of  the  emperor,  whose  do- 
main- thus  became  conterminous  on  the  north  with  the  empire  of  the  Leao. 
On  the  accession  of  Tai-tsou,  under  a  million  families  paid  tribute  to  the 
empire  ;  but  on  the  accession  of  his  son,  Tai-tsong  (977  a.d.),  the  number 
had  increased  to  nearly  four  millions,  not  so  much  by  growth  of  population 
or  vigilance  of  the  revenue  officers,  as  by  the  addition  of  whole  provinces 
to  the  Imperial  territory.  By  982  a.d.  it  was  said  that  the  empire  was  re- 
united, as  in  the  days  of  Han  or  Tang,  with  the  exception  of  the  ill-fated 
cessions  made  to  the  Leao.  And  this  was  undoubtedly  true  as  regards 
China  proper,  though  the  influence  and  authority  exercised  by  the  greatest 
Tang  emperors,  beyond  the  natural  boundaries  of  the  country,  was  never 
equalled  by  the  Sung  Dynasty,  even  in  its  palmiest  days. 

The  last  record  of  three  departments  added  to  the  empire  in  9S5  a.d.  is 
interesting,  as  the  proportion  between  the  tribute-paying  families  and  others 
is  mentioned.1  The  district  was  occupied  by  125  different  families,  to 
whom  16,000  other  households  paid  tribute,  or  rent.  The  proportion  is 
doubtless  mentioned  because  it  is  exceptional,  as  the  same  proportion, 
throughout  the  empire,  would  give  an  incredibly  large  population  ;  but  it 
is  a  sufficient  reason  for  doubting  whether  the  population  ever  declined  as 
much  as  the  decline  in  the  number  of  tax-paying  householders  implies. 

The  restoration  of  peace  was  celebrated  by  public  rejoicings,  and  the 
empire  settled  down  to  the  enjoyment  of  internal  tranquillity,  only  broken 
by  occasional  disturbances  on  the  frontier,  the  significance  of  which  it  was 
always  dangerously  easy  to  ignore.  The  founder  of  the  dynasty  had  wished 
to  establish  his  capital  in  the  ancient  city  of  Loyang,  a  naturally  strong 
position,  and  nearer  to  the  formidable  Tatars  on  the  north-west  than  either 
Cai-fong-fu  or  I'ien-chow.  Tai-tsou  yielded  reluctantly  to  the  persuasions 
oi  the  courtiers  desirous  of  returning  to  the  latter,  but  he  is  credited  with 
a  prophecy,  that  before  a  hundred  years  had  passed,  the  people  would  be 
exhausted  by  the  large  armies  necessary  to  protect  the  empire,  when  the 
emperor  himself  did  not  stand  sentinel  at  the  point  of  danger. 

Tc;.:n-tsong,  the  third  emperor  of  the  dynasty,  succeeded  to  the  throne 
in  007.  by  this  tune  the  Khitan  people  had  become  civilized,  and  con- 
verted to  Chinese  manners  and  modes  of  government.  lake  their  succes- 
sors, the  Kin  and  the  Mongols,  they  began  to  value  their  Chinese  subjects, 
_ ave  no  trouble  and  paid  taxes  ;  and  to  employ  Chinese  officers,  who 
knew  iiow  to  make  the  role  of  emperor  easy  as  well  as  profitable.  The 
1    I  V  M  liV.a,  v.  1.  viii.  p.  95. 


THE    POSTERIOR   DYNASTIES   AND    THE    SUNG.    169 

boundary  between  the  two  empires  had  never  been  satisfactorily  determined, 
as  the  Chinese  had  never  acquiesced  in  the  cession  of  territory  made  by 
the  Heou  Tsin  in  937,  while  the  Leao  Government  demanded  the  restora- 
tion of  some  of  the  ceded  towns  which  had  been  retaken.  Ultimately 
peace  was  made  in  1004,  in  consideration  of  an  annual  payment  of  silk 
and  money  on  the  part  of  China.  The  Khitan  prince  was  described  in 
the  treaty  as  the  ';  younger  brother  "  of  the  emperor,  and  it  was  believed 
that  a  little  more  vigour  would  have  secured  better  terms,  and  have  saved 
the  empire  from  future  disaster  by  driving  the  Leao  back  to  the  Great  Wall. 
The  emperor's  timidity  and  love  of  peace  was  held  responsible  for  the 
error,  and  the  remainder  of  his  reign  was  made  inglorious  by  the  ascendency 
of  superstitious  impostors  and  other  unworthy  favourites. 

In  1023  the  reign  of  Gin-tsong  begins  with  a  regency,  which  Ma-twan- 
lin  regards  as  the  most  brilliant  period  of  the  whole  dynasty.  The  Empress 
mother's  first  measure  was  to  appoint  a  commission,  with  a  view  to  a 
general  reduction  of  taxes,  and  meanwhile  the  duties  on  tea  and  salt  were 
remitted.  The  Leao  were  occupied  by  wars  with  their  own  still  barbarous 
neighbours,  so  that  the  people  reaped  all  the  benefit  of  internal  good 
government.  The  census  of  1029  a.d.  for  the  first  time  records  a  number 
of  tax-paying  families  slightly  in  excess  of  the  highest  figure  reached  in 
the  middle  of  the  8th  century.1  The  Empress  died  in  1033,  shortly  after 
emulating  the  audacity  of  YVu-heou  by  herself  performing  the  imperial 
sacrifice.  Few  emperors  in  the  history  are  commended  in  equally  un- 
qualified terms  of  eulogy ;  but  the  will  by  which  she  endeavoured  to 
prolong  the  regency  was  set  aside,  as  her  son,  Gin-tsong,  was  already 
twenty-three,  and  capable  of  governing  himself.  It  is,  however,  a  curious 
illustration  of  the  clannish  tendency  of  the  Chinese,  that  the  ladies  of  the 
harem  should  be  found  ready  to  unite  in  quasi-political  alliances,  like  the 
literati  and  the  eunuchs.  The  empress  regent  appointed  as  empress 
mother,  in  her  stead,  the  first  of  the  inferior  wives  of  the  late  emperor, 
so  far  as  appears,  purely  out  of  regard  to  her  character  and  ability,  and, 
though  not  allowed  to  continue  the  regency,  this  lady  was  actually  installed 
as  the  lawful  object  of  the  young  emperor's  filial  piety. 

Throughout  the  first  century  of  the  Sung  Dynasty,  the  legitimate  influence 
of  the  women  of  the  imperial  house  seems  to  have  stood  high.  A  daughter 
of  Tai-tsong,  who  was  married  to  a  subject  and  died  in  1062  a.d.,  is  com- 
memorated at  length  by  the  historians,  who  not  only  praise  her  private 
virtues,  and  her  knowledge  of  history,  but  also  mention  that  she  was  fre- 
quently consulted  by  the  empress  regent  on  public  affairs. 

In  the  year  1042  a.d.  there  was  some  threatening  of  a  Khitan  war,  but 
the  danger  was  avoided  by  diplomacy,  the  Chinese  envoy  pointing  out  to 
the  Leao  emperor  that  his  interest  in  the  matter  was  not  identical  with 
that  of  the  turbulent  nobles  who  clamoured  for  a  fray,  in  which  they  might 
get  booty,  but  their  sovereign  little  or  no  advantage.  The  precise  nuances 
ot  respect,  to  be  evidenced  by  the  terms  in  which  the  high  contracting 
1  M:m,  sitr  la  fop.  a,   la  Chine.  Jourii.  As,,  1S36,  p.  461. 


i ;o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

parties  speak  of  each  other,  were  keenly  debated,  and  again  the  Chinese 
emperor  was  accused  of  waiving  just  claims  in  the  interest  of  peace.  More 
innocently,  if  not  in  the  long  run  more  fortunately,  he  also  aimed  at  culti- 
vating friendly  relations  with  the  most  formidable  rival  of  the  Khitan,  the 
new  king  of  Ilia  and  the  Xutchin  Tatars,  subsequently  known  as  the 
Kin.  The  firmer  of  these  wished  to  have  permission,  secured  by  treat}', 
for  free  intercourse  between  his  subjects  and  the  Chinese,  in  his  and  their 
territories.  Former  treaties  had  only  stipulated  for  the  surrender  of 
fugitives  from  the  jurisdiction  of  their  lawful  prince  ;  and  the  new 
demand  shows  how  great,  in  spite  of  border  wars,  had  been  the  develop- 
ment of  peaceful  intercourse  in  the  outer  kingdoms  of  greater  China, 
where  different  ruling  houses  were  virtually  being  educated  by  an  allied 
population.  The  power  of  the  Khitan  was  held  to  have  reached  its  height 
in  the  middle  of  this  (nth)  century,  when  its  sway  extended  from  the 
desert  to  the  sea,  over  a  territory  io.cco  li  in  extent;  and  the  pacific  Sung 
princes  were  never  safer  than  when  this  empire  had  ceased  to  be  aggres- 
sive, while  continuing  strong  enough  to  act  as  a  barrier  against  the  wilder 
tribes  beyond. 

After  a  prosperous  reign  of  forty  years,  including  the  regency,  the  mild 
and  frugal  emperor  was  succeeded  (1063)  by  Yng-tsong,  well  meaning,  but 
<if  feeble  health,  who  died  in  1067  a.d.  The  century  of  prosperity  con- 
templated in  Tai-tsou's  prophecy  was  now  completed,  and  the  reign  of 
Chin-tsong  ( 1067-1085)  certainly  marks  a  turning  point  in  the  fortunes  of 
the  dynasty.  This  is  the  period  memorable  for  the  legislation  of  Wang- 
ngan-shi,  the  "  Innovator,"  and  to  the  maleficent  influence  of  this  great 
political  heresiarch  the  orthodox  historians  trace  all  the  future  woes  of 
China. 

His  laws  are  almost  exclusively  economic,  so  the  account  of  them  may 
be  postponed  till  we  have  finished  a  short  account  of  the  decline  of  the 
united  empire,  and  the  subsequent  prosperity  and  decay  of  the  Southern 
Sung,  but  apart  from  the  odium  theologicum  which  has  gathered  round 
the  Innovator's  memory,  his  policy,  however  erroneous,  can  scarcely  be 
held  responsible  for  the  gradual  gathering  and  breaking  of  two  more  waves 
of  Tatar  conquest,  each  of  which  swept,  as  it  were,  further  than  the  last 
over  the  peaceful  shore,  because  of  the  breaches  on  the  coast-line  made 
bv  those  thai  foi  e  it. 

China  has  never  been  a  fighting  empire,  and  her  virtual  protectorate 
over  Central  Asia  in  the  7th  and  8th  centuries  a.d.  was  due  rather  to  the 
absence  of  anv  formidable  Tatar  power  on  the  north  or  west  than  to  her 
own  military  ambition  or  sm  cess.  The  Sung  emperors  only  fought  on  the 
defensive,  and  invited  atUu  k  by  their  too  obvious  desire  tor  peace  at  almost 
any  price  They  had  ::,■:;•  reward  111  one  way,  for  the  internal  prosperity 
til  of  (  ':.  n  1  reai  bed  a  point  under  their  rule  as  yet  un- 
dreamt of.  The  populous  provinces  and  magnificent  1  ities.  described  with 
io  11111         hi  v  Marco  I'olo.  were   preserved,  but  not   created,    by 

t  .e  w:»  iom  ol  '  u  K'n    .    ;  the  Mongols  onlv  entered   into  the    inheri- 


THE    POSTERIOR   DYNASTIES   AND    THE   SUNG.    171 

tance  of  the  Sung,  and,  as  the  centre  of  the  empire  was  forced  further 
and  further  south,  peace  and  wealth  went  with  it,  so  that  Chinese  civiliza- 
tion continued  to  secure  fresh  conquests,  as  the  Chinese  empire  lost  hold 
of  its  earliest  settlements. 

The  population  continued  to  increase,  not  fast  but  steadily,  and  the 
census  of  1084  gives  17,211,713  families  paying  tribute,  which,  compared 
with  9,955,729  in  1014, '  and  the  first  census  of  the  reunited  empire,  shows 
the  population,  or  at  least  the  taxpaying  part  of  it,  to  have  doubled  in 
about  each  half-century.  Chin-tsong,  whose  life  between  the  irate  literati 
and  his  autocratic  premier  was  by  no  means  an  easy  one,  found  peace  in 
the  grave  at  the  comparatively  early  age  of  38,  after  a  reign  of  eighteen 
years. 

Tche-tsong.  a  younger  son  by  an  inferior  wife,  was  appointed  heir,  the 
dowager  empress,  who  was  childless,  again  taking  the  regency,  and  install- 
ing the  inferior  wife  as  empress  mother.  All  the  orthodox  scholars  and 
statesmen  who  had  gone  into  forced  or  voluntary  exile  on  account  of  their 
hostility  to  YVang-ngan-shi,  were  now  recalled,  the  obnoxious  regulations 
rescinded  ;  and  the  difficulty  of  the  whole  problem  further  illustrated  by  the 
discovery  that  Wang  was  not  so  entirely  without  supporters  as  had  been 
imagined,  since  the  repeal  of  his  enactments  produced  a  new  class  of  mal- 
contents. The  regent  died  in  1093,  and  the  young  Emperor  was  persuaded 
to  take  the  reins  of  government  into  his  own  hands.  By  appeals  to  his 
filial  piety,  and  perhaps  to  his  boyish  jealousy  of  the  authority  of  the  late 
dowager,  he  was  prevailed  on  to  abandon  her  policy  and  revert  to  that  of 
his  father,  as  expounded  by  the  surviving  adherents  of  the  Innovator. 

The  candour  of  the  historians  shows  itself  in  their  record  of  the  successes 
against  the  Hia  and  the  Tibetans,  which  illustrated  the  short  reign  of  this 
rather  feeble  prince,  notwithstanding  the  judgments  of  heaven  merited 
by  his  sweeping  proscription  of  the  families  and  the  writings  of  the  old 
opponents  of  Wang.  He  died  1100  a.d.,  without  having  nominated  a 
successor  or  left  a  son  ;  there  was,  however,  no  constitutional  disturbance, 
for  the  empress,  in  the  exercise  of  her  undoubted  right  and  duty,  selected 
the  one  of  the  surviving  sons  of  Chin-tsong,  whom  she  considered  best 
qualified  to  govern,  and  her  choice  was  approved  and  accepted  by  the 
chief  ministers. 

The  first  census  in  the  reign  of  Hoei-tsong,  two  years  after  his  accession 
(1102),  gives  the  population  of  the  empire  at  the  highest  figure  yet 
reached  ;  more  than  20  millions  of  families  are  recorded  as  paying  taxes, 
and  the  estimate  of  100  millions  for  the  total  population  must  be  under 
rather  than  over  the  mark,  as  the  estimate  of  rive  persons  to  a  family  is 
certainly  not  excessive,  while  scholars,  soldiers,  civil  officers,  slaves,  and 
priests  are  omitted  from  the  record  ;  and  these  classes  with  their  families 
would  add  some  millions  to  the  general  total.  After  the  death  of  the 
dowager  empress,  the  early  promises  of  the  reign  were  not  kept,  and  Hoei- 
tsong  was  accused  of  giving  his  attention  to  trifles, — employing  thousands 
1  /our'/.  As.,  I.e.,  p.  461. 


1-2  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

of  workmen  upon  the  production  of  curiosities  in  bone,  ivory,  rhinoceros 
horn,  gold,  silver,  precious  stones,  and  bamboo ;  as  well  as  of  unduly 
favouring  the  Taoists  and  the  adherents  of  the  Innovator.  Still,  the  first 
ten  years  of  the  reign  and  the  century  passed  without  calamity,  and  when 
hostilities  began  between  the  Xutchin  or  the  Kin  and  the  Leao.  the  first 
idea  of  the  Chinese  Government  was  to  profit  by  them  to  recover  Peking, 
and  the  other  Chinese  towns  held  by  the  Khitan  emperor. 

The  Xutchin  or  Xutche  were  a  people  of  which  mention  had  been  made 
from  time  to  time  since  the  5th  century.  They  had  broken  up  into 
branches  that  were  distinguished  as  the  civilized  and  the  barbarous 
Xutchin,  and  while  some  had  invaded  Corea,  and  others  formed  indepen- 
dent settlements  in  the  north,  some  had  settled  under  the  Leao  govern- 
ment. Intermittent  action  as  auxiliaries  of  the  Leao  served  to  train  and 
discipline  the  latter  into  a  formidable  army.  In  11 14  a.d.,  Akouta,  the 
founder  of  the  Kin  empire,  openly  declared  war.  and  rapidly  defeated  the 
Leao  armies,  claiming  to  be  recognised  as  a  feudal  superior  instead  of  a 
tributary.  When  negotiations  for  peace  had  begun,  emissaries  of  the 
Chinese  encouraged  the  Kin  to  proceed  with  the  war,  and  in  11 20  a  treaty 
was  concluded  between  "the  great  emperor  of  the  Sung'"'  and  "the  great 
emperor  of  the  Kin,"  by  which  the  assistance  of  Chinese  troops  was  pro- 
mised against  the  Leao,  in  consideration  of  a  rectification  of  the  frontier. 

The  Kin,  however,  had  no  intention  of  serving  as  a  catspaw ;  the 
territory  which  the  Chinese  were  to  reconquer  for  themselves  was  the  last 
to  be  attacked,  and  when  it  served  as  a  refuge  for  the  armies  the  Kin  had 
defeated  elsewhere,  Akouta  not  only  rejected  the  Chinese  demand  for 
further  cessions,  but  also  repudiated  the  obligations  of  the  recent  treaty. 
In  1122  the  Kin  took  Peking  for  themselves,  but  ceded  part  of  the  dis- 
puted territory  to  China,  in  return  for  a  subsidy.  Meanwhile,  the  Leao 
prince  was  a  fugitive,  driven  to  take  refuge  with  his  old  enemy,  the  Hia 
king.  Yeliu-tache,  his  chief  minister  and  adviser,  after  trying  in  vain  to 
save  the  empire  for  another  prince  of  the  same  stock,  and  having  his 
counsels  rejected,  rode  off  with  :co  horsemen,  and  soon  rallied  round  him 
a  new  fighting  nation,  composed  of  all  the  scattered  families  and  tribes 
who,  for  one  reason  or  another,  were  dissatisfied  with  the  recent  revolution, 
md  unwilling  to  submit  to  the  empire  of  the  Kin. 

T'ue  curious  thing  is  that  tins  Yeliu-tache,  who  founded  the  empire  of 
the  Kara  Khitan  (1  r 24-1201),  and  took  so  readily  to  the  kingship  of  the 
steppes,  was  himself  a  doctor  of  the  Chinese  Han-lin  College,  and  before 
h  '  eaceful  progress  of  the  Leao  empire  was  interrupted,  had  been  active 
in  promotii  ,  the  study  of  letters,  and  the     '  tion  of  domestic  adminis- 

tration, after  the  most  approved  Chinese  models.  Holding  aloof  from 
immediate  conflict  with  the  Kin,  he  made  alliance  with  the  Ligours.  and 
extend  :  ins  p  wer  towards  the  west  as  far  as  Samarcand  and  Bokhara. 
[Jut  for  ins  death,  in  1  136,  he  might  have  arreste  1  the  c  >n  [Uests  ot  the 
Kin.  and  perhaps  have  fore-tailed  the  Mongols  in  bringing  all  China  under 
th     rule  of  an  intelligent  foreign  dvnastv.      It  makes,  however,  little  differ- 


THE    POSTERIOR    DYNASTIES  AND    THE   SUNG.    173 

ence  to  China,  from  which  wild  horde  her  conquerors  trace  their  pedigree. 
The  saying  applied  to  the  people  of  a  great  European  empire,  that  if  you 
scratch  a  Russian  the  Tatar  shows  through,  would  have  to  be  reversed  in 
Asia  ;  for  if  you  polish  a  Tatar,  or  whatsoever  variety,  he  emerges  a  China- 
man, whether  he  may  have  any  ethnological  right  to  assimilate  the  same 
varnish  or  no.1 

Meanwhile  the  ease  with  which  the  Kin  had  disposed  of  the  most 
formidable  enemy  of  China  was  not  adapted  to  inspire  them  with  much 
respect  for  the  armies  these  enemies  had  always  been  able  to  defeat. 
Pretentions  too  exorbitant  to  be  accepted,  even  by  a  frightened  court, 
were  put  forward,  and  the  Chinese  capital  itself  was  threatened  with 
attack.  Hoei-tsong  wished  to  take  flight,  and  when  dissuaded  from  such  a 
premature  surrender,  he  abdicated  (1125  a.d.)  in  favour  of  the  heir  to  the 
throne,  as  Hiouen-tsong  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  had  done  in  756,  when  the 
empire  seemed  to  be  in  a  similar  strait.  At  the  first  show  of  resistance 
the  Kin  army  retreated,  but  Kin-tsong  had  been  seized  by  panic  as  soon 
as  he  heard  the  enemy  had  crossed  the  Yellow  River.  His  ambassador 
showed  equal  cowardice;  and  finally  in  11 26,  by  a  disgraceful  treaty,  the 
Sung  emperor  agreed  to  cede,  not  only  the  districts  already  held  by  the 
Leao,  but  three  other  departments  as  well,  to  address  his  conqueror  as 
his  superior  or  "elder  brother."  and  to  give  up  all  Chinese  natives  of  the 
ceded  provinces  who  took  refuge  in  his  States,  as  well  as  to  pay  an 
immense  contribution  in  gold,  silver,  cattle,  and  silk. 

The  defeat  of  the  Leao  armies  gave  the  Kin  unquestioned  command 
of  the  peaceful  districts  which  had  once  been  Chinese,  and  of  those 
which  had  virtually  become  so  by  the  contagious  example  of  Chinese 
industry  and  civilization.  Thus  all  that  the  Leao  had  held  required  no 
further  conquering  ;  there  was  no  natural  barrier  between  the  lands  thus 
held  and  the  Chinese  provinces  north  of  the  Hoang-ho,  and  the  ancient 
fortifications  of  the  towns  had  been  destroyed  by  Tai-tsou.  Virtually  no 
resistance  therefore  was  offered,  so  it  is  little  wonder  that  the  demands  of 
the  invaders  grew.  The  treasury  was  empty,  and  to  raise  even  a  part  of 
the  promised  ransom,  money  had  to  be  borrowed  from  private  citizens  ; 
hostilities  never  came  fairly  to  an  end  on  either  side,  though  the  Tatar 
troops  went  homewards  for  the  hot  months.  The  emperor  spent  the 
breathing  space  allowed  him  in  abolishing  all  the  regulations  of  Wang- 
ngan-shi,  whose  portrait  he  ordered  to  be  removed  from  the  temple  of 
Confucius.  But  though  the  innovator  may  have  truckled  to  the  Leao,  he 
had  not  invented  the  Kin  ;  and  the  military  weakness  and  disorganization 
of  the  empire  was  not  to  be  remedied  by  the  abolition  of  rules  which  in 
any  case  were  incompatible  with  a  state  of  war. 

1  The  political  philosophy  of  the  Uigour  poem,  Kudatku  Bilik  (translated  by  A. 
\  ambery ',  has  much  in  common  with  that  of  China.  Besides  much  gnomic  praise  of 
"  Wisdom, :  the  ruler  is  admonished  to  seek  fame  by  favouring  traders,  and  letting  a 
goo  1  pruht  fall  to  the  share  of  the  merchant,  by  speaking  the  common  people  fair,  and 
giving  them  to  eat  and  drink  ;  and  since  "the  cultivators  are  necessary  people,"  he  is 
■  -    .  ien  to  "  a.-soeiate  with  them." 


i;4  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

Despairing  of  open  resistance,  the  Chinese  court  tried  to  tamper  with 
Khitan  officers  who  had  taken  service  with  the  Kin,  but  this  expedient 
proved  of  no  avail.  Cai-fong-fu  was  again  invested,  and  by  a  confused 
sort  of  capitulation,  in  which  there  was  more  abject  cowardice  than 
treachery.  Kin-tsong  and  iiis  father,  the  late  emperor,  were  carried  off 
prisoners  into  Tartary,  with  all  the  royal  family  except  a  brother,  who  still 
kept  the  held,  and  an  empress,  who  had  been  (improperly)  repudiated, 
and  now  summoned  the  brother,  Kao-tsong,  to  rescue  the  inheritance  of 
his  race,  fie  was  proclaimed  in  1127,  and,  while  he  took  refuge  nearer  the 
coast,  at  least  two  generals  in  succession  redeemed  the  credit  of  China, 
and,  but  for  internal  rebellions  and  intrigues,  might  even  yet  have 
driven  back  the  Tatars. 

One  of  them  died  repeating,  "  It  is  time  to  cross  the  Hoang-ho,  cross 
the  Hoang-ho,"  meaning  that  the  campaign  should  be  fought  out  on  the 
north  of  that  river.  The  emperor,  however,  continued  his  flight  to  the 
south,  and  was  followed  by  the  Kin  army  even  beyond  the  Kiang.  The 
other,  a  young  officer  named  Yo-fei,  a  born  general  as  well  as  an  ac- 
complished scholar.1  after  twelve  years  of  gailant  and  successful  fighting, 
was  assassinated  in  prison,  by  a  rival,  who  regarded  him  as  the  only 
insuperable  obstacle  to  the  conclusion  of  a  peace,  even  more  injurious 
than  the  last.  The  incessant  fighting  in  the  central  provinces  had  by 
this  time  exhausted  the  Kin,  who  in  1135  also  found  themselves  menaced 
by  a  peculiarly  ferocious  horde  of  barbarians  from  the  North.  These  were 
the  Mongols,  among  whose  awe-inspiring  qualities  was  mentioned  their 
power  of  ''seeing  by  night  as  well  as  by  day.''  In  1 1 4 1 .  the  year  of  Yo- 
fei's  murder,  peace  was  signed,  the  Hwai  fixed  as  the  boundary  between  the 
two  empires,  and  little  more  than  the  southern  naif  of  China  left  to  the 
Sung  emperor,  who  even  submitted  in  this  treaty  to  be  designated  as  a 
subject  of  the  Kin. 

T'ne  reign  of  Oukimai.  the  second  Kin  emperor  (1 124-]  136  a.d.),  marks 
the  beginning  of  settled  and  civilized  life  among  the  conquerors.  History 
credits  him.  like  Yeliu-tache,  with  ail  the  virtues  the  Chinese  value  in  the 
founder  of  a  dynasty,  including  that  of  employing  and  taking  the  advice  of 
virtuous  subjects.  Like  the  later  Mantchus,  the  Kin  required  their 
Chinese  subjects,  under  penalty  of  death,  to  shave  their  heads  and  wear 
Tatar  dress  :  and  the  amalgamation  of  the  two  peoples  was  further  pro- 
moted by  tile  settlement  of  agricultural  colonies,  bound  to  render  military 
service  when  called  upon,  in  those  central  provinces  winch  were  furthest 
from  tiu  seat  of  the  Northern  government.  In  1151.  a  _reat  college  was 
founded  after  the  <  ihinese  fashion  ;  but  the  Kin  emperors,  by  that  time,  had 
(  eased  to  be  formidable  by  their  virtues. 

Peace  had  left  t'ne  Sung  empire  just  as  it  was  before,  except  in  size  : 
and  the  «  1  urt.  I  1  whii  h  the  existence  of  its  distant  provinces  was  known 
onlv  by  an  act  of  faith.  v\  -  -  intent  and  free  from  any  craving  for  a  ;v- 
;  xnciic.      And  in  the   next   decade  the  two  empires  ate  described  as  living 

1  1  ■::■  s  G  m  -.  w  212. 


THE   POSTERIOR    DYNASTIES   AND    THE   SUNG.   175 

on  amicable  terms,  while  profound  peace  reigned  on  either  side  of  the 
border,  as  a  symptom  of  which  we  find  that  in  11 76  the  history  of  the 
eastern  Hans  was  translated  into  Nutche  for  Oulo,  one  of  the  ablest  and 
most  humane  of  the  Kin  emperors. 

Oulo  died  in  1 189,  regretted  by  his  subjects  as  a  modern  Yao  or  Shun  ; 
and  in  the  same  year,  on  the  death  of  the  emperor  Kao-tsong,  the  reigning 
prince  also  abdicated  in  favour  of  his  son,  Kwang-tsong,  one  of  the  most 
unfortunate  rulers  of  a  dynasty  in  which  good  intentions  were  more 
common  than  good  luck.  He  also  abdicated  after  a  short  reign  in  n  94. 
The  thirty  years'  peace  proved  more  advantageous  to  the  Chinese  than 
to  the  Kin  ;  the  population  of  the  Southern  empire  again  showed  a  ten- 
dency to  increase,  and  in  the  latter  half  of  the  12th  century  the  number  of 
families  paying  tribute  in  the  divided  empire  was  scarcely,  if  at  all,  inferior 
to  the  number  registered  in  all  China  a  century  before. 

The  Kin,  on  the  other  hand,  had  lost  some  of  their  skill  and  more  of 
their  liking  for  war.  The  troops  on  the  frontier  murmured  at  their  hard- 
ships, and  the  people  at  the  taxes  imposed  to  provide  for  the  extravagance 
of  Oulo's  successors.  The  Chinese  thought  to  profit  by  the  embarrass- 
ments of  the  Kin,  as  they  had  formerly  hoped  to  use  the  Kin  against  the 
Leao,  but  they  also  had  domestic  traitors,  and  in  1206  the  Tatars  were 
introduced  into  Sz'chuen  by  an  officer  who  hoped  by  their  alliance  to 
revive,  for  his  own  benefit,  the  separate  principality  of  Chou.  Thus  the 
confines  of  the  empire  began  to  narrow  in  from  the  west  as  well  as  the 
north  ;  and  while  the  first  half  of  Xing-tsong's  reign  was  not  unprosperous, 
the  last  fifteen  years  of  it  belong  to  the  decline  and  fall  of  the  Southern 
empire. 

As  late  as  121 1  the  Kin  claimed  Genghis  Khan  as  a  tributary,  and  on 
his  assuming  the  style  of  emperor  (1206),  they  feared  lest  their  old  masters 
the  Leao  should  unite  with  him.  In  1214,  the  Kin  prince  proposed  to  fix 
his  capital  at  Cai-fong-fu,  to  be  out  of  reach  of  the  Mongols,  exactly  as 
the  Sung  emperors  had  done  to  be  further  from  the  Khitan,  In  12  17  A.D., 
Xing-tsong  ventured  to  refuse  the  accustomed  tribute  to  the  Kin,  and  the 
omission  was  not  resented.  Two  years  later  the  Mongols  reduced  Corea 
on  the  east  and  the  kingdom  of  the  Kara  Khita  on  the  west  ;  and  Genghis 
Khan  began  to  indulge  in  visions  of  universal  empire  while  exchanging 
friendly  embassies  with  the  Chinese. 

In  1229,  Genghis  was  succeeded  by  Ogatai,  whose  faithful  minister 
Veliu-tchoutsai,  a  scholar  descended  from  the  royal  family  of  the  old  Leao 
Dynasty,  urged  him  at  once  to  adopt  civilized  methods  of  ruling  his 
present  empire  and  future  conquests.  The  primitive  custom  of  the 
Mongols  was  to  slaughter  and  destroy  all  that  came  in  their  way  ;  but 
Chinese  officers  in  Mongol  service  had  already  prevailed  on  the  generals 
to  forbid  this  savage  custom,  which  gave  the  courage  of  despair  to  the 
invaded  people.  Henceforward,  instead  of  levelling  towns,  massacring 
their  inhabitants,  and  turning  the  cultivated  fields  into  pasture  for  their 
herds  and   horses,  the  Mongols   were   instructed  to   spare  their  new  sub- 


1 76  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

jects,  whose  labour  could   be  made  worth  far  more  to   their  lords  than  so 
much  grazing  land. 

The  same  virtuous  minister  warned  his  master  against  accepting  presents 
from  officers,  which  they  could  only  make  at  the  expense  of  those  they 
governed.  Much  to  the  disgust  of  the  Mongol  chiefs,  he  employed  two 
Chinese  subjects  of  the  Sung  as  assistant  administrators,  and  one  gets  a 
quaint  glimpse  of  the  bearing  of  these  haughty  savages,  in  the  midst  of 
the  civil  organization  of  China,  from  a  regulation  (1237  a.d.)  forbidding 
the  Mongol  nobles  to  post  as  heretofore  free  of  charge  along  the  public 
roads.  At  the  same  time  the  functions  of  different  officers  were  dis- 
tinguished and  order  established  m  the  procedure  by  the  introduction  of 
seals  and  other  symbols  of  administrative  regularity.  Hitherto,  no  doubt, 
Northern  China  had  suffered  more  than  the  Sung  empire  ;  but  Yeliu- 
tchoutsai  wisely  aimed  at  making  it  evident  to  the  Chinese  subjects  of 
the  Kin  boat  they  had  nothing  to  lose  by  a  change  of  masters.  In  1232, 
Ogatai  required  the  Kin  emperor  to  send  him  among  other  hostages  a 
Han-iin  doctor  of  the  house  of  Confucius  (together  with  skilled  em- 
br  ideresses  and  falo  .tiers),  and  by  his  minister's  advice,  he  received 
the  great  man's  descendant  with  due  honour  and  confirmed  his  title  of 
Count. 

In  T233.  the  Mongols  besieged  Cai-fong-fu  :  and  after  ail  the  slaughter 
of  the  siecre,  r. 403. ceo  families  were  said  to  be  left  to  profit  by  the 
clemency  of  the  conqueror.  In  the  next  year  the  Kin  emperor  abdicated 
in  favour  of  a  younger  and  more  active  prince,  as  Hoei-tsong  had  vainly 
done  little  more  than  a  century  before,  in  almost  identical  circumstanc  s. 
In  the  South  the  long  and  unfortunate  reign  of  Li-tsong  began  in  1224: 
he  was  descended,  in  the  tenth  generation,  from  the  founder  of  the  house. 
The  Chinese  at  first  hoped  to  reconquer  some  of  the  Kin  provinces  in 
Central  China  before  the  Mongols  had  laid  hands  on  them:  but  tin's 
aggression  was  resented,  audi,  though  they  solicited  peace  in  1235, 
hostilities  continued  practically  without  intermission  from  that  time,  in 
the  debate-able  ground  between  the  Hwai  and  the  Hoang-ho. 

T'ne  education  of  the  Mongols  went  on  a;  ace.  and  in  1237  examinations 
were  held  under  their  auspices,  at  which  slave-,  i.e.  Chinese  prisoners  of 
war,  were  expressly  authorized  to  compete,  whether  their  owners  gave 
conseni  or  not.  Northern  China  hitherto  had  been  lightly  taxed,  bui  in 
1230  a  M  n   offered   to  I   1    .  tl   ;  r  wenues  for   2.200.CCC  taels,  just 

twice  as  much  as  had  been  exacted  hitherto.  Veliu-tchoutsai  'protested. 
"That  is  in  w  the  ]  e  >pie  are  made  discontented  : "''  but  1  igatai  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  of  the  increased  revenue,  and  the  offer  was  accepted. 
Misery  and  1  rigar.dage  were  said  to  follow.  The  virtuous  Tatar  minuter, 
,\  lose  1  nee  01  ;m  n  r:  litv  w<  uld  be  greater  il  he  h  id  been  blesse  I 
a  more  prono'ii  ,  di     .  in   1243.  leaving  no  wealth,  alter  a  .    ng 

life   of  power,  win   h  he   had   a     d  e     lallv  for  the  advantage  of  the  Moti- 
.    Is,  his  own  ;  ■     pie,  and  the  Chinese. 

•  c.e  01    tile  e   000    traits   recorded   of  his   career   is  his  cokcct'.ue.   tw 


THE   POSTERIOR   DYNASTIES   AND    THE   SUNG.   177 

horseloads  of  rhubarb  for  the  use  of  the  sick  soldiers  in  his  army  ;  and 
the  argument  by  which  he  tried  (unsuccessfully)  to  dissuade  Ogatai 
from  drinking  himself  to  death,  is  worthy  of  a  modern  temperance 
lecturer.  He  called  the  emperor's  attention  to  the  corrosion  of  the 
iron  pot  used  to  heat  his  wine,  and  assured  him  that  the  action  of  the 
liquid  on  the  human  stomach  must  be  still  more  destructive  than  on  the 
iron. 

We  are  now  nearing  comparatively  familiar  ground,  and  shall  be  able  to 
take  for  granted  the  leading  historical  events,  which  it  has  hitherto  been 
necessary  to  describe  in  brief  before  they  could  serve  as  landmarks  in  the 
story,  so  far  as  we  have  been  able  to  trace  it,  of  the  economical  develop- 
ment of  China.  In  1 25 1 ,  Ivubla  was  appointed  generalissimo  of  the 
Mongol  armies  by  his  brother,  the  fourth  emperor  of  the  dynasty.  Yao- 
cliou,  a  Chinese  scholar,  who  had  been  his  teacher,  was  summoned  to  act 
as  his  adviser,  and  on  him  the  mantle  of  Yeliu-tchoutsai  seems  to  have 
fallen.  The  two  in  concert  established  a  tribunal  at  Cai-fong-fu  to  restore 
agriculture  and  settle  wandering  labourers  upon  the  land. 

Kubla's  rule  was  gentle,  and  carefully  in  accordance  with  Chinese  laws, 
and  his  consequent  popularity  excited  the  jealousy  of  the  Khan,  who, 
however,  was  satisfied  by  a  personal  interview,  of  his  brother's  loyalty.  In 
1253,  Ivubla  captured  Tali  in  Yunnan,  where  his  envoys  had  been 
murdered,  but  forbade  all  slaughter  in  imitation  of  the  founder  of  the  Sung 
Dynasty.  In  1259,  he  crossed  the  Kiang,  which  the  Southern  court  had 
been  accustomed  to  regard  as  an  impassable  natural  defence;  but  when  the 
Chinese  begged  for  peace,  he  was  not  unwilling  to  grant  their  prayer,  so  as 
to  secure  time  for  organizing  his  own  administration,  the  rather  as  his 
presence  was  urgently  required  in  Tatary  to  put  down  intrigues  against 
his  succession  to  the  Mongol  empire. 

Li-tsong's  long  and  inglorious  reign  came  to  an  end  in  1265  ;  his  suc- 
cessor, Tou-tsong,  was  a  lover  of  wine  and  women,  whose  debaucheries 
were  not  forgotten  when  Marco  Polo  visited  the  lost  capital  of  his  race.  He 
died  young  after  a  reign  of  nine  years,  leaving  the  crown  to  his  son,  Kong- 
tsong,  an  infant  of  four.  Sz'chuen  was  already  in  the  hands  of  the  Mongols, 
and  in  1275.  when  the  final  campaign  was  begun  in  earnest,  the  onlv 
refuge  for  the  court  was  supposed  to  be  near  the  sea-coast,  in  reach  of 
ships  for  Fo-kien.  Marco  Polo,  who  readied  the  court  of  Kubla  in  the 
same  year,  has  described  the  conquest  of  his  great  general  Peyen,  a 
foreigner  of  the  Si-yu  or  countries  of  the  West.  An  appeal  for  mercy  to 
tiie  infant  emperor  was  politely  met  by  the  reminder  that  the  founder  of 
the  Sung  Dynasty  himself  superseded  the  infant  son  of  his  late  lord  Chi- 
tsong. 

Canton  was  taken  in  1277,  and  the  boy  emperor  died  the  next  year. 
Lou-siou-fou,  one  of  the  i'cw  faithful  adherents  of  the  losing  cause,  insisted 
on  proclaiming  another  son  of  Tou-tsong  and  taking  refuge  in  the  fleet. 
But  the  Mongols  were  victorious  by  sea  as  well  as  land  :  death  or  capture 
was  the  only  choice,  and  the  house  of  Sung  ended,  not  without  dignity,  as 

VOL.    II.  —  P.C.  X 


178  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

the  loyal  Lou-siou-fou,  after  throwing  his  own  wife  and  children  into  the 
sea,  leapt  after  them,  and  sank  with  the  child  emperor  in  his  arms.  The 
Mongol  Dynasty,  known  as  the  Yuen,  is  reckoned  to  begin  in  1280,  the 
twentieth  year  of  Kubla's  reisn  in  Northern  China. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

AGRARIAN  ECONOMY  AND   THE  INNOVATOR'S  LAWS. 

The  mere  political  chronicle  of  reigns  and  wars  and  treaties  is  far  from 
explaining  why  the  320  years  of  Sung  rule  are  counted  among  the  glorious 
and  prosperous  periods  of  Chinese  history.  Even  before  the  Tatar  con- 
quests had  begun,  China  was  less  active  and  influential  in  the  rest  of  Asia 
than  she  had  been  under  the  Hans  and  the  Tang.  And  the  glories  of  the 
Augustan  age  of  Chinese  literature  do  not  seem  to  be  tarnished  in  the 
eyes  of  those  who,  after  all,  are  better  judges  than  ourselves,  even  by  the 
political  and  military  incapacity  which  allowed  the  literary  empire  to 
become  a  prey  to  barbarian  conquest. 

It  is  said  that  Kubla,  on  his  accession  to  the  Northern  throne,  inquired 
if  it  was  true,  as  people  said,  that  the  Pmddhists  had  ruined  the  Leao  and 
the  literati  the  Kin.  The  Chinese  scholar  addressed  declared  himself 
unable  to  answer  for  the  Leao;  but  as  regarded  the  Kin,  since  they  only 
employed  one  or  two  literati  at  most,  it  was  not  possible  that  this  could 
be  the  cause  of  their  fall.  The  military  and  the  laity  doubtless  applied  the 
remark  which  had  reached  Ivubla's  ears  about  the  Kin  with  even  more 
force  to  the  Sang  themselves.  But  it  was  rather  the  disunion  than  the 
supremacy  of  the  learned  that  exercised  a  baleful  intluence  on  the  history 
of  China  at  this  period  ;  and  as  the  idle  controversies  on  doctrinal  minutiae 
ceased  on  the  approach  of  real  calamity,  the  conquered  nation  had  all  its 
energies  free  for  the  easv  task  of  subjugating  its  invaders. 

The  precedents  of  antiquity  make  it  impossible  for  educated  Chinese 
statesmen  to  associate,  with  the  life  of  any  one  dynasty,  the  preservation  of 
those  articles  of  their  political  creed  which  are  really  regarded  as  essential 
to  national  salvation,  The  person  of  the  Emperor  counted  for  very  little 
in  the  sacredness  of  his  office  ;  the  office  remained,  as  the  rules  ot  good 
government  remained,  but  any  de  facto  emperor  who  adhered  to  the  rules 
became  invested  with  its  sacredness.  The  literati  of  the  North,  in  giving 
their  allegiance  to  a  ruler  like  Ogatai,  with  a  minister  like  Yeliu-tchoutsai, 
and  those  of  the  South,  in  submitting  to  Kubla,  were  not  either  in  imagina- 
tion or  in  fart  betraying  their  country  to  the  foreigner  ;  they  were  only 
recognising,  to  borrow  the  French  phrase,  one  Chinaman  the  more,  in  the 
Mongol  who  was  prepared  to  conform  to  their  ideal  of  a  constitutional 
emperor. 

What  we  are  apt  to  regard  as  the  tragic  dismemberment  of  the  empire, 
in   112;.  was  in  the  same  wav  a  matter  of  less  regret  than  the  wars  bv  which 


i  So  OWNERSHIP   IN    CHINA. 

it  was  attended.  After  peace  was  concluded,  the  North  was  not  pining  for 
reunion  nor  the  South  for  reconquest.  China  had  been  divided  before  into 
a  Northern  and  a  Southern  empire,  with  a  Tatar  Dynasty  reigning  in  the 
Xorth  ;  and  both  halves  were  richer,  more  prosperous,  and  more  peaceful 
in  the  1 2th  than  in  the  5 ill  century.  It  may  even  be  doubted  whether 
any  one  but  the  historiographers  clearly  realized  what  had  happened  to  the 
empire;  for  incidentally,  in  the  course  of  a  financial  discussion  reported  by 
Ma-twan-hn,  we  find  that  the  foundation  of  the  dynasty  of  the  Southern 
Sung  is  regarded  as  a  victorious  event  —  a  legend  which  might  easily  find 
acceptance  in  the  southern  provinces,  since  these  profited  materially  by 
becoming  the  seat  of  empire. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  that  in  China  the  fall  of  a  dynasty  does  not  necessarily 
entail  the  fall,  even,  of  a  strong  party  in  the  nation,  we  shall  be  able  to 
estimate  the  causes  to  which  the  fall  of  this  dynasty  is  attributed,  without 
exaggerating  their  influence  on  the  national  development.  The  three 
main  causes,  according  to  the  historians,  are  the  victorious  incursion  of 
the  Khitan,  the  Kin,  and  the  Mongols,  the  so-called  reforms  of  Wang-ngan- 
shi,  and  the  abuse  of  paper  money. 

The  discussions  of  the  learned  mostly  derived  their  origin  and  their 
bitterness  from  the  controversies  which  raged  as  fiercely  about  the  Inno- 
vator's commentaries  on  the  Classics  as  about  his  new  laws,  so  that  this 
unwonted  element  of  disorder  hardly  needs  to  be  separately  considered. 
None  of  these  intluenc.es  affect  the  first  century  after  the  accession  of 
Tai-tsou,  which  was  held  to  include  the  most  brilliant  part  of  the  dynasty  ; 
so  that  the  economic  history  of  the  Sung  divides  itself  into  two  portions, 
that  before  and  after  Wang-ngan-shi,  almost  as  the  history  of  the  Hans  is 
cut  in  two  by  the  reign  of  the  usurper  Wang-Mang. 

Immediately  after  the  accession  of  Chin-tsong,  in  1067,  he  began  to 
inquire  for  Wang-ngan-shi,  but  was  dissuaded  from  summoning  him  to 
court.  This  fateful  person  is  first  mentioned  in  De  Mailla's  history  as 
joining  with  Ssema-kwang  and  other  meritorious  statesmen  in  urging  Gin- 
tsong  to  appoint  an  heir.  This  was  in  ro6i  ;  subsequently  he  is  spoken  of 
more  than  once  in  praise  and  blame  before  he  appears  on  the  scene  him- 
self, as  if  almost  unconsciously  the  historian  had  felt  obliged  to  take  an 
unwontedlv  dramatic,  not  to  say  tragic,  tone  to  prepare  his  readers  for  the 
coming  tale.  To  us  the  Innovator  certainly  remains  an  enigmatical  per- 
sonage :  too  much  of  a  rationalist  for  the  orthodox  Confucians,  he  was 
accused  of  favouring  the  superstitions  of  Buddhism  :  while  professing  to 
restore  the  ancient  rites  of  Chow,  he  is  branded  in  the  eyes  of  posterity 
with  the  name  of  Innovator  and  it  is  only  from  the  study  of  his  measures 
themselves,  apart  from  the  criticism  passed  on  them,  that  we  can  hope  to 
judge  whether  the  tendency  of  bis  policy  was  really  anti-popular  or  only 
gave  dissatisfaction  to  some  influential,  disproportionately  vocal  members 
of  the  body  politic.  European  critics  from  the  Abbe  Crosier  to  M.  Biot 
have  been  inclined  to  regard  Wang-ngan-shi  as  an  unappreciated  great  man, 
a  reformer  sacrificed  to    the    narrow    and    prejudiced    conservatism   of  the 


THE   INNOVATOR'S  LAWS. 


some 


literati,  and  it  is  certainly  true  that  his  economical  ideas  are  in 
respects  more  European  than  Chinese  ;  on  the  other  hand,  a  consensus  of 
opinion  among  the  leading  statesmen  and  writers  of  a  generation  rich  in 
disinterested  and  capable  public  servants,  who  are  also  brilliant  historians, 
essayists,  and  poets,  may  well  give  us  pause  unless  we  simplify  matters  by 
ignoring — as,  thanks  to  the  apathy  of  translators,  we  easily  may — all  Chinese 
literature  and  philosophy  after  Mencius. 

The  current  opinion  respecting  Wang-ngan-shi  before  his  elevation 
seems  to  have  been  that  he  was  an  accomplished  but  erratic  scholar  ; 
without  practical  experience  in  affairs,  but  strongly  attached  to  his  own 
views  ;  able,  but  not  sincere — a  word  which  covers  a  wide  ground  in 
Chinese  ethics.  When  the  emperor  recurred  to  his  name,  he  was  told  that 
such  a  man  might  be  useful  in  the  Handin  College,  but  should  not  be 
entrusted  with  affairs  of  State.  In  106S  he  was  summoned  to  court  and 
allowed  to  address  memorials  to  the  emperor,  though  not  placed  in  office. 
When  the  emperor  in  conversation  proposed  to  himself,  as  a  model  for 
imitation,  the  second  emperor  of  the  Tang  Dynasty,  the  great  Tai-tsong, 
Wang  advised  him  rather  severely  to  content  himself  with  imitating  Vao 
and  Shun.  Yet  in  1069,  when  the  emperor  very  orthodoxly  reduced  his 
luxuries  and  expenditure  a propos  of  earthquakes  and  dry  seasons  which 
had  terrified  the  people,  Wang  rebuked  him  for  the  superstition,  arguing 
that  the  course  of  nature  is  necessary  and  the  causes  of  natural  phenomena 
independent  of,  and  indifferent  to,  the  merit  of  mankind. 

The  orthodox  Premier  was  scandalized  at  this  dangerous  doctrine  ; 
in  his  rejoinder  he  does  not  enter  into  the  question  as  a  matter  of  scientific 
reasoning,  it  is  a  political  and  a  moral  necessity  that  ruler  and  subject 
should  stand  in  awe  of  the  judgment  of  Heaven,  of  which  these  national 
visitations  have  from  all  time  been  regarded  as  a  symbol.  Only  a  bad 
man  could  wish  to  undermine  this  salutary  feeling,  and  the  wicked  Wang 
who  dares  to  whisper  such  heresy  in  his  Sovereign's  ears  is  obviously 
regarded  by  his  contemporaries  much  as  "the  Atheist"  llobbes  was  by 
contemporary  opponents  of  his  theological  and  political  doctrines. 

Next  year  (1069),  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  other  ministers,  he 
was  added  to  their  number,  and  he  scored  a  dialectical  victory  over  his 
opponents,  who  said  he  was  competent  to  give  interpretation  of  the 
Classics  but  not  to  advise  in  practical  affairs,  by  pointing  out  that,  as  the 
Classics  give  rules  for  the  conduct  of  affairs,  to  know  the  Classics  well  must 
be  to  know  the  best  rules  for  the  proper  conduct  of  affairs — which  could 
not  orthodoxly  be  denied.  He  at  once  announced  as  his  programme  "To 
change  existing  customs  and  lay  down  rules  for  good  conduct.''  which 
must  have  seemed  at  least  as  inconsistent  as  the  criticism  just  refuted  of 
his  opponents. 

ddie  key-note  to  Wang's  financial  policy  was  the  belief  that  it  was 
possible  to  do  without  taxation  ;  or  rather  that  the  expenses  of  the  State 
might  be  defrayed,  in  lieu  of  taxation,  by  the  profits  realized  on  certain 
commercial  operations,  which  he  wished  the  State  to  undertake  on  its  own 


iS2  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

account.  He  was  in  favour  of  substituting  fixed  money  payments  for 
contributions  in  kind  or  labour,  and  did  not  trouble  himself  to  inquire 
how  far  the  economical  gain  to  the  treasury,  from  such  a  change,  might 
be  counterbalanced  by  the  losses  of  individual  tax-payers.  The  first 
innovation  propounded  was  to  abandon  the  old  practice,  by  which  the 
provinces  sent  their  contributions  or  taxes  in  kind  to  the  capital,  where 
they  were  sold  for  the  benefit  of  the  State. 

Wang  argued,  with  some  plausibility,  that  the  value  of  these  contribu- 
tions varied  from  year  to  year,  and  he  proposed  to  substitute  a  fixed  pay- 
ment, the  produce  of  which  was  to  be  spent  by  the  officials  in  buying  the 
goods  required  by  the  State  in  the  cheapest  market.  It  is  obvious,  how- 
ever, that  the  cultivators  under  this  scheme  would  lose  at  least  as  much 
as  the  State  gained,  by  the  substitution  of  a  fixed  payment  in  money  for 
a  variable  quantity  of  agricultural  produce.  The  primitive  Chinese  custom 
made  the  State  go  shares  with  the  peasant  in  his  losses  as  well  as  his  gains. 
Mencius  has  preserved  for  us  an  early  statement  of  the  argument  in  favour 
of  this  partnership,  and  so  far.  at  all  events,  it  is  clear  that  the  literati  who 
opposed  the  new  scheme  represented  the  interest  and  the  wishes  of  the 
people. 

To  carry  out  the  proposed  measure  a  special  transport  commission  was 
demanded,  with  a  capital  of  five  millions  cash  and  three  million  piculs  of 
rice,  to  pay  for  the  first  purchases  and  the  staff  expenses.  The  scheme 
was  negatived  as  too  costly,  and  we  have  an  account  of  the  arguments 
used  against  it  by  Su-che,  a  brother  of  Su-tung-p'o,  and  one  of  tiie  most 
interesting  personages  of  the  age.  He  objected,  not  only  to  the  extrava- 
gant cost  of  the  proposed  start",  but  also  to  the  opportunities  for  fraud 
offered  by  the  scheme.  Members  of  the  commission  were  sure  not  to 
trade  fairly,  but  would  favour  their  friends  for  bribes  ;  all  this  would  be  so 
much  dead  loss  to  the  State,  and  if  any  trilling  profit  remained  after  all,  it 
would  not  make  up  for  the  falling  off  in  the  ordinary  taxes  levied  on  private 
traders,  whose  business  had  been  taken  out  of  their  hands  by  the  State. 

Another  unpopular  measure,  called  the  "'  Forced  Labour  Emancipation 
Act."  had  tiie  same  tendency  as  the  last  project,  and  was  actually  put  into 
effect.  The  otrz'ce.  it  is  admitted,  is  not  an  economical  or  very  efficient 
instrument  fir  getting  work  done,  and  it  is  not  improbable  that  tiie  State 
at  tl  is  time  received  much  less  than  the  traditional  value  of  tiie  labour 
tax:  on  the  other  hand,  the  increase  of  population  and  tiie  development 
of  private  industrv  must  have  very  much  reduced  the  proportion  of  labour 
required  on  the  public  service.  A  mere  proposal  to  compound  for  the 
labour  tax  would  therefore  not  have  been  untimely,  and  possibly  not 
unpopular,  it  it  had  not  been  accompanied  by  the  attempt  to  restore  the 
amount  of  the  tax  to  its  traditional  nominal  value  before  effecting  tiie 
u  uposition.  Tiie  sum  re  puree!  being  comparatively  large,  i.e.  tiie  value 
i  f  the  days'  work  wim  h  the  retii  ally  si  uld  be — instead  of  those  which 
11  y  had  been-  given,  the  payment  in  money  instead  of  kind  was 
:    oo  .  ( )  u  e  r  o  u  s . 


THE   INNOVATOR'S  LAWS.  183 

According  to  Ssema-kwang,  the  peasants  had  no  money;  they  obtained 
grain  by  ploughing,  and  cloth  by  growing  cotton  and  mulberries,  and  if 
they  had  to  pay  a  uniform  money  tax  in  bad  seasons  they  would  have 
to  root  up  their  mulberry  trees  for  firewood,  kill  their  buffaloes,  and  sell 
their  land  to  meet  the  demands  of  the  tax-gatherer.  On  the  other  hand, 
we  are  led  to  infer  that  the  poor  would  also  lose  the  benefit  of  the  wages 
paid  them  by  the  rich  who  hired  substitutes  to  do  their  share  of  the 
work. 

Sinking  funds  were  as  unknown  as  public  debts,  but  one  cannot  help 
feeling  that  Wang's  genius  was  thrown  away  upon  a  financial  situation  of 
such  primitive  simplicity,  when  we  read  of  his  device  for  insuring  the  State 
against  any  possibility  of  loss  from  the  Labour  Emancipation  law.  Besides 
compounding  for  the  corvee,  a  supplementary  tax  was  imposed  to  form 
an  insurance  fund  against  the  losses  in  bad  years,  when  even  the  Innovator 
admitted  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  extort  the  "Labour  Emancipation 
aid  money.'' 

The  reference  already  made  to  the  hiring  of  substitutes  shows  that  the 
labour  tax  was  not,  like  the  land  tax,  habitually  evaded  by  those  best  able 
to  pay  it,  and  the  commutation  scheme  was  made  additionally  unpopular 
by  being  associated  with  the  abolition  of  the  exemptions  previously  allowed, 
in  favour  of  families  in  which  there  was  only  one  able-bodied  man,  or 
those  consisting  of  women  and  children  exclusively.  Upon  the  financial 
failure  of  this  labour  tax,  a  general  property  tax  was  imposed  on  all 
classes. 

The  most  important  and  the  most  vigorously  criticised  of  the  new  laws 
was,  however,  the  third,  known  as  the  "  Green  Sprout  Law."  The  proposal 
was  that  the  State  should  lend  grain  out  at  4  per  cent,  to  the  farmers, 
cither  for  sowing  fresh  lands  for  the  benefit  of  the  State,  or  to  carry  them 
over  bad  seasons.  The  seed  was  to  be  advanced  from  the  public  granaries 
in  the  spring,  and  repayment  made,  of  principal  and  interest,  in  the 
autumn.  The  scheme  was  founded  partly  upon  the  benevolent  provisions 
of  the  Chow  Li,  which  allowed  advances  free  of  interest  to  the  poor,  and 
partly  on  a  temporary  expedient  recently  tried  by  the  Board  of  War. 
which,  in  order  to  provide  food  in  situ  for  the  frontier  troops,  and  to  save 
transport,  made  advances  to  the  cultivators  of  the  neighbourhood  on 
condition  of  their  growing  grain  in  proportion  for  the  soldiers. 

The  ostensible  object  was  to  fill  the  granaries,  and  the  pretext  for  the 
first  actual  loan  was  a  period  of  distress  arising  from  drought,  which  was 
likely  to  drive  the  people  to  the  usurers.  Strange  to  say,  the  opposition  to 
this  measure  was  as  vehement  and  sustained  as  that  in  the  case  of  the 
laws  and  projects  already  described  :  or  indeed  more  so,  as  the  grain  loan 
system  continued  in  force  for  many  years  without  ceasing  to  be  denounced 
as  one  of  the  chief  causes  of  popular  suffering.  It  is  certainly  not  at  first 
obvious  how  the  cultivators  could  be  ruined  by  the  formation  of  rural 
banks  making  advances  at  moderate  interest,  and  it  is  on  this  ground  that 
some    have   been    inclined    to    suspect    the    sincerity    of  Wang-ngan-shi's 


1 84  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

opponents,  and  to  suggest  that  the  opposition  to  his  measures  may  really 
have  emanated  from  the  usurers,  whose  victims  were  enabled,  by  his 
beneficial  reforms,  to  escape  out  of  the  hands  of  the  spoiler. 

Fortunately  the  grounds  upon  which  Ssema-kwang,  the  leader  of  the 
opposition,  based  his  opinion,  have  been  preserved  by  history,  so  that  we 
are  able  to  judge  whether,  on  this  solitary  occasion,  the  representatives  of 
learning  and  letters  abandoned  their  wonted  attitude  of  disinterested 
philanthropy  and  suffered  themselves  to  be  made  the  mouthpiece,  or  the 
tool,  or  the  less  creditable  moneyed  interests  of  the  age. 

The  objections  urged  were  in  the  main  practical  :  You  lend  the  people 
corn  ior  seed;  they  are  in  want  of  food  as  well,  and  they  begin  consuming 
some  of  the  loan  at  once  :  part  they  sell  or  exchange  for  other  com- 
modities, necessary  perhaps,  but  which  they  would  otherwise  have  been 
unable  to  obtain  ;  some  relying  perhaps  on  the  loan  will  even  cease  to 
work.  Even  if  none  of  these  things  happen,  it  will  be  felt  as  a  hardship 
by  ail  to  have  to  give  back  part  of  the  crop,  which  they  have  gathered 
with  their  own  labour  and  watched  and  looked  on  as  their  own, — nay.  it 
the  season  is  bad.  all  the  crop  may  be  required  to  pay  back  the  loan  and 
interest,  and  the  family  will  be  left  without  food  as  wed  as  seed  for  the 
coining  year.  Then  they  will  try  to  evade  payment,  and  the  tribunal  sent 
to  enforce  it  will  not  be  content  with  the  lawful  dues  alone.  Officials 
would  grow  rich  :  first,  by  embezzling  the  grain  which  was  entrusted  to 
them  for  distribution  :  and.  secondly,  by  multiplying  costs  and  penalties 
for  failure  or  delay  in  the  repayments  :  and  the  people  would  be  impover- 
ished by  their  debts,  discontented  with  the  exactions  added  to  them, 
and  f;nai!\-,  perhaps,  driven  by  despair  into  disorder  and  open  rebellion. 

These  gloomy  auguries  were  confirmed    by  appeals  to    experience.     A 
somewhat   similar  system    of  loans  had  long  prevailed   in   Ssema-kwang's 
native  province  of  Shensi,   and   though,    being  old,   the    people  did   not 
clamour  for  its  abrogation,  they  were  in  the  habit  of  attributing  three-fifths 
:   their   troubles   to   its   existence.     The  other  warning  example    he  cites 
will    appeal   to    the   sympathies  of  m     lern  economists,  with  a  keen   sense 
:  the  danger  of  pauperizing  the  working  classes  by  charitable  relief.      He 
refers,  as   a  matter   of  common    notorietv,    to  the  failure  ot  a   benev   lent 
me   of  the    Kmperor   Tai-ts  >ng,  wh   .  after   recon  :  rering    the    ]  rovince 
^f   Ho-tong,  <  aused  granaries  to  be  opened  for  the  sale  of  corn  at  less  than 
cost  prii  e.      Xo  one.  of  course,  was   o'  liged  to  pun  base  from  the  Govern- 
m   ia    stores:   but  the  habit  Hiding   on    them    became  so   inveti 

that  even  wh  -n  tire  prices  were  raised  to  the  market  level,  they  were  still 
exclusively  frequented,  to  tire  destruction  of  ordinary  trade  and  the  con- 
tinue 1  im;   »veris:  rnent  of  the  district. 

Of  course,  it  was  argued  that  the   people   need   not  borrow  unless  they 

liked,  and  tint  it   they  wanted  to   borrow  it   must   be  a  gain    to  them  to   be 

i  i  so  upon  advanl   j     c:s  terms  :    but,  oir  the  wh    le.  t  nee  or 

n    seem-   to    have   been  on   the   side  of  tire  Opposition,  who 

be!  eved  that    tire    peool  •    could  take   care   of  themselves,  it    tnev  were   lett 


THE    INNOVATOR'S    LAWS.  185 

to  do  it  in  their  own  way,  while  yet  they  could  not  be  depended  on  to 
resist  temptation  put  in  their  way  by  those  who  should  know  better. 
Under  good  management,  it  was  said,  the  people  did  not  need  to  borrow, 
even  at  4  per  cent.;  yet  when  a  loan  is  offered  them  they  will  accept  it 
for  the  sake  of  present  ease,  without  considering  how  they  will  be  able  to 
repay  it. 

The  whole  system  of  relief  by  public  storehouses  is,  as  will  be  seen 
hereafter,  open  to  abuse  when  the  morals  of  the  official  class  are  at  a  low 
ebb  ;  and  we  may  believe  that  all  the  anticipated  evils  did  result  from  the 
new  regulations.  On  the  most  favourable  view  the  Innovator  then  appears 
as  a  speculative  financier  anxious  to  fill  the  treasury  at  whatever  risk  or 
inconvenience  to  the  people's  means  or  morals.  But  as  in  effect  the 
treasury  really  profited  little,  and  the  officials  employed  by  it  a  great  deal, 
it  is  not  surprising  that  the  less  charitable  construction  should  have  pre- 
vailed, and  Wang-ngan-shi  have  been  assumed,  perhaps  unjustly,  to  have 
clung  to  his  unpopular  regulations  for  the  sake  of  the  opportunities  these 
gave  for  peculation. 

A  contemporary  report  complains  that  the  commissioners  had  "received 
on  behalf  of  the  Government  service  more  than  75.300  string  of  money, 
and  that  the  83,600  string  lent  as  advances  for  the  cultivators  of  land 
yielded  a  sum  of  more  than  /T6,6oo  compound  interest;  but  of  all  this 
no  more  than  3,000  strings  (?  net)  was  received  yearly."  1  It  should  be 
observed  that  compound  interest,  which  Wang  is  accused  of  exacting,  is 
not  recognised  by  Chinese  law  and  custom.  Interest  is  high,  but  loans 
are  usually  for  short  periods,  and  the  interest  is  in  no  case  allowed  to 
exceed  the  principal.  The  popular  party  was  able  to  regard  the  costs  of 
the  law  courts  as  a  greater  danger  than  the  exactions  of  usurers,  exactly 
because  the  claims  of  usurers  were  not  supported  by  law. 

If  oppressed  by  tax-gatherers,  Chinese  villagers  used  to  leave  their  homes 
and  take  to  brigandage  till  the  (Sovernment  tried  conciliation  and  excused 
the  arrears  ;  if  in  danger  of  ruin  from  money-lenders,  the  same  villagers 
would  simply  have  refused  to  pay  more  than  they  found  themselves  able  to 
afford  in  return  for  an  old  loan  ;  and  their  passive  refusal  to  pay  too  much 
would  have  the  advantage  of  warning  usurers  not  to  devote  their  energies 
by  preference  to  the  country  districts.  It  is  for  the  usurer's  advantage  to 
keep  indebtedness  within  limits,  when  the  debtor  cannot  be  sold  up.  and 
the  accumulation  of  interest  is  limited  to  the  amount  of  the  original  debt, 

Another  unpopular  proposal  was  that  of  selling  certain  "charity  lands  ;" 
that  is  to  say,  State  property  obtained  by  confiscations  or  other  means,  and 
set  apart  for  benevolent  uses.  In  recent  times  English  financial  authori- 
ties have  been  indignant  at  the  immunity  from  taxation  enjoyed  by  charit- 
able  societies,    and   in     all   Moslem   countries   the  revenue   from    land   is 

1  Ma-tii'an-Hn,  ap.W.  Vissering,  p.  152.  At  tin's  rate,  in  round  numbers,  the  interest 
on  the  original  loan  of  ,£25,000  would  have  mounted  up  to  ,£5,000,  i.e.  20  percent., 
instead  of  4  per  cent.,  of  which  only  £400  or  ,(.'5  00,  say  2  per  cent.,  entere  1  the  exel  ..  ! 
An  article  in  vol.  ii.  of  the  China  Rcviciv  contains  the  fullest  account  of  Wang's  laws. 


iS6  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

materially  reduced  by  the  exemption  of  Wakf  lands.  It  is  possible  that 
Wang's  attention  was  called  to  this  subject  by  the  scandalously  small 
proportion  of  cultivated  land  which  paid  the  land  tax,  and  it  may  have 
been  associated  with  his  best  measure,  the  order  for  a  complete  cadastral 
survey  of  the  whole  country. 

This  was  abandoned  on  his  fall,  and  though  resumed  for  a  time,  in  the 
reign  of  Tche-tsong,  was  unfortunately  never  completed.  Its  effect  is 
to  be  seen,  however,  in  the  increase  of  the  area  registered  for  taxation  in 
10S4,  to  more  than  double  what  it  had  been  in  1052,  when  the  lowest 
point  was  readied,  and  not  much  less  than  tiie  maximum  recorded  in 
1  02  1,  just  before  the  palmy  days  of  the  regency.  Title-deeds,  which  are 
mentioned  as  something  new,  were  granted  on  occasion  of  the  survey  : 
and  the  simplicity  of  the  cultivators  and  the  perverse  ingenuity  of  the 
minor  officials  is  illustrated  afresh  by  the  complaint  that,  when  the  land 
was  marked  out  into  squares  of  a  certain  size  l  for  the  survey,  the  culti- 
vators were  persuaded  that  odd  lots  outside  the  squares  were  of  no  value, 
and  so  induced  to  sell  them  at  a  nominal  price.  Another  unobjectionable 
measure  was  the  revival  of  the  special  Tribunal  employed  to  regulate  the 
value  of  the  money  in  use,  by  always  issuing  just  as  much  as  was  necessary 
to  keep  it  at  the  same  price. 

Besides  the  Clrain  Loan  law,  the  chief  plan  for  raising  revenue  without 
taxation  was  the  so-called  Barter  law ;  this  was  professedly  intended  to 
revive  the  market  regulations  of  the  Chow  Dynasty,  which  contemplated 
sales  and  purchases  of  goods  by  the  State,  with  the  sole  object  of  keeping 
prices  at  the  same  level.  I  have  not  been  able  to  meet  with  a  clear 
account  of  the  working  of  this  law,  and  in  fact  the  transactions  under  this 
he-ad  can  scarcely  be  separated  from  those  undertaken  in  connection  with 
the  taxes  and  the  transport  commission.  The  only  money  with  which  the 
State  could  buy,  and  the  only  goods  it  had  to  sell  were  those  received  on 
account  of  the  revenue.  But  there  was  more  opportunity  for  purchases 
on  account  of  the  Government  when  distant  provinces  paid  their  quota 
in  money  instead  of  goods  delivered  direct  for  use.  "The  Government 
establishments  opened  under  this  law  seem  to  have  been  something  be- 
tween an  Owcnite  Exchange  Hall  and  a  pawnshop.  The  State  became 
the  chief  trader,  to  the  disgust  of  the  literati  and  the  masses  alike  :  and 
private  trade  was  ruined  by  the  competition  of  the  Government.  Su-ciie  s 
prophecy,  however,  was  fulfilled  as  to  the  absence  of  any  real  gain  to 
the  Kxchequer.  In  the  passage  already  quoted  from  Ma-twan-lin,  over 
/Sc.ccc  is  re]  resented  as  employed  on  behalf  of  the  public  service  :  and 
supposing  the  Barter  1  iw  to  lie  as  sue*  essful  financially  as  the  gram  loans. 
the  toi  I  \\\  oi  ti  e  investment  would  be  about  ^£,400,  and  this  in  a 
where  private  traders  still  expect  to  clear  30  or  50  per  cent  on  their 
modest  (  a]  itals. 

While  tiie  traders  were  complaining  that  their  business  was  taken  from 
them.  St   te  benev  ilence  triedt  to  coin  Tate  them  with  tiie  offer  oi  loans  0:1 


THE   INNOVATOR'S   LAWS.  187 

the  security  of  town  lands  or  houses  at  10  percent,  interest  for  the  half-year. 
In  fact,  if  the  execution  of  all  these  schemes  had  been  on  a  par  with  their 
conception,  and  if  the  Chinese  had  been  as  manageable  as  the  ancient 
Egyptians,  the  great  financial  coup  attributed  to  the  Hebrew  Joseph  would 
have  been  paralleled  in  China,  and  even  without  the  help  of  the  seven 
lean  years  of  famine,  Wang-ngan-shi  would  have  bought  up  on  account  of 
the  emperor  the  freehold  of  all  China.  The  whole  scheme  foundered  on 
the  rock  which  is  really  the  corner-stone  of  the  political  economy  of  the 
country — the  conviction  that  ownership  is  based  on  use,  as  well  as  limited 
by  the  discharge  of  civil  obligations.  The  State  could  only  be  allowed  to 
make  itself  universal  creditor  on  condition  of  extracting  no  more  profit 
out  of  the  role  than  a  private  person  would  do  ;  and  as  both  slavery  and 
serfdom  were  ceasing  to  find  a  place  in  the  national  manners,  it  was  at 
least  a  thousand  years  toolate  to  establish  State  absolutismon  an  economic, 
for  want  of  a  political  basis. 

Xo  doubt  there  had  been  a  time  when  Chinese  emperors,  had  they 
pleased,  might  have  claimed  for  themselves  the  same  boundless  authority 
as  the  Pharaohs  ;  and  it  is  curious  and  significant  of  the  force  attained  by 
what  (for  want  of  a  better  word)  we  must  call  Constitutionalism  in  China, 
that  such  would-be  absolutists  as  Chang-yang,  Wang-mang,  and  Wang- 
ngan-shi  should  all  have  felt  that  their  best  chance  lay  in  reviving  ancient 
customs  with  an  altered  spirit. 

bike  Wang-mang  the  Sung  innovator  included  a  new  militia  law 
amongst  his  regulations.  A  revival  of  the  local  military  levies  was  pro- 
posed in  order  to  save  the  cost  of  regular  armies.  From  every  family  in- 
cluding two  or  more  adult  males,  one  was  required  to  serve  as  a  soldier  ; 
the  burden  on  the  agricultural  population  was  so  great  that  numbers  de- 
serted their  homes,  and  the  law  could  only  be  kept  in  force  at  all  by  an 
expedient,  which  could  scarcely  have  been  proposed  in  any  other  country, 
— that  of  exempting  the  peasants  from  its  operation,  a  measure  which  of 
course  only  made  it  bear  the  more  oppressively  on  the  other  classes. 

One  more  curious  revival  brings  us  to  the  end  of  the  too  learned  legis- 
lator's schemes.  The  archaic  custom  of  boarding  out  the  horses  and 
cattle  of  the  Chief  among  his  retainers  survived,  it  will  be  remembered, 
in  the  days  of  Chow,  so  far  as  the  officers  of  the  imperial  stable  were 
concerned.  On  this  foundation,  Wang-ngan-shi  based  a  so-called  "  Law 
for  the  protection  of  horses."  a  development  of  the  local  military  system 
applied  to  the  maintenance  of  cavalry  horses.  The  people  were  invited 
to  volunteer  either  to  provide  or  to  take  charge  of  one  or  more  horses  tor 
tile  arm\-.  Nominally  250  bundles  of  hay,  and  payments  in  cloth  and 
money,  were  allowed  for  the  maintenance  of  each  horse  :  but  while  the 
charge  was  practically  made  compulsory,  the  allowances  were  embezzled 
by  underlings,  and  as  the  dead  or  diseased  animals  had  to  be  replaced 
at  the  keeper's  expense,  the  opportunities  for  oppression  were  virtually 
endless. 

It   is  not   surprising  that  with   ail   these   new    regulations,  added   to  the 


iSS  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

chronic  vexations  which  made  the  cultivator's  life  burdensome  in  the  days 
of  Tang,  popular  discontent  grew  deep  if  not  loud  :  it  was  described  by  a 
contemporary  as  of  that  most  dangerous  sort,  "  when  the  people  do  not 
dare  to  speak  but  dare  to  be  angry.'''  Ssema-kwang  headed  the  opposition, 
and  boldly  asked  the  Emperor  if  he  expected  to  be  able  to  govern  with 
the  help  of  three  men  (Wang  and  two  obscure  lieutenants  of  his),  and 
he  seemed  for  a  moment  not  unwilling  to  repeal  the  obnoxious  grain 
loan  law.  Wang-ngan-shi,  however,  threatened  to  resign  if  his  policy  was 
reversed,  and  the  Emperor  yielded  to  his  insistence.  Most  of  the  censors 
resigned,  and  all  the  leading  scholars  and  statesmen  of  the  court  either 
followed  their  example  or  were  dismissed.  Complaints  came  in  from  all 
quarters,  from  the  local  governors,  of  the  people's  suffering  in  repaying  the 
loans  and  the  charges  of  the  tribunals  for  exacting  payment. 

The  eloquent  Su-che,  who  had  been  appointed  to  the  non-political  post 
of  travelling  Examiner,  presented  a  memorial  on  ids  return  stating  that 
the  literati  were  everywhere  adverse  to  the  new  regulations,  and  that,  with 
hardiy  an  exception,  ail  the  compositions  submitted  to  the  examiners  con- 
sisted of  attacks  on  the  policy  of  the  Government — an  unheard-of  state  of 
things,  which  he  thought  it  his  dutv  to  report  to  die  Emperor.  In  1074 
the  Innovator  was  dismissed  out  of  regard  for  the  general  clamour  :  but 
he  was  soon  recalled,  and  the  ascendancy  of  his  views  so  far  as  possible 
secured  by  edicts  ordering  the  exclusive  use  of  his  editions  and  commen- 
taries on  the  Classics  in  the  public  colleges  and  official  examinations.  He 
also  published  a  universal  dictionary,  intended,  like  his  Commentaries,  to 
give  some  appearance  of  authority  and  antiquity  to  his  views. 

Wang  seems  really  to  have  been  a  learned  and  able  scholar  ;  and  some 
of  his  interpretations  have  been  accepted  in  the  Imperial  edition  of  the 
Classics  published  under  the  present  dynasty.  Of  course  only  a  minority 
of  t:ie  annotations  could  have  any  direct  bearing  on  the  obnoxious  laws, 
but  in  one  quoted  bv  M.  lliot1  the  spirit  of  his  financial  policy  is  clearly 
illustrated.  He  looks  upon  the  various  benevolent  regulations  in  the 
Rites  of  Chow  as  intended,  not  so  much  to  promote  the  welfare  of  the 
le  as  to  insure  their  bein_r  able  to  pay  their  taxes  ;  and  from  this 
point  of  view  it  is  obvious  that,  if  the  State  could  succeed  in  raising  the 
neediul  revenue  without  taxation,  it  would  in  the  eyes  of  the  Innovator 
also  be  emun  ipated  from  the  troublesome  necessity  of  caring  or  pro- 
j,  for  the  material  welfare  of  the  population,  so  tiiat  tiie  head-  of  the 
Government  would  have  nothing  to  do  but  provide  for  their  own  advance- 
ment. 

Cnin-ts  ing  die!  in  1:^;  :  the  dowager  Empress  became  regent  ;  Ssema- 
kwang  and  other  scholars  of  the  opposition  were  recalled  to  court,  and 
the  obnoxious  ,  igislation  was  repealed.  Wang-ng  tn-shi  died  himself  in  the 
:  wing  ye  r,  1  -'>.  So  bol  his  great  rival  Ssema-kwang,  two  years  after 
.  1  iiis  assistants  I  ad  completed  the  general  history  of  China  from  403 
i.e.  to  tiie  end  of  the  five  posterior  dynasties,  known  as  Tse-tchi-tong- 
:   7.   7'  :.\  .v-.'b  vol.  ii.  p.  12.1. 


THE   INNOVATOR'S  LAWS.  1S9 

Kien-Kang-Mou.1  For  the  last  fifteen  years  he  had  been  living  in  retire- 
ment or  a  kind  of  honourable  exile  at  the  old  court  of  Loyang,  holding 
no  appointment  but  that  of  historiographer  and  censor.  In  the  latter 
character  he  was  allowed  to  memorialize  the  Emperor,  a  privilege  of  which 
he  never  availed  himself  except  tor  the  sake  of  obtaining  some  lawful  boon 
for  the  neighbourhood,  where  he  was  adored  as  an  embodiment  of  wisdom 
and  justice,  appealed  to  by  the  country  folk  to  arbitrate  in  family  disputes, 
and  habitually  addressed  by  all  in  terms  of  friendly  familiarity  as  plain 
"  Master,"  notwithstanding  his  high  rank  and  his  former  position. 

His  death  at  Cai-fong-fu  was  the  signal  for  a  popular  demonstration  the 
like  of  which  had  never  before  been  recorded  in  the  Annals.  All  the 
shops  in  the  capital  were  shut  on  the  day  of  the  funeral;  merchants  and 
all  classes  wore  mourning  and  attended  the  funeral  ceremonies  ;  and  when 
the  coffin  was  carried  to  his  native  place,  representatives  from  every  house- 
hold followed  it  for  a  long  distance,  while  every  place  upon  the  road  paid 
similar  honour  to  his  memory.  Public  funerals  arranged  by  authority  may 
form  aii  impressive  pageant  and  draw  crowds  of  lookers-on,  but  it  is 
doubtful  whether  a  mere  statesman  and  historian,  with  none  of  the 
romance  of  a  saint  or  soldier  about  him,  would  have  received  this  sort  of 
spontaneous  popular  tribute  anywhere  in  the  West  between  the  Creek 
republics  and  the  democracies  of  the  Nineteenth  century.  Such  enthusiasm 
at  all  events  speaks  well  for  the  standard  of  political  culture  among  the 
Chinese  in  the  days  of  our  William  the  Conqueror. 

Ma-twan-lin's  great  work  comes  to  an  end  with  the  year  1224.  and  l)e 
Madia's  original  is  unusually  silent  upon  everything  connected  with  the 
internal  history  of  the  Southern  empire.  Chinese  writers,  within  half  a 
century  of  the  fali  of  the  dynasty,  complain  of  the  want  of  the  usual 
records,  from  which  statistical  tables  and  facts  of  economic  interest  are 
normally  compiled.  But  apart  from  the  laws  of  Wang  it  does  not  seem 
that  there  was  any  sudden  change  in  the  system  of  land  tenure  or  the 
condition  of  the  cultivators.  It  will  be  remembered  that  slaverv,  as 
introduced  by  the  Hans,  made  way  under  the  minor  dynasties  which 
followed,  for  a  kind  of  feudal  servitude,  which  largely  reduced  the  number 
of  householders  paying  taxes  direct  to  the  imperial  treasury.  by  the 
beginning  of  the  Sung  Dynasty,  slavery  had  fallen  into  disrepute,  the 
relics  of  feudalism  were  passing  away,  and  in  their  stead  we  meet  with 
a  form  of  the  modern  relation  of  landlord  and  tenant. 

It  was  complained  that  the  total  amount  of  the  landlords'  rents  exceeded 
that  of  the  emperor's  taxes.  The  account  of  three  departments  added  to 
the  empire  in  985  a.d.  is  interesting,  as  it  gives  the  proportion  between  the 
rent  or  tribute-paying  inferiors  and  their  lords,  when  the  latter  had 
emancipated  themselves  from  any  external  suzerainty.  The  district  was 
occupied  by  125  families,  to  whom  1,600  other  families  paid  tribute.-  Ten 
acres  was  at  this  time  regarded  as  an  average  holding  for  a  family,  audi  at 
this  rate  the  average  estate  of  each  landlord,  besides  what  was  in  his  own 
1   See  A;  p.  G.  2  An!:,  p.   168. 


i go  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

occupation,  would  be  nearly  1.300  acres,  or  1 0,000  mow,  a  magnitude  now 
almost  unheard  of  and  always  considered  extravagant.  The  proportion  is 
doubtless  mentioned  because  it  is  exceptional,  and  landlords  who  them- 
selves had  to  pay  taxes  could  not  have  so  many  tenants,  while  there  were 
always  freeholders  who  paid  direct  to  the  State.  Still  this  glimpse  of  a 
large  class  of  cultivators,  who  would  be  omitted  from  the  census,  on  the 
ground  of  their  not  being  taxpayers,  is  a  sufficient  reason  for  doubting 
whether  the  population  of  the  empire  had  ever  declined  as  much  as  the 
decline  in  the  number  of  tax-paying  families  seems  by  itself  to  indicate. 

Two  classes  of  families  are  recognised  in  the  Sung  registers — the  land- 
owners in  their  own  right  and  those  who  farmed  the  land  of  others  on  a 
kind  of  metayer  system,  who  were  described  as  "guests."  With  the 
prevalence  of  subletting,  laws  and  customs  grew  up  for  the  protection  of 
the  tenants,  which  are  still  in  force,  and  have  in  effect  robbed  the  rule  of 
landlord  of  all  its  charms.  A  fair  rent  and  fixity  of  tenure  were  secured  to 
the  cultivator,  and  as  the  central  Government  again  became  strong  enough 
to  assert  its  claims  as  overlord,  by  the  appropriation  of  all  waste  or  owner- 
less plots,  its  influence  began  to  be  felt  again  as  formerly  in  preventing 
rack-renting. 

The  custom  of  letting  land  had  become  so  common  that  in  997  A.D.  a 
minister,  who  was  desirous  to  provide  cultivators  for  the  deserted  fields 
round  Cai-fong-fu.  proposed  as  the  most  natural  course  to  let  them  to 
willing  tenants  at  a  moderate  rent,  instead  of  ceding  them  out  of  hand,  as 
had  been  done  in  earlier  times,  or  granting  them  for  a  term,  subject  to 
redemption  by  the  Crown,  when  the  tenant  ceased  to  rank  as  an  able- 
bodied  taxpayer.  When  the  land  was  granted  for  three  years  rent  free, 
the  rent  after  that  time  was  at  first  fixed  at  50  per  cent,  of  the  produce, 
following  no  doubt  the  precedent  of  the  metayer  system  in  use  among 
private  persons;  but  the  Government  seems  on  the  whole  to  have  preferred 
a  fixed  rent,  subject  to  allowances  for  bad  years.  This  rent  may  have 
included  a  slight  advance  upon  the  ordinary  land  tax.  to  which  the  free- 
hold properties  were  subject,  and  indeed  otherwise  the  freeholder  who 
had  bought  his  farm  would  be  at  a  disadvantage  compared  with  the  State 
tenants  who  had  paid  nothing  for  a  lease  in  perpetuity. 

But  it  is  obvious  that,  as  freeholding  again  became  the  rule,  the  dis- 
tinction between  the  cultivator  paying  land  tax  for  the  firm  of  his  ancestors, 
and  the  cultivator  paying  rent  for  a  smaller  farm,  would  become  more  and 
more  unreal:  the  process  by  which  the  tax  became  a  rent  would  reverse 
itself,  an  1  the  renl  wo  il  1  recover  its  normal  character  of  a  hind  tax.  The 
land  law-  o!  the  present  dynasty,  which,  so  far  as  concerns  the  agricultural 
land  ot  (  ah  in  i,  are  substanti  illy  b<  irrowed  from  tire  Ming,  show  us  the  out- 
■  ilicy  ol  the  Sang.  The  drift  of  legislation,  apart 
from  the  Innovator's  vagaries,  was  to  assimilate  the  landlord's  position  to 
•  Kmo'-ror.  and  not  converselv.  ban  1  co  ild  only  be  let  at  a  I  ;r 
1    nt.     11  .  when    0111  :  !   '.  th  •   farmer  was  not   all  >\v  :  i  to  bi    dbl  irb  :  I  with- 


THE  INNOVATOR'S  LAWS.  191 

Nevertheless,  large  estates  continued  to  grow,  and  in  1263  it  was  again 
proposed  to  limit  the  amount  of  land  which  might  lawfully  be  held 
by  a  single  owner  to  100  mow  ;  and  everything  above  this  amount  was 
liable  to  be  bought  or  confiscated  by  the  Crown.  It  was  considered  a 
proof  of  loyalty  and  liberality  voluntarily  to  surrender  such  excess  lands, 
without  waiting  to  have  them  claimed  ;  and  a  sufficiently  absurd  abuse  is 
said  to  have  grown  up  in  consequence,  officers  not  possessed  of  any  land, 
but  desiring  to  pay  their  court  in  this  way,  having  obtained  possession 
tyrannically  of  other  men's  lands,  that  they  might  make  a  merit  of  sur- 
rendering them. 

Choo-hi  is  said  (in  a  work  compiled  under  the  Ming,  1602  a.d.)  to 
have  put  an  end  to  disorders  which  prevailed  in  the  district  where  he 
resided  by  restoring  the  system  of  public  storehouses  for  grain.  It  was 
complained,  that  every  spring  and  summer  the  rich  closed  their  granaries 
and  sold  corn  at  a  high  profit,  till  the  poor  forced  them  open  for  plunder, 
riots  and  murders  being  multiplied.  Choo-hi  having  taken  counsel  with 
the  people  of  the  neighbourhood  established  a  public  granary  from  which 
corn  was  issued  at  a  steady  price,  security  being  taken  for  its  repayment. 
The  satisfactory  result  was  reported  to  the  emperor,  and  other  provinces 
commanded  to  follow  the  same  plan.  The  record  of  the  grievance  and 
the  popular  mode  of  dealing  with  it  is  no  doubt  quite  authentic,  and  the 
story  harmonises  with  what  we  are  told  of  the  attitude  of  the  modern 
Chinese  towards  speculators  for  a  rise  in  corn.  But  it  is  not  clear  how 
Choo-hi's  action,  which  is  praised,  differs  in  principle  from  some  of  the 
measures  of  Wang-ngan-shi,  which  were  regarded  as  practically  mischievous 
as  well  as  speculatively  unsound.  The  fact  seems  to  be  that  experiments 
in  State  socialism  in  China  are  judged  by  their  result,  which  is  only  satis- 
factory when  they  are  devised  and  carried  out  by  exceptionally  able  and 
absolutelv  disinterested  officials. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

TAXATION  AND  FINANCE   UNDER   'THE  SUNG. 

Up  to  the  year  102 1  the  record  of  the  area  of  cultivated  land  subject  to 
taxation  continued  to  increase  proportionately  with  the  population.  By 
1052  it  had  fallen  oft' unaccountably, — mure  than  50  per  cent., — whilst  the 
number  of  tax-paying  families  still  multiplied.  Officers  of  the  time,  accord- 
ing to  Ma-twandin,  reported  that  as  much  as  70  per  cent,  of  the  cultivated 
land  escaped  assessment;  but  this  is  probably  an  exaggeration,  as  if  taken 
literally,  it  would  imply  that  a  quarter  of  the  whole  area  of  China  was 
under  cultivation,  which  is  scarcely  possible,  considering  the  scantiness  of 
population  in  the  wilder  districts.1  It  seems  most  probable  that  the  large 
landowners  continued  to  defy  the  tax  collectors,  and  it  is  possible  that 
while  the  State  tenants  were  counted  as  householders  in  the  census,  their 
lands,  for  which  the  rents  were  paid  separately,  were  not  counted  as  liable 
for  land  tax. 

It  is  not  conceivable  that  the  average  size  of  holdings  should  have  been 
reduced  by  half  in  the  course  of  thirty  years,  and  the  reference  to  a  propo- 
sition made  in  1062  to  tax  20  per  cent,  of  the  cultivated  lands,  seems  to 
imply  that  then,  at  all  events,  no  attempt  was  made  to  tax,  nor  therefore 
to  register,  all  the  lands  under  cultivation.  Usage  oscillated  between  two 
plans,  both  sanctioned  by  anti  piity,  of  levying  a  certain  percentage  of  the 
whole  produce  and  levying  the  whole  produce  of  a  corresponding  fraction 
of  the  productive  land.  Either  plan  was  open  to  objection,  and  it  is  likely 
that  financiers  from  time  to  time  thought  it  desirable  to  meet  the  abuses 
that  had  tirown  up  under  one  system,  by  reverting  to  the  other,  till  that  in 
its  turn  became  unworkable. 

M.  15iot  '•'  gives,  after  Ma-twan-lin,  tables  showing  the  total  revenue  from 
direct  taxation  in  the  years  007.  1021,  and  1077  a.d.  Besides  the  large 
contributions  ot  grain,  copper  money,  silk  or  various  qualities,  and  fodder. 
mention  is  also  made  of  hempen  cloth,  gauze,  tea,  firewood,  coal,  feathers, 
iron,  and  wood  suitable  tor  arrows;  in  1021,  leather,  salt,  paper,  and  un- 
dressed hemp  are  also  added.  It  would  lie  useless  to  attempt  an  exact 
\  hi  ition  where  there  are  so  many  necessary  elements  of  uncertaintv,  but 
tb.e   copper  money    received    in    0117    may    be    taken    as    worth    under    1 .', 


1   V 


■  .  -.    ich   in    1  Si  2   ha-i  an   average   ]     filiation  of  276  to  the  square   mile,  ha 

-.;'.  >>  >         the  two   I\  \\  a  ill's  about    20  to  tile  s<  mare  mile,  ins  tea 


A;/; 


^T'J- 


TAXATION   AND    FINANCE    UNDER    THE    SUNG.     193 

millions  sterling,  and  the  grain  for  the  same  year,  while  worth  perhaps 
twice  as  much  in  money,  would  have  served  as  rations  for  nearly  five 
million  persons  for  a  twelvemonth. 

In  102  r  there  is  a  slight  increase  in  the  grain  receipts  and  a  very 
material  increase  (nearly  35  per  cent.)  in  the  copper  money.  By  1087, 
when  the  area  of  tax-paying  land  had  fallen  off,  the  receipts  in  grain  had 
fallen  from  21  and  22  million  chi  to  iS  million,  and  the  money  receipts 
were  intermediate  between  those  of  the  two  former  periods  :  in  other 
words,  the  growth  of  the  revenue  had  been  arrested,  but  there  was  no 
positive  falling  off  in  its  amount  if  the  eighty  years  are  taken  together. 

The  increase  of  the  receipts  in  copper  seem  to  show  that  the  Govern- 
ment had  not  been  unsuccessful  in  its  first  attempts  to  deal  with  the  standing 
difficulty  of  the  currency.  The  first  innovation  was  the  introduction  of  iron 
money  in  addition  to  the  familiar  copper.  Though  it  was  even  more  cum- 
brous— a  shilling's  worth  of  iron  cash  weighed  over  2  lbs. — vet  it  was  found 
less  laborious  to  use  iron  money  in  remote  provinces,  where  iron  was  found 
and  copper  was  not,  than  to  import  the  necessary  quantity  of  copper  from 
a  distance.  On  this  ground  the  use  of  iron  money  was  first  sanctioned  in 
Fokien  and  Sz'chuen,  where  it  had  been  invented.  So  long  as  the  iron 
money  was  in  use  alone,  no  fresh  inconvenience  was  felt  except  from  its 
great  weight,  and  to  meet  this  a  first  experiment  in  private  banking  was 
tried  in  Sz'chuen.  A  certain  Tchang-yang  invented  the  idea  of  notes  or 
coupons  exchangeable  for  metal  money  at  a  specified  date  :  "this  was  not  a 
money:  '  it  was  only  a  means  of  transporting  the  value  of  metal  money." 
Alter  997  this  invention  received  further  development. 

Sixteen  leading  firms  associated  themselves  for  the  purpose  of  issuing 
kiao-tsze,2  or  bills  of  exchange,  which  were  to  be  repavable  at  intervals  of 
three  years  over  a  total  period  of  sixty-five  years.  The  bills  were  at  first 
in  great  favour,  and  it  is  perhaps  not  surprising  that  some  of  the  associated 
firms  sh  aild  have  been  tempted  by  the  confidence  reposed  in  diem  to 
indulge  in  rash  speculations  ;  the  heirs  of  some  of  the  sixteen  partners 
were  unable  to  meet  their  engagements,  litigation  followed,  and  as  the 
case  was  one  not  contemplated  by  the  common  law  of  China,  no  satis- 
factory issue  was  possible,  and  in  1017  the  Company  was  wound  up  bv 
order  of  the  local  governor.  The  hiao-tsze,  however,  had  become  popular, 
and  their  suppression  gave  rise  to  the  more  inconvenience  because  engage- 
ments could  be  made  by  their  help,  which  it  became  exceedin_dv  costlv  to 
fulfil  without  them.  Accordingly,  in  1023  the  Government  itself  established 
a  bank  tor  the  issue  of  bills  of  exchange,  and  private  persons  were  prohibited 
from  engaging  in  the  same  business. 

In  other  parts  of  the  empire  the  "  flying  money  "  of  the  Tang  had  already 
been  re-introduced  tinder  the  name  of  pien-tsing,  or  "convenient  money.'' 

!    M  i-twandin  rip.   Mint,   fount.  As..  3me  se'r. ,  torn.  iv.  p.  217. 

-   The  term  tsien-yin  —  ;'  stretching."  as  of  a  !>■  iw-strincj,  i>  used  for  ere  lit  in  general 
besides  tlie  khn-N/e  we  meet  with  hoei-ts/e,  private  agreements  or  :  onds  :   k\\    n-tsze,  or 
frontier  1  ills,  used  in  paying  army  contracts,  and  promissory  notes  called  tsin^-ti  =  "  some- 
inter        Ian  :e  a  real  possession." 

Vol..    II.  —  P.C.  o 


i04  OWNERSHIP  IX  CIIIXA. 

These  bonds  when  given  in  exchange  for  metallic  deposits  were  of  coarse 
repayable  on  demand  ;  and  they  only  served  to  increase  the  amount  of 
money  in  circulation,  in  so  far  as  they  passed  from  hand  to  hand  oftener 
than  the  money  they  represented  would  have  done.  Similar  bonds  seem 
to  have  been  given,  as  previously,  on  the  security  of  tea,  salt,  or  other 
recognised  values,  and  these  were  only  repayable  in  kind,  so  that  they 
passed  from  hand  to  hand  as  money  and  could  only  be  ''"cashed''  by  some 
one  in  want  of  the  commodities  specified  on  the  bill.  The  pien-tsing  thus, 
though  a  great  convenience  when  money  was  scarce,  were  not  a  real  paper 
money  :  they  could  not  be  issued  in  excess,  as  the  quantity  in  circulation 
was  regulated  by  the  deposits  of  private  persons  ;  according  to  Biot,  it 
never  exceeded  the  moderate  proportion  of  one  in  thirteen  of  the  copper 
money  in  use. 

To  set  against  this  security,  however,  there  was  the  inconvenience  of  the 
original  deposit  which  had  to  be  reclaimed  to  time,  and  in  the  case  of  the 
salt  and  tea  bonds  the  necessity  of  converting  the  paper  into  goods  within 
a  limited  period.  For  ail  these  reasons  the  pien-tsing  disappeared  from 
use  with  the  introduction  of  the  Government  bills  of  exchange,  a  real  paper 
money,  which,  like  that  of  tiie  first  private  banks,  was  to  run  for  sixty-live 
years,  covering  twenty-two  triennial  terms  of  repayment.  In  the  middle  of 
tiie  century  the  amount  due  for  repayment  at  each  term  is  said  to  have 
been  between  ^"300,000  and  /.400.CCG. 

The  Government,  it  is  obvious,  had  not  realized  that  the  object  to  be 
aimed  at  was  a  permanent  addition  to  the  currency,  limited  only  by  the 
credit  of  the  State  :  for  the  triennial  cash  payments  seem  to  have  been 
made  regularly  for  nineteen  terms,  so  that  the  paper  currency  must  have 
contracted  considerably  before  it  was  proposed  'early  in  tiie  administration 
of  Wang-ngan-shij  to  redeem  the  expiring  bonds  with  a  new  issue  to  run 
for  twenty-rive  terms,  or  seventy-five  years  in  all. 

Meanwhile  the  introduction  of  paper  had  done  nothing  to  lessen  tiie 
evils  arising  from  the  joint  use  of  iron  and  copper,  or  from  the  dearth  of 
To  save  tiie  expense  of  carriage  and  to  meet  the  cost  of  border 
wars,  mines  and  foundries  were  opened  in  the  neighbourhood  of  tiie 
armies,  and  tiie  !o<  al  metal,  whatever  it  might  be,  was  put  into  circulation. 
I  ntortunately.  however,  when  copper  and  iron  were  used  together,  the 
nomin  l1  vai  le  of  die  two  coinages  was  not  1  roportioned  to  their  real  com- 
parative value  .:.  exchange;  even  that  proportion  fluctuated,  and  specu- 
la! :"s  ex  iu_'erat(.d  tiie  fluctuation,  so  that  all  tiie  disadvantages  of  a 
bimetallic  <  urrency  were  intro  i  iced  with  little  corresponding  benefit. 

S  ■:.  :  confusion  mav  be  formed  from  the  report  of  an  offii 

protesting  against  tiie  instructions  he  had  just  received  to  buy  up  tiie 
super  fin  1  a-  ii  u  m  ney  at  a  1  \e  1  price.  ,;  ¥1  >r  43  copper  coin,  "he  observes, 
"we  get  one  poun  1  01  lev,  and   i.ece    ;  ieces  of  small  copper 

nioiie}  ma;  ■  <.  \  hange ■ ';  :  a  1  .coo  iron  pieces  of  a  value  of  2. ::;.  A 
■  .  1'  sand  sin,  11  ii"  in  p  ei  1  -  '  out  tin  <<  lbs.  1  if  iron,  and  if  people  cast  2x03 
piei  es  of  it  and  exchange   them  for  1,000   copper   pieces,  the  Government 


TAXATION  AND   FINANCE    UNDER    THE    SUNG.    195 

in  my  humble  opinion  sustains  a  considerable  loss."  v  The  iron  pieces,  he 
goes  on,  are  bought  and  sold  as  bullion  at  half  the  price  they  bear  as 
coined  money  ;  so  to  buy  up  the  iron  while  still  allowing  the  iron  money 
to  circulate  was  indeed  ruinous.  The  most  practical  remedy  finally  applied 
was  that  of  issuing  copper  money  in  some  districts  and  iron  in  others  ; 
but  this  device  could  scarcely  have  been  tried  without  the  help  of  the 
new  paper  money,  to  serve  for  the  larger  commercial  transactions  between 
comparatively  distant  parts  of  the  country. 

The  laws  against  the  hoarding  and  exportation  of  metal  were  repealed  by 
Wang-ngan-shi,  who  seems  to  have  been  an  advocate  forasmuch  free  trade 
as  could  survive  the  competition  of  the  State  as  the  greatest  trader.  His 
critics  complained  that  the  country  was  drained  of  its  metal  currency  to 
supply  the  barbarians,  while  his  defenders  argued,  like  advanced  econo- 
mists, that  there  could  be  no  loss  if  the  money  went  out  in  exchange  for 
goods,  especially  as  it  might  be  expected  to  come  back  again  in  exchange 
for  more  goods.  The  defect  in  this  reasoning  seems  to  have  been  that 
it  assumed  the  Tatars  to  be  a  civilized  and  commercial  people,  instead 
of  half-reclaimed  nomads,  able  to  find  a  use  for  money  when  other  people 
would  coin  it  for  them,  but,  as  a  rule,  more  inclined  to  acquire  such  Chi- 
nese goods  as  pleased  them  by  forays  or  blackmail  than  by  the  exchange 
of  commodities.  In  any  case  it  is  obvious  that  a  metal  currency  which 
was  not  sufficient  in  quantity  for  the  needs  of  China  proper  could  not 
be  scattered  over  Mongolia  and  Central  Asia  without  aggravating  the 
domestic  inconvenience. 

As  already  mentioned,  a  fresh  issue  of  kiao-tsze  to  run  for  thirteen  years, 
making  in  addition  to  the  original  term  seventy-five  years  in  ail,  was  made 
in  1072  A.D.  :  these  were  to  be  exchangeable  for  the  expiring  bills  of  the 
first  issue.  Hut  in  1076  they  were  suspended  on  the  pretext,  we  are  told, 
that  the  merchants  realized  too  large  a  profit  on  their  purchases  and  sales 
at  the  expense  of  the  Government  This  may  mean  only  that,  by  the  help 
of  the  Government  paper,  private  commerce  continued  to  realize  a  return 
which  the  Innovator  coveted  in  vain.  We  are  not  told  exactly  what  hap- 
pened on  the  expiry  of  the  kiao-tsze  at  the  close  of  the  nth  century,  but 
the  first  years  of  the  next  century  witnessed  the  issue  of  a  new  kind  of 
paper,  issued  in  excessive  quantities  in  the  vain  hope  of  so  providing  for 
the  expenses  of  the  war  against  the  Leao,  This  paper  was  not  much  in 
request,  and  to  mend  matters  the  Government,  which  was  in  the  hands  of 
Wang's  successors,  ordered  that  all  payments  above  a  certain  value  should 
be  made  half  in  it  and  half  in  copper.  The  only  result  was  that  the 
paper  fell  to  a  tenth  and  then  to  a  hundredth  of  its  nominal  value. 

The  military  collapse  of  the  Empire  diverted  attention  from  its  financial 
failure,  and  as  this  money  had  been  mainly  used  in  the  Northern  provinces, 
the  Southern  Sung  left  their  creditors  behind  them.  The  credit  of  the 
Government  was  nut  improved  by  the  diminution  in  its  territory,  for  barrier 
bonds,  issued  1131,  for  the  sake  of  saving  carriage,  in  payment  of  provi- 
1  Vissering,  Currency,  p.  119. 


ICjfi 


OWNERSHIP  IV    CHINA. 


sions  delivered  to  the  troops  in  Sz'clmen,  were  redeemed  by  the  Govern- 
ment at  only  one-third  of  the  price  of  issue,  which  of  course  made  the 
tradesmen  unwilling  to  accept  payment  in  such  coin  in  future.  After  this, 
one  depreciated  and  inconvertible  paper  succeeded  another,  till  in  1166  a 
vigorous  attempt  was  made  to  revert  to  specie  payment,  and  a  million 
ounces  of  silver  were  employed  to  buy  up  the  hoei-tsze  in  circulation. 

This  is  the  first  time  so  large  a  sum  of  silver  is  mentioned,  and  we  may  infer 
from  it  thai  the  metal  was  already  used,  as  now,  in  private  commerce  as  a 
medium  of  exchange  by  weight,  but  no  attempt  was  made  to  introduce 
silver  money.  From  time  to  time  attempts  were  made  to  apply  the  pre- 
cedents derived  from  the  history  of  base  copper  money  to  the  depreciated 
paper.  Sometimes  it  was  accepted  in  payment  of  taxes,  though  more  often 
the  Government  helped  to  discredit  it  by  only  accepting  it  at  its  lowest 
rates.  The  acme  of  perversity  was  perhaps  reached  in  1167  A.D.,  when  it 
was  proposed  to  buy  up  the  depreciated  hoei-tsze  at  ro  per  cent,  of  their 
original  va'ue.  Apparently  this  offer  so  far  improved  their  credit  that 
private  dealers  were  willing  to  take  them  at  a  less  severe  discount,  but  this 
was  forbidden  under  heavy  penalties.  In  1133  the  emperor  Kao-tsung.  in 
speaking  of  the  depreciated  bills,  nai'vely  suggested  that  Government  offi- 
cials, who  had  a  million  strings  of  cash  in  their  storehouses,  should  keep  up 
the  credit  of  the  paper  bv  timely  purchases  :  but  we  do  not  learn  that  their 
patriotism  took  this  form,  and  in  r  1  60  the  laws  against  hoarding  metal  were 
revived  :  TgS.ooo  was  the  maximum  allowed  to  a  Government  official,  and 
half  that  sum  for  private  persons. 

Copper  plates  were  used  at  this  time  for  printing  the  notes  instead  of 
wood,  and  the  constant  issues  of  fresh  paper  may  be  excused  to  a  certain 
extent  by  the  tlimsiness  of  the  material,  which  caused  them  to  wear  out 
rapidly.  In  1210  a  quantity  of  bonds  were  again  bought  up  in  Sz'chuen 
by  the  Government,  which  dispatched  i^old  and  silver  from  the  Treasury  for 
the  purpose.  Meanwhile  the  complaints  about  the  exportation  of  the 
precious  metals  continued,  though  the  Kin  had  long  proved  their  civiliza- 
tion, by  issuing  paper  money  themselves  and  reproducing  most  of  the  in- 
conveniences of  Chinese  finance  ;  that  is  to  say,  as  soon  as  their  convertible 
paper  monev  had  become  popular  and  its  conversion  was  seldom  demanded, 
tl     v  hasl  aie  1  to  discredit  it  by  omitting  to  keep  any  cash  reserve  at  all. 

This  would  make  the  civilized  subjects  of  t  lie  Northern  ban  pi  re  as  anxious 
to  borrow  cooper  from  the  South  as  their  barbarian  predecessors  had  been 
and  t!  e  M.  ing<  >ls  -uiil  w  ere:  unfortunately,  also,  the  first  provinces  to  fail  into 
the  hands  of  the  Mongols  were  those  whence  the  chief  supply  of  copper  was 
derived.  --,1  that  the  material  difficulties  in  the  way  of  establishing  a  satis- 
factory currency  were  renllv  great.  Special  bills  of  exchange  were  issued 
to  serve  as  a  means  of  communication  between  districts,  like  those  on  the 
two  sides  of  the  Hwai.  which  used  respectively  iron  and  copper  money: 
and  all  the  perplexities  of  the  Government  were  aggravated  by  its  habit 
of  treating  the  paper  monev  as  naturally  and  necessarily  destined  only  for 
.i  11  al  <  itc  :iat:on. 


TAX  ATI  OX  AND   FINANCE    INDIA'    THE   SUNG.    197 

A  contemporary  writer  cited  by  Ma-t\van-lin  '  thus  describes  the  general 
result:  "  After  having  tried  for  years  and  months  to  support  and  maintain 
(the  depreciated  notes),  the  people  had  no  longer  any  confidence  in  them, 
but  were  positively  afraid  of  them.  For  the  payment  for  Government  pur- 
chases was  made  in  paper  ;  the  funds  of  the  salt  manufactories  consisted 
ot  paper,  the  salaries  of  all  the  officers  were  paid  in  paper,  the  soldiers  re- 
ceiving their  pay  in  paper.  Of  the  provinces  and  districts  already  in  arrear 
there  was  not  one  that  did  not  discharge  its  debts  in  paper.  Copper  money, 
which  was  seldom  seen,  was  considered  a  treasure.  The  capital  collected 
together  in  former  days  to  supply  the  border  fortifications  was  a  thing  not 
even  spoken  of  any  more.  So  it  was  natural  that  the  prices  of  commodities 
rose,  while  the  value  of  the  paper  fell  more  and  more.  Among  the  people 
this  caused  them,  already  disheartened,  to  lose  all  energy;  the  soldiers  were 
continually  anxious  that  they  should  not  get  enough  to  eat,  and  the  inferior 
officials  in  all  parts  of  the  empire  raised  complaints  that  they  had  not 
enough  even  to  procure  the  commonest  necessaries.  All  this  was  a  result 
of  the  depreciation  of  the  paper  money,  and  as  the  paper  money  depreciated 
the  metallic  money  is  consequently  depreciated  likewise  " 

This  last  not  very  lucid  sequence  perhaps  means  that  the  depreciation  of 
the  paper  encouraged  coiners  to  debase  what  was  left  of  the  copper  money. 
But  we  certainly  hear  less  of  this  grievance  under  the  Sung  than  before 
the  introduction  of  paper  for  general  use.  So  far  as  the  Government  was 
concerned,  perhaps  the  sound  views  enunciated  by  one  Kung-I,  ot 
Xan-tsi,  regarding  the  casting  of  money,  may  have  come  into  general  ac- 
ceptance. This  sagacious  person  declares,  albeit  rather  late  in  the  day, 
'■  That  it  is  not  allowed  to  be  sparing  of  the  copper  or  to  grudge  the 
workmanship  ;  for  as  soon  as  the  copper  is  not  spared,  the  casting  of  money 
is  without  profit,  and  if  no  profit  is  to  be  made,  false  coiners  do  not  care  to 
arise  ;  this  again  is  the  reason  that  the  money  comes  back  in  its  lull  value 
as  it  was  cast,  when  it  is  withdrawn  as  well  as  when  it  is  issued  again  . 
and  tins  is  the  greater  profit  of  the  two." 

If,  to  borrow  Ma-twandin's  phrase,  the  peculiarities  of  the  institution  of 
copper  money  had  been  thus  penetrated  a  few  centuries  sooner,  Chinese 
rulers  would  have  saved  themselves  much  trouble.  And  the  same  remark 
applies  to  the  Encyclopaedist's  own  criticisms  on  the  use  of  paper  money 
in  his  own  times. 

After  observing  that  it  would  have  been  sufficient  to  issue  paper  money 
at  the  court  alone,  he  continues:  "At  present  there  are  besides  the 
already  circulating  Hoei-tsze  (or  bonds)  the  credit  notes  ot  Sz chuen. 
tho.^e  of  the  Hwai  provinces  and  the  Hoei-tzse  of  the  Hu  region,  and  ea<  h 
of  those  provinces  prints  and  makes  them  for  itself,  and  tiie  end  ot  it  is, 
that  the  repayment  does  not  take  place,  and  that  they  are  no  more  a  means 
balancing  the  actual  possession.  How  is  this?  With  the  very  first 
intention  to  institute  this  Hoei-tzse  it  was  not  original;}"  so  that  t  .ey  were 
looked  upon  as  money,  but  they  were  then  considered  to  be  of  the  nature 
1    Ap.  \V.  Yisserir.g,  On  Chinese  Curmin  ,  p.  207. 


i98  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

of  the  receipts  for  tea,  salt,  and  other  Government  productions  balancing 
money  only  temporarily.  .  .  .  (The  different  notes  were  of  different 
values,  but)  there  was  only  printed  on  the  receipts  that  the  merchants 
must  present  them  in  order  to  receive  for  them  tea,  salt,  aromatics  or 
pother)  articles,  and  therefore  for  these  notes  a  separation  and  division  into 
different  districts  was  necessary,  as  for  instance  receipts  for  lump  salt  could 
only  circulate  in  Shensi,  while  receipts  for  crushed  salt  are  current  only  in 
the  Kiangs  and  the  Hwai  regions. 

"The  Hoei-tsze,  on  the  contrary,  served  to  be  given  and  taken  in  payments, 
when  private  as  well  as  public  persons  bought  or  sold  something,  without 
its  occurring  that  they  disappeared  not  to  be  used  any  more''  (like  the 
receipts;.  If  they  were  thus  to  be  used  as  a  substitute  for  ordinary  metallic 
money,  it  was  needless  to  have  local  issues  with  limited  currency  :  the 
paper  money,  as  long  as  it  was  not  in  excess,  was  naturally  used  for  its  con- 
venience as  widely  as  the  metal  it  represented,  and  the  restriction  did  not 
prevent  its  ultimate  depreciation.  "  The  reason  why  later  withdrawals  and 
repayments  only  produced  new  issues,  and  that  after  being  repeatedly 
increased,  they  at  last  fell  in  value  as  the  number  issued  became  greater, 
is  because  in  the  beginning  when  the  law  was  made  and  the  plan  discussed 
the  Government  had  not  penetrated  all  the  peculiarities  of  the  institution  " 
of  the  issue  of  paper  money).1 

Further  criticism  is  needless,  but  as  European  economists  have  always 
taken  a  lively  interest  in  this  first  known  experiment  in  the  use  of  paper 
money,  it  is  well  to  note  how  far  the  experiment  was  influenced  in  China  by 
tlie  analogies  of  earlier  and  perverse  regulations  regarding  the  scanty  metal 
currency.  It  may  adso  be  doubted  whether  the  national  loss  and  suffering 
i  aused  by  tlie  depreciated  paper  can  have  been  as  great  in  proportion  as  it 
would  in  a  community  not  already  accustomed  to  every  kind  ot  monetary 
inconvenience.  At  the  \  resent  day.  English  merchants  in  China  watch 
with  amusement  the  dexterity  with  which  their  clerks  and  errand  hoys  play 
the  l  ait  of  a  money  changer,  spending  vast  ingenuity  and  knowledge  of 
the  market  to  clear  a  single  rent.  Such  a  people  are  better  able  than 
most  to  defend  themselves  against  Government  frauds. 

We  Imve  the  categorical  assurance  of  Marco  Polo,  which  counts  for 
something,  that  the  paper  money  was  taken  readily  by  both  native  and 
Xo  doubt  trade  and  commerce  suffered  from  the  contusion, 
but  the  loss  was  probably  more  equally  spread  over  tlie  community  than 
would  1  e  the  case  in  any  Kuropean  country  with  a  large  and  helpless  wage- 
receivim  <  lass.  '1  he  pi  '::;<  al  consequences  were  not  the  less  disastrous  on 
tin's  account.  I'i;e  Southe  n  empire  was  not  ruined  economically;  but  in 
;  ro]  rtii  n  ;  -  the  <  ost  ot"  the  dei  reoiation  of  the  paper  was  borne  by  the 
richer  i  .  I      :r   lovaitv    to  the  existing   regime    was    impaired,  and  dis- 

organization 1  •  _  n.  w  iii  ii  was  not  less  dangerous  than  that  ot  feudalism, 
:h  of  a  dii  ind. 

"Riches   are    the    handle    h   Id   bv    the    rulers   of  men."    according  to   a 


TAXATION   AND    FINANCE    UNDER    THE    SUNG.    199 

minister  of  Wen-ti,  who  was  urging  his  master  not  to  allow  private  mints. 
The  issues  of  provincial  notes,  not  available  throughout  the  empire,  pro- 
bably did  more  than  any  other  single  measure  to  counteract  the  centraliz- 
ing policy  by  which  the  first  Sung  emperors  hoped  to  save  their  empire 
from  dismemberment.  The  dynasty  was  not  destroyed  by  a  discontented 
commercial  class,  but  it  was  not  defended  with  loyalty  by  any  class  ;  as 
Marco  Polo  says,  the  country  would  never  have  been  lost  if  the  people  had 
but  been  soldiers;  and  to  make  soldiers  of  the  peace-loving  Chinese  the 
central  Government  always  needed  to  make  itself  at  once  strong  and 
popular,  so  that  its  existence  and  maintenance  should  be  associated 
in  the  minds  of  the  multitude  with  their  actual  enjoyment  of  peace  and 
plenty. 

In  the  12th  century  and  the  first  half  of  the  13th,  peace  and  plenty 
indeed  reigned  in  Southern  China,  but  the  emperor's  share  in  securing 
these  boons  was  negative  :  he  did  not  plunder  his  people  of  the  fruits  of 
their  own  industry,  and  he  did  not  attack  the  neighbours  he  would  have 
been  unable  to  resist.  The  power  of  peace  and  war  thus  rested  first  with 
the  Kin  and  then  with  the  Mongols,  and  so  the  allegiance  of  the  Chinese 
was  half  transferred  beforehand  to  their  new  rulers. 

The  development  of  trade  and  industry  indicated  by  the  size  and  mag- 
nificence of  the  principal  towns  probably  contributed,  with  the  scarcity  of 
money,  to  increase  the  price  of  the  necessaries  of  life. 

In  some  of  the  tables  of  taxes  paid  in  kind,  the  c/ii  of  rice  is  put  down 
as  equivalent  to  a  string  of  cash  (1,000),  which  is  more  than  three  times  as 
much  as  the  price  current  under  the  Tang.  M.  Biot  inclines  to  think  that 
this  is  too  high,  and  quotes  an  example  from  an  arithmetical  text-book  by 
the  great  Choo-hi  to  show  that  500  or  600  cash  was  a  more  usual  price.1 
But  prices  even  in  English  text-books  are  apt  to  become  somewhat 
traditional,  and  a  Chinese  Colenso  would  be  more  likely  to  perpetuate  in 
his  examples  the  supposed  prices  of  Yao  and  Shun  than  to  follow  the 
fluctuations  of  the  contemporary  market.  In  any  case  the  rise  in  the  value 
of  agricultural  produce  would  not  bear  hardly  on  the  peasantry  while  they 
still  formed  the  bulk  of  the  population  and  received  the  price  of  their  crops 
themselves.  We  learn  incidentally  from  the  famous  litterateur,  Su-tung-po,2 
that  the  owner  of  an  estate,  which  brings  in  1,000  pieces  of  silk  per  annum, 
is  a  rich  man,  who  might  live  in  a  palace  and  enjoy  all  the  pleasures  of 
luxury.  Unfortunately,  we  are  no  more  able  to  put  a  price  on  the  roll  of 
silk  than  on  the  chi  of  rice  of  the  period,  but  when  we  last  compared  these 
values  they  stood  at  about  3s.  3,-/.  ;  so  if  the  price  of  silk  had  remained 
unchanged  since  the  Tang,  a  rich  man  in  the  nth  century  would  have 
rejoiced  in  the  income  of  ,{,162  ics.,  or  under  ^500,  even  supposing  the 
price  to  have  trebled,  as  is  scarcely  probable. 

1  Joitnr.  .-Is.,  Sept.  1S3S,  p.  320. 
-'  ( lilcs,  Gems,  p.  196. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

TWO  LITERARY  STATESMEN  OF  THE  SUNG  DYNASTY. 

Therm  are  many  eminent  scholars  of  the  Sung  age  of  whom  we  know 
little  except  that  they  were  opp  >se<I  to  Wang-ngan-shi,  and  wrote  commen- 
taries on  the  Vi  King.  Of  ail  to  whom  this  description  applies,  the  palm 
of  eloquence  was  by  common  consent  awarded  to  Su-che,  whose  strictures 
on  the  Government  have  already  been  quoted.  The  life  of  this  worthy. 
like  that  of  Ssema-kwang.  has  a  more  than  personal  interest,  as  the  account 
of  his  administration  '  gives  a  clearer  picture  than  we  have  yet  obtained  of 
the  way  in  which  the  Chinese  ideal  of  paternal  government  was  realized 
under  the  occasional  rule  of  learned  and  popular  governors. 

After  his  report  on  the  disaffection  of  the  graduates,  he  was  naturally 
out  oi  favour  at  court,  and  his  disgrace  took  the  form  of  appointment 
to  tlie  governorship  of  Hang-chow.  The  neighbourhood  had  suffered 
severely  from  brigandage,  and  even  more  from  the  excesses  of  the  tr 
sent  to  put  down  the  brigands.  The  new  governor's  discriminating  firm- 
ness soon  restored  order,  the  officers  who  haul  connived  at  o.  pression  were 
put  to  death,  the  common  soldiers  pardoned,  and  tiie  people  protected. 
The  water  supply  of  tiie  town  was  in.  a  deplorable  state:  the  reservoirs 
built  during  the  Tang  Dynasty  and  the  canals  which  fed  them  had  been 
,ved  to  fall  out  of  repair,  and  the  public  health  was  suffering  from  the 
want  of  drinkable  water.  Money  was  scarce  and  the  necessary  works  verv 
extensive,  but  tiie  governor  ]  sted  an  eloquent  proclamation,  beginnh  : 
with  the  elementarv  proposition  of  modern  sanitary  science — that  nothing 
contributes  so  much  to  preserve  tiie  health  and  lite  ot  mankind  as 
s'ifticieiit  sup;  !y  of  wholesome  water— and  then  appealing  to  the  pern  . 
do  the  necessary  work  themselves,  without  payment,  for  the  good  oi 
posterity  and  their  own  parents  and  chddreii. 

Lai  cisii  n  -  were  cleaned,  the  hike  dredged  and   dyked,  and  tiie 

emi    m km         .    id  i    it  as    m  ornament   1    promenade,  with    bridges  over  1 
o]  enine    tor  admitting   \     tei  in!  i  :  ie  town   reserv  ars  from  die    ki  me  and 
i        :.    ,v  i  ■.  ay  ,'.    si    ■  t  entirely  of  tne  reiuse  and 

s    .     Ttaincd   in   deepening      mi   i  dug    tiie   lake    bottom,  and    besid    - 

>er\';ii_  as  ,i  conveiiieii:  roadwav.  it  was  planted  with  aven  ics  ot  tree-  a  no 
i  ei'ume  a  luvotirit  ■  ]  eastire  res  at  oi  tiie  citizens.  Martini  des<  ribes  tne 
luk     as  still   ci_eu    in    ins   time    with   ouavs   of  cut  stone    and    crossed    i>v 


TWO    LITERARY  STATESMEN.  201 

causeways,  furnished  with  lofty  bridges  to  allow  of  the  passage  of  boats  ; 
and,  though  the  city  itself  has  much  contracted  in  size  and  splendour 
since  Marco  Polo's  day,  the  Chinese  still  regard  it  as  a  paradise  and  sober 
Knglishmen    as   "a  spot   of  peculiar  attraction" — which    might   surely  be 

heightened  by  a  little  knowledge  of  its  historic  associations.  Part  of  the 
shore  of  the  lake  Si-hou  planted  by  him   with  trees  and  water-lilies  is  still 

called  ••  The  quay  of  Master  Su."  All  the  neighbourhood  had  contributed 
cheerfully  to  the  work,  which  was  accomplished  in  four  years.  In  com- 
memoration of  its  success  the  citizens  had  their  governor's  portrait  taken, 
and  even'  householder  insisted  on  providing  himself  with  a  copy. 

Su-che  belonged  to  a  younger  generation  than  Ssema-kwang,  having  only 
taken  his  degree  in  1057,  and  the  vicissitudes  of  his  career  were  not  yet 
over.  He  was  removed  to  Su-cbow,  where  his  rule  was  equally  beneficent. 
Hut  on  his  next  change  of  office,  when  required  by  custom  to  write  a  letter 
of  thanks  to  the  emperor,  he  allowed  himself  again  to  remonstrate  on  the 
subject  of  the  new  regulations  ;  and  his  eloquence  being  of  a  rather  fiery 
kind,  his  enemies  took  the  opportunity  of  accusing  him,  not  only  of  ad- 
dressing the  emperor  in  an  improper  manner,  but  also  of  having  written 
certain  biting  satires  and  epigrams  which  were  in  the  mouths  of  all  men. 
The  point  of  some  of  these  is  visible  even  to  the  European  eye,  and  others 
only  need  to  have  their  allusions  explained  for  us  to  appreciate  the  sensation 
caused  by  such  a  revival  of  the  plain-speaking  of  the  satirical  odes.  Wang- 
ngan-shi  may  be  excused  if  he  thought  there  was  not  room  in  the  same 
Government  for  him  and  the  author  of  an  epigram  :  "  Kwan  was  employed 
by  Yao  and  put  to  death  by  Shun  ;  how  many  Kwans  will  have  to  be  put 
to  death  by  the  successor  of  our  august  Vao,  the  wise  prince  under  whom 
we  have  the  happiness  of  living  1  "' 

The  following  was  a prepos  of  a  duty  on  salt,  and  alludes  to  an  anecdote 
of  Confucius,  who  was  so  enraptured  by  some  ancient  melodies  called 
Chao-yo  that  for  three  months  afterwards  the  choicest  delicacies  made  no 
impression  on  his  palate,  —  he  had  no  taste  for  anything  but  the  music.1 
"Who  can  doubt  the  power  of  the  music  Chao?  its  effects  have  been 
renewed  in  our  own  days.  For  three  whole  months  our  food  has  lost  its 
savour  !  "-  -the  fact  being  that  for  three  months  the  people  had  either 
gone  without  salt  or  procured  it  contraband,  rather  than  supply  themselves 
from  the  Government  stores.  A  treasonable  sense  was  ascribed  to  other 
less  intelligible  verses,  and,  notwithstanding  the  emperor's  admiration  for 
all  Su-che's  writings,  and  his  reluctance  to  have  them  misinterpreted,  the 
satirist  was  deprived  of  his  charges  and  imprisoned,  though  not  for  long. 
and  then  sent  to  reside  under  surveillance  in  a  provincial  town. 

In   1  07 2  the  Emperor  was  advised  that  it  was  time  to  have  the  historical 
irs  of  his  dynasty   arranged,  and   he  at  once  proposed  that  the  com- 
mission should  be  given  to  Su-che,  for  whose  style  he  had  an  inextinguish- 
able  admiration.      He    had  already,  some  ten  or  twelve   years   previously, 
suggested  that  Su-che  should   be  employed  as  one  of  the  historians  of  his 

1  Ana  'tcts,  vii.  p.  13. 


202  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

own  reign,  but  was  dissuaded  by  Wang,  who  had  a  well-grounded  forebod- 
ing of  t'ne  figure  he  and  his  master  were  likely  to  cut  in  a  history  written 
by  the  most  eloquent  of  their  critics.  When  the  emperor's  proposal  was 
overruled,  a  certain  Tseng-kong  was  appointed.  He  tried  his  skill  upon 
the  interesting  reign  of  the  founder  of  the  dynasty,  and  the  result  was 
submitted  to  the  emperor,  who,  having  read  to  t'ne  end,  asked  for  pencil 
and  paper,  and  wrote  silently  :  '"  I  appoint  Su-che  to  the  post  of  historio- 
grapher." 

Apparent]}'  at  this  time,  though  the  reigning  emperor  did  not  read  what 
was  written  of  his  own  days,  the  memoirs  of  previous  reigns  were  open  to 
inspection,  and  were  edited  from  time  to  time,  when  the  moment  had  come 
for  an  impartial  revision.  In  a  literary  age  no  doubt  the  tendency  was  to 
abridge  increasingly  the  conventional  delays.  The  official  history  of  the 
Tang  Dynasty  was  not  put  in  hand  till  the  year  1060,  and  t'ne  incomplete- 
ness of  t'ne  previous  works  of  unofficial  writers  was  explained  by  the 
statement  that  they  had  not  had  access  to  t'ne  documents  of  the  Tribunal 
of  History,  which  were  now  made  public  for  t'ne  first  time.  The  reigning 
Sung  emperors  apparently  wished  to  do  for  their  own  immediate  prede- 
cessors .vi.a:  I  ad  hitherto  only  been  done  for  the  preceding  dynasty. 

W  hen  Tche-tsong  began  to  govern  in  1093.  the  regulations  of  Wang- 
ngan-shi  were  revived,  and  Su-che  was  again  hunted  by  Ins  enemies  from 
one  post  to  another  and  finally  exiled  on  a  renewed  charge  of  satirizing 
the  Government.  At  his  place  of  banishment,  no  house  was  provided  for 
his  residence,  and  t'ne  officials  refused  to  render  him  any  assistance  :  so  he 
resorted  to  his  old  method  of  appealing  to  the  general  public.  He  posted 
up  a  placard  :  "The  exiled  Su-che  wishes  to  build  a  hut,  but  has  not  the 
wherewithal.'"'  All  the  passers-by  stopped  to  read,  and  the  scholars  began 
to  exclaim  one  to  another  :  "  Su-che  !  the  great  man  who  saved  Su-chow 
from  inundation  and  made  the  great  causeway  in  the  lake  Si-hou  !  surely 
it  is  our  business  to  work  for  him  if  lie  is  in  need  of  help  : :"'  and  promptly 
a  sul  ;i  ription  was  opened  and  a  neat  dwelling  built,  where  the  exile  pro- 
ceeded contentedlv  to  edit  t'ne  comnientarv  on  t'ne  Vi  King  begun  by  has 
father.  11  ■  died  in  1  100.  just  after  the  amnesty  for  a  new  re'gn  winch  put 
an  eia;  to  his  exile. 

(  >ne  of  the  most  interesting  documents  bearing  on  the  private  life  of  the 
peri".:  is  the  will  of  t'ne  learned  d  ctor  Vang-ciii  1  (died  1132).  whose 
testaiiK  ntary  counsels  to  his  children  show,  with  rather  touching  simplicity, 
'now  tlie  prim  '.  s  of  (1  nfuci  m  moraiitv  are  -till  expected  to  regulate  tile 
conduct   of  ( '.hinese    households.      His    last   will    and   testament  is  a 

tii     i    ii    1     ...    nt,  1    it  lie   begins  it  bv  summing  tip  the   theoretical    base 
■a    good    1  ei  avioar.       A    man    must    choose   his    line   in    life   beforehand; 
...    -;  to  iive  '■'.  belv.  and  tile  first  step  to  that  result  is  to  set  tiie 
will    rcso'iuiei)    mai    eond.-tentiv    towards  it :  action   is  determined    by  the 
:  11".  ■-.  tii   re f' ire  must  be  guarded  against  corrupt- 

ing   A:1  lence    and  trained  in  t'ne    i  a  ■  of  iustii  e.      1!  it  the    heart  is  g      led 


TWO    LITERARY  STATESMEN.  203 

by  the  thoughts,  and  therefore  the  thoughts  of  the  mind  must  be  rigorously 
examined  and  controlled,  the  good  thoughts  adopted  by  the  heart  and 
translated  into  action  and  the  evil  ones  rejected  and  forgotten.  If  the 
heart  cleaves  to  the  True  and  the  conscience  to  the  Good,  Heaven  and  all 
beneficent  influences  will  he  favourable;  while  those  who  take  the  opposite 
course  will  find  Heaven,  Earth,  all  spiritual  influences,  and  the  remorse  of 
their  own  consciences  against  them. 

After  this  prelude,  the  document  passes  at  once  to  practical  matters. 
The  sons  are  assured  that  it  is  not  at  all  necessary  to  take  a  literary  degree 
or  to  obtain  office  ;  hut  if  they  do  the  latter,  they  must  not  disgrace  their 
father's  memory  by  failing  in  uprightness  or  zeal  for  the  common  good. 
Their  mother  is  an  excellent  and  right-minded  woman,  they  must  conform 
in  all  things  to  her  views  ;  if  they  fail  in  piety  towards  her,  their  father's 
ghost  will  punish  them — if  it  can.  The  two  brothers  are  enjoined  to  live 
together  without  dividing  their  inheritance  ;  the  character  of  the  younger 
one  is  impetuous,  and  his  elder  is  requested  to  bear  with  him  in  this 
respect,  while  the  younger  is  charged  to  apologise  if  he  has  offended. 

Both  brothers  are  married,  the  elder  to  the  daughter  of  a  graduate,  the 
younger  to  the  daughter  of  an  officer.  Unless  both  husbands  look  to  it, 
this  circumstance  may  lead  to  incidents  fatal  to  domestic  peace  and  de- 
corum. The  mandarin's  daughter  is  not  to  dress  too  gaily,  which  would  try 
her  sister-in-law's  patience  ;  the  best  way  will  be  for  them  to  dress  alike, 
and  the  brothers  should  set  them  the  example.  They  should  also  all  take 
their  meals  together;  if  each  dined  apart  with  his  wife,  they  would,  before 
long,  love  each  other  less.  If  any  dispute  arises  between  them,  they  must 
refer  it  to  the  arbitration  of  friends,  and  in  no  case  go  to  law;  if  either 
were  guilty  of  an  appeal  to  the  magistrate,  the  other  was  to  produce  this 
Will  to  convict  him  of  a  breach  of  filial  piety  ;  the  wise  magistrate  wiil 
doubtless  then  exhort  and  admonish  the  dissentient,  so  as  to  effect  a 
reconciliation,  for  which  he  may  count  upon  the  testator's  gratitude — if  the 
souls  of  the  dead  have  any  [tower  to  serve  the  living. 

There  are  four  cousins  in  die  family  who  have  not  been  on  very  friendly 
terms  with  the  testator,  but  he  exhorts  his  sons  to  respect  them,  and  in 
regard  to  certain  family  property,  of  which  the  division  is  not  yet  complete, 
they  are  rather  to  yield  part  of  their  just  rights  than  engage  in  litigation. 
The  sons  are  warned  to  beware  of  persons  who  may  try  to  profit  by  their 
youth,  to  lead  them  into  extravagance  and  licentiousness;  they  are  urged 
to  use  their  studies  as  a  means  of  spiritual  cultivation,  not  to  waste  time 
upon  the  poets,  but  to  read  the  Classics  with  a  good  master,  and  cultivate 
the  society  of  solid  and  right-minded  persons  of  independent  judgment. 
The  apartments  of  the  women  should  be  kept  as  secluded  as  possible, 
and  tiie  girls  over  ten  strictly  confined  to  them;  visits  from  outside  should 
be  discouraged  :  there  are  women  who  only  come  to  promote  intrigues 
and  encourage  secret  sales  and  thefts. 

There  should  be  a  storehouse  for  the  provisions,  such  as  wine.  oil.  fruit, 
and  s  fit  meat,  and  a  barn   for  rice  and   vegetables  ;  the  accounts  and   keys 


2o4  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

should  be  kept  by  the  master  of  tiie  household.  The  table  should  be 
frugal,  clothing  suitable  to  one's  station,  and  useless  expenditure  on  furni- 
ture and  buildings,  for  the  sake  of  imitating  neighbours,  rigidly  avoided. 
The  goo  ///.  ,v  of  good  land,  of  which  the  estate  consists,  should  suffice 
for  the  two  sons,  but  economy  will  be  necessary  ;  if  they  wish  to  add  to 
the  property  for  their  children's  sake,  they  are  warned,  on  no  account. 
to  run  risks  with  borrowed  money  :  in  general,  the  thirst  for  wealth  is  a 
folly  ;  expenses  and  burdens  increase  faster  than  revenues,  and  the  rich  are 
exposed  to  many  vexations  besides  the  chance  of  official  persecution. 

Then  follows  a  characteristic  paragraph,  in  which  the  sons  are  told,  in 
quail  t  detail,  how  to  cultivate  the  kind  of  good  manners  widen  the  bar- 
barians J  on  and  Jouy  admired  in  the  State  of  Chow  ;  they  are  never  to  take 
the  best  place  or  the  best  piece  for  themselves;  to  return  courtesy  for  rude- 
ness, and.  if  they  are  ever  obliged  in  self-respect  to  stand  on  their  dignity, 
they  must  be  careful  not  to  appear  in  the  least  contemptuous.  Maxims 
that  Macchiaveili  or  La  Rochefoucauld  would  have  turned  into  cynical 
epigrams  are  laid  down  in  all  seriousness  and  good  faith  as  a  part  of 
politeness  and  morality.  The  good  that  one  sees  done  should  be  praised 
and  published,  and  the  evil  one  hears  forgotten.  If  somebody  says,  "So-and- 
so  has  done  vou  a  serviced'  you  should  answer  :  "  It  is  the  more  generous 
on  his  part,  as  I  have  never  been  able  to  oblige  him  in  any  way/'  If  you 
are  told  that  somebody  else  is  speaking  against  you,  reply:  "We  have 
alwavs  been  on  good  terms,  and  I  cannot  believe  that  he  would  wish  to 
affront  or  injure  me."  both  answers  will  be  repeated  to  those  whom 
the\-  coi  cern.  and  even  the  ill-will,  if  it  existed,  will  be  disarmed  by 
such  charitable  disbelief.  Such  conduct  is  not  only  virtuous,  it  is  the 
only  way  to  secure  the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  a  household. 

due  testator  proceeds  to  lay  down  rules  for  ids  sons'  conduct  towards 
their  other  relations.  He  himself  had  a  full  brother  and  two  sisters  (the 
tie  between  the  children  of  different  mothers  is  evidently  not  a  close  one). 
This  mcle  has  four  sons,  all  rich  and  prosperous:  these  need  no  help, 
but  both  aunts  are  in  poor  circumstances,  and  the  sons  are  ch  irge  1  to  c  ire 
for  and  respect  t.em  as  their  own  father,  d'wo  other  aunt,-,  and  any  other 
rein  ion-  re  to  be  ts-usted  as  far  as  ■  ossible  in  case  of  nee  i,  as  for  funeral 
or  marriage  expenses,  and  this  dutv  is  irrespective  of  their  frien  Him  ss  or 
good  benaviour.  A  vounjer  sister  is  to  be  assisted  liberally  as  long  ;  - 
and's   cin    .  :s   are    such  as   not   to  make   her    independent: 

and  th     -    n       re  solemnly   exhorted  n    t  to   grumble  or  remonstrate  at  any 
presents  their  common  mother  mav  like  to  give  her  daughter.      '1  ..     :, 
oi     \    :  .  lias   (    o,  in    customs   in    re_ia.nl    to   the    teachers   of    different 

LTenerat  on-  :  ;:  is  n  ;  s:  te  1  wii  l  th  :v  are.  but  the  sons  are  exhorted  to 
observe  them,  and  warned  _  a:-:  die  ingratitude  of  the  age;  son-,.:  1 
-trai  isoiis  it  is  s  id.  diotild  share  or  inherit  these  feelings  of  gratitude,  so  it 
is  proba  lie  :  at  the  i  :-t  'ins  referred  to  include  some  system  oi  gifts  or 
peiid   its  to  former  tun  >rs. 

Tiie  last  <  iauses  <  if  die  Will  refer  to  the  provisi'  m  to  be  made  for  servants 


TWO    LITERARY  STATESMEN.  205 

and  dependants.  There  is  a  favourite  youth  who  has  been  brought  up 
in  the  family  ;  50  mow  and  a  cottage  adjoining  the  family  burial  ground 
should   be  given   him,   if  he   proves   trustworthy   and   loyal  to   the   family 

interests  ;  but  this  is  only  provisional  :  if  he  tries  to  make  a  purse  for 
himself,  the  sons  are  discharged  from  all  obligations  towards  him  :  but  if  he 
behave  well,  they  are  in  due  time  to  make  over  20  mow  and  a  little 
house  as  a  gift  to  him  in  perpetuity.  Three  servants,  who  have  attended 
the  testator  for  many  years  in  the  exercise  of  his  magisterial  duties,  are 
to  receive  20  mow  each,  and  houses  by  the  family  cemetery  ;  but  these 
are  not  given  in  absolute  ownership,  'and  may  not  be  let  or  alienated. 
Nothing  is  said  about  the  children  of  these  servants,  and  their  claim  to 
inherit  the  above  privileges  would  doubtless  be  decided  equitably  when 
it  arose.  There  is  no  attempt  to  restrain  the  natural  liberties  of  each 
generation  by  the  authority  of  the  dead  hand. 

Such  a  will,  it  is  evident,  could  only  be  administered  without  litigation 
when  its  provisions  were  in  accordance  with  popular  custom  and  expecta- 
tion :  and  if  it  was  usual  and  proper  for  the  modest  estate  of  a  gentleman 
of  high  official  rank  to  be  bequeathed  subject  to  so  many  charges,  for  the 
benefit  of  poor  relations,  good  servants  and  young  dependants,  we  need 
not  seek  further  for  an  explanation  of  the  still  subsisting  scarcity  of  large 
fortunes  and  the  generally  equal  distribution  of  wealth  in  China.  This 
will  h  is  probably  been  preserved  on  account  of  its  literary  merits,  but  there 
is  nothing  in  the  substance  c(  it  that  would  be  out  of  date  or  place  in  the 
present  century  or  dynasty  ;  and  it  shows  even  more  clearly  than  Su-che's 
proclamations,  how  little  change  the  course  of  centuries  has  effected  in  the 
paternally  democratic  organization  of  Chinese  society. 

The  homely  details  of  the  paternal  instructions  gain  in  interest  when  we 
learn  that  their  author  was  an  illustrious  scholar — one  of  those  said  to 
know  all  the  Classics  by  heart  at  the  age  of  thirteen  1 — whose  reputation 
had  spread  as  far  as  Corea  while  he  was  still  occupying  a  private  station. 
After  his  name  was  brougl  before  the  Emperor,  he  was  made  inspector  of 
the  Imperial  College;  and  he  ;s  said  to  have  given  good  advice,  in  vain, 
concerning  treaties  with  the  Tatars.  He  urged  the  emperor  to  fortify  the 
frontier,  instead  of  sending  one  army. after  another  to  be  destroyed  beyond 
it  ;  and  when  complaints  were  made  of  the  scarcity  of  soldiers  and  the 
multiplication  of  students,  he  proposed  to  discharge  all  the  unpromising 
scholars  in  the  hope  that  some  of  them  would  take  to  arms.  Instead  of 
this,  they  rioted,  and  Vang-chi  had  to  be  sent  to  quiet  them,  which  he  did 
by  pointing  out  that  they  certainly  deserved  to  be  dismissed,  if  they  c  >uld 
so  tar  forget  the  teachings  of  Confucius  and  Mencius  as  to  resist  lawful 
authority. 

:   [  am  indebted  to  Mr.   R.   K.   Douglas  for  some  of  these  particulars. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

C    -"-'-  ROVERSIES,    THE  SCHOOLS  AXD   THE  EXAMINATIONS. 

The  feuds  which  had  raged  for  the  last  generation  were  inherited  and 
continued  by  the  scholars  and  politicians  of  the  12th  century.  Under 
the  regency  in  10S7  the  use  of  Taoist  and  Buddhist  authorities  in  the 
examinations  had  been  forbidden,  together  with  that  of  Wang-ngan-shi's 
dictionary:  but  the  revival  of  the  political  regulations  of  the  Innovator 
in  1093,  was  naturally  followed  by  the  rehabilitation  of  his  literary 
irity,  and  ten  Years  later  an  inscription  defamatory  of  Ssema-kwang 
and  his  adherents  was  ordered  to  be  engraved  and  posted  up  in  all  the 
towns  of  the  empire.  An  engraver  in  the  town  of  Chang-ngan  was 
ordered  to  execute  the  work,  but  having  read  the  inscription,  he  declined 
the  commission,  explaining  with  becoming  courtesy  that  a  man  of  his  small 
capacity  and  scanty  learning  was  unable  to  understand  the  utility  of  an 
inscription  attacking  the  zeal  and  integrity  of  so  eminent  a  public  servant. 
Upon  this  the  engraver  was  arrested  and  threatened  with  punishment;  he 
then  expressed  his  willingness  to  yield  under  compulsion,  but  he  begged 
not  to  be  obliged  to  affix  ids  signature  to  the  tablet.1  so  that  he  might 
escape  the  blame  of  posterity.  History  records  that  the  officers  were 
overwhelmed  with  confusion  at  tins  reply,  and  ordered  the  enlightened 
"  rtisan   to  be  set  at  liberty. 

In  1  1  13  the  laws  against  the  Taoists  were  repealed,  and  in  11 16  the 
em:  eror  established  public  schools  for  the  propagation  of  their  doctrines. 
I:;  1  \2<).  amidst  all  the  turmoil  attendant  on  the  division  of  the  empire, 
K  to-ts  >ng  atoned  for  all  previous  insults  to  the  memory  of  Ssema-kwang 
bv  pi  cing  his  portrait  among  those  of  the  imperial  ancestors.  During 
the  unfortunate  reign  of  Hoei-tsong.  the  Innovator's  commentaries  had 
been  ngain  in  use.  and  his  p  >rtrait  placed  in  the  temple  of  Confucius  by 
the  si  1  of  Mencius.  but  after  various  vicissitudes,  in  1241,  this  honour 
was  conferred  upon  a  number  of  his  contemporary  and  posthumous  ad- 
versaries, ami  h  ■  himseh  was  degraded,  as  one  who  did  not  tear  Heaven. 
1  ir  :•  i'.Iow  in  the  ant  lent  wavs. 

The   years  ol   peace   enjoyed   by  the   southern   Sui  _   towards  the  cl 
of  the    '2th   1    ntury.    when   the  aggressions   of    the    Kin    had  ceased   and 
those   of  the    Mongols    had    not    yet    begun,    were   taken    up   with   internal 
disputes.       In    1170   a   censor,   scandalized  at   the   eternal   animosities  ot 
the  schools  of  Wang-ng   n-shi   and  Tching-y   (whom   most  of  the  orthodox 


THE   SCHOOLS   AND    THE   EXAMINATIONS.         207 

revered  as  the  master  of  their  masters),  entreated  the  Emperor  to  cut  the 
disastrous  controversy  short  by  prohibiting  the  works  of  both  authors. 
This  heroic  measure  was  not  adopted,  and  a  virtual  victory  was  secured  to 
the  school  of  Tching-y  by  a  privy  councillor,  who,  disguising  his  own  par- 
tisanship, induced  the  Emperor  to  pronounce  himself,  in  general  terms, 
in  favour  of  the  writings  of  the  ancients,  among  whom  Wang  could  by  no 
possibility  be  counted. 

Choo-hi,  whose  commentaries  on  the  Classics  have  been  frequently 
alluded  to,  was  the  most  prominent  literary  statesman  of  the  period.  He 
was  born  in  1130,  of  poor  parents,  and  was  somewhat  rustic  in  dress  and 
exterior.  In  11 72  he  completed  the  classical  abridgment  or  Kang-mou 
of  Ssema-kwang's  history,  a  jejune  abstract  standing  to  the  full  history  in 
the  relation  occupied  by  the  Chun-tsew  of  Confucius  to  Tso's  commentary. 
In  1 179  he  was  employed  as  commandant  of  the  troops  at  Nan-kang,  and 
addressed  a  long  memorial  to  the  emperor,  who  had  invited  all  officers 
above  a  certain  rank  to  submit  to  him  their  views  as  to  the  reforms  which 
should  be  undertaken  in  consequence  of  bad  harvests.  Choo-hi  advised 
that  the  best  way  of  relieving  the  people,  without  cost  to  the  State,  would 
be  to  disband  the  troops  and  set  them  to  reclaim  waste  lands,  while  train- 
ing a  sort  of  militia  that  could  be  called  out  in  case  of  need. 

The  public  revenue  in  salt,  tea,  and  rice  for  the  whole  province  of 
Kiangsi  was  put  at  his  disposal  for  carrying  out  his  plan.  His  courage  and 
disinterestedness  were  on  a  level  with  his  zeal  for  the  public  good  ;  and 
when  an  officer  with  influential  friends,  whom  he  had  accused  of  malver- 
sation, tried  to  quash  the  prosecution  by  getting  Choo-hi  promoted  to  a 
higher  post,  he  refused  to  be  so  blinded,  and  declined  the  appointment. 
Vet  this  learned  and  sagacious  statesman  was  not  proof  against  the  weak- 
ness of  the  age.  He  and  another  scholar  of  the  name  of  Lin-tin  had  a 
controversy  respecting  interpretations  of  the  Yi  King,  which  assumed  such 
virulence  that  Choo-hi  refused  an  office  in  the  Board  of  War,  offered  by 
the  Emperor  himself,  because  his  adversary  already  had  a  seat  there;  and 
the  latter  was  so  indignant  that  the  offer  should  have  been  made,  that  he 
presented  a  memorial  against  Choo-hi  as  vehement  as  any  that  had  been 
launched  against  the  Innovator  himself. 

M.  Biot  compares  the  debates  upon  the  King  carried  on  at  the  Imperial 
court  with  those  of  the  theologians,  who  disputed  at  Constantinople  about 
the  interpretation  of  the  Gospels,  while  the  Turks  were  within  a  few  days' 
march  of  the  city.  True  patriots  were  seriously  alarmed  at  a  state  of 
things  which  recalled  the  internal  dissensions  of  the  reign  of  Tche-tsong, 
followed  by  the  dismemberment  of  the  empire.  The  author  of  an  in- 
teresting memorial,  dated  1189,  describes  the  change  which  had  taken  place 
in  the  interval  between  his  first  and  second  appearance  at  court.  The 
scholars  had  begun  to  form  parties  rather  than  schools,  and  were  more 
concerned  to  effect  the  ruin  of  their  rivals  than  to  promote  the  interests 
of  the  empire  or  even  to  establish  those  opinions  which  were  the  occasion 
of  dispute. 


2o8  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

Choo-hi  himself  was  a  rather  startling  and  rationalistic  commentator, 
and  though  his  rejection,  in  the  name  of  common  sense,  of  a  good  many 
traditional  interpretations,  would  not  alone  have  sufficed  to  raise  the 
theological  storm,  when  men's  minds  were  already  embittered,  they  were 
enough  to  cause  the  reproach  of  innovation  to  be  hurled  as  freely  from 
one  side  as  the  other.  Whatever  the  rights  of  the  controversy  might  be, 
the  dissensions  were  ane\il  per  se,  and  the  Memorialist  concluded  by 
entreating  the  Emperor  himself  to  lay  down  the  law  with  authority,  and 
proscribe  at  one  stroke  both  heresy  and  discussion. 

In  the  next  reign,  1194,  the  controversy  assumed  a  fresh  shape,  and  a 
comedv  was  performed  before  the  new  emperor  of  which  the  object  was 
to  ridicule  the  dress  and  manners  of  Choo-hi  and  Ins  disciples.'  The 
Commentator  was  dismissed  the  court,  but  his  adherents  resented  his  dis- 
grace, so  that  the  quarrel  waxed  warmer  than  ever.  His  doctrine  was 
traced  back,  to  prove  its  orthodoxy,  through  several  generations  of  scholars 
to  Tching-y  and  his  brother,  who  professed  to  teach  nothing  save  the 
truths  of  Chung-ne  and  Mang-txe  ;  but  on  the  other  hand  it  was  easily 
shown  that  Choo-hi  rejected  the  interpretations  of  many  intervening  com- 
mentators who  had  been  accepted  as  teaching,  and  intending  to  teach, 
Confucian  truth.  The  shades  ot  diflerence  between  the  two  parties  were 
so  slight  that  a  neutral  tinted  edict,  like  the  one  which  in  1178  secured 
the  victory  for  Tching-y's  school,  was  now  held  to  mark  the  defeat  of  his 
titular  disciple.  The  people  were  commanded  (1195)  to  adhere  to  the 
doctrine  of  Confucius  and  not  rely  upon  the  authority  of  commentators. 

This  was  intended  and  accepted  as  a  crushing  condemnation  of  those 
who  believed  in  the  commentaries  of  Choo-hi  and  the  latter  took  up  the 
challenge  and  composed  an  audacious  protest  which  he  intended  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Emperor.  His  friends  and  family  adjured  him  not  to  court 
destruction,  but  he  was  deaf  to  all  prudential  remonstrances,  and  only 
finally  agreed  to  burn  the  dangerous  document  after  consulting  the  tri- 
grams,  which  gave  an  oracle  to  the  effect  that  the  opinion  of  the  majority 
was  to  be  followed.  Choo-hi  died  in  1:00,  while  still  out  of  favour, 
having  borne  with  philosophy  the  desertion  of  fair-weather  friends.  It  is 
noticeable  that  the  historians  regarded  it  as  an  unworthy  piece  of  hypo- 
crisy, that  some  of  his  adherents  sought  to  escape  the  storm  of  persecution 
by  renouncing  the  scholar's  robe  and  taking  to  commerce. 

The  crowd  of  disciples  anxious  to  attend  his  funeral  was  so  great  that 
the  local  magistrate  applied  to  the  Kmperor  for  instructions,  and  to  avoid 
the  danger  ot  disturbance  the  ceremony  was  ordered  to  be  privately  per- 
formed. A  disciple,  indignant  at  the  cowardice  of  his  fellows,  wrote  a 
memorial  in  defence  of  the  master's  memory,  and  when  no  one  could  he 
found  willing  to  present  it  to  the  Kmperor,  he  struck  the  drum,  which  hung 
at  the  palace  gate,  as  a  last  resource  for  the  oppressed,  and  compelled  the 
reluctant  officials  to  take  charge  of  his  appeal.  He  treated  his  judges  with 
very  un-Chinese  impertinence,  but    was  only  sentenced    to  exile.      In  1202 

1    I  >e  Mailla.  viii.  p.  634. 


THE    SCHOOLS   AND    THE   EXAMINATIONS.  209 

the  leader  on  the  other  side,  though  still  in  power,  made  the  fortunate 
discovery  that  persecution  was  not  the  best  way  to  cool  the  zeal  of  parti- 
sans, and  peace  was  restored  by  an  edict  which  allowed  freedom  of 
opinion  but  forbade  disputes  under  heavy  penalties. 

The  periodical  examinations  were  held  regularly  under  the  five  posterior 
dynasties,  though  literature  and  learning  were  neglected.  In  930  we 
find  the  head  of  the  imperial  college  complaining  that  the  students'  {^io.>, 
(about  twelve  shillings)  remained  unpaid,  and  Ma-twan-lin  regards  the 
attempt  to  exact  them  as  part  of  the  general  venality  of  the  age,  when  poor 
scholars  were  oppressed  and  administrative  offices  put  up  for  sale.  Wood- 
engraving  or  printing  from  blocks,  which  was  introduced  in  953  for 
printing  bank  notes,  was  almost  immediately  applied  to  the  multiplication 
of  books,  and  in  983  mention  is  made  of  steel  plates  to  be  delivered  to 
the  imperial  college,  which  received  divers  other  benefactions  from  the 
two  first  emperors  of  the  dynast}'. 

The  provincial  colleges  had  almost  ceased  to  exist,  and  the  first  step 
towards  their  reorganization  seems  to  have  taken  the  form  of  charters, 
granted  to  existing  libraries  founded  by  private  persons  or  associations. 
Such  libraries  had  schools  attached  to  them,  and  when  these  were  well 
attended  and  thriving  it  was  obviously  needless  for  the  Government  to 
incur  the  expense  of  fresh  foundations.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  the 
modern  Nan-king,  one  of  these  libraries  was  founded  and  endowed  with 
lands  for  its  support  ;  in  all  six  such  libraries  and  schools  were  recognised 
in  different  parts  of  the  empire,  and  their  organization  was  imitated  in  the 
official  establishments  afterwards  founded  :  the  supply  of  the  cantonal 
schools  was  left  to  the  discretion  of  the  local  functionaries. 

M.  Biot  gives,  after  Ma-twan-lin,  full  particulars  x  respecting  the  examina- 
tions, including  the  rules  followed  in  marking  papers  under  the  Sung.  It 
was  considered  a  frivolous  reason  for  putting  candidates  in  the  first  rank 
that  they  had  finished  their  papers  sooner  than  others.  The  list  of 
literary  statesmen  who  made  the  dynasty  famous  in  spite  of  its  defeats,  is 
enough  to  show  that  the  examinations  did  bring  men  of  varied  ability  into 
the  public  service.  We  hear  less  than  formerly  of  the  jealousy  shown  by 
the  board  of  Offices  to  the  competitors  selected  by  the  Hoard  of  Kite-, 
and.  as  M.  Biot  observes,  the  bestowal  of  the  highest  degrees  was  re- 
garded as  an  important  affair  of  State'.  In  9S3,  for  instance,  it  is  recorded 
in  the  Annals  that  three  scholars  were  bracketted,  so  to  speak,  senior 
wranglers,  and  all  three  at  once  made  prefrts  darrondissement  of  the 
second  grade. 

The  old  ■•  College  of  the  hour  Gates  "  was  re-established  by  Gin-tsong  in 
1043.  and  admitted  both  sons  oi  officers  and  promising  scholars  taken 
from  the  ranks  of  the  people.  The  "Great  College"  was  reorganized 
later  and  did  not  rea<  h  its  full  number  of  900  pupils  till  [06S.  About  the 
same  time  complaints   were   made  of  the  quality  of   the    teaching  at  tin: 

1    Essiii  sur  l'/iist  ir,   de  l'  Instruction  publiquc  en  Chine  ct  Jc  'a  .    >r  1  tti    ■    ■■       '■ 
Paris,  [S45,  p.  341. 

VOL.   II.  —  P.O.  I' 


OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 


State  colleges,  where  the  teachers  were  ill  paid,  as  well  as  at  the  surviving 
private  schools.  The  students  came,  not  for  love  of  learning,  but  to 
qualify  for  a  post  in  the  public  service,  and  having  got  the  desired  office 
or  degree,  troubled  themselves  no  more  about  their  books  ;  hence  the 
number  of  competent  teachers  fell  off,  with  the  result  of  still  further 
lowering  the  standard  of  education.  It  is  quite  possible,  however,  that 
these  complaints  were  partly  also  a  sign  that  the  examinations  were  being 
taken  more  seriously  than  before,  and  were  being  watched  by  really 
learned  scholars  on  behalf  of  the  Government. 

A  Commission  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  examinations  had 
been  appointed,  which  made  its  report  the  year  before  Wang-ngan-shi 
came  into  office.  One  member  of  the  commission  reported  in  favour  of 
abolishing  the  demand  for  original  verses  from  the  candidates,  another 
wished  to  have  the  morals  of  the  competitors  alone  considered,  and  a 
third  defended  the  existing  system.  Under  these  circumstances  the 
Inn  >vator  had  an  easy  task  :  and  his  recommendations  as  usual  had  a 
plausible  side.  Under  the  plea  of  making  the  study  of  the  Classics  more 
practical,  he  abolished  the  tests  in  mere  caligraphy  and  the  verse  com- 
positions :  and,  to  ensure  the  Classical  texts  being  understood,  instead  of 
only  learnt  by  heart,  the  examinations  were  to  include  the  meanings — 
as  expounded  in  his  own  commentaries. 

In  107 1  a  thousand  vuno  were  allotted  to  each  district  college,  in 
addition  to  their  other  endowments,  to  provide  for  the  maintenance  of 
t'ne  students,  and  in  1079  a  vain  attempt  was  made  to  enlist  the 
sympathies  of  the  professoriate  on  the  side  of  the  new  regulations,  by 
making  an  allowance  for  the  support  of  the  district  colleges,  out  of  the 
proceeds  of  the  land  and  house-tax  and  the  interest  on  the  State  loans. 
In  the  same  year  the  "Great  College''  was  reconstituted  and  divided  into 
three  grades,  with  2. coo  students  in  the  first,  and  300  and  100  re- 
spectively in  the  second  and  third  :  and  the  magnificent  annual  income 
of  1  So,ooo  string  of  cash  was  allotted  to  it.  The  highest  class  had 
privileges  in  regard  to  examinations  and  employment,  so  it  is  to  be 
supposed  that  the  object  was  to  attract  the  best  scholars  to  the  college 
from  the  open  provincial  examinations.1 

but  the  literati,  who  as  a  bodv  seem  never  to  have  much  loved  or 
trusted  t'ne  State  college's,  were  not  likelv  to  lie  attracted  to  them  when 
serving  as  a  Propaganda  for  the  views  of  the  hated  Innovator.  And  to 
overcome  their  reluctam  ■  and  obtain  a  supply  of  civil  servants  trained  to 
believe  in  the  new  reg  :  ie  verv  strong  measure  was  taken,  in   \  103, 

of    ab    .  th      public   competitions   for    the   higher    degrees.       Three 

iike  those  of  tint  great  college  were  introduced,  and  success  in 
eai  -i  degree  meant  promotion  to  a  higher  school,  while  it  became  im- 
possible tor  private  si  idents  to  obt  lin  employment  without  passing  through 
the  training  colleges.  This  was  virtually  giving  the  State  patronage  into 
hands  of  the    college    staff,  who    were    thought  capable  of   sending  up 

1    /:     tisurl'Jn  !ru  ticn  Juiiiquc  en  Chine,  p.  347- 


THE    SCHOOLS   AND    THE   EXAMINATIONS.         211 

students  for  promotion  in  return  for  bribes.  Any  way  it  was  said  that  the 
number  of  graduates  was  improperly  increased,  and  in  less  than  twenty 
years  the  open  examinations  were  restored. 

A  summary  of  the  teachings  of  Choo-hi,  published  in  1602  by  Ka'o  pau,1 
contains  interesting  details,  which  may  probably  be  regarded  as  au- 
thentic, since  the  sayings  and  doings  of  the  head  of  a  school  in  China  are 
dutifully  written  down  by  his  immediate  disciples,  whose  works  are  faith- 
fully reproduced  by  the  successive  generations  of  commentators.  Accord- 
ing to  this  work,  when  in  office,  Choo-hi  himself  as  minister  selected  all 
the  superior  officials  except  the  prefects  and  district  superintendents,  who 
were  nominated  by  the  Crown.  The  higher  officers  were  allowed  to 
select  their  subordinates,  but  the  minister  dismissed  any  who  misbehaved 
and  only  bestowed  promotion  on  those  who  deserved  it  by  their  services.3 
He  introduced  a  regular  system  of  examinations,  dividing  the  Classics  into 
three  groups,  the  Yi-King,  the  Shoo,  and  the  Shi  forming  the  first,  the  three 
Li  the  next,  and  the  Chun  Tsew  with  three  commentaries  the  third.  He 
gave  out  in  advance  in  which  King  and  which  historical  book  the  papers 
would  be  set,  and  by  taking  them  all  in  turn  obliged  the  candidates  to 
go  through  a  serious  course  of  study  in  all. 

In  1142,  the  Southern  Sung  opened  a  "Great  college"  at  their  new 
capital,  and  5,000  students  entered  to  compete  for  the  300  vacancies.  A 
icw  years  later  we  hear  of  complaints  that  rich  families  had  appropriated 
the  college  lands  to  their  own  use  ;  and  the  Fanperor,  by  way  of  putting- 
matters  to  rights,  ordered  some  of  the  lands  belonging  to  the  Buddhists 
monasteries  to  be  given  to  the  defrauded  colleges  instead  of  their  own. 
Choo-hi  described  the  estates  of  one  college,  and  maintained  all  to  be 
insufficiently  endowed  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  students  admitted. 
The  State  was,  however,  too  poor  to  do  more  for  them,  and  the  critical 
commentator  frankly  admits  that  he  does  not  know  how  the  ancient 
dynasties  contrived  to  pay  for  the  elaborate  system  of  education  which 
they  are  supposed  to  have  maintained/''  He  contents  himself  with  the 
surmise  that,  as  the  State  was  then  sole  proprietor  of  the  land,  it  may 
have  endowed  the  colleges  so  ;  and  we  may  be  content  to  take  his 
authority  for  the  fact  that  China  could  not  in  his  day  support  more  than 
a  part  of  the  institutions  described  in  the  Chow  Li,  and  conjecture  accord- 
ingly that  even  in  the  days  of  Chow  the  system  described  was  an  ideal 
rather  than  a  transcript  from  reality. 

Choo-hi  is  made  to  quote  Mencius,  for  the  opinion  that  nothing  is 
more  useful  than  to  record  and  publish  how  much  the  people  ot  every 
tcheou  and  every  /lien  make  out  of  an  acre  of  land,  how  much  they  pay  in 
taxes,  and  how  much  in  contributions  over  and  above  the  ancient  custom  ; 
what  was  the  annual   revenue  in  money  and   food  of  each  division,  how  it 

1  Journal  Roy.  As.  Soc.  (Ap.  iSSS),  Tsieh  Yao-Tchucn  de  Tchmi-hi  (Extraits),  by  C. 
iic  Hailez.  pp.  219-271. 

I   /-;['--  IT-  254,  255. 

■'  L' Instruction  fubiique  en  Chine,  p.  375. 


2i2  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

was  employed,  and  what  was  done  with  the  surplus.  And  to  obtain  this 
kind  of  information  for  himself  he  visited  all  parts  of  the  country  under 
his  government,  travelling  without  suite,  in  a  single  carriage,  taking  all  he 
wanted  with  him,  so  that  nothing  was  levied  on  his  account  in  the  towns 
he  passed  through.  Thus,  "though  he  visited  many  places,  nobody  was 
aware  of  it."  1 

In  the  1 2th  century  attempts  were  made  to  raise  the  standard  of 
military  efficiency  by  examinations  in  the  theory  and  practice  of  archery 
and  other  warlike  arts  ;  but  the  civil  degrees  were  in  the  highest  repute, 
and  in  1170  we  find  the  minister  of  war  complaining  of  the  too  rapid 
promotion  to  high  office  of  brilliant  Competition  Wallahs.  Even  Choo-hi, 
it  will  be  remembered,  held  a  semi-military  post.  The  Sung  princes 
steadily  discouraged  the  admission  of  candidates  to  office  by  "protection  " 
or  family  interest,  and  the  number  of  sons  of  officers  entitled  to  employ- 
ment as  such  was  rigorously  limited.  During  the  brief  interval  of  peace 
and  splendour  enjoyed  by  the  Southern  Dynasty,  letters  and  the  public 
examinations  were  more  popular  than  ever  ;  the  half  empire  produced  as 
many  graduates  as  the  whole  had  done  in  its  brightest  days,  and  even 
when  the  Mongols  had  invaded  the  provinces  north  of  the  Kiang,  rather 
than  allow  the  learned  of  those  provinces  to  miss  the  privileges  of  civiliza- 
tion, supplementary  examinations  were  held  for  their  benefit  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  river. 

Special  edicts  invited  men  of  virtue  and  ability  to  come  forward  and 
prove  themselves  worthy  to  save  their  country  in  a  special  competition,  and 
the  title  of  graduate  was  accorded  honoris  causa  to  those  who  furnished  corn 
gratuitously  to  the  armies,  or  the  cultivators  in  districts  which  had  suffered 
from  the  war.  This  last  measure,  which  has  frequently  been  resorted  to 
by  impoverished  Governments,  must  not  be  understood  as  involving  the 
sale  of  office,  only  of  the  honorary  degree  equivalent  to  that  which,  if  ob- 
tained by  competition,  would  qualify  its  holder  for  official  employment. 

The  Sung  period  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  history  of  Chinese 
literature,  and  the  works  belonging  to  it  are  still  counted  among  the  current 
modern  literature  of  the  people.  The  letters  of  Su-tung-po  to  his  brother, 
Su  che,  are  read  like  those  of  Horace  Walpole  or  Charles  Lamb,  while  the 
poems  of  the  same  writer  are  among  the  most  popular  in  China.  And  at 
the  same  tune  the  philosophy  of  the  age  corresponded  with  that  of  ancient 
sages,  '"like  the  two  parts  of  a  bucket/' 

According  to  Choo-hi,  the  decrees  of  Heaven  make  what  is  called 
Nature.  "That  which  is  divided  is  clear  and  distinct;"  so  the  first 
point  is  to  distinguish  what  we  mean  bv  Nature.  Nature  consists  ot 
humanity,  justice,  propriety,  and  wisdom.      Humanity  includes  the  ideas  ot 

1    /'.,i>.   25<>.      We       tv:   ih  is  t],     1  ■■  '  ;  ■'.  •'  •■   literary  yiume;   I  a  *  t  y 

a   ivvr!  .  the    Km      i    r'-    pi    ~i-r.ee,  in    his   praise  :    "  Wi  ■-■     the    ---  1-01  - 

rder  of  their  course,  am!  the  Son    of  I  leaven  follow.-  the    rorreet 

■     ' '  ■  -i     :■':':.■■'•.     t  ihi-v  nu      [ heir  ii ;'e  1 1 )   tlie  nierii 5  ( if  the     mperor.      When   men 
'    ''     '      '■   '■       '  ■'   their   ':'-    to    •'■■    in   i!',s    of  the    emperor,  they  bestow  un    him  the 
-....•     i  title  of  t::c  in:     ;>/.     ■  /    f/,vt. " 


THE   SCHOOLS  AND    THE   EXAMINATIONS.         213 

gentleness  and  peace  ;  justice  those  of  fear,  force,  firmness  and  resolution  ; 
propriety  (or  the  Rites)  only  include  the  conception  of  an  external  manifes- 
tation, which  instructs  and  enlightens,  and  an  external  production,  which 
excites  and  animates.  Wisdom  consists  in  seeking,  collecting,  constructing 
and  forming,  without  material  action  or  result.  Nature  is  fate,  but — Vang 
Ivoui-Shan  used  to  say- -human  passions  are  not  nature.1  Ou-fang,  of 
Honan  (a  contemporary  of  Choo-hi),  otten  repeated  that  it  was  well  for  a 
man  to  know  his  own  heart.  As  to  which  the  Master  (Choo-hi)  said  :  "The 
heart  must  know  things,  but  who  can  know  the  heart?  The  human  eye 
sees  other  objects,  but  how  can  a  man  see  his  own  eyes  ?  "  The  heart  is  laid 
bare  when  the  learned  have  revealed  the  secrets  of  reality  and  desires.  The 
nature  of  heaven  and  earth  is  also  that  of  man  ;  there  is  one  rule  for  all, 
from  which  there  is  no  escape  even  by  death.  Man  dies,  but  he  is  not  en- 
tirely destroyed;  he  possesses  no  special  property  entirely  peculiar  to  him- 
self. To  set  up  humanity  as  the  base  and  standard  of  existence  is  an 
" execs  de  liberte  de  /apeusee" — a  freethinker's  extravagance.  If  things  were 
thus,  one  could  not  say  that  death  and  birth  are  regulated  by  nature  and 
heavenly  destiny. 

To  be  quite  sure  of  understanding  any  Chinese  philosopher,  we  should 
require  to  have  him  translated  into  a  European  language  by  some  one  who 
had  translated  Locke,  Comte,  or  Herbert  Spenser  into  Chinese  which  a 
Han-lin  doctor  could  appreciate  and  approve.  But  we  are  probably  justi- 
fied in  believing  that  behind  the  Emersonian  sound  of  the  above  phrases 
there  is  a  kernel  of  hard,  rational,  and  scientific  positivism,  which  has  more 
in  common  with  the  scientific  side  of  Spinoza's  ethics  than  with  any  other 
European  system  of  philosophy. 

The  manufacture  of  pottery  continued  to  flourish.  Towards  the  close  of 
the  icth  century,  two  brothers  Tchang,  of  d'ehe-kiang,  were  famous  for 
vases,  mostly  of  a  pale  blue,  but  differing  from  each  other  in  the  enamel 
and  the  crackle.  A  whole  clan  of  workers,  bearing  the  name  of  Tseoti, 
under  the  Sung,  before  the  division  into  north  and  south,  made  a  brilliant 
kind  of  white  china  ;  and  two  Chus,  a  father  and  daughter,  were  tamed  in 
the  same  period  for  the  manufacture  of  curiosities  in  porcelain,  figures  of 
birds,  animals,  etc.  One  of  their  large  Slower  vases  was  worth  several  ounces 
of  silver,  and  the  work  of  the  daughter  fetched  nearly  as  high  a  price  as  that 
of  tiie  father.- 

The  practice  of  inoculation  dates  from  this  dynasty,  having  been  intro- 
duced, according  to  Mr.  Lockhart,:)  in  1014.  The  ordinary  laws  of  the 
country  underwent  little  change  between  the  Tang  and  the  Ming.  In  the 
13th  century  a  curious  and  elaborate  set  of  instructions  to  coroners 
was  drawn  up.4     As  in   the   present  code,  the   person   guilty   of  wounding 

'   M.  de  Ilarlez,  /.<-.,  PP.  224,  226,  22S,  242,  244,  245. 

2   //:':.'       d    '  ■   r     ill   n   <i<  .  t  Porcciainc  Chin   ;  c,    tradnit  Ju    Chin  is,  par  S.  Julien, 

p.  17. 

"    The  M  :':    1    Mi     1   >:  r:   :/:  C  >::;:  ■ .  :  .  226. 

1    1'. ina  AVrv'T.-',  vol.  lii.  p.  34.      The  c  'de  isect.   cexcii.)  provides    that,  in   the   mse  "f 
ill]  g,  or  woun  liny,  ihe  \k   ■    m  causing  the  injury   may  •'  iv  icem  theni.-cives 


214  OWXERSHIP  IX   CIIIXA. 

another  is  held  liable  for  all  the  cost  of  his  illness  and  medical  treatment, 
and  made  responsible  for  his  death,  if  it  occurs  within  a  prescribed  interval. 
But  in  these  instructions  it  is  further  required  that  the  accused  shall  himself 
nurse  and  care  for  his  victim  :  for,  it  is  said,  the  relatives,  unless  their 
tie  is  of  the  closest,  will  wish  the  wounded  man  to  die,  that  they  may 
extort  money  bum  ids  -layer,  while  the  accused  wishes  him  to  live,  that  his 
own  punishment  may  be  lightened.  The  want  of  affection  on  the  part  of 
the  relatives  may.  perhaps,  be  regarded  as  compensated  by  the  absence  ot 
malice  ]  resupposed  in  the  assailant.  The  very  sensible  plan  of  imposing 
on  the  ]  erson  who  has  committed  an  act  of  violence  the  troublesome  and 
expensive  duty  of  nursing  the  victim  tiil  he  gets  well,  has  probably  done  a 
good  deal  to  encourage  the  formation  of  j  e  icea:  le  habits  in  China.  The 
lower  classes,  in  their  quarrels,  scold  and  gesticulate  with  great  violence; 
but  modern  travellers  are  struck  by  the  fact  that  in  their  utmost  heat,  they 
always  carefully  stop  short  of  touching  one  another  — a  caution  which  this 
iaw  may  well  have  suggested. 

With  all  its  weaknesses  and  controversies,  the  age  was  one  which,  for 
generous  feeling  and  acute  understanding,  deserves  a  creditable  place  in 
the  \v<  r'.d's  rco  rd  i  fri  e.  And  the  words,  written  by  a  captive  in  the  hands 
of  Kub'.a,  who  scarcely  survived  his  sovereign,  may  be  taken  as  represent- 
ing the  sincere  belief  entertained  at  this  time  by  an  unusual  number  of 
highly  educated  statesmen:  "The  foundation  of  ail  that  is  great  and  good 
in  heaven  an  i  earth  is  itself  born  t'rom  the  everlasting  obligations  which 
are  cue  I  -y  man  to  man."  ] 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS    OF   CHINA    IN  PER    THE  SUNG    AND    THE 
FIRST  MONGOLS. 

Our   noticL-sofiiitercour.se  between  China  and  the  countries  of  the  West 

are  at  their  scantiest  during  the  first  two  centuries  of  the  Sung  Dynasty. 
After  1077  a.d.,  "  tribute "  was  brought  almost  yearly  from  Khotan,  and 
commercial  and  other  intercourse  with  Corea  was  closer  than  usual,  till 
private  commerce  was  put  a  stop  to  towards  the  close  of  the  nth  century, 
at  tiie  instigation  of  Su-tung-po.  Under  the  year  1200,  we  are  told  that 
"no  commerce  was  allowed  but  what  was  carried  on  by  Government  capital;" 
but  subsequently  everything  except  gems  was  allowed  to  be  sold  in  public 
market,  subject  to  a  fixed  duty.  After  the  partition  of  the  empire,  the 
Southern  Sung  were  cut  off  from  most  ot  their  northern  and  western  tribu- 
taries. The  eastern  provinces  of  Yunnan  and  S/.'chuen  seem  to  have  been 
in  direct  communication  with  India.  Arab  traders  still  frequented  the 
ports  of  Southern  China,  while  intercourse  witli  the  Northern  empire  was 
close  enough  to  fix  the  mediaeval  name  of  the  empire.1  Hut  private  trade 
could  subsist  through  disturbances  which  are  adverse  to  the  presence  of 
scientific  travellers  or  political  embassies.  Chinese  authorities  mention 
such  embassies  as  arriving  from  tire  Caliphate  in  974  and  in  1011,  that  is, 
before  the  power  of  the  Ivhitan  became  dangerous  ;  ami  t;  the  caravan  ot 
Cathay'1  is  referred  to  as  a  source  ot  opulence  in  a  remarkable  Uigour 
poem  of  the  last  half  of  the  11th  century.-  but  it  cannot  be  said  that  we 
have  any  account  worth  mentioning  of  Northern  China  from  independent 
sources  during  the  nth  and  12th  centuries. 

The  Arab  geographer,  Edrisi,  writing  at  seconddiand,  about  1 150,  adds 
nothing  to  the  received  tradition  of  the  just  and  beneficent  government  of 
China,  its  large  population,  wealth}-  cities,  commercial  activity,  and  skill 
in  art-  and  manufactures.  Silk  stuffs  and  porcelain  are  specially  mentioned  ; 
the  terminus  of  the  western  trade  is  placed  at  Hang-chow  (Ivhan-fu).  the 
Yang-tse-kiang  naturally  being  more  important  for  the  inland  trade  than 
Sue  ( 'anion  River.      Foreigners   at  a  distance   are  generally  behindha 

ory,  or  historical  geographv  \  and  Ibn  batata,  wiio  visited  China 
in  the  middle  (.if  the  14th  century,  when  the  country  was  reunited  under  the 
[Mongols,  has  a  clearer  notion  of  its  division  into  the  two  regions  of  Cathay 

!   C   ■'  iy  :-  a.  ■      .  ;  :.r  ■     ft]        ;mui  01    Ivhitan  Tatars,  wh     hckl    j    r      :    X      '    rn 

-   K'n  :  .  ':u  i  ;'.',  ...  ir.  by  II.   Vaml  cry,  1S70. 


2i6  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

and  Manzi  than  b.drisi.  who  wrote  when  the  power  of  the  Northern  and 
the  Southern  empires  was  most  nearly  equal. 

A  Franciscan  friar,  known  as  John  of  Piano  Carpini,  is  the  first  European 

who  gives  us  any  information  about  the  Mongol  empire  in  Northern  China  ; 
and  he,  though  distinguishing  the  Tatars  from  the  Cathayans,  clearly  does 
not  know  of  any  difference  between  the  Cathayans  recently  conquered  by 
Genghis  Khan  and  the  Chinese.  What  he  says  of  the  people  of  the  coun- 
try clearly  applies  to  the  latter.  "They  seem  to  be  kindly  and  polished 
loiks  enough.  They  have  no  beard,  and  in  character  of  countenance  have 
a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  Mongols,  but  are  not  so  broad  in  the 
face.  They  have  a  language  of  their  own"  (and  a  written  character,  as  he 
has  already  observed).  '■  Their  betters  as  craftsmen,  in  every  art  practised 
by  man,  are  not  to  be  found  in  the  whole  world.  Their  country  is  very 
rich  in  corn,  in  wine,  gold,  silver,  silk,  and  in  every  kind  of  produce  that 
tends  to  the  support  of  mankind."'  ' 

A  few  years  later  Rubruk,  a  blemish  friar,  describes  the  Cathayans  as 
'•  little  fellows,  speaking  much  through  their  nose,  and,  as  is  general  with 
all  those  Eastern  people,  their  eyes  are  very  narrow.  .  .  .It  has  always 
been  their  custom  that  the  son  must  follow  the  father's  craft.  .  '  . 
They  are  first-rate  artists  in  every  kind  of  craft,  an  1  their  physicians  have  a 
thorough  knowledge  of  the  virtues  of  herbs,  and  an  admirable  skill  in  diag- 
nosis by  the  pulse.  .  .  .  They  have  no  wine  in  Cathay,  but  make  their 
drink  oi  rice.  .  .  .  The  common  money  of  Cathay  consists  of  pieces 
of  cotton  paper  about  a  palm  in  length  and  breadth,  upon  which  certain 
lines  are  printed,  resembling  the  seal  of  Mango  Khan.  They  do  their 
writing  with  a  pencil  such  as  painters  paint  with,  and  a  single  character  of 
theirs  comprehends  several  letters  so  as  to  form  a  whole  word."  'l  The  last 
remark  proves  that  Rubruk  was  an  intelligent,  as  well  as  an  observant, 
traveller  ;  and  as  he  did  not  proceed  beyond  Karakorum,  his  account  of  so 
many  thoroughly  Chinese  traits  shows  how  far,  and  how  thoroughly.  Chinese 
civilization  had  already  spread. 

About  the  same  time  as   briar   fohn,  an  Armenian  prince.  Hayton,  was 
sent  to  make  terms  for  Iris  brother  with  the  Tatars,  and   in   the   beginning 
of  the  next  century,  a  monk  of  the  same  royal   house  embodied  in  a  geo- 
graphical work  some  ol  the  traveller's  experiences.    According  to  this  writer, 
the  people  of  Cathay  "are  exceedingly  full  of  shrewdness  and  sagacity,  and 
hold  in  contempt  the   performances  of  other  nations   in   every  kind  ot   art 
and  science.      Thev  have  indeed  a  saving  to  the  ettect  that  they  alone   see 
with  two  eves,  whilst   tile    Latins  see   with   one.  and   all   other  nations  are 
blind!      .      .      .      And.    in    good    sooth,    there    is    such    a    vast    variety  of 
irtiiles  of  marvellous  and   unspeakable  delicacy  and  elaboration   of  work- 
lip  brought  from  those  parts,  that  there  is  really  no  other  people   that 
(an    be   i     m|     red    with    them    in   such    matters."      The   essentially   secular 
(  :.   racter  of  their  civiii/ation    has   not   escaped   the  good   monk,  who  con- 
people  have  the  acutest  intelligence  in  all   matters 
1    (  0    ,,.'  v,,;:i;     ]■    II  \iv  /■';/,'  \\  r.  i.  exxiv.  -//'.,  exxv.    vii. 


UNDER    THE    SUNG    AND    THE    FIRST  MONGOLS.   217 

wherein  material  things  are  concerned,  yet  you  shall  never  find  among 
them  any  knowledge  or  perception  of  spiritual  things.''1 

Abulfeda,  who  flourished  between  1273  and  1331,  complains  of  the 
rarity  of  travellers  from  these  remote  parts,  and  adds  nothing  to  the  reports 
of  earlier  writers,  except  that  the  Tatars  had  destroyed  the  walls  of 
Zayton,  which  is  identified  with  Chin-chow,  and  described  by  all  mediaeval 
travellers  as  nearly  or  quite  the  most  wonderful  port  of  commerce  in  the 
world.  Ibn  Khordadbeh,  however,  gave  the  preference  to  Hang-chow, 
and  makes  especial  mention  ol  the  fresh-water  lake  to  the  north  of  the 
town,  and  the  wells  which  supply  the  town  with  water,  as  if  these 
achievements  of  Su-che  were  among  the  chief  attractions  of  the  great 
city. 

hollowing  the  chronology  of  Sir  Henry  Yule,  Marco  Polo,  with  his 
father  and  uncle,  reached  the  court  of  Kubla  in  1285.  His  position  in 
China  was  not  unlike  that  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries  in  the  reign  of  the 
emperor,  best  known  as  Kang-hi.  He  was  in  the  service  of  a  foreign 
monarch,  and  looked  at  China  and  the  Chinese  from  the  conqueror's  point 
of  view  :  unlike  the  Jesuits,  he  does  not  seem  even  to  have  understood  the 
Chinese  language,  at  least  not  so  as  to  read  or  write  it,  and  hence  he  is  un- 
able to  distinguish  between  Chinese  and  Tatar  customs,  where  they  overlap. 
Thus  he  describes  the  people  of  Tangut,  the  former  kingdom  of  Hia, 
which  included  part  of  the  modern  province  of  Kansu,  as  burning  paper 
copies  of  money,  houses,  etc.,  at  funerals,  using  elaborate  air-tight  and 
varnished  coffins,  and  arranging  posthumous  betrothals  between  children 
or  young  persons  who  have  died  unmarried,  ali  which  are  purely  Chinese 
traits,  and  must  have  been  borrowed  by  the  Tanguts,  just  as  the  Ivhitan 
and  tiie  Kin  adopted  the  manners  and  customs  of  their  subjects.  Similarly 
in  a  passage  given  from  Ramusio,3  after  describing  the  three  staple  food 
crops,  rice,  panic,  and  millet,  which  all  "  render  an  hundredfold,"  and  the 
industry  of  the  people,  which  leaves  no  spot  of  arable  land  untitled,  the 
author,  in  the  same  breath,  dwells  on  the  fruitfulness  of  the  cattle  by  which, 
'■  when  they  take  the  field,  every  man  is  followed  by  six,  eight,  or  more 
horses  for  his  own  use,"  though  this  would  apply  to  the  Mongols  only,  and 
is  quite  out  of  place  in  an  explanation  of  how  the  country  of  Cathay  sup- 
ports its  vast  population. 

The  description  of  the  functions  of  an  officer  whom  Marco  calls  "The 
keeper  of  lost  property,"  at  once  recalls  the  provisions  on  this  subject  of 
tiie  Chow  Li  ;  but  if  the  Mongols  borrowed  this  institution  from  the  Chinese, 
they  must  have  attached  particular  value  to  it,  as  it  is  described  as  prevail- 
ing at  the  Perso-Mongol  court  as  well  ;  and  it  should  more  probably  be 
regarded  as  a  common  inheritance  of  all  brandies  of  the  Tatar  stock. 
According  to  the  Chow  Li,:;  found  property  must  be  declared  at  once  to  the 
provost  of  the  market,  who  takes  charge  of  it  for  ten  days,  and  then  appro- 
priates it,  things  of  small  value  being  given   to  the  finder,  while  those  of 

1  Cathay,  ana  the  Way  thither,  i.  exev.  -  Yule,  i.    p.  502. 


2iS  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

great  value  fall  to  the  State.  According  to  Marco  Polo,  the  finder  of  any 
article,  sword,  horse,  hawk,  or  whatsoever  else,  without  a  known  owner,  is 
bound  to  bring  it  at  once  to  the  keeper,  or  is  liable  to  punishment.  This 
officer's  tent  is  pitched  in  a  conspicuous  place,  with  banner  displayed,  so 
that  both  those  who  have  lost  and  those  who  have  found  anything  may 
know  where  to  find  him.1 

The  exact  direction  of  .Marco  Polo's  journeys  within  the  borders  of 
(  Tina  is  not  of  much  importance  for  our  purpose.  The  extent  of  his 
facilities  for  observing  the  general  condition  of  the  country  are  sufficiently 
indicated  when  we  know  him  to  have  travelled  between  Peking  and  Pin- 
yang,  Pin-yang  and  Si-gnan-fu,  Si-gnan-fu  and  Ching-tu-fu,  Ching-tu-fu  and 
Yunnan  (to  say  nothing  of  Yunnan  and  Purmah)  ;  and  then  again  between 
Peking  and  Tsinan,  along  the  Grand  Canal  to  the  Yellow  River,  which,  at 
its  junction  with  the  Ilwai,  then  marked  the  eastern  boundary  between 
Northern  China  and  Polo's  Manzi  ;  further  along  the  canal  to  Yang-chow, 
ot  which  city  Polo  was  for  three  years  governor,  to  Su-chow  and  Hang- 
chow,  the  two  jewels  in  the  southern  crown  of  which  it  was  said,  "  Heaven 
is  above,  but  Su  and  Hang  are  here  below  ;  "  thence  by  land  and  water 
into  bokien.  to  its  two  great  ports,  Foo-chow  and  Zayton,  while  on  some 
other  occasion  he  certainly  proceeded  up  the  Kiang  as  far  as  Ngan- 
king,  and  probably  thence  to  Woo-chang,  and  by  the  Han  River  to  Siang- 
vang,  though  this  point  may  also  have  been  reached  from  Si-gnan-fu. 
Whether  the  diagonal  of  the  primitive  Chinese  empire  was  thus  traversed 
or  not,  Marco  Polo  certainly  saw  with  his  own  eyes  all  that  lay  along  the 
two  principal  lines  of  traffic  from  north  to  south,  through  the  western  and 
the  eastern  provinces. 

Ibxcept  in  the  remote  south-west,  where  cowries  and  salt  were  used  for 
money  (as  the  latter  is  still  in.  the  same  regions),  and  where  gold  was  to  be 
bought  from  unsuspicious  natives  lor  only  five  times  the  price  of  silver,  the 
traveller's  descriptions  show  us  everywhere  Chinese  civilization  flourishing 
in  substantially  the  same  manner  and  degree  throughout  the  empire. 
Special  products,  such  as  rhubarb,  asbestos,  coal,  ginger,  musk,  grass-cloth. 
camphor,  bamboos,  .sugar,  and  the  like,  are  mentioned  in  their  place ;  the 
omission  of  any  notice  of  tea,  probably  indicates  that  the  Mongols  had  not 
yet  acquired  a  taste  for  that  beverage,  and  remained  faithful  to  the  spiced 
rice  wine,  which  Marco  thought  "makes  better  drink  than  any  other  kind 
of  wine,"  with  the  incidental  advantage  of  also  producing  drunkenness 
sooner  than  any  other. 

'1  he  face  of  the  country  between  such  great  landmarks  as  mountains, 
rivers,  and  cities  of  capital  importance,  is  described  in  recurring  phrases 
which    recall    those    oi    the    Mahomcdan    travellers   tour   centuries   before: 

1  'M;<'-r  regulation-.  Miral;    iimic    aroii^ly   fur   the  anxious  care   of  the   rulers   than   the 

a  .ah  ;iN   huiH'-t  y  ul    i  ii'1   a  '\  .!']K-  i  ;  ami.  in  fact,  the   Lva<liness  off  'liinese  convert.-    '  ■ 

w.i-,  reckoned  to  their  credit  as  a  positive  virtue.       Tin: 

/.■■;;•  ,'V  U'ii  "I  :  v,  ho    n   .to red     onic   money  to    its   owner,  and  de- 

!  .:   .    w.n  i  ;  •      f  virtue  was  omsi  hard  w   naliy  ol    !".■,;:.;   rep  >ri  :  I   to  the 

:  I',   u  ,    ,.    '  '   i  .. 


UNDER    THE   SUNG    AND    THE   FIRST  MONGOLS.   219 

"  hue  districts,  with  plenty  of  towns  and  boroughs,  all  enjoying  much  trade, 
and  practising  various  forms  of  industry  ;  "  <;  excellent  hostelries  for 
travellers,  with  fine  vineyards,  fields  and  gardens,  and  springs  of  water  ; " 
'•  man}-  cities  and  walled  towns,  and  many  merchants,  too,  therein  ;  " 
t:  cities  and  boroughs  abounding  in  trade  and  industry,  and  quantities  ot 
beautiful  trees  and  gardens,  and  tine  plains  planted  with  mulberries,  which 
are  the  trees  on  the  leaves  of  which  the  silkworms  do  feed  .  .  .  also 
plenty  of  game  of  all  sorts,  both  of  beasts  and  birds;  "  "a  succession  of 
cities  and  boroughs,  and  beautiful  plains,  inhabited  by  people  who  live  by 
trade  and  industry,  and  have  great  plenty  of  silver."  Then  follow  "  great 
mountains  and  valleys,"  with  towns  and  villages,  and  people  who  "live  by 
tilling  the  earth,  and  hunting  in  the  great  woods;"  or,  to  give  Marco's 
favourite  formula  at  length,  "  You  meet  everywhere  with  fine  towns  and 
villages,  the  people  of  which  are  all  idolaters,1  and  burn  their  dead,  and 
are  subject  to  the  great  Kaan,  and  have  paper  money,  and  live  by  trade 
and  handicrafts,  and  have  all  the  necessaries  of  life  in  great  abundance." 

To  the  foreigner,  this  teeming  population,  all  devoted  to  the  arts  ot 
peace,  appears  as  a  triumph  of  civilization.  It  is  the  native  sage  who, 
having  beheld  the  fall  of  Governments,  while  the  fruitful  earth  nourishes 
men  so  crowded  together  that  their  shoulders  touch,  their  sleeves  sweep 
one  against  the  other,  and  three  young  children  might  hardly  find  a  vacant 
corner  whereon  to  stand  upright,'' — it  is  he  who,  looking  back  upon  the 
past,  finds  little  comfort  in  the  thought  that,  "...  the  individual 
withers,  ami  the  world  is  more  and  more."  As  if  remembering  or  divining 
the  clear  inspiration  which  the  fathers  of  his  race  drew  from  the  unclouded 
visage  of  the  Sun  God,  Ma-t\van-lin  surmises  that  as  the  climate  became 
denser,  the  sons  of  those  born  under  happier  influences  lost  capacity, 
wisdom  degenerated,  scholars  blushed  to  bear  arms,  labourers,  with  no 
thought  above  tire  plough,  were  ignorant  of  both  war  and  letters  ;  and  thus 
the  growing  population  gave  no  real  accession  of  strength  to  the  State  ;  the 
people  were  many,  but  without  worth  or  virtue  ;  they  had.  become  good  tor 
nothing  but  to  pay  taxes,  and  with  taxes  they  were  overwhelmed  ;  the  State 
no  longer  found  a  protection  in  the  people,  and  the  people  cursed  their 
lives  beneath  the  oppression  of  their  rulers  !  If  we  let  these  two  pictures 
supplement  each  other,  it  becomes  obvious  that  China,  in  the  13th 
century,  had  reached  that  point  of  material  civilization  which  has  never  yet 
been  attained  without  attendant  materials  for  moral  and  intellectual 
discontent. 

Marco  Polo  saw  as  little  of  the  misery  caused  by  oppressive  tax- 
gatherers,  debased  assignats,  and  an  alien  Government,  as  pleasure  tourists 
in  the  Western  world  see  of  the  effects  of  a  commercial  crisis  or  the  low 
standard    of   comfort    reached    by    the    labouring    classes.      13ut    <  Chinese 

1  I.e.  liuddhists.  liuddhist  priests  arc  still  burnt  instead  uf  buried,  and  as  the  Mongols 
were  zealous  liuddhists,  Mateo  I'olo  may  have  mistaken  their  rites  for  tin.'  general 
national  usa^e.      The  Chinese  seem  always  as  now  t  uried  their  dead.,  a... 

been  superstitious!)'  particular  about  the  choice  of  a  burial  ground. 

-   .'/a    a   111-///;.  tr.  by  Klaproth,  .Yom   an  Jourii.  As.,  v<  I.  \.  p.  16. 


2  2o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

writers  compared  one  historical  experience  of  their  own  country  with 
another;  and  the  very  fact  that  the  period  when  China  appeared  so  pros- 
perous to  the  Venetian,  is  not,  by  comparison,  reckoned  among  the  mo-t 
fortunate  times  of  Chinese  history,  goes  to  prove  that  there  had  been 
reigns  when  China  felt  herself  as  prosperous  as  she  seemed  to  Marco. 

Of  the  people  themselves  he  gives  the  same  account  as  all  earlier  and 
later  travellers  :  They  "  have  an  ornate  style  of  speech  ;  they  salute  each 
other  with  a  cheerful1  countenance,  and  with  great  politeness;  they  behave 
like  gentlemen,  and  eat  with  great  propriety.  The}-  show  great  respect  to 
their  parents."  They  are  "men  of  peaceful  character  .  .  .  you  hear 
of  no  feuds  or  noisy  quarrels,  or  dissensions  of  any  kind  among  them. 
Both  in  their  commercial  dealings  and  in  their  manufactures,  they  are 
thoroughly  honest  and  truthful,  and  there  is  such  a  degree  ot  good-will  and 
neighbourly  attachment  among  both  men  and  women,  that  you  would  take 
the  people  who  live  in  the  same  street  to  be  all  of  one  family.''  They  treat 
their  women  with  the  greatest  respect.  "  They  also  treat  the  foreigners 
who  visit  them  for  the  sake  of  trade  with  great  cordiality,  and  entertain 
them  in  the  most  winning  manner,  affording  them  every  help  and  advice 
in  their  business.''  - 

The  European  standard  of  cleanliness  was  not  high  in  the  Middle  A_.es,  so 
we  need  not  suppose  Chinese  manners  to  have  changed  for  the  worse  since 
their  love  of  hot  baths  led  our  traveller  to  describe  them  as  "very  cleanly 
in  their  persons.''"'  Cay  water  parties  and  picnics  were  the  favourite  amuse- 
ment ;  and  it  sometimes,  as  foreshadowed  in  the  ancient  odes  of  Wei,  these 
expeditions  were  not  undertaker,  in  company  such  as  a  classical  moralist 
I  a]  ;  rove,  there  was  at  least  a  varnish  of  literary  polish  thrown  over 
even  disreputable  liaisons.  The  Aspasias  of  the  period  were  well  educated, 
and  several  plays  of  the  Yuen  Dynasty  were  written  by  literary  comediennes, 
who  by  law  and  custom  belonged  to  this  class.  The  virtuous  courtesan 
was  a  rather  favourite  heroine  with  the  dramatists,  and  one  plot  turns  upon 
her  right,  under  an  ancient  law,  to  be  allowed  to  marry  lawfully  a  respect- 
al  ie  <  itizen,  as  a  reward  for  having  dutifully  cherished  and  maintained  iter 
-  till  the  latter's  death. 

It  is  not  necessary  to  transcribe  Marco  Polo's  detailed  descripti  n  ol  the 
magnificence  of  the  two  capitals  of  Cambaluc  ( Khanbalig  or  Peking),  and 
Kin  say  (  Kin_rsse  •  ipi;  .  :.  ,v  Hang-chu-fu,  or  tee  Imperial  Palaces  ot 
either.  Til  descript  :i  of  Kinsay  is  derived  in  part  from  a  memorial  sent 
by  the  mpre  ^  of  the  defeated  Sung  1  >vn  istv  to  Ivubla.  to  entreat  him  to 
-•  are  the  town   and  it-  inhabitants.      A  Chinese  official  d  icument  is   there- 


•.h-j  R: 


.      «  \ 
i '  i . 


UNDER    THE    SUNG    AND    THE    FIRST  MONGOLS.   221 

fore  responsible  for  the  statement  that  "  there  were  in  the  city  twelve  guilds 
of  the  different  crafts,  and  that  each  guild  had  12,000  houses  in  the  occupa- 
tion of  its  workmen.  Kach  of  these  houses,  it  was  said,  contains  at  least 
twelve  men,  while  some  contain  twenty  and  some  forty,  not  that  these  are 
all  masters,  but  inclusive  of  the  journeymen  who  work  under  the  masters."  l 
These  are  obviously  round  numbers  corresponding,  perhaps,  to  the  classi- 
fication of  the  dwellings  paying  house-tax  ;  the  "  10,000  bridges  "  mentioned 
by  .Marco,  much  to  the  distress  of  his  editors  and  commentators,  is  only  a 
fresh  proof  of  his  ignorance  of  the  language,  since  kiuan  ("ten  thousand  ") 
is  only  Chinese  for  "ever  so  many.''' 

The  number  of  "  fires  "  or  households  given  by  the  traveller  is  1,600.000, 
which  at  five  persons  to  a  family  gives  the  enormous  population  of  S,oco.ooo, 
figures  almost  equally  difficult  to  accept  and  to  reject,  when  accompanied 
by  a  perfectly  correct  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  census  returns 
are  obtained,  from  the  list  of  inmates  which  each  householder  was  obliged 
to  exhibit  on  his  doorway.  The  most  probable  explanation  of  the  eight 
millions  is,  that  thegovernment  of  the  town,  included  a  considerable  suburban 
area  of  which  the  population  was  included  in  the  district.  Marco  does 
not  profess  to  give  the  population  of  Peking  in  the  same  way,  but  early  in 
the  next  century2  we  find  the  emperor  giving  presents  of  silk  to  2.331  old 
men  of  ninety  and  upwards,  and  to  S.331  of  between  eighty  and  ninety. 
According  to  modern  experience,  the  number  of  the  first  class,  who  got  a 
double  portion  of  silk,  is  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  octogenarians  ;  but  sup- 
posing all  the  10,662  to  be  really  over  eighty,  that  number  is  about  one-fifth 
of  the  men  of  corresponding  ages  shown  in  the  census  of  1SS1  for  England 
and  Wales  ;  and  if  the  proportion  of  such  seniors  were  the  same  in  the  two 
cases,  this  would  give  a  population  of  some  five  millions  tor  Peking — a  not 
impossible  proportion,  at  all  events,  between  the  two  capitals.  Most  prob- 
ably in  both  cases  the  numbers  refer  to  the  districts  of  which  the  capital 
was  the  administrative  centre,  net  to  the  town  alone. 

According  to  M.  Pauthier's  Chinese  authorities,  the  administrative 
province  of  Che-kiang  included  thirty  circuits,  and  in  1290  the  circuit  of 
Hang- chow  alone  (presumably  the  area  enclosed  by  the  city  walls;  had  a 
recorded  population  of  360.850  householders,  and  1.834,719  persons  of 
all  ages.  Hang-chow  was  likely,  as  the  Sung  capital,  to  have  reached 
dimensions  unequalled  by  any  single  town  ot  modern  China  ;  it  was  the 
centre  of  domestic  trade,  like  Canton  ;  of  foreign  trade,  like  Shanghai  ;  and 
of  government,  like  Peking:  so  Ser  Marco's  millions  must  have  had  at 
least  a  colourable  foundation  in  fact. 

The  fiction,  by  which  the  emperor  was  supposed  to  have  a  monoply  of 
the  goods  brought  by  foreign  traders,  was  still  kept  up  in  a  way  :  but  in 
the  case  of  the  Southern  capital,  which  was  also  a  great  seaport,  the  rights 
of  the  Crown  evidently  tended  more  and  more  to  be  compounded  for 
harbour  and  custom  duties,  amounting  to  10  per  cent,  on  most  foreign  mer- 

1   Yule,  ii.  p.  146.  -  De  Maiila,  ix.   p.  506. 


2  2 2  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

chandise.  Then,  as  now,  the  empire  considered  itself  responsible  for  the 
safe  keeping,  as  well  as  the  good  behaviour,  of  the  foreign  visitors.  In 
Peking  different  inns  were  assigned  for  the  use  of  travellers  of  different 
sneech  or  nation,  and  throughout  China  the  hotel-keepers  were  required 
to  report  to  the  officials  the  names  and  destination  of  their  guests.  This 
sort  of  police  supervision  was.  and  is,  intended  rather  for  the  protection  of 
travellers  against  the  dangers  of  the  road,  than  for  the  detection  of  evil- 
disposed  conspirators  against  the  public  peace. 

The  regulations  of  the  inns  were  founded  on  those  for  the  regulation  of 
the  Government  post-houses,  which  in  their  turn  were  a  portion  of  the 
system  of  the  public  roads  and  posts.  According  to  .Marco,  station  houses, 
fit  for  the  reception  of  a  king,  were  to  be  found  at  intervals  of  twenty-five 
miles  on  all  the  principal  highways  leading  to  the  various  provinces  :  and 
even  in  the  least  inhabited  parts,  the  stations  were  not  more  than  thirty- 
five  to  fortv-five  miles  apart.  The  existence  of  highways,  with  shelters  at 
stated  intervals  for  tribute-bearers  and  Government  couriers,  dates  from  the 
davs  of  the  three  first  dynasties  :  Vu  having  provided  the  roads,  and  the 
Chow  Li.  at  latest,  the  regulations.  But  we  seem  to  see  traces  of  Wang- 
n_ran-sh:'s  "  Law  for  the  protection  of  horses."  in  Marco's  assurance  that 
all  these  stations,  with  their  200  or  400  horses  ready  for  the  use  of  mes- 
sengers, "  cost  the  emperor  nothing  at  all. "'"  According  to  him.  each  citv. 
village,  or  hamlet,  is  required  to  provide  the  horses  for  the  nearest  post 
station,  half  of  winch  are  always  out  at  grass,  and  half  ready  for  use. 

The  Mongol  demand  for  horses  was  naturally  larger  than  that  of  the 
native  rulers  :  and  fourteen  great  centres — in  Corea,  Yunnan.  Karakorum, 
and  other  suitable  districts — were  kept  up  to  supply  horses  for  the  arm  v. 
And  whatever  traces  could  be  found,  in  the  old  laws,  of  the  Emperor's 
right  to  have  his  horses  maintained  at  the  public  expense,  were  sure  to  be 
revived  and  made  the  most  of,  to  the  great  disgust  of  the  Chinese,  who 
objected  to  the  charge  of  the  Government  horses,  even  when  nominallv 
paid  for  it.  The  disuse  of  horses  and  wheeled  carriages  in  the  16th  century, 
whi  ':.  lias  generally  been  attributed  to  the  increase  of  population  and  the 
:  -ct  of  die  roads,  may  have  begun  with  a  reaction,  under  the  Mine: 
Ihnnstv.  against  this  kind  of  oppression. 

Tine  activity  of  the  postal  department  in  Kubla's  day  may  be  estimated 
from  ti'.e  circumst  '  '  .  '  reni  leticaily  recorded  by  Marco,  that  a  gravelled 
1  ridle  road  1  ad  to  lie  ke;  t  for  the  couriers  by  the  side  of  the  paved  high- 
ways, which  in  the  I  iw-lying  parts  ot  Southern  China  were  necessarv  to 
a\  id  mud  nd  >u.  Ileabo  ascribes  to  Kubi  :  e  planting  of  line 
11  -  1  I  trees  a  mig  the  course  of  the  high  n >ads,  a  good  work  in  \v i  1  i <  h 
>  ■■  w:  -  ei  1  our,  _eo  [>y    the   dictum  <  a    his    r<  ligi  n:s  isei      th  .:  "  he  wh 

t-  tre    -    lives    long.        Man    •  s  description  of    the  cit\   watch    or    night 
:  is  \  tv  .    :■■  :.     '    ,ri\    n  by    1  lavis.  503  years   1  iter,  though    the    latter 
s  a  gnuut*  us  mist uk e  in  sin  posing    its   stri<  tness  to  be  the  expression 
of  a  despot's  fears  tor   his     wi        tety.    The  existence  of  firepr     iff  iwers  for 
tlie  s'e  r  ge  of    vaiu     il<  s,  an  i   the  need  tor  them  arising  from  the  frequent 


UNDER    THE   SUNG    AND    THE   FIRST  MONGOLS.  223 

conflagrations  which  spread  through  the  streets  of  wooden  houses,  are  also 
mentioned. 

The  traveller's  general  impression  of  the  abundance  and  cheapness  of 
all  the  necessaries  of  life,  sometimes  makes  way  for  a  more  particular 
admiration,  as  of  pheasants  at  a  penny  apiece,  or  the  "delicate  living  " 
evidenced  by  eating  flesh  and  fish  at  the  same  meal.  Marco  Polo  does 
not  exactly  give  his  authority  to  the  description  by  Mandeville1  of  the 
"gode  custome"  in  Jamchay  of  the  great  Chan,  whereby  innkeepers 
supply  iiine?'s  a  domicile,  at  so  much  a  head,  to  persons  wishing  to  entertain 
their  friends  without  trouble;  but  his  description  of  a  pavilion  on  the  lake 
Si-hou,  where  glass,  china,  linen,  and  service  are  supplied  to  picnic  parties, 
points  to  something  of  the  same  kind  :  and,  in  fact,  it  is  probable  that  in 
tiie  material  refinements  of  crowded  civilized  life,  China  had  even  then 
forestalled  most  of  the  inventions  of  the  West  ; — from  the  printing  of  books 
and  bank  notes  to  the  building  of  boats  with  water-tight  compartments  : 
and  from  the  hotel-keeper's  notice  that  he  will  not  be  responsible  for  pro- 
perty left  in  the  traveller's  room,  unless  the  door  is  locked,  and  the  key 
handed  in  at  the  bureau,  to  the  bad  custom  by  which  young  men  pay 
money  to  be  allowed  to  serve  as  waiters  in  fashionable  restaurants,  where 
fees  are  numerous  and  large. 

Marco  Polo's  account  of  the  public  granaries,  and  the  liberalities  of  the 
great  Kaan  is  all  the  more  interesting,  as  a  confirmation  of  the  Chinese 
authorities,  from  his  being  obviously  unaware  that  what  Ivubla  did  was  no 
more  than  every  well-disposed  Chinese  sovereign  was  expected  to  do  under 
penalty  of  historical  obloquy.  Moreover.  Marco,  as  a  foreigner,  would  not 
have  cheated  himself,  as  interested  officials  might,  with  the  assumption  that 
the  correct  thing  was  being  done,  when  there  were  no  visible  signs  of  the 
doing.  His  opportunities  of  knowing  were  so  much  better,  and  his  de- 
scription is  so  much  more  detailed  than  that  of  the  Mahomedans  of  the 
oth  century,  that  it  may  be  quoted  in  full  as  the  first  European  account  of 
usages,  then  some  3,000  years  old. 

'•  Xow  you  must  know  that  the  emperor  sends  his  messengers  over  all 
his  lands  and  kingdoms  and  provinces,  to  ascertain  from  his  officers  if 
the  people  are  afflicted  by  any  dearth  through  unfavourable  seasons,  or 
storms,  or  locusts,  or  other  like  calamity,  and  from  those  who  have  suffered 
in  this  way,  no  taxes  are  exacted  for  that  year  :  nay  more,  he  causes  them 
to  be  supplied  with  corn  of  his  own  for  food  and  seed.  .  .  .  And  when 
winter  comes,  he  causes  inquiry  to  be  made  as  to  those  who  'nave  lost 
their  cattle,  whether  by  murrain  or  other  mishap,  and  such  persons  not 
only  uro  scot  free,  but  get  presents  of  cattle.  And  thus,  as  I  tell  you.  the 
lord  every  year  helps  and  fosters  the  people  subject  to  him/' 

After  a  short  digression  about  the  wayside  trees,  rice  wine,  and  the 
"black  stones"  used  for  fuel,  he  continues  : — 

"You  must   know  that  when   the  emperor  sees   that  corn  is   cheap  and 
abundant,  he  buys  up  large  quantities   and  has  it  stored  up  in  all  his  pro- 
1   After  Odoric  of  I'ordenone. 


224  OWNERSHIP   IN  CHINA. 

vinces  in  great  granaries,  where  it  is  so  well  looked  after,  that  it  will  keep 
for  three  or  four  years.  And  this  applies,  let  me  tell  you,  to  all  kinds  oi 
corn,  whether  wheat,  barley,  miilet,  rice,  panic,  or  what  not,  and  when 
there  is  any  scarcity  of  any  particular  kind  of  corn,  lie  causes  that  to  he 
issued.  And  if  the  price  of  the  corn  is  at  one  bezant  the  measure,  he 
lets  them  have  it  at  a  bezant  for  four  measures,  or  at  whatever  price 
will  produce  general  cheapness  ;  and  every  one  can  have  food  in  this  way. 
And  by  tins  providence  of  the  emperor's,  his  people  can  never  suffer  from 
dearth.  He  does  the  same  over  his  whole  empire  ;  causing  these  supplies 
to  be  stored  everywhere,  according  to  the  calculation  of  the  wants  and 
necessities  of  the  people.''  : 

A  passage  found  only  in  the  Ramusian  text  of  Marco  Polo's  travels 
(which,  as  Sir  Henrv  Yule  ingeniously  suggests,  may  perhaps  embody  sup- 
plementary notes,  written  by  Marco's  uncle;  describes  a  rather  cheap  form 
of  charity  practised  bv  Kubla,  which  consisted  in  giving  clothes  to  the 
poor  and  to  mendicant  monks,  the  materials  for  which  were  obtained  by 
a  tax.  while  the  labour  of  making  them  up  was  provided  by  an  onerous 
corvee,  as  ail  artisans  were  bound  to  give  a  day's  labour  weekly.  He 
makes  no  mention  of  the  very  enlightened  Mongol  institution  of  free  dis- 
pensaries, established  in  r  2 37.  during  the  reign  of  Ogatai.  at  the  sugges- 
tion, we  may  be  sure,  of  his  temperance-preaching,  rhubarb-collecting 
minister.  Yeiiu-tchoutsai.-  In  connection  with  the  exposure  of  new-born 
infant-,  of  which  Marco  Polo  sneaks  in  Southern  China,  he  mentions  the 
orphan  asylums,  maintained  by  the  Sung  emperors,  and  the  applications 
made  to  them  by  childless  rich  men  wishing  to  adopt  an  heir;  those  not 
thus  provided  for  were  married  to  one  another,  and  started  in  life  at  the 
emperor's  expense,  as  many  as  2;. ceo  b  >ys  and  girls  being  thus  provided 
for  every  year. 

Tile  greatest  original  work  of  Kubla's  reign  —the  construction  of  the 
Grand  Canal  —  is  an  example  of  the  strength  and  weakness  of  the  early 
Mongol  Government.  The  conception  is  statesmanlike  and  magnificent; 
the  Suez  Canal  is  pro:  ably  the  only  similar  work  of  equal  magnitude  that 
ha-  s  >  th.or  _: .'.y  subserved  the  purpose  for  which  it  war,  undertaken,  and 
Kubla's  object  was  as  legitimate  as  his  means  \\l:yc  well  chosen.  Kiang- 
iian.  the  distrii  t  so  ith  <t  the  1  >wer  part  of  the  Kiang  River,  was  the  natural 
_rr  '.  :'  :  '.  empire:  the  court, 'the  capital,  the  armv,  and  the  civil  ser- 
vice in    the  North,    ail  depended   tor   their  food  supply   on   this    province. 

Before  t    e  f  ai the    onI\   through    cheap   transport    had  been   bv  the   ex- 

posed    -<--a    ;   .-     _re     along    the   coast.     The   canal    brought    Kingsse    and 
12  ■'•  it'h in  tortv  day: s'  easy  navigation  oi  each  other,  and  gave  to  all 
the    intervenii       pr   vim    -    ;'n      boon    of  a   navigable    river   exactlv   ai    \_ 
the  in  mi   line  1 »:   natu:  ii  tranli  .      In  the   year  after   tii        mal   was   opei 
in     1  2  -'■,.     1  ,  :...  -aires   were  receive  i    in  this  ;  r   vim  e   t  >r 

M    t<    '  lie-  ni  ■  -.  and.  ;  -  w  e  have  seen,  travelled  by  this  li  water  com  11    1- 


UNDER    THE   SUNG   AND    Till?   FIRST  MONGOLS.  225. 

nication  in  the  shape  of  a  wide  and  deep  channel  dug  between  stream  and 
stream,  between  lake  and  lake,  forming  as  it  were  a  great  river  on  which 
large  vessels  can  ply  ;  "  and  he  must  have  been  actively  concerned  in  the 
grain  transport  service,  as  the  city  of  which  he  was  three  years  Governor  is 
the  centre  where  most  of  the  provincial  stores  would  be  delivered.  But 
he  was  not  enough  behind  the  scenes  to  realize  the  cost  of  these  great 
works  when  not  executed  under  the  vigilant  eyes  of  paternal  native  admini- 
strators. The  official  annals  of  the  dynasty  describe  this  and  other  canal 
works,  as  executed  by  the  forced  labour  of  millions,  "  of  whom  the  majority 
perished;''  1  and  it  is  obvious  that  even  roads  and  waterways  are  a  doubtful 
boon  when  their  chief  use  is  to  transport  the  armies,  or  the  increased  taxes 
required  to  maintain  the  armies,  of  an  alien  conqueror. 

Xo  stronger  proof  of  the  candour  of  the  Chinese  historians  can  be  given 
than  the  character  which  they  give  of  Kubla.  They  praise  his  ability,  his 
love  of  letters,  his  humanity,  and  give  him  credit  for  a  sincere  zeal  for  the 
welfare  of  his  subjects.  They  complain  that  no  native  Chinese  were  em- 
ployed in  offices  of  trust  or  importance,  but  they  admit  that  his  foreign 
ministers  were  chosen  with  discernment,  except  in.  the  all-important  case  of 
the  Minister  of  Finance.  The  sight  of  a  wealthy  nation  was  new  to  the 
Arabs  and  other  Mahomedans  of  Western  Asia,  and  they  naturally  thought 
to  ';  squeeze  "  the  whole  population,  as  rich  merchants  were  squeezed  with 
impunity  by  every  Commander  of  the  Faithful.  Ogatai  was  tempted  by  a 
financier  of  this  school,  and  Kubla  himself  was  ill  served  by  one  Ahmed 
('Marco's  Achmath,  the  Ahama  of  the  Annals),  whose  insolence  and  extor- 
tions provoked  a  conspiracy  among  the  Chinese,  by  whom  he  was  assassi- 
nated. 

The  Emperor  was  absent  at  the  time,  and  on  his  return  applied  to  one 
Polo,  an  assessor  of  the  Privy  Council,  to  enlighten  him  as  to  the  cause  of 
the  murder.  Fortunately  the  Venetian  rejoices  in  one  of  the  very  few 
European  names  that  can  appear  unaltered  in  Chinese  ;  and  there  is  not 
the  slightest  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  cither  Marco,  or  some  member  of 
his  family,  who  then  deserved  the  praise  of  history,  by  the  courage  and 
firmness  with  which  he  described  the  villainies  of  the  dead  minister,2  whose 
wealth  was  confiscated  while  the  memory  of  his  executioners  was  rehabilitated 
and  honoured.  He  and  other  Mongol  ministers  of  finance  are  accused  of 
having  profited  by  the  theoretical  right  of  the  Emperor,  to  a  monopoly  of 
foreign  merchandise,  to  plunder  the  merchants,  whom  it  had  been  the 
fashion  of  Chinese  monarchs  to  patronize  and  enrich. 

Marco's  account  of  these  transactions,  in  their  legitimate  form,  is  associ- 
ated witli  his  description  of  the  paper  currency,  and  is  worth  quoting  at 
length,  because,  while  denying  the  existence  of  oppression,  he  expressly 
indicates  the  point  where  it  might  be  expected  to  begin.      "All  merchants 

1  1'authicr's  Marco  Polo,  p,  4S1  n.  The  comparative  inefficiency  of  the  canal  at  the 
present  clayis  due  to  changes  in  the  course  of  the  rivers  feeding  it,  as  well  as  to  neglect 
(jf  dredging  and  other  necessary  works. 

-  J  )e  Mailla,  ix.  p.  413. 

VOL.    II. I'.C.  L) 


2  2f,  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

arriving  from  India  or  other  countries,  and  bringing  with  them  gold  or  silver 
or  gems  and  pearls,  are  prohibited  from  selling  to  any  one  but  the  Emperor, 
lie  has  twelve  experts  chosen  for  this  business,  men  of  shrewdness  and 
experience  in  such  affairs  :  these  appraise  the  articles,1  and  the  emperor 
then  pays  a  liberal  price  for  them  in  those  pieces  of  paper.  The 
merchants  accept  his  price  readily,  for  in  the  first  place  they  would  not 
get  so  good  an  one  from  any  one  else,  and  secondly  they  are  paid  without 
any  delay.  And  with  this  paper  money  they  can  buy  what  they  like  any- 
where over  the  empire,  whilst  it  is  also  vastly  lighter  to  carry  about  on  their 
journeys.  And  it  is  a  truth  that  the  merchants  will  several  times  in  the 
year  bring  wares  to  the  amount  of  400. oco  bezants,  and  the  Grand  Sire 
pays  for  all  that  in  paper.  ...  So  he  buys  such  a  quantity  of  those 
precious  things  every  year  that  his  treasure  is  endless,  whilst  all  the  time 
the  money  he  pays  away  costs  nothing  at  all.  Moreover,  several  times  in 
the  year  proclamation  is  made  through  the  city  that  any  one  who  may  have 
gold,  or  silver,  or  gems,  or  pearls,  by  taking  them  to  the  Mint,  shall  get  a 
handsome  price  for  them.  .  .  .  Thus  the  quantity  they  bring  in  is 
marvellous,  though  those  who  do  not  choose  to  do  so  may  let  it  alone. 
Still   in   this  way.   nearly  all    the   valuables  in  the  country  come  into   the 

Kaan's  possession -Vnd   if  any   Baron,  or   any  one   else   soever 

hath  need  of  gold,  or  silver,  or  gems,  or  pearls,  in  order  to  make  plate  or 
girdles  or  the  like,  he  goes  to  the  Mint  and  buys  as  much  as  he  lists,  paying 
in  this  paper  money.'' 

Marco  is  not  able  to  assure  us  that  the  paper  money  is  taken  at  the 
same  valuation  in  the  two  cases  :  but  we  have  seen  that  a  limited  amount 
of  paper  was  readily  accented  by  private  dealers  because  of  its  con- 
venience in  use.  The  enormous  amount  of  paper  issued  by  the  Mongols, 
amounting  in  the  34  years  of  Kubla's  reign  to  little  less  than  ^125,000.000 
sterling  in  nominal  value,  can  obviously  not  have  been  in  circulation 
except  at  a  much  depreciated  rate.  Vet  we  may  believe  Marco  that 
the  notes  were  taken  readily  in  exchange  for  goods  at  the  current  rate. 
whatever  that  might  be.  The  uncertainty  which  attaches  to  Marco's 
rendering  of  Chinese  money  values  makes  it  impassible  to  use  his  infor- 
mation as  to  the  revenue  drawn  from  Hang-chow  and  tiie  surrounding 
pr  winces,  with  any  confi  ten  e.  He  puts  this  at  14.700. coo  sa^i  of  gold, 
which  Sir  Henry  Yule's  estimate  of  the  Venetian  saggio  makes  equivalent 
to  over  0 !,  millions  sterling,  for  only  one.  albeit  the  richest  of  the 
pr  winces  of  the  empire. 

If  we  had  for  this  period  tables  like  tiiose  which  show  the  total  revenue 
■:.:.  ler  different  heads  un  ier  the  S  mg  emperors,  we  should  have  a  clue  to 
the  needful  deductions  :  'nut  honest  book-keeping  is  too  great  a  check  1  n 
fraud  for  finance  ministers  of  this  period  to  have  followed  such  prece- 
dents, ami  less  tl.  n  half  -  centurv  after  our  traveller's  report,  Chinese 
nnalists  futmd  it  inn  >s>i:.le  to  recover  materials  for  the  usual  summary, 
ll.e  -l:.u  1  '  :>:pl  '.nation  t,u  the  great  apparent  in tlation  of  the  revenue  is 
•    1    .    7..    7  .;,-.,'.    >:anti  ;,">  tr:.n>!atu>n.  -cct.  c'.ii;. 


UNDER    THE   SUNG   AND    THE   FIRST  MONGOLS.  227 

to  suppose  that  Marco  gives  it  in  paper  money  without  allowance  for  de- 
preciation.1 

The  presence  of  Mahomedan  money-lenders  gave  rise  to  a  grievance  in 
Northern  China  which  illustrates  the  fatal  results  of  a  mixture  of  the  insti- 
tutions characteristic  of  nations  of  a  totally  different  type.  Not  un- 
naturally, in  a  newly  conquered  country,  cases  of  brigandage  arose;  and 
by  Chinese  custom  the  fine  for  that  offence  was  levied  on  the  district 
where  it  was  committed,  according  to  the  ancient  rule  of  "mutual  responsi- 
bility."' It  was  now  complained  that  the  local  magistrates  had  to  borrow 
the  money  for  these  fines  from  Mahomedan  usurers  who  doubled  the 
sum  by  usurious  interest,  and  then  insisted  on  selling  up  their  insolvent 
clients.  The  evil  reached  such  dimensions  that  Yeliu-tache  persuaded 
the  emperor  to  pay  off  the  usurers  with  760,000  ounces  of  silver,  which, 
however,  of  course  came  ultimately  from  the  pockets  of  the  conquered 
people. 

The  land  tax  was  heavier  under  Kubla  than  it  had  been  under  Ogatai, 
and  besides  this  a  number  of  special  taxes  were  levied,  not,  as  heretofore, 
upon  special  sources  of  profit,  but  merely  to  meet  particular  items  of  ex- 
pense, as  a  tax  for  the  public  examinations,  a  tax  for  the  medical  dispen- 
saries, for  the  granaries,  and  even  a  tax  for  the  relief  of  distress.  As  some 
of  all  these  monies  unquestionably  stuck  to  the  fingers  of  the  tax-collectors, 
we  need  not  wonder  that  the  Mongols  had  a  shorter  tenure  of  power  than 
any  other  dynasty  founded  by  soldiers  and  administrators  of  such  eminence 
as  Genghis,  Ogatai,  and  Kubla. 

The  fall  of  Ahmed  took  place  in  12S2  ;  but  only  three  years  later,  before 
the  departure  of  Marco  Polo,  similar  complaints  began  to  be  made  of  a 
successor  and  former  protege  of  his,  who  was  accused  of  reviving  the  same 
malpractices,  under  cover  of  elaborate  regulations  not  unlike  those  of 
Wang-ngan-shi.  This  minister  proposed  to  coin  copper  money,  which  was 
to  be  issued  to  the  inhabitants  of  the  southern  trading  ports,  for  exchange 
against  foreign  merchandise,  subject  to  a  charge  of  seven-tenths  of  the  profits 
thus  made,  which  was  to  be  paid  to  the  imperial  treasury.  The  rich,  who 
apparently  profited  by  the  scarcity  of  metal  to  sell  weapons  at  a  fancy 
price,  were  forbidden  to  engage  in  that  manufacture,  and  the  profits  to 
be  derived  from  it  by  the  State  were  ordered  to  be  spent  in  replenishing 
the  granaries,  so  that  corn  and  rice  should  be  sold  at  moderate  prices. 
The  tax  on  wine  was  raised,  and  wine-sellers'  licenses  put  up  to  auction. 
It  was  a  part  of  the  plan  to  farm  out  the  charge  of  the  imperial  stables 
and  cattle  to  Mongols,  in  return  fur  payments  equal  to  one-fifth  of  the 
breeder's  profits,  and  the  trade  between  China  and  the  steppes  was  in  the 
same  way  to  be  retained  in  the  hands  of  the  Government.  But  the  at- 
tempt at  once  to  multiply  and  to  monopolize  the  opportunities  of  cor- 
ruption raised  a  storm  of  enmity  against  the  ingenious  financier,  and  he 

1  The  Booh  of  So-  Marco  Polo,  the  Venetian,  concerning  the  Kingdoms  and  Manx's 
cf  the  East,  newly  translated  and  edited  with  nutes  by  Col.  (the  late  Sir;  Henry  Yule,  i. 
pp.  379,3^0. 


2  28  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

was  finally  condemned  to  be  cut  in  pieces,  by  the  tribunal  before  which  he 
was  accused  of  fraudulently  enhancing  the  tea  duties. 

The  effect  on  the  condition  of  the  people  of  such  fiscal  abuses,  which 
escaped  detection  except  in  cases  of  special  enormity,  is  seen  in  the 
results  of  the  census  in  1290,  when  the  returns  showed  only  13,196,206 
tax-paying  families,  or  a  total  population  of  58,834,711  persons,  exclusive, 
it  is  stated,  of  the  large  number  of  rebels  and  others,  who  had  taken 
refuge  upon  the  lakes  or  in  the  mountains.  It  had  been  the  intention  of 
Kubla  to  reduce  the  amount  of  taxation  to  what  had  been  exacted  during 
the  Sung  Dynasty  ;  now,  however,  the  increased  number  and  expensive- 
ness  of  the  imperial  family  compelled  the  abandonment  of  this  design, 
and  the  utmost  that  could  be  conceded  was  immunity  from  further 
burdens.  Then,  as  always,  the  lawful  demands  of  the  tax-collectors 
formed  the  least  part  of  the  sums  exacted,  and  in  1293  the  number  of 
bureaux  and  revenue  officials  was  largely  reduced,  as  a  means  of  relief  even 
more  practical  than  a  nominal  reduction  of  taxation. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  MONGOLS  AFTER  KUBLA. 

Kubla  Khan  did  not  long  survive  the  departure  of  the  Venetian  travellers 
to  whom  he  is  indebted  for  so  much  of  his  fame.  The  Polo  family- 
started  on  their  return  to  Venice  in  1292,  and  in  1294  Kubla  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  grandson  Timour,  known  in  Chinese  annals  as  Tching- 
tsong.  An  edict  of  his  first  year  mentions  the  allowances  of  grain  made 
at  the  public  expense,  for  the  support  of  students  in  the  State  colleges. 
The  insufficiency  of  the  revenue  was  lamented,  and  attributed  partly  to 
defective  receipts,  owing  to  the  exemption  of  Buddhist  and  Taoist  priests 
from  taxation,  which  caused  laymen  to  adopt  the  dress  :  and  partly  to  the 
cost  of  pensions  granted  to  members  of  the  imperial  family. 

While  the  Mongol  Government  thus  complained  of  the  unprofitable- 
ness of  its  empire,  the  rich  provinces  in  Southern  China  had,  during  the 
forty  years  of  peace  after  tiie  Mongol  conquest,  recovered  much  of  their 
former  wealth  and  splendour.  So  long  as  the  revenue  returns  sufficed  for 
the  wants  of  the  administration,  the  condition  of  the  subject  population 
received  little  further  attention.  And,  under  cover  of  this  indifference, 
while  the  number  of  brigands,  vagabonds,  and  refugees  had  multiplied, 
so  as  to  cause  a  serious  falling  off  in  the  roll  of  tax-payers,  the  great  families 
in  Kiang-nan  had  become  so  rich  as  to  own  as  serfs  more  than  "  ten 
thousand"  subject  households.  In  1309  the  increase  of  such  agglome- 
rators  was  denounced,  on  the  score  of  the  political  danger  to  the  dynasty 
likely  to  arise,  when  subjects  of  alien  race  attained  such  a  degree  of 
power  and  opulence. 

To  check  the  aggrandizement  of  these  large  landowners,  they  were  re- 
quired to  furnish  an  exact  return  of  their  property,  and  each  family  with 
a  revenue  exceeding  50.000  measures  of  grain  was  required  to  pay  a  tax 
of  10.000  measures,  half  of  which  was  allotted  to  the  support  of  the 
troops,  and  half  to  the  public  granaries.  Odoric  of  Pordenone  describes 
the  revenue  of  a  fabulously  rich  and  luxurious  citizen  as  amounting  to 
300. coo  sacks  of  rice,  and  the  figure  may  be  accepted  as  representing  the 
contemporary  idea  of  wealth  a  la  Monte  Cristo.  Besides  the  above 
substantial  income  tax  (equivalent  to  \s.  in  the  pound),  the  same  families 
were  required  to  send  one  son  as  a  sort  of  hostage,  to  serve  in  the  .Mongol 
armies. 

In  13T3  the  literary  examinations  were  restored,  and  the  Chinese 
admitted  in  greater  numbers  to  a  share  in  the  administration.     As  a  further 


230  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

measure  of  conciliation,  new  honours  were  conferred  on  Confucius,  and 
the  tablets  of  all  the  great  orthodox  authors  of  the  Sung  Dynasty  were 
finally  ordered  to  be  hung  up  in  his  temple.  Sumptuary  regulations  were 
also  introduced,  distinguishing  the  dress  of  officials  and  literati  from  that 
of  the  common  people — -a  measure  which  may  have  been  connected  with 
these  other  attempts  to  obliterate  the  sharp  distinction  between  Mongols 
and  Chinese.  In  pursuance  of  the  same  policy  we  find  the  Tribunal  of 
public  AVorks  presenting  a  Treatise  on  the  Cultivation  of  mulberries  to  the 
Emperor  in  1318,  and  two  years  later  the  official  code  of  the  dynasty  was 
promulgated,  in  2.539  articles.  In  the  same  year  the  young  Emperor  was. 
assassinated,  and  throughout  the  next  half-century  few  years  pass  without 
some  complaints  of  dynastic  rivalries,  Mongol  malversations,  and  Chinese 
seditions,  interspersed  with  abortive  attempts  at  reform  and  repression. 

In  1323  a  Chinese  minister  denounced  the  trade  in  precious  stones, 
which  dealers  were  compelled  to  purchase  from  the  court  at  ten  times 
their  real  value,  and  the  pearl  fishery  at  Canton,  to  which  many  lives  were 
sacrificed  every  year  ;  and  he  gave  voice  once  more  to  the  classic  Chinese 
horror  of  the  undue  influence  at  court  of  women,  eunuchs,  and  the  minis- 
ters of  strange  religions.  Wu-tching,  the  president  of  the  Han-lin  College, 
was  actually  invited  to  write  a  preface  to  the  edition  of  Buddhist  works, 
written  in  letters  of  gold,  on  which  nearly  4.000  ounces  of  the  precious 
metal  had  been  spent  ;  and,  though  he  refused  to  do  so,  the  request  itself 
shows  how  wide  was  the  gulf  between  the  ruler  and  his  most  independent 
subjects. ! 

The  relation  between  the  Yuen  emperors  and  the  literati  never  became 
really  cordial,  and  the  introduction  of  Mongols  into  the  Han-lin  College 
did  not  prevent  that  body  from  offering  an  effective  passive  resistance,  when 
it  was  required  to  prepare  a  collection  ot  Mongol  customs  corresponding 
to  those  published  by  the  Tang  and  Sung  Dynasties.  To  conciliate  one 
nation  was  to  offend  the  other,  and,  alter  more  short  reigns  and  threat- 
ened rebellions,  in  1357  there  seems  to  have  been  a  reaction  among  the 
Mongol  magnates,  jealous  of  the  Chinese,  who  in  their  turn  declared  that 
all  the  existing  discontent  arose  from  the  avarice  and  corruption  of  the 
Mongols  employed  in  the  chief  offices  of  State.  The  political  ineptitude 
of  the  ruling  faction  may  be  gauged  from  the  fact  that  the  Chinese  were 
now  forbidden  to  keep  horses  or  learn  Mongol. 

The  founder  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  was  born  about  this  time  ;  he  entered 
a  Buddhist  monastery  at  the  age  of  seventeen,  but  soon  abandoned  the 
religious  life,  and  in  1352  enlisted  under  one  of  the  many  partisan  leader.-. 
whose  bands  turned  all  China  into  a  battlefield.  At  the  same  time  great 
and  lasting  discontent  was  provoked  by  the  labours  exacted  in  order  to 
divert  the  course  of  the  I  loang-ho  into  one  of  its  deserted  beds.  The 
works  failed^  to  remedy  the  inundations  complained  of ;  but  70,000  work- 
men at  a  time  were  employed,  the  number  of  brigands  and  rebels  increased 
as  the  reluctant  cultivators  deserted,  and  the  bands  of  malcontents  were 
1   /.;•  siliic  i.v.i   1  \uen,  l.y  T.   Ihizin,  p.    467. 


THE   MONGOLS  AFTER  KUBLA.  23  r 

farther  recruited  by  the  colonies  of  peasants  whom  the  Government  had 
forcibly  transplanted  from  their  own  lands.  Fleets  of  pirates  commanded 
the  sea,  and  famine,  pestilence  and  rapine  raged  inland,  as  in  the  miserable 
turmoil  of  the  Posterior  dynasties  :  human  flesh  was  eaten.  The  familiar 
chapter  of  history  was  to  repeat  itself,  a  righteous  deliverer  needed  but  to 
appear  for  the  Appointment  of  Heaven  to  give  the  empire  into  his  hands. 
Dynastic  rivalries  hastened  the  ruin  of  the  alien  house,  and  in  1368,  only 
89  years  after  the  fall  of  the  Southern  Sung,  the  Mongol  Dynasty  in  its 
turn  became  extinct. 

It  is  from  Chinese  sources  only  that  we  learn  to  regard  this  14th  century 
among  the  iron  ages  of  the  long  history  of  the  black-haired  race.  To 
Europeans  contemporary  with  the  Hundred  Years  War,  the  peace  and 
plenty  of  China  at  its  worst  provided  food  enough  for  admiration  ;  and,  as 
it  happens,  the  number  of  our  Western  authorities  is  just  at  this  time  in- 
creased by  that  very  relaxation  of  the  bonds  of  orthodoxy,  against  which 
native  critics  protested  in  vain.  It  was  under  cover  of  the  Buddhist  zeal 
of  the  Mongol  princes  that  the  Latin  friars  of  the  14th  century  established 
their  missions,  even  while  denouncing  the  latitudinarianism  by  which  they 
profited.  A  somewhat  fiery  bishop  Andrew  of  Zayton  ]  observes,  in  1326, 
that  there  are  persons  of  every  nation  and  sect  in  the  empire,  all  allowed 
to  live  freely  according  to  their  own  creed,  owing  to  the  erroneous  belief 
of  the  people  '•  that  every  one  can  find  salvation  in  Ids  own  religion." 
"  Howbeit,"  he  continues,  ";  we  are  at  liberty  to  preach  without  let  or  hin- 
drance " — the  opposite  doctrine  '. 

John  of  Montecorvino,  a  Franciscan,  afterwards  made  bishop  ofCambalec, 
seems  to  have  been  intellectually  on  a  par  with  the  less  intelligent  of  the 
later  Jesuit  missionaries  ;  and  the  learned  Persian  physician  and  vizier, 
Rashid-eddin  (1247-1318),  refers  mainly  to  tiie  China  of  Marco  Polo  in 
his  descriptions.  Put  it  is  interesting  to  know  that  the  details  of  Chinese 
administration  were  better  understood  by  Persian  statesmen  then,  than  by 
many  Western  diplomats  of  later  ages.  He  describes  the  six  boards  of 
Administration,  the  nine  grades  of  towns  winch  give  their  names  and  rank 
to  the  officer  in  charge  of  them  :  -  and  is  not  unfamiliar  with  the  etiquette 
of  the  council  chamber,  while  he  particularly  mentions  the  function  of  an 
official,  whose  duty  it  is  to  examine  all  the  drafts  of  memorials  that  are 
presented  to  the  Emperor.  Even  the  geographical  description  of  the  dif- 
ferent provinces  of  the  empire  is  tolerably  circumstantial  and  correct, 
considering  the  great  distances  and  the  imperfection  of  the  available 
maps. 

The  travels  of  Odoric  of  Pordenone  date  from  13  16  to  1330,  so  that  his 

1  He  is  impressed,  in  spite  of  himself,  by  the  greatness  and  order  of  the  empire, 
''within  which  no  man  dares  to  draw  a  sword  against  his  neighbour,''  and  with  its 
"variety  of  merchan  lise  greater  than  in  the  territories  of  U-jme  or  of  Paris.''    {Cain  iv,  v.. 

V-  -45-)' 

-  Jo. ,  p.  262.  He  explains  the  transfer  of  the  seat  of  Empire  to  China  by  Kubla, 
by  the  fact  that  it  '•  was  reckoned  to  surpass  ail  other  kingdoms  an  i  countries  in  the 
world."     {lb.,  p.  257.1 


232  OUXERSIIIP  IX   CIIIXA. 

residence  in  China  coincides  with  the  decadence  of  the  Mongol  empire.1 
The  first  city  he  came  to,  supposed  to  be  Canton,  seemed  to  him  "as  big 
as  three  Venires  "  and  lias  more  shipping  than  all  Italy  together.  It  is  a 
land  in  which  Treviso  and  Vicenza  would  be  places  of  small  importance, 
and  in  many  parts  the  population  is  denser  "than  the  crowds  you  see  in 
Venice  on  Ascension  I  )a\*.  And  the  land  hath  great  store  of  bread,  ot 
wine,  of  rice,  of  flesh  and  of  fish  of  all  sorts,  and  of  all  manner  of  victuals 
whatever  that  are  used  by  mankind.  And  all  the  people  of  this  country 
are  traders  an  1  artificers,  and  no  man  ever  seeketh  aims,  however  poor  he 
be.  as  long  as  he  can  do  anything  with  his  own  hands  to  help  himself.  ' 
The  men  are  comely  enough,  the  women  the  most  beautiful  in  the  world, 
and  for  less  than  a  groat  you  can  buy  seven  pounds  of  sugar  or  three  hun 
dred  pounds  of  fresh  ginger!  The  people  of  Zaiton  are  described  by 
the  cheerful  friar  as  "  of  pleasing  manners,  handsome  and  courteous, 
especially  to  foreigners  ;  "'  and  he  finds  in  this  city  two  houses  of  the  Friars 
Minor,  with  whom  he  deposits  the  relics  of  certain  martyrs  of  his  order 
which  he  had  brought  from  India. 

A  compilation  made  about  1332,  by  a  certain  archbishop  of  Soltania, 
reproduces  Marco  Polo's  admiration  for  the  justice  and  humanity  of  the 
etreat  Khan,  so  that  no  advices  to  the  contrary  effect  can  have  yet  been 
embodied  in  the  Lcttn  '  >:.lifia.  'ics.  of  the  peri  >d.  Chloric,  however,  wiio. 
:  1  matter- secular,  is  a  more  acute  and  independent  observer  than  the  arch- 
1  shop,  touches  on  one  of  the  grievances  ot"  the  Chinese  when  he  mentions 
the  exceeding  numerousness  of  the  Imperial  family:  and  his  account  of 
'  :  -;  1  :nd:  1  pearls  used  for  the  decoration  of  the  ladies  of  the  court  must 
he   read  in  connection  with   the  complaints  already  recorded  concerning 

■  •   :arl  fisheries  and  the  traffic  in  precious  stones. 

He  describes  the  use  of  conn  rant-  for  fishing,  the  long  nails  and  com- 
p-essed  feet  cultivated  by  men  audi  women  of  gentility  :  and  localizes  at 
"A  ang-<  in  >w,"  Marco's  old  _  >vernment,  the  innkee]  er's  cust  im  of  ]  roviding 
■tinners  at  so  much  a  head,  for  those  desirous  of  entertaining  their  friends 
wtth  t:t  t:  :  lie.  At  Sunzumatu,  which  iias  not  been  quite  conclusively 
.  !  :nti:i  :  ..  sil  :  is  to  be  :  mn  i  in  greater  plenty  '"  than  ]  erhaps  any  other 
:  -  rtii  :  ;or  wh<  n  s; Ik  there  is  at  its  dearest,  you  can  still  have  forty 
'     unds  tor  i   -s  th:  n  ei_'ht  gi'i  ■."-." 

The  j j  '-t  dottS'  s,  roads  and  imperial  magnificence  are  of  course  described 

1.     nd  >■>       the  el  1  1  irate  eti  [tiette  enforced  by  the  master  ^:   the  cere- 

moiiies.  -.vh'ise  words  ot  1    unmand,   at  ti.e  imperial  re  epti        .    have   been 

rrei  '  y  ::  '    ";  :  :'     .  '  >  the  traveller  or  understood   bv  lum,  as  his   desi  :.:  - 
tton  aere    s  <  .      v.  ;tii  th  :  (    re.,  in  es  |  r  :s>  : .'  ji  1  at  length  ::.  tiie  M01  _ 

A.    and    ':    ml    ted     iv    M.    I'uuthierd-     The    f  >t:r    scrib    -.    w'no   wait   in 

: epilation   ',•.'.  :' .:     -  th  •  i-au  1   years  to  the  origin  of  such  n  )te-making. 


THE   MONGOLS  ALTER   KUBLA.  233 

-which  furnished  the  first  materials  for  the  classic  book  of  History.  And 
the  description  of  the  artificial  wooded  hill,  the  "Green  Mount"  planted 
by  Kubla's  orders  with  large  trees  of  various  kinds  brought  from  afar,  with 
'the  earth  around  their  roots,  carries  us  forward  to  the  horticultural  triumphs 
of  a  modern  Jardin  d'acclimatation. 

Commercial  intercourse  at  this  time  between  Italy  and  China  was  suffi- 
ciently frequent  for  Odoric  to  feel  assured  that  his  traveller's  tales  would 
be  confirmed  in  Venice  by  many  who  knew  from  personal  experience  of 
their  truth.  The  overland  traffic  was  not  less  important  than  that  by  sea, 
and  Florentine,  Venetian,  and  Genoese  traders  were  to  be  met  with  upon 
both  routes.  An  employee  of  the  great  Florentine  house  of  Bardi,  Pego- 
lotti  byname,  compiled  about  this  time  (1340)  a  practical  commercial 
guide  and  vocabulary,1  in  which,  along  with  other  interesting  and  instruc- 
tive matter,  he  describes  the  journey  for  "  such  as  will  go  from  Azov  to 
Cathay,  and  come  back  with  goods,"  and  the  comparative  advantages  of 
land  and  water  carriage  :  where  are  the  best  markets,  and  what  goods  it 
is  most  profitable  to  lay  in  here  or  there  in  relation  to  the  cost  of  transit. 
At  Azov  the  Genoese  and  Venetians  were  the  "  most  favoured  nations," 
and  paid  only  4  per  cent,  duty  on  wine  and  hides,  while  other  traders  paid 
5  per  cent. 

Pegolotti  gives  in  detail  the  payments  exacted  from  traders  between  the 
gulf  of  Iskenderan  and  Tabriz  for  caravanserais,  and  baths,  guards,  watch- 
men, duties  and  licenses,  and  he  advises  the  merchant  to  give  presents  to 
the  custom-house  officials  and  their  servants,  in  consequence  of  which  they 
will  undervalue  the  goods.  The  road  from  Tana  (Azov)  to  Cathay  is  de- 
scribed as  perfectly  safe,  but  the  lord  of  the  land  inherits  the  property  of 
travellers  who  die  within  his  borders,  unless  they  have  a  natural  heir  in 
the  same  company.  The  first  part  of  the  road  is  the  most  dangerous,  but 
no  serious  disturbances  are  anticipated  :  for  the  traveller  is  informed  that, 
though  he  need  not  do  so  unless  he  likes,  he  may  if  he  pleases,  take  a 
woman  of  the  country  with  him,  and  will  find  his  comfort  increased  by  so 
doing.  With  a  party  of  sixty  '•  you  will  go  as  safely  as  if  you  were  in  your 
own  house."  The  cost  of  the  journey  for  a  merchant  with  interpreter, 
servants,  pack  animals,  and  goods  to  the  value  of  25,000  gold  florins,  is 
estimated  at  300  to  400  florins  ;  the  cost  of  the  return  journey  depends  on 
the  number  of  pack  animals  employed,  but  these  will  average  about  forty- 
live  florins  each. 

The  weight  drawn  by  each  camel,  ox,  or  horse  wagon  is  further  given, 
and  the  price  per  pound  of  Chinese  silk,  which  is  expected  to  form  the 
chief  article  of  traffic,  so  that  we  seem  on  the  verge  of  being  able  to 
estimate  the  percentage  of  profit  made  by  a  discreet  trader;  but  weights 
and  values  are  too  uncertain  for  any  trustworthy  conclusion  to  be  readied, 
butting  the  florin  at  ro\  6d.,  tiie  merchant's  stock-in-trade  will  be  worth 
about  j£  12,000,  and  at  the  same  rate  the  price  of  silk  would  be  about  y. 
a  pound.      Pegolotti  declares  that  the  paper  money  in  which  goods  are  paid 

1    Cathay,  ii.  p.  279  if. 


234  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

for  is  not  depreciated,  and  the  unanimity  of  foreigners  upon  this  subject  is 
perplexing  in  the  face  of  the  not  less  uniform  complaints  of  native  writers, 
who  count  the  abuse  of  paper  money  by  the  Mongols  among  the  causes 
which  led  to  the  rebellion  against  their  authority,  resulting  in  the  fall  of 
the  dynasty. 

A  new  paper  money  was  issued  in  J 309,  and  about  the  same  time,  the 
only  metal  coinage  issued  by  the  Mongols  was  put  in  circulation,  but  it 
failed  to  obtain  currency,  and  paper  only  continued  to  be  used  till  their 
expulsion.  The  inconveniences  caused  by  the  use  of  depreciated  paper 
could  hardly  be  greater  than  those  arising  from  the  use  of  debased  copper, 
and  from  time  out  of  mind,  the  Chinese  traders  had  been  familiar  with  the 
latter.  The  good  faith  which  presided  over  their  commercial  dealings 
with  each  other  and  with  foreigners  brought  these  evils  to  a  minimum  ; 
they  were  not  aggravated  by  Bourse  speculations,  and  hence  the  only  sub- 
stantial grievance  lay  in  the  dealings  of  the  Government  with  the  native 
traders  and  tax-payers  ;  and  of  these  Odoric  and  Pegolotti  might  easily 
remain  ignorant. 

Sir  Henry  Yule '  understands  Pegolotti's  account  of  his  merchant's 
itinerary  as  bringing  him  down  the  great  canal  to  Hang-chow,  and  thence 
back  to  Peking  :  but  the  expressions  used  do  not  seem  naturally  to  indicate 
such  a  journey,  and.  in  fact,  it  seems  as  if  the  line  of  overland  traffic  had 
led  normally  to  Mongolia,  Peking,  and  the  districts  north  of  the  Yellow 
River,  while  maritime  trade  had  stoppe  i  short  in  Southern  China.  Pego- 
lotti speaks  of  the  capital  city  (Cambalec)  as  the  resort  of  merchants,  in 
which  there  is  a  vast  amount  of  trade  :  and  the  absence  of  any  special  de- 
scription of  the  greatest  seaport  then  known  seems  to  indicate  Peking  as 
the  real  goal  of  the  journey.  It  is  difficult  to  see  what  a  European  traveller 
had  to  gain  by  going  from  one  end  of  China  to  another,  in  the  interval 
between  selling  the  goods  he  brought  and  buying  those  he  meant  to  take 
away,  both  of  which  it  was  his  interest  to  do  in  the  market  nearest  to 
the  frontier,  Si-ngan-fu  for  instance,  d'o  go  to  Hang-chow  via  Central  Asia 
and  Peking  would  be  as  expensive  as  to  go  to  Peking  via  the  Indian  Ocean 
.  n  1  the  sandy  mouth  of  the  Hoang-ho. 

It  was  in  Southern  China  that  the  chief  interruption  of  foreign  traffic  took 
place  towards  the  close  of  the  Sung  Dynasty,  but  it  was  regularly  restored 
in  i2<j2.  In  1350  the  foreign  trade  at  Canton  was  stopped,  but  only  for  a 
year,  and  in  the  early  de<  ades  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  it  was  tolerated,  though 
strictly  regulated.  At  the  beginning  of  the  15th  century  120  houses 
were  built  f  r  foreigners,  but  '"ships  bringing  tribute"  were  required  to 
land  their  goods  and  wait  till  harvest  was  over  before  attempting  to  dispose 
of  them. 

The  next  in  date  of  the  Western  travellers  who  brought  independent 
repi  rts  from  the  land  of  Cathay  is  another  Minorite  friar,  despatched  on 
an  embassy  to  China  by  Pope  benedict  XII.,  in  133S.  A  letter  had  been 
addressed  by  die  Mongol   Emperor  to  the  head  of  Christendom  inviting 

;    C..'.'/;.;y,  ii.  1  .  2bS. 


THE   MONGOLS  AFTER    KUBLA.  235 

intercourse.1  Presents  of  horses  and  four  legates  were  sent  in  reply,  of 
whom  one  was  John  of  Florence,  otherwise  de'  Marignolli,  who  was  re- 
warded after  Ids  return  by  a  Calabrian  bishopric  and  commissioned  by  the 
Emperor,  Charles  I  \\,  to  compose  the  annals  of  Bohemia.  The  good  bishop, 
apparently  aware  that  he  knew  less  about  Bohemia  than  other  parts  of  the 
world,  wisely  conceived  his  task  upon  an  extensive  scale,  which  allowed 
his  description  of  India  and  Cathay  to  take  precedence  of  the  history  of 
Bohemian  kings  and  bishops.  The  annals  of  the  Franciscan  Order  men- 
tion the  arrival  of  tins  embassy  at  the  court  of  Cambalec  in  1342,  and  the 
Chinese  annals  for  the  same  year  mention  the  arrival  of  horses  of  unknown 
race  from  the  kingdom  of  Fu-lang,  brought  as  an  offering  to  the  emperor. 

The  Bohemian  chronicle  adds  some  interesting  details  as  to  the  enter- 
tainment of  the  embassy,  which  consisted  of  thirty-two  persons  and  was 
maintained  at  the  court  of  Peking  with  all  hospitality  for  four  years  at  an 
expense  which  the  grateful  friar  estimates  at  not  less  than  4,000  marks. 
Suitable  apartments,  meat  and  drink,  costly  raiment,  all  necessary 
servants  and  '"  even  down  to  such  things  as  paper  for  lanterns,''  everything 
needful  for  their  comfort  and  dignity  was  provided,  at  the  imperial  expense, 
by  the  care  of  two  princes  specially  told  off  to  attend  to  their  wants.  The 
overland  route  by  which  the  ambassadors  had  arrived  was  closed  by  war 
when  the  time  came  for  their  return,  so  they  were  conveyed  in  state 
through  Southern  China,  and  besides  the  usual  raptures  over  Campsay  and 
Zaiton,  our  author  writes,  "On  our  way  we  beheld  the  glory  of  the  world  in 
such  a  multitude  of  cities,  towns,  and  villages,  and  in  other  ways  displayed, 
that  no  tongue  can  give  it  fit  expression,"  '•' 

Ibn  Batata,  the  greatest  wanderer  of  his  age,  on  reaching  Southern 
China,  after  various  misfortunes  on  the  road,  speaks  of  the  country  as  "the 
safest  as  well  as  the  pleasantest  of  all  the  regions  on  the  earth  for  a 
traveller/'''  Besides  repeating  much  that  is  already  familiar  to  us,  he 
describes  the  dishes  of  lacquered  ware,  the  greater  cheapness  of  silk  as 
compared  with  cotton,  and  the  skill  of  the  native  portrait  painters,  who 
were  employed,  apparently  in  lieu  of  passports,  to  depict  the  features  of 
foreigners  whom  the  Government  may  wish  to  identify.  Another  trait 
which  has  not  yet  been  mentioned  is  the  custom  by  which,  whenever  a 
Chinese  junk  is  about  to  undertake  a  voyage,  "  the  admiral  of  the  port  and 
his  secretaries  go  on  board  and  take  note  of  the  number  of  soldiers, 
servants,  and  sailors,  who  are  embarked.  The  ship  is  not  allowed  to  sail 
nil  this  form  has  been  complied  with.  And  when  the  junk  returns  to 
China,  the  same  officials  again  visit  her  and  compare  the  persons  found  on 
board  with  the  numbers  entered  on  their  register.  B"  any  one  is  missing, 
t'ne  captain  is  responsible  and  must  furnish  evidence  of  the  death  or 
desertion  of  the  missing  individual  or  otherwise  account  for  him.''  ' 

\  This  emperor  (Chun-ti,  1335)  is  accused  in  the  native  annals  of  favouring  "foreigners 
1  f  ill-regulated  morals.'' 
"   Cathay,   ii.    p.  342. 

J  lb.,  ii.  p.  4S5.      lie  was  horn  1304,  and  began  his  travel-;  in  1325. 
4  lb.,  ii.  p.  4S3.      Cf.    'fa  Tsing  Lu-li,  225,  g  31.      China  Review,  viii.  p.  13. 


236  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

The  institution  of  the  Hong  merchants,  who  were  made  responsible  for 

the  foreign  trade  in  recent  times,  existed  already  in  embryo.  The  Mussul- 
man trader  who  landed  in  China  was  allowed  to  take  up  his  abode  either 
with  a  resident  merchant  of  his  own  faith  or  in  an  hotel.  In  the  first 
place  the  merchant,  in  the  second  the  innkeeper  was  made  responsible  for 
his  property  and  sustenance,  and  was  required  to  act  honestly  as  trustee  on 
his  behalf.  The  foreign  merchant  was  allowed  to  buy  slaves  or  marry  if 
he  pleased  :  but  he  was  not  allowed  free  access  to  the  Chinese  parts  of 
the  town,  as  it  was  held  contrary  to  public  policy  to  allow  the  growth  of 
any  class  making  a  trade  of  ministering  to  the  profligacy  of  foreigners. 
The  inland  traffic  was  protected  with  the  same  kind  of  vigilance,  and  "you 
may  travel  the  whole  nine  months'  journey  to  which  the  empire  extends. 
without  the  slightest  cause  of  fear,  even  if  you  have  treasure  in  your 
charge.''  owing  to  the  good  care-  taken  by  the  officers  of  the  ]  ost  and 
hostelries  to  see  that  all  lawful  travellers  pass  on  their  way,  and  that  none 
disappear  without  being  a<  counte  1  for. 

The  only  region  in  the  world  to  be  compared  to  the  fertile  banks  of  the 
great  Canal  above  Hang-chow,  is  "that  space  of  four  days'  march  between 
Anbar  and  Anah,"  which  includes  the  plain  of  the  Euphrates  for  120  miles 
up  the  course  of  the  river  above  Bagdad.  Like  other  travellers,  Ibn  Batata 
observes  that  Cathay  is  the  best  cultivated  land  in  the  world:  "  in  the 
whole  country  you  will  not  find  a  bit  of  ground  lying  fallow,"  and  his 
inquiries  as  to  the  cause  of  a  state  of  things  so  unusual  in  large  Orb 
empires  were  met  by  the  information  that  "  if  a  piece  of  ground  be  left 
uncultivated,  they  still  oblige  the  people  on  it,  or  if  there  be  none,  the 
people  nearest  it.  to  pay  the  land  tax  :  ::  1  an  account  of  the  matter  which., 
though  not  strictly  accurate  in  itself,  hints  at  the  two  real  facts,  that  private 
owners  are  not  allowed  to  leave  their  holdings  unbilled,  and  that  the  State 
is  interested  in  providing  every  ;  1  )t  with  a  cultivating  owner,  since  so  onlv 
<  an  the  land  tax  be  raised  without  difficultv. 

There  is  no  hint  in  any  1  f  the.-e  writers  at  any  systematic  policy  <  : 
ti  ::.  1  r  the  exclusi  >n  of  all  foreigners  from  China,  such  as  we  meet 
with  in  the  r 6th  an  .1  17th  centuries.  On  the  contrary,  the  Flowery 
band  is  a  place  of  strange  meetings,  and  Ibn  Batata  recognizes  in  one 
of  the  cities  on  the  Grand  Canal  a  Moor  of  Ceuta,  whom  he  had  met 
lormerly,  not  in  his  own  native  Tangiers,  but  in  hcihi,  an  1  wh  se  I  rother 
he  was  to  encounter  two  years  later  in  Xegro  land.  The  world-wide 
v.  :.  lei  :  gs  whi  h  we  are  apt  to  <  insider  a  new  trait  in  the  1  ,:..  <  ■:.- 
tury  are  thy  a  repr  faction  of  experiences  familiar  t  1  the  races  that 
were  old  when  the  t  ngue  of  the  Kr.glish-speaking  colonists  of  the  fut  : 
was  in  its  ;:.:  n<  y.  It  was  after  experience,  several  times  renewed,  of  the 
: -  o!  ,:  foreign   1  •  >',:< w  such  as  would  now  1  e  1  ailed   liberal,  that   '  1 

b   rders  oi  toe  Cihine.se  limpu'e   were   deliberately  c.   sed  ; inst  the  inti  : 

sion  of  1  km  ■  ■  ean>. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 
THE    MING   DYNASTY. 

(i  36S-1649,  A.D.) 

We  enter  now  on  the  penultimate  chapter  of  Chinese  history.  Allowing 
for  the  slow  development  and  long  duration  of  the  empire,  there  is  a 
certain  analogy  between  the  brilliant  dynasties  of  China  and  those  single 
reigns  or  periods  which  count  as  epochs  in  the  West.  And.  from  this  point 
of  view,  the  period  of  native  rule  between  the  Mongols  and  the  Mantchus 
may  be  regarded  as  the  1 8th  century  of  China.  The  founder  of  the 
Ming  Dynasty  does  not  certainly  seem  more  distant  in  the  historical 
perspective  than  'William  of  Orange,  and  the  porcelain  of  his  successor, 
Yung-lo,  occupies  in  the  esteem  of  collectors  the  same  sort  of  place  as 
belongs  with  us  to  the  decorated  furniture  of  Queen  Anne ;  and,  to  com- 
plete the  parallel,  the  literature  of  the  dynasty  is  copious  and  correct,  but 
less  original  and  varied  than  that  of  the  Sung,  which  has  been  described  as 
the  Elizabethan  age  of  Chinese  poetry. 

Hung-woo,  which  means  "  The  warlike  fortune,"  '  is  not  the  proper 
name  of  the  first  emperor  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  though  it  is  often  so  used. 
It  is  the  name  which  he  gave  to  the  years  during  which  he  reigned.  The 
emperor  of  China,  it  has  been  said,  has  during  his  life  "  no  name  peculiar 
to  himself."  After  his  death,  one  is  assigned  to  him  by  which  he  is 
known  in  history,  and  some  of  these  names  repeat  themselves  by  a  tacit 
convention.  Thus  "  Tai-tsou,"  or  '-great  ancestor,7'  is  the  stock  name  for 
the  founder  of  a  dynasty,  Tai-tsong,  ''great  and  honourable  prince,'''  for  the 
second  ruler  who  consolidates  its  power;  and  other  names,  like  Wu-ti,  the 
••warlike.''"  Wen-ti,  the  "learned"  prince  are  of  frequent  recurrence  in  the 
chronicles.  These  and  others  repeat  themselves  in  different  dynasties, 
with  the  adjunct  of  the  dynastic  name,  so  that  the  proper  historic  name  of 
t'ae  expeller  of  the  Mongols,  whose  reign  (1368  98)  was  called  '"warlike 
fortune,"  is  Tai-tsou-Ming,  the  Oreat  Ancestor  of  the  bright  Dynasty. 

After  abandoning  the  tonsure  for  the  sword  in  1352.  the  ex-Buddhist 
was  loyal  to  the  chief  under  whose  command  he  enlisted  ;  but  he  was  dis- 
gusted with  the  oppressions  exercised  by  officers  and  soldiery,  and  at  the 
earliest  opportunity,  set  up  on  his  own  account  as  partisan  leader  and 
protector   of  the  people.      Instead   of  ranging    the    country  in    search    of 

1   Chincsi  Kef    it  >y,  ix.  p.  300.      In   (liles'   Chinese  English  Dictionary,  pp.   1364  \Y., 
is  a  c<  ni|  lete   list,  from  the    Han  peril  1  I   onward,  of  dynasties  ami   kings,  with  the 

dynastic  title  ami  the  titles  of  reigns  or  periods  given  in  parallel  columns. 


23S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

plunder,  he  introduced  good  order  in  the  districts  lie  subdued,  forbidding 
his  troops  to  plunder,  and  in  general  conforming  to  the  precepts  of 
IMencius  regarding  the  way  to  "  win  the  States."  The  success  which 
attended  his  arms  reconciled  his  soldiers  to  the  self-denial  imposed  on 
them,  and  he  gradually  superseded  one  rebel  chief  after  another,  including 
some  of  those  who  had  claimed  the  title  of  Emperor. 

Two  years  after  his  formal  accession,  a  census  of  the  cultivated  lands 
was  taken,  and  the  tax  brought  in  about  29I  million  measures  of  grain. 
or  slightly  more  than  in  the  palmiest  days  of  the  Sung  Dynasty;  but 
silk  and  money  are  the  only  other  objects  mentioned  in  the  table  ot 
revenue,  so  that  fewer  commodities  and  thus  on  the  whole  an  amount 
of  less  value  was  received  in  kind.  In  the  same  year  an  expedient  for 
supplying  the  frontiers  with  grain  was  introduced,  of  which  we  shall  hear 
more  in  the  next  century.1  Traders  were  allowed  to  receive  salt  from  the 
central  Government  mines  in  return  for  rice  delivered  to  the  border 
garrisons  at  rates  varying  according  to  the  distance  which  it  had  to  be 
brought.  Local  tributes  consisting  of  articles  of  costly  luxury,  such  as 
ginseng,  wine,  and  scented  rice,  were  declined  by  the  emperor,  lest  the 
collection  should  become  unduly  burdensome.  The  Government  was 
called  on  to  deal  at  the  same  time  with  the  two  evils  always  bequeathed 
by  a  period  of  civil  disorder — the  depopulation  of  agricultural  districts 
and  the  growth  of  a  landless  class  ;  and.  as  is  usual  in  China,  the  two  evils 
were  allowed  to  care  each  other.  The  landless  inhabitants  of  five  towns, 
amounting  in  all  to  4. coo  households,  were  removed  to  colonise  a  vacant 
district  ;  cattle,  seeds,  wagons,  and  necessary  provisions  were  given  them, 
together  with  three  years'  immunity  from  taxation.  In  other  parts  soldiers 
were  employed  to  reclaim  waste  lands  :  and  in  the  North,  where  population 
was  sparse,  the  number  of  public  functionaries  was  reduced. 

Perhaps  the  most  durable  result  of  the  Mongol  empire  was  the  opening 
of  Tatary  to  the  tea  trade.  This  beverage  had  in  the  course  of  a  century 
begun  to  take  its  present  place  as  a  necessary  of  life  upon  the  Steppes. 
The  trade  was  important  enough  to  attract  the  attention  of  financiers,  and 
a  tax  of  a  tenth  was  levied  on  the  tea  which  was  sold  in  exchange  for 
horses,  and  which  all  the  tribes  ot"  the  West  rushed  to  buy.  In  1375  an 
attempt  was  made  to  limit  the  currency  to  paper  and  copper  cash,  to  the 
exclusion  ot  tea;  but  on  the  introduction  of  paper  the  supply  of  horses  fell 
off,  and  the  export  of  silk  and  tea  had  to  be  renewed  to  obtain  them.  The 
regulation  price  for  a  first-class  horse  was  eighty  pounds  of  tea.  and  for  the 
next  hundred  years  or  so,  in  fact,  until  the  Chinese  empire  deliberately 
abandoned  the  use  of  carriage  horse-,  in  the  middle  of  the  1 6th  cen- 
tury, the  regulation  of  the  trade  was  a  constant  anxiety  to  the  native 
administrators. 

In  13S1  a  list  was  drawn  up  of  the  contributions  and  forced  labour  to  be 

1  The  Km;  :  :  K!  mlm  f-  /.'.-'  '  •:  /  '!  .://;.•„■  Dyua  •.  translated  (in  parti  '.  y 
I'Al  I  e  iiti  ia  Mara*.  :-  much  luller  than  I  »c  Mail'.a  in  its  act  't:nl  oi  social  and  ecoimmic 
i  ■■  ■:.  . it;    ..    an  i  .    n      ;,  but    i:n!    :'.;:.  a.  .v  : '..  .•  tran  -lati   :i     nly  goes  ..-  far  as  th  ■_■   :.     : 

cent  ..iv  ut  M  a.  '  rule. 


THE   MING   DYNASTY.  239 

exacted  throughout  the  empire  ;  no  households  were  reckoned  to  make  a 
village ;  the  ten  largest  taxpayers  being  counted  as  chiefs  ;  the  other 
hundred  were  divided  into  ten  sections,  so  that  theoretically  each  headman 
represented  ten  households.  The  old  people  and  widows  and  orphans 
were  not  counted  ;  the  lists  were  revised  every  ten  years,  and  the  share  of 
each  group  in  the  public  works  allotted  every  year. 

Tai-tsou  died  in  139S,  after  a  reign  of  thirty  years,  bequeathing  the 
empire  to  a  grandson  of  sixteen,  the  eldest  son  of  his  eldest  son,  instead 
of,  as  had  been  his  own  wish,  to  an  active  and  ambitious  younger  son  of 
his  own.  The  native  historians  of  his  reign  had  had  a  difficult  task;  for 
Tai-tsou's  conduct,  at  least  after  his  accession,  was  by  no  means  uniformly 
virtuous,  while  precedent  requires  that  the  founder  of  a  dynasty  shall  serve 
as  an  exemplar  to  all  his  imperial  descendants.  In  1402  an  order  was 
given  to  re-write  the  true  history  of  his  reign,  as  the  officer  to  whom  the 
task  had  been  first  entrusted  was  put  to  death  for  his  veracity  ;  and  even 
this  second  attempt  gave  so  little  satisfaction  that  ten  years  later  we  hear 
of  the  same  history  being  again  revised. 

But  the  most  damning  entries  on  Tai-tsou's  record  are  those  made  with 
Confucian  brevity  in  the  history  written  by  his  Mantchu  successor,  whom 
Europeans  call  Kien-lung.  This  work  is  written  in  the  curt  style  of  the 
"Spring  and  Autumn;"'  but  what  "righteous  decision"  can  be  more 
eloquent  than  that  involved  in  the  single  word  "  assassination.'"  used  to 
describe  the  death  or  execution  of  Se-lou  in  13S2,  and  of  Wang-pou  in 
1396,  both  guilty  only  of  addressing  remonstrances  to  the  emperor,  the 
former  on  his  addiction  to  the  worship  of  ho,  and  the  latter  in  the  dis- 
charge of  his  office  as  censor. 

When  Wang-pou  was  being  led  to  execution,  the  Emperor  appeared  to 
repent,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  amend  his  ways?  He  replied  with 
stubborn  dignity  :  "  If  I  have  committed  no  crime,  why  order  me  to  be 
put  to  death  ?  If  I  have  committed  any  crime,  how  can  you  let  me  live  ? 
To-day  I  desire  to  die."  The  enraged  Emperor  ordered  the  execution  to 
proceed;  but  as  he  passed  the  office  of  the  censors,  Pou  cried  out.  "Dr. 
Such-an-one  !  Record  this  day.  tins  month,  this  year,  the  emperor  put  to 
death  the  blameless  censor  Pou  !  "  And  even  so  it  was  done,  to  the 
edification  at  least  of  the  imperial  historian  four  centuries  later  ;  who,  by 
the  way,  might  have  been  saved  from  his  own  few  acts  of  tyrannical 
barbarism  had  a  Wang-pou  been  numbered  among  his  subjects. 

Tai-tsou  had  been  persuaded  not  to  nominate  his  younger  son  to  the 
throne,  lest  such  a  course  should  lead  to  a  disputed  succession  ;  but  the 
discontented  uncle,  who  was  already  in  possession  of  an  important  princi- 
pality, revolted,  and,  in  1403,  obtained  the  empire,  while  his  nephew, 
Kien-wen-ti,  fled  into  the  Southern  provinces,  disguised  as  a  Buddhist 
priest.  History  speaks  throughout  of  the  new  Emperor  as  an  usurper, 
though  he  was  a  zealous  patron  of  letters.  He  ordered  the  compilation 
of  a  great  encyclopaedia,  which  was  never  printed  on  the  ground  of  ex- 
pense;  but  a  single   imperfect  copy  of  it  was   said  subsequently  to   have 


24o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

preserved  385   ancient  and  rare  works  that  would  otherwise  have  been 
lost. 

Yung-lo  followed  his  father's  example  in  attempting  to  give  a  pen;il 
character  to  the  land  tax.  In  his  first  assessment,  Tai-tsou  had  punished 
certain  Southern  towns  for  their  adherence  to  another  leader  by  confiscat- 
ing the  territory  of  all  the  great  families  and  rich  inhabitants,  and  had 
taken  their  annual  rent  as  the  standard  for  the  tax.  This  tax  had  again 
been  raised  on  account  of  the  fertility  of  the  district,  so  that  Su-chow, 
Hang-chow,  and  three  other  towns  were  disproportionately  burdened  :  and 
the  former  alone,  in  138:,  paid  as  much  as  the  whole  province  of  Tche- 
kiang.  In  1400,  as  a  measure  of  relief,  the  land  tax  on  the  towns  of 
Kiang-nan  and  Tche-kiang  was  equalized,  and  the  maximum  tax  apparently 
fixed  at  one  measure  of  grain  per  acre.  Yung-lo,  however,  renewed  the 
attempt  to  tax  personal  opponents,  and  after  putting  one  such  to  death 
for  loyalty  towards  his  deposed  nephew,  he  increased  the  taxes  upon  his 
family  property,  "  that  all  future  generations  may  curse  his  memory," — an 
edict  which  was  doubtless  among  those  that  his  son  earned  credit  by 
rescinding. 

In  1409  three  horse-fairs  were  established  on  the  frontiers;  but  every- 
thing except  tea  and  horses  were  treated  as  contraband.  Peculation  fol- 
lowed as  a  natural  consequence  from  the  attempt  to  keep  the  trade  in  the 
hands  of  officials;  and  in  1409  an  officer  was  accused  of  giving  So, 000  lbs. 
of  tea  for  seventy  indifferent  horses,  or  more  than  ]  1,000  lbs.  for  what 
was  priced  in  Tai-tsou's  tariff  at  So  lbs.  There  must,  however,  still  have 
been  some  honest  and  capable  officials,  for  in  1411  the  Yellow  River  was 
successfully  conducted  back  into  one  of  its  old  channels,  after  a  flood  at 
Cai-fong-fn,  in  which  14,000  families  perished.  In  1413,  we  are  told, 
'■  the  people  were  made  to  maintain  horses,"  a  statement  of  which  we 
learnt  the  significance  in  the  days  of  Wang-ngan-shi  and  the  Mongols. 

In  the  last  reign  the  people  of  Nanking,  the  then  capital,  were  required 
to  provide  for  the  emperors  stud,  and  the  measure  was  now  extended  to 
Peking;  families  under  a  certain  size  had  to  maintain  one  horse,  and  those 
over  the  size  had  to  maintain  two.  The  smaller  households,  which  formed, 
groups  subject  to  mutual  responsibility  or  collective  punishment,  were 
required  to  maintain  one  horse  for  every  seven  households.  As  the  horses 
multiplied,  the  people  had  to  give  up  more  of  their  pastures  to  make  room 
for  them,  and  the  labour  of  herding  them  occupied  all  or  most  of  the  youths 
of  fifteen,  to  whom  their  charge  was  committed.  by  a  further  practical 
abuse  the  people  were  also  required  to  maintain  free  of  charge  the  horses 
of  official  underlings. 

In  1321  the  capital  was  removed  to  Peking,  and  an  instructive  memorial1 
presented  against  the  change  helps  to  show  why  the  vicinity  of  the  court 
was  not  regarded  as  a  boon  by  the  townspeople.  The  town  had  to  be 
remodelled,  and  the  modern  walls,  enclosing  a  much  smaller  city  than 
Kubla's,  built,      besides   the  necessary  expense  of  such  public  works,  the 

!   I  >c  la  Manx-,  p.  103. 


THE   MING   DYXASTY.  241 

workmen  oppressed  the  people,  demolishing  and  removing  their  houses 
arbitrarily  and  without  need,  either  wantonly  or  for  the  sake  of  bribes. 
The  memorialist  repeats  the  complaint  that  products  are  taxed  twice  over; 
the  people  live  on  roots  and  bark,  while  10,000  priestly  idlers  are  main- 
tained at  court.  Every  year  the  Emperor  gives  largesses  of  precious  wares 
and  money  to  obtain  a  few  horses  from  the  adjoining  subject  tribes,  and 
when  obtained  they  are  apportioned  amongst  the  people,  who  have  to 
make  good  whatever  losses  occur  amongst  them.  "What  is  the  good  of 
so  many  horses  ?"  asks  the  writer  in  conclusion;  "these  people  are  not 
moved  by  any  real  desire  to  be  governed  by  a  wise  ruler."' 

The  embassy  sent  to  the  court  of  China  in  1419  by  Shah  Rukh,  the  son 
of  Timour,  who  was  meditating  the  reconquest  of  China  when  lie  died, 
may  have  had  a  genuine  political  purpose,  but  the  border  Tatar  tribes 
were  certainly  innocent  of  any  desire  except  that  of  finding  an  advan- 
tageous market  for  their  wares.  A  writer  quoted  by  M.  Remusat1  observes, 
under  head  of  the  year  1424,  "All  the  barbarians  are  very  curious  about 
the  stuffs  and  merchandise  of  China,  so  that  the  markets  were  con- 
stantly filled  with  merchants  who  came  to  make  exchanges  under  pretext 
of  bringing  tribute.''  The  writer  goes  on  to  explain  that  it  was  attempted 
to  repress  this  disorder;  but  the  so-called  tribute-bearers,  who  received 
free  quarters  and  maintenance,  always  contrived  to  leave  stragglers  behind 
them  to  dispose  of  their  unsold  goods. 

In  1424  the  usurper  was  peaceably  succeeded  by  his  son,2  whose  short 
reign  was  only  marked  by  the  rehabilitation  of  those  whom  Yung-lo  had 
proscribed  as  traitors.  The  ten  years'  reign  of  the  next  king,  Sieuen-tsong, 
opened  with  a  curious  complaint  lodged  by  the  literati  of  the  Northern 
provinces,  who,  it  must  be  supposed,  had  fallen  behind  the  subjects  of 
the  Southern  Sung  in  literary  culture.  At  any  rate  the  Northerners  com- 
plained that  all  the  highest  degrees  were  taken  at  the  examinations  bv 
candidates  from  the  South,  and  the  Emperor  was  entreated  to  remedy  this 
grievance. 

The  proposed  compromise,  that  one-third  of  the  whole  number  of 
doctors'  degrees  awarded  should  be  reserved  to  the  North  and  two-thirds 
kept  by  the  South,  was  not  very  soothing  to  tire  amour propre  of  Northern 
scholars.  In  13S0  mention  is  made  of  an  exchange  or  transfer  of  officers 
in  the  North  and  South, — a  tentative  measure  in  the  same  direction  as  the 
present  fixed  rule,  which  forbids  an  officer  to  be  employed  in  his  native 
place.  Evidently  it  would  be  a  hardship  to  the  Northern  provinces  to  be 
habitually  governed  by  Southerners,  the  rather  if  the  Southerners  had  been 
favoured  in  the  original  distribution  of  offices,  on  account  of  political 
sympathies  opposed  to  those  of  their  destined  subjects. 

Sieuen-tsong  began  his   reign  with  several   minor  reforms.      In   1430  he 

1   Histoirc  tela  villi    I   Khotan,^.  104. 

-  The  rib  :  \"uiuj-lo  is  one  of  the  best  preserved  in  the  famous  burial-ground  1  :' 
the  dyna-ty,  which  the  head  of  the  dispossessed  family  is  still  required  by  the  ( ioveru- 
ment  to  visit  annually  for  the  performance  of  the  ancestral  worshij  , 

VOL.   II. — P.C.  R 


24- 


OWNERSHIP  IX    CIIIXA. 


proposed  to  excuse  the  people  from  making  good  the  loss  of  the  imperial 
horses,  and  asked  Yang-se-khy  if  there  was  anything  else  he  ought  to  do. 
He  was  told  to  excuse  arrears  for  wood  and  forage,  to  enforce  justice  in 
the  purchases  made  on  account  of  the  emperor,  not  to  oppress  the  over- 
numerous  workmen  in  the  capital,  and  to  reduce  the  rent  of  the  State 
lands.  The  rents  of  the  public  fields  around  Su-chow  were  reduced 
accordingly  from  twenty  to  seven  million  bushels.  The  transport  of  the 
grain  required  for  the  army  had  become  even  a  greater  burden  than  the 
supply  of  the  grain  itself,  and  it  was  hailed  as  a  welcome  measure  of  relief 
when,  in  1451,  the  troops  were  allowed  to  undertake  the  transport  them- 
selves. About  this  time  a  whole  batch  of  virtuous  officers  were  appointed, 
and  continued  to  hold  their  posts  for  the  next  ten  or  twenty  years.  The 
same  vermilion  pencil  which  stigmatizes  the  ,;  assassination  "  of  W'ang-pou 
observes  now,  '•  It  was  a  prosperous  time.''  One  of  these  virtuous 
governors  fell  to  the  share  of  Su-chow  ;  he  opened  a  granary  called  the 
'•  Labourers'  Aid."  out  of  which  all  loans  to  the  poor  and  losses  by 
weather  and  theft  were  defrayed,  and  during  the  twenty  years  of  his 
government  scarcity  was  unknown,  and  the  taxes  were  never  in  arrear. 

Several  times  in  the  course  ot  the  half-century  the  system  of  money 
fines,  extended  by  Yung-lo  in  1413,  is  objected  to  on  the  ground  that  it  is 
useless  to  let  officers  guilty  of  corrupt  practices  ransom  themselves  from 
punishment:  "  They  lose  their  place  by  coveting  wealth,  and  regain  it 
by  giving  up  a  part  of  their  gains.  Is  that  the  way  to  check  avarice?" 
Yng-tsong,  a  child  of  eight,  succeeded  ids  father  in  1 436  ;  as  he  grew  up, 
a  council  of  regency,  famous  as  "the  three  Yangs,"  and  the  Empress 
mother  struggled  vainly  to  resist  the  influence  of  a  favourite  eunuch.  In 
1443  he  took  the  government  into  his  own  hands,  with  the  eunuch  as 
chief  minister,  and,  what  proved  still  more  calamitous,  as  commander-in- 
chief  against  the  Tatars  in  a  war  provoked  partly  at  least  by  his  own 
imprudence. 

Tiie  confusion  between  trade  and  tribute,  wilfully  kept  up  by  Chinese 
officials,  was  a  fertile  source  of  trouble.  Regarding  the  d'atars  as  tribu- 
taries, it  was  becoming  fur  tile  Emperor  to  be  liberal  in  his  presents,  to 
maintain  ail  the  followers  of  trie  embassies,  and  not  to  be  too  exacting  as 
to  tiie  quality  of  the  gifts  brought  by  the  barbarians.  On  the  other  hand, 
these  liberalities  attracted  vast  caravans  of  camp-followers,  whose  only 
object  was  to  share  in  the  Emperor's  gifts  and  the  tree  rations  enjoyed 
by  his  guests.  The  people  of  one  district  alone,  which  used  to  send 
embassies  of  thirty  persons,  sent  so  many  thousands,  that  their  entertain- 
ment cost  the  market  town  as  much  as  303.300  taels.  ddie  number  ot 
tribute-b  arers  was  then  limited  to  300,  but  over  3.000  came. 

The   d'atars   complained    that   damaged   wares   were  supplied,   and   that 

rs  ot    their  em  cissies  failed    to   return    in    safety.     An  unsuccessful 

(  am]  aian.  arising  trom  these  grievances,  ended   in  the  death  of  the  eunuch 

und    the   capture  oi    the    Emperor,      d'ne   latter  incident    is   regarded   in  a 

curious   li_;ht   bv    Chinese    politicians.      Ycsieii.    the   d'atar  general,  at  first 


THE   MING   DYNASTY.  243 

demanded  a  ransom  for  his  prisoner,  and  when  that  was  refused,  hoped  to 
secure  the  gratitude  of  his  involuntary  guest  by  an  unconditional  release. 
To  his  disgust,  however,  he  discovered  that  the  Chinese  regarded  his 
prisoner  as  de  facto  dethroned ;  and  that  the  Empress  mother  had  forthwith 
proceeded  to  appoint  a  successor,  as  upon  the  emperor's  death. 

Passing  over  Vng-tsong's  infant  son  she  appointed  his  brother,  known 
as  King-ti.  The  Tatar  ambassador  inquired  if  Yao  and  Shun  would  have 
behaved  like  this  younger  brother,  and  was  told  that  Yao  gave  the  empire 
to  Shun,  who  was  no  relation,  and  that  in  this  case  the  unfortunate  elder 
brother  ceded  place  to  his  junior.  Finally  Yng-tsong  was  released  without 
ransom,  and  the  ritual  observed  by  Hieuen-tsong  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  was 
carefully  observed  on  his  return.  A  sham  protest  against  his  own  elevation 
was  made  by  the  reigning  prince,  upon  which  he  was  commanded  on  his 
allegiance  by  the  ci-devant  Emperor  to  accept  the  succession. 

Peace  being  now  concluded  with  the  Tatars,  their  complaints  were  con- 
sidered,  and  met  with  the  rejoinder  that  their  furs  and  horses,  like  the 
Chinese  silks,  were  apt  to  be  of  inferior  quality,  both  doubtless  by  default 
of  inferior  officers  ;  while  out  of  embassies  with  three  or  four  thousand 
members,  some  were  likely  to  misbehave,  run  away,  or  perish  in  brawls. 

King-ti  was  desirous  of  nominating  his  own  son  instead  of  his  elder 
brother's  to  the  succession,  but  this  was  not  permitted,  and  in  fact  upon 
his  death  Yng-tsong  was  restored  and  allowed  to  bestow  the  epithet  of 
"  the  Perverse"  on  his  supplanter.  The  empire  was  not  in  a  very  flourish- 
ing condition.  The  paper  money  which  in  Tai-tsou's  reign  was  worth 
1,000  cash  now  circulated  for  three.  The  use  of  metal  money  was  forbidden 
in  the  vain  attempt  to  force  paper  into  use,  and  a  similar  failure  attended 
the  new  tax  imposed  on  market  gardens  in  the  two  capitals,  with  the  same 
object,  in  the  hope  that  if  the  gardeners  were  taxed  and  compelled  to  pay 
in  paper,  a  demand  for  the  unpopular  currency  would  be  created  and  its 
value  raised.  From  time  to  time  benevolent  edicts  were  published  re- 
mitting taxes  or  arrears,  but  such  action  no  longer  met  with  universal 
approbation,  as  the  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  of  the  period  allows  him- 
self to  protest,  or  at  least  to  inquire  where  else  he  is  to  get  the  means  of 
meeting  other  necessary  expenses. 

As  this  is  the  first  time  that  such  a  difficulty  is  noticed  in  the  annals,  it  is 
not  without  reason  that  AYang-tchi-tehang ]  contrasts  the  modern  policy 
with  that  recognised  in  the  Rites  of  Chow.  Jt  was  probably  a  real  inno- 
vation for  the  fixed  expenses  of  the  Court  and  Government  in  time  of  peace 
to  be  so  considerable  that  it  was  impossible  to  remit  taxes  without  danger 
ot  a  deficit.  China  moves  slowly,  and  she  is  still  without  a  National  Debt  ; 
but  in  the  15th  century  she  had  already  fallen  from  the  state  of  economic 
innocence  in  which  a  surplus  is  the  rule,  simply  because  money  is  not 
spent  on  account  of  the  Government  until  it  is  received  in  the  Treasury. 
Two  events  are  recorded  for  the   year  1464 — the   death  of  a  native   of 

1  Ante,  p.  35- 


244  OWNERSHIP  IN   C II IX A. 

Peking  at  the  age  of  no  years,1  and  the  "  beginning  of  the  establishment  of 
imperial  farms."  It  is  recorded  as  something  new  that  the  Emperor  kept 
for  himself  the  confiscated  lands  of  political  or  other  offenders.  "  After 
this  "  {i.e.  in  the  reign  of  Hien-tsong,  1465-85)  "members  of  the  imperial 
family  and  nobles  frequently  took  lands  from  the  people  to  make  estates/' 
Light  is  thrown  both  on  this  abuse  and  the  change  in  the  financial  order 
just  referred  to,  by  the  complaints  which  begin  to  be  made,  that  the  revenue 
of  the  Emperor  and  Empress  is  now  regarded  as  private  property  to  be 
spent  in  buildings,  and  fetes,  instead  of  in  maintaining  the  army  or  pre- 
venting scarcities.  In  fact,  the  court  had  begun  to  hanker  after  a  Civil  List, 
while  the  people  stiil  took  the  primitive  view  that  the  sovereign  should  pay 
the  expenses  of  his  sovereignty  out  of  the  pocket  which  his  subjects  fill  for 
him.  In  early  English  history  the  same  point  gave  rise  to  a  good  deal  of 
controversy,  but  in  the  monarchies  of  the  West  it  was  raised  comparatively 
soon  after  their  foundation  ;  the  noticeable  point  in  China  is  that  the  dis- 
cussion of  it  could  Ire  put  off  so  long. 

In  146S-  one  of  the  Emperor's  daughters,  a  prince,  and  a  priest  had 
asked  for  grants  of  land  and  had  obtained  them,  in  one  case  as  much  as 
4.000  acres.  An  officer  represented  that  uncultivated  land  used  to  be 
allotted  free  of  taxes  to  the  cultivators — of  old  an  estate  of  10.000  acres 
formed  the  hereditary  domain  of  ico  families:  was  it  fitting  to  make  such 
a  grant  to  one  man  ?  The  emperor  on  reflection  thought  not.  and  ordered 
restitution,  but  later  applications  on  a  somewhat  more  moderate  scale  were 
nevertheless  allowed  to  pass.  The  following  year  the  Empress's  maternal 
uncle  asked  for  a  grant  of  fields  which  he  declared  to  be  neither  taxed  nor 
cultivated.  A  commission  of  inquiry  was  sent,  and  reported  that  all  the 
land  was  on  the  register  and  under  cultivation,  but  that  7.000  ?no'i<  of  con- 
fiscated land  were  ownerless,  The  uncle  thought  this  was  not  worth  having. 
and  another  commission  was  sent;  but,  instead  of  bringing  back  a  dis- 
creetly revised  statement  of  farts,  their  report  set  forth  that  "'Since  the 
beginning  ot  the  dynasty  the  lands  in  the  department  concerned  had  been 
ceded  in  perpetuity  to  t'ne  cultivators,  to  till  and  reclaim,  free  from  taxa- 
tion for  t;ie  encouragement  <  f  agrii  ulture.  Is  i;  fitting  that  families  united 
to  the  emperor  by  the  memory  of  services  rendered  or  matrimonial 
alliances  should  dispute  with  the  people  for  an  inch  of  ground?'"'  The 
two  signitaries  of  tiii-  :  >rmi  'able  the  ry  of  :  A  v  oblige  were  thrown  int 
•  : ■ .  -    :..  but  relea,-  :d  >  n  the  unanim  ais  demand  of  the  magistracy. 

The  true  state  oi  the  case  probably  was  that  the  coveted  land  had  been 
grante  I  to  the  <  ultivators  on  the  usual  terms,  viz.  a  temporary  immunity 
frum  taxation,  anil  that  when  tiie  time  of  grace  had  expin  1,  careless  or 
corrupt  otu  ....  omitted  to  carry  the  reclaimed  lands  on  to  the  register  for 
:  ixing.  And  :;  tins  be  so,  it  is  significant  that  a  small  error  in  :  )rm  ot  th  : 
subject  was  held  no  plea  for  a  greater  one  by  the  Government. 


THE   MING   DYNASTY.  245 

In  1474  the  Great  Wall  was  repaired,  and  military  colonies  settled  near  it, 
so  that  the  empire  was  not  troubled  from  without,  yet  the  number  of  house- 
less adventurers  in  at  least  three  provinces  was  so  great  as  to  raise  the 
alarm  of  brigandage.  No  fewer  than  438,000  persons  were  enumerated, 
and  all  the  well-disposed  settled  in  new  townships  with  a  light  assessment. 
About  this  time,  the  dealers  in  Government  salt,  who  since  1370  had  acted 
as  contractors  to  the  frontier  armies,  began  to  offer  money  for  the  salt  in 
lieu  of  grain.  Originally  they  had  established  agricultural  colonies  at  points 
convenient  for  the  supply  of  grain  to  the  troops,  and  it  was  only  after  de- 
livering the  grain  to  the  army  that  they  became  entitled  to  receive  their 
consignments  of  salt.  The  money  given  for  salt  in  lieu  of  grain  was,  of 
course,  supposed  to  be  spent  on  supplies  ;  but  there  being  now  no  induce- 
ment for  the  traders  to  keep  up  the  border  markets,  cultivation  fell  off,  and, 
when  provisions  came  to  be  wanted,  there  were  no  means  of  obtaining 
them.  Hence  in  1492  the  regulations  of  the  salt  monopoly  were  revised. 
Hitherto  purchases  for  the  garrisons  of  the  Great  Wall  had  been  made  only 
wholesale,  by  the  10.000  bushels,  perhaps  in  the  first  instance  to  limit  the 
number  of  authorized  salt  merchants.  But  in  1497  it  was  decreed  that 
small  quantities  might  be  received,  and  in  two  months''  time  provisions  of 
all  kinds  were  supplied  in  plenty  again. 

While  thus  free  from  disturbance  on  the  Xorth,  China  was  not  altogether 
without  anxieties  in  regard  to  her  protectorate  over  Central  Asia.  The 
rich  oasis  of  Hami,  one  of  the  last  and  most  important  halting-places  for 
caravans  from  the  West,  had  been  held,  under  Chinese  protection,  by  a 
prince  of  the  banished  [Mongol  Dynast}'.  In  148(8  this  prince  was  surprised 
and  his  territory  seized  by  Hahema,  the  chief  of  Tunan  :  and  as  a  means 
of  retaliation  against  the  latter,  the  Chinese  frontier  was  closed  for  a  time 
to  trade.  On  tiiis  occasion  the  blockade  was  not  long  maintained;  Hami 
was  given  up  and  the  road  re-opened  for  tribute-bearers,  among  whom 
none  were  received  with  higher  honours  than  the  embassy  of  the  prince  of 
Turfan.  Nevertheless,  the  episode  has  its  importance  :  it  is  the  second 
link,  if  the  difficulties  with  the  Tatar  horse-fairs  are  reckoned  as  the  first, 
in  the  chain  of  causes  which  led  in  the  1 6th  cent,  to  the  full  development 
of  that  policy  of  exclusiveness,  which  we  have  learnt  to  regard  as  character- 
istically Chinese. 

At  the  close  of  the  15th  century  the  census  returns  give  a  population 
of  over  50  millions,  forming  slightly  over  9  million  families.  The  area  of 
cultivated  lands  given  in  the  same  tables  has  been  estimated  at  about  200 
million  acres,  or  an  average  of  over  20  acres  to  a  family — the  portion 
which  under  the  Sung  formed  a  provision  for  a  favoured  servant.  The 
grain  revenue  at  the  same  time  consisted  of  266  million  measures  of  grain 
ot  100  lbs.  each.  Taking  the  old  estimate  of  2  lbs.  of  rice  a  day  as  a 
liberal  allowance  for  the  support  of  one  person,  this  revenue  is  equivalent 
to  a  year's  rations  for  36  millions,  or  more  than  half  the  tax-paying  popula- 
tion. 

For  this  period  we  miss  the  careful  comparative  tables  of  Ma-twan-lin  and 


246  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

his  continuator.  In  the  latter  half  of  the  16th  century  the  money  revenue 
is  stated  at  43  million  taels, — say  ^15,000,000  sterling, — but  the  value  of 
money  at  the  time  is  uncertain.  All  we  can  be  sure  of  is  that  the  revenue 
was  still  moderate,  and  yet  the  rate  of  taxation  per  head  of  the  population 
stood  higher  than  at  present.  The  wealth  of  the  empire  was  meanwhile 
evidently  on  the  increase,  to  judge  from  the  treasures  confiscated  on  the 
fall  of  a  chief  eunuch;  24  million  taels  in  gold.  251  million  silver  taels, 
two  measures  of  precious  stones,  suits  of  armour,  rings,  etc..  of  precious 
and  other  metals,  with  furniture  and  dresses  described  as  fit  for  an  emperor, 
represented  the  accumulations  of  a  single  favourite  during  his  short  term 
of  office. 

The  ascendancy  of  the  eunuchs  showed  itself  in  the  usual  way.  In  1504 
the  historiographers  complain  that  their  occupation  will  be  gone  if  the 
Emperor  sees  functionaries  in  private  with  no  officer  present  to  take  down 
his  words  :  "  If  this  continues,  it  is  to  be  feared  that  after  a  time  every  1  ne 
will  write  things  down  in  la's  own  wav,  and  there  will  be  no  record  of  the 
sequence  of  events."  The  Emperor  was  finally  requested  to  order  the 
mandarins  who  were  at  court  to  write  the  accounts  of  their  interviews,  and 
to  hand  the  record  on  to  the  historians  after  submitting  it  to  him.  Even 
if  this  recommendation  was  followed,  we  need  not  wonder  that  there  is 
some  want  of  vigour  and  variety  in  the  annals  of  this  dynasty. 

In  15  1 3  the  quarrels  with  the  Tatars  for  the  protectorate  of  Hami  were 
renewed,  and.  while  the  Emperor  with  his  troops  amused  himself  by  hunt- 
ing expeditions  north  of  the  Great  Wall,  Tatar  bands  ravaged  Shensi, 
carrying  off  booty  and  prisoners.  Wu-tsong,  the  reigning  emperor  (1506- 
1521),  also  wished  to  visit  Southern  China  and  enjoy  the  pleasure  ot 
sailing  on  the  waters  of  the  Man  and  the  Kiang.  He  was  dissuaded  by  a 
threatened  rebellion,  and  by  the  strongly  adverse  feeling  of  his  councillors. 
The  tours  of  inspection  ascribed  to  the  emperors  of  the  firs:  dynasties  had 
long  been  forgotten,  and.  as  in  the  d'so  Chuen,  it  was  now  taken  for 
granted  that  an  imperial  progress  can  only  be  an  expensive  amusement 
for  which  the  people  will  have  to  pay.  The  utmost  to  be  expected  from 
the  Court  is  to  do  no  mischief,  and  with  that  ohject  it  is  best  at  home. 
lie  succeeded,  subsequently,  in  passing  several  months  at  Nanking,  during 
which,  we  are  told,  he  paid  as  little  attention  to  business  as  \  reviously. 
He  died  with  nit  male  heir-,  and  without  having  appointed  a  successor; 
so  the  vacancy  was  tilled  as  usual  by  the  Kmpress,  who  -elected  a  boy  ot 
fourteen,  the  eldest  son  of  the  second  son  of  Hien-tsong. 

In  1547,  Yerita,  a  Tatar  chief  on  the  b  irders  of  Shansi.  a;  ;  bed  to  be 
received  as  "  tributary,"  or  in  other  words  as  a  person  admitted  to  trade 
within  the  Chin  1  rder.  His  1  nly  desire  was  to  obtain  a  market  for 
his  horses  :  and  when  his  request  was  refused,  he  invaded  the  territories  0: 
the  recalcitrant  suzerain.  In  r"i,  it  was  proposed  by  a  general  to  allow 
:-fairs  on  the  frontier ;  Vang-ke-ching  of  t'ne  Hoard  of  War  object  i. 
n  I  for  some  time  Chinese  statesmen  go  "in"  and  "■out"'  of  office  iq  >:. 
this    mestion.      Vang  wa-   imprisoned  for  his   opposition,  but   restored   to 


THE   MING  DYNASTY.  247 

favour  two  years  later,  when  his  objection  proved  to  be  well  founded.  At 
first  the  horses  were  accepted  at  a  reasonable  price,  and  Yenta  sent  two  of 
a  rare  kind  as  tribute  to  the  Emperor.  But  his  motives  were  suspected,  as 
he  continued  to  prowl  round  and  press  for  more  markets,  and  the  fairs 
were  abolished  as  giving  a  pretext  for  Tatar  inroads.  The  chronh  les  of 
the  time  are  very  meagre,  and.,  so  far  as  one  can  judge,  certainly  not 
written  with  the  eloquence  of  a  Su-che  or  the  sagacity  of  a  Ssema-kwang, 
but  their  scantiness  only  makes  the  prominence  given  to  this  Tatar  market 
question  the  more  significant. 

A  hostile  cloud  now  appears  on  the  horizon  in  a  third  quarter.  In  1559 
complaints  are  made  of  the  inroads  of  Japanese  pirates.  In  1403  Japan 
had  paid  tribute  to  Yungdo,  but  this  soon  ceased,  and  in  the  interval  there 
had  been  little  intercourse,  friendly  or  otherwise,  between  the  two  nations. 
Friendly  powers  not  calling  themselves  tributary  were  only  allowed  to  send 
embassies  once  in  ten  years,  and  such  a  privilege  naturally  soon  fell  into 
disuse.  But  while  Tatar  and  European  traders  were  trying  to  force  their 
way  uninvited  and  unwelcome  into  the  markets  of  China,  native  trade  had 
made  an  outlet  for  itself  in  this  not  less  dangerous  direction.  And  the 
greed  and  bad  faith  of  the  traders  was  considered  to  have  provoked  the 
attacks  subsequently  made  by  the  Japanese  on  the  coasts  of  the  empire. 
Each  warlike  Japanese  reckoned  himself  a  match  for  ten  of  the  proud  and 
wealthy  foreigners  who  had  the  impudence  to  try  and  cheat  him,  and  the 
spoils  of  war  in  such  a  case  were  tempting. 

The  Chinese  Government,  to  do  it  justice,  has  never  wished  its  subjects 
to  make  money  out  of  its  tributaries;  on  the  contrary,  it  has  winked  in- 
dulgently at  the  opposite  result,  and  itself  paid  virtual  tribute  in  the  form 
of  gifts  to  almost  all  who  asked  it.  but  it  is  one  thing  for  a  Government 
to  wish  its  subjects  to  be  true  and  just  in  all  their  dealings,  and  another 
to  undertake  to  make  them  so.  The  commercial  probity  of  the  Chinese 
in  their  dealings  with  each  other  is  a  triumph  of  the  policy  of  Laissez /aire  : 
amongst  persons  of  cultivated  intelligence  a  bankrupt  gets  no  credit  and  a 
swindler  no  custom,  and  so  commercial  morality  takes  care  of  itself.  But, 
as  has  been  seen  in  other  empires,  traders  who,  for  these  or  other  reasons, 
are  moderately  honest  at  home,  allow  themselves  more  license  in  dealing 
with  an  inferior  race,  and  the  inferior  race  retaliates  with  its  own  best 
weapons.  The  fundamental  difference  between  China  and  other  com- 
mercial empires  is  that  in  such  a  case  she  considers  the  civilized  citizen 
who  has  got  himself  into  hot  water  with  savages  as  ipso  facto  in  the  wrong, 
and  instead  of  sending  war  junks  to  support  or  avenge  him,  she  tries 
sincerely  to  protect  the  interior  races  against  the  enterprise  and  acnteness 
of  her  own  subjects,  forbidding  and  punishing  whatever  may  lead  to 
aggression. 

The  long  reign  of  Chi-tsong  (1521-1566),  though  free  from  any  great 
convulsion,  was  not  "a  prosperous  time.''  A  memorial  was  addressed  to 
him  in  the  last  year  of  his  hie,  reminding  him  of  the  good  intentions  and 
fair  prospects  with  which  he  ascended  the   throne,  when   he    even  forbade 


24S  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

the  erection  of  statues  to  Confucius,  lest  they  should  be  mistaken  for  idols  : 
and  rehearsing  all  the  misfortunes  which  his  backslidings  had  brought  upon 
the  empire.  The  memorialist  was  at  first  thrown  into  prison,  but  soon 
afterwards  released  and  restored  to  office. 

Tiie  Emperors  death  followed  shortly,  and,  if  everything  in  the  Chinese 
annals  is  literally  true,  he  dictated  a  deathbed  confession,  exhorting  his 
subjects  and  successor  to  beware  of  following  his  bad  example.  It  is  said 
that  he  ordered  this  edifying  document  to  be  published  after  his  death  ;  at 
all  events  it  was  so  published.  Mu-tsong,  his  successor,  began  by  imprison- 
ing the  vendors  of  so-called  elixirs  of  immortality  ;  but  in  other  respects  his 
morals  can  have  been  little  improvement  on  those  of  his  father,  as  he  is 
accused  in  the  history  of  pottery  of  a  taste  for  china  decorated  with 
licentious  subjects. 

In  157  i.  Yenta  applied  again  for  the  title  of  tributary  prince,  and  with 
representatives  of  seventeen  hordes  asked  to  pay  tribute  and  to  be  allowed 
to  bring  horses  to  sell  at  appointed  market-places.  The  Council  of  State 
was  divided,  the  votes  being  twenty-two  for,  seventeen  against,  granting  the 
a]  ;  lication  ;  five  of  the  twenty-two  were  for  allowing  the  tribute,  which 
Yenta  did  not  care  about,  and  refusing  the  markets,  which  he  did,  so 
that  in  effect  the  opinions  were  equally  divided  :  the  emperor  decided  to 
agree. 

In  1  "7-.  the  first  year  of  Chm-tsong's  reign,  the  Tatar  sent  a  tribute  of 
250  chosen  horses  :  'out  the  danger  of  concessions  to  such  neighbours 
became  manifest  in  1574,  when  his  son  asked  for  a  horse-fair  to  the  west 
ot  the  Hoang-ho.  The  governor-general  of  the  province  pointed  out  that 
this  was  opening  a  gate  for  the  Tatars  to  come  in  whenever  the}'  pleased  ; 
but,  as  on  former  occasions,  when  they  revenged  themselves  for  the  refusal 
by  raids  for  plunder,  the  Chinese  gave  way,  and  the  Emperor  granted 
license  for  two  fairs.  In  1577  fresh  demands  were  made  for  a  market  for 
tea  as  well  as  horses;  but  after  the  death  of  Yenta,  in  15S3,  the  leading 
role  passes  to  another  branch  of  the  great  Tatar  rare. 

In  15.S]  (the  same  year  that  Michel  Roger,  the  first  of  the  Jesuit  mis- 
sionaries, entered  China)  the  Xutche  Tatars,  representatives  of  the  old 
I.eao  1 );.  n  sty,  reappear  upon  t lie  scene.  On  the  accession  of  the  Ming 
Ihnasty  they  were  almost  crushed  for  harbouring  the  banished  Mongols, 
1  til  they  hah  since  thriven  by  the  trade  in  ginseng,  horsehair,  and  furs  : 
an  la::  r  me  iuterr.e<  iue  wars,  they  began  to  consolidate  into  one  king- 
1,  from  whence  t'ne  future  Mantchu  conquest  was  to  proceed.  Thev 
were  a]  :  arei.tly  read}"  and  willing  to  ado'  t  a  settled  life,  and  might  not 
have-  song  .'-  I  -  disturb  the  integrity  of  the  empire  if  they  had  been  received 
;  s  /  v  -  t  •  ibj  ;,  or  if  their  riuhts  as  tributary  allies  had  been  respected. 
Tiie  Manti  ii  is  d  ite  the  foundation  of  their  dynasty  from   r 6 1 S,  its  founder 

ini  th  •      in  1  il  a   I  :.  assassin  Ued  by  Chinese  officers  in  the  course 

c»f  a  discreditable     gjires-d  1:1    :;    in   a    settled  Tatar  colony,  dependent  but 

inject.      Tiie  1  ilieiais  of   Leao  (honied   to    treat  the  Tatar  districts  as 

i  ei  engine;   to  their  l iuverument.  whereas   thev  had  been  formally  ceded  to 


THE   MING   DYNASTY.  249 

the  barbarians  for  occupation.  The  proposed  official  visit  of  inspection 
was  resisted,  and  upon  tin's  the  whole  colony  was  evicted  by  force  and  the 
inhabitants  transferred  to  the  interior  of  the  province. 

In  all  earlier  troubles  with  the  Tatars,  the  aggressions  came  from  the 
latter,  and  the  Chinese  could  only  be  blamed  for  injudicious  concessions 
and  a  weak  military  defence  ;  but  on  this  occasion,  corrupt  officers  seem 
to  have  been  misled,  by  the  aptitude  of  these  colonies  for  a  settled  life, 
into  the  belief  that  they  had  forgotten  how  to  fight  like  other  Tatars,  and 
might  be  plundered  with  impunity.  They  were  undeceived  by  the  terrible 
fidelity  with  which  the  first  Mantchu  Emperor  kept  his  vow,  to  immolate 
two  hundred  thousand  Chinese  to  his  murdered  father's  memory. 

While  trouble  was  thus  brewing  on  the  north-west,  a  costly  and  disastrous 
campaign  had  been  proceeding  outside  the  frontier  on  the  north-east, 
against  the  Japanese,  who  disputed  the  Chinese  protectorate  of  Corea.  In 
1599  the  generals  at  the  seat  of  war  were  expressly  advised  to  send  home 
only  reports  of  successes,  real  or  imaginary  ;  the  consequences  of  the  real 
defeats,  which  were  not  reported,  took  some  time  to  make  themselves  felt, 
but  the  loss  of  men  and  money  in  this  Corean  war  was  one  chief  cause  of 
the  dynasty's  fall.  The  troops  who  should  have  garrisoned  the  frontier 
against  the  Tatars  were  butchered  by  the  Japanese,  while  even  a  foreigner 
at  the  southern  extremity  of  the  empire  learnt  to  associate  the  extortions 
of  the  eunuchs,  the  new  taxes  and  the  inquisition  into  private  fortunes, 
which  provoked  popular  riots,  with  the  fact  that  the  Corean  war  had 
emptied  the  imperial  treasury.  In  1616  there  was  a  famine,  and  a  dog  for 
eating  was  dearer  to  buy  than  a  young  man  for  a  servant. 

The  reign  of  Chin-tsong  (called  the  period  Wan-lih)  came  to  an  end  in 
1620  ;  the  standards  of  the  Mantchus  had  already  been  seen  at  the  gates  of 
the  capital,  and  the  end  was  approaching.  The  next  seven  years  are  almost 
entirely  taken  up  with  wars,  in  the  course  of  which  the  Mantchu  Emperor 
claims  continually  to  have  right  as  well  as  might  on  his  side,  and  accuses 
the  Chinese  of  arrogance  and  bad  faith.  In  1628  Hoai-tsong,  the  last  of 
the  Ming  emperors,  ascended  the  throne.  At  the  cutset  of  the  next 
campaign  the  Mantchu  Emperor  ordered  his  troops  to  spare  non-combatants, 
trees  and  buildings,  not  to  maltreat  their  prisoners,  and  to  give  quarter  to 
all  who  asked  it.  As  he  advanced,  proclamations  were  issued  inviting  the 
officers,  soldiers,  and  common  people  to  submit,  reminding  them  that  the 
l.eao,  the  Kin,  and  the  Yuen  had  before  now  become  masters  of  China. 
Who  could  say  that  Heaven  did  not  intend  him  to  succeed  the  Ming? 

As  a  first  step  towards  claiming  their  inheritance,  he  sent  to  perform 
funeral  ceremonies  at  such  of  the  graves  of  the  Kin  Emperors  as  were  still 
preserved.  In  1631  he  adopted  the  Chinese  methods  of  administration; 
three  years  later  he  instituted  examinations  on  the  Chinese  model,  and 
founded  schools  and  prizes  for  the  study  of  the  three  languages,  Mantchu. 
Mongol,  and  Chinese.  In  1635,  at  the  instance  of  Mongol  and  Mantchu 
princes,  he  consented  to  take  the  title  of  Emperor  of  China;  and,  though 
he    died    without   designating   a    successor,    the    Tatar  armies    were   still 


250  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

victorious,  and  in  1642  Cai-fong-fu  itself  fell  into  their  hands,  after  a  siege 
in  which  the  horrors  of  war  were  aggravated  by  flood  and  famine  ;  human 
flesh  was  sold  in  the  streets  of  the  starving  city. 

Meanwhile  the  Chinese  court  was  in  danger  from  native  rebels  almost  or 
quite  as  formidable  as  the  Tatars.  In  1643  the  Imperial  general  was 
reduced  to  beg  the  assistance  of  the  European  Tang-ja-wang  (Adam 
Schall),  who  understood  the  use  of  artillery  and  the  construction  of  bridges 
of  boats.  In  accepting  the  command,  the  general  had  counted  on  the 
private  resources  of  his  family  and  himself;  but  on  arriving  at  the  seat  of 
war,  he  found  all  his  possessions  in  the  hands  of  the  rebels,  and  had  no 
means  of  paying  his  troops  ;  no  assistance  was  to  be  obtained  from  the 
imperial  revenues,  which  were  distributed  by  the  eunuchs  among  their  own 
families  and  supporters.  His  force  was  thus  paralyzed,  and  Li-tse-ching, 
the  rebel  chief,   pressed  on  victoriously  to  the  gates  of  Peking. 

In  this  crisis  Hoai-tsong  appealed  to  his  remaining  adherents  for  advice; 
some  proposed  abdication,  others  flight  to  Southern  China,  others  thought 
posterity  would  condemn  the  weakness  of  both  these  expedients;  but  no 
voice  at  once  loyal  and  vigorous  was  to  be  heard,  and  the  unhappy  Emperor 
could  only  wait  in  hopes  of  succour  from  without,  before  this  could 
arrive,  panic  and  treason  delivered  the  virtually  impregnable  capital  into 
the  hands  of  the  rebels;  and  to  save  himself  from  capture,  the  last  Emperor 
of  the  Ming  hung  himself  by  the  girdle,  having  first  traced  upon  his 
clothes  a  few  characters  in  which  he  protested  that  his  shortcomings 
alone  were  not  to  blame  ;  the  nobles  in  his  service  had  betrayed  him, 
by  concealing  the  truth  as  to  his  affairs.  His  body  was  left  to  the  mercy 
of  his  enemies ;  he  only  prayed  that  the  innocent  people  might  be  spared. 

Hoai-tsong  was  justified  in  complaining  of  the  pusillanimity  of  his 
adherents,  for  even  a  loyal  general  in  command  of  an  army  on  the  frontier 
against  the  Mantchus  could  think  of  no  better  way  to  avenge  his  master's 
death  than  to  invite  the  Mantchus  themselves  to  come  and  help  him  to  de- 
feat the  rebel,  offering  as  a  reward  not  only  gold,  silver,  and  silk,  but  also 
a  number  of  girls,  "  of  which  he  knew  the  Tatars  to  be  in  want,  to  serve  as 
wives  for  their  young  men."  Li-tse-ching  had  proclaimed  himself  emperor, 
but  made  no  attempt  to  hold  Peking,  and  was  in  retreat  when  the  Chinese 
army,  joined  ky  60,0c o  Mongols  and  Mantchus,  intercepted  his  passage. 
Tiie  victory  of  the  allied  forces  was  complete  ;  but  the  barbarian  troops,  as 
might  have  been  foreseen,  declined  to  take  their  departure  when  it  was 
won. 

For  eight  years  there  had  been  no  Mantchu  emperor,  only  a  Council  of 
State,  where  all  the  princes  sat  in  order  of  age.  They  now  proposed  to 
choose  an  emperor  for  themselves  and  China,  rendering  meanwhile  due 
honours  to  Hoai-tsong  as  the  last  emperor  of  his  dynasty.  Li-tse-ching, 
the  rebel  chief,  still  called  himself  emperor  ;  and  the  Chinese  had  in- 
vited a  great-grandson  of  Chin-tsong  to  accept  the  throne,  so  that  there 
was  a  choice  of  pretenders.  But  the  Tatars  had  already  got  astute 
(  Chinese  advisers  on   their  side,  or  else   the    historian  of  the  conquest  has 


THE  MING   DYNASTY.  251 

been  careful  to  give  his  record  the  colour  most  acceptable  to  the  conquered, 
for  the  young  Emperor  is  represented  as  protesting  that  it  is  not  he,  but  the 
rebels,  who  overthrew  the  Ming  Dynasty,  and  that  he  had  only  come  to 
supplant  the  traitor  and  avenge  and  honour  the  memory  of  the  last  legiti- 
mate prince. 

The  distant  provinces  troubled  themselves  little  about  the  whole  affair, 
and  it  may  be  doubted  whether  any  preceding  dynasty  possessed  itself  so 
quickly,  and  with  so  little  serious  opposition,  of  the  whole  empire  as  was 
the  case  with  this  alien  house.  The  Ming  pretender  perished  like  the 
last  representative  of  the  Sung.  An  attempt  was  made  to  form  a  party 
for  another  prince  of  the  same  house  who  was  strong  in  Eokien,  and  the 
alliance  of  the  pirate  chiefs  of  the  coast  was  sought  against  the  invaders, 
but  with  no  better  result  than  that  of  encouraging  the  most  formidable  of 
the  pirates  in  his  turn  to  covet  the  imperial  rank.  A  militant  Buddhist 
rallied  the  patriotic  party  for  a  time,  but  by  1649  a^  trie  serious  rivals  of 
the  Mantchu  Emperor  were  subdued,  and  the  reigning  dynasty  entered  on 
its  career. 


CHAPTER    XXII. 

EDUCATION,    ART,  AXD  SOCIAL  CHANGES  UNDER  THE  MING. 

The  literature  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  in  so  far  as  it  has  been  made  ac- 
cessible to  European  readers,  does  not  throw  much  additional  light  upon 
the  social  and  economic  condition  of  the  people.  Philosophic  historians, 
who  had  witnessed  the  expulsion  of  the  Mongols,  reproduced  in  pic- 
turesque language  the  doctrine  of  the  alternation  of  growth  and  decay, 
which  was  already  a  commonplace  in  the  time  of  Ssema-tsien.  Nothing 
human  can  last  for  ever,  and  no  human  foresight  can  guard  against  the 
ever-varying  dangers  which  prove  fatal  at  last  to  each  State  or  Dynasty  in 
turn.  Even  the  sages  of  antiquity  had  no  thought  of  avoiding  this  doom 
of  change,  and  were  content  if,  by  following  truth  and  virtue,  they  might 
earn  so  much  of  the  blessing  of  Heaven  that  the  evil  days  were  deferred 
to  another  generation.1  This  philosophy  was  not  new  in  China,  but  some 
practical  difference  arises  when,  as  now.  it  is  professed  by  scholars  who 
find  in  it  an  excuse  for  political  inaction,  instead  of  representing  the  con- 
<  lusions  of  statesmen  who,  having  done  their  best,  discern  with  rational 
stoicism  that  even  the  best  action  has  but  a  finite  scope. 

The  history  of  trie  dynasty  translated  by  the  Abbe  de  la  Marre  gives 
more  details  than  De  Mailhvs  work  respecting  the  struggle  between  the 
cultivating  peasantry  and  the  "-  agglomerators  ''  of  land  in  the  15th  century, 
but  unfortunately  only  half  the  work  was  <  ;mj  leted,  or  at  least  published 
before  the  translator's  death..  Eour  lists  of  the  amount  of  cultivated  land 
registered  for  taxation  were  published  under  the  Ming  Dynasty;  the  first 
in  1570  by  order  ot  its  founder,  and  the  others  respectively  in  1502.  154m 
and  1582.  The  quantities  -how  a  surprising  variation:2  and  it  will  be 
ol  serve  1  that  the  minimum  is  reached  in  1502,  just  at  the  time  when  the 
revision  of  the  salt  monopoly,  following  the  attacks  upon  agglomeration, 
began  to  encourage  the  industry  of  small  cultivators. 

Com:  laints  1  :  the  gr  wtb  of  luxury  and  extravagance  are  met  with  from 
time  to  tune,   but  at  least  as  frequentlv  at  the  beginning  of  the  dynastv  as 


-   1370  a.  1. b. 490. 523  kinj:. 

I  -  c  2 2, .  2  j  S .    ;  ^ 

15s-:     ..         .  ....      7,013,076    .. 


SOCIAL    CHANGES    UNDER    THE   MING.  253 

later.  For  instance,  we  learn  from  a  semi-political  skit  of  the  14th  century, 
that  persons  who  gave  dinner  parties,  of  pretensions  beyond  their  means, 
used  to  hire  fruit  for  dessert,  to  be  looked  at,  not  eaten.  A  costermonger 
was  reproached  for  selling  oranges  a  year  old,  which  had  been  carefully 
kept  so  as  to  look  fresh  and  bright  outside,  though  dry  and  withered  within, 
and  "  only  fit  for  show  at  banquets.'-'  The  dealer  admits  the  imputation, 
and  defends  himself  by  observing  that  they  are  not  more  hollow  and 
worthless  than  the  degenerate  rulers  of  the  State  '.  l  The  author  of  this 
apologue  was  attached  to  the  fortunes  of  Hung-woo,  so  the  custom  in 
question  may  have  prevailed  under  the  Mongols  or  earlier. 

As  a  measure  of  the  extent  to  which  the  paper  money  of  the  Mongols 
had  been  depreciated  before  their  expulsion,  we  are  told  that  a  pound  of 
rice  cost  about  6s.  in  paper.  One  of  the  first  measures  of  Tai-tsou-ming 
Avas  to  issue  a  new  copper  money  with  coins  of  five  different  values,  but  in 
less  than  seven  years  paper  was  again  resorted  to  ;  the  people  were  forbid- 
den to  use  either  gold  or  silver  fur  purposes  of  exchange,  and  required  to 
sell  all  they  had  to  the  Government  at  its  own  price  in  paper  ;  while  pay- 
ment of  taxes  was  received  half  in  copper  and  half  in  the  new  paper, 
which  was  naturally  soon  discredited.  According  to  the  rates  laid  down 
for  the  purchase  of  gold  and  silver,  the  value  of  the  former  appears  as 
4  to  1 — a  much  lower  rate  than  prevailed  under  the  Mongols,  when  it  was 
more  nearly  10  to  1  :  but  as  there  is  nothing  to  account  for  an  increasing 
scarcity  of  silver,  it  is  probable  that  the  proportion  fixed  by  the  edict  was 
purely  arbitrary.  Gold  not  being  in  ordinary  use,  either  as  money  or 
merchandise,  the  commerce  of  the  country  was  not  threatened  with  dis- 
organization because  tiie  holders  of  gold  were,  in  effect,  more  heavily 
taxed  than  the  larger  class  possessed  of  silver. 

Copper  continued  to  be  cast,  and  worn-out  paper  was  called  in  from 
time  to  time,  though  in  1450,  by  a  supreme  absurdity,  the  use  of  copper 
money  itself  was  prohibited  for  a  time,  base  money  made  of  tin  was  in 
circulation,  and  in  1467  the  ordinance  of  Tai-tsou  was  revived,  requiring 
tlic  taxes  to  be  paid  half  in  copper  and  half  in  paper.  In  1489  a  special 
edict  was  directed  against  the  Government  officers  and  other  rich  indi- 
viduals who  speculated  in  the  Government  paper,  as  the  capitalists  of  the 
Tang  Dynasty  had  done  in  the  copper  money  of  the  day.  As  the  paper 
was  virtually  inconvertible,  and,  according  to  any  sound  financial  system 
worthless,  it  is  difficult  to  see  what  can  have  been  the  inducement  to 
attempt  operations  in  it.  but  paper  money,  however  much  depreciated, 
like  copper  money,  however  much  debased,  can  be  made  at  a  pinch  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  a  medium  of  exchange  :  some  such  medium  was 
necessary  up  to  a  certain  point,  though  Chinese  ingenuity  reduced  the 
necessity  to  a  minimum.  And  the  supply  was  liable  to  fall  short  even  of 
the  modest,  irreducible  demand,  so  that  if  the  cultivators  had  to  pay  any 
part  of  their  taxes  in  paper,  the  holders  of  it  could  make  their  own  terms. 

After  this,  nothing  more  is  heard  of  the  Ming  paper,  and  little  of  cur- 
1  Giles,    Gems,  p.  226. 


254  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

rency  trouble?,  perhaps  because  the  use,  as  at  present,  of  uncoined  silver 
for  commercial  purposes  became  general.  In  the  middle  of  the  1 6th  cen- 
tury, an  emperor  is  reported  to  have  said  that  each  of  his  predecessors  had 
coined  copper  money  to  the  value  of  about  ^3. 000,000  sterling,  and  that 
he  proposed  to  issue  three  times  that  amount.  Xo  fresh  issues  of  paper  are 
mentioned,  but  the  old  ones  seem  to  have  remained  in  circulation  till  they 
died  a  natural  death.  According  to  M.  Biot,  an  elementary  arithmetic, 
published  in  1593,  speaks  of  the  paper  tchao  and  copper  cash  as  both  legal 
lender,  though  the  examples  given  in  the  work  are  of  such  different  date 
and  origin  that  the}'  give  no  reliable  clue  to  their  comparative  value. 

At  and  after  this  date  various  regulations  were  issued  respecting  the  use 
of  silver  in  small  bars,  from  which  it  appears  that  all  attempts  to  restrain 
the  use  of  silver  for  exchange  had  been  given  up.  And  with  the  use  of 
silver  in  all  transactions  of  importance,  of  course  the  demand  for  copper 
became  less  clamorous  ;.  and  the  existing  supply  may  have  proved  fairly 
adequate,  when  its  use  was  restricted  to  the  petty  trading  of  the  masses. 
The  circulation  of  paper  was  not  formally  put  a  stop  to  until  the  present 
dynast}-,  but  the  subsisting  solution,  such  as  it  is,  of  the  currency  problem 
must  have  been  worked  out  gradually  by  the  unaided  ingenuity  of  the 
commercial  classes  during  the  hist  century  and  a  half  of  Ming  rule. 

What  is  regarded  as  the  flourishing  period  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  is  shorter 
in  proportion  than  that  boasted  by  former  lines.  It  closes  soon  after  the  reign 
of  Yungdo  in  1426,  and  so  comprises  less  than  sixty  years.  Most  of  the 
edicts  respecting  the  public  Examinations  and  the  imperial  Colleges,  which 
continue  in  force,  date  from  the  earlier  years  of  this  period.  Immediately 
after  his  accession  (1368),  Tai-tsou  founded  an  imperial  college  at  the  then 
capital  Nanking,  and  in  the  following  year  he  issued  an  edict  for  the  restor- 
ation of  provincial  and  departmental  colleges.  A  decree  of  1370,  which 
is  still  in  force,  declares  that  "  all  places  of  civil  officers,  whether  attached 
to  the  court  or  to  the  government  of  the  provinces,  must  be  obtained  by 
passing  the  test  of  examination/'  This  was  repealed  fir  a  time  in  1373. 
but  definitely  re-enacted  in  1384  after  a  short  experience  of  the  drawbacks 
to  promotion  by  favour.  In  1375  village  schools  after  the  pattern  of  the 
Rites  of  Chow  were  required  to  be  provided,  but  this  decree  was  never 
completely  carried  out.  In  1382  a  slight  alteration  was  made  in  the 
allowance  of  rice  assigned  for  the  maintenance  of  scholars  and  teachers  in 
the  difierent  district  college-,  and  grants  of  newly  confiscated  lands  were 
made  to  the  latter,  so  that  they  might  grow  their  own  grain  instead  of  re- 
ceiving it  1  eriodically  from  the  Government. 

The  regulati  >ns  of  [3S4  show  that  the  examinations  haul  become  purely 
literary;  law,  :.  ithematics,  riding,  and  shooting  had  dropped  out  alto- 
gether, in  s]  ite  <>:  the  anxiety  shown  by  the  Kmperor  to  revive  the  solemn 
archery  of  tl  Chow,  with  a  view  to  restoring  the  military  spirit  of  the 
■  ie.  The  first  examination  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  took  place  at  the 
:  •  ital  in  1385.1  together  with  one  of  a  more  arduous  character  for  admis- 
1    II:.-:   rv  I..  -•  ;  re.-ervi  1  the  ::.-:aes  of  these  three  first  Ts'm-sse,  or  doctors. 


SOCIAL    CHANGES    UNDER    THE  MING.  255 

sion  to  the  Han-lin  College.  Students  from  Corea,  Cochin  China,  and  Japan 
resorted  to  the  imperial  college,  and  the  sons  of  officers  stationed  in  the 
remoter  provinces,  like  Yunnan  and  Sz'chuen,  were  allowed  to  send  their 
sons  to  enjoy  the  same  privileges  as  foreigners.  Special  apartments 
adjoining  the  Empress's  side  of  the  palace  were  assigned  for  the  residence  of 
wives  and  children  of  married  students.  The  local  colleges  were  allowed 
to  send  a  certain  proportion  of  picked  scholars  to  the  imperial  es- 
tablishment, and  for  some  time  the  ranks  of  the  official  hierarchy  were 
recruited  to  a  considerable  extent  from  amongst  the  imperial  scholars,  who 
were  transferred  to  a  sort  of  apprenticeship  in  the  various  departments, 
after  which  they  were  qualified  for  office  without  examination. 

In  1 391  Tai-tsou  complained  that  the  students  learnt  by  heart  stock 
pieces  of  composition,  which  they  wrote  out  for  the  examiners  as  original ; 
and  the  side  entrance  to  office,  through  the  administrative  bureaux,  had  to 
be  closed  to  prevent  all  the  imperial  students  from  deserting  the  colleges 
in  favour  of  what  they  thought  an  easier  road  to  preferment.  Private 
examinations  of  the  college  students  were  held,  and  those  who  did  best 
were  allowed  to  compete  in  the  general  examination  for  degrees,  while 
those  who  failed  were  beaten,  reprimanded,  or  dismissed.  In  the  middle 
of  the  1 6th  century  the  colleges  seem  to  have  suffered  so  much  from  the 
competition  of  unattached  students  assisted  by  local  libraries,  that  edicts 
were  passed  for  the  suppression  of  the  latter,  but  fortunately  withdrawn 
before  being  executed. 

The  number  of  degrees  conferred  annually  seems  to  have  risen  from  500 
to  over  2, coo,  and  this  number  was  sufficient  to  meet  the  wants  of 
the  administration.  In  the  earlier  years  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  any  acting 
official  could  retire  from  his  post  in  favour  of  his  son  and  secure  the  rever- 
sion to  him  as  a  matter  of  grace.  Both  provincial  governments  and  court 
places  were  so  bequeathed,  and  officers'  sons  were  also  considered  to  have 
a  special  claim  to  admission  at  the  colleges  ;  but  these  privileges  were 
gradually  curtailed,  and  in  1595  some  members  of  the  imperial  family  were 
required  to  pass  a  regular  examination  before  receiving  office. 

Another  abuse,  which  increased  with  the  financial  embarrassments  of 
the  Government,  was  the  bestowal  of  degrees  in  return  for  gifts  of  money  or 
grain.  In  the  middle  of  the  15th  century  a  professor  of  the  Imperial 
College  protested  against  students  being  admitted  to  the  college  by 
purchase  ;  and  the  continuator  of  Ma-twan-lin  waxes  eloquent  upon  the 
injury  done  to  the  public  service  when  degrees,  not  merely  honorary,  but 
carrying  with  them  eligibility  to  official  employment,  were  bestowed  upon 
men  who  have  only  frequented  the  market-place  and  cannot  even  under- 
stand the  literary  style.  In  the  account  of  the  first  three  Tsin-sse,  or 
doctors,  appointed  by  examination,  it  appears  that  each  received  a  special 
title  and  had  a  special  duty  assigned  to  him  in  which  his  literary  attain- 
ments would  find  full  scope.  The  first  on  the  list  was  employed  to  revise 
the  works  prepared  for  publication,  while  the  second  and  third  revise  the 
official    editions   of  works   which   have   been   published   before.      On  this 


256  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

occasion  a  fourth  officer  was  also  appointed  as  "  Collector  of  docu- 
ments." 

Mention  is  made  of  an  interesting  foundation  of  the  1 6 th  century  called 
the  '•  Temple  of  emperors  and  kings  ;"  it  contained  the  tablets  of  all  good 
emperors,  irrespective  of  dynasty ;  the  tyrants,  enemies  to  liberty,  and 
usurpers  were  excluded, — a  rule  of  selection  which,  with  appropriate 
modifications,  probably  prevailed  in  the  analogous  monuments  of  Egypt, 
like  the  famous  tablet  of  Abydos  of  Seti  T. 

Art  as  well  as  literature  profited  by  the  internal  peace  which  prevailed 
under  the  native  dynasty,  and  the  sites  of  the  most  famous  porcelain  works 
were  fortunately  at  a  safe  distance  from  the  disturbed  frontiers.  The  china 
made  during  the  reign  of  the  usurper  Yung-lo  is  counted  as  the  third  best 
of  the  dynasty.  The  reign  of  his  grandson  (1426-35)  is  the  period  from 
which  the  finest  dates.  1  )eep  red  and  sky-blue  vases,  tea-cups  of  pure  white 
with  exquisite  paintings,  choice  specimens  of  crackle  and  enamel  and 
nieces  of  the  most  varied  colour  and  design  were  produced  by  the  artists  of 
the  day,  and  all  were  equally  excellent  of  their  kind.  Imperial  patronage 
contributed  a  good  deal  to  the  development  of  the  art :  a  kind  of  porcelain 
known  as  '•  magistrates'  china  "  being  now  made  for  the  first  time,  by  pro- 
cesses too  costly  to  be  tried  at  the  expense  of  private  individuals.  Early 
in  the  Sung  1  )ynasty  (1004-7),  pottery  was  first  made  at  King-te-tching,  the 
site  of  the  present  Imperial  factory,  which  was  established  by  Hung-woo  in 
the  second  year  of  his  reign. 

All  the  famous  artists  of  this  period  are  known  by  name.  One  Eo 
( 1426-35)  was  celebrated  for  his  representations  of  cricket  fights  ;  and  two 
sisters,  the  elder  and  the  younger  Sieou,  excelled  at  the  same  time  in 
making  cups  engraved  with  similar  subjects,  between  1465  and  1487  two 
artists  flourished,  one  of  whom  excelled  in  wine  cups,  while  the  other  made 
jars  ornamented  with  hens,  or  with  a  peony  in  flower  above  and  group  of 
hen  and  chickens  like  life  below.  Earlv  in  the  following  century,  a 
governor  of  Yunnan  obtained  cobalt  blue  from  foreign  parts  for  twice  its 
weight  in  gold:  and  the  china  of  this  period  (1506-1521),  known  as 
Tching-te,  painted  in  blue,  is  justly  valued  by  collectors. 

In  trie  middle  half  of  the  1 6th  century,  1522-72.  an  artist  known  as  tiie 
venerable  Tsoui  was  famous  for  imitations  of  the  best  work  of  the  preced- 
ing century  :  Iris  pieces  were  in  request  all  over  the  empire.  A  little  later, 
one  ot  tiie  most  illustrious  artists  of  the  dynasty  settled  at  King-te-tchmg. 
The  price  at  which  his  largest  masterpieces  are  stated  to  have  been  sold 
mav  have  been  equivalent  to/.'icoo  of  modern  money,  but  tins  was  either 
a  ci  Hector's  extravagance  or  perhaps  a  rhetorical  phrase.  We  are  told  as  a 
fact  thai  a  mm  e  :uivalent,  a:  tiie  same  rate  of  reckoning,  to  ,.{.43  was 
given  lum  for  a  copv  of  an  ancient  tripod,  undistinguishable  from  the 
.  riginal,  whi   ii  he  m  ide  alter  a  single  inspection. 

In  tite  same  period  another  artist  was  famous  for  his  reproductions  of 
the  work  of  the  elder  Tchang,  one  of  two  brothers,  who  flourished  early 
in  the  Sung    Dynasty,   and   were  famous   for   vases  mostly  of  a  pale  blue 


SOCIAL    CHANGES    UNDER    THE    MING.  257 

colour,  but  differing  from  each  other  in  the  enamel  and  crackle.  Not  less 
highly  esteemed  was  the  work  of  a  poetical  potter,  who  called  himself 
"The  old  man  who  lives  in  retirement,"  a  signature1  which  appears  on 
all  his  works  ;  some  of  these  were  of  white  egg-shell  china,  others 
brilliant  red,  some  again  blue,  like  those  of  the  elder  Tchang,  but  without 
crackle,  and  others  purple  and  deaddeaf  colour. 

By  a  curious  refinement  of  dilettantism,  the  colour  of  choice  cups  was 
designed  to  blend  with  that  of  the  liquid  for  which  they  were  used,  so 
that  the  description  of  their  beauties  always  specifies,  not  merely  the 
colour  of  the  cup  when  empty,  but  also  the  shade  which  appears  when  it 
is  filled,  with  tea  or  wine  as  the  case  may  be.  The  imitations  of  Chinese 
designs  in  Persian  pottery,  with  vague  scrawls  to  represent  Chinese 
characters,  probably  belong  for  the  most  part  to  this  dynasty  ;  and  their 
existence  shows  that  the  overland  export  trade  in  porcelain  must  have 
reached  a  considerable  development,  to  introduce  the  fashion  for  forgeries 
in  a  country  with  a  vigorous  native  art  of  its  own. 

It  is  a  curious  question,  which  perhaps  a  further  investigation  of  Chinese 
texts  might  clear  up,  how  far  the  Tatar  clamour  for  official  horse-markets 
was  due  to  a  falling  off  in  the  natural  Chinese  demand  for  them  for  use, 
or  how  far  the  use  of  horses  was  deliberately  discouraged  because  the 
trade  in  them  brought  their  aggressive  breeders  within  the  frontier.  Other 
causes  may  have  co-operated.  Semedo  remarks  upon  the  substitution  of 
litters  for  carriages  about  1546, — the  time  when  the  latter  came  into  use 
in  Spain  and  Italy;  and  the  Jesuits  tell  us  that  the  palanquin  was  thought 
more  dignified  than  the  saddle.  The  age  was  on  the  whole  one  of  peace 
and  luxury,  and  Chinese  officials  no  doubt  were  already  adopting  the 
sedentary  habits  which  they  still  retain.  On  the  other  hand,  population 
was  increasing,  and  native  economists  may  'have  begun  to  grudge  to  quad- 
rupeds, especially  those  used  only  for  war  or  ostentation,  the  food  which 
is  available  for  mankind.2  The  horse  had  never  been  generally  used  for 
agriculture,  and  the  abuses  connected  with  the  official  studs  may  have 
tended  to  discredit  their  use  by  private  persons,  but  all  these  causes 
together  seem  scarcely  sufficient  to  account  for  so  considerable  a  change 
of  old  and  widespread  custom,  as  is  involved  in  the  disuse  of  wheeled 
carriages  for  pleasure  and  ceremony  in  a  country  with  high  roads. 

The  fact  seems  to  be  that  the  horse  was  never  really  naturalized  in 
China.  Semed  >  says  that,  though  plentiful,  they  appear  tame  and  spirit- 
less ;  and  our  friend  the  anarchist,  Chuang-tze,  has  explained  why  : 
i- Horses  have  hoofs  to  carry  them  over  frost  and  snow;  hair  to  protect 
them  from  wind  and  cold.  They  eat  grass  and  drink  water,  and  fling  up 
their  heels    over   the   champaign.       Such,    is    the  real    nature   of    horses. 

1  Ou-ni-tao-jin. 

'-'   Sir   Thomas    More  admit.-;   few   horses    to    Utopia  for   this  reason;    and    it   will    be 
remembered  that  in  ancient   bgvpt  the   use   of  carriage    animals  was   long  unknown   and 
never  common.       The   cost   of  their   maintenance   was  felt  the    more    sensibly  in   China 
from   the  habit,  which  strikes   foreigners  as    odd,  of  feeding  quadrupeds  on  ''vegetables 
(among  winch  lice  was  probably  included),  identical  with  those  used  for  human  foo  1. 
VOL.    II.  —  P.C.  S 


25S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

Palatial  dwellings  are  of  no  use  to  them.  One  day  Poh-Loh  appeared, 
saying,  '  I  understand  the  management  of  horses.'  So  he  branded  them, 
and  clipped  them,  and  pared  their  hoofs,  and  put  halters  on  them,  tying 
them  up  by  the  head  and  shackling  them  by  the  feet,  and  disposing  them 
in  stables,  with  the  result  that  two  or  three  in  every  ten  died.  Then  he 
kept  them  hungry  and  thirsty,  trotting  them  and  galloping  them,  and 
grooming  and  trimming,  with  the  misery  of  the  tasseled  bridle  before  and 
the  fear  of  the  knotted  whip  behind,  until  more  than  half  of  them  were 
dead.  .  .  .  Nevertheless,  every  age  extols  Poh-Loh  for  his  skill  in 
managing  horses."1 

If  horses  failed  to  thrive  in  the  days  of  the  Warring  States,  when  waste 
lands  were  still  plentiful,  and  grass  not  quite  unknown,  we  scarcely  need 
any  further  explanation  of  the  mortality  among  them  when  the  increase 
of  population  turned  the  natural  wastes  into  corn  and  rice  fields,  and 
horses  had  to  be  shut  up,  not  to  please  the  fancy  of  their  grooms,  but 
because  there  was  no  place  left  where  they  could  "kick  up  their  heels" 
without  damage.  Whether  it  be  that  an  exclusive  diet  of  grain  disagrees 
with  them,  and  that,  failing  grass,  horses  must  have  hay,  or  that  they  can- 
not stand  being  stabled  in  the  climate  of  China,  it  seems  clear  that  it 
grew  more  and  more  difficult  to  keep  them  alive.  They  died  fast  and  did 
not  breed,  so  that  the  numbers  required  for  use  had  to  be  kept  up  by 
importations  from  Tatary,  Corea,  and  other  less  closely  cultivated  lands. 
Under  the  Tang  Dynasty,  a  fatal  epidemic,  which  destroyed  many,  was 
introduced  by  the  animals  brought  in  tribute  by  the  Tatars  and  said  to  be 
the  result  of  change  of  climate. 

h'or  some  time,  however,  as  we  have  seen,  the  horse  trade  with  Tatary 
was  not  conducted  on  a  purely  commercial  footing  ;  while  nominally 
paying  tribute  in  horses,  the  Tatars  were  virtually  receiving  it  in  tea  and 
silk  ;  and  while  utilizing  the  horse  fairs  to  obtain  a  footing  in  China,  they 
had  not  the  smallest  desire  to  keep  the  empire  efficiently  supplied  with 
the  animals  they  claimed  the  right  to  sell.  It  was  said  that  when  the 
Yuen  had  to  retreat  before  the  founder  of  the  Ming  Dynasty,  they  actually 
had  not  horses  enough  for  use  in  their  flight  ;  and  if  this  was  the  case 
with  the  Mongols,  who  had  made  the  care  of  their  steeds  an  oppression 
to  the  people,  much  more  would  the  number  naturally  decline  under  a 
pacific  native  dynasty. 

The  introduction  of  horses  after  the  discovery  of  America  led  to  a 
marked  distinction  between  the  Indian  tribes  with  and  without  these 
animals;  and,  no  doubt,  a  detailed  history  of  China  would  show  a  variety 
of  indirect    consequences  following  from    their  disuse.      The  decay  of    the 

1    Ciniati ;-.'://,  p.   I  of).      The  author   concludes  his  allegory:   "Those    who  govern  the 

empire  make    the  Horses  live   on  dry  land,  eat  grass,  and  drink 

water.  Wli'-n  pleased,  they  rub  their  necks  together.  When  angry,  they  turn  round  and 
kick  up  their  heel-  at  each  other.  Thus  far  only  do  their  natural  dispositions  carry  them. 
I  Jul  bridled  and  lotted,  with  a  plate  of  metal  on  iheii  foreheads,  they  learn  to  cast  vicious 
looks,  n,  turn  the  head  to  Lite,  to  resist,  to  get  the  bit  out  of  the  mouth,  or  the  bridle 
im  lit.      Ann  thus  their  nature-  become  deprava   f— the  fault  ol   I'oh-Loh." 


SOCIAL    CHANGES    UNDER    THE    MING.  259 

high  roads  is  certainly  one,  which  has  produced  injurious  political  results, 
and  would  threaten  others,  but  for  the  counteracting  influence  of  telegraph 
wires  now,  and  possibly  railways  before  long.  Whether  expedient  or  not, 
the  change  was  almost  a  matter  of  necessity  :  the  present  enormous  popu- 
lation of  China  could  not  be  maintained  at  all,  to  say  nothing  of  main- 
tained at  its  present  standard  of  modest  comfort,  were  it  not  for  the 
extreme  economy  in  the  use  of  the  national  food  stuffs,  rendered  possible 
by  the  scarcity  of  large  graminivorous  live-stock. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA   UNDER   THE  MING. 

A  sudden*  lull  in  the  intercourse  between  China  and  the  West  follows  the 
expulsion  of  the  Mongols.  The  ravages  of  Tamerlane  compelled  the 
traders  of  Europe  to  seek  an  opening  for  their  enterprise  in  other  regions 
of  the  world  than  Central  Asia.  The  power  of  the  Turks  formed  another 
barrier,  and  we  have  to  wait  till  the  1 6th  century,  when  the  attractions 
of  the  new  Western  continent  began  to  pall,  for  a  sort  of  rediscovery  of 
China,  as  a  great  kingdom  accessible  by  the  Indian  seas-  followed  by  a 
slow  and  dubious  recognition  of  the  northern  part  of  the  kingdom,  also 
accessible  by  land,  as  identical  with  the  far-famed  Cathay  of  Marco  Polo 
and  other  early  travellers. 

The  ambassadors  sent  by  Shah  Rukh,  as  previously  mentioned,  in  141 9, 
state  that  two  virgins  stood  on  each  side  of  the  throne,  with  paper  and 
pencils  to  take  down  every  word  spoken  by  the  Emperor  :  a  trait  which 
recalls  the  employment  of  women  in  place  of  eunuchs  at  the  end  of 
the  Tang  Dynasty.  Only  one  other  report,  of  so  much  as  seconddiand 
authority,  comes  to  us  during  the  interval.  A  Venetian  gentleman,1  who 
tir.-t  started  for  Tana  in  1436.  after  long  mercantile  experience  of  these 
distant  parts,  was  sent,  in  147  r.  as  ambassador  to  Persia.  There  he  was 
told,  in  answer  to  inquiries,  that  Samarcand  was  the  great  mart  for  those 
who  came  from  Cini,  Macini,  and  Cataio.  He  himself  did  not  proceed 
farther,  but  he  heard  from  many  that  Chin  and  Machin  were  very  great 
provinces,  the  place  whence  p  ircelains,  silk  wares,  and  such  choice  goods 
were  brought.  Through  them  you  go  to  Cathay,  and  he  was  told  by  a 
Tatar  ambassador,  whom  he  saw  afterwards  at  Tana.  that,  when  you  t  ntcr 
Cathay,  all  expenses  of  the  merchants  are  defrayed  and  they  are  brought 
to  a  place  called  Cambalu,  where  they  prostrate  themselves  before  the 
lord,  and  tell  their  business,  which  is  then  referred  to  the  nobles,  who 
promptly  settle  it.  The  lord  takes  what  he  pleases  of  the  merchant's 
wares,  giving  more  than  its  value,  and  they  sell  the  rest.  "A  land  of 
liberty  and  great  justice  :"   paper  money  is  in  use. 

These  rumours  are  only  of  interest  as  showing  that  there  was  no 
material  change  in  the  attitude  of  the  Chinese  Government  towards  such 
foreign  traders  as  reached  the  empire,  during  tin's  period  of  comparative 
isolation.  The  freedom  of  trade,  enjoyed  by  Arabs  and  Italians  under 
the  Tang  and  Sung  Dynasties,  was  not  refused  by  China  ;  ii  was  only  not 
claimed,  on  account  of  obstacles  quite  outside  the  reach  of   her  influence. 

1   Ramusio,  ii.  \>,  1&6. 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA    UNDER  THE  MING.  261 

The  commercial  colonies  of  Mahomedans  and  Jews  already  settled  in 
China  were  practically  cut  off  from  their  countrymen  and  co-religionists, 
and  were  regarded  as  naturalized  Chinese. 

China  had  commerce  enough  of  her  own  to  thrive  by,  and  the  foreign 
ships  were  scarcely  missed  ;  but  the  habit  of  hospitality  to  sea-borne 
foreigners  was  interrupted  in  the  South,  just  at  the  time  when,  from  other 
causes,  it  seemed  necessary  to  exercise  a  strict  control  of  the  overland 
traffic,  which  knocked  at  the  Northern  gate  of  the  Empire.  Had  the  trade 
of  Western  Europe  and  Asia  been  able  to  come  in  any  volume  by  this 
route,  the  conditions  of  foreign  traffic  would  have  been  regulated  to  meet 
its  needs  ;  as  it  was,  though  the  Tatars  were  not  absolutely  the  only  traders 
desirous  of  offering  a  well-rewarded  tribute,  they  were  the  nearest,  the 
most  numerous,  and  the  most  dangerous,  and  therefore  the  general  course 
of  trade  was  controlled  in  the  way  that  seemed  best  adapted  to  keep  the 
Tatars  at  once  at  a  distance  and  in  a  good  temper. 

Portuguese  ships  rounding  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  were  the  first  to 
re-enter  the  China  seas.  In  15  17  a  fleet  of  eight  sail  reached  Canton,  bear- 
ing an  ambassador,  with  presents  for  the  Emperor  of  China.  They  passed 
peaceably  through  the  Chinese  naval  force,  then  stationed  outside  the 
Canton  River  to  protect  merchant  vessels  from  piracy,  and  the  provincial 
authorities,  though  cautious,  were  not  unfriendly.  The  Portuguese  were 
allowed  to  dispose  of  their  wares  while  awaiting  a  reply  from  Peking,  as  to 
the  proposed  embassy.  This  was  delayed  till  1520,  and,  meanwhile,  the 
naval  commander  had  been  induced,  by  sickness  among  the  sailors,  to 
return  to  Malacca,  before  his  departure,  he  satisfied  the  claims  of  all 
Chinese  creditors  against  members  of  the  expedition,  thus  at  once  securing 
a  reputation  for  good  faith,  which,  if  kept  up,  would  in  all  human  proba- 
bility have  established  free  trade  with  China  three  centuries  and  a  half 
ago. 

Unfortunately,  a  brother  of  the  first  commander,  who  was  placed  at 
the  head  of  the  second  expedition,  was  a  more  typical  representative  of 
Portuguese  commercial  enterprise.  He  set  at  defiance  all  the  laws  and 
regulations  of  the  country,  despised  its  ceremonies,  and  while  nominally 
desirous  of  establishing  peaceful  intercourse,  actually  displayed  the  greed 
of  an  invader  and  the  insolence  of  a  conqueror.  Small  wonder  then  that 
the  emperor,  who  had  just  accomplished  his  visit  to  Xanking,  was  prepared 
to  believe  the  warnings,  which  reached  his  viceroys  from  Bintang  and 
Malacca,  that  the  Portuguese  sought  to  obtain  admission  as  traders,  in 
order  that  they  might  conquer  China,  as  they  had  already  conquered  its 
tributary,  the  king  of  Malacca,  and  those  parts  of  India  in  which  they  had 
obtained  a  lodgment.  The  suspicion  was  perfectly  well  founded.  Portu- 
gal, Spain,  Holland,  and  England  in  succession  cast  their  eyes  on  China, 
as  a  finer  prey  than  any  to  be  found  in  the  Indies,  east  or  west  ;  and  the 
Chinese  have  only  themselves  and  a  wary  Government  to  thank  for  their 
escape  from  the  fate  of  Spanish  America,  British  India,  and  the  shorter- 
lived  Dutch  and  Portuguese  settlements. 


2^2 


OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 


The  annals  of  Canton  say  that  the  king  of  Portugal,  a  country  in  the 
Western  ocean,  sent  an  ambassador  to  China  in  1525,  and  another,  with 
tribute,  in  1528.  The  Memoirs  of  Mendez  Pinto,'  whose  buccaneering 
exploits  date  about  r5_io.  are  enough  to  explain  why  these  new  tribute- 
bearers  seemed  to  require  to  be  as  much  kept  at  a  distance  as  the  Tatars. 
But  with  the  best  will  in  the  world,  their  numbers  were  too  small  to  make 
them  really  a  formidable  annoyance  to  the  already  enormous  empire,  and 
hence  it  is  that  the  question,  of  admitting  or  excluding  the  Western  islanders. 
occupies  much  less  space  in  the  official  annals  than  the  problem  of  tolerat- 
ing horse  fairs.  Apart  from  the  personal  rhodomontade  which  has  dis- 
credited them,  the  author  of  the  Memoirs  just  referred  to  seems  to  be  fairly 
veracious,  so  far  as  his  Chinese  experiences  are  concerned. 

Piracy,  with  a  slight  flavour  of  commerce,  was  the  profession  of  himself 
and  the  comrades  with  whom  he  entered  the  China  seas.  After  various 
discreditable  adventures,  they  were  wrecked,  after  an  attempt  to  loot  an 
imperial  cemetery,  and  it  was  in  consequence  of  this  mishap  that  they  were 
able  to  see  as  much  as  they  did  of  inland  China.  They  endeavoured  to 
make  their  way  by  road  to  Nanking,  where  they  hoped  to  get  a  vessel  for 
Xingpo,  and  as  long  as  the  foreigners  were  able  to  persuade  the  country 
people  that  they  were  unfortunate  sailors  and  not  pirates,  they  were  helped 
on  their  way  by  private  and  public  charity.  In  a  town  where  the  official- 
were  more  suspicious  or  better  informed,  they  were  arrested  as  bad 
characters,  and  completed  their  journey  as  prisoners.  Prom  Nanking  they 
were  transferred  to  tne  capital  for  judgment;  and  we  are  able  again  to  view 
the  Chinese  highways  with  a  European  eye. 

The  interval  that  separates  Chaucer  from  Shakespeare  has  made  little 
difference  to  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Pinto  repeats  tile  tale  of  till  earlier 
travellers.  China  is  "the  country  in  the  world  most  abounding  in  all 
tilings  that  may  be  desired.  The  roads  and  waterways  are  lined  with  great 
numbers  of  villages  and  little  hamlets  of  two  or  three  hundred  fires  apiece  ; 
woodland  orange  groves,  plains  of  wheat,  rice,  beans,  pease,  millet,  panic, 
.  rye,  flax,  and  cotton,  ami  gardens  and  houses  of  pleasure  "  succeed 
ea<  a  other.  In  one  town,  with  a  water  supply  that  is  supp  >sed  to  yield  the 
brightest  hues  ior  dyeing  silk,  he  is  told  that  there  are  13,000  dyers  at 
work,  who  pay  3c coco  taels  vearlv  to  the  Emperor  (say  about  „-{,  jco.ee  c  . 
As  they  proceed  up  the  river,  the  country  grows  more  and  more  :  <;  ...  >  [.-.  : 
;  .  ^  las  st  d  within  a  -tone'-  throw  of  each  other,  and  for  the  last  eleven 
days  ••  cit'ics,  towns,  villages,  boroughs,  forts  and  castles,  not  a  flight  shot 
distant  from  one  another/'  gave  trie  Portuguese  the  same  impression  of 
Nortnern  (  iuna  in  the  ibth  centurv,  as  had  been  carried  away  bom 
Southern  China  by  t:,e  Arab  travellers  of  the  9th  ami  the  rath  1  enturies. 
['he  sped  a    /at;    n  01  un  plovni  en  ts  struck  Pinto  as  carried  to  a  rei 

:■  ;.;       Kvery  k.uu  ol    traffic  and   commerce  is  divided    into   several 

i.es  :   thus,  in  the  trade   in  du<  ks,  some  hatch  the    eggs    and    sell    the 

ba<  k!in_>,  others  fatten  them   for  eating  ;  some  sell    the   eggs   only,  other> 

1    V  :      ■::  aii.i  A  huilun.     ''  /vr :';'/;  ui.i  M,nj,z  Pint  ,tr.  cv  II.  C,  G-.-nt,  166;. 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA    UNDER  THE  MING.  263 

the  feathers,  and  so  on.  He  notices  the  brisk  trade  in  town  sewage,  by 
means  of  which,  used  as  manure,  their  grounds  bear  three  crops  in  a  year, 
lie  recognises  as  one  chief  cause  of  the  great  wealth  and  commerce  of 
China,  the  multiplicity  of  rivers  and  artificial  waterways,  to  the  construc- 
tion of  which  ancient  kings,  great  lords,  and  the  people  themselves  have  in 
all  times  contributed,  so  as  to  render  the  whole  country  navigable,  and 
enable  all  paits  to  communicate  and  exchange  the  produce  of  their 
labour. 

Even  the  pagodas  help  to  promote  traffic,  for  fairs  and  markets  are  free 
on  religious  festivals  ;  and  the  temples,  erected  on  the  river  banks  to  profit 
by  the  consequent  concourse,  enable  the  people  to  do  their  business  and 
their  devotion  under  one.  He  sums  up,  that  after  having  seen  great  part 
of  Asia,  as  well  as  his  own  country  and  other  lands,  he  would  set  China 
by  itself  above  the  whole  of  Europe  for  abundance,  riches,  and  magnifi- 
cence, and  most  of  all  for  the  exact  observance  of  justice,  "for  there  is  so 
well  ruled  a  government  in  this  country  as  it  may  justly  be  envied  of  all 
others  in  the  world." 

In  1560  the  Portuguese  obtained  leave  to  rent  a  site  for  their  factory 
at  .Macao,  and  before  long  500  or  600  merchants  of  that  nation  were 
established  there.  By  1565  the  missionaries  had  also  effected  an  entry, 
and  the  zeal  of  the  religious  orders  for  the  conversion  of  China  was  much 
stimulated  by  the  reports  of  success  already  obtained  among  the  similar 
people  of  Japan.  Mendoza's  history  of  China  is  a  compilation,  first  pub- 
lished in  1585,1  to  which  his  own  short  residence  in  China  enabled  him 
to  contribute  comparatively  little  of  his  own  knowledge.  The  process  of 
making  porcelain  is  not  described  amiss,  and  he  mentions  the  use  of  large 
visiting  cards,  as  now.  and  other  since  familiar  characteristics. 

Otherwise,  he  does  little  but  summarize  and  combine  the  accounts  given 
at  first  hand  by  Caleotto  Perera  and  his  fellow-captive,  Caspar  da  Cruz,  a 
preaching  friar,  who  resided  in  China  between  1556  and  1569,  and 
published  an  account  of  his  experiences  on  his  return  to  Portugal.-  Da 
Cruz  is  probably  to  be  identified  with  the  over-zealous  monk,  who  nearly 
got  into  trouble,  according  to  Mendoza,  by  throwing  down  images  in  an 
'•idol''  temple,  but  saved  himself  by  a  rationalistic  discourse  on  the  im- 
potence of  idols,  which  should  rather  be  expected  to  worship  their  maker, 
man,  than  conversely.  He  speaks  of  all  the  foreign  traffic  in  Canton, 
putting  together  that  of  the  Portuguese  and  all  that  came  from  Siam,  as 
insignificant  when  compared  with  the  local  and  national  trade.  Other 
writers  dilate  on  the  enormous  revenue  derived  by  the  Emperor  from  the 
provinces  ;  but  he  is  more  struck  by  the  smallness  of  the  individual  tax- 
payer's contributions,  the  chief  of  which  is  a  poll-tax  of  <>/.,  paid  by  the 
heads  of  households  for  the  members  of  their  family.'"      It  is  a  land  where 

1  Translated  by  the  Ilakluyt  Society.  For  an  account  of  the  trade  with  Cathay,  by  a 
Turkish  I  >ervish,  circ.   1560,  see  Jhisbciuii  EpisioLc,  pp.  326-30. 

-  In  [Hack  Letter  4  ;  a  Trmtado,  containing  many  particularities  concerning  things 
<  "  inese,  translated  :::  Purch  is,   his  J'il^riiiis,  vol.  iii. 

::  Mendo/a  puts  this  tax  at  about  hail  as  much  again. 


264  OWXERSHIP  IN  CHINA, 

even  one  works,  and  all  are  free  to  enjoy  and  bequeath  their  own  earnings 
as  they  please.  Prices,  it  would  seem,  have  not  risen  much  since  he  wrote, 
for  he  speaks  of  shoes  to  be  bought  at  from  two  crowns  each  to  threepence  ; 
boots  vary  from  ten  crowns  to  two.  and  the  good  friar  evidently  regards 
the  variation  as  a  popular  trait  :   "  even  the  very  poor  may  wear  shoes." 

He  experienced  the  "  great  courtesy  ';  of  the  Chinese  in  his  own  person, 
and  apparently  rather  admired  the  custom  of  not  receiving  friends  in 
"undress."  lie  is  introduced  to  the  "somewhat  bitter,  red,  and  medicinal 
drink  called  (Jha  "  (tea),  and  during  his  thirteen  years'  intercourse  with  the 
Chinese,  certainly  gained  a  degree  of  familiarity  with  their  institutions  and 
modes  of  thought,  which  must  have  made  Ricci's  task  less  difficult.  One 
of  his  statements  must  be  the  less  omitted  because  of  its  singularity  ;  he 
says  :  "•  the  merchants  are  commonly  false,  and  lyars,"— a  complaint  which 
the  le-uits  echo  at  rare  intervals.1  though  their  general  evidence  is  the 
other  way.  Probably,  such  Portuguese  as  may  have  tried  to  engage  in  a 
cheating  match  with  the  idolater-,  were  left  with  a  livelier  sense  of  the 
moral  obliquity  of  cheating  as  their  sole  gain  from  the  adventure. 

Mendo/.a's  authorities  have  a  tolerably  clear  understanding  of  the 
position  of  the  literary  class,  or  "  a  certain  order  of  gentlemen  called 
Loutea.''  Offices  are  given  for  merit,  not  descent;  but,  it  is  added, 
correctly,  while  the  higher  offices  of  justice  are  bestowed  "after  trial  made 
ui  their  learning,"  the  lower  posts  in  the  administration,  as  of  ''con-tables, 
Serjeants,  receivers  and  the  like''  are  given  by  favour.  No  man  governs 
m  Ids  native  place,  or  for  more  than  three  years,  so  that  the  king  is  well 
served  without  fear  of  treason.  There  are  no  nobles,  as  in  Europe  and 
Japan,  except  the  emperor's  kinsmen,  and  these  are  not  allowed  to  take 
any  part  in  public  affairs.  They  take  all  possible  pains  to  avoid  condemn- 
ing any  to  death,  and  it  is  thought  cruel  to  issue  more  than  six  or  eight 
death-warrants  at  a  time,  though  prisoners  liable  to  sentence  of  death,  who 
are  not  executed,  and  who  have  no  friends  to  pay  for  their  support,  are 
in  danger  of  1  eing  allowed  to  die  of  starvation  instead. 

The  s\  stem  of  reports  to  the  Kmperor.  and  of  periodical  visits  of  inspec- 
tion by  hi-  delegates,  is  well  understood,  and  the  custom  of  offering  all 
nieini  r  als  i  r  ]  etitions  in  writing  is  also  noticed.-  The  Mandarin  dialei  I 
b  compared  to  Litin.  as  the  common  language  of  the  learned:  but  Tri- 
_:  ult  is  the  first  to  explain  that  it  is  the  written  character  only  that 
ap:  roaches  to  the  nature  of  an  ••universal  language."  According  to 
Perera.  the   ( lovern.ment   examinations    and  the  periodical   gaol    deliveries 

■rs  n  circuit.  He  was"  d  •'  t  many  of  the 
students  were  m  mtained  at  the  emperor's  expense/1  and  he  made  tl  ■ 
a<  [tiaii  '  !"a  c  in  _..  ■  '.  of  some  who  had  been  disgraced  for  failing  to  pa-s 
theiv  exami  tions.  Pike'  Pinto,  he  is  tilled  s\  il  .  Imirati  :\  :<  >r  the  w  iv 
in    which    in  ::ce    was    administered    in    the    Chinese    courts:    and    a-    the 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA  UNDER  THE  MING.  265 

experience  of  both  was  gained  as  prisoners,  their  evidence  is  sufficiently 
impartial. 

Apparently  Perera's  party  had  fallen  under  the  suspicion,  which  in 
Pinto's  case  was  justified,  of  being  merchants  in  pretence  and  pirates  in 
practice.  They  resisted  by  force  the  attempt  made  to  capture  them,  and 
some  Chinese  were  killed  in  the  melee,  so  that  there  were  two  counts  in 
the  indictment, — first,  that  of  piracy,  and  secondly,  that  of  resisting  the 
officers  of  justice.  After  the  usual  delays  and  exchange  of  letters  with 
Peking  it  was  decided  that  the  Portuguese  were  honest  merchants,  and  the 
officials  who  accused  them  unjustly  of  being  otherwise  were  punished  and 
disgraced  :  but  the  leaders  of  the  resistance  who  had  taken  the  lives  of 
two  Chinamen  were  found  guilty  of  that  offence,  and  sentenced  to  die 
whenever  Chinese  justice  might  find  convenient. 

Perera  thinks  that  the  great  security  of  justice  was  the  publicity  of  the 
trials;  no  witnesses  would  dare  to  perjure  themselves  coram  populo  ;  but 
he  also  describes  with  admiration  how  the  "  loutea,"  great  men  as  they 
are,  "  be  patient  above  measure  in  giving  audience  ;  "  in  another  place  he 
speaks  of  the  Chinese  as  "  more  ready  in  their  dealings,  after  their  manner, 
than  any  other  Gentiles  or  Moors."  And  it  is  probably  to  their  own  share 
of  this  "  readiness."  mixed  with  a  little  dignified  self-respect,  that  the 
prisoners  were  indebted  to  the  substantial  justice  they  received.  "We 
might  say  what  we  would,''  continues  Perera,  and  notwithstanding  the 
omission  of  the  usual  ceremonies  (of  prostration),  "yet  did  they  bear  with 
us  so  patiently  that  they  caused  us  to  wonder,  knowing  specially  how  little 
any  advocate  or  judge  is  wont  in  our  country  to   bear  with  us." 

Unknown  men,  however  innocent,  so  accused  in  any  town  of  Christen- 
dom, would,  he  thought,  have  had  good  reason  to  fear  the  end  ;  but  here 
they,  in  a  heathen  country,  without  interpreters  or  knowledge  of  the  lan- 
guage, and  accused  by  two  chief  officers  of  the  place,  "did  in  the  end  see 
our  great  adversaries  cast  into  prison  for  our  sakes  and  deprived  of  their 
offices  and  honours  for  not  doing  justice,  yea,  not  to  escape  death,  for  as 
the  rumour  goeth  they  shall  be  beheaded." 

All  these  writers  understand  that  by  Chinese  law  natives  cannot  leave, 
iior  foreigners  reside  in  the  country,  without  a  special  license,  hard  and 
costly  to  obtain  ;  but  this  seemed  to  be  rather  by  ancient  custom  than  im- 
memorial law,  and  the  attachment  of  the  modern  Chinaman  to  his  pigtail 
shows  that  a  custom  can  obtain  more  than  the  force  of  law  during  the 
reign  of  one  dynasty. 

The  Augustinians  and  the  Franciscans  made  abortive  attempts  to  get  a 
footing  in  the  empire,  which  all  felt  sure  of  converting  could  they  only 
reach  it.  bather  Alessandro  da  Valignano,  who  was  in  charge  of  the  latter 
expedition,  describes  the  administration  of  the  great  Empire  as  going  on 
so  smoothly  and  easily  as  to  resemble  rather  that  of  a  small,  well-behaved 
family  than  a  large  State.  Idleness  is  tolerated  in  no  class  except  tiie 
priests,  and  he  observes,  rather  aptly,  that  though  tolerated,  their  idleness 
is  the  chief  reason  of  the  contempt  in  which   they  are   held.      He    notices 


2  66  OWNERSHIP   IX   CIIIXA. 

with  surprise  that  after  forty  years'  intercourse  the  Portuguese  have  made 
no  progress,  and  are  still  confined  to  one  part  of  Canton  ;  and  gives  as  a 
proof  of  the  Chinese  distrust  or  dread  of  foreigners  that  the  Portuguese 
have  not  here,  as  elsewhere,  succeeded  in  establishing  any  private  relations 
of  friendship  with  the  natives  :  but  it  is  perhaps  an  open  question  which 
of  the  two  nations  is  most  discredited  by  the  fact. 

In  i  58c  and  15S3,  as  already  mentioned,  the  two  first  Jesuit  missionaries 
arrived  in  China,  and  henceforward  it  is  hardly  necessary  to  look  else- 
where, than  in  the  records  of  that  order,  for  side-lights  upon  Chinese  cus- 
toms and  history.  Matteo  Ricci,  the  real  chief  and  founder  of  the  mission. 
had  landed  in  15 S3.  His  lehr  Jahre  may  be  said  to  have  lasted  for  ten 
years.  In  1593  he  adopted  the  dress  of  the  literati  ;  the  first  unequivocal 
sign  of  the  intelligent  sympathy  which  has  made  the  [esuit  Fathers  such 
valuable  interpreters  of  things  Chinese  ;  and  in  1601,  by  way  of  appropriate 
reward,  his  (Chinese)  name  meets  us  in  the  Annals.  Europeans  who  flour- 
ish after  1648  cannot  know,  until  the  fall  of  the  Mantchu  Dynasty  discloses 
the  records  of  its  historiographers,  what  the  calm  verdict  of  Chinese  his- 
tory will  put  on  record  in  the  way  of  "  righteous  decisions,"  concerning 
them  and  their  deeds.  A  special  interest  therefore  attaches  to  the  brief 
mention  made  from  time  to  time  of  Li-ma-teou  (Matteo  Ri)  and  Ins 
friend-,  showing  exactly  how  much  space  in  proportion  the  good  Father 
occupied  in  his  adopted  countrv. 

•■  A;  the  second  month  of  the  year  1601,1  the  eunuch  Ma-tang  of  Tien- 
tsin 1  a  ised  Fi-ma-teou,  a  European,  who  had  rare  objects  to  offer  to  the 
emperor,  to  be  conducted  to  court.  The  memorial  of  the  eunuch"  ask- 
ing permission  to  make  the  offering)  "was  referred  to  the  Board  of 
Rites,  which  replied  :  'Europe  has  no  relations  with  us  and  is  not  subject 
to  car  laws.  The  images  or  pictures  of  the  Lord  of  Heaven  and  ot  a 
virgin  which  Li-ma-teou  offers  in  tribute  are  not  of  great  value.  He  pre- 
sents a  purse  which  he  says  contains  the  bones  of  immortals,  as  if  the  im- 
mortal-, in  rising  to  heaven,  did  not  take  their  bones  with  them.  Upon  a 
similar  occasion  Han-yu  said  that  such  novelties  should  not  be  introduced 
into  the  palace  for  fear  of  evil  conseq  lences.  We  de<  ide  that  these  pre- 
sents not  be  accepted,  and  that  Li-ma-teou  sh  mid  not  be  allowed 
to  remain  at  court  ;  let  him  be  sent  back  to  his  own  country,''' 

Xotw  it.is'.uuiing  this  report,  the  emperor  received  the  presents  ;  n  . 
allowed  the  missionary  to  remain  at  <  airt,  The  fact  is  that,  besides  his 
devotional  pictures  tnd  reliquaries,  Ricci  had  brought  a  novelty  that  was 
',  .  1:  tit  all,  on  other  grounds.  It  was  .1  d  k  that  stru<  k  the 
hours  :  e!o  .1-  an  .  \\  1  les  that  merelv  marke  1  the  tune  were  apparently 
o.  ;.-.  ■. :..  hut  the  em]  eror  was  fascinated  by  this  new  invention, 
w..a  :.  gave  tongue    m\  steriouslv  oi    its  o  >vn  accord   at  the  appointed   ' 

'     1  i\  ione  to  it.      Such  ;    present  was  n  )t  to  be  refused  : 

■  n  the  1  .0:  iv.  in  ll  igr  deiii  e  if  tl  (1  issic  lessons  of  the  "  Hounds 
-I  Lu."     '    .v  r,  (    sting   1 .300  <rowns,  was  built  to  accommodate  the  clock, 

:  ! '    '■'■      ".■:.-■. 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA  UNDER  THE  MING.  267 

and  ihe  foreigner  who  brought  it  was  allowed  to  reside  at  the  capital,  so 
as  to  be  at  hand  in  case  it  should  get  out  of  order. 

In  1 6 1 3  the  President  of  the  Nanking  Board  of  Works,  a  Christian  con- 
vert, is  said  in  the  Annals  to  have  recommended  "  certain  strangers  from 
Europe"  as  qualified  to  correct  the  calendar,  which  had  got  into  such  a 
state  that  eclipses  of  the  sun  and  moon  were  not  correctly  foretold.  This 
recommendation  is  reported  without  note  or  comment  ;  but  in  1629  a  simi- 
lar recommendation  by  another  high  officer,  the  Christian  known  as  Paul 
in  the  writings  of  the  missionaries,  is  followed  by  the  nominatio.i  of  four 
Europeans,  whose  names  are  given,  as  members  of  the  Board  of  Astronom}, 
in  which  capacity,  the  annalist  adds,  "  they  distinguished  themselves.'"' 

The  account  of  the  mission  published  by  Father  Nicholas  Trigault,  in 
1615,  is  not  exactly  either  a  life  of  Picci  or  a  description  of  China;  it  is 
professedly  based  on  Ricci's  memoirs,  and  it  may  embody  all  the  informa- 
tion he  had  collected,  and  it  is  at  the  same  time  the  best  account  that 
exists  of  his  personal  work.  Trigault  gives  some  account  of  the  Chinese 
classics  and  of  "  Confutius,"  and  the  honour  in  which  his  posterity  are 
still  held.  Mahomedan  astronomers  were  employed  as  well  as  Chinese  ; 
the  whole  art  of  medicine,  he  thinks,  would  be  included  in  the  European 
science  of  botany.  But  no  one  who  is  capable  of  "philosophy"  would 
study  either  medicine  or  astronomy.  The  education  of  the  young  is 
carried  on  mainly  by  private  tutors,  not  in  public  schools  ;  and  Semedo 
explains  that  unsuccessful  candidates  for  degrees  become  teachers  while 
waiting  to  try  again.  Rich  families  employ  the  successful  licentiates  who 
are  still  pursuing  their  studies  with  a  view  to  the  degree  of  Doctor,  a  dig- 
nity which  those  who  take  office  at  once  are  not  entitled  to  go  in  for. 
The  examinations  are  described  at  length.  At  the  second  examination 
of  bachelors,  the  second  day's  task  consists  either  of  three  essays  on  set 
historical  questions,  or  a  memorial  to  the  Emperor  as  to  the  course  to  be 
taken  in  a  case  proposed. 

The  doctrine  of  the  literati  is  described  as  the  first  of  the  three  "re- 
ligions'' of  the  Chinese.  This  sect  has  no  temples  except  that  to  Con- 
fucius :  filial  piety  and  the  commemoration  of  ancestors  are  the  corner- 
stone, but  the  ceremonies  are  intended  fur  the  benefit  of  the  living  rather 
than  the  dead.  The  aim  of  this  sect  and  the  purport  of  all  its  precep's 
is  to  secure  "  public  peace,  popular  tranquillity,  household  economy,  and 
the  disposition  of  individuals  to  the  practice  of  virtue.''  P.icci  devoted 
himself  to  confuting  the  other  two  sects  of  idolaters  (Buddhists  and  Tao- 
ists),  but  as  to  the  literati,  so  far  from  blaming,  he  extolled  their  doctrine 
1  :_  ily  and  gave  warm  praise  to  Confucius,  who  was  silent  concerning 
those  things  of  which  he  was  ignorant,  such  as  a  future  life,  and  adjusted 
all  the  precepts  of  his  law-,  to  the  regulation  of  the  individual  life,  and  the 
government  of  the  family  and  tie  kingdom  according  to  truth  and  justice. 

These  discoveries  took  time,  and  nearly  ten  years  passed  before  Picci 
and  his  companions  abandoned  tiie  dress  of  the  despised  Buddhist  priests, 
'hue  u.ve  and   significance  of  the  Chinese  "tones"   does  not   seem  to  have 


26S  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

been  understood  till  after  the  first  visit  to  Peking,  though  it  is  evident 
tiiat  without  such  knowledge  intercourse  must  have  been  carried  on  very 
much  by  guess. 

Trigault's  description  of  Chinese  manners  and  customs  is  the  fir>t  of 
those  containing  the  full  details  which  have  become  so  familiar  since. 
There  has  been  so  little  change  during  three  centuries  that  modern 
travellers  might  substitute  a  reference  to  his  pages  for  must  of  their  descrip- 
tions. The  use  of  cotton,  he  was  informed,  had  been  introduced  only 
about  goo  years  before,  and  that  of  tea  also  was  not  very  ancient.  As  to 
the  arrangement  of  native  feasts,  civilities,  dress,  new  year's  ceremonies, 
marriages,  coffins,  the  duties  of  magistrates  and  censors,  the  superstitions 
of  Feng-shwuy  or  geomancy,  the  state  of  arts  and  manufactures,  and  similar 
topics.  Trigault  forestalls  Semedo  and  Duhalde,  to  say  nothing  of  roth 
century  writers  like  Doolittle,  Williams,  and  Archdeacon  Gray,  on  most 
points  as  to  which  he  and  they  had  not  already  been  forestalled  by  Da 
Cruz  and  Perera. 

Trigault  conjectures  that  the  jealousy  of  foreigners  dates  mainly  from 
the  time  of  Mongol  snpremacy.  while  it  was  fostered  by  the  Mahomedans 
at  Canton,  who  did  not  wish  the  benefits  of  naturalization,  obtained  by 
themselves  at  the  cost  of  expatriation,  to  be  depreciated  through  their 
extension  to  non-resident  traders.  About  161S.  when  the  attacks  of  the 
Tatars  became  menacing,  the  Portuguese  offered  to  send  a  force  of 
artillery  to  the  emperor's  assistance,  ami  the  offer  was  favourably  regarded 
at  Peking.  Fortunately,  however,  for  China,  who  lias  always  military 
adventurers  enough  of  her  own,  intrigues  at  Canton  proved  fatal  to  the 
project,  and  the  mercenaries  were  dismissed  with  thanks  and  pay  without 
having  been  employed. 

While  Ricci  was  still  in  the  South,  a  memorial  of  the  local  elders  was 
drawn  up  against  the  admission  of  foreigners,  and  produced  an  edict  the 
teness  of  which  is  a  curiosity  in  the  history  of  what  passes  for  religious 
persecution.  Ricci  and  his  friends  were  considerately  invited  to  return  to 
their  own  country:  he  had  not.  it  was  explained,  entered  the  Empire  of 
China  with  any  evil  intent,  and  had  not  done  anything  contrary  to  the 
laws,  yet  he  should  not  forget  his  own  country,  seeing  that  it  is  possible  to 
live  religiously  in  everv  place. — while  it  is  not  proper  tor  a  stranger  to 
reside  :  r  1  ng  in  the  <  hief  town  of  the  vice-royalty!  Therefore,  the  edict 
pro<  i  is  to  '  v  tin,  it  is  not  unjust  or  discourteous  to  send  him  back  to 
his  owl  people;  as  to  the  expense  he  has  been  at  in  building  houses, 
ii  cannot  be  denied  that  it  is  considerable,  but  on  the  other  hand,  as 
the    money  so    emploved   was   given    him   as   alms,  he  cannot  claim  it    as 

.  :  _rhig  to  burn  personally  bv  right.  Nevertheless,  in  addition  to  the 
:..  i  .  :  in  ism  .  \  t:  :  magistrate  for  his  journey.  1  (-ays  the  Viceroy  m 
ids   own  person  j  wi  .    _'i\  fitteen  crowns  ol    my  own.  so    that  he    - 

■  sixtv  <  rowns  in  ail.  and  therewith  be  sent  back  to  his  own  country  ! 
'I  he  author  of  this  t  >;■  hing  aope.fi  to  the  good  sense  and  good  feeling  i 
tiie  virtu  >':-   i     ,:     ri  in  was  seriouslv  hurt  and  annoved   by  Ricci's   retu.-al 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA  UNDER  THE  MING.   269 

to  accept  the  money  ;  but,  curiously  enough,  lie  did  not  insist  on  his  going 
with  or  without  compensation,  and  allowed  him  to  settle  somewhere  else. 

Ricci's  introduction  to  the  Chinese  court  has  already  been  described. 
Ma-tang,  the  eunuch,  who  overruled  the  Board  of  Rites  on  the  subject  of 
his  admission,  had  no  more  friendly  purpose  than  to  "squeeze"  the 
foreigner,  and  get  some  credit  with  the  emperor  by  introducing  him  to  new 
toys.  Such  an  introduction  was  calculated  to  strengthen  the  prejudice 
against  the  stranger  entertained  to  begin  with  by  the  orthodox  magistracy  : 
but  Ricci  had  the  wit  to  free  himself  as  soon  as  possible  from  the  compro- 
mising patronage,  and  made  his  excuses,  not  unacceptably,  to  the  learned. 
He  reminded  them  that  even  the  highest  magistrates  found  it  difficult  to 
resist  the  undue  influence  of  the  eunuchs  ;  what  wonder,  then,  that  a  poor 
foreigner  should  be  unable  to  avoid  some  breaches  of  propriety  under  the 
same  pressure?  In  1605  the  Fathers  were  permitted  to  buy  a  house  in 
Peking,  and  were  actually  allowed  exemption  from  taxes  like  the  literati. 

The  identification  of  Peking,  the  capital  of  China,  with  Cambalu,  the 
capital  of  Cathay,  was  not  effected  till  1608,  when  the  Jesuits  in  China 
received  the  account  of  their  lay  coadjutor's  journey  and  death  at  the 
entrance  of  the  empire.  Benedict  Goes  started  from  India  expressly  to 
ascertain  whether  the  Cathay,  of  which  Mahomedan  traders  at  the  court 
of  Akbar  had  so  much  to  say,  was  a  separate  empire  from  the  not  less 
famous  land  of  China,  where  the  order  had  already  established  itself.  He 
started  on  the  journey  across  Central  Asia  in  1604,  saw  Khotan,  till  the 
other  day,  as  then,  "the  most  central  and  inaccessible  State  of  all  Asia." 

At  this  time  seven  or  eight  of  the  kingdoms  of  Western  Asia  were 
allowed  to  send  ambassadors  to  China,  to  the  number  of  seventy-two  every 
six  years,  who  in  return  for  their  presents  received  money  and  more 
valuable  gifts.  A  Mahomedan  merchant  told  Akbar  that  he  had  been 
admitted  in  the  character  of  an  ambassador  from  the  king  of  Cashgar. 
Trade  was  the  real  object  of  the  embassies,  and  it  was  probably  owing  to 
his  want  of  skill  in  maintaining  the  character  of  a  merchant  that  Goes  was 
delayed  at  the  frontier,  after  he  had  learnt  from  a  return  caravan  that  he 
would  find  his  brethren  at  Peking.  The  latter  part  of  the  journey  between 
Turfan  and  Hami  and  the  Chinese  frontier  was  at  this  time  considered  the 
most  dangerous,  owing  to  the  Tatar  raids. 

Goes  was  able  to  communicate  with  Ricci  by  letter,  and  a  Chinese 
Christian  was  sent  to  meet  him  and  arrange  for  his  admission,  but  only 
arrived  in  time  to  comfort  the  gallant  traveller's  last  days.  Ricci  compares 
the  "palace  of  foreigners,"  where  these  mongrel  embassies  were  lodged,  to 
unfurnished  sheep-pens,  and  he  successfully  established  his  own  status  as  a 
private  person,  drawn  to  the  capital  by  a  disinterested  admiration  for  the 
Emperor's  virtues  and  the  learning  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  His  death  in 
1610,  after  some  anxious  negotiations,  resulted  in  one  of  the  greatest 
victories  yet  achieved  by  the  mission.  Somewhere  or  other  within  the 
empire,  every  person  of  condition  has  a  share  in  some  family  burial-ground, 
to  which,  wherever  he  may  die,  his  children  will  dutifully  convey  his  coffin. 


2;o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

Intra-mural  interments  had  long  been  forbidden  by  the  sanitary  intui- 
tions of  the  law.  and  foreigners  could  not  buy  land  outside  the  towns,  any 
more  than  houses  within  them,  without  a  license  by  no  means  to  be 
counted  on.  It  was  therefore  quite  as  difficult  for  a  foreigner  to  be  buried 
decorously  in  China  as  to  reside  there  openly.  After  his  death.  Ricci's 
status  as  a  friendly  foreigner  of  eminence  was  again  expounded  by  his 
representatives  ;  the  distance  from  his  own  country  was  shown  to  be  such 
that  his  friends  were  not  unreasonable  in  shrinking  from  the  journey  in- 
volved in  bearing  his  remains  to  their  proper  resting-place  among  his  own 
people;  and  out  of  regard  for  his  personal  character  and  these  weighty 
and  exceptional  circumstances,  the  imperial  sanction  was  given  to  his 
interment  in  Chinese  soil.  After  the  question  of  principle  was  decided 
the  rest  was  easy,  and  a  small  farm,  belonging  to  a  disgraced  eunuch,  was 
given  to  the  Jesuits  for  a  burial-ground. 

Semedo's  account  of  China  is  dated  from  Goa  in  163S  :'  he  mentions  a 
few  traits  that  had  escaped  Trigault,  but,  like  him.  is  substantially  in  accord 
with  all  later  travellers.  He  admires  the  horticultural  skill  of  the  Chinese, 
and  their  use  of  hot  water-pipes  to  force  the  growth  of  plants.  The 
pleasure  boats  which  abound  on  the  lake  Si-hou  seem  by  his  account  to 
have  been  more  usually  private  property  than  now.  The  very  numerous 
barbers,  he  explains,  are  not  employed  to  shave,  but  to  comb  and  dress  the 
hair,  which  both  men  and  women  allow  to  grow  long,  whence  the  name  by 
which  they  call  themselves,  of  "  the  black-haired  people."  He  also  notices 
those  advantages  of  the  Chinese  method  of  block-printing  which  have  since 
led  to  the  adoption  of  the  modern  ''stereotype  edition."  He  contrasts,  as 
other  writers  have  done,  the  abundance  of  all  things  for  tise  with  the  thrift 
that  suffers  nothing  to  be  wasted,  even  rags  and  bones  being  carefully 
gathered  and  sorted  for  manure.  He  connects  the  low  prices  which  pre- 
vail with  the  scarcitv  of  money,  and  compares  both  with  the  state  of  things 
in  the  reign  of  John  I.  of  Castille.  or  the  old  days  in  Portugal  when,  for 
one  maravedi.  worth  six  sols,  six  different  things  could  be  bought. 

In  the  south  of  China,  where  commerce  was  most  active,  and  money 
therefore  least  scarce,  prices,  he  observes,  tend  to  rise.  In  large  trans- 
actions, silver  only  is  used  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  its  purity  is  care- 
fully tested  :  but  to  purchase  trifling  provisions,  he  expressly  says  that  base 
money  is  as  good  as  the  purest,  which  proves  that  under  the  Ming,  as  we 
have  aire  dy  =  irmised  to  be  the  case  in  earlier  times,  the  false  coiners  did 
m  >re  than  su;  plement  with  inconvertible  tokens  a  really  insufficient 
currencv.  Seme  1  >  describes  with  is  much  admiratii  >n  as  an  "Old  Resident." 
at  Canton  three  hundred  years  later,  the  "  inviolable  fidelity  with  which 
t  .  ■  (  Ihinese  merchants  ftii  ii  :  .  r  : .;-::.  ;-s  engag  'merits."  and  this  in  spite 
of  the  ere,i'  facilities  for  fraud  offered  by  the  fact  that  the  Portti-i  :  :s  -  were 
obliged  t  1  .I'ive  in  N[-\:c,\r^:  to  tile  native  agents  the  money  with  which  die 
latter  m    .  :  ies  on  an    >unt  of   the  foreigners  in  different  parts  01  the 

in'jrior.      Ivicci    1    implaha    :    that    money   forwarded    tor    his   use 
■:.-.:   .   .    : .  .■    -..;■.   .-     :.■ .  .:.:.'.:  cin ?. 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  OF  CHINA  CNF  FA'  T//F  MING.  271 

Chinese  agents  did  not  always  come  to  hand;  but  Semedo,  on  the  contrary, 
met  with  kindness  as  well  as  honesty  :  for  more  than  once,  as  strangers 
from  a  distant  region,  the  Fathers  had  money  lent  to  them  without  interest. 
Our  author  endeavours  to  interpret  the  Chinese  feeling  as  to  the  close 
connection  between  Ljood  manners  and  good  morals.  "They  believe,"  he 
says,  "that  no  virtue  is  more  important  than  courtesy,  an  appearance  of 
composure,  and  to  do  things  with  circumspection,  reserve,  and  mature 
judgment,  all  which  they  express  under  all  circumstances  and  at  all  times 
by  the  word  la'."  The  maxim  to  which  chiefly  they  attribute  the  duration 
of  the  empire  is  that  which  recommends  that  the  community  should  be 

RICH,   AXO  ITS   MEMBERS  POOR. 

He  goes  on  that,  it  is  true,  those  who  pass  for  rich  in  China  would  not 
be  so  considered  in  Europe  ;  but,  on  the  other  hand,  the  poor  are  not  so 
necessitous.  Semedo  enumerates  three  causes  which  facilitate  the  collec- 
tion of  the  taxes  in  China,  and  these  also  are  connected  with  the  funda- 
mentally democratic  character  of  the  Constitution.  They  are,  first,  "  that 
the  officers,  great  and  small,  are  not  so  absolute  as  ours;"  secondly,  that 
"the  cultivators  live  in  the  fields,  not  in  towns  or  villages,"  by  which 
perhaps  he  means  that  they  live  on  the  plots  they  till;  and,  thirdly,  that 
the  "houses  are  grouped  in  tens  under  a  decurion,"  a  phrase  which  no 
doubt  includes  all  the  system  of  administration  by  local  elders,  which  has 
been  in  force  more  or  less  since  the  first  inception  of  the  Rites  of  Chow. 

The  conjectural  estimates  of  the  whole  revenue  of  the  Empire  given  by 
different  Fathers  do  not  differ  much  from  the  statistics  of  the  Ming,  pub- 
lished under  the  present  dynasty.  According  to  them,  the  money  revenues 
alone  may  have  amounted  to  about  ^14,000,000,  though  this  statement  is 
not  of  much  use  without  a  more  exact  estimate  than  can  be  made  of  the 
amount  and  value  of  the  contributions  in  kind,  which  were,  if  anything, 
more  considerable  than  under  the  Mongols.  But  in  population  and  re- 
venue the  Ming  empire  was  certainly  far  inferior  to  that  of  the  Mantchus, 
and  its  palmiest  days  were  far  from  witnessing  such  a  development  of 
wealth  and  population  as  took  place  in  the  iSth  century. 

Martini,  who  lived  in  China  down  to  165 1,1  may  be  counted  among  the 
authorities  for  the  Ming  period,  though  he  wrote  the  history  of  the  Tatar 
conquest.  He  occupies  a  sort  of  middle  position  between  the  first  gene- 
ration of  missionary  pioneers  and  the  school  of  writers  who,  as  Chinese 
students,  produced  the  Memoires  concernant  hs  Chinois,  and  as  Christian 
missionaries,  the  Chinese  volumes  of  the  Lettrcs  Edifiantes,  He  has  a  way 
ot  his  own  of  summing  up  his  impressions,  though  they  agree  in  substance 
with  those  of  his  predecessors.  He  often  thought  that  if  the  Great  Wall 
had  extended  round  the  whole  of  China,  the  effect  would  be  like  that  of  a 
single  well-built  and  populous  city,  "a  raison  que  si  vous  sortez  dun  lieu 
cultive  et  habite',  vouz  entrez  tout  aussitot  dans  un  autre  qui  ne  Test  pas 
moms."  The  Government  of  this  wide  city  strikes  him  as  resembling  or 
copying  "la  conduite  d'un  ordre  religieux  bien  etably;"'  and  considering 
1   Description  Gcographique  Je  la  CJiittc. 


27 j  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

how  strict  a  control  the  Order  of  Loyola  aimed  at  exercising  over  its 
members,  it  would  be  hard  for  a  Jesuit  to  find  a  stronger  expression  to 
describe  the  reality  and  vigour  of  the  administrative  machine. 

Martini's  scholarship  did  not  allow  him  to  depend  upon  the  letter  of  the 
Classics  unassisted  by  oral  information,  and  he  is  only  repeating  or  com- 
menting upon  the  commonplaces  of  good  society  when  he  says  of  his 
native  friends  :  "  lis  disent  des  choses  fort  relevees  touchant  les  vertus. 
rapportant  le  tout  au  gouvernement  de  la  republique."  The  doctrine  of 
the  sect  of  the  philosophers  "teaches  the  exercise  of  public  and  private 
virtues,  which  they  say  ought  to  be  cultivated  for  their  own  sake,  without 
reference  to  external  rewards.  Virtue  being  the  finest  thing  in  the  world, 
is  a  sufficient  end  in  itself."  The  antique  severity  of  the  doctrine  calls  up 
reminiscences  of  Greece  and  Rome,  but  the  Father  quaintly  concludes,  the 
ancients  never  said  anything  "de  semblable  ni  de  meilleur." 

Except  from  the  Spaniards  and  trie  Portuguese,  we  do  not  receive  any 
real  information  from  European  sources  about  China  in  the  1 6th  or 
first  half  of  the  17th  centuries.  Neither  the  English  nor  the  Dutch 
had  any  success  in  their  attempts  to  open  an  overland  route.  English 
ships  do  not  seem  to  have  reached  the  coast  of  China  till  the  close  of  the 
16th  century,  when  the  expedition  under  Benjamin  Wood  was  repulsed,  at 
the  instance  of  the  Spaniards,  who  denounced  the  English  as  "robbers." 
They  were  refused  access  on  the  ground  of  their  being  enemies  of  Spain. 
Spain  not  being  an  enemy  of  China — an  objection  raised  again  in  the 
iSth  century  against  Sir  Ceorge  Anson. 

A  Dutch  embassy,  projected  before  the  Tatar  conquest,  succeeded  in 
reaching  the  Court  of  Peking  in  1656.  and  found  that  the  change  of 
dynasty  had  made  little  difference  even  in  the  personnel  of  the  administra- 
tion. Most  of  the  civil  officers  with  whom  they  came  in  contact  were 
Chinese,  and  the  final  defeat  of  the  mission  was  a  triumph  of  courteous 
Chinese  diplomacy.  Adam  Schall,  the  Jesuit  astronomer,  whom  they 
found  in  high  favour  at  court,  was  also  suspected  of  using  his  influence 
and  some  Portuguese  money  to  defeat  their  object.  After  performing  the 
kotow  and  receiving  the  Emperor's  presents,  which  were  not  of  very  great 
value,  the  Dutch  were  asked  if  they  could  come  every  three  years  to  do 
homage.  They  offered  to  come  every  live  years  if  they  were  allowed 
meanwhile  to  send  four  vessels  regularly  to  trade  with  Canton  ;  but  at  this 
the  Chinese  officials,  in  professed  concern  for  their  long  and  dangerous 
voyage,  suggest  that  once  in  nine  years  will  be  often  enough  lor  them  to 
come,      this  kind  of  homage  not  carrying  with  it  leave  to  trade  ad  interim. 

finally  they  were  told  that  it  was  contrary  to  Chinese  custom  to  allow 
foreigners  to  trade,  and  the  fact  that  such  liberty  was  not  expressly  asked 
for  in  the  Ambassador's  credentials  was  acutely  seized  on.  The  party  was 
compelled  to  start  on  the  homeward  journey  within  two  hours  after  re- 
ceiving the  Emperor's  official  letter  of  reply.  In  it,  with  much  politeness, 
and  out  of  consideration  for  the  risks  and  sufferings  to  which  they  and 
their  vessels  would   be   exposed  upon  such   long  and   dangerous   voyages, 


FOREIGN  ACCOUNTS  01'  CHINA  UNDER  THE  MING.  273 

the  emperor  declined  their  request,  and  they  were  invited  instead,  if  they 
still  desired  to  send  to  his  country,  to  do  so  only  once  in  nine  years,  and 
with  a  party  of  not  more  than  twenty  men,  who  should  be  allowed  to  come 
to  his  court,  while  the  rest  of  the  expedition  and  the  merchandise  should 
be  securely  lodged  on  shore  at  Canton.  Thus  the  Dutch  returned  re 
infect  a,  after  spending  30,000  taels  and  prostrating  their  burly  forms  at  the 
feet  of  the  indifferent  Tatar. 

The  Government  of  China  in  the  17th  or  iSth  century  was  no  doubt 
sincerely  unable  to  understand  what  there  was  offensive  to  European 
powers  in  its  pretensions. 

The  princes,  who  acknowledged  the  authority  of  a  strong  king  of  one  of 
the  iii st  Chinese  dynasties,  were  originally  local  or  tribal  chieftains,  who 
joined  or  adhered  to  a  loose  national  federation  for  the  sake  of  the  pro- 
tection the  central  power  could  give  to  outlying  branches  scattered  among 
barbarous  or  hostile  tribes.  The  accession  of  strength  was  reciprocal,  and 
the  reality  of  the  tie  between  the  suzerain  and  his  feudatories  is  proved  by 
the  importance  attached  in  the  earliest  classics  to  the  regular  visits  of 
the  princes  to  the  royal  court.  The  etiquette  concerning  the  reception 
of  tribute-bearers  was  thus  fixed  at  a  time  when  the  tributary  princes  were 
for  the  most  part  of  Chinese  nationality,  and  the  alien  ambassadors  only 
represented  really  barbarous  tribes.  The  etiquette  established  for  such 
receptions  is  as  old  as  the  Chow  Li,  and  until  European  ambassadors  under- 
stood in  what  character  they  were  supposed  to  approach  the  Chinese  Court, 
they  could  not  explain  clearly  and  convincingly  in  what  particulars  the 
supposition  was  erroneous.  And,  at  the  same  time,  till  the  Europeans 
had  explained  their  own  view  of  their  own  position,  China  could  not  be 
expected  to  understand  in  what  respects  the  modern  foreigners  from  the 
AYest  differed  from  the  tributaries  and  barbarians  of  antiquity,  and  from  the 
dangerous  barbarian  neighbours  of  recent  history. 

As  the  proposed  adherence  to  an  unsuitable  etiquette  has  been  one 
great  obstacle,  in  the  way  of  intercourse  between  China  and  the  kingdoms 
of  the  West,  it  becomes  evident  that  the  course  of  European  trade  in  the 
present  century  has  been  materially  influenced  by  the  course  of  Chinese 
history  3.000  years  before.  A  demonstration,  on  the  one  hand  of  the 
natural  solidarity  of  mankind,  and  on  the  other  an  argument  for  including 
the  ancient  history  of  all  the  nations  in  the  world  in  the  curriculum  of  a 
diplomat's  education.  The  orginal  claims  of  the  Court  of  China  are 
reduced  by  the  translation  of  the  Chinese  Classics,  to  the  harmless  pro- 
portions of  an  historical  survival,  arclueologically  interesting  rather  than 
politically  offensive. 


VOL.    II. 


CHAPTER   XXIV. 

THE   MAXTCIIU  DYNASTY    CALLED    TSING. 

1644-  *   *    *   * 

The  date  given  for  the  accession  of  the  first  Mantchu  emperor  of  China, 
known  as  Shun-chi,  is  1644;  but  the  Mantchus,  not  improperly  from  the 
Chinese  point  of  view,  count  his  father  and  grandfather  respectively  as  the 
Tai-tsong  and  Tai-tsou  of  the  dynasty.  Of  course  the  official  history  of 
the  reigning  house  has  not  yet  been  published,  but  the  emperor  known  as 
Kang-hi  (Profound  Peace)  had  some  memoirs  compiled,  which  reach  down 
to  1 70S;  and  from  1702,  I)e  Mailla,  who  carries  the  history  down  to  the 
accession  of  Yung-ching  in  1723,  was  an  eye-witness  of  the  events  he 
records.  His  editor  compiled  an  account  of  the  following  reign,  and 
there  is  no  dearth  of  materials  for  the  long  period  Kiendung  (Protection 
of  Heaven),  which  brings  us  almost  to  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century. 

As  in  the  time  of  the  Mongols,  the  South  of  China  held  out  longest 
against  the  new  rulers.  The  defeated  officers,  who  remained  faithful  to 
the  fallen  dynasty,  were  put  to  death  if  they  refused  allegiance  to  the 
conquerors ;  but  their  scruples  and  the  feelings  of  their  descendants  were 
so  far  respected  that,  after  the  execution,  they  were  interred  with  honour- 
able ceremonies.  In  1651  the  Emperor  began  to  govern  without  a  regency, 
and  ordered  the  Six  Boards  to  have  their  numbers  doubled,  so  that  there 
should  be  a  Mantchu  and  a  Chinese  in  every  post.  The  next  year  literary 
examinations  were  held,  and  the  granting  of  degrees  for  bribes  was  severely 
punished.  In  1654  Adam  Schall,  who  stood  high  in  the  Emperor's  favour, 
^presented7'  a  system  of  astronomy,  which  was  ordered  to  supersede  that 
of  the  Mahomedans. 

In  1656  an  embassy  from  Russia,  desiring  leave  to  trade,  was  refused 
audience  because  the  members  of  it  refused  to  perform  the  customary 
prostrations,  or  to  accept  the  status  of  vassals.  Two  years  later  the  Grand 
Lama  was  allowed  to  do  homage  at  Peking,  the  Chinese  emperor  having 
acquired,  through  the  accession  of  the  Mantchu  reigning  house,  a  curious 
sort  of  protectorate  over  the  established  church  of  Tatary.  In  the  same 
year  the  last  recognised  scions  of  the  Ming  Dynasty  were  put  to  death, 
and  the  lamas,  who  had  been  expelled  under  the  later  Chinese  emperors, 
ap'plied  for  leave  to  return  and  resume  pos^esdon  of  their  foundations. 
The  young  emperor  fell  under  the  influence  of  these  sectaries,  'oat  died  at 


THE  MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSLNG.        275 

an  early  age,  it  was  said  from  grief  at  the  loss  of  one  of  his  wives,  at 
whose  tomb  thirty  officers,  who  had  volunteered  for  the  purpose,  were 
sacrificed,  in  accordance  with  the  barbaric  Tatar  custom,  formally  abolished 
in  the  next  reign. 

The  new  Emperor,  better  known  to  Europeans  by  the  name  of  his 
period,  Kang-hi,  than  by  his  own  name,  Shing-too,  was  a  child  of  eight  at 
the  time  of  his  accession,  1662.  Four  regents  were  at  once  appointed, 
who  proceeded  to  banish  eunuchs  from  the  palace,  and  passed  a  law  for- 
bidding their  elevation  to  offices  and  honours.  Throughout  the  preceding 
reign  a  kind  of  informal  alliance  had  existed  between  the  adherents  of  the 
Ming  Dynasty  and  the  bands  of  pirates  who  harassed  the  Chinese  coast. 
The  most  famous  of  these,  Koshinga,  who  recovered  Formosa  from  the 
Dutch,  might  at  least  receive  the  title  of  privateer,  as  his  loyalty  to  the 
native  rulers  withstood  tempting  offers  from  the  regency ;  while  his  suc- 
cesses enabled  him  to  command  a  fleet  much  superior  to  anything  possessed 
by  the  Government.  Accordingly,  in  1663,  an  heroic  remedy  was  resorted 
to,  and  for  30  //  inland  the  coast  was  laid  waste,  so  that  the  raids  of  the 
pirates  might  be  rendered  unprofitable.  At  the  same  time  all  foreign  traffic 
was  prohibited,  except  through  Macao,  where  the  Portuguese  were  tolerated 
on  condition  of  turning  their  still  dreaded  firearms  against  the  rebels. 

In  the  following  year  a  petition  was  presented  against  the  indulgence 
shown  to  Christians,  and,  especially,  the  exaltation  of  Schall  to  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  Mathematical  Board.  A  majority  of  the  regency  were  in 
favour  of  his  degradation.  In  1666  the  thirteen-year-old  emperor  was  de- 
clared of  age,  and  very  shortly  began  to  govern  as  well  as  to  reign.  In 
1669  the  new  president  of  the  mathematical  board  wished  to  restore  the 
old  system  of  calculation.  The  emperor  proposed  a  test,  and  the  Chris- 
tians alone  succeeded  in  pointing  out  where  the  shadow  would  fall  at 
noon  on  the  following  day,  and  in  calculating  the  exact  date  for  past 
eclipses.  Schall's  successor  was  accordingly  banished,  and  his  own  name 
rehabilitated. 

It  was  further  decreed  that  the  Christian  religion  was  not  bad  in  itself, 
and  might  be  professed  freely  by  the  Europeans,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
continue  in  the  faith  of  their  ancestors;  only — -as  the  Chinese  had  exactly 
the  same  duty  towards  their  ancestors — the  Europeans  were  not  to  preach 
the  foreign  creed  to  them.  Father  Verbiest  was  appointed  to  succeed 
Adam  Schall  at  the  Mathematical  Board,  and  the  young  emperor  studied 
astronomy,  geometry,  trigonometry,  and  European  music  under  his  guid- 
ance. Unlike  his  father,  Kang-hi  had  no  leaning  towards  Buddhist  or 
other  superstitions,  and  his  interest  in  the  Europeans  at  his  court,  like  his 
concern  for  Chinese  literature,  was  perfectly  rational  and  scientific. 

In  1688  two  of  the  missionaries  were  employed  as  interpreters  during 
the  negotiations,  carried  011  in  Latin,  with  an  embassy  sent  by  the  Czar  of 
Russia,  to  fix  the  boundaries  of  the  two  empires,  and,  if  possible,  to  secure 
leave  to  trade.  Father  Gerbillon  and  his  colleague  succeeded  in  effecting 
an  amicable  settlement  satisfactory  to  both  Governments,  as  the   Russians 


2-6  OWNERSHIP   IN    CHINA. 

obtained  leave  to  trade,  and  the  Chinese  secured  the  demolition  of  a 
fortress  menacingly  near  their  frontier.  A  college  was  founded  for  the 
training  of  Chinese  youth  in  Latin,  to  act  as  interpreters  in  future  dealings 
with  the  Russians,  but  did  not  meet  with  much  success.  In  1692  Kang-hi 
was  (aired  of  an  obstinate  fever  by  the  missionaries'  quinine,  and  the  high- 
water  mark  of  Chinese  toleration  was  reached  in  a  decision,  which  received 
the  Emperor's  approval  just  seven  years  after  the  Revocation  of  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  :  it  was  to  the  effect  '"'that  all  places  of  religious  worship  in  the 
empire  should  be  allowed  to  remain,  and  any  one  who  likes  permitted  to 
pray  and  burn  perfumes  in  them  without  molestation.'' l 

Kang-hi  was  fond  of  making  the  bathers  talk  to  him  about  Europe,  and 
tiie  half-ironical  remarks,  which  they  attribute  to  him,  seem  to  show  that 
he  was  better  informed  than  they  imagined  as  to  the  relations  of  Church 
and  State  in  our  Western  wilds.  But  (  "nristianity  as  a  religion  did  not 
interest  him  :  he  probably  agreed  with  his  predecessors  in  regarding  it  as 
•:  a  kind  of  Fo  religion."  which  was  no  recommendation  to  a  prince  who 
had  condescended  to  translate  the  diatribes  of  Han-wen-kung  into  Tatar, 
and  there  were  no  diplomatic  reasons,  such  as  made  him  anxious  for  the 
friendship  of  the  Talai  Lama,  to  weigh  in  its  favour.  The  reports  sent  by 
the  Jesuits  to  Europe  were  naturally  not  altogether  exempt  from  the  hope- 
ful reticences  common  in  most  missionary  correspondence  ;  and  they  failed 
to  convey  to  the  ecclesiastical  powers  of  the  West  any  true  idea  of  the  ex- 
treme precariousness  of  their  position,  and  the  humiliating  parallels  used 
to  justify  the  tolerance  extended  to  them. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Orders,  who  had  not  as  yet  established  a  Chinese 
mission,  and  notably  the  Dominicans,  accused  the  Jesuits  of  showing  too 
much  indulgence  to  the  native  heresies  of  the  Chinese  :  and  we  find,  in 
r;oo.  the  acclimatized  Jesuits  trying  to  defend  themselves  against  the 
suspicions  of  their  rivals,  by  appealing  to  the  Emperor,  to  declare  whether 
their  interpretation  of  the  Ancestor  Worship  of  the  Chinese,  and  the  sacri- 
ibvs  to  Heaven  and  Earth,  is  correct  or  not.  They  profess  to  have  under- 
stood that  t!ie  latter  were  nut  offered  to  the  visible  sky,  but  to  the  supreme 
!  rd,  author,  and  preserver  of  heaven,  earth,  and  all  that  they  contain: 
wiiiio  they  interpreted  the  Rites  concerning  ancestors  to  indicate  the  love  U  It 
hem.  and  the  desire  to  1  reserve  the  memory  of  the  good  done  by  them 
when  alive.  The  Chinese  are  not  given  to  theological  hair-splitting,  and 
K    :._-', :   :  rendering  of  Chinese  doctrine  as  correct  ;  but  tht 

Dominicans  were  not  satisfied,  and  considered  the  expressions  used 
"  e  [uivoral,"'  while  in  faei  they  decidedly  exaggerate  the  deistic  character 
1  if  tiie  <01  Chin    ;c  n   tare  vo  irship. 

The  edict  <  f  \6(j2  had  been  honestly  accepted  by  the  Tribunal  of  Rites: 
for  in  1702,  when  a  vicerov,  who  had  forbidden  the  erection  of  a  new 
chun  h  at  Xing-po,  ay;  ealed  to  it,  he  was  referred  to  the  edict  as  a  prooi 
that  t'n  ■  1  hurch  must  be  ;  11  iwe  1.  Rut  the  heat  and  passion  of  controversy 
is  in  itself  offensive  to  the  Chinese  sense  of  propriety.      It  will   be  remem- 

:  1  >■•  m  •.;;;-.  *\.  v.  1   - 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSIXG.        277 

bered  that  when  their  own  men  of  letters  grew  violent  and  embittered  over 
the  controversy  between  the  disciples  of  the  Innovator  and  the  school  of 
Choo-hi,  the  Emperor  was  appealed  to  to  restore  order  and  peace  by  silen- 
cing both  sides  impartially.  And  the  wrangling  of  foreign  sectaries  could 
not  meet  with  greater  toleration.  Accordingly,  a  change  took  place  :  in 
1706  an  edict  was  published,  banishing  all  the  missionaries  from  China 
who  had  not  special  license  to  remain,  which  was  granted  only  to  those 
who  undertook  never  to  return  to  Europe,  and  to  approve  of  the  Chinese 
ceremonies  which  had  been  attacked. 

There  was  some  delay  in  enforcing  this  decree,  for  in  17 17  a  Canton 
official  memorialized  the  Emperor  on  the  danger  arising  from  the  presence 
of  the  Hong-mao,  of  different  kingdoms,  but  all  alike  barbarous.  The 
memoir  was  referred  to  the  tribunals,  and,  on  their  report,  it  was  again 
decided  that  only  missionaries  who  had  received  express  license  to  reside 
in  China  should  be  allowed  to  remain  ;  the  rest  were  to  be  banished,  the 
churches  destroyed,  and  the  Chinese  converts,  who  refused  to  repent  and 
renounce  their  errors,  punished  as  severely  as  those  who  sell  rice  for  export 
in  the  South.  This  parallel  is,  of  course,  an  intentional  reminder  that  the 
real  objection  to  the  foreign  creed  lies  in  the  double  allegiance  it  involves  ; 
it  is  as  bad  to  receive  orders  from  without,  to  control  the  action  of  Chinese 
subjects,  as  it  is  to  supply  the  foreigner  with  food,  that  may  be  required  for 
the  support  of  natives. 

In  1720  a  papal  legate  was  sent  for  the  second  time  to  China,  in  order 
to  explain  to  the  Emperor  what  concessions  the  Pope  was  prepared  to  make 
in  regard  to  the  national  rites  of  the  Chinese.  He  was  courteously  received  ; 
but,  at  his  fourth  interview,  the  Emperor  expressed  surprise  at  the  trivial 
nature  of  the  foreigners'  disputes.  With  the  elaborate  suggestiveness  of 
Chinese  diplomacy,  he  went  on  to  intimate  that,  perhaps,  if  the  Chinese 
understood  the  customs  and  literature  of  Europe,  they  might  not  think  the 
European  pictures  of  winged  men  (i.e.  angels)  as  ridiculous  as  they  did. 
But,  if  it  were  thus  impossible  for  the  Chinese  to  form  a  proper  opinion 
about  European  angels,  how  could  the  Pope  form  one  about  Chinese  rites  ? 

Personally,  Mezzabarba  made  a  favourable  impression  on  the  Emperor,1 
who  begged  him  to  come  back  again  with  a  good  doctor  and  the  best 
European  books,  especially  on  mathematics.  But  the  endorsement  added 
with  the  vermilion  pencil  to  the  papal  message  was  uncompromisingly 
severe  :  "  Ignorant  and  contemptible  Europeans,  naturally  incapable  of 
apprehending  the  great  doctrines  of  China,"  were  blamed  for  their 
sectarian  violence,  like  that  of  the  Ho-chang  and  Tao-sse,  and  forbidden 
to  preach  their  doctrine,  which  can  only  be  a  source  of  strife  and  confu- 
sion. 

The  Jesuits  did  their  best  to  dissociate  themselves  from  the  anti-Con- 
fucian zeal   of  their  rivals  :  nevertheless,  they  too  may  have  fallen  in  the 

1  John  Hell,  of  Antermony,  who  had  accompanied  a  Russian  embassy  to  Peking,  saw 
M  ez/abarba  there,  an  i  was  especially  imprcsse  I  by  the  activity  and  kin  lly  manners  of  die 

oid  emperor. 


27S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

emperor's  opinion,  as  men  possibly  disloyal  to  the  orthodoxy  of  their  own 
people.  Kang-hi  was  shrewd  enough  to  guess  that  European  Catholics,  in 
their  native  lands,  ought  to  agree  with  the  Pope  ;  and  when  that  potentate 
disavowed  the  Jesuits,  it  became  natural  to  look  on  them  as  a  sort  of 
Western  Tao-sse  ;  while  in  the  absence  of  any  proselytizing  zeal  on  the  part 
of  the  Chinese,  they  received  little  credit  for  merely  being  less  dense  than 
the  legate  in  appreciating  the  truths  of  Confucianism. 

In  his  personal  dealings  with  the  accredited  missionaries,  Kang-hi 
showed  the  most  delicate  consideration  for  their  religious  scruples,  but  this 
was  rather  as  a  matter  of  politeness  or  good  breeding  than  religious 
toleration.  lie  refused  the  request  of  the  Great  Lama  to  have  his  portrait 
taken  by  one  of  the  Europeans,  without  consulting  them,  lest  they  should 
have  scruples  about  painting  an  idolatrous  priest.  From  a  similar  scruple 
he  would  not  ask  the  musical  Father  to  give  an  opinion  about  the  per- 
formance of  a  female  harp  player.  And  he  was  careful  to  explain,  when 
ordering  the  preparation  of  a  Mantchu  version  of  an  anatomical  treatise, 
that  two  experienced  physicians  should  be  associated  with  the  Fathers,  lest 
thev  should  have  religious  difficulties  in  dealing  with  any  part  of  the 
subject  :  though,  as  he  hastened  to  assure  them,  the  language  was  not 
wanting  in  terms  of  proper  modesty,  while  the  work  would  only  be  in 
the  hands  of  professionals,  and  not  be  seen  by  young  persons  or  the 
general  public.1  Under  these  circumstances  the  despatch  of  the  Arch- 
bishop of  Tournon,  who  reached  Canton  as  Legate  a  latere  in  1704.  with  a 
pontifical  decree  condemning  the  Chinese  ceremonies,  was  resented — not 
as  a  heresy,  but  as  a  breach  of  good  manners — suggesting  that  the  emperor's 
own  courtesy  had  been  thrown  away  on  irreclaimable  barbarians.  The 
decree  in  question  was  published  in  1707,  and  the  archbishop,  who  had 
been  personally  well  received,  was  detained  a  prisoner  at  Macao  till  171c, 
when  he  died,  partly,  at  least,  of  hardships,  which  were  not  diminished  by 
the  news  of  Ids  elevation  to  the  Cardinalate  the  year  before. 

Of  course,  the  above  incidents  would  occupy  but  a  small  place  in  the 
native  annals  ;  but  the  long  reign  was,  on  the  whole,  fortunately  free  from 
great  historical  events.  In  1673,  a  Chinese  governor,  who  had  early  pro- 
nounced in  favour  of  the  Mantchus,  headed  a  rebellion  in  Yunnan,  and 
published  a  new  calendar,  winch  he  sent  into  the  neighbouring  tributary 
kingdoms.  In  ['175.  there  were  threats  of  a  Mongol  revolt  and  invasion  : 
aiM  a  year  or  two  later,  the  Lleuths,  who  in  the  previous  reign  had  been 
permitted  to  pastme  their  flocks  west  of  the  Hoang-ho,  showed  similar 
signs  of  insubordination.  The  Emperor  claimed  a  kind  of  protectorate 
over  ah  these  Tatar  tribes,  and  the  friendly  relations  kept  up  with  their 
spiritual  chief,  the  Talai  Lama,  were  intended  to  enable  him  the  better  to 
keep  t'ne  peace  between  them.  In  i6Si,the  loyal  Mongols  were  exhorted 
by  the  em]  r  r  to  organize  a  sort  of  militia  to  defend  their  flocks  and 
territ  >r;es.  Ten  years  later  he  paid  from  the  Treasury  a  large  sum  t 
discharge  d   bt s  incurred   by   soldiers  at    Peking,  and   forbade  the   lending 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED   TSING.        279 

of  money  to  them  in  future ;  while,  to  ensure  obedience  to  the  enactment, 
such  loans  were  declared  to  be  non-recoverable.1  He  was  always  afraid 
of  the  military  virtue  of  the  Mantchus  degenerating  in  South  China,  and 
was  careful  not  to  leave  his  officers  long  on  duty  there.  Diplomatic 
and  military  campaigns,  frequently  conducted  by  the  emperor  in  person, 
continued  for  a  number  of  years, — in  fact,  till  after  the  death  of  the 
Eleutian  chief,  Kaldan,  in  1697. 

During  all  this  time  the  range  of  Chinese  influence  was  being  steadily 
extended  ;  and  the  chief's  jealousy  of  Chinese  encroachments  showed  itself 
by  the  inquiry  why  the  emperor  had  sent  his  young  men  to  the  Tanguts, 
to  learn  their  language.  The  ambassadors  replied  that  it  was  for  love  of 
knowledge,  the  acquisition  of  which  gives  pleasure,  like  that  of  a  man 
retiring  joyously  from  a  great  feast.  But  it  is  none  the  less  true,  that 
Chinese  delight  in  this  particular  branch  of  learning  is  apt  only  to  show 
itself  under  the  strong  dynasties,  which  count  the  greater  part  of  Asia 
among  their  tributaries.  Even  the  aggressions  of  their  rivals  redounded  to 
their  gain,  as  in  1714,  when  the  chief  Eleuth  king,  a  representative  of  the 
old  Mongol  Dynasty,  invaded  Tibet,  contesting  the  authority  of  the  lamas, 
who  at  once  proceeded  to  invite — and  to  obtain — Chinese  protection. 

Kang-hi  wrote  notes  of  his  travels  for  his  son,  and  in  1696,  particularly, 
he  was  much  struck  with  the  civilization  of  the  Ortos,  among  whom  the 
true  old  Mongol  customs  had  been  preserved.  Thieves,  he  observes,  were 
unknown,  though  horses  and  camels  graze  without  keepers ;  and  if  one 
strays,  the  finder  restores  it  to  the  owner,  without  asking  or  expecting  a 
reward.  In  1707  he  visited  the  Southern  provinces,  but  resolved  not  to  do 
so  again,  because  they  were  impoverished  by  the  cost  of  his  magnificent 
reception.  Private  persons  were  forbidden  to  hang  their  houses  with  silk  on 
such  occasions,  and  the  expenditure  of  the  localities  was  limited,  while  the 
Emperor  himself  spent  money  freely  on  the  embankments  and  canals  ;  but 
it  was  difficult  to  get  the  royal  preference  for  economy  believed  in  or  acted 
upon.  On  his  return,  as  a  cheaper  and  not  less  effective  way  of  acquainting 
himself  with  his  domains,  he  ordered  a  map  of  the  empire  to  be  prepared, 
upon  which  the  licensed  missionaries  were  employed,  and  which  for  long 
continued  to  be  the  only  authority  for  Chinese  geography. 

It  was  a  matter  of  course  that  in  so  long  a  reign  periods  of  temporary 
or  local  dearth  should  occur.  In  16S4  the  regulations  for  an  official  system 
of  grain  transport  were  published,  and,  having  been  re-edited  in  1S1S,  are 
presumably  still  in  force.  The  Lettres  Edifiantes  speak,  in  1699,  of  distribu- 
tions of  rice  by  the  Emperor  extending  as  far  as  Corea  ;  and  in  T704  there 
was  a  scarcity  during  which  he  employed  the  missionaries,  to  some  extent, 
as  almoners,  and  required  voluntary  contributions  or  benevolences  from  his 
courtiers.  That  the  Kang-hi  period  was  on  the  whole  one  of  social  as 
well  as  political  prosperity  is,  however,  proved  by  the  rapid  increase  in  the 
population,  which  was  itself  one  of  the  causes  adding  to  the  ruler's  anxiety 

1  In  Amyot's  time  the  credit  (if  the  Mantchus  was  good,  so  they  did  not  profit  by  the 
edict  to  repudiate  their  obligations. 


2 So  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA.   ■ 

in  relation  to  the  food  supply.  In  17  17  the  export  of  rice,  in  Chinese 
vessels  trading  with  the  South,  was  forbidden,  under  penalties,  as  already 
mentioned,  similar  to  those  inllicted  on  foreign  perverters  of  the  ancestral 
national  faith. 

The  -Ming  Shi,  or  official  history  of  the  preceding  dynasty,  was  begun 
by  order  of  Kang-hi  in  1696,  completed  in  1725,  and  solemnly  con- 
veyed to  the  i;  Palace  of  Imperial  History.''  The  Imperial  dictionary, 
constant!)"  referred  to  by  Chinese  scholars,  was  compiled  by  the  Han-lin 
College,  under  this  emperor's  orders;  and  he  himself  published,  at  the  age 
of  sixteen,  sixteen  maxims  on  the  Art  of  Government,  each  consisting  of 
seven  characters  only,  which,  with  the  amplifications  and  comments  added 
by  his  son  and  successor,  Vung-ching,  form  the  well-known  Ching-yu  or 
Sacred  Edict.1  The  Jesuits  were  required  to  translate  for  him  anything 
of  interest  in  the  latest  memoirs  of  the  Academic  des  Sciences,  at  Paris; 
and  by  his  desire  Father  Parennin  translated  an  anatomical  treatise  into 
Mantchu.  One  of  Parennin's  letters  contains  an  interesting  account '-' of 
the  discussions  they  held  concerning  the  comparative  merits  of  European 
languages  and  characters,  an  1  Chinese  and  Mantchu.  The  emperor's 
remarks  are  those  of  an  intelligent  and  well-educated  linguist,  and  he  was 
able  to  justify  some  partiality  for  his  native  tongue  by  pointing  out  its 
richness  in  special  terms,  e.g.  a  dog  of  a  particular  age,  colour,  and  breed 
is  described  by  a  separate  single  term  :  and  so  with  a  number  of  objects 
which  would  have  to  be  designated  in  other  languages  by  the  use  of  several 
words. 

The  porcelain  manufactures  had  suffered  somewhat  during  the  Tatar 
invasions  in  the  middle  of  the  17th  century.  Under  Kangdii,  the  director 
of  the  imperial  manufactory  introduced  an  oleaginous  clay,  of  which  vases 
of  different  colours  were  made — green,  yellow,  uniform  and  sprinkled  ;  and 
azure,  pale  yellow,  green  and  violet  enamels  were  also  used  ;  ami  red  and 
blue  St  itftlc.  In  the  next  reign,  an  inspector  of  sluices,  or  waterworks, 
named  Xien,  was  put  in  charge  of  the  imperial  ceramics.  The  work  done 
under  him  was  delicate  and  highly  finished  ;  some  witii  flowers,  painted  or 
engraved,  and  some  of  a  silvery  white.  In  172X  a  manufacturer,  famous 
for  his  skill  in  imitating  the  ancients,  came  to  King-te-ching,  and  was 
associated  with  Xien.  In  1736  he  was  put  for  eight  years  by  Kien-lung 
in  charge  of  the  bridge-tolls  of  the  Hwai,  and  then  over  the  customs  of 
Kiang-si.  lie  went  in  for  science,  as  we  should  say:  was  cunning  in  the 
qualities  of  different  earths  and  materials,  and  invented  various  enamels. 
He  also  published,  by  order  of  the  emperor,  twenty-two  plates,  illustrative 
of  the  different  processes  used  in  making  and  decorating  china,  with  the 
necessary  explanations,  the  text  of  which,  with  the  plates,  is  given  in  M. 
Stanislas  Julieiv's  w<  irk. ' 

:    I  Vr  :>.\\  ::.:'.' '  n'      .-.  sci     f'liir  lectures  ]>y  1  )r.  I. c^e,  on   I/nf  >;<:. 

-  /../■:.,  v.  :.  \i.\.  .  ..'•■ :.  1  ;m. 

■'■  II:  :.;>\  in   I:   '    >v,  iainc    Chin  isc     cf.   rJsw  I. >.':;;      J.;;/.,  vol.   win.  p.   225  ft*. 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    7 SING.        281 

Kang-hi  died  in  1722,  and  received  the  posthumous  title  of  "Gracious,"' 
or  i:  Benevolent."  He  had  shown  one  personal  weakness  in  declining  to 
appoint  a  successor  ;  and  even  refused  to  appear  on  his  birthday  in  the 
preceding  year,  because  he  had  been  annoyed  by  requests  that  he  would 
do  so.  His  eldest  son  had  been  put  to  death  for  plotting,  and  parties  had 
been  formed  in  favour  of  a  ninth  and  fourteenth  son,  both  of  whom  were 
now  exiled  and  imprisoned. 

Yung-ching,  the  fourth  son,  was  forty  on  his  accession  ;  he  had  previously 
shown  some  leaning  towards  the  Tao-sse ;  but  as  Emperor,  he  professed 
rigid  orthodoxy.  The  misfortunes  of  his  brothers  were  of  purely  dynastic 
origin  ;  but  some  of  the  Jesuits  seem  to  have  been  implicated  in  party 
intrigues  in  favour  of  other  princes  during  the  late  reign,  and  some  of  the 
exiles  were  converts  to  Christianity.  The  two  circumstances  naturally 
went  together  and  explain  each  other,  for  the  Europeans  would  naturally 
wish  the  succession  to  fall  to  the  prince  who  showed  most  favour  to  their 
doctrines ;  but  they  also  explain  the  disfavour  into  which  the  Europeans 
and  their  law  now  fell. 

Various  edicts  and  memorials  were  published,  in  which  the  waste  of 
money  on  churches,  the  discouragement  of  marriage,1  the  use  of  the  con- 
fessional, especially  by  women,  and  the  appearance  of  the  latter  at  church, 
in  mixed  congregations,  were  denounced  as  gross  moral  scandals.  The 
erection  of  new  temples  was  forbidden  to  the  members  of  other  supersti- 
tious sects,  the  Ho-chang  and  Tao-sse  ;  but,  by  a  scruple  seldom  felt  by 
religious  persecutors  or  reformers,  the  Chinese  held  that  the  churches, 
having  been  erected  by  the  people,  should  only  be  used  for  their  benefit. 
The  buildings  ought  to  be  secularized  ;  but  the  materials  could  not  be 
applied  to  the  repair  of  official  tribunals,  but  must  be  used  for  granaries, 
schools,  halls  for  ancestral  worship,  or  similar  social  objects. 

The  missionaries  complained  that  over  300  churches  were  given  over  to 
the  unbelievers,  and  turned  into  schools,  colleges,  town  halls,  and  public 
granaries  ;  while,  by  an  amusing  application  of  the  doctrine  of  cy-fires,  one 
church,  of  St.  Mary  the  Virgin,  was  converted  into  a  hall  in  honour  of  a 
famous  widow.  Sometimes  they  succeeded  in  bribing  the  officials  of  the 
Record  Office  to  produce  Kang-hi's  edict  of  1692,  when  referred  to,  instead 
of  that  issued  in  1706  ;  but  this  expedient  was  seldom  available,  and  the 
Europeans,  who  had  not  received  permission  to  stay  and  make  themselves 
useful  at  court,  were  repeatedly  warned  to  leave  the  country. 

An  honorary  title  was  given  to  Father  Kegler  in  1725,  in  order  to  enable 
him  to  appear  decorously  at  court,  as  President  of  the  Board  of  Mathe- 
matics ;  but  it  was  not  a  sign  of  special  favour,  as  several  eunuchs  received 
the  same  decoration.  Yung-ching  at  this  time  received  another  embassy 
from  the  Pope  ;  and  in  the  reply,  which  was  sent  with  presents,  he  observed. 
with  admirable  self-complacency,  that  he  had  been  very  kind  to  the   Euro- 

1  (  n  three  -ins  against  filial  piety,  that  of  not  leaving  descendant.-;  is  the  chief  (I.citres 
Etiif.,  \i.\.  p.  343  ;  i/>.,  p.  353);  ii  is  said  that  a  church  cannot  cost  less  than  2. coo  or 
3,000  taels,  say  /."400. 


2S2  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

peans  settled  in  his  country,  had  taken  pains  to  instruct  them  and  teach 
them  the  duty  of  submission  to  their  superiors,  of  treating  their  equals  with 
moderation  and  courtesy,  and  of  curing  the  defects  of  their  restless  and 
turbulent  temperament  by  cultivating  a  becoming  tranquillity  ! 

In  the  same  spirit  the  Emperor  condescended  to  instruct  his  officers  as 
to  the  proper  way  of  dealing  with  a  Mantchu  Christian.  "  Heaven"  and 
"the  Lord  of  Heaven  "  mean  the  same  thing — every  nation  does  honour 
to  Heaven  :  but  each  have  their  own  way  of  doing  it.  No  one  desired  to 
interfere  with  the  convert's  worship  ;  but  a  Mantchu  ought  to  worship 
Heaven  after  the  rites  of  his  people.  If  he  refuses  to  do  so,  he  is  wrong  ; 
he  may  even  have  the  malignity  to  argue  that  he  will  be  put  to  death  for 
his  disobedience,  and  thus  cause  the  emperor  to  be  blamed,  as  if  he  was 
condemned  for  disloyalty  like  his  father's.  Thus  instructed,  the  nobles 
proceeded  afresh  to  reason  with  the  convert.  "You  say  that  the  doctrine 
of  the  Europeans  teaches  you  to  rule  your  heart  and  spirit.  Is  not  that 
just  what  the  writings  of  our  ancient  sages  teach?  You  say  that  the  Lord 
of  Heaven  was  born  among  men  for  their  salvation  1,700  years  ago,  but 
long  before  that  time,  in  the  days  of  Yao  and  Shun,  when  the  law  of  the 
Europeans  did  not  exist,  the  worship  of  Heaven  was  known  among  us. 
Can  you  dare  to  deny  it?" 

Conclusive  as  this  reasoning  must  have  seemed,  we  gather  that  the  in- 
quisitors were  creditably  loth  to  hand  over  to  the  secular  arm  any  Christians 
who  were  able  to  reason  temperately  in  their  own  defence.  Thus  a  Chris- 
tian graduate  of  the  preceding  century  was  allowed  to  have  the  last  word 
when  he  objected  to  the  customary  sacrifices,  on  the  ground  that  to  sup- 
pose the  spirits  would  confer  benefits,  in  return  for  offerings  of  meat  and 
drink,  is  to  have  a  worse  opinion  of  them  than  of  the  most  covetous 
official.1 

The  misfortune  of  the  missionaries  was  that  they  felt  obliged  to  begin 
their  propaganda  with  the  outlines  of  "Gospel  history,"  which  had  neither 
interest  nor  charm  for  ethical  atheists  like  the  literati.  If  they  had  been 
able  to  drop  their  theological  foundations,  and  go  straight  to  the  master- 
pieces of  devotional  psychology,  like  the  "  Imitation,"  or  even  the  finer 
works  of  the  Casuists,  the  candid  Chinese  mind  would  have  been  touched, 
and  the  literati,  who  did  not  share  Kang-hrs  taste  for  science,  would  have 
recognised  the  value  of  European  contributions  to  what  they  regard  as  a 
higher  line  of  thought. 

The  will  published  in  Kang-hi's  name  by  his  successor  is  not  supposed 
to  be  genuine  :  but  whether  it  was  composed  by  the  father  or  the  son,  it 
is  equally  available  as  an  illustration  of  the  sentiments  supposed  to  be 
becoming  to  a  famous  sovereign  at  the  close  of  his  career.  He  admits 
that  by  comparison  with  the  rulers  of  the  three  first  dynasties,  he  has  not 
succeeded   in   securing   plenty  to  every  family,  and  the  necessaries  of  life 

1  A-  n  metier  of  \  .'.  the  doctrine  of  sacrifices,  iv<  set  forth  in  the  Li  A'i.  rests  the 
in-'itv.'.ion   on    patviy  .-  :':  :    -  i'.'e  t^roatr  ;<  ;   a    f.-<  linc[  of  natural    piety  prompts  the   .-acriii- 


THE  MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSIXG.        283 

to  every  individual.  Still  he  had  laboured  to  secure  peace  throughout  the 
empire,  and  contentment  among  all  his  subjects  ;  he  had  not  uselessly- 
squandered  the  blood  of  his  people  or  the  treasure  of  the  empire,  but  had 
only  taken  what  was  necessary  for  the  armies,  and  to  give  help  in  famine. 
He  claimed  also  that  his  dynasty  had  obtained  the  empire  more  righteously 
than  any  of  its  predecessors.  Yung-ching,  who  produced  this  document;, 
professed  to  conduct  his  administration  upon  the  same  principles. 

In  1724  he  reduced  the  taxes  paid  by  some  over-burdened  towns,  and 
gave  grain  to  districts  suffering  from  drought  in  the  South  ;  while  rebuking 
the  officers  who  wished  to  set  up  monuments  to  his  generosity,  which 
might  be  the  occasion  of  fresh  exactions.  In  one  province  196,000  bushels 
of  rice  were  distributed;  and  as  it  was  estimated  that  120  lbs.  of  rice  would 
feed  100  people  for  one  day — or  200  if  made  into  rice  water — the  dona- 
tions represent  something  like  three  months'  rations  for  50,000  families. 
On  the  threat  of  drought  in  a  province,  the  emperor  shut  himself  up  in 
the  palace  and  fasted  till  rain  began  ;  and  then  published  an  edict  on  the 
connection  between  the  sins  of  man  and  the  judgments  of  heaven,  drawing 
the  antique  moral,  that  when  calamities  befall,  men  should  attend  to  their 
conduct,  and  mortify  and  correct  themselves. 

In  the  next  year  there  were  excessive  rains  in  the  North,  which  caused 
distress  ;  and  Yung-ching  thereupon  exhorts  his  officers  to  let  him  know 
what  help  is  needed,  and  to  be  active  in  distributing  it.  He  knows  that 
there  is  often  injustice  in  such  distributions;  but  he  will  keep  a  look-out 
against  corruption,  and  warns  them  to  do  the  same.  At  this  time  40,000 
paupers  made  their  way  to  Peking,  and  received  official  relief,  the  Emperor 
instructing  his  officers  to  wink  at  the  breach  of  the  standing  police  regula- 
tions against  giving  house-room  to  strangers. 

At  the  end  of  four  months,  when  it  was  time  for  agricultural  work  to 
begin,  the  refugees  were  drafted  back  to  their  native  districts,  and  com- 
mitted to  the  charge  of  the  local  officers,  with  orders  to  enable  them  to 
cultivate  their  own  land  if  they  had  any  ;  and  if  not,  to  employ  them  on 
useful  public  works,  or  to  see  them  started  at  some  trade.  They  were  con- 
veyed at  the  public  expense,  by  land  or  water,  according  to  their  destina- 
tion, and  received  an  ample  allowance  to  buy  food  during  the  journey, 
besides  a  final  donative  of  a  tael  to  every  adult,  and  half  that  amount  to 
children  ;  but  any  person  who  claimed  the  gift  wrongfully  was  to  be 
punished.  Those  who  had  no  land  were  expected  to  find  employment 
on  imperial  works,  or  as  porters,  labourers,  or  in  petty  commerce  ;  none 
were  to  be  allowed  to  remain  idle.  Meanwhile  public  notice  was  given 
that  the  distribution  of  rice  at  Peking  had  ceased,  and  officers  on  the  road 
were  instructed  to  turn  back  any  who  were  making  their  way  to  the  capital 
in  the  hope  of  sharing  in  its  bounties.1 

After  this  the  emperor  arranged  for  the  regular  distribution  of  rice  to 
6,000  poor  in  1'eking  every  winter,  apart  from  special  distress.    The  officers 

1  The  history  of  Yung-ching's  reign  was  compiled  by  De  Mailla's  editor,  M.  le  Roux 
ries  Ilautesrayes,  De  Mailla's  work  ceasing  with  the  death  of  lvang-hi. 


^S4  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

employed  gave  away  damaged  grain  ;  but  the  emperor  had  samples  of  it 
brought  him  secretly,  and  found  some  of  it  entirely  rotten,  not  rice,  but 
dust  and  earth  ;  while  of  the  greater  portion  not  more  than  30  to  40 
per  cent,  was  good.  Pie  then  harangued  against  such  a  misrepresenta- 
tion of  his  commands,  and  ordered  ioo.oco  measures  of  the  best  rice  to 
be  taken  from  his  stores  and  conveyed,  with  as  much  more  as  a  special 
donative,  at  the  expense  of  the  peccant  officers,  to  the  needy  districts. 
With  characteristic  allowance  for  practical  exigencies,  he  adds  that  if  ail 
the  rice  cannot  be  excellent,  at  least  not  more  than  30  or  40  per  cent,  of 
damaged  must  be  allowed  to  pass. 

Complaints  were  made  of  over-population  and  distress  in  Yunnan  and 
Kwei-chow,1  while  there  were  many  waste  lands  paying  no  tribute.  To 
remedy  this  evil  it  was  announced  that  any  one  reclaiming  the  said  wastes 
should  acquire  a  good  title  to  them,  and  hold  them  tax-free  for  six  or  ten 
years,  according  to  their  quality.  Honorific  titles  were  promised  to 
wealthy  persons  advancing  to  destitute  cultivators  the  means  of  living  and 
cultivating  for  the  first  year;  but  in  these  cases  land  tax  was  paid  from  the 
first.  On  the  other  hand,  persons  of  means  and  literary  rank  were  allowed 
to  gain  a  step  without  examination,  and  to  acquire  a  good  title  to  land 
which  they  brought  under  cultivation  at  their  own  expense,  though  this 
land  also  paid  tribute  from  the  first.  Apparently  twelve  ounces  of  silver 
was  the  capital  required  to  reclaim  fifteen  mow  (about  three  acres),  which. 
from  the  way  it  is  mentioned,  seems  to  have  been  reckoned  as  an  average 
holding. 

The  license  accorded  to  the  gentry  is  interesting  as  showing  how 
entirely  the  old  danger  from  agglomerators  must  have  passed  away. 
Landlords'  profits  were  not  dangerously  large,  and  persons  capable  of 
cultivating  more  land  than  they  possessed,  by  the  help  of  hired  labour, 
had  to  be  tempted  by  rewards  or  honours  to  do  so.  Evidently,  therefore, 
the  average  wages  of  the  agricultural  labourer  must  have  been  fixed  by 
custom  at  very  nearly  the  same  level  as  the  earnings  of  the  smallest  pro- 
]  rietor.  It  the  difference  between  the  two  had  represented  an  equivalent 
to  the  ordinary  profits  of  middle-class  trade  or  industry,  the  land  w 
have  been  taken  up  by  speculators  ;  whereas,  so  far  as  appears,  it  required 
about  the  same  degree  of  virtuous  liberality  to  pay  wages  to  a  labourer  for 
working  on  the  land,  and  to  lend  capital  enough  to  a  petty  freeholder  iur 
the  same  end.  The  expedient  must  have  proved  successful,  as  it  was 
afterwards  extended  to  other  provinces. 

In  1727  a  new  system  of  grain  storage  was  proposed  by  an  official  as  a 
provision  against  bad  years.  The  ancient  custom  had  become  obsolete. 
■  old  the  govei  ..       -  >wns   had   no  means  of  making  sucli  reserves. 

It  was  proposed,  therefore,  in  years  of  abundance  to  advance  money  from  the 
Imperial  Treasury  to  buy  grain — say,  allotting ^16,000  a  year  for  five  years, 
and  spend  ng  a    :u  irter  of  that  sum   on  repairing  or  erecting  the  necessary 

I::    i  'i-Kii  ':.•.;.'     vv.i,  ti  hi  v.,.-    -.  .\    to    increase  I<v  200,000  soul.s  every  ver„r. 
'/../:.,   x:o.    ■  .    UOo 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSING.        2 85 

magazines  in  four  principal  centres.  The  capital  advanced  would  suffice 
for  the  purchase  of  120,000  measures  at  harvest-time,  when  rice  is  cheapest  ; 
in  the  spring,  when  it  is  dearer,  the  stores  should  be  opened  and  grain  sold, 
which  will  keep  the  price  from  rising  too  much,  and  yet  leave  funds  to  buy. 
10,000  more  measures  than  the  year  before.  Thus  the  rice  does  not  re- 
main in  store  long  enough  to  spoil,  and  the  quantity  increases  till  it  may 
be  hoped  to  suffice  to  carry  the  people  through  a  season  of  scarcity.  The 
scheme  was  endorsed  by  the  viceroy  of  Shensi  as  approved  and  to  be 
acted  upon,  and  it  was  of  course  entirely  in  accordance  with  ancient 
precedent.1 

According  to  the  missionaries,  whose  eye  for  the  seamy  side  of  Chinese 
civilization  seems  to  have  grown  keener  as  their  own  favour  declined,  this 
system,  of  selling  old  rice  to  replenish  the  granaries  with  new,  gave  rise  to 
fresh  abuses.  When  leave  is  granted,  the  officials  sell  the  rice  for  cash  to 
the  rich,  instead  of  making  advances  in  kind  to  the  poor,  and  trade  them- 
selves witli  the  money  realized.  If  the  storehouses  are  inspected,  the  same 
officers  will  show  a  few  receptacles  with  double  bottoms  and  a  little  rice  at 
the  top.  and  explain  that  the  rest  are  empty  because  the  harvest  has  been 
bad,  so  that  the  debtors  can  only  repay  what  they  have  borrowed  by 
degrees,  and  are  too  poor  to  be  pressed.  It  was  only  at  Peking  and  in 
the  adjoining  provinces  that  there  was  always  provision  of  rice  in  hand 
for  ten  years,  out  of  which  the  grain  was  sold  whenever  the  price  began 
to  rise. 

At  the  beginning  of  his  reign  Yung-ching  had  invited  confidential 
memorials  by  undertaking  not  to  disclose  to  the  tribunals  the  substance 
or  the  authorship  of  any  that  were  presented  to  him  sealed  ;  and  his 
remarks  concerning  the  supply  of  rice  show  that  he  did  not  count  upon  a 
very  high  standard  of  probity  among  his  officers.  The  Lettres  lutiftantes"- 
contain  a  description  of  an  ordinary  number  of  the  Peking  Gazette  of  this 
period  (1727).  It  is  published  daily,  and  contains  about  sixty  or  seventv 
pages,  consisting  of  notices  of  twenty  to  thirty  memorials  on  various  sub- 
jects; the  Emperor's  answers  to  those  previously  presented,  his  instructions 
or  orders  on  these  or  other  subjects,  the  reports  presented  by  the  Boards 
for  confirmation  by  the  emperor,  and  memorials  on  matters  of  local  in- 
terest from  viceroys  of  provinces,  generals,  and  other  high  officers.  It  is 
interesting  to  note  that  praise  and  promotion  were  accorded  to  an  officer, 
en  route  for  employment  at  Canton,  who  reported  upon  the  failure  of  the 
embankments  in  a  district  through  which  he  passed,  though  it  was  not  in 
his  department.  The  officer  in  whose  department  it  was,  was  ordered  to 
pay  for  the  repairs  of  which  he  had  failed  to  report  the  need. 

How  far  the  Emperor's  liberalities  were  at  his  own  and  how  far  at  the 
public  expense  is  naturally  difficult  to  determine.  In  1730  his  gifts  to  the 
sufferers  from  an  earthquake  were  on  so  wide  a  scale  as  even  to  include 
i.ooo  taels  to  the  missionaries  for  the  repair  of  their  churches.  When  he 
was    asked   to   allow   some  poor  fishers  to  build  themselves  huts  on  the 

1    /../■;.,  xxii.  n.   147.  -   Vol.  xxi.  p.  9S. 


2S6  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

river  bank,  which  is  imperial  property,  he  thought  the  boon  too  small,  and 
proposed  to  give  them  money  to  build  with,  and  also  to  buy  them  boats,  if 
they  had  not  got  them.  But  in  this  case,  as  in  the  relief  of  the  sufferers 
from  famine,  the  idea  was  not  so  much  to  bestow  what  we  should  call 
charitable  relief,  as  to  put  a  whole  class  of  persons,  who  had  been 
accidentally  impoverished,  once  for  all  in  a  position  to  get  their  own  living 
comfortably  again. 

It  was  thought — and,  on  the  whole,  truly — that  the  average  man.  if  he 
had  a  fair  start  with  average  means  and  opportunities,  would  display 
average  industry  with  average  success,  and  would  prefer  this  chance  to  the 
quest  for  '•  Poor  man  come  here  food.''  But  the  man  who  had  been 
reduced  to  beggary  was  not  expected  to  possess  such  exceptional  economic 
virtue  or  capacity  as  to  save,  out  of  an  average  income,  wherewithal  to 
repay  society  for  what  it  had  advanced  to  start  him  on  a  self-supporting 
career.  The  ex-pauper  was  allowed  to  begin  free  of  debt,  and  to  receive 
from  the  first  undiminished  the  whole  fruit  of  his  personal  industry;  and 
to  this  wise  liberality  on  the  part  of  the  State  it  is  probably  owing  that  the 
taste  and  habit  of  industry  is  so  strong  among  the  Chinese  people. 

Yung-ching  died  in  1735.  The  missionaries,  whose  evidence  is  not 
quite  impartial,  say  that  lie  was  unpopular  and  avaricious.  He  was  cer- 
tainly a  less  able  and  interesting  person  than  either  his  father  or  his  son  : 
but  he  was  conscientious,  and,  according  to  Chinese  standards,  humane. 
It  was  he  who  introduced  the  custom  of  not  signing  death-warrants  until 
the  case  has  been  heard  three  times  over.  He  was  succeeded  by  his  eldest, 
not  legitimate,  son — a  young  man  of  twenty-five,  who  gave  to  his  period 
the  name  of  Kien-lung.  His  tastes  were  literary,  and  he  had  had  no 
previous  experience  of  business.  His  imprisoned  uncles  were  at  once 
released,  but  the  hopes  of  indulgence  based  on  this  circumstance  by  the 
Christians  were  disappointed. 

Kien-lung's  tastes  were  literary  rather  than  scientific,  and  the  only 
Europeans  who  had  personal  access  to  him  were  the  artists,  Father 
Castiglione,  who  was  employed  in  decorating  the  imperial  palace,  and 
Father  Attiret,  who  was  offered  official  rank  fur  painting  the  emperor's 
portrait.  But  when  the  former  of  these  ventured  upon  any  serious  re- 
monstrance or  discussion,  he  was  told  to  mind  his  pictures:  and  in  1754 
we  find  father  Amyot  complaining  that  while  Kien-lung  employed  the 
missionaries  mure  than  either  of  his  predecessors,  he  yet  treated  their 
religion  worse.  They  were,  however,  employed  in  much  less  dignified  ways 
than  under  Kang-hi — in  making  fountains,  automatic  toys,  and  such-like 
trifles  -  -the  auth  )rs  of  which  were  naturallv  despised  by  the  chief  scholars 
and  officers  of  the  empire  :  or  at  least  had  weighty  prejudices  to  overcome, 
before  their  person  A  qualities  could  win  tolerance  for  their  motives. 

In  1754  there  was  a  little  war  with  Tatars,  wiiich  the  emperor  justified 
because  the  state  of  the  treasury  allowed  it  to  be  carried  on  without 
burdening  the  people.  The  first  expedition  met  with  reverses,  but  fresh 
armies  and  generals  were  sent  till  the   Eieulhs  were  fairly  subdued.     The 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSING.        287 

Chinese  claimed  to  inherit  the  control  which  this  people  had  exercised 
over  the  Mahomedans  of  Little  Bokhara  and  the  trading  stations  of  Central 
Asia.  The  inhabitants  of  the  towns  of  Yarkand,  Cashgar,  and  others,  were 
said  to  welcome  the  prospect  of  Chinese  government.1  The  Mahomedans 
were  pursued  into  the  passes  of  Pamir,  and  defeated  finally  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Lake  Issikol.  The  fugitives  who  took  refuge  in  Badakshan 
were  put  to  death  by  the  native  princes,  anxious  to  conciliate  the  mighty 
power  of  China,  whose  protectorate  over  Central  Asia  thus  became  a 
reality  again,  to  an  extent  unknown  except  under  the  Tangs  and  Mongols. 
China  was  thus  rendered  more  secure  than  ever  previously  against  ag- 
gressions from  the  West  ;  and  this  security  was  not  purchased,  as  under 
the  Tang  monarchs,  by  neglect  of  the  interests  of  the  empire  proper. 

The  Emperor  seems  to  have  entered  on  the  campaign  under  less  severe 
pressure  than  was  generally  needed  to  put  a  Chinese  army  in  motion,  and 
its  success  redounded  greatly  to  his  credit.  The  general  in  charge  of  the 
expedition  made  a  report  on  the  quality  of  the  land,  the  taxes  to  be  im- 
posed, the  currency  required  by  local  trade  (which  he  proposed  to  supply 
free  of  cost  by  melting  down  the  old  captured  cannon),  and  other  ad- 
ministrative details  of  a  kind  usually  dealt  with  by  civilians.  He  reports 
that  the  foreign  merchants  in  Cashgar  were  taxed  one-twentieth  of  their 
profits  ;  while  those  trading  in  Russia  and  elsewhere  gave  one-tenth  or 
thereabouts  of  their  returns  ;  and  he  describes  the  condition  of  the  people 
as  worse  than  it  used  to  be,  and  begs  the  emperor's  compassion  for  them 
on  that  account.  He  adds  that,  as  the  soil  is  not  very  good,  returning  only 
seven  or  eight  fold  in  the  best  years,  and  two  or  three  fold  in  the  worst, 
he  has  given  lands  to  the  rebels,  on  condition  of  their  paying  half  their 
profits  to  the  emperor. 

In  1770  a  tribal  movement  of  Tourguts  brought  some  hundreds  of 
thousands  across  the  Russian  border,  desiring  permission  to  settle  within 
the  Chinese  empire.  They  had  fled  fifty  years  before  from  the  Eleuths, 
into  Russian  territory,  but  became  discontented  at  the  taxes  imposed  on 
them,  and  were  finally  induced  to  make  another  move,  when  their  chiefs 
son  was  seized  as  a  hostage  to  Russia.  They  were  well  received  in  China, 
where  their  submission  was  regarded  as  a  great  tribute  to  the  emperor's 
good  government.-  Five  years  later  the  Miao-tsze,  the  mountain  barbarians 
of  the  central  South,  were  finally  subdued,  and  their  chiefs  carried  captive 
to  Peking.  The  general  who  achieved  this  success  was  subsequently  em- 
ployed to  "  regulate  the  waters  "  of  the  Hoang-ho,  the  ravages  of  which 
were  kept  within  bounds  till  its  change  of  course,  in  1820,  at  the  close  of 
the  next  reign. 

Kien-lung  had  been  scrupulous  in  discharging  all  the  duties  of  filial  piety 

1  An  English  writer  describes  "the  outcome  of  Chinese  domination,"  in  Eastern 
Turkestan,  as  "  plenty  and  content,  peaceful  hamlets  and  smiling  inhabitants."  (Boulger 
and  Shaw,  Life  of  Yakoob  Klnui,  p.  59.) 

2  Quite  recently  50.000  Russian  subjects  desired  to  emigrate  to  China,  to  escape  the 
conjoined  pressure  of  taxation  and  scarcity. 


2, S3  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

towards  his  mother,  and  on  her  decease,  in  1777,  at  an  advanced  age,  he 
bestowed  on  her  the  retrospective  title  of  Empress,  and  gave  an  amnesty  in 
her  honour,  charging  all  the  local  officials,  at  the  same  time,  to  pay  special 
attention  to  all  charitable  foundations.  A  Taoist  insurrection  in  Sz'chuen, 
in  favour  of  a  Ming  pretender,  gave  some  trouble,  and  it  was  said  that 
native  Christians  were  implicated  in  it:  but  it  is  almost  inevitable  that  local 
disturbances  should  be  noted  occasionally  in  an  empire  as  extensive  as  the 
Middle  Kingdom  had  now  become.  In  1792  the  Tibetans  appealed  to 
China  for  aid  against  the  Ghoorkhas,  and  after  a  creditable  campaign,  from 
which  the  Chinese  troops  returned  victorious.  Xepaul  was  enrolled  among 
Chinese  tributaries.1 

Sir  George  Anson  spent  some  time  off  the  Chinese  coast,  towards  the 
close  of  his  voyage  round  the  world  (1740-44),  and  does  not  appear  to 
have  had  any  valid  ground  of  complaint  as  to  his  treatment,  after  he  had 
succeeded  in  overcoming  the  difficulties  placed  by  the  Portuguese  in  the 
way  of  direct  communication  with  the  higher  and  responsible  Chinese 
officials.  One  of  bis  ships  leaked,  and  he  applied  for  leave  to  repair 
her,  and  buy  provisions.  Two  Chinese  officers  came,  accompanied  by 
native  carpenters,  to  inspect  the  ship,  and  the  leaks  being  found  genuine, 
and  the  vessel  really  not  seaworthy,  permission  was  given,  and  the  repairs 
done,  by  contract,  by  Chinese  caulkers,  of  whom  Anson  says,  "though  they 
worked  very  well,  they  were  far  from  being  expeditious.'' 

On  leaving  Macao.  Anson  gave  a  false  account  of  his  intended  route 
and  turned  off  to  waylay  the  Spanish  galleons  from  Manilla.  He  took  two 
prizes,  and  put  into  Canton  to  victual.  He  refused,  as  a  man-of-war,  to 
pay  harbour  dues,  and  was  aggrieved  at  not  being  received  as  in  the  port 
of  a  friendly  power.  Vet  that  the  inhospitality  of  the  Chinese  proceeded 
only  from  natural  distrust  of  strangers,  concerning  whom  they  knew  no  good, 
appears  from  their  relenting,  as  soon  as  the  Spanish  prisoners  told  them 
that  Spain  and  England  were  at  war,  and  that  the  galleon  had  taken  the 
aceressive  ;  that  it  was  not  European  custom  to  put  prisoners  of  war  to 
death,  and  that  Anson  had  treated  his  captives  with  unusual  kindness  and 
courtesv.  This  and  the  great  superiority  in  size  and  crew  of  the  captured 
Spanish  ships  gave  a  favourable  impression  of  British  power  and  civility, 
w;  -  confirmed  by  the  help  given  by  Anson's  crew  in  putting  out  a 
tire  in  Canton  :  and  he  was  allowed  to  re-victual,  after  he  had  given  up  the 
Spanish  ;  :A  niers  in  compliment  to  the  Chinese,  who.  as  allies  of  Spain, 
undertook  to  pay  their  expenses  to  Macao. 

In  179.I  the  first  Uritish  embassy  to  China,  under  Lord  Macartney,  was 
received  by  Kien-lting,  who  graciously  consented  to  dispense  with  the 
ceremony   of    pr     trati    :..    and   to   receive   the   Europeans   with   their   own 

I.    .  i:  '::.■■■.    ■     :■••:•      ..1      ■  :.'     were  -:ir]  1A1A  in   ivs-  tu   fill  1  n  ;  arty  1  f  V;  ■" 

1  ,,..'.-  a  -         i:     :   ac-  to    l.i,^,i.-h   tni'ii/.      IJiU    .  -   <  !iin;i  ha-   n   \ 

x     .  ■■;•;..■  li  -in  l'j  >\n  <<j  fa-  die  .-aliniacti'  in  of  funjiyner.s. 


THE   MANTCHU  DYNASTY  CALLED    TSENG.        289 

rites,1  a  precedent  by  which  his  less  enlightened  and  far  less  virtuous  suc- 
cessor declined  to  be  guided  in  the  reception  of  Lord  Amherst's  embassy, 
in  1816.  The  difficulties  which  led  the  English  merchants  at  Canton  to 
desire  the  establishment  of  diplomatic  relations  between  the  courts  of  St. 
James  and  Peking  need  not  be  dwelt  upon  here  ;  and,  in  fact,  it  will 
probably  conduce  to  a  calm  and  accurate  appreciation  of  Chinese  ideas  and 
institutions,  if  we  conform  for  the  nonce  to  Chinese  historic  usage,  and 
leave  it  to  a  later  generation  to  record  the  political  incidents  marking  the 
intercourse  between  China  and  Great  Britain  during  the  19th  century. 

In  1796  the  Emperor  abdicated — at  the  age  of  eighty-five — in  order  that 
his  reign  might  not  exceed  in  duration  that  of  his  venerated  grandfather, 
Ivang-hi.  Unfortunately,  the  son  whom  he  nominated  as  successor  was 
a  vicious  and  comparatively  incapable  prince  ;  and  the  four  reigns  of 
Kia-king,  Tau-kwang  (1821),  Hien-fung  (1851),  and  Tung-chi  (1862)  would 
have  been  counted  as  beginning  the  decline  of  the  Tsing  Dynasty,  but  for 
the  revival  of  energy  and  vitality  observable  since  the  suppression  of  the 
Taeping  rebellion  and  the  Mahomedan  insurrection. 

1  The  future  Sir  George  Staunton,  then  a  boy,  knelt  and  kissed  his  father's  hand,  to  show 
the  Chinese  in  what  fashion  Englishmen  did  homage  to  their  own  sovereign. 


VOL.   11. — p.C. 


CHAPTER    XXV. 

CONTEMPORA  R  J '    CHINA . 

We  have  now  reached  the  most  interesting,  the  most  important,  and  the 
most  overwhelmingly  difficult  part  of  our  subject.  If  all  Western  Europe 
were  one  country,  with  three  times  its  present  population,  it  would  compare, 
iii  mere  bulk,  as  a  topic  of  discussion  with  the  empire  of  China  ;  and  it  is 
of  such  a  district  as  this  that  we  have  to  describe  in  brief  the  economic 
life,  and  so  much  of  its  laws  and  social  usages  as  affect  the  acquisition  and 
enjoyment  of  property.  The  task  would  be  impossible  but  for  one  circum- 
stance. One  of  the  points  upon  which  all  intelligent  writers  concerning 
China  and  the  Chinese  are  agreed,  is  the  essentially  homogeneous 
character,  both  of  the  national  empire  as  a  whole,  and  of  the  life  and 
['nought  of  each  of  the  units  included  in  its  vast  population.  The  habitual 
thoughts  of  the  people  are  in  harmony  with  their  conduct  ;  their  manners 
anil  customs  reflect  their  ideas. 

Tine  writer's  pain-  and  the  reader's  patience  would  'nave  been  spared, 
had  it  been  possible  to  pass  straight  from  the  traditions  of  Vao  and  Shun 
and  the  sayings  of  Chung  and  Mang,  to  the  condition  of  modern  China, 
but  nineteenth-century  scepticism,  reiving  on  the  brief  experience  ot 
Western  Europe,  would  refuse  to  believe  in  a  real  connection  between  facts 
and  theories  separated  by  twice  two  millenniums,  unless  the  phenomenon 
was  vouched  for  by  a  succession  of  contemporary  witnesses.  It  the  history 
of  China,  as  sketched  above,  appears  tedious  as  well  as  lengthy,  it  will  at 
le  -t  be  allowed  to  be  authentic  :  and  it-  course  has  certainly  been 
modi  ii  d  by  the  perennial  censorship  of  orthodox  men  of  letters. 

i  (rdinarv  travellers —  merchants,  missionaries,  or  public  servant-  from  the 
West  'lo  not  begin  their  knowledge  of  China  by  a  study  of  the  Classics  ; 
they  are  not  on  the  look-out  for  coincidences  between  the  practices  ot 
common  life  and  the  doctrines  of  the  learned:  and  their  evidence  as  to 
the  life  and  character  of  the  modern  Chinese  is  therefore  free  from  bias. 
Man\'  of  ti  em  deliver  their  favourable  judgments  with  a  tone  of  surprise 
;  >loLry.  and  none  certainly  have  deliberately  ironc  to  China  in  quest 
oi  an  example,  either  01  political  or  economic  wisdom,  suitable  as  a 
<  nrrective  to  the  err  >rs  or  defect-  of  Wesl    rn  -  <<  ietv. 

Hitherto    we  transcribed,    with    little   comment   or  criticism,    the 

(  inese  version  ot  I  .  ine-  :  history,  and  the  cursory  impressions  of  Western 
trave  iers  in  tim  p  i.  A  :  have  now  to  _dve,  in  the  same  way.  a  sura- 
marv  ot  the  more  detailed  descriptions  furnished  bv  observers   of  our  own 


CONTEMPORARY  CHINA.  29  t 

age,  and  much  that  appears  to  them  strange  or  paradoxical  will  be  fairly 
intelligible  to  us,  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  the  past  history  and  literature 
of  the  country.  It  is  even  possible,  as  already  suggested,  that  the  key  to 
the  conservative  wisdom  of  the  Chaldseans  and  the  Egyptians  will  be  found, 
rusty  with  age,  but  not  unrecognisable  or  useless,  in  the  hands  of  the 
black-haired  people  with  the  almond  eyes. 

China,  like  ancient  Egypt  and  ancient  Babylonia,  is  a  country  with  an 
advanced  civilization,  but  its  civilization  is  of  a  totally  different  com- 
plexion from  that  of  modern  Europe.  It  is  a  primary,  an  archaic,  a 
primitive  civilization  ;  while  the  culture  of  Europe  and  her  colonies  is 
secondary,  derivative,  and  composite  :  complicated  with  more  numerous, 
and  perhaps  higher,  elements,  less  perfectly  fused  and  harmonised  :  conse- 
quently less  stable  and  consistent,  with  a  wider  range  of  possibilities  for 
both  progress  and  destruction.  But  archaic  and  primitive  as  it  is,  Chinese 
civilization  has  a  vitality,  which  we  shall  find  it  the  less  difficult  to  respect, 
when  we  realize  its  kinship  with  those  of  the  most  famous  empires  of  the 
world's  most  ancient  history.  And  from  a  study  of  contemporary  China  we 
shall  also  learn  to  regret  something  of  social  and  economic  wisdom,  that 
was  lost  to  the  Western  world  with  the  fall  of  Thebes  and  Babylon,  and  has 
not  yet  been  wholly  rediscovered. 

In  the  Eaws  of  China,  nearly  every  passage  bearing  upon  what  we  should 
consider  economic  subjects  is  included  in  the  "  Part  of  the  code  for  regu- 
lating households.''  The  ownership  of  land,  buying  and  selling,  lending 
and  borrowing,  and  the  execution  of  contracts  generally,  might  all  be  in- 
cluded under  the  heading,  "  Domestic  relations  and  family  law,"  because 
their  regulation  is  left,  almost  entirely,  in  the  hands  of  families  and  family 
tribunals.  But  it  is  the  results  rather  than  the  antecedents  of  the  economic 
system  that  we  have  to  appreciate  now,  and  for  this  purpose  the  descrip- 
tions of  outsiders,  who  do  not  naturally  start  from  the  conception  of  the 
family,  are  the  most  valuable. 

One  of  the  earliest,  and  certainly  not  one  of  the  most  partial  of  these 
observers,  Sir  George  Staunton,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present  century, 
"ventured  to  assert"  the  existence  of  "some  very  real,  considerable,  and 
positive  moral  and  political  advantages,''  peculiar  to  the  national  constitu- 
tion of  the  Chinese,  which  he  attributed  "to  the  system  of  early  and 
universal  marriage,  to  the  sacred  regard  that  is  habitually  paid  to  the  ties  of 
kindred,  to  the  sobriety,  industry,  and  even  intelligence,  of  the  lower 
classes  ;  to  the  almost  total  absence  of  feudal  rights  and  privileges  ;  to  the 
equitable  distribution  of  landed  property  :  to  the  natural  incapacity  of  the 
Government  and  people  to  an  indulgence  in  ambitious  projects  and  foreign 
conquests  ;  and  lastly,  to  a  system  of  penal  laws,  if  not  the  most  just  and 
equitable,  at  least  the  most  comprehensive,  uniform,  and  suited  to  the 
genius  of  the  people  for  whom  it  is  designed,  perhaps  of  any  that  ever 
existed."  x 

1  Ta  Tsing Lat  Lee,  translated  from  the  Chinese  by  Sir  G.  T.  Staunton.  Bt.,  1S10, 
preface  p.   11. 


202  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

In  his  voluminous  work  on  the  '"  Middle  Kingdom,"  an  American 
missionary  concludes  his  summary  of  similar  observations  as  follows  :  "A 
salubrious  climate,  semi-annual  crops,  unceasing  industry,  early  marriages, 
and  an  equable  taxation,  involving  reasonable  security  of  lite  and  pro- 
perty .  .  .  all  these  causes  and  influences  tend  to  increase  population 
and  equalize  the  consumption  and  use  of  property,  more  perhaps  than  in 
any  oilier  country."  '  It  is  true  all  over  China,  as  the  missionaries  observed 
at  the  beginning  of  the  iSth  century,  that  "food  is  abundant  and 
cheap."  -  except  when  the  local  harvest  fails.  The  agreement  of  all 
travellers  on  this  point  is  so  complete,  that  the  verdict  of  one  or  two 
writers  is  as  conclusive  as  that  of  a  score.  "  Food  and  lodging,'''  says  Mr. 
Giles,3  "  are  cheap  in  China,  and  it  may  be  roundly  stated  that  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  in  the  empire  has  something  in  the  way  of  clothes,  two 
full  meals  a  day,  and  a  shelter  for  his  head  at  night."  And  in  another 
passage,  "The  normal  state  of  the  people  of  China  is  one  of  considerable 
prosperity  and  great  national  happiness."  "  I  doubt,"  says  Fortune,4  '"if 
there  is  a  happier  race  anywhere  than  the  Chinese  farmers  and  peasantry;" 
and  again,  "  I  fully  believe  that  in  no  country  in  the  world  is  there  less 
real  misery  and  want  than  in  China."5  '"  Riches,"  says  Mr.  Little,  "'are 
fairly  distributed,  and  the  contrasts  of  grinding  poverty  with  arrogant 
wealth,  which  is  the  rule  in  Europe,  is  the  exception  here.'''1'  M.  Simon, 
who  has  gone  through  the  experience  described  by  Baron  v.  Richthofen," 
and  is  a  pronounced  Sinomane,  ventures  to  generalize  :  "  The  most  civilized 
country  is  that  in  which,  upon  a  given  territory,  the  largest  possible  number 
of  persons  have  succeeded  in  procuring  and  in  distributing  as  equally  and 
cheaply  as  possible,  the  greatest  amount  of  welbbeing.  liberty,  justice,  and 
security."-  And  he  does  not  hesitate  to  claim  this  distinction  for  China, 
since  the  food  and  furniture  of  ordinary  villagers  are  as  far  superior  to 
those  of  Western  peasants,  as  is  their  air  of  ease  and  good  breeding,  and 
their  command  of  civilized  amusements.  Industry  is  all  but  universal,  and 
a   comfortable   share    in    the   fruits    of  industry    is   all    but    universal    also. 

Lai  o  ir  is  too  abundant  to  be  dear,  but  as  there  are  i'cw  or  no  highly  paid 
i  If"; i  ers  in  the  industrial  army,  the  real  wages  of  the  rank  and  file  stand  at 

.   ..  2. her  level  in    proportion  than  in  countries    esteemed   to   be   ot    much 
greati  r  wealth,  as  well  as  more  advanced  industrial  organization. 

1  lie  i  m  of  the  two  characteristics — good  living  and  good  man- 

ner.-)    noticed  by  M.  Simon,  is  not  accidental.       Confucius  taught  that  the 


1  The  Mi 
J  /..-.v.      / 
:   lit  : 
*  y     ;  .    . 
'-   7:o    l'i 


1  •  •  \  ■  .  I. 


iom,  S.    Wells  Williams,  2ml  u  !.,  vul.  i.  p.  250. 
.    . vii i .  1  >.  3 1 1 . 

:  .    12  :. 


:     ■    7    1  > 


;.■ .    /      -   .    in    Western    (  hina.   bv    A. 


1 1 1]  eans,   alter  a   pi 

The    Sim  >i<  'eist    .;.    1  mes 


(,.    1. 


CONTEMPORARY   CHINA.  293 

first  thing  to  be  done  for  the  people  was  to  enrich  them,  and  the  second  to 
teach  them.  Instruction  is  more  diffused  and  the  wealth  of  the  majority 
of  households  greater  than  it  was  2,000  years  ago  ;  there  is  more  of  social 
as  well  as  economic  equality  than  in  Europe,  and,  at  the  same  time — a 
result  which  lias  been  despaired  of  in  Western  democracies — the  levelling 
process  has  been  attended  by  a  general  rise  in  the  average  level.  It  does 
not  appear  from  the  Li  Ki  that  the  common  people  were  seriously  expected 
to  observe  the  rules  of  propriety  in  the  period  of  "  Middle  Antiquity  ; '' 
they  were  to  be  moral  and  industrious,  and  as  polite  as  they  could ;  and 
since  the  days  of  the  Warring  States,  there  have  been  several  periods  during 
which  the  masses  can  scarcely  have  been  in  a  position  to  exercise  the  grace 
of  courtesy.  Under  the  present  dynasty  it  may  fairly  be  said  that  all 
classes  are  familiar  with  the  rules  of  propriety. 

The  early  missionaries  contrasted  the  polite  bows  and  good-tempered 
proffers  of  help  exchanged  by  Chinese  peasants  whose  wagons  came  into 
collision  on  an  awkward  road,  with  the  oaths  and  objurgations  in  which 
European  rustics  would  indulge  under  similar  provocation.  Coolies  who 
are  not  acquainted  address  each  other  as  "Sir,"  while  friends  are  all 
brothers.  Mrs.  Cray  writes  of  Canton — the  population  of  which  is  con- 
sidered one  of  the  most  turbulent  in  the  empire  :  "  In  the  streets  I  have 
been  much  struck  by  the  quiet,  gentle  deportment  of  the  Chinese  :  "  1  and 
in  the  [tottery  districts,  huge  projecting  trays  of  valuable  and  fragile  ware 
are  carried  safely  through  crowded  streets  because  every  one  makes  way 
for  the  bearer. 

In  the  country  districts  hospitality  and  kindness  are  the  rule.  Mr.  T. 
T.  Cooper,  "an  Englishman  who  has  lived  among  them  as  one  of  them- 
selves/'' ventures  "  to  tell  his  countrymen  that  to  know  the  Chinese  middle 
classes  and  peasantry  is  to  like  them.2  .  .  .  The  people  look  well- 
to-do,  well  and  warmly  clad  in  winter  _;  "  they  are  (i  kindly,  courteous,  yet 
impulsive,  as  easily  moved  to  friendship  as  we  now  think  to  barbarous 
outrage.  .  .  Indeed,  I  must  own  that,  for  true  politeness,  the 
Chinese  of  all  ranks  can  compete  with  any  nation  and  bear  away  the 
palm.'"''3  A  French  missionary  in  Northern  China  in  the  iSth  century 
speaks  exactly  the  same  language  as  the  English  tradesman  whose  ex- 
perience lies  in  Southern  China  in  the  19th  century.  Amyot  describes 
the  peasants  as  "  polite,  good  neighbours,  good  relations,'''  while  as  to 
ordinary  hospitality,  "  even  a  labourer  has  the  ideas  of  a  French  grand 
seigneur."  4  And  so  to-day,  even  in  the  poorest  village,  a  fowl  will  be 
killed  for  a  stranger,  and  'payment  refused.  Archdeacon  Cray,  in  summing 
up  the  mixed  characteristics  of  the  people,  gives  the  front  place  to  the 
same  trait,  and  judges  them  on  the  whole  to  be  ''courteous,  orderly,  in- 
dustrious, peace-loving,  sober  and  patriotic.'"' 

The  same  writer's  wife  had  the  advantage  over  the  majority  of  travellers 

1    Fourteen  Months  in  Can'on,  1SS0,  p.   16. 

-    Travels  of  a  Pioneer  of '  Com  in  roe,  1S71,  p.  3. 

'   /.'<.,  p.  452.  4  MsmoiviS  OiSiisoriianl  les   Chinois,    vol.  iv.  p.  3 1 S. 


2  94 


OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 


in  China  in  being  able  to  penetrate  into  the  interior  of  Chinese  households, 
and  so  to  judge  how  far  the  charm  of  Chinese  manners  is  independent  of 
sex  as  well  as  rank  ;  she  describes  her  Chinese  hostess  as  possessing  "  an 
indescribable  grace  and  courtesy  in  all  she  did.''  Cooper  speaks  of  the 
(  harm  of  manner  of  a  Chinese  gentleman,  and  on  this  subject  there  is  the 
same  agreement  among  diplomatists,  and  those  whose  circumstances  have 
restricted  them  to  intercourse  with  the  literary  and  official  class,  as  between 
the  traders  and  missionaries  who  have  cultivated  the  acquaintance  of  the 
lower  orders.  In  the  words  of  Davis,  "The  ease  and  good  breeding  of 
the  better  sort  of  Chinese,  when  they  are  on  friendly  terms,  is  very  striking, 
and  by  no  means  what  might  be  expected  from  the  rigid  nature  of  their 
ceremonial  observances.  These,  however,  sit  upon  them  much  easier  than 
might  he  imagined.''  1  The  preceding  quotations  show  that  this  good 
breeding  is  not  restricted  to  the  "  better  sort,"  but  is  a  truly  national 
characteristic,  promoted  no  doubt  by  the  "  republican '"'  or  "democratic' 
spirit,  which  again  strikes  most  intelligent  tourists.  The  unfortunate  Mar- 
gary  described  the  Chinese  as  "  a  reasonable  people,  who  can  be  talked 
into  good  humour  very  easily."  '-  adding  that,  while  a  Chinese  mob  is  rather 
dangerous,  "  singly  or  in  small  groups,  they  are  the  pink  of  civility  ;  " 
and  again,  "China  is  the  true  home  of  democracy,  and  the  place  where 
fraternity  and  equality  have  taken  root  with  advantage  to  the  lower  orders, 
but  at  the  expense  of  a  urood  deal  to  the  more  respectable  class.'"  :;  Mrs. 
Gray  comments  on  this  feature  in  the  tea  saloons,  where  "rich  and  poor 
occupy  the  same  room,  a  man  in  silk  at  one  table,  a  man  in  cotton  clothes 
at  another,"4  and — what  in  England  would  be  still  more  remarkable — the 
b  ime  tariff  of  prices  for  both.  In  another  place"'  she  describes  how  the 
blind  musician  hired  for  an  evening,  asks  for  tobacco  and  calmly  takes  a 
pipe  before  beginning  his  performance,  to  prove  that  "  with  all  their 
formalities,  deference  to  rank,  etc.,  the  Chinese  are  a  most  republican 
people." 


1  y  J<  i;m  Krancis  I  I  .'.  is. 

-  '  .    . 

.      .        '  ■    \    1       '.  ':    :. 


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ui]    l,y  I'  impel!}  are  (ie-c 

■ami    yar.ee   :. 
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n    >i!e!iee.        '  <   Ci     i 


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■   >:. 


••  \\ 


CONTEMPORARY   CHINA.  295 

It  cannot  be  said  that  there  are  no  social  distinctions  in  China,  but  the 
extent  to  which  they  are  hereditary  is  so  limited  that  every  one  has  ances- 
tors, relatives  and  friends  in  every  degree,  and  as  these  relationships  are 
not  allowed  to  drop  with  altered  circumstances,  no  degree  of  wealth  or 
rank  can  be  depended  on  to  save  its  owner  from  having  to  reverence  a 
social  inferior  as  an  elder  brother.  It  is  so  common  in  China  for  poor 
men  to  grow  rich,  or  what  passes  there  for  rich,  that  law  and  custom  pro- 
vide against  the  temptations  which  attend  upon  such  changes.  The  usual 
liberty  of  divorce  is  restricted  in  these  cases,  and  the  lawful  wife  who  has 
shared  a  man's  poverty,  is  not  allowed  to  be  deprived  of  her  position  when 
he  has  become  able  to  contract  a  more  brilliant  alliance.  The  traditional 
commentary  upon  an  ancient  formula  for  swearing  friendship,  illustrates 
the  same  view  : — 

"  By  Heaven  and  Earth, 
Before  the  moon  and  the  sun, 
By  their  father  and  mother, 
A  and  B  have  sworn  unalterable  friendship. 

Henceforward,  if  A  in  a  chariot  meet  B  wearing  a  coarse  straw  hat,  A  will 
descend  from  his  chariot  to  meet  B.  And  if  B  on  a  fine  horse  meets  A 
bearing  a  porter's  load,  B  will  dismount  from  his  horse  as  A  from  his 
chariot."  1  Nor  is  this  a  fancy  picture ;  relatives  from  every  class  meet  to- 
gether at  stated  intervals  in  the  ancestral  home,  and  the  senior  who  performs 
the  rites  of  ancestral  worship  may  be  the  poorest  in  the  family.  And  it  is 
still,  as  in  Amyot's  time,  a  common  occurrence  for  a  labourer  in  village 
dress  to  call  upon  an  official  relative  and  be  received  in  the  place  of  honour, 
without  awkwardness  or  embarrassment  on  either  side. 

It  is  now  a  commonplace  that  any  family  may  produce  a  graduate  or  a 
doctor,  and  it  is  matter  of  observation  that  in  two  or  three  generations  the 
descendants  of  officers  generally  return  to  the  ranks  of  the  people.  Hence, 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  it  would  follow  almost  automatically  that  every 
family  should  have  acquired  the  tradition  of  behaviour  suitable  to  the 
grandparents  or  grandchildren  of  officers.  Father  Amyot  explains  that  a 
graduate  sprung  from  a  poor  family  was  expected  to  assist  his  relatives  in 
their  station  of  life,  not  to  take  them  out  of  it.  Those  who  neglected  the 
obligation  were  looked  upon,  according  to  him,  like  the  holders  of  rich 
benefices  who  give  away  nothing  in  charity,  while  those  who  discharge  it 
do  so  without  any  sense  of  humiliation  or  incongruity.  The  knowledge  of 
letters  carries  with  it,  of  course,  that  of  the  rules  of  propriety,  and  this 
knowledge  gives  a  distinction  like  that  accorded  sometimes  to  noble  birth 
in  the  West,  over-riding  all  disparity  of  wealth. 

Thus,  in  the  well-known  Chinese  romance  "  Two  literary  young  ladies,'-  - 
the  second  heroine  is  a  peasant's  daughter  ;  a  bachelor  uncle  tried  to 
frighten  her  when  she  was  to  enter  the  household  of  the  minister,  whose 
daughter  is  the   first   heroine.      She  quotes  a  disciple   of  Confucius  to  jus- 

1    1x3  Chinois  pcints  par  cux-nuiius.      By  (leneral  Tcheng-ki-ton^,  p.   13. 

-    Piny-Chan-ting-yeii.      LcsJtttx  jcuiics fil'cs  Icttrccs,  tr.  by  M.  Stanidas  [alien. 


zod  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA, 

til)  her  composure,  and  is  rebuked  for  presumption,  but  rejoins,  "Slum 
was  but  a  man  ;  I  too  belong  to  the  race  of  men;  whoever  knows  how  to 
at  can  resemble  Slum,''  Accordingly,  when  she  is  introduced  to  the  min- 
ister as  his  daughter's  purchased  maid-servant,  she  stands  on  her  dignity, 
and  inquires  on  what  tooting  she  is  to  be  received,  that  she  may  know 
what  will  be  the  proper  salutations  for  her  to  give  him  ;  and  while  that 
question  remains  in  suspense,  she  gives  none.  Of  course,  after  this  she  is 
received  on  terms  befitting  her  accomplishments.  Meanwhile,  we  learn  from 
the  intercourse  of  the  corresponding  pair  of  literary  young  gentlemen  that 
"silk  breeches"  is  a  term  of  contempt  applied  to  rich,  pretenders  by  poor 
scholars,  among  whom  a  certain  presumption  against  the  learning  of  a  fils 
tie  famille  might  not  unreasonably  be  entertained,  so  that  the  destined 
bridegroom  of  the  second  heroine  begins  by  scorning  his  wealthy  comrade 
in  love  and  letters. 

The  case  of  the  learned  peasant  girl  in  the  novel  exactly  illustrates  the 
saying  of  the  Rites  that  when  the  poor  know  propriety,  their  minds  do  not 
become  cowardly  ;  and  there  is  a  closer  connection  than  we  might  at  first 
suppose  between  the  diffusion  of  good  manners  and  the  equal  distribution 
of  wealth.  The  man  who  treats  others  with  courtesy  and  consideration 
stands  on  too  high  a  level  to  submit  to  be  treated  with  insolence  by  his 
inferiors  in  breeding.  The  learned  lady's  maid  of  Chinese  fiction  is  a  con- 
trast not  merely  to  the  Pamelas  and  Olivias  of  i  8th  century  romance,  but 
to  tiie  beautiful  and  accomplished  governess  of  contemporary  novelists,  who 
is  snubbed  and  ill-treated  by  illiterate  employers.  And  if  even  a  woman 
"who  knows  how  to  act"  can  command  respect  in  the  most  humble  of 
positions,  a  fortiori  the  Chinese  father  and  husband  will  have  a  sen.se  of 
his  own  dignity,  which  is  wanting  to  the  wage-earning  masses  of  Europe, 
and  might  have  saved  them  from  acquiescing  in  the  pitiably  low  standard 
of  comfort  prevalent  in  the  first  half  of  the  present  century. 

The  Chinese  workman  has  too  much  self-respect  to  give  his  services  to 
the  community  except  upon  terms  which  will  allow  him.  for  example,  to 
fulfil  the  obligations  of  filial  and  fraternal  piety,  and  to  enjoy  the  pleasures 
and  advantages  of  paternity.  lie  works  hard  and  continuously,  but  at 
his  own  pace,  in  Ins  own  way,  and  for  his  own  advantage.  The  industry 
of  the  Chinese  is  proverbial,  but  Englishmen  and  Americans  notice  that 
the}"  are  slow  or  at  least  leisurely  in  their  methods  of  work.1 

Men  devote  to  every  job  the  length  of  time  that  is  required:  to  perform 
it  comfortably.  If  their  work  is  hot,  they  have  boys  to  fan  them  while 
they  do  it  ;  ~  if  it  is  fatiguing,  they  engage  a  substitute  at  their  own  ex- 
pense while  they  rest  from  it  ; :;  if  it  is  dirts',  they  take  a  bath,  before  going 
home  ;  l  it  it  is  dangerous,  the  moral  sense  of  the  Empire  requires  that  they 
should  let  it  alone.  As  a  consequence,  perhaps,  of  all  these  restrictions, 
labour  is  not  regarded  as  an  evil  •  it  is  necessary,  with  but  few  exceptions, 
■    I  "      lotild  be  tair,  easy,  and  pleasant  :  but  in  China,  where  language 

1    Mi-.   (  ir;i\  .  p.  2S.  -    /■'..   |).    ]S6. 

'■'■    l.a  C/.'J  C /';,//, 7 >t',  |).  u.  '    Link',  [>.  2i>   . 


CONTEMPORARY   CHINA.  297 

never  fails  for  the  clear  enunciation  of  popular  ideals,  a  life  without  work 
is  not  regarded  as  ideal. 

The  ideal  occupations  are  still  learning  and  agriculture,  and  the  fourfold 
classification  of  the  citizens,  into  the  literati,  the  cultivators,  manufacturers, 
and  traders,  is  still  quoted  by  native  writers  as  applicable  to  modern  China. 
Agriculture  is  the  root;  industry  and  commerce  are  the  branches;  and  this 
is  so  far  from  being  a  mere  rhetorical  phrase  that  even  within  the  same 
household,  agriculture  branches  out  into  industry  and  trade.  The  culti- 
vators display  the  technical  skill  of  mechanics,  and  participate  in  the 
profits  elsewhere  reserved  to  manufacturers  and  merchants.  The  same 
resourcefulness  and  versatility,  for  which  citizens  of  the  United  States  are 
notable,  characterize  the  Chinese  in  their  own  country,  and  the  cause  in 
both  cases  may  be  the  same  ;  viz.,  that  it  is  still  possible  in  the  oldest 
country,  as  it  has  been  hitherto  in  the  newest,  for  every  enterprising  worker 
to  obtain  possession  of  a  portion  of  the  raw  materials  of  industry.  The 
resemblance  ceases  here,  for  China  is  emphatically  a  land  of  petty  industry 
and  petty  commerce,  as  well  as  of  small  landed  proprietors.  And  indeed 
it  is  self  evident  that  this  must  be  the  case  whenever  wealth  is  equally  dis- 
tributed,  since  no  country  is  so  rich  as  to  be  able  to  make  all  its  citizens 
wealthy. 

The  standard  of  comfort  for  the  labouring  masses  is  no  doubt  fixed  by 
that  of  the  smaller  cultivators,  who  form  one  of  the  largest  sections  of  the 
population  ;  and  it  so  happens  that  fuller  accounts  have  been  published  of 
the  condition  of  this  class  than  of  the  life  led  by  artisans  or  other  wage- 
earners. 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

LIFE  IX  CHINESE   VILLAGES. 

Statistics  relating  to  the  total  production  of  a  whole  country  require  a 
very  full  commentary  before  they  can  be  relied  on  for  instruction,  and 
naturally  China  has  not  yet  began  to  throw  the  information  possessed  by 
'ner  Board  ot  Finance  into  a  form  suitable  for  comparison  with  European 
documents.  But  the  authentic  budget  of  a  single  peasant  is  quite  as 
valuable  as — and  perhaps  more  interesting  than — a  statistical  summary  of 
the  production  of  so  many  millions.  M.  Simon  had  the  good  fortune  to 
make  friends  with  such  a  household,  when  visiting  Wang-mo-ki,  a  romantic 
valley  in  Fo-kien,  with  pagodas  to  which  the  Chinese  amateurs  of  rural 
scenery  are  wont  to  repair  to  escape  the  summer  heats  of  Fu-chow. 

He  was  sitting  under  a  tree  eating  an  orange,  when  a  peasant,  whose 
clothes  and  teapot  were  lying  close  by.  offered  him  tea,  and  sent  his  son 
to  the  adjoining  house  for  some  of  the  new  season's  buds.  The  tea  made 
from  these  is  a  choice  luxury,  denounced  as  an  extravagance  by  the  severest 
moralists,  and  selling  at  Si.  a  lb.  straight  from  the  grower  ;  but  the  family 
retain  a  small  quantity  for  their  own  hospitable  use.  It  was  the  eldest  son 
who  acted  as  host  on  this  occasion,  and  his  report  of  the  well-behaved 
foreigner,  staving  at  the  fashionable  pagoda,  induced  his  father  to  make 
inquiries  as  to  M.  Simon's  status  and  reputation. 

On  receiving  a  satisfactory  reply,  the  peasants  sent  to  inquire  when  they 
might  have  the  honour  of  calling  on  the  Furopean,  an  inquiry  followed 
forthwith  by  the  despatch  of  a  large  visiting  card  bearing  the  name  of 
Wang-ming-tse  and  the  arrival  of  father  and  son  in  robes  of  ceremony.  On 
t'ne  following  day  the  visit  was  returned  and  the  whole  family  presented  to 
the  venerable  stranger  Si.  who  was  constrained  to  remain  and  partake  of  an 
ample  refe<  tion,  lasting  for  two  hours  and  consisting  of  fish  in  broth,  ducks 
and  chii  :    mutton,   vegetables  of  different  sorts,  a  variety  of 

nitre/mis.  sweet  and  pickled,  with  of  course  t'ne  usual  bowl  of  rice,  and 
sweets,  fruit-,  i  akes.  :u<  „■  wine,  and  li  pieurs  for  dessert.  Not  less  than  two 
;.  uf-da\  -  \  .  -t  h  ive  been  given  up  to  the  exchange  ot  visits,  and  the 
food,  though  ,.:..  id  l  >'    :.    i  onsisted   only  of  the  usual  holiday  fare  of 

the  fain;'.}'. 

How  niaiiv  .'ere-,   we  naturally  ask   ourselves,   would  an    English  tenant 

;.  i  :   rm,  t  >  wit!    i  it    inq  r   priety   to  sport   visiting  cards,    pay 

morning  c     Is,  distinguished  foreigners  to  luncheon  -or  aiternoon 

■    :     '    -      .:...;.  ?      I  .  cultivu!    r,  vvli  i  allows  himselt  these  luxuries, 


LIFE   IX   CHINESE    VILLAGES.  299 

owns  and  occupies  29  i/nnc,  or  a  little  over  477  acres  !  Nearly  half  of  this 
is  planted  with  tea,  but  the  remainder  produces  rice,  corn,  maize,  beans, 
rape,  sugar-cane,  yams,  cotton,  clover,  turnips,  cabbages,  and  small  quan- 
tities of  other  fruits  and  vegetables  not  specified;  pigs  are  fatted  and 
poultry  reared  in  addition,  and  the  total  money  value  of  the  gross  produce 
of  the  4g  acres  is  estimated  by  M.  Simon  at  a  little  over  ,£285  ;  but  as 
the  purchasing  power  of  money  is  not  the  same  in  China  as  in  Europe,  for 
the  more  security  he  subjoins  a  list  of  the  different  crops  by  weight.1  The 
outgoings  or  working  expenses — including  seeds,  manures,  hired  labour, 
maintenance  of  live  stock,  wear  and  tear  and  taxes — come  to  about  ^65, 
and  the  food  of  the  family,  including  that  of  one  female  and  two  male 
servants,  to  ^64.  By  what  seems  a  rather  liberal  estimate,  M.  Simon 
allows  jFzo  a  year  for  keeping  up  the  family  wardrobe,  the  total  value  of 
which  is  put  at  ,-£"88,  besides  about  ,£18  worth  of  jewelry  and  ornaments. 
They  spend  about  £2  a  year  on  religious  ceremonies,  mostly  of  the 
Buddhist  type,  in  the  efficacy  of  which  they  half  believe,  and  24^-.  in 
voluntary  subscriptions  for  the  repair  of  roads,  bridges,  canals,  and  public 
buildings  ;  J~S  a  year  is  spent  on  theatrical  performances  and  pleasure 
parties.  The  family  therefore  spends  at  the  rate  of  ^160  a  year,  in  round 
numbers,  and  has  ^{"125  to  save  or  to  spend  in  marrying  daughters  and 
starting  sons  in  business,  or  enlarging  the  holding  so  that  employment  may 
be  found  for  them  on  the  land  as  they  grow  up. 

The  capital  which  brings  in  this  return  is  estimated  at  a  little  under  ^800, 
the  land  being  worth  -^440,  and  the  house,  furniture,  tools,  and  personal 
effects  about  X'j5°  >  tne  cultivator's  profit  is  thus  as  nearly  as  possible  36 
per  cent.,  3  per  cent,  per  mensem — a  fact  which  at  once  explains  how  in 
modern  China  as  in  ancient  Egypt,  it  was  possible  for  the  legal  rate  of 
interest  to  be  fixed  at  50  per  cent.  The  ample  margin  available  for  saving 
also  explains  the  universality  of  thrift  in  China.  It  is  not  in  human  nature 
to  save  for  the  problematical  wants  of  the  future  at  the  expense  of  present 
needs  ;  but  it  is  easy  and  natural,  when  all  the  customary  wants  of  the 
moment  have  been  supplied,  to  economize  the  surplus  earnings,  which 
will  secure  an  equal  portion  of  well-being  for  the  years  to  come.  Extreme 
poverty  in  China  consists,  not  in  having  to  go  without  food,  but  in  having 
to  eat  plain  rice.  Our  peasants  eat  four  meals  a  day  of  varied  and  savoury 
food,  or  five  in  summer-time,  when  the  day's  work  begins  at  dawn,  and 
they  have  an  appetite  for  two  breakfasts  before  the  noonday  meal.  The 
hired  servants  have  the  same  food  as  the  family,  and  though  economy  is 
universal  there  is  no  pinching  or  grinding  :  there  may  be  intervals  of  hard- 
ship, but  there  is  no  abject  want  and  no  terror  of  destitution. 

1    Viz.  9.910  kilogrammes  of  rice   (the  kilogramme  is  rather  over  2  lbs.)  ;  2,100  ditto  of 
;  1,604    if  tea  ;  300  of  1  :    ibo  of  maize  ;  291  of  oil  ;    itio  of    iarrazin ;    2j 

r  ;  180  of  tobacco  ;  5,000  of  yams  ;  9,600  of  turnips  ;  15,000  of  cabbages  ;  9.720  of 
lover  ;  1,095  of  oil  cake  :  1,200  kilo  of  stalks  of  sorghum,  -oyand  sugar  cine  !"<  >r  f .  ;  ler  ; 
150,    00    iitto    if  rice  and    >:  her    :  ra  .v,    ;.  /    all    inclu  ied   in  money  \ 

■.of      if   in  -tuff.      1  imitting  the  -;..  iller  and  more  valuable  crops,  in   , 
iced  a'       t  14  toii.i  of  straw  and  10  tons  of  grain. 


3cc  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

The  vicissitudes  to  which  such  families  are  exposed  and  the  relations 
between  other  classes  and  the  peasantry  are  clearly  shown  in  the  history 
of  M.  Simon's  friends.  The  house  of  Wang-ming-tse  is  one  of  many  branch 
families  descended  from  a  certain  Wang  who  settled  in  their  valley  800 
years  ago  under  the  Sung  Dynasty.  The  valley  contains  only  3.000  acres, 
and  supports  a  population  of  10.000  souls,  that  is,  on  the  average,  a  family 
01  ten  to  every  three  acres,  so  that  the  holding  above  described  is  quite  re- 
presentative. The  houses  are  nearly  all  detached,  '"  like  the  villas  between 
IJellevue  and  Chaville  :' outside  Paris.  Schools  are  numerous,  about  one 
to  every  fifteen  families;  so  are  libraries,  some  of  which  are  in  the  keep- 
ing of  the  Buddhist  pagodas,  and  others,  also  open  to  the  public,  preserved 
in  the  ancestral  halls  of  private  families. 

The  commune  is  divided  into  ten  quarters,  each  of  which  lias  a  public 
building. — market-hall,  club,  council  chamber,  caravanserai,  theatre  and 
concert-hall,  and,  one  might  add,  church,  since  it  is  used  also  for  public 
1  merals  and  official  solemnities,  in  fact  for  all  occasion-  of  public  interest. 
The  central  and  largest  of  these  halls  is  roofed  with  green  enamel  tiles, 
and  de<  orated  with  plaques  of  porcelain.  Every  family  has  genealogical 
records  and  annals  preserving  the  memory  of  its  more  distinguished  an- 
cestors, and  Wang-ming-tse  could  boast,  among  his,  of  at  least  two  high 
officials  who  had  built  bridges  and  dug  canals  for  the  benefit  of  their 
native  place,  and  received  in  return  the  honour  of  a  public  funeral  ;  one  of 
them  endowed  a  school  and  bequeathed  his  library  to  the  public. 

Tile  father  of  our  Mr.  Wang  was  the  fourth  of  fourteen  children;  ids 
father  was  not  rich  ;  he  cultivated  fifteen  mow  (2]  acres),  of  which  only 
seven  or  eight  were  his  own  property,  and  agriculture  was  then  less  profit- 
than  now:  the  canals  had  not  all  been  made,  the  valley  was  less 
populous,  and  people  had  to  work  harder  with  less  result.  It  was  therefore 
d  -  i  led  that  the  younger  sons  should  learn  trades  in  the  town.  The  eldest 
and  the  third  son  remained  to  help  their  father ;  the  second  studied  letters. 
and  became  a  distric  ;  g  >vernor  :  the  fourth,  with  whom  we  are  chiefly  con- 
cerned, was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter  and  maintained  by  in-  family  till 
his  earnings  were  sufficient  for  his  support:  he  and  three  younger  sons 
woiked  for  waj  s,  coming  li  me  once  a  fortnight  and  bringing  their  earn- 
ings t  it  :ir  father,  who  bought  land  therewith,  and  as  fast  as  he  got  :n 
to  em    .  iot;i   r  ia b     u  r,  one  son  1  it  r  another  was  recalled  t  1  the  h  >me- 

:.      The  ;         ig    :    done  remained  at  f'u-chow,  where  he  had    become  a 

still  c  mtinue  1  :  >  atlen  1         ...  iy  annivers  irii 

i\  ■.  lie    had      10  ight   a  good   property  in  the  village. 

dtivaicd.  and  on  which    he  had    built  iiis  own   ;  >mb. 
.  his  \  ounger  -  ins,  it  is    here 

is  days. 

is  elder      ••:   ther  \\    re  married    w  hen  the  gran  ;:. 
ung  -    in    :     'i's    and    -btcrs    to    bring   up,  and 

there]  ire   not  broken  up.       The    eldest  broth  :r   t  1    k 

t  .      :  1 .        ntinued  "•  to    eat  to  an    one    ta  hie      -an 


'   . :    .ung  m 

lit,         11 

:.. 

:    the 

:.    : : 

'.'.■  iti 

1 

... 

.      : 

Wand-  f 

: 

. 

■.  i  01 

' '.    .'. . 

his  fatii    : 

-.  an 

LIFE   IN   C II IXF.SE    VILLAGES.  301 

economy  by  means  of  which  they  were  enabled  to  live  in  comfort  on  the 
fifteen  acres  to  which  the  family  holding  had  been  raised.  At  this  time  the 
literary  uncle  was  so  well  off  that  he  was  able  to  leave  a  part  of  his  share 
in  the  patrimonial  estate  to  the  community  ;  two  of  the  sisters  were  married, 
and  there  still  remained  at  home  five  sisters  and  six  brothers,  four  of  whom 
were  married  and  had  nine  children  between  them.  The  family  thus  con- 
sisted of  twenty-four  persons,  employing  besides  three  field  labourers. 

The  pinch  came  when  the  aunts  were  all  married,  and  the  merchant 
uncle  required  his  share  of  the  inheritance  to  trade  with,  while  the  official 
found  his  family  increase  faster  than  his  salary.  It  was  then  decided  to 
dissolve  the  community.  The  inheritance  was  divided  into  eight  equal 
parts,  each  of  the  six  younger  brothers  taking  one  and  the  eldest,  who  also 
has  the  paternal  house,  two.  The  agricultural  community,  now  reduced  to 
five  brothers,  agreed  to  buy  the  shares  of  the  merchant  and  the  official,  at 
a  price  to  be  paid  off  in  three  years.  They  also  rented  some  neighbouring 
fields  tinder  an  agreement  to  buy  and  pay  for  them  within  a  specified  time. 
The  inherited  and  acquired  land  was  then  divided  between  the  five 
1  rothers,  each  of  whom  thus  obtained  a  share  of  nearly  four  acres.  The 
brothers  jointly  built  houses  on  each  of  the  new  properties,  each  taking 
possession  of  his  own  as  soon  as  it  was  completed  ;  during  this  interval 
the  community  still  existed,  and  by  dint  of  the  economies  effected  by  its 
means,  all  the  land  was  paid  for  by  the  end  of  three  years.1  After  that  the 
interests  of  the  brothers  were  divided;  they  lived  apart  and  each  retained 
the  profits  of  his  holding,  but  they  continued  to  perform  most  of  the  labours 
of  the  field  in  concert. 

At  this  time  the  five  families  consisted  of  seven  able-bodied  labourers, 
Wang-ming-tse,  a  lad  of  fifteen  of  whom  it  was  proposed  to  make  a  scholar, 
so  that  he  did  no  farm  work,  and  thirty-two  women  and  children.  Seven 
men  are  not  enough  to  cultivate  twenty  acres  as  the  Chinese  understand 
cultivation,  the  brothers  therefore  bought  a  second  buffalo  and  engaged  two 
more  hired  labourers.  Times  were,  however,  rather  hard,  especially  with  the 
father  of  our  friend  Wang,  who  had  a  large  young  family  and  had  moreover 
to  pay  a  larger  proportion  of  the  labourers'  wages  than  the  brothers,  whose 
sons  could  give  more  help.  The  payment  for  the  land  had  exhausted  the 
family  savings,  and  though  there  was  always  plenty  of  food — that  came 
from  the  land — money  for  any  other  expense  was  hardly  to  be  got,  and  the 
mother  groaned  over  every  cash  that  had  to  be  laid  out.  The  brothers 
were  all  good  friends,  and  would  have  helped  one  another  in  a  pinch  ;  but 
the  struggling  household  could  not  bear  to  "lose  face''  by  failing  to  take 
ro]  ortion  of  all  burdens,  and  the  period  of  comparative  hardship 
was  the  more  bearable  as  it  came  while  parents  and  children  were  young 
and  ceased  as  the  latter  came  of  age  to  join  the  ranks  of  labourers. 

!   ThL-       -1  them  in  ail   nearly   /.050.  so   they    must    have    economized   nearly   £21 
year  :  but,  as  we  have    seen,  one  brother  was  ;  ble  to  save  ,(.120  a  year  out  of  his  lie) 

,  and  ii  wo    '.  1    therefore    be  easy    for  ;b  ■    iive    to   >avc  twice  a.~    much    oul 
i  holding  they  cultivated   together.      The   younge.it  aunt    received   on    m   rri   ;   :    die 

equi\  a'.ent  of  nearly  ^'70. 


30  2  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

Wang-ming-tse  himself  was  not  very  successful  as  a  student.  He  failed 
twice  in  the  examinations,  and  then  accepted  a  small  post  in  the  civil  ser- 
vice which  his  uncle's  interest  procured.  He  married,  of  course,  and  had 
tour  children  by  the  time  he  was  thirty  ;  he  obtained  some  work  as  a  copy- 
ist, but  had  not  leisure  enough  to  pursue  his  studies  successfully,  and  besides 
it  was  then  too  late  to  begin  a  successful  official  career.  Accordingly,  on 
his  father'-  death  he  decided  to  return  to  the  village  and  take  his  share  of 
the  inheritance.  He  was  then  fortv.  with  an  eldest  son  of  fifteen  and  three 
daughters  whose  marriages  had  been  delayed  for  want  of  funds.  His 
brothers  helped  him  to  meet  this  expense,  and  for  a  while  the  community 
was  revived,  the  brothers  living  apart,  but  working  in  common  and  sharing 
the  produce  of  their  industry.  This  arrangement,  in  spite  of  some  trifling 
inconveniences,  would  have  remained  unaltered  but  for  the  tact  that  Wang- 
ming-tse's  second  son  had  a  wife  of  captious  and  suspicious  temper,  who 
induced  her  husband  to  believe  that  he  did  not  get  his  fair  share  of  the 
profits.  Under  these  circumstances  there  was  nothing  fur  it  but  to  set  the 
young  malcontents  tip  in  a  house  of  their  own.  to  learn  by  experience  the 
advantages  of  union,  and  occasion  was  taken  of  this  change  to  separate 
interest  of  the  still  friendly  brothers  also.  All  this  occurred  six  months  be- 
fore M.  .Simon's  visit,  at  which  time  the  family  consisted  of  the  old  mother 
ajed  ninety-two.  Wang-ming-tse  and  his  wife,  their  eldest  son  Po-y  and  his 
wife,  and  their  six  children,  beginning  with  A-Pe,  a  son  of  eighteen,  and  a 
daughter  just  about  to  be  married. 

This  is  tiie  family  whose  budget  we  have  just  scrutinized,  and  it  is  worth 
noting  that  the  prosperous  householder  at  its  head  belongs  to  the  one  sec- 
tion of  tiie  community  which  is  -aid  to  supply  a  counterpart  to  the  "  de- 
i  lasse's,"  the  discontented  failures  of  Western  society. — thescholars,  namely. 
who  have  failed  in  the  examinations.  Apparently  Wang-ming-tse's  elder 
brother  must  have  died  voting,  though  the  fact  is  not  mentioned,  as  we  find 
him  installed  as  head  of  the  family  on  the  abdication  of  the  old  mother 
at  tiie  age  of  ninety,  up  to  which  time  -lie  retained,  at  least  in  name,  the 
direct  flairs ;   and   her  authority  was  still   supreme  upon  such   grave 

qm  sti  ins  of  propriety  as,  whether  it  was  possible  to  indulge  the  de-ire  of 
the  lisitive  Frenchman  to  see  the  inner  chambers  of  the  house  and  the 

family  wardrobe. 

This  simple  family  history  shows  \\)w  accumulation  and  distress  are 
almost  e  .  liy  unknown  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  Kach  generation  has 
its  seas  <n  :  >r  saving,  and  its  seas  m  for  laving  out  its  savings  for  the  benefit 
of  tin  ::.      M.    Simon'  intance    with    Wang-ming-tse 

be_rins  durin_i  tiie  former  period,  and  the  uncle  in  business  employs  the 
yearly  economies  to  advantage,  but  they  will  not  remain  in  his  hands  for 
long  :  one  wing  ot  tiie  house  is  emptv,  the  furniture  having  no  doubt  gone 
with  the  discontented  young  r  son  :  before  Ion-  Po-y's  son,  A-Pe,  will  be 
married,  and  furniture  ...  to  be  1      ight    :  ir  the    third   family    livii  _ 

r  tiie  ancestral  roof ;  marriage  portions  will  have  to  be  pr  ivi  :  :d  I  ir  his 
sister  .      id  as  th     b  >y-  grow  up  in  ire  Ian  1  must  be  bought  or    rented,  and 


LIFE   IN   CHINESE    VILLAGES.  303 

the  experience  of  the  grandfather,  with  whom   the  story  began,  will  repeat 
itself,  and  so  on  sine  die  through  fresh  centuries. 

Some  may  be  inclined  to  inquire,  as  M.  Simon  did,  what  would  happen 
supposing  there  were  no  spare  fields  to  be  sold  or  let  in  the  neighbourhood 
just  when  the  united  household  has  grown  too  big  for  its  boundaries,  or  if 
the  sons  who  had  begun  by  seeking  their  fortunes  abroad,  chose  to  come 
home  and  reclaim  the  fraction  of  the  paternal  acres  their  brothers  had 
bought?  In  the  latter  case,  according  to  Mr.  Wang,  their  original  share  or 
its  equivalent  would  be  cede  i  to  them  at  the  price  they  received  for  it,  and 
they  would  be  allowed  time  to  pay  ;  the  inconvenience  to  the  brothers  who 
had  bought  the  land  would  not  be  a  valid  reason  for  refusing  to  give  it  up  ; 
the  obligations  of  kinship  are  taken  seriously  in  China,  and  Wang  evidently 
regards  such  sacrifices  as  a  matter  of  course  ;  the  family  is  bound  to  come 
to  the  assistance  of  its  unsuccessful  members,  and  the  exercise  of  this  virtue 
comes  all  the  easier,  because  prolonged  experience  teaches  that  all  in  turn 
may  need  such  help,  and  that  many  of  those  who  have  received  it  in  their 
need  will  make  return  with  usury  in  their  prosperity. 

As  to  the  other  question,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  land  may  certainly 
arise  ;  when  it  does,  the  family  agree  as  to  which  of  its  members  shall 
migrate  to  the  nearest  village  where  land  is  to  be  had  ;  relations  by  marriage 
are  applied  to,  and  as  all  China  is  not  as  densely  populated  as  Wang-mo- 
ki,  somewhere  or  other  che  cultivator  will  find  a  settlement.  If  the  family 
is  too  poor  to  buy  a  plot  of  land  at  once,  the  younger  son  may  work  as  a 
labourer  with  a  friend  or  kinsman,  till  he  has  saved  the  two  or  three  pounds 
which  would  enable  him  to  rent  and  cultivate  a  tiny  field,  and  it  would  go 
hard  with  him  if  he  failed  from  its  proceeds  to  rent,  and  then  to  buy,  enough 
for  the  support  of  a  family. 

The  family  community  generally  remains  undivided  till  the  children  of 
the  younger  sons  are  beginning  to  grow  up,  atter  which,  as  already  described, 
the  formation  of  branch  families  begins.1  The  new  householders  continue 
to  take  part  in  the  ancestral  worship  of  the  old  home,  and  the  new  family 
only  begins  to  perform  similar  rites  after  the  decease  of  the  father  and 
mother  who  were  its  founders.  Relatives  at  a  distance,  like  Wang's  uncles, 
the  merchant  and  the  official,  receive  an  extract  from  the  family  registers, 
showing  their  descent  back  for  four  generations,  and  this  document  would 
entitle  their  descendants  at  any  future  time  to  apply  to  the  family  for  help 
or  protection. 

M.  Simon  ends  his  description  of  the  happy  family  of  Wang-mo-ki,  that 
if  he  had  lighted  suddenly  in  France  upon  a  household  living  in  the  same 
style  of  ease  and  comfort  as  Wang-ming-tse,  he  would  assume  them  to  be 
the  owners  of  100  acres  of  good  sunny  land,  or  rentiers  of  ,/,  2°°  or  ,L^°° 
a  year,  but  the  valley  of  Wang-mo-ki  may  perhaps  be  regarded  as  excep- 
tionally favoured,  and  its  popularity  as  a  summer  resort  may  improve  the 
market  of  the  farmers.  There  are  also  many  cultivators  who  occupy  less 
than  4.I  acres,  holdings  of  1  or  \\  acres  being  by  no  means  uncommon.     A 

1   Appendix  K. 


3C4  OWXERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

man  whose  holding  was  only  one-fifth  that  of  Wang  would  of  course  have 
no  wages  to  pay.  and  would  require  less  varied  plant,  so  that  his  outgoings 
would  probablv  not  exceed  or  reach  /.  i o.  His  household  would  be  some- 
what less  numerous  and  the  food  plainer,  costing  perhaps  half  as  much  as 
Wang's,  s  iv  ^32  a  year,  and  as  one-fifth  of  the  earnings  of  the  larger  farm 
is  ,{57.  there  would  still  be  a  margin  of  ^£15  for  clothes,  ceremonies, 
amusements,  and  saving  :  so  that  even  the  poorest  little  labourer,  '•  having 
a  held.''  is  we'd  above  the  line  of  misery.  In  less  fertile  parts  of  the  country 
M.  Simon  found  a  farmer  owning  less  than  nine  acres,  who  was  saving  at 
the  rate  of  ,£.75  a  year,  and  another  with  2.7  acres  who  put  by  ,£.32. ' 

<  'ther  travellers,  while  less  enthusiastic  than  M.  Simon,  give  substantially 
similar  information.  The  author  of  "The  Middle  Kingdom''  observes: 
■'  The  great  plantation  or  farm  with  its  landlord,  and  the  needy  labourer, 
each  class  trying  to  get  as  much  as  possible  1  Lit  of  the  other,  are  unknown 
in  China.  .  .  .  There  are  very  few  plantations  under  the  care  of 
rich  landlords,  hut  each  little  farmer  raises  tea,  as  he  does  cotton,  silk,  or 
rice  upon  his  own  premises."-  In  the  North  "the  soil  is  possessed  in 
general  by  small  proprietors,  who  cultivate  from  live  to  twenty  acres. 
They  pay  a  land  rent  to  the  Government  of  20,/.  to  22b/.  per  acre  for 
good  ground."  :1 

S:  eaking  of  Southern  China.  Fortune  observes  in  similar  terms  :  "Silk  is 
produced  not  by  large  farmers  or  extensive  manufacturers,  but  by  millions 
of  cottagers,  each,  of  whom  own  and  cultivate  a  few  roods  or  acres  of  land 
only  and  bring  in  their  small  parcels  to  the  merchants,  who  sort  and 
arrange  it  in  bales  for  home  trade  or  export.  .  .  .  Our  favourite 
beverage,  tea,  is  produced  in  just  the  same  way:"1  and  he  goes  on  to 
describe  the  family  parties  turning  out  to  gather  their  own  crop,  with  a 
goat  to  carry  the  pickings  of  the  smallest  children. 

Captain  Gill  speaks  of  the  cotton  harvest  in  another  district,  gathered  by 

lies  owning  little  plots  about  thirty  yards  square  :  ""  It  would  be  impos- 

■  that   it   cou'd    pay  to   grow  cotton   in   such    small   quantities,  but  the 

Chinaman  likes  doing  everything  for  himself;   he  will,  if  he  can.  grow  his 

own  o  an.  urinal  it  or  hu-k  it.  and  cook  it  on  his  own  premises.      If  ]  oss 

.  e  vill   1   iltivate  his  own   little  bit  of  cotton  and  weave   the  cloth 

.1  his  <:!    ti  es  ire  perhaps  made  by  his  wife  and  family.*"' 5    Another  traveller 

notices  the  same  trait   in   connection    with   the  wheelbarrows   propelled   by 

sails  and  used  lor  porterage  in  some   districts.      "  bach  man  own-  his  own 

the   driv   rs   do  the  1    rts.  so  that  the  system  of  personal 

hi]       iid   1     n       u   ntly   awakened   self-interest   seems    to   prevail    in 

.   :.  :    to    the    wheeloarrow."  '      It    should,  however,  be  re- 

- ■  -:i=-  '-s. 

..    •.'  _:     ...'  .\      ■ .    -it  C'.iu.i,  1  N7>  .  ;  .    107. 

.      .'-121. 

.      //:-.■  ;.  -'  .    Itv  S-9,   1  .  .;    4. 


A: 

\\ 

\.  v-   : 

LIFE   IN  CHINESE    VILLAGES.  305 

marked,  in  passing,  that  the  versatility  of  the  cultivator  does  not  exclude 
a  considerable  resort  to  the  division  of  labour  in  matters  where  such  divi- 
sion appears  to  the  workers  themselves  as  conducive  to  either  economy 
or  convenience,  the  latter  being  as  much  considered  as  the  former. 

Captain  Gill,  after  describing  the  cheerful  effect  of  the  petty  trade  and 
manufactures  carried  on  by  the  peasant  households,  adds  the  observation  : 
••  We  in  Europe  have  found  out  that  this  is  not  an  economical  way  of  doing 
things  ;"  and  most  European  economists  will,  no  doubt,  consider  it  certain 
a  priori  that  whatever  may  be  the  wealth  of  China  now,  such  wealth  would 
be  increased  if  European  methods  for  developing  the  resources  of  the 
country  were  adopted.  A  detailed  statistical  inquiry  does  not,  however, 
bear  out  this  view,  whether  we  take  the  empire  as  a  whole,  which  supports 
without  any  importation  of  food  a  denser  population  per  square  mile  than 
Great  Britain,  or  examine,  with  M.  Simon,  the  produce  of  an  individual 
holding  of  typical  minuteness.  The  Chinese  do  not  farm,  they  garden  : 
and  when  the  soil  of  a  whole  empire  is  subjected  to  the  intense  methods  of 
cultivation  restricted  with  us  to  market  gardens,  the  gross  production 
admits  of  almost  indefinite  increase. 

Captain  Gill  observed  that  while  one  acre  of  wheat  in  Europe  will  sup- 
port two  men,  one  acre  in  China  will  probably  support  twenty.1  M.  Simon 
estimates  the  proportionate  value  of  the  whole  agricultural  produce  of 
tiie  country  as  treble  that  of  France,  or  \),  times  as  much  per  head  of  the 
population, — and  his  estimate  of  the  population  is  far  in  excess  of  that  of 
oilier  sober  and  competent  judges.  Wells  Williams  calculated  that  over 
a  quarter  of  the  country  produces  two  crops  a  year;-  there  is  hardly  any 
fallow  land,  and  there  are  large  districts  in  which  three,  four,  five,  and  even 
six  crops  are  got  off  the  ground  in  succession. 

This  is  accomplished  partly  by  scientific  economy  and  still  more  by  the 
unstinted  use  of  labour.  Sometimes  one  crop  is  sown  as  soon  as  the  other 
is  above  ground,  and  the  first  reaped  before  the  latter  is  full  »rown.  Still 
more  commonly  seedlings  are  raised  in  small  plots,  and  planted  out  as 
soon  as  the  ground  is  clear  for  them,  so  that  each  crop  occupies  the  full 
space  for  the  shortest  possible  period.  Where  this  method  is  followed  a 
crop  is  rarely  lost,  because  if  the  first  sowing  fails  from  bad  weather,  the 
plants  can  be  replaced,  and  the  harvest  is  only  delayed,  not  lost.  Even  if 
it  is  too  late  to  follow  the  ordinary  course,  something  else  will  be  tried  for 
which  the  season  may  be  mure  favourable,  so  that  the  land  never  fail.-,  to 
produce  something. 

There  is,  too,  another  side  to  the  versatile  thriftiness  of  the  Chinese 
agriculturist.  Xo  labour  is  wasted  in  trying  to  make  land,  which  is  fit 
for  one  purpose,  serve  another  for  which  it  is  not  fit.  As  a  traveller 
observed  last  century,  "  Tiiey  do  not  improve  the  field  for  the  seed,  but 
choose  the  seed  for  the  field.      Rice  grows    under  water.      .      .      .      Nymp- 

1  ./....  ii.  p.  277.  Accurately,  ace  irdin^  !  >  M.  Simon's  report  of  Wane's  :  rmin^,  one 
acre  will  feed  twelve  \  ersoiis  on  a  very  liberal  scale. 

-  M  ':'■■'.' ■  A ~u,\ ■■ii'-ni,  i.  p.  270. 

VOL,     II. —  P.C.  X 


3c6  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

Ecu  and  Sagittariagrow  in  water.  .  .  .  Sugar  cane  and  potatoes  want 
a  less  moist  soil.  If  it  is  still  more  dry,  it  will  do  for  yams.  Indigo  and 
cotton  grow  on  the  highest  mountains.  If  a  mountain  should  happen  to 
he  too  dry,  it  serves  for  a  burying  place.  Hut  if  a  soil  be  ever  so  wet,  the 
Chinese  have  a  plant  that  grows  in  it  and  serves  for  food  for  men."  Thus, 
though  the  population  seems  larger  than  the  country  could  maintain,  the 
fact  is  not  so.  and  it  might  be  said  rather  that  the  country  could  never 
be  too  full  of  such  inhabitants,  since  it  is  the  number  of  industrious  men 
that  makes  a  country  rich,  "  for  every  industrious  labourer,  especially  a 
husbandman,  always  produces  more  from  the  grateful  soil  than  he  wants 
himself."  1 

This  productiveness  is  not  merely  owing  to  a  more  favourable  climate 
and  soil,  for  English  market  gardeners  get  several  crops  in  the  year  off  the 
same  ground  :  and  it  is  probable  that  if  the  whole  of  England  were  culti- 
vated like  a  market  garden,  the  soil  would  |  rovide  food,  at  least  vegetable 
food,  for  the  whole  population  without  the  need  of  imports,  but  to  obtain 
this  result,  it  would  be  necessary  to  employ  labour  on  the  scale  customary, 
not  in  farms  but  in  market  gardens,  or  in  other  words,  to  employ  in  agri- 
cultural pursuits  something  like  the  same  proportion  of  the  population  as  in 
China. 

The  reason  that  this  is  not  done  is  that  under  our  present  industrial 
system  such  a  course  does  not  commend  itself  as  profitable  to  the  prin- 
cipal owners  and  occupiers  of  land.  As  things  are  at  present,  they  derive 
most  profit  from  the  land  with  least  labour  by  methods  which  do  not 
extract  from  it  the  largest  possible  amount  of  food-stuffs.  Our  system,  if  it 
were  introduced  in  China,  would  probably  result  in  a  decline  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  in  the  production  and  consumption  of  food  :  though  it  might 
possibly  also  add  to  the  wealth  of  the  class  directing  such  production  as 
survived.  The  Chinese  system,  if  introduced  in  England  (with  a  few 
trifling  modifications  to  suit  the  change  of  continent),  would  have  exactly 
the  opposite  tendency.  It  is  for  the  philosophic  student  to  judge  which 
of  the  two  is  morally  and  materially  preferable. 

As  agriculturists,  the  Chinese  peasantry  have  nothing  to  barn  from 
the  si  ientific  farming  on  a  large  scale  which  is  considered  most  productive 
in  Huro]  e,  A  fraction  of  an  acre  in  rage  or  sugar  cane  produces  heavier 
ci  [is'-'  than  French  enterprise  with  all  modern  appliances.  The  rude  :  ro- 
i  '!■      •  fare  in  use  do  not  allow  the  same  quantity  of  oil  or  su_rar 

to  be  pro  lured  per  cwt.  of  seed  or  i  me,  '  the  skill  of  the  gn  i\\  er  m  re 
ti  n  rr.ak  -  up  for  the  inferiority  of  the  manufacturer,  and  the  final  account 
si  '<■;<-  the  >". peri  rity  to  rest  w  ith  ti  Chinaman.  F.veii  where  he  appe  rs 
a'  a  disadvantage  as  extracting  less  sugar  or  oil  than  European  manutae- 
■     -  --.  it  is  bv  1  rtain  that  he  really  loses,  or  would  have  anything 

in  by  sedii  ..  -  :  w  pi  luce  to  a  dealer  f  >r  manipulati  n  by  steam. 
The  refuse  of  the  <    i        ::<)    u       u  rro:  s  go"s  to  f.-ed  the  buffal  >  and  oth 


li,  274. 


LIFE   IN  CHINESE    VILLAGES.  307 

animals  upon  the  farm,  and  so  the  nutritive  value  left  in  it  by  imperfect 
methods  of  extraction  is  not  wasted. 

But  even  apart  from  this  consideration,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
the  Chinese  cultivator,  who  makes  his  own  oil,  sugar,  etc.,  obtains  more, 
from  the  salesman  or  consumer,  for  the  manufactured  article,  than  he  would 
from  a  rival  manufacturer  for  the  raw  material.  Such  a  manufacturer  must 
sink  a  considerable  capital  in  plant  and  buildings,  spend  large  sums  in 
wages,  and  since  his  profits  depend  on  a  single  article,  his  prices  must 
cover  not  merely  interest  upon  all  the  above  outlay,  but  also  sums  sufficient 
to  serve  as  insurance  against  bad  seasons  and  bad  trade.  If  the  Chinese 
cultivator  did  not  manufacture,  he  would  not  he  able  to  employ  upon  his 
little  plot  all  the  brothers,  sons,  and  nephews  whose  labours  enable  him  to 
keep  every  square  yard  incessantly  employed  in  bearing  something.  If  he 
does  manufacture,  he  and  they  divide  the  manufacturer's  profit,  and  it  is 
practically  certain  that  under  these  circumstances,  the  cost  of  production 
is  reduced  quite  in  proportion  to  the  slight  inferiority  in  its  results. 

The  homestead  costs  no  more  for  being  used  as  a  factory  or  workshop  ; 
the  machinery— if  such  a  word  can  be  used  for  the  simple  oil  and  grain 
mills,  the  cotton  spinning  and  weaving  gear  and  the  tea  furnace  of  the  little 
farmer — is  worth  less  than  ,£15,  or  less  than  ^25  if  we  include  all  the  im- 
plements, plough,  water-wheel,  rakes,  etc.,  of  the  farm  itself.  The  interest 
upon  such  trivial  sums  would  be  an  imperceptible  charge  ;  and  in  fact  the 
Chinese  do  not  trouble  themselves  with  a  distinction  which  in  this  case 
would  be  purely  metaphysical,  between  wages,  interest,  and  profits.  But 
the  capital  advantage  of  the  combination  of  a  variety  of  crops  and  a  variety 
of  industries  is  that  the  family  is  insured  against  loss  from  the  failure  or 
low  price  of  any  single  crop,  or  from  periods  of  enforced  idleness,  during 
which  the  workers  produce  nothing  and  yet  have  to  be  fed.  The  cultiva- 
tors are  well  aware  that  some  crops  aye  more  profitable  than  others,  but 
they  also  know  that  if  every  one  gave  up  all  his  ground  to  their  cultivation, 
their  value  would  fill,  and  the  customary  equilibrium  of  production,  which 
experience  has  shown  to  be  generally  advantageous,  be  upset. 

The  general  outlines  of  Chinese  village  life  have  frequently  been  de- 
scribed, and  M.  Simon's  account  of  the  Wang  family  only  adds,  as  it  were, 
flesh  and  blood  to  the  dry  bones  of  abstract  analysis.  The  village  and  the 
clan,  or  in  other  words  the  local  and  the  genealogical  bond,  may  coincide, 
but  it  is  not  necessary  or  universal  for  them  to  do  so.  The  authority 
exercised  by  the  clan  chiefs  has  been  described  at  length  by  Doolittle  ;  he 
observes  that  in  country  districts  properties  are  often  not  divided,  so  that 
"there  are  very  numerous  instances  in  which  whole  villages  are  composed 
of  relatives,  all  bearing  the  same  ancestral  name.  In  many  cases  for  long 
periods  of  time,  no  division  of  inherited  property  is  made,  the  descendants 
ot  a  common  ancestor  living  and  working  together,  enjoying  and  sharing 
the  profits  of  their  labours  under  the  direction  of  the  head  of  the  clan  and 
tiie  heads  of  the  family  branches.  .  .  .  There  may  be  only  one  head 
ot  the  Can.      Under  him    there   are  several    heads   of  families  "  dwelling 


3oS  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHIXA. 

apart  and  independently.  .  .  .  "  The  head  of  the  clan  has  the  control 
of  all  the  heads  of  families  in  rase  of  quarrels  or  criminal  acts.  If  the 
latter,  who  mav  be  styled  patriarchs,  are  not  able  to  settle  the  quarrels  or 
knotty  questions  which  arise  among  those  directly  subject  to  them,  thev 
are  entitled  to  call  upon  the  archpatriarch,  as  the  chief  of  the  clan  mav  be 
stylt  d.  for  his  advice  and  decision,  and  the  exercise  of  his  influence  is  very 
gr  -   •."' 

He  adds  that  one  motive  which  sometimes  leads  the  head  of  a  familv 
to  execute  a  division  of  the  property  during  his  own  lifetime,  is  to  avoid 
disputes  between  the  children,  or  between  them  and  their  paternal  uncles, 
who  by  law  and  custom  are  entitled  to  act  as  executors  or  administrators, 
and  might  make  the  position  of  the  eldest  son  of  the  deceased  embarrass- 
ing, Practically,  as  we  see  in  the  Wang  family,  the  community  is  only 
Kept  together  so  long  as  it  works  harmoniously.  Chinese  custom,  like 
Chinese  law,  recognises  "  incompatibility  of  temper"  as  fatal  to  the  union 
which  should  prevail  in  families,  and  a  childless  person  who  regards  his 
natural  heir  with  aversion  and  dislike  is  allowed  to  choose  in  his  place 
some  one  else  of  the  same  generation  and  degree  of  relationship.  On  the 
same  prin<  iule,  it"  a  daughters  husband  has  been  received  into  the  family, 
and  has  lived  with  the  parents  as  a  son,  he  is  allowed  to  take  a  son's  share 
ii    the  inheritance. 

The  rights  of  the  head  of  a  family  or  clan  are  in  the  same  way  subject 
'o  revision  in  the  general  interest.  If  the  eldest  son  of  such  a  personage 
■vas  an  unsatisfactory  character,  dissipated  in  morals  or  of  feeble  under- 
standing, instead  of  committing  the  direction  of  the  family  to  such 
nw  rthy  hands,  a  family  council  would  be  called,  and  some  other  son  or 
rel  itive  appointed  in  his  stead,  just  as  the  emperor  is  required  to  designate 
the  worth!  st  of  his  -  ms  to  succeed  to  the  throne.  The  disinherited  son 
would  have  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  tribunals,  but  such  appeals  from  the 
iudgi  .    :.'     :"  the  family  are  verv  rare. 

Id  i..id  councils  onlv  take  action  up  »n  serious  grounds,  and  the  reas  ms 
\vh;     .  sat;-fv  them  are  approved  bv  anv  right-minded  othcial.      The  author- 
ity of  these  coun<  d-  -fur  die  head  of  the  family  or  clan  does  not  act  auto- 
r  ti      d      i    st-.  like  that  of  all  Chinese  government,  on  the  consent  of  the 
me',      The:''.;   is   .    proverb   which    Wang-ming-tse     [U  ited    ■  /vv     •  ot 
•  v   :y  -u'  :e"'  :  "  'l'h  ■   law  and  its  ofth  ers  are  not  made  tor  honest  toik. 
-  '        ■   f  -indies    settle   :h   ir   disputes   bv  arbitration  witl    r.il    _       g  to 
lav.'.  ,..•.-:  evi  n    the    >>   '//:■  t>\    w'.oyA  of  the  village   prefer  to  snorn;;    to  line-. 
b'    '■'  -.  or   I m  t  at  the  dls'  retion  of  tiieir  reiati  .'es  an  1  n-eigiib  rurs 

r  t    1  ;    :       :      •  the    1        is  of  Co  ,'er  ....      t  omcials.  bed  les 
•■    :  d". '  -      f    kind      1.  mv   <  r.e   re]    ah  itlng    the    a  it'n    oty    ut   the 

:  .■     '      m  :-:    do.       In    die   <    -  ■      f  -erious    crines,    the    offender    may    be 
•.  d  e  1    fur      term  or         -     r;  jtti  t   .    .:.d  he    mav  even  be  called   upon  to 
:'.-■'.     ■  lauuly   Iroiii  the  d;-gra<    ■     :    l  tr    1  and    i     nvi    ti    :.  .       i     mur.tt.ng 


LIFE   IX   CHINESE    VILLAGES.  309 

suicide.  Life  seems  so  little  worth  living  to  a  man  outlawed  from  family 
and  home  that  even  capital  sentences  are  executed  by  consent. 

Boundary  stones  inscribed  with  the  name  of  the  proprietary  family 
generally  mark  the  division  between  the  land  of  different  owners,  but  even 
in  the  absence  of  such  stones,  there  is  rarely  any  attempt  at  encroachment  ; 
if  disputes  upon  this  or  kindred  subjects  arise,  they  are  almost  always 
settled  by  the  people  of  the  place,  or  by  a  sort  of  congress,  held  on  market 
bay,  in  which  friends,  relatives  and  any  one  else  with  special  local  know- 
ledge are  invited  to  share,  joining  in  the  discussion  and  drinking  tea.1 
Public  opinion  is  so  just  in  its  verdicts  and  so  generally  respected  that  an 
appeal  from  the  informal  local  parliament  is  almost  unheard  of. 

The  mavor  of  the  commune  or  village  headman  is  in  a  certain  sense  a 
(iovernment  official,  lie  lias  a  salary  (at  the  rate  of  /,6o  a  year,  with  a 
population  of  8, 000),  and  is  responsible  for  forwarding  the  taxes  to  the 
district  governor,  and  for  apportioning  any  work  on  roads,  tanks,  or  canals 
ordered  by  the  central  Government.  As  already  explained,  he  has  to 
decide  disputes  between  neighbours  and  punish  delinquents,  besides  en- 
forcing regulations  about  festivals  and  markets.2  If  the  village  consists  of 
a  single  clan,  the  head  of  the  clan  may  also  fill  the  office  of  mayor  or 
headman  :  but  in  practice  the  authority  of  voluntary  local  or  family  groups 
shades  imperceptibly  into  that  of  the  minor  local  officers  recognised  by  the 
State.  Tiie  gradation  does  not  possess  the  numerical  regularity  contem- 
plated in  the  Chow  Li,  but  it  is  probably  identical  in  character  with  the 
institutions  which  that  ritual  professes  to  describe. 

One  singular  result  of  the  exaltation  of  agriculture  and  rural  life  in 
China  is  that  civilization,  so  to  speak,  has  its  head  quarters  in  the  country 
rather  than  the  town.  People,  according  to  M.  Simon,  live  in  cities,  as  it 
were,  accidentally  to  trade.  Put  everything  that  concerns  men  most,  such 
as  schools,  libraries  and  museums,  are  to  be  found  outside  the  towns,  in 
tlie  open  country.  The  retired  official  or  merchant  bequeaths  his  library 
to  the  village  where  he  begins  and  ends  his  days,  rather  than  to  the  city 
where  his  working  life  is  spent  and  his  savings  earned. :;  Of  course  there 
are  born  townsmen  enough  to  endow  libraries  and  museums  for  the  city, 
but  the  stream  of  countrymen  seeking  work  in  town  is  fully  balanced  by  a 
return  stream  of  townsmen  seeking  rest  and  pleasure  it:  the  country. 

1   Gill,  River  of  Golden  Sand,  p.  2.  -  Middle  Kingdom,  i.  p.  4S3. 

:;   La  Cite  Fran,  aiee.  e.ir  k  Lett  re  Fan-ta-gen,  publie  par  (J.  Eugene  Simon,  p.  67. 


CHAPTER    XXVII. 

THE   WAGES  AND  ORGANIZATION  OF  INDUSTRY. 

The  distinction  between  the  cultivator  and  the  artisan,  the  peasant  and 
the  mechanic,  is  less  strong  in  China  than  Europe  ;  the  difference  between 

the  standard  of  comfort  in  the  two  classes  is  probably  also  slighter,  while 
the  difference,  if  any,  may  be  in  favour  of  the  peasant.  Chinese  wages 
are  low  when  stated  in  European  currency,  but  taken  in  connection  with 
the  purchasing  power  of  coin  in  China,  they  do  not  compare  unfavourably 
with  the  earnings  usual  in  most  European  countries  Of  course  wages,  as 
well  as  rents,  vary  in  different  parts  of  the  country  ;  hut  the  following  state- 
ments correspond  fairly  with  the  generalization  of  a  Chinese  writer,  who 
puts  the  average  earnings  of  a  workman  at  a  franc  a  day,  half  of  which  is 
enough  to  feed  a  family  of  five. 

Carpenters  and  masons  earn  20  to  30  cents  a  day,  or  about  is.,  boarding 
themselves.  The  usual  wages  of  farm  servants  are  about  ^3  10s.  per  annum 
with  food,1  and  as  prices  in  general  are  about  one-fifth,  or  one-sixth  of  those 
in  Europe,  this  can  scarcely  be  put  as  less  than  equivalent  to  /\\  a  week. 
Servants  boarding  themselves  receive  4  to  6  dollars  a  month,'-  or  at  the 
same  estimate  of  the  value  of  money.  ,/.5°  t0  jQ&°  a  year.  but  a  man 
appears  well  off  with  jQ%  6s.  (25  taels)  a  year.  Clerks  and  accountants 
receive  10  to  30  dollars  a  month,  or  as  much  in  actual  money  as  many  of 
their  trade  in  Europe,  while  food,  clothing,  and  house  rent  are  indefinitely 
cheaper. 

There  has  been  little  or  no  change  in  the  rate  of  wages  in  the  last  two 
centuries,  for  the  penal  code  specifies  7./.  a  day  as  the  amount  which 
officials  must  pay  to  carriers  or  workmen,  whom  they  have  wrongfully 
pressed  into  their  service  for  work  required  by  them  in  their  private 
<  a:  1 ;(  ity  only.:i 

A  theatrical  eompanv,  including  perhaps  thirty  performers,  is  paid  ^/,6  lor 
a  performance  lasting  .pS  hours;  the  theatre,  as  already  mentioned  in  the 
1..  si  riptioii  cl  Wang  .  .  1  ki,  is  provided  by  the  locality,  but  the  dresses  are 
otten  very  costly,  an  1  the  employers  have  a  right  to  call  lor  which  pieces 
they  please  out  of    the  usual   repertory.      There  are  tew   villages  ^o  poor  as 


v.    / 


!.  107.  Vcili^-inil^-Nr  g'lVt 
. .  I  'in  I  Ik:  I"i  inner  ui.i  iiwt  sice] 
1S70,  ,,.  213. 

viii!;     -  :       1 1  1 1 1  c  1  i  lo  1 1 1  e 


is   1  arm    hunt 
11  the  1  iivnii.-n. 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION  OE  INDUSTRY.     311 

to  deny  themselves  once  a  year  the  amusement  afforded  by  one  of  the 
numerous  itinerant  companies  of  players,  who  set  before  the  rustics  exactly 
the  same  interminable  historic  dramas  as  are  played  before  a  critical  town 
audience. 

Tuition  fees  in  China  vary,  with  the  teacher's  reputation  and  the  age  of 
the  pupil,  from  2  to  20  dollars  a  year.  Private  tutors  generally  live  in  their 
employer's  house  ;  they  are  treated  with  great  respect  and  allowed  to  have 
pupils  from  outside.  "  One  who  teaches  thirty  or  forty  boys  at  an  average 
tee  of  4  dollars  is  doing  tolerably  well  in  China,  for  with  the  same  amount 
he  can  buy  live  or  six  times  as  much  of  provisions  or  clothing  as  can  be 
bought  in  America."  :  This  estimate  would  make  the  tutor's  salary  amount 
to  a  nominal  T^2,  in  addition  to  his  board,  or  the  equivalent  of  ,£180  or 
thereabouts  in  the  West;  and  this  sum,  which  is  not  inconsiderable  in  itself, 
represents  a  much  better  comparative  position  there  than  the  same  income 
in  a  land  of  large  fortunes  and  estates.  Looking  at  the  subject  from  the 
opposite  side,  M.  Biot  estimated  the  cost  to  the  parents  of  a  year's  schooling 
at  15  frs.  in  a  town,  and  at  6  frs.,  or  its  equivalent  in  rice,  in  the  country. 
In  many  cases  the  relation  between  tutor  and  pupil  is  maintained  through 
life,  as  indicated  in  the  will  of  Yang-chi.3  Girls  learn  with  their  brothers 
up  to  the  age  of  eleven  or  twelve,  but  the  sacredness  of  the  teacher's 
relation  is  maintained  by  the  rule  which  forbids  marriages  between  tutor 
and  pupil. 

The  sword,  as  well  as  the  pen,  receives  comparatively  favourable  treat- 
ment in  China,  a  soldier's  wages  coming  to  about  ^12,  which,  at  the 
rate  agreed  on  by  native  and  foreign  authorises,  represents  between  T60 
and  T.~o  a  year.  Both  officers  and  privates  receive  half  their  pay  in  grain, 
and  six  months  of  this  is  advanced  in  time  of  war,  when  they  receive  two 
pays,  one  for  themselves  and  one  for  their  families — an  institution  which 
the  British  soldier,  even  when  married  ';  with  leave,"'  may  well  regard  with 
envy.  Funeral  expenses  and  pensions  are  given  to  the  families  of  those 
who  die  on  a  campaign  ;  but,  as  a  missionary  observed  at  the  beginning 
of  the  last  century,  there  is  so  little  real  fighting  that  a  berth  in  the  army 
was  coveted,  like  a  place  under  Government  elsewhere,  as  a  kind  of  sine- 
cure. As  we  imagine  to  have  been  the  case  in  ancient  Egypt,  the  soldiers 
receive  a  kind  of  retaining  fee  in  time  of  peace,  but  the  army  is  only 
really  effective  when  its   services  are  kept  in  constant  request. 

Chinese  workshops  as  a  rule  only  employ  a  small  number  of  operatives, 
six  or  eight  at  most,  and  little  is  known  of  the  working  of  the  tew  factories 
on  a  larger  scale.  Whenever  it  is  feasible,  the  Chinese  workman  prefers 
piece  or  contract  work  to  day  wages,  because  competition  is  so  far  con- 
trolled by  custom  that  the  system  is  not  used  as  an  indirect  means  for 
reducing  wages.  The  quality,  the  pace,  and  the  price  of  the  work  are  all 
fixed  by  custom,  and  the  gain  to  the  piece  worker  is  allowed  to  include 
the    whole    price    of  the    superintendence    saved    by  the   contract.       The 

1    When  1 7cas  a  Boy  in  China,  by  Van  I'hou  Lee,  p.  52, 
-  Ante,  D.  202. 


3i2  OWNERSHIP  IX   CHINA. 

••driving"  of  a  foreman  or  the  ''chasing"1  of  a  fellow-workman  are 
grievances  which  do  not  need  to  be  resisted  by  the  trade  organizations 
of  China,  because  the  industrial  community  contains  no  persons  capable 
of  outraging  custom  in  such  a  direction.  If,  for  the  sake  of  argument, 
one  imagines  it  possible  for  a  wealthy  manufacturer  or  landowner  to  aim 
at  introducing  new  forms  or  conditions  of  labour,  unacceptable  to  the 
operatives,  and  the  dispute  were  referred  to  the  tribunals,  there  can  be  no 
question  that  the  officials  would  condemn  the  innovation,  and  uphold  the 
demands  of  the  trade  union,  in  accordance  with  the  old  English  legal 
maxim.  Cuique  in  sua  arte  credendum  est. 

It  does  not  seem  to  have  occurred  to  Chinese  employers  to  regard  as  an 
evil  the  natural  solidarity  of  feeling  which  subsists  among  those  who 
follow  the  same  occupation,  and  as  a  consequence  their  small  essays  in 
the  way  of  profit-sharing  are  not  received  with  suspicion.  M.  Simon 
mentions  a  foundry  in  Sx'chuen,  at  which  a  red  flag  is  hoisted  every  day 
that  the  output  exceeds  36  tons  :  if  it  exceeds  40  tons,  the  workmen 
receive  a  small  ration  of  meat  in  addition  to  their  regular  wages  ;  ii  it 
exceeds  45  tons,  this  ration  is  doubled  :  and  if  the  output  reac  hes  54 
tons,  two  glasses  of  rice  wine  are  added  to  the  meat.- 

We  are  indebted  to  Mr.  Little's  good  fortune  for  a  glimpse  of  the 
working  of  another  Chinese  factory  on  the  larger  scale.  Like  M.  Simon,  he 
was  invited  to  tea  by  a  gentleman  through  whose  land  he  was  passing, 
and  then,  without  further  introduction,  pressed  to  stay  the  night.  The 
host  in  this  case  was  a  well-to-do  gentleman  farmer,  of  old  Catholic  family, 
with  an  income  in  grain  equivalent  to  about  ^300  a  year:  this  family  pos- 
sessed also  a  -ilk-weaving  establishment  with  twenty  looms,  besides  spinning 
gear,  and  a  shop  in  Ching-king  for  the  disposal  of  their  wares,  but  they  lived 
themselves  on  the  produce  of  their  garden  and  farm,  spending  in  actual 
money  only  some  ^30  a  year.  About  too  men  were  employed  in  the 
factory  of  this  familv,  earning  5:/.  a  day  and  their  food. 

Coal-miners  in  the  same  district,  working  in  two  shifts  of  twelve  hours. 
receive  al  ui  7.;'.  a  day  and  food  estimated  at  half  as  much  more.  Their 
wages  are  paid  every  ten  days,  pay-day  being  a  holiday,  so  that  ten  clays' 
pav  is  given  for  nine  days'  work.  As  already  intimated,  they  take  a  warm 
bath  on  coming  off  their  shift  ;  and  the  galleries  are  not  allowed  to  be  less 
than  s  feet  high,  for  the  sake  of  ventilation,  nor  to  go  so  far  underground 
as  to  incur  the  least  danger  of  accidents  to  life  or  limb.-"'  The  averag  : 
wages    of    m  .    ■:-    at    a    coal-field    in    Shantung   is    9./.  a    dav.  while    coal 

!    Kr.idbh    '1     '.  ■    ":  ■:.:-!-    u.-e   the   \vor<l  ;i  cha-ing  "  to   uescrihe  a  tacit  un'lersia;vting 

:  time,  so  that  ].;.-;      irnhigs  may  serv        -       pretext  I    r  re  \ airing 

• :.  ' . .  '  a  1    v.  ev  price,      :    the  v.    ■.'..':■■    |  uy  tile  pi<     e,     -or  In 

-  :    -'  v  '  irk  ' :.   '   u  .         '  i         mu-'.er  :     ■•"-       iter  liian  really  -  >un  1  '        iucti     .. 
-    /'  :  '  i:    Chin       .  p.   i'io. 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION   OE  INDUSTRY.     313 

at  the  pit's  mouth  fetches  55.  a  ton.1  Pumpelly  mentions  a  coal-field 
in  Chih-li  where  the  miner's  wages  amount  to  one-third  of  the  value  of  the 
coal  got  by  him,  or  about  zod.  per  ton,  the  output  varying  from  6  cwt. 
to  half  a  ton  per  diem,  so  that  the  earnings  range  from  6d,  to  io(/.  a  day." 
The  same  writer  roughly  estimates  the  value  of  money  at  Peking  as 
twenty  times  as  much  as  in  Xew  York  and  London;  and,  though  this  must 
be  an  exaggeration,  it  represents  fairly  the  impression  of  extreme  cheap- 
ness produced  by  comparing  the  cost  of  travellers'  luxuries  there  with  the 
prices  charged  to  English  and  American  tourists  in  English  and  American 
capitals. 

Hired  tea-pickers  are  paid  5./.  a  day,  but  experts  can  earn  61.  to  gd. 
a  day  piece-work  :  wages  of  labourers  in  the  tea  districts  range  from  2d. 
to  3d.  a  day  with  their  food,  which  is  almost  always  furnished  by  the 
farmers,  and  which  may  cost  about  3d.  or  4//.  more,  making  the  whole 
day's  labour  amount  to  6d.  to  -d.:>  Women  and  children  earn  about 
3d.  a  day  for  picking  the  dead  leaves  from  tea.  Boatmen,  like  the 
cultivators  in  summer,  eat  five  meals  a  day,  and  receive  $d.  a  day  in 
addition.4  The  boatmen  of  a  salvage  corps,  or  sort  of  Humane  Society,  on 
the  Yang-tse-kiang,  are  paid  6d.  a  day,  besides  8s.  for  every  living  body 
they  rescue,  and  6s.  or  ~s.  for  every  corpse.  Junkmen  in  Sz'chuen  get 
8^.  a  day  and  five  .cupfuls  of  cooked  rice  ;  °  and,  though  this  class  is 
reckoned  among  the  lowest  of  the  population,  Mr.  Little  found  them 
paying  5^/,  to  hire  a  flower  boat  to  give  them  a  concert.  The  pay  of  a 
horse  and  man  is  given  at  gd.  a  day.  In  another  district  the  men  em- 
ployed in  an  Imperial  gun-foundry  earn  6d.  a  day  and  their  tood  ;  but 
at  the  salt  works,  where,  however,  some  perquisites  in  kind  are  probably 
enjoyed,  only  2d.  a  day  and  food.1' 

The  Consular  reports  from  Chinese  treaty  ports  do  not  give  the  kind  ot 
information  respecting  wages  and  the  conditions  of  industry  which  have 
been  furnished  of  late  years  from  other  countries.  Such  details  as  they 
give  incidentally,  however,  confirm  the  statements  of  the  mass  of  travellers. 
The  weekly  wages  of  the  operatives  in  a  single  cotton  mill  recently  opened 
in  Shanghai  range  from  3s.  to  ax  6d.  for  women,  and  from  4s.  6d.  to  12s. 
for  men.  "  All  the  operatives  are  Chinese,  who  have  been  trained  to 
the  work  within  the  brief  period  since  the  mill  began,  and  they  do  their 
work  quite  as  efficiently  as  foreign  hands,  though  in  some  departments 
double  the  number  is  still  required.''  7  The  leisurely  character  of  Chinese 
industry  is  also  noted  by  an  engineer,  who  observes  that  the  "  cost  of  a 
given    quantity  of  work    is   the    same    here    as    in    Italy,    for   the    Chinese, 

1  Williamson,  p.   I  17. 

-  Smithsonian  Ccntribntions,  vol.  xv.,  art.  4,  p.  20.  In  a  lead-mine  he  found  the  day's 
work  consisted  of  eight  hours.      1 /:'>.,  p.  103.) 

3  Fortune,  Residence,  pp.  42,    i<jb. 

'•  Blnkiston,  Fiz'l  Months  on  the  Yan^tszc,  1S62,  p.  201. 

■'  Cooper,  Pioneer,  p.  66. 

''  Williamson,  Journey,  p.  307. 

7  Trade   Retorts,  Xo.   11a,   Shanghai,    1S92. 


3 14  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

though  the}'  receive  far  lower  wages,  have  not  the  strength  of  Italians, 
and  cannot  do  the  same  amount  of  work."  l 

The  absence  of  the  middleman  and  the  large  capitalist  in  Chinese 
enterprise  is  also  illustrated  by  the  account  -  of  the  soap-stone  mines, 
forty  miles  from  Wenchow,  the  use  of  which  iias  received  a  large  develop- 
ment owing  to  the  foreign  demand  for  curios.  The  hills  containing  the 
steatite  used  are  owned  by  twenty  to  thirty  families,  who  either  work  the 
tmarries  themselves  or  employ  miners.  The  stone  is  sold  at  the  pit 
mouth,  while  still  soft,  to  carvers  at  a  uniform  price  of  about  Id.  the  lb., 
and  the  carvings  are  hawked  about  by  pedlars  at  the  same  (or  even  a 
lower)  rate  than  that  at  which  the  carvers  themselves  offer  them  in  the 
neighbourhood. 

The  people  are  most  prosperous  in  the  most  fertile  parts  of  the  country, 
or  where  articles  ot  commercial  value,  like  tea  and  silk,  are  produced  ; 
"  they  have  more  comfortable  houses,  are  better  led  and  better  clothed 
than  they  are  in  other  places."  "  I  never,"  says  fortune,  "  saw  the  people 
as  a  whole  better  dressed  than  those  of  Hoo-chow.  Every  person  I  met 
above  the  common  working  coolie  was  dressed  in  silk  or  crape,  and  even 
the  coolies  have  at  least  one  drc.-s  tor  holiday  wear.'''  These  observations 
are  confirmed  by  another  authority.  Notwithstanding  the  dense  popu- 
lation of  Honan,  where  the  value  of  the  wheat  and  cotton  crop  is  very  great, 
wages,  according  to  baron  v.  Richthofen,  are  id.  to  \\d.  a  day  more  than  in 
Iioope  and  Hunan  ;  this  shows  that  ail  classes  profit  proportionately  from 
the  fertility  of  the  soil — a  result  which,  as  Cobbett  observed,  was  so  far 
from  being  attained  in  England  that  the  rights  of  Common  of  the  poor 
sul  sisted  longest  in  the  counties  which  were  by  nature  least  attractive  to 
the  moneyed  encloser,  so  that   the  poor  were  best  off  on  the  worst  land. 

A  well-informed  writer  :  lias  suggested,  as  a  means  of  estimating  the 
comparative  rate  of  real  wages  in  China  and  other  countries,  that  the 
:...:. .her  ot  years  should  be  calculated  that  it  will  take  a  young  man, 
';  -ginning  his  industrial  hie  at  eighteen,  without  capital,  to  earn  and  save 
enough  to  keep  himself,  marry,  and  buy  land  enough  ior  hmiseil  and  his 
:  .  lily  to  live  on  by  their  own  lab  air— a  way  of  looking  at  the  question 
.  h  eliminates  all  uncertainty  as  to  the  purchasing  power  of  money 
wages.  According  to  Dr.  McGowan,  whose  iacts  are  taken  trom  the 
neighbour:!  ;od  ot  \\  enchow,  the  wages  ol  ai  ie-1  i  died  young  men  average 
;u  a  year,  with  lood,  shoes,  and  iree  shaving.  Clothes  may  cost  $4,  so 
liiat  tfS  yearly  are  left  for  saving.  SiSc,  the  savings  often  years,  will  buy 
one-third  01  an  acre  of  land  1  worth  .745 z  an  a<  re;  and  implements  to  work  it. 
1  in  tins  the  man  can  live  and  save  enough  in  another  ten  years  to   bring  ..is 

:    /'.,  X ■>.   I'  '44,    I  I    :.',-:  .'..,    \><)2.        (  'hi  .  '-'    :i    v.    ul  I    not   be  'ir      iotl   1>\ 

.  ■.  ..  ::.'.-;:'.  y  ;>  in  ■  1    -     rtiuii  to  ii.-i  incaici      :v. 

!'       ,  ti     .'        ■■       -  :  "        :     .-.    '      •  '   ..  1  i'  is  really  just  about  as  cheap  as 

..   \    .   u:.:.    '■■ .  .    i-  15. 

...      ::. 
'    i   r.  Mi  '  :    \\  .;..      /  .     ';   ..  '    ..;:.:  Jlr.ui.  .,  R.A.>..   M.  re  a,   I S  ^  7 . 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION  OE  INDUSTRY.    315 

holding  up  to  two-thirds  of  an  acre,  and  to  buy  one-third  of  a  buffalo.  His 
marriage  would  cost  another  six  years'  labour,  so  that  starting  with  nothing 
at  eighteen,  at  forty-four  the  Chinese  labourer  may  find  himself  indepen- 
dent and  possessed  of  what,  for  him,  is  a  competence.  And  of  course  few 
labourers  of  that  age  start  really  with  nothing,  as  their  labour  up  to  that 
age  is  regarded  as,  at  least,  worth  so  much  as  to  enable  their  parents  to 
provide  the  wife,  which  propriety  requires  them   not  to  wait  for  too  long. 

These  results  do  not  presuppose  so  high  a  standard  of  agricultural 
profits  as  M.  Simon  attributes  to  Mr.  Wang.  In  the  rice  region  of  Wenchow, 
two-fifths  cf  the  land  is  cultivated  by  its  owners  and  three-fifths  let.  The 
tenants  pay  half  the  rice  crop,  one  acre  yielding  over  19  piculs,  giving 
to  each  about  $21  ;  the  owner  pays  the  land  tax,  $1  80  cents,  and  the 
farmer  every  other  expense,  while  the  latter  takes  the  intervening  crops, 
worth  $15.  "  The  relations  of  landlord  and  tenant  give  rise  to  no  ill-will  ; 
all  are  satisfied  by  arrangements  developed  in  long  bygone  ages.''  But 
the  landlord's  net  rent  does  not  represent  much  over  5  per  cent.,  while 
the  landlord  is  quite  frequently  poorer  than  the  tenant,  as  where  one- 
sixth  of  an  acre  is  owned  by  a  widow  or  a  coolie  and  let  out  to  the 
cultivator  of  adjoining  plots  for  half  the  yield  of  rice. 

There  is  not  a  large  class  of  women  working  for  wages  in  China  ;  a 
certain  number  are  employed  as  domestic  servants  in  the  richer  house- 
holds, where  their  status  is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  poor  relations 
who  frequently  fill  a  similar  position.  Cirls  and  children  are  employed 
in  many  quasi-domestic  trades  in  China,  and  work  is  given  out  from  shops 
to  be  done  by  women  at  home.  ''  For  common  embroidery  not  more 
than  3./.  a  day  is  paid,  bor  the  finer  work  they  never  receive  more  than 
(jJ.  a  day,  working  from  early  dawn  till  dusk."  1  In  other  words,  a  skilled 
embroideress  gets  about  what  General  Tcheng-kbtong  considers  the 
normal  wages  of  a  male  labourer, — which  wages  are  five  times  as  much  as 
a  man  needs  for  the  strict  necessaries  of  life.  There  is  in  China,  owing  to 
the  universality  of  marriage  (and  of  industry  among  husbands),  no  class  of 
women  living  on  their  own  unsupplemented  earnings,  yet  the  price  of 
skilled  feminine  work  is  such  as  might  suffice  for  the  maintenance  of  an 
humble  family,  and  the  lowest  wages  mentioned,  apart  from  food,  which  is 
generally  included,  are  well  above  starvation  point.  During  the  short  silk 
season,  a  woman  can  earn  is.  a  day  by  silk-winding.2 

Food  grows  everywhere,  and  therefore,  except  in  times  of  famine,  the 
imperfect  means  of  communication  are  not  a  serious  evil  ;  and,  of  course, 
a  large  proportion  of  the  people  find  employment  in  the  transport  of  the 
more  valuable  commodities,  which  fetch  a  price  sufficient  to  cover  freight. 
Where  the  above  rates  of  wages  rule,  prices  are  on  a  corresponding  scale. 
Plates  of  cherries  are  sold  by  the  wayside  in  one  district  for  half  a  far- 
thing; grapes  in  another  tor  IE,  or  less,  the  catty;  entertainment  for  an 
evening,  «ith  tea,  tobacco,  and  melon  seeds,   costs  about  !,J.       Seats    at  a 

1    Chill  Life  in  Chinese  Houses,      Mrs.   Hrydon.  p,  36, 
-   E.  II.   I'arker,  China  Leiiezc,  x.  p.  300. 


3i6  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

theatre,  for  a  performance  lasting  forty-eight  hours,  cost  from  2  centimes 
to  2d.  A  good  meal  of  rice,  ready  cooked,  costs  :\d.  :  coolies  and  bearers 
can  eat  and  drink  their  fill  for  $d.  a  day,1  and  the  students  at  a  military 
school  only  pay  .p/.  a  day  for  their  hoard,  which  is  considered  ample  by 
the  youths  themselves.'-3  A  respectable  gentleman  is  only  charged  5^/.  at 
an  inn  for  a  night's  lodging  and  food,  and  the  very  slight  difference  be- 
tween the  cost  of  food  to  the  workman  and  to  persons  in  easy  circumstances 
is  the  most  conclusive  proof  possible  that  the  former  do  not  suffer  from 
want  in  this  respect  at  least.  There  are  no  duties  on  food,  and  the 
extreme  cheapness  of  small  commodities  and  services  has  the  effect,  fore- 
told by  theorists,  of  making  the  workmen  act  to  a  great  extent  as  each 
other's  employers. 

It  is  common  to  see  a  man  sitting  in  the  street  to  be  shaved,  while  a 
cobbler  mends  lbs  boot  and  a  sempstress  his  jacket/'1  M.  Simon  notes  that, 
as  in  the  Middle  Ages  with  us,  there  is  little  difference  between  the  rate  of 
pay  in  trades  and  professions.  A  mason,  carpenter,  or  agricultural  labourer 
earns  almost  as  much  as  an  artist  or  doctor.  The  fee  of  the  latter  may  range 
from  2d.  to  5^/.,  but  never  higher.  An  art  workman  or  designer  earns  5*/. 
or  ()(/.  a  day  without  food,  or  in  the  country,  with  food,  lid.  to  3</.  These 
wages  are  rather  lower  than  those  previously  quoted,  but  the  following 
prices  from  the  same  source  must  be  taken  in  connection  with  them, 
beef,  \id.  a  lb.  ;  pork,  3^/.  :  mutton,  2d.  ;  fish,  id.  to  lid.  ;  a  fowl,  $id.  to 
5^/.  ;  a  duck,  .p/.  ;  tea,  ten  cups,  id.  :  rice  wine  (a  glass),  id.  :  bed  at  an 
inn,  },d.  ;  pair  of  velvet  shoes,  2S.  to  2s.  (yd.  ;  wadded  winter  dress,  6s.  to 
Ss.  ;  straw  hat,  id.  to  a  id.;  summer  dress,  ii.  Sd.  to  2S.  ;  cloak  lined  with 
sheep  skin,  6s.  to  Ss.  ;  pair  of  string  working  shoes,  ^d.  to  1  id:1  The  cost 
of  luxuries  of  persons  of  distinction  is  proportionately  moderate.  If  a 
gentleman  wishes  to  entertain  his  friends,  he  invites  them  to  dine  at  a 
restaurant,  where  the  usual  price  for  a  suitable  entertainment  is  3.S'.  a  head, 
eight  being  the  normal  number  of  guests  ;  io.f.  a  head  is  the  highest  sum 
ever  charged  for  banquets  of  great  solemnity,0  and  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  restrictions  on  expenditure  for  show  has  driven  Chinese  luxury  to 
concentrate  itself  more  in  proportion  upon  the  pleasures  of  the  table  than 
is   the  ea-e  in  Europe. 

As  agriculture  runs  into  industry,  industry  merges  itself  in  commerce. 
Every  Chinaman,  as  M.  Simon  observes,  has  half  a  dozen  trades  at  his 
lingers'  ends,  and  can  be  at  will  cultivator,  weaver,  basket-maker,  shoe- 
maker, or  even  smith.  In  sheds  worth  a  few  francs,  they  will  cast  cannon, 
shells,  or  statues  sixty  feet  high.  We  can  judge  how  little  change  there 
has  been  m  the  ordinary  life  of  China  by  the  illustration  given  in  a  letter  to 
Europe,  dated  1712.  ot  the  way  in  which  families  whose  whole  capital  does 
nut  exceed  a  crown,  yet  live  decently  on  the  profits  derived  from  its  judi- 
cious use.      A  man  with  two  or  three  shillings  spends  them  in  buying  sugar, 

1    A.    It.   M;u":;ary,    Aw//,,-/  nil    I.,!!crs,  p.  210. 

'-'    I  •      /,'.■/>.' r.<  <  11   ('■:!/;,.  ]i.   ,'i;.  :t   J//,/'/,',    h'/ii^i.'in.   ii.    ]>.    12''). 

'    l.<i    I  .  .    (.'■•'///!   A,  .    lip.    ICj.S,    117.  ■'    I.,.;  1 ',',;/.  1 ';:■ ;,  1:   C/lili:,   p.    22^. 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION    OF  INDUSTRY.     317 

flour,  and  rice,  and  makes  them  into  little  breakfast  cakes,  which  the 
labourers  buy  before  dawn  on  their  way  to  work.  He  clears  perhaps  io</. 
on  the  job,  and  half  that  sum  suffices  to  feed  his  family  for  the  day.1 

This  man  combines  in  his  one  person  the  functions  of  master  and 
journeyman  baker,  and  of  itinerant  vendor  and  stall-keeper,  and  he  is 
entitled  to  interest  on  his  capital  as  well  as  wages  for  his  labour  ;  but  his 
demands  in  the  former  capacity  are  so  modest  that  they  do  not  raise  his 
total  earnings  above  those  of  a  mechanic;  hence  his  prices  are  so  low  that 
mechanics  can  employ  him  without  extravagance,  and  actually  experience 
the  economy  of  that  co-operative  cooking  so  often  recommended  to  English 
housewives.  Fuel  is  really  scarce  in  most  parts  of  China,  and  therefore  it 
is  cheaper  for  the  poor  to  buy  cooked  food  to  eat  in  the  streets,  as  in 
ancient  Egypt,  than  to  employ  the  wife,  as  with  us,  in  cooking  at  home. 
If.  however,  an  occasion  presents  itself  when  the  community  can  do  its 
own  cooking  free  of  cost,  it  is  seized  with  alacrity. 

Weds  Williams  describes  a  method  used  for  burning  shells  to  lime, 
which  serves  this  purpose  ;  a  wood  fire  is  kindled  under  a  heap  of  shells  en- 
closed by  a  low  wall,  making  a  sort  of  furnace,  and  when,  in  a  few  hours 
the  shells  are  calcined,  the  villagers  assemble  round  the  enclosure  to  cook 
their  rice  and  vegetables  over  the  burning  pile.  After  all  have  profited  by 
the  temporary  heat,  which  costs  nothing,  the  lime  is  taken  out  next  morn- 
ing and  sifted  for  the  mason.-  Oyster,  cockle,  and  mussel  shells  are  also 
burnt  with  coal  dust  for  lime,  which  when  mixed  with  oil  makes  excellent 
putty,  and  is  used  for  cementing  coffins  ;  but  any  attempt  to  deal  with  the 
by-ways  of  Chinese  industrv  would  carry  us  too  far  afield. 

Everything  in  rerum  natitra  that  can  serve  some  useful  purpose  is  put 
to  it,  and  nothing  that  can  serve  two  purposes  is  allowed  to  stop  short  at 
one.  In  England  a  few  large  fortunes  are  made  by  the  utilization  of  so- 
called  waste  material.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Birmingham  '"button 
waste"  is  used  for  manure,  but  thrift  in  China  does  in  small  what  is  only 
attempted  wholesale  in  England,  so  that  every  scrap  left  from  the  carcass 
of  an  individual  ox  or  sheep  helps  to  fertilize  a  private  cabbage  garden, 
and  the  millions  share  unconsciously  amongst  themselves  tiie  profits  which, 
with  us,  enrich  perhaps  one  scientific  speculator  out  often. 

'Town  sewage,  which  in  England  is  employed  at  vast  expense  in  poison- 
ing rivers  and  estuaries,  is  dealt  with  in  the  same  way  by  private  enterprise  : 
it  is  collected,  without  charge,  by  the  cultivators  in  the  suburbs  ;  and  in- 
deed, according  to  one  traveller,  the  Peking  householders,  instead  of  pay- 
ing their  scavengers,  are  by  them  supplied  with  vegetables  in  return  for 
leave  to  perform  the  service.  The  whole  of  China,  it  is  complained  In- 
some  travellers,  is  rendered  painfully  malodorous  by  tliis  national  devotion 
to  the  dunghill  ;  but  by  doinj;  ail  their  drainage  on  the  surface,  they  a; 
least  escape  one  danger  of  imperfect  civilization-  -in  the  generation  of  sewer 
gas.  Tanks  and  water-courses  are  cleaned  out  frequently,  for  the  sake  or 
the  muddy  sediment  at  the  bottom,  which  is  highly  valued  for  manure. 
1   Littrcs  Edijlni',--.  xviii.  p.  20s.  -   Middle  Kingdom,  ii.  p.  56. 


3iS  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

All  these  fertilizers  are  not.  as  in  Europe,  scattered  indiscriminately  over 
the  fields.      '"  The  Chinese  manure  the  plant,  not  the  ground,'"'  and  consider 

all  time  and  rare  well  spent  which  adds  ever  so  slightly  to  the  harvest, 
hi  Chih-li.  near  the  borders  of  Shansi.  manure  is  made  by  strewing  the 
roads  with  chopped  straw,  which  the  horses  trample  and  reduce  to  a  kind 
of  litter.  When  nothing  edible  can  be  raised  in  the  interval  between  har- 
vest and  seed-time,  a  green  crop  is  often  sown  for  manure,  as  clover  is 
raised  in  Chusan  on  ridges  of  the  rice-field  in  winter,  to  be  pulled  in 
sj  ring  to  plough  and  harrow  into  the  wet  ground. 

If  the  profits  of  agriculture  and  industry  are  kept  up  by  this  incessant 
and  imaginative  thriftiness,  they  are  also  kept  down  to  the  same  sort  of 
level  as  wanes,  because  every  Chinaman  is  as  ready  to  sell  as  to  make.  In 
Canton,  where  there  is  a  large  population  living  entirely  on  the  water, 
boats  dealing  with  every  kind  of  ware  that  can  be  required  take  the  place 
of  shops.  There  are  shrimp-boats,  pea-boats,  fish,  cake,  rice,  meat,  pork, 
bean-curd,  firewood,  and  flower-boats,  over  and  above  those  which  use  the 
water  highway  for  trade  or  fishing.  Cue  article  of  commerce  is  water  from 
the  river,  taken  up  at  the  spawning  grounds  of  fish.  Such  bucketfuls  are 
freely  bought  to  be  emptied  into  the  ponds  and  tanks  of  villagers,  where 
fish  are  bred  in  sufficient  quantities  to  make  an  appreciable  addition  to  the 
food  supply.  According  to  the  missionaries  of  last  century,  a  profit  of 
ico  per  cent,  was  sometimes  realized  thus,  and  by  the  same  means,  a  crop, 
as  we  may  call  it.  is  snatched  out  of  the  shallows  left  by  winter  floods, 
before  they  dry  up  and  allow  grain  to  follow  fish. 

Chinese  society  is  not  divided  into  employers  and  employed,  but  the 
principle  of  unionism  is  familiar  to  and  accepted  by  all  classes.  Voluntary 
associations,  partnerships,  guilds,  and  corporations,  like  those  of  the  Phoeni- 
cians and  Berbers,  are  the  rale  everywhere.  The  •'  tendency  to  associate  " 
is  a  characteristic  of  Chinese  life.  ''In  trade,  capitalists  associate  to  found 
great  banks,  to  sell  favourite  medicines,  or  engross  leading  staples  :  little 
farmers  club  together  to  buy  an  ox.  pedlars  to  get  the  custom  of  a  street. 
porters  to  monopolize  the  loads  in  a  ward,  or  chair-bearers  to  furnish  all 
the  sedans  in  a  town.  Beggars  are  allotted  to  one  or  two  streets  by  their 
in  '  -  s,  and,  driven  off  one  another's  beat  if  they  encroach.  Each  cuiki 
of  car]  irer-.  siikmen,  masons,  or  even  of  physicians  or  teachers,  work- 
t  i  kin  m  its  n  :  .'•  rests,  keep  its  own  members  in  order,  and  defend, 
itself  ij  i:  -'  its  01  '  one;  ts.  Villagers  form  themselves  into  organizations 
.  e.  lin-t  tiie  wiles  ol  ]  werful  i  lans  :  and  unsi  rui  ui  >i  -  officials  are  met  and 
baulked         ;  ar  ;;:i     ms  .viien  they  least  expe  i  ;:."  '      The  tra  ie  _  ;ihb. 

according  to  Mr.  Little.  re  always  obeyed,  and  the  power  of  each  is 
"'  inv   i,    "■  v  ■       ■    '      :    :  u  the  goo  1  of  its    members  and    the  honour  of  the 


ot  association,  bracketed  by  most  foreign- 
'roac  ies    r  :     :r  t  i  ti    :  b  ir  ipean   chamber 


■■•:.  v 
Y 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION  OF  INDUSTRY.    379 

of  commerce,  while  the  other  is  a  "trade  union''  in  the  modern  sense.1 
The  associations  of  commercial  men  regulate  the  conduct  of  their  mem- 
bers in  the  same  spirit  and  with  the  same  minuteness  as  trade  unions 
proper,  and  the  Litter  differ  from  the  corresponding  English  societies  in 
generally  including  masters  and  workmen,  united  to  uphold  the  interest 
of  the  trade  against  society  at  large,  instead  of  upholding  the  interest  of 
their  several  classes  against  each  other.  Wages  and  prices  are  fixed  con- 
currently. A  few  years  ago,  in  consequence  of  the  depreciation  of  silver, 
the  Wen  chow  blacksmiths'  union  found  it  necessary  to  revise  its  bye-laws, 
and.  being  a  mixed  society,  in  its  own  words,  "agreed  on  a  new  tariff  of 
wages  for  work  and  price  for  our  manufactured  works."  2  That  prices 
should  be  left  as  they  were  and  wages  lowered,  occurred  to  no  one. 

Disputes  as  to  the  rate  of  wages  occur  so  seldom  as  not  to  give  a  raison 
d'etre  for  separate  workmen's  associations.  In  large  trades  where  these  exist. 
they  regulate  the  conduct  of  the  journeymen  among  themselves,  in  the 
same  manner  as  the  masters'  associations.  The  right  of  the  workers  to 
combine  has  never  been  questioned,  but  on  the  rare  occasions  when  they 
combine  against  employers,  it  is  for  the  decision  of  some  particular  dispute; 
they  unite  for  a  strike,  and  disband  when,  as  is  almost  always  the  case,  it  has 
been  successful.  The  local  authorities  have  the  habit  of  upholding  the  de- 
cisions of  industrial  and  commercial  organizations.  When  appealed  to  in 
civil  cases,  they  often  refer  the  litigants  to  the  town  guilds  for  arbitration, 
or  themselves  consult  the  guilds  as  to  the  lawful,  i.e.  the  customary,  usage. 
It  is  assumed  that  such  bodies  as  these  would  not  threaten  public  harmony 
by  a  strike,  unless  they  had  some  substantial  grievance  :  and  if  the  magis- 
trates interpose  at  all,  it  is  to  compel  the  masters  to  remove  the  provoca- 
tion complained  of. 

The  rules  of  the  societies  vary  with  the  different  trades.  The  Wenchow 
silk-weavers'  and  dyers' union  lays  down  that  "members  of  the  association 
shall  work  carefully  with  their  best  skill,  and  pay  for  silk  that  has  been 
damaged  by  bungling."  A  hand  employed  by  one  manufacturer  and  work- 
ing surreptitiously  (Povertime)  for  another,  is  fined  the  cost  of  a  play  and 
feast.  One  who  steals  silk  from  an  employer  is  expelled  the  trade,  and 
the  purchaser  fined  as  before.  Wages  are  paid  two  or  four  months  in 
advance,  and  members  are  forbidden  to  leave,  or  to  set  up  for  themselves. 
tiU  all  advances  are  worked  off.  Weaving  is  to  be  taught  before  dyeing, 
and  no  shop  to  have  more  than  one  apprentice  at  dyeing  at  the  same  time. 
Manufacturers  shall  have  but  one  member  of  their  family  learning  the  art 
at  one  time.  A  shop  of  three  looms  may  have  two  apprentices,  not  more. 
Apprentices  serve  five  years  as  such,  and  two  years  as  journeymen. 

Man.}-  unions  limit  the  number  of  apprentices.  Some,  as  the  gold-beaters 
at  Wenchow,  allow  none  but  sons  and  nephews  of  workmen  or  masters  to 
learn   the  trade.      Silk-weavers    are  forbidden    to  teach    or  employ   women. 

;    Chin        Guilds  or   Chambers  of  Commerce  and  Trade    Unions,  by    D.J.  McGowan, 
M.').,  Journal,  China  Branch,  Boy.;'.  Asiatic  Society,  xxi.  ^,  4  (March,  1SS7  ■. 
-   Be,  v,  172. 


OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA, 


and  needle-makers  only  allow  the  wives  and  daughters  of  members  living 
at  home  to  assist  in  drilling  needle-eves.  In  some  cases  membership  is 
reserved  to  natives  of  a  locality,  and  several  of  the  provisions  of  this  sort 
are  traces  rather  of  old  than  new  caste  feeling. 

The  millers'  union  lines  those  who  sell  Hour  for  less  than  the  price 
agreed  on.  and  forbids  its  members  to  give  credit  to  any  one  who  is  in 
debt  to  another  member.  Xo  abatement  of  price  is  to  be  allowed  to  large 
consumers,  such  as  pastry-makers,  etc.  ;  and  the  code  ends  with  the  injunc- 
tion of  world-wide  appropriateness  :  "  Let  not  observance  of  these  rules  be 
a  mere  spurt  at  the  outset  and  dawdling  afterwards  ! ';  The  dyers'  union, 
in  view  of  the  fluctuation  in  the  prices  of  indigo,  admits  that  charges  for 
dyeing  may  change  twice  a  year,  but  not  oftener,  and  in  the  interval  the 
price  agreed  on  must  be  adhered  to;  accounts  are  to  be  settled,  as  we 
should  say.  quarterly,  i.e.  at  the  end  of  the  three  terms  into  which  the 
\  ear  is  divided. 

Every  half-century  or  so  the  societies  generally  find  it  necessary  to  revise 
their  bye-laws  and  make  a  fresh  start.  The  Wenchow  barbers'  union  dis- 
tinguished itself  by  abrogating  a  custom,  without  legal  force,  which  forbade 
them  to  attend  the  literary  examinations,  though  they  had  to  appeal  to  the 
governor  of  die  province  before  obtaining  this  satisfaction.  The  kittysols' 
union  and  the  pewterers'  association,  finding  their  trade  suffer  from  the  bad 
quality  of  wares  put  on  the  market,  passed  regulations  forbidding,  under 
tne  same  penalties  as  underselling,  the  adulteration  of  tin  with  lead  and 
the  manufacture  of  paper  umbrellas  of  interior  quality.  Fishing  boats  are 
grouped  in  tens  lor  mutual  guarantee:  ten  tens  elect  a  chief,  and  if  a 
member  of  the  group  wishes  to  sell  his  boat  or  turn  her  into  a  merchant- 
man, lie  must  notify  his  colleagues  ami  obtain  their  sanction.  Tne  Xing- 
po  fishermen's  union  prescribes  the  use  of  standard  weights,  and  lines 
boatmen  who  increase  the  weight  of  their  hampers  of  fish  by  putting  sand 
at  tne  bottom. 

L'nions  in  which  piecework  prevails  limit  the  number  of  hours  to  be 
worke  \  by  members;  weaving,  for  instance,  must  not  go  on  after  nine  at 
uiuht.  The  hours  of  C\w  workers  are  fixed  by  custom.  Carpenters  are 
,-^id  bv  Dr.  McCowan,  from  whom  most  of  the  above  particulars  are 
derived,  to  work  eleven  hours  in  summer  and  nine  in  winter,  and  masons 
for  half  .  :.  h  >ur  longer  :  the  latter,  perhaps,  because  there  are  fewer  days 
:.  v.  hen  they  can  work,  and  in  ail  cases  it  must  be  remembered  tiiat  both 
work  and  meals  are  taken  at  a  leisurely  rate. 

We  iiu  in  China  with  most  ot  the  ideas  and  problems  familiar  to 
e<  on  ....  ■  in  tile  West  :   but  there  is  one  conception  that  we  have 

i.  it    m   t    a       .      Nothing    is  heard    in   theory   or  seen   m    practice   of  tl    it 
cuiious    phenomenon    which    we    cad    over-production.       (Tina    produ 
enormous     .  vet    hei   markets    are   never   glut:     1:    and  however  much    she 
:  :    du    js,  ;,    r         •    r  oi    consumption  is   <  fe  of  expanding    to  meet    it. 

Industrv    is  universal,  and   therefore  every   one  produces   something    more 


i.ui  tile  e 


wn  necessarv  main 


THE    WAGES  AND    ORGANIZATION  OF  INDUSTRY.   321 

versal  cheapness,  and  a  corresponding  extension  of  the  purchasing  power 
of  all  classes.  In  a  country  without  foreign  trade,  all  increase  of  produc- 
tion means  increased  power  of  consumption,  unless  production  is  diverted 
from  the  supply  of  things  necessary  and  useful  to  that  of  unprofitable 
luxuries  or  curiosities.  But  for  universal  cheapness  to  be  an  equal  boon 
to  all  classes,  it  is  of  course  necessary  that  all  classes  should  retain  for 
themselves  substantially  the  whole  real  value  of  their  labour. 

We  have  seen  that  this  is,  to  an  unusual  extent,  the  case  in  China. 
The  rules  of  most  of  the  trade  societies  provide  for  the  contingency  of  the 
journeyman  setting  up  in  business  for  himself,  and  when  this  occurs  fre- 
quently, it  follows  of  course  that  the  change  of  status  implies  very  little 
increase  of  wealth.  The  master  workman  pays  so  much  in  direct  wages  to 
his  own  journeymen,  and  so  much  indirectly,  in  the  price  of  goods,  for  the 
wages  of  other  employers'  journeymen,  that  he  realizes  little  more  than  a 
decent  and  easy  wage  for  himself.  The  employer  in  Europe  and  America 
is  more  highly  paid,  and  the  natural  course  of  exchange  is  disturbed  by 
the  concentration  in  a  few  hands  of  gains  in  excess  of  the  natural  spending 
power  of  their  owner.  The  normal  course  is  for  producers  to  exchange, 
one  with  another,  the  surplus  produce  of  their  several  industries. 

Putting  3,650  lbs.  of  rice  as  representing  the  necessaries  of  life  for  a  year, 
and  supposing  the  cultivator  to  grow,  single-handed,  5.000  lbs., or  one  quarter 
of  the  grain  crop  of  Wang-ming-tse,  he  has  1.350  lbs.  left  to  spend  on  other 
utilities  and  luxuries.  Supposing  the  labour  of  artisans  in  general  to  average 
the  same  degree  of  productiveness,  the  surplus  represents  the  value  of  135 
days'  labour.  We  will  suppose  the  labourer  to  employ  a  blacksmith  and  a 
carpenter  for  his  farm  implements ;  a  shoemaker,  tailor,  weaver,  hatter, 
kittysol  maker,  and  embroideress  for  his  wardrobe  ;  a  butcher,  baker,  fisher- 
man, poulterer,  and  teaman  for  his  dinner-table,  besides  doctor,  school- 
master, actors,  and  other  miscellaneous  workers,  to  the  number,  say.  of 
twenty  in  all:  he  can  pay  each  of  them  the  wages  of  seven  days'  work, 
more  or  less  :  about  two  thirds  of  the  work  of  each  of  these  employees  of 
the  labourer  will  serve  in  like  manner  to  buy  rice,  and  the  surplus,  mutatis 
mutandis,  will  buy  the  fruit  of  120  days' work  of  various  other  kinds. 
Increased  production  in  any  trade  will  cheapen  any  article  for  which  tile 
demand  is  fixed,  and  therefore  leave  a  larger  surplus  for  the  satisfaction  of 
other  wants  ;  or  if  the  demand  is  expansive,  make  the  available  surplus  of 
consumers  go  farther  in  gratifying  their  desires.  The  wrong  thing  might 
conceivably  be  produced  at  a  given  time  and  place;  but  over-production  in 
general,  if  threatened,  would  cure  itself  by  a  general  extension  of  leisure, 
it  t'ne  use  of  machinery  or  other  discoveries  made  it  possible  for  any 
million  of  men  together  to  make  more  things  than  they  cared  to  use.  But 
this  contingency  would  not  need  serious  consideration  while  the  natural 
increase  of  population  went  on  unchecked. 

L  mess   it   is   maintained,  that  the   division   of  labour   and   the   use    of 
machinery  have  had  such  a  stupefying  and  brutalizing  effect  upon  European 

eratives,  as  to  make  their  individual  add:;:  >ns  to  the  national  v^AA,,  less 

vol..    11. — p.c.  v 


322  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

than  that  of  each  leisurely  Chinaman  with  his  primitive  tools,  there  is 
nothing  but  custom — which  is  not  unalterable  in  Europe — to  prevent  our 
operatives  from  reclaiming  for  themselves  a  proportion  of  the  wealth  they 
contribute  to  produce,  equivalent  to  the  proportion  retained  by  mechanics 
in  the  land  of  Wang-ming-tse  ;  and  when  this  is  done,  over-production 
will  have  as  little  terrors  for  the  civilized  West  as  for  the  indefatigable 
Middle  Kingdom. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

COMMERCE   AND    TRADE. 
§   1.     Chinese  Moralists  on  Interest  and  Profits. 

Artisans  who  retail  their  own  manufactures  and  cultivators  who  sell  the 
products  of  the  soil  are  not  counted  among  traders.  Merchants,  or  those 
exclusively  engaged  in  selling  what  they  do  not  make  or  grow,  are  divided 
into  four  classes — those  engaged  in  foreign  trade,  in  internal  commerce  or 
transport ;  those  with  wholesale  warehouses,  and  those  with  retail  shops. 
The  richest  men  in  the  empire  belong  to  the  three  first  classes,  and  they 
are  the  only  ones  among  whom  any  show  of  luxury  is  to  be  met  with. 
Even  this  is  indulged  in  at  their  peril,  for  the  owners  of  wealth  are  looked 
upon  by  Government  as  the  dangerous  class.  Both  law  and  custom  are 
unfavourable  to  accumulation,  so  that  large  fortunes  do  not  remain  long  in 
the  same  family.  Heiresses  are  unknown,  and  thus,  by  a  diametrically 
opposite  method,  the  same  result  is  readied  as  among  the  Basques,  for 
fortunes  are  not  increased  by  marriage.  The  Chinese  millionaire  is  as 
likely  as  not  to  leave  thirty  grandsons,  equally  entitled  to  share  in  his 
inheritance,  and  the  next  generation  can  at  most  succeed  to  a  modest 
competence. 

The  trading  class  as  a  whole  is  considered  to  stand  lowest  of  the  four 
generally  recognised,  and  before  quoting  Western  accounts  of  Chinese 
commercial  morality  and  usage  it  will  be  well  to  ascertain  what  the  atmo- 
sphere of  authoritative  native  opinion  has  been,  while  existing  practices 
and  tendencies  were  acquiring  their  actual  character.  The  general 
opinion  of  Chinese  authors  is  that  commerce  should  be  as  far  as  possible 
restricted  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  real  wants  of  the  community;  and  the 
profits  of  trade  are  viewed  askance  as  soon  as  they  seem  to  exceed  the  fair 
wages  of  a  carrier,  apparently  because  of  a  confused  feeling  that  a  man 
who  lives  by  profits  only  is  a  kind  of  usurer.  The  question  of  the  morality 
and  expediency  of  lending  money  at  interest  has  been  copiously  discussed 
by  Chinese  authors,  but  it  is  usually  considered  in  connection  with  the 
wider  problem,  how  to  prevent  commerce  from  ministering  to  luxury  and 
promoting  inequality  of  wealth. 

Valuable  citations  are  given  on  this  subject  by  Amyot  in  the  Essay 
previously  quoted,  but,  unfortunately,  in  most  cases  without  any  mention 
of  the  date  of  the  authors  referred  to.1     One  of  them  observes:   ''There  is 

1  Interet  Je  Tangent  en  Chine.      Man.  cone.  les  Chinois,  vol.  iv.  \\  299  ff. 


324  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

the  trade  between  families  in  the  same  place,  the  trade  from  village  to 
village,  from  town  to  town,  from  province  to  province,  which  are  easy  and 
natural  on  account  of  their  proximity,  and  lastly  there  is  the  commercial 
intercourse  between  different  provinces,  and  between  all  the  provinces  and 
the  capital."  (The  "carrying  of  cloth  to  exchange  it  for  silk  "  is  as  old  as 
the  Odes.)  These  are  necessary  and  legitimate,  but  great  wealth  obtained 
and  costly  luxuries  introduced  by  trade  are  evils  and  the  source  of  evil. 

Kwan-tse  wrote,  2,000  years  ago,  "  The  money  which  comes  in  by  trade 
only  enriches  a  country  so  far  as  it  goes  out  again  in  trade.  The  ex- 
change of  necessary  and  useful  articles  is  the  only  commerce  that  can  be 
advantageous  in  the  long  run.  The  trade  in  objects  of  curiosity,  ostenta- 
tion and  refinement,  whether  carried  on  by  barter  or  purchase,  presupposes 
luxury  ;  and  luxury,  which  consists  in  the  abounding  superfluities  of  some 
citizens,  supposes  the  absence  of  necessaries  among  many  others.  The 
more  horses  the  rich  have  in  their  chariots,  the  more  persons  there  are  who 
go  on  foot.  The  more  vast  and  magnificent  the  palaces  of  the  rich,  the 
smaller  and  more  miserable  the  huts  of  the  poor;1  for  every  table  with  a 
variety  of  dishes,  there  are  others  reduced  to  eat  plain  rice.'''  Foreign 
commerce  is  only  useful  in  so  far  as  it  brings  serviceable  commodities  into 
the  empire.  Thus,  in  the  1  5th  century  the  northern  trade  in  furs  was 
c  msidered  beneficial,  and  that  with  the  Tapanese  and  Europeans  not  so; 
while  the  exportation  of  tea  and  silk  were  regretted  as  lessening  the 
quantity,  and  raising  the  price  of  that  left  for  home  consumption. 

These  writers  contend  that  the  luxurv.  introduced  by  commerce  under  the 
Hans,  would  have  ruined  the  empire  if  it  had  not  been  put  a  stop  to  with 
the  foreign  trade  that  gave  it  birth.  The  tendency  in  this  direction  cannot 
be  eradi  ited.  but  it  can  be  keot  in  check.  Wise  administration.  Liaou- 
tchi  observes,  consists  in  keeping  the  consumption  of  every  class  in  the 
customary  proportion,  and  only  allowing  increased  consumption  when 
production  has  \rzc\\  so  increased  that  it  is  not  indulged  in  at  the  expense 
of  any  other  class,  and  so  does  not  appear  odious  to  the  multitude.  The 
(Government,  he  holds,  should  visit  with  penalties  and  disgrace  every- 
thing that  tends  to  diminish  the  production  of  useful  commodities,  e.£. 
letting  pleasure  gardens  occupv  good  ground,  planting  curious  and  un- 
pr  ifitabl  :  tree-,  gathering  the  buds  of  the  tea-tree,  and  anv  employment 
of  labour  which  withdraws  the  peasants  from  the  cultivation  of  the  ground 
and  artis  ins  from  industries  useful  to  tiie  public. 

Wan-yam:,  another  denouncer  of  luxurv.  echoes  Kwan-tse's  argument: 
:;  If  the  r  ch  e.it  iun').  tiie  poor  will  not  be  able  to  eat  mutton."  Toe 
taste  for  luxury,  he  thinks,  should  be  encouraged  to  spend  itself  upon 
things  whi  ii  owe  their  value  to  other  considerations  than  their  intrinsic 
cost      u]    m  natural    curiosities  or  articles  rendered   choice  by   the  skill   e\- 

1   Cf.  \]\:    1  ■'     '  •  .  WclN  Wi'HariK  '  y  the -en   ral  r.<;    :   '  nfl'l  ii     -  ttowrw. 


COMMERCE   AND    TRADE.  325 

pended  in  their  manufacture,  or  the  singularity  of  the  material — and  which 
do  not  cause  any  injurious  consumption.  Common  things  have  a  well- 
known  market  rate,  but  those  which  owe  their  value  to  fashion  or  con- 
vention can  fetch  a  fancy  price.  People  in  the  provinces  will  give  any 
money  for  hair-pins  or  earrings  from  Peking,  and  it  is  the  same  with  old 
vases  and  pictures,  curios  and  delicacies  for  the  table.  The  merchant's 
30  per  cent,  is  covered  out  of  the  profits  he  gets  from  retailing  such 
luxuries  as  these,  and  the  interest,  which  obliges  him  to  raise  his  prices,  is 
thus  really  a  veiled  tax  on  luxury. 

This  author's  reasoning  is  scarcely  sound,  as  the  dealers  in  necessaries 
may  have  to  borrow,  as  well  as  purveyors  of  luxuries.  Put  human  socie- 
ties are  moved  by  feeling  rather  than  argument,  and  current  fallacies  are 
quite  as  sure  an  index  to  the  tone  of  national  feeling  as  the  soundest 
reasoning  ;  so  that  YVan-yang's  defence  of  interest  may  take  its  place  by 
the  side  of  any  equally  sincere  and  equally  inconclusive  19th  century 
plaidoyer  for  the  principle  of  laissez  faire. 

Tsien-tchi,  forestalling,  in  one  sentence,  the  observation  of  Malthus  and 
the  doctrine  of  free  trade,  points  out  that  commerce  is  more  necessary  to 
the  empire,  now  that  it  is  more  populous  and  less  productive  in  proportion 
than  in  the  ancient  days,  because,  in  order  to  economize  its  actual  resources 
to  the  utmost,  everything  must  be  produced  where  it  can  be  produced 
most  cheaply.  Tsien-tchi  rather  leans  to  the  Innovator's  view,  that 
trade  should  be  organized  by  the  State,  and  he  uses  this  possibility  to  show 
that  it  is  a  prejudice  to  look  down  on  traders.  It  is  a  breach  of  the  antique 
equality  in  the  distribution  of  property  that  the  receipts  of  some  should 
exceed  their  expenses,  so  that  they  have  money  to  lay  by  which  they  are 
not  obliged  to  use;  but  if  tins  cannot  be  prevented,  for  them  to  withdraw 
this  surplus  from  circulation  would  impoverish  the  State,  or  at  least  inter- 
fere with  the  normal  rate  of  exchange. 

The  rate  of  interest,  which  brings  and  keeps  these  sums  in  circulation, 
is  therefore  a  gain  to  trade.  Besides,  it  is  not  only  the  rich  who  benefit 
by  the  rate  of  interest:  the  smallest  sums  can  be  utilized,  and  so  the 
labourer  and  the  artisan  do  not  lose  their  chance  of  profit,  while  the 
savings,  which  they  need  to  draw  upon  after  the  least  misfortune,  can  be 
rccalk-d  at  the  shortest  notice.  Even  if  the  traders  did  not  need  to  borrow, 
they  would  be  wise  to  do  so,  that  all  classes  might  be  interested  in  the 
success  of  trade. 

'•  Why  is  it  that  we  find  everywhere  such  pains  taken  to  facilitate  the 
safe  and  easy  transport  of  goods  by  land  and  water;  why  are  all  the  deal- 
ings that  concern  the  purchase,  sale,  or  despatch  of  goods  completed  with 
such  promptitude  and  good  faith?  Why  are  the  privileges  of  fairs  and 
markets  so  scrupulously  respected,  and  the  police  regulations  affecting 
them  so  mild  and  effective  ?  Is  it  not  because  almost  every  one  has  money 
invested  in  trade,  or  is  interested  in  some  one  who  has?" 

The  same  view  is  urged  by  Man-chan,  another  free  trader,  who  observes 
that  the  Government  acts  wisely  in  not  taxing  commerce,  which  would  only 


326  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

mean  making  the  traders  collect  for  it  certain  taxes  in  the  form  of  increased 
prices  from  the  community.  The  toleration  of  high  interest  serves,  he 
thinks,  as  a  substitute  for  State  favour  or  encouragement.  The  fact  that  it 
is  possible  to  trade  without  owning  capital  makes  the  profits  of  trade  to  be 
more  widely  distributed.  If  a  rich  man  trades  with  his  own  money,  he 
employs  the  services  of  others,  to  whom  he  pays  little,  while  they  earn 
much  ;  and  so,  while  living  in  idleness  himself,  he  reaps  the  whole  profit  of 
their  industry,  while  if  he  lends  at  a  stated  interest,  the  borrower,  who  does 
the  real  work,  enjoys  the  whole  of  whatever  profit  may  be  made  over  and 
above.  Here,  again,  the  argument  is  unconsciously  instructive.  The  ap- 
proach to  equality  of  wealth  in  China  is  due  to  the  extent  to  which  the 
poor  man  participates  in  the  profits  of  capital,  and  to  the  fact  that  he  can 
borrow  at  the  same  rate  as  the  rich  ;  though  it  is  not  due  to  the  fact  that 
his  capital  is,  almost  necessarily,  borrowed.1 

A  certain  minister  called  So-ling  once  lent  20.000  ozs.  of  silver  from  the 
treasury  to  twelve  little  merchants,  and  when  asked  why  he  did  so.  said  : 
"  In  order  that  the  public  may  not  have  to  pay  for  the  banquets,  the  enter- 
tainments, the  varnishes,  the  concubines  and  slaves  of  him  who  has 
monopolized  the  trade  in  silks."  The  rivalry  between  a  number  of  less 
wealthy  dealers  obliges  them  to  compete  with  each  other  in  industry  and 
skill,  and  not  ruin  the  public  with  high  prices.  He  continues,  more 
reasonably  than  Wan-yang.  that  the  demand  for  objects  of  necessity  is  so 
sure  arid  constant  that  the  capital  is  turned  over  frequently,  so  that  the 
trader  can  live  in  modest  comfort,  after  paying  30  percent,  without  raising 
his  prices  ;  it  is  only  upon  articles  of  luxury,  for  which  the  demand  is  un- 
certain, that  the  price  might  have  to  be  raised  enough  to  diminish  the 
demand,  and  this  is  by  no  means  an  evil,  for,  as  Tchin-tse  avers,  the  taste 
for  luxury  is  a  leaven  of  death  and  decay  in  the  body  politic,  so  that  the 
mastei piece  of  political  wisdom  is  to  cause  it  to  discharge  by  a  tew  par- 
ticular wounds,  instead  of  corrupting  all  the  blood. 

This  plea  for  large  fortunes  may  rank  with  Dr.  Johnson's  defence  ot 
primogeniture,  that  it  was  well  to  make  sure  of  having  only  one  fool  in  the 
family,  but,  as  the  Chinese  saw  u  Old  scholars  are  always  scolding,"'' — 
praising  antiquity,  which  they  know  well,  at  the  expense  of  their  own  age, 
of  which  they  know  very  little — for  one  reason,  because  its  history  is  not 
yet  included  in  the  annals.  "  Wretches,"' cries  Lin-wen-hi,  "burn  your 
Is,  and  let  them  end  before  you  appear  in  them  !  "  He,  writing  under 
the  Ming,  says  that  the  poor  alone  are  still  kind  and  generous,  and  he 
thinks  the  legal  toleration  of  interest  as  bad  as  allowing  fathers  to  sell  their 
children,  or  winking  at  the  existence  of  idol  temples  and  disorderly  houses. 
In  the  good  old  tunes,  men  lent  for  love  and  kindred,  and  disguised  their 

1  ■:  .  w '.   i-  ■  :'      !:       1     f     -ii  '.     :v\  the   ki     \vl    '.   •  h    \v    to  use  i:    proilt- 

<ii  111,    even  vvitln  iiit    1"  >rri  >\ving, 
•liary  ■  .    .-    .  .       -,  c  >nfevs   no 

n  e\  erv  •  >thcr  kin  1  ul  w>  irk. 


;\     l-.i  ;lai    1      the  1  oss 
j    the    tie!  jit i  il    iuv   o 


COMMERCE   AND    TRADE.  327 

gifts  under  that  name  (just  as  we  are  assured  they  do  now),  and  if  it  is  true 
that  they  did  so  less  readily  under  the  Ming  than  before  or  since,  the  fact 
would  be  fairly  reckoned  to  the  discredit  of  the  period,  which  did  in  some 
ways  tend  to  reproduce  the  social  evils  of  the  Han  Dynasty. 

The  Chinese  distinction  between  loans  for  necessity,  for  convenience,  for 
trade,  and  for  prodigality  has  been  alluded  to  in  a  former  volume.  Loans 
for  need  only  were  familiar  in  antiquity,  and  usurers  then  raised  the  rate  of 
interest  to  cover  risks  from  bad  security,  and  demanded  "  interest  upon 
interest,''  so  that  the  loan  might  double  in  a  single  year.  In  theory,  all 
borrowing  is  bad  ;  but  the  character  of  the  lender  and  the  borrower,  and 
the  object  of  the  loan,  really  make  more  difference  as  to  the  good  or  evil 
result  than  the  amount  of  the  interest.  ;-  Free  loans  have  ruined  more 
poor  people  than  interest  at  30  per  cent."  l 

To  borrow  may  save  a  small  cultivator  or  tradesman  from  selling  at  a 
loss,  or  reducing  the  capital  for  his  future  operations  ;  but  if  the  interest  is 
high,  debtors  of  this  character  are  as  eager  to  pay  as  the  creditor  would  be 
to  get  paid  ;  while  in  the  case  of  loans  for  prodigality,  there  is  an  opposite 
advantage  :  "  Nowadays  it  only  takes  a  year  or  two  to  ruin  the  heir  of  a 
mandarin  or  a  great  merchant,  who  might  formerly  have  spent  several  years 
in  corrupting  a  whole  town  by  his  feasts  and  debaucheries/'  If  a  man  is 
too  rich  to  need  to  work,  and  not  learned  enough  to  take  office,  the  only 
two  alternatives  open  to  him  in  private  life  are  to  squander  his  money 
rapidly,  so  that  he  and  his  children  must  return  to  the  paths  of  industry,  or 
to  found  a  family,  that  will  live  modestly  upon  an  income  that  diminishes  by 
subdivision  in  each  generation,  till  the  same  result  is  reached.  And  though 
the  latter  course  is  more  praiseworthy  in  the  individual,  it  almost  looks  as 
if  Chinese  opinion  considered  the  former  to  be  better  for  society  at  large. 

The  retitier  is  not  a  favourite  character  with  Chinese  politicians  :  "  The 
worst  governed  State  is  that  in  which  there  is  the  largest  number  of  iso- 
lated and  egoistic  citizens  who  are  only  bound  to  society  by  the  boons 
they  receive  from  it  .  .  .  the  moneyed  citizen  is  the  only  idler  :  through 
the  money  he  lends,  he  reaps  without  sowing,  he  enjoys  the  labours  of 
others  without  needing  to  do  anything  himself,  like  the  moss  or  mistletoe 
which  feed  upon  the  sap  of  the  tree  they  cling  to,  and  are  never  greener 
or  more  flourishing  than  during  its  decay  ;  they  fatten  on  the  toils  of  others, 
and  a  season  of  calamity  is  their  good  fortune." 

The  payment  of  interest  on  loans  is  said  to  date  from  the  founder  of 
the  T'sin  Dynasty,  the  burner  of  the  books  ;  it  has  any  way  been  tolerated 
for  the  last  1,500  years.  The  legal  maximum  is  3  per  cent,  per  mensem, 
and  the  usual  rate,  as  already  mentioned,  30  per  cent,  per  annum.  The 
capital  and  interest  remain  the  same  in  spite  of  the  lapse  of  time  ;  any 
breach  of  this  law  is  punished  by  forty  blows,  or  one  hundred  if  any 
artifice  is  used  for  adding  the  interest  to  the  capital.  Failure  to  pay  the 
promised  lawful  interest  may  also  be  punished  with  blows,  but  the  judges 
are    expected    to    consider    the  circumstances    and    equity  ot    the    case. 

1  Of.  ante,  P.  184. 


3^$  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

Leang-tsien  says  the  ancients  only  tolerated  low  interest  ;  30  per  cent. 
is  usurious,  and  its  official  sanction  is  therefore  not  primitive  ;  in  general 
it  is  denounced  by  the  literati. — who  objected  also  to  the  Innovator's 
loans  at  4  per  cent. — and  defended  by  practical  politicians.  But  the 
hostility  of  the  scholars  is  not  proof  positive  against  the  antiquity  of  the 
usage.  Tradesmen  may  have  lent  and  borrowed  at  30  per  cent,  in  the  days 
of  Confucius  or  in  those  of  Vao  and  Shun,  and  the  Classics  have  taken  as 
little  notice  of  the  fact  as  the  Egyptian  monuments  do,  though  one  of  the 
Odes  speaks  expressly  of  the  high  and  apparently  dishonourable  profits  of 
trade. 

Tchao-ing  defends  the  legal  rate  by  curious  reasons  ;  he  assumes  that 
money  naturally  brings  in  more  profit  than  lands,  and  the  license  to  lend 
was,  he  concludes,  aimed  at  and  has  actually  secured  '"  the  chief  good, 
that  the  cultivators,  the  most  numerous,  useful,  virtuous,  and  industrious 
class,  should  possess  lands  enough  of  their  own  to  live  in  comfort  without 
being  rich,  instead  of  continuing  the  miserable  slaves  of  moneyed  citizens 
who  fatten  in  useless  idleness  on  the  fruits  of  their  labours."  If  money  is 
allowed  to  bring  in  no  more  than  agriculture,  every  one  would  prefer  the 
security  of  land  :  if,  however,  it  is  allowed  to  bring  in  all  that  persons 
engaged  in  more  lucrative  pursuits  can  afford  to  pay  for  loans,  there  will  be 
less  competition  for  land,  and  the  poor  cultivator  will  more  easily  keep 
and  acquire  it.  and  this  is  the  aim  of  the  Government,  because  land  pro- 
duces most  when  cultivated  by  its  owners  :  the  rich,  who  own  more  than 
they  ran  cultivate  themselves,  either  neglect  the  land,  in  which  case  tiie 
State  loses  its  produce,  or  else  they  sublet  it  and  lose  the  difference  be- 
tween the  rent  and  the  full  produce,  which  again  is  calculated  to  dieter 
them  fn  >m  ac  [uiring  land. 

Tien-tchi  considered  that  the  legal  interest  gives  only  4  or  5  per  cent. 
m  ire  than  the  cultivation  <  f  good  ground,  and  he  justifies  the  interest 
charged  for  money  as  corresponding  to  the  rent  charged  for  the  use  ol 
kmd  or  buildings.  Money,  like  a  shop,  is  worth  what  it  will  fetch.  A 
shop  m  the  great  street  close  to  the  chief  entrance  to  the  palace,  in  the 
caj  ital.  is  rented  four  times  as  highly  as  one  in  an  ordinary  quarter.  It 
: j^i' 0 . _s  to  me.  he  says,  and  I  might  profit  by  the  advantages  ot  the 
p  isiti  in  ;  if  I  dona,  it  pays  the  merchant  to  pay  me  for  letting  him  enjoy 
them,  and  so  with  the  money  lent  to  trader-.  But  the  a;  ;  ii  ation  •  ;  this 
d  ictriue  is  niy  I  lerated  in  practice,  provided  the  rent  and  the  interest 
demanue  i  by  t  ic  owners  of  land  and  money  do  not  exceed  what  tire 
b  irrower  an  i  ten;  nt  can  pay  with  advantatj  :. 

hveP.  in  tne  m  i  lie  ot  the  1  5th  century,  be.'ore  tne  development  ot  trade. 
manufactures  nd  sh  rehoiding,  consequent  on  the  application  ot  steam, 
ha  i    rcv<  !  1 1 i .  ni  West  an    in  iu.-try,     -t:  ese    views  appeared   sufficiently 

singular  to  the  I  rem  ii  mi  0  man  to  be  worth  expounding  at  length.  M. 
Sim  >:i  i  ears  witness  tiiat  tiiev  still  prevail.  File  Chinese  cann  >t  accept 
tiie  notion  that  a  temp  nary  benefit  should  give  roe  to  a  permanent 
i :ab:  1; tv  :  hence  oubii     .   ans  of  the  lour      ean  tvpe  are  impossible  ii    China. 


COMMERCE   AND    TRADE.  329 

Terminable  annuities  would  be  less  objectionable  ;  but  after  paying  3  per 
cent,  for  33^  years,  no  more  interest  would  accrue.  "We  do  not  recognise 
a  loan  at  perpetual  interest,"  says  a  scholar  :  "  private  persons  lend,  with- 
out interest  to  friends,  and  at  30  per  cent,  to  strangers,  but  for  three  years 
only  ;  at  the  end  of  that  time  the  capital  is  repaid  in  whole  or  in  part — if 
not,  the  borrower  has  no  more  credit — and  that  is  the  only  penalty.  The 
Government  could  not  borrow  on  such  terms,  and  would  have  nothing  to 
gain  by  doing  so;  besides,  who  could  lend  to  it?  There  are  no  idlers,  and 
every  one  invests  his  own  money  more  advantageously  than  the  State  could 
do  for  him.  If,"  he  added,  ':  large  loans  are  usual  in  Europe,  it  is  evident 
that  lands  and  savings  are  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  small  number  of 
persons  not  in  a  position  to  utilize  them  themselves, — a  reflection  which 
must  suggest  to  a  Chinese  thinker  the  most  serious  forebodings  as  to  the 
future  of  such  countries,  and  lead  him  reluctantly  to  conclude  that  justice 
is  not  the  rule  in  the  West.'"' 

In  China,  as  M.  Simon  observes,  the  taxes  are  collected  and  spent — 
there  is  no  more  finance  than  that  —  so  when  Ivien-lung  wished  to  indulge 
in  the  amusement  of  a  Tatar  campaign,  he  waited  till  he  had  got  the 
money  in  hand  to  pay  for  it.  The  European  fundholder  is  the  child  of  an 
unholy  alliance  between  idle  capital  and  a  ruler  who  wishes  to  do  more 
fighting  than  he  can  afford  to  pay  for, — and  the  multitudes  toil  that  this 
bantling  may  be  fed.  The  Chinese  not  only  profess,  but  act  upon  the 
doctrine  of  our  economists,  that  high  taxation  is  injurious,  and  that  it  is 
better  to  allow  the  money  "to  fructify  in  the  pockets  of  the  people." 
They  pay  something  like  half  a  crown  a  head  in  taxes  or  one-tenth  of  the 
amount  raised  in  France,  and  allowing  for  any  difference  in  the  purchasing 
power  of  money,  still,  less  than  either  the  Swedes  or  the  Swiss,  the  most 
lightly  taxed  of  European  nations. 

Their  objection  to  the  concentration  of  great  wealth  in  a  t'nw  hands  is 
analogous  to  our  objection  to  high  taxation.  The  same  percentage  of 
profit  which  gives  decent  comfort  on  a  small  capital  gives  on  a  large  one 
riches  that  can  only  be  spent  by  luxury,  and,  if  not  so  spent,  clamour  for 
reinvestment  apart  from  their  owner's  labour.  If  this  is  undesirable,  then 
the  State  must — as  in  China — do  all  it  can  to  prevent  the  accumulation  of 
wealth,  by  ':  squeezes  "  and  more  direct  means.  And  it  is  supported  by 
scholars  and  public  opinion  in  doing  so,  because,  however  admirable  the 
benevolence  and  liberality  of  a  great  capitalist,  like  How-qua,  may  be,  it 
is  no  less  true  of  his  coffers  that  of  those  belonging  to  the  State,  that  the 
money  filling  them  would  be  better  "  left  to  fructify  in  the  pockets  of  the 
people." 

It  may  perhaps  be  true  of  economical  systems,  as  of  modes  of  government, 

Which  e'er  is  best  administered  is  best ; 

in  any  case  China  has  prospered  in  spite,  or  because,  of  her  fidelity  to 
these  theories,  even  as  English  commerce  has  thriven  under  a  regime  ot 
individualism  and  free   trade,  and   the    United   States    under    one   of  indi- 


33o  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

vidualism  and  protective  tariffs.  The  object  aimed  at  by  So-ling  has  been 
in  the  main  secured,  and  while  in  China  comparatively  tew  persons  live 
in  idleness  on  the  income  of  their  investments,  an  extraordinary  number 
live  on  the  profits  of  small  capital  which  they  administer  themselves.  If 
we  compare  the  above  statements  of  what  the  Chinese  themselves  con- 
sider desirable,  with  a  dispassionate  observer's  description  of  the  result 
actually  attained,  we  shall  be  forced  to  admit  that  the  Chinese  realize  their 
own  ideals  more  nearly  than  any  other  people  do. 

"The  great  body  of  the  peopie  are  obliged  to  engage  in  manual  labour 
in  order  to  subsist,  yet  only  a  trifling  proportion  of  them  can  be  called 
beggars,  while  still  fewer  possess  such  a  degree  of  wealth  that  they  can  live 
on  its  income.  Property  is  safe  enough  to  afford  assurance  to  honest  toil 
that  it  shall  generally  reap  the  reward  of  its  labours,  but  if  that  toil  prosper 
beyond  the  usual  limits,  the  avarice  of  officials  and  the  envy  of  neighbours 
easily  find  a  multitude  of  contrivances  to  harass  and  impoverish  the  fortu- 
nate man.  and  the  laws  are  not  administered  with  such  strictness  as  to 
deter  them,"1  It  is  frequently  argued  in  the  West,  that  thrift  and  industry 
would  cease  if  the  rewards  now  earned  by  the  pursuit  of  commerce  and 
manufactures  on  a  large  scale  were  materially  reduced.  But  the  experi- 
ence of  China  seems  to  show  the  apprehension  to  be  unfounded,  since 
there  is  no  lack  of  aspirants  for  fortune,  willing  to  take  their  chance  of 
being  "  squeezed."  while  among  the  masses,  who  are  not  exposed  to  tiiat 
danger,  thrift  and  industry  are  more  developed  than  in  any  other  country. 
to  all  appearance  because  in  no  other  country  is  so  small  a  proportion  of 
the  rewards  of  those  virtues  concentrated  in  the  hands  of  a  minority. 

The  high  rate  of  interest  has  not  prevented  a  most  democratic  extension 
ot  credit.  The  cumbrousness  of  the  currency,  as  already  explained,  led  to 
an  early  development  of  banking.  Private  banks  are  allowed  to  issue 
notes  at  discretion,  and  in  Southern  China,  ami  more  especially  in  Pu-chow. 
these  were  at  one  time  used  almost  to  the  exclusion  of  coin,  their  value 
ranging  from  is.  61.  to  -I  200.  .More  recently,  their  use  has  been  super- 
seded by  hank-bibs  from  Hong-kong.  But  even  in  non-commercial 
Peking,  Mr.  Pumpeily  was  surprised  to  meet  ''an  institution  which  be  had 
supposed  was  peculiar  to  the  United  States,  namely,  an  endless  number  of 
wild-cat  bank-,    issuing  paper  currency.''' 

Besides  this  apj  iii  iti  m  of  private  enterprise  to  make  good  the  deficiency 
ot  the  currency,  the  primary  forms  of  legitimate  banking  business,  taking 
deposits  and  discounting  bills — drawn  at  first  hand  for  goods  received — 
have  received  an  extra  n'dinary  extension.  Australia  is  the  only  country 
which  approach  -  China  in  the  extent  to  which  banks  are  used  by  the 
work m:;  cla.-s  ;  and  in  the  facilities  accorded  to  such  clients.  China  cer- 
t;  ::..y  stai  ds  il  ne.  livery  tradesman,  farmer,  and  thriving  artisan  has  a 
banking  account,- in  which  he  de]  isits  his  savings  as  they  accumulate  : 
interest  is  caictilat  ;d  on  the  dailv  del  <  >sits,  and  at  the  same  rate  for  ;  11  -  11ns, 


COMMERCE   AND    TRADE.  331 

however  small.1  Deposits  can  be  withdrawn  without  notice,  and  the  interest 
is  calculated  up  to  the  day  of  repayment,  and  the  depositor  is  always  allowed 
to  give  a  reference  to  his  banker  in  doing  business  with  strangers.  But 
this  is  not  all.  It  is  customary  to  allow  every  client  to  borrow,  upon  his 
note  of  hand,  twice  the  amount  of  his  deposit.  A  young  man,  who  has 
been  earning  wages  for  six  or  seven  years,  probably  living  at  home  the 
while,  can  easiiy  save  from  ,£12  to  ^15,  and  with  double  that  amount  a 
great  deal  of  business  can  be  done  in  China.  The  owner  of  land  can 
borrow  on  its  security,  endorsing  the  title-deeds  with  the  amount  of  the 
loan. 

The  pawnshops  also  serve  as  bankers  to  the  poor,  or  those  who  do  not 
wish  their  temporary  embarrassments  to  be  known.  There  are  three,  or 
rather  four  classes  of  these  establishments,  the  most  respectable  of  which 
pay  a  substantial  fee  to  the  treasury  for  their  license,  and  are  used,  even  by 
the  wealthy,  as  warehouses,  owing  to  the  dryness  and  security  of  their 
store  rooms,  as  they  are  required  to  restore  all  pledges  in  as  good  condition 
as  when  they  were  received.  Furs  are  frequently  sent  to  these  establish- 
ments for  safe  keeping  during  the  summer.  The  rate  of  interest  charged 
is  3  per  cent,  per  month,  except  during  the  winter  quarter,  when  it  is  2  per 
cent.,  a  reduction  which  may  partly  be  owing  to  ideas  of  humanity,  and 
partly  to  the  desire  for  brisk  business,  fostered  by  reduced  prices.  A 
pawnshop  was  once  compelled  by  the  members  of  a  so-called  ''robber 
society  "  to  give  back  their  cotton  clothing  to  the  poor  who  had  pledged 
it  in  winter.  This  society  professed,  like  Robin  Hood,  "  to  plunder  the 
rich  for  the  relief  of  the  poor;"  but  pawnshops  serve  the  latter  purpose  to 
some  extent  without  compulsion. 

They  are  much  resorted  to  about  the  New  Year  by  householders  who 
have  a  difficulty  in  balancing  their  accounts  for  the  year,  and  persons  who 
have  no  valuable  effects  to  spare  themselves  do  not  hesitate  to  borrow 
from  their  neighbours  some  article  to  pledge.  It  is  considered  churlish  to 
refuse  such  a  request ;  but  the  borrower  is  held  bound  in  honour  to  redeem 
the  pledge  in  due  time,  and,  if  by  any  unforeseen  calamity  he  is  disabled 
from  doing  so,  lie  is  bound  to  let  the  lender  know,  so  that  he  may  redeem 
it  himself. 

Government  officials  are  allowed,  if  they  have  money  in  their  hands  not 
immediately  required  for  use,  to  lend  it  to  the  pawnbrokers,  or  even  to 
private  merchants,  at  12  per  cent.,  the  interest  being  expended  upon  public 
works.  Of  course  there  is  always  a  chance  of  corruption  in  connection  with 
such  loans,  and  it  is  said  that  officials  pledge  cast-off  garments,  which  they 
do  not  mean  to  redeem,  for  sums  two  or  three  times  their  real  value,  the 
demand  for  the  bribe  being  well  understood  by  the  proprietor  of  the 
pawnshop. 

Pawnshops  of  the  second  class  receive  a  license  in  return  for  a  small  ex- 
penditure for  the  defence  of  the  district.     These  charge  t,o  per  cent,  interest 

1  Interest  is  calculated  only  from  the  following  day  in  the  case  of  deposits  made  after 
4  p.m.,  an  i  a  digia  discount  is  paid  on  Lids  cashed  early  in  the  morning. 


33-'  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

upon  val  table  deposits,  ami  20  per  cent,  upon  those  below  a  certain  sum 
ut ,{."-).  a  curious  and  characteristic  reversal  of  the  usual  European  cus- 
tom of  driving  the  hardest  bargain  with  the  poorest  customers.  Goods,  if 
not  redeemed,  are  sold  at  the  end  of  twelve  months  by  Dutch  auction.  In 
the  third  class  of  pawnshops,  they  are  sold  after  six  months,  and  the  interest 
charged  is  very  high,  and  payable  every  ten  days.  Cripples  and  blind 
persons  are  allowed  to  keep  pawnshops  without  a  license,  and  in  these 
private  establishments  loans  for  short  periods  can  be  obtained  for  S  or  10 
per  cent.  Respectable  families  raise  money  for  such  exceptional  expenses 
as  marriages  or  funerals,  or  to  meet  the  emergencies  of  trade,  by  pawning 
their  valuables,  but  there  is  yet  a  third  way  of  raising  capital  for  trade. 
much  resorted  to  by  those  who  have  no  money  to  open  a  banking  account 
and  no  valuables  to  send  to  the  pawnbrokers. 

This  is  an  institution  not  unlike  the  ''money  clubs."  much  in  favour  with 
the  poorer  class  of  workers,  especially  women,  in  England.  Its  invention 
is  said  to  date  from  the  Han  Dynasty,  and  by  its  means  any  one  who 
requires  to  raise  capital  for  a  specified  purpose,  if  he  has  a  single  friend  to 
answer  for  his  probity,  can  hope  to  do  so  by  the  formation  of  a  temporary 
limited  liability  company  ad  hoc.  Tins  friend  enlists  a  second,  he  a  third, 
and  so  on.  till  ten  are  collected;  the  party  are  then  invited  to  tea  by  the 
projector,  who  explains  his  scheme,  and  if  it  is  approved,  the  necessary 
funds  are  subscribed  by  the  associates.  If  all  are  friends,  the  arrangements 
may  be  as  simple  as  in  British  workshops;  each  partner  undertakes  to 
subscribe  roo  taels  in  ten  instalments,  the  projector  of  the  company,  for 
whose  benefit  it  is  started,  receiving  the  whole  amount  in  the  first  \  ear.  and 
paying  off  ten  taels  a  year  for  the  remainder  of  the  time,  the  other  associ- 
ates drawing  lots  for  the  repayment  in  tarn  of  the  lump  sum.1 

'1  his  method  takes  no  account  of  interest,  and  is  therefore  not  sufficiently 
exact  to  serve  in  the  case  of  large  sums  required  for  the  purposes  of  trade. 
and  ail  sorts  of  combinations  are  adopted  to  let  each  partner  receive  back 
t'ne  exact  value  ot  ins  contribution,  the  onlv  essential  point  being  that  the 
•  :  jei  tor  receives  at  once  all  the  subscriptions  of  the  first  year.  In  the 
Lcttr  I'.Jitiantis  -  there  is  the  description  of  a  club  of  this  kind  with  seven 
partners.  •■  :  wh  m  six  subscribe  respectivelv  15.  13.  11.  9.  7.  and  5  pistoles 
eai  h.  -  Uz  in  all  :  the  seventh,  who  is  to  be  hel:  ed,  receives  this  -  im  to 
trade  with,  :.  ;  repays  15  pistoles  a  year  for  the  next  six  years.  The 
:.'_  .es:  -  :    -.  : :  ier  receives  the  60  pis!  I     :  next  yt    r,  an  :  re]  ays  13  :  _-r 

annum  :  ■:  the  remaining  5  :  then  the  third    \  artner  has  the    bo  and  :o 
1  1   tor  t'ne  remainder  of  the  term,  so  that  at  last   each    h  is   paid   30,  40,  50, 
6c.  -    .       .or    ijz    pistoles,  and    received    bo,    the    difference   between    ihe 
iarjei  ;     d  toe  sin  L.ier  sums  representing  the  value  attached  to  the  advain  e 
ot  1       1;  pital.      1  iie  seventh  ]  artner,  who  contributes  5  pistoles  yeariv,  lias. 


COMMERCE    AND    TRADE.  333 

for  instance,  lent  30  pistoles  without  interest,  and  receives  60  at  the  end  of 
the  time  in  compensation.  On  the  other  hand,  the  man  who  was  penni- 
less to  begin  with,  pays  a  corresponding  30  out  of  pocket  in  the  last  two 
years,  after  repaying  the  original  loan  by  instalments  of  25  per  cent.  ;  but 
the  actual  interest  is  only  at  the  rate  of  5  per  cent,  for  the  six  years,  and 
considering  how  rapidly  the  capital  of  a  small  trader  is  turned  over,  the 
borrower  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things  would  have  no  difficulty  in  meet- 
ing his  obligations.  M.  Simon  gives  in  his  appendix  a  variety  of  other 
combinations  ;  but  the  principle  is  the  same  in  all  cases. 

It  is  exceedingly  rare  for  one  of  the  associates  to  fail  to  keep  up  his 
subscriptions.  A  breach  of  faith  would  be  punished  by  disgrace  and 
exclusion  from  all  such  societies  in  the  future  ;  but  if  any  of  the  associates 
are  in  temporary  difficulties,  they  can  usually  arrange  to  change  turns  with 
one  of  the  others,  or  hand  over  their  place  in  the  group  to  some  one  else, 
who  takes  their  liabilities  and  repays  the  sum  already  advanced.  These 
clubs  are  used  for  all  sorts  of  purposes  as  well  as  trade, — to  buy  a  daughter's 
trousseau,  to  pay  for  the  education  of  a  promising  scholar,  or  to  stock  a 
new  farm  ;  and  in  no  case  do  the  shareholders,  as  they  may  be  called, 
take  any  part  in  the  adventure  to  which  they  have  contributed  funds. 

General  Tcheng-ki-tong  speaks  of  these  money  clubs1  as  a  kind  of 
private  lottery,  in  which  there  are  no  losers,  and  says  they  are  resorted  to 
mainly  by  persons  of  what  we  should  call  the  middle  class.  The  rich,  of 
course,  do  not  need  them,  and  the  very  poor  are  assisted  on  such  occasions 
as  marriages  and  funerals  by  collections  made  with  less  formality  among 
friends,  relatives,  and  fellow-workers.  According  to  him,  forty  or  fifty 
persons  join,  and  no  interest  is  paid,  and  he  gives  as  a  reason  why  people 
are  ready  to  take  part  in  such  lotteries,  that  in  China  "on  ne  place  pas 
l'argent  a  interets  ;"  so  that  those  who  stand  out  of  their  money  longest 
lose  nothing,  while  ail  find  it  convenient  to  let  their  savings  accumulate 
till  they  reach  a  serviceable  sum.  The  clubs  are  looked  upon  as  friendly 
and  meritorious  institutions,  and  accordingly,  if  there  is  a  difficulty  in 
making  up  the  necessary  number  of  partners,  it  is  not  unusual  for  Govern- 
ment officers  to  be  applied  to,  to  make  up  the  deficiency,  which  they 
readily  consent  to  do. 

To  sum  up,  the  popular  credit  system  of  China  secures  these  enviable 
results.  In  the  West  it  is  only  the  man  who  already  has  more  capital  than 
is  good  for  him  who  can  confidently  count  upon  having  the  savings  of  the 
public  committed  to  Ins  keeping.  Unlike  So-ling,  the  British  public  gives 
its  tens  of  thousands  of  silver  and  gold  that  it  may  have  to  pay  for  the 
"  banquets,  the  varnishes,  the  concubines,  and  the  slaves  of  him  who  lias 
monopolized  the  trade " — in  beer,  gin.  diamonds,  or  whatever  else  may  be 
the  u  boom"  of  the  moment.  In  China,  on  the  contrary,  thrift  is  stimu- 
lated because  its  fruits  are  practically  secure,  and  its  reward  is  enjoyed  in 
full  from  the  first.  Capital  is.  so  to  speak,  decentralized,  and  the  multi- 
plicity of  small  sound  investments,  conducted  by  near  friends  and  relatives, 
1    Les  Plaisirs  en  Chine,  y.  277. 


334  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

leaves  no  reserve  of  savings  to  be  engulfed  by  hazardous  speculations. 
The  fraudulent  promoter  is  unknown,  and  all  the  savings,  that  are  lost  by 
his  wiles  to  the  small  capitalists  of  the  West,  find  in  China  safe  employment 
in  sustaining  the  enterprise  of  petty  dealers  and  producers. 

§2.     Chinese  Merchants  of   the  Present  Day. 

The  occupation  of  a  merchant  is  looked  down  upon  by  landed  proprietors, 
by  the  literati,  and  by  those  who  have  risen  to  official  rank  through  their  own 
talents.  Yet  no  merchant  can  be  guilty,  without  fatal  loss  of  reputation. 
of  the  roguery  common  among  officials.1  Every  official  has  been  more  or 
less  of  a  scholar,  and  the  scholar  as  such  is  respected  ;  he  only  forfeits 
the  esteem  earned  by  his  degree  if  he  is  guilty  of  gross  corruption  or 
tvrannv  :  to  retain  it  he  need  give  no  proof  of  distinguished  virtue,  it  is 
enough  if  he  refrains  from  crime. 

With  the  trader  the  case  is  very  different  ;  the  300  per  cent,  profit  of 
commerce,  of  which  the  Ode  speaks,  is  not  highly  esteemed  :  the  rulers 
and  teachers  of  the  people  were  prompt  to  see  that  it  is  not,  as  a  rule,  the 
most  virtuous  persons  who  are  likely  to  grow  rich,  and  the  possession  of 
wealth  therefore  raises  a  presumption  against — as  the  possession  of  learn- 
ing raises  a  presumption  in  favour  of — its  owner's  virtue.  Now  the  ortho- 
dox scholars  of  China,  it  they  have  not  succeeded  in  training  a  select  class 
of  disinterested  public  officials,  have  succeeded  in  diffusing  throughout  the 
population  a  profound  and  intelligent  appreciation  of  public  and  private 
virtue.  All  classes  have  participated  in  this  boon,  and  the  average  mer- 
chant, like  the  average  cultivator,  considers  wealth  to  be  a  less  valid  title 
to  consideration  than  learning  or  virtue. 

The  official  is  admired  for  his  learning  whether  lie  be  virtuous  or  not. 
and,  as  most  men  are  content  with  one  title  to  admiration,  after  attaining 
tiie  degree  which  wins  both  office  and  admiration,  they  dispense  them- 
selves from  further  effort.  The  merchant  is  not  admired  for  his  wealth;  and 
wealth  without  consideration,  in  aland  where  luxury  is  unfashionable  and 
display  only  invites  spoliation,  has  so  little  charm  that  it  is  comparatively 
easy  to  dispense  it  liberally.  A  rich  man,  who  parts  courteously  with  his 
cash  at  every  fitting  opportunity,  is  counted  benevolent,  and  earns  by  that 
virtue  the  consideration  denied  to  his  wealth.  And  the  high  character 
justly  accorded  to  Chinese  men  of  business  is  probably  the  producl  !  I 
these  v  iri    1  -  influences. 

Tiie  IhiJishman  is  taught  to  say,  ''Business  is  business,"'  and  iris  the 
in  pre.-u  n  that  it  is  unbusiness-like.  and  therefore  improper,  to  let  moral 
ideas  or  friendly  inclinations  interfere  with  the  execution  of  contracts.  A 
Chinese  merchant  of  high  character,  on  the  other  hand,  sits  quite  as  looselv 
to  his  legal  rights  as  an  aristocratic  landowner  who  aims  at  popularitv 
in  England.  Indeed,  we  should  seek  vainly  in  any  class  in  England  for 
parallels  to  the  generosity  ot  Ik  >w-  :  ta  an  i  his  1  ountrvmen. 

'■    /•>;;;•    -    ■    <:t  Ca;;!ai   0^5    1^44.      I . ,  an    li   R  (.-.-:•:   :.:.   [bS2,  p.    ;S.      Mij.:"e  Kin  '- 


COMMERCE   AND    TRADE.  335 

An  American  merchant  having  got  into  difficulties  after  many  years 
transactions  with  this  gentleman,  was  set  free  to  return  home  unem- 
barrassed by  the  Chinese  Rothschild's  tearing  up  promissory  notes  to  the 
value  of  $72,000,  with  courteous  assurances  of  regard  for  an  honest  man 
who  had  been  unlucky.  English  bankers  and  merchants  will  philosophi- 
cally "write  off"  a  bad  debt  of  ^14,000  or  more,  but  it  is  not  among 
their  customs  to  cancel  such  an  obligation  voluntarily,  for  the  sake  of  sav- 
ing a  respected  correspondent  from  poverty  or  dishonour  ;  yet  even  from 
the  commercial  point  of  view,  there  is  something  to  be  said  for  the 
Chinese  usage.  Solvent  and  honest  dealers  probably  lose  as  much  in  this 
country  by  bad  debts — not  to  say  much  more  — than  the  Chinese  surrender 
by  free  gift ;  but  while  the  Chinese  give  to  respected  friends  who  will  make 
the  best  use  of  their  liberality,  Englishmen  lose  most  by  their  most  un- 
scrupulous debtors,  who  are  allowed  by  English  opinion  to  live,  between 
their  bankruptcies,  in  a  style  beyond  the  reach  of  average  honesty. 

Another  story  of  How-qua's  large-mindedness  is  interesting,  because  it 
involves  the  waiving  of  a  contract,  not  a  debt.  A  friendly  skipper  arrived 
at  Canton  with  a  cargo  of  quicksilver,  at  a  time  when  the  price  of  that 
commodity  happened  to  be  much  depressed,  so  that  even  if  the  whole  cargo 
was  sold,  the  price  would  not  suffice  to  till  the  ship  with  tea  for  the  return 
journey.  How-qua  proposed  to  take  the  quicksilver  at  the  current  price 
and  lend  enough  besides  to  complete  the  tea  cargo,  and  this  agreement 
was  booked.  While  the  ship  was  loading,  a  sudden  rise  in  the  price  of 
quicksilver  took  place,  upon  which  How-qua  cancelled  his  former  offer,  and 
paid  for  the  quicksilver  at  the  ruling  price,  which  was  enough  to  cover  the 
requisite  quantity  of  tea.  The  difference  to  the  skipper  came  to  about 
_-/"6.oco. 

In  1 841,  when  the  Hong  merchants  were  called  upon  to  contribute  to 
the  ransom  paid  by  Canton,  How-qua's  share  came  to  $1,000,000  ;  he  gave 
three  notes  endorsed  to  his  order  on  an  English  firm  at  Macao  ;  and  at 
the  same  time  sent  a  friendly  hint  to  this  firm  to  accept  the  notes  before 
they  became  due,  so  as  to  clear  a  lew  hundreds  by  the  discount.1  The 
disinterested  love  of  a  bargain  and  the  good-natured  wish  to  let  the  ill 
wind  of  their  national  quarrel  blow  a  good  thing  into  his  correspondent's 
hands  is  very  characteristic,  and  in  connection  with  the  gentlemanly  liberal- 
ity already  described  completes  the  picture  of  a  typical  Chinese  merchant. 

Sir  George  Staunton  tells  a  story  of  Chinese  gratitude  showing  itself  for 
a  slight  service  on  an  equally  liberal  scale.  An  English  officer  had  suc- 
ceeded in  recovering  a  debt  due  from  an  American  to  a  Chinese  merchant, 
who  in  return  helped  him  to  dispose  advantageously  of  Iris  private  ven- 
tures in  several  successive  voyages.  Xot  content  with  this,  the  merchant 
after  some  years  asked  why  Ids  friend  had  not  yet  obtained  command  of  a 
ship,  and  on  learning  that  this  could  only  be  done  by  purchase  at  the  ex- 
pense of  some  thousand  pounds,  at  once  gave  him  a  draft  for  the  amount, 
to  be  repaid  at  his  convenience,  li  foreign  barbarians  are  dealt  with  thus 
1   Fan-.hcae  at  Canton,  pp.  42-5. 


$3G  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

generously,   it  may   be   taken   for    granted    that,    among    themselves,    the 
Chinese  will  show  even  more  consideration  and  delicacy. 

Merchants  in  China,  Captain  Gill  observed,  rely  implicitly  on  one 
another,  and  they  are  prepared  to  show  similar  confidence  in  foreigners.1 
Kven  in  small  towns,  a  traveller  has  no  difficulty  in  cashing  a  letter  of 
credit,  without  more  formality  than  giving  a  receipt,  and  may  count  on 
politeness  and  hospitality  as  well  as  business  facilities.  After  taking  tea 
and  being  invited  to  dinner  by  his  banker,  under  such  circumstances. 
Cooper  writes  :  "  I  could  not  help  contrasting  the  reception  my  host  had 
given  me,  a  total  stranger  and  a  foreigner,  with  that  which  he  would  pro- 
bably have  received  at  my  hands,  had  he  visited  me  in  Shanghai,  where, 
as  is  usual  with  tis  Englishmen,  he  would  very  likely  have  had  to  come  into 
my  office  without  the  least  polite  encouragement  from  me,  and  have  trans- 
acted his  business  standing,  after  which  I  should  probably  have  dismissed 
him  with  a  gesture  of  impatience.'''  - 

An  old  resident  in  Canton  describes  his  reminiscences  of  the  China 
trade  before  Treaty  days  in  equally  favourable  terms.  "  From  the  facility 
of  all  dealings  with  the  Chinese  who  were  assigned  to  transact  business 
with  us.  together  with  their  proverbial  honesty,  combined  with  a  perfect 
>ense  of  security  to  person  and  property,  scarcely  any  'old  Canton'  but 
finally  left  them  with  regret."  ;J  The  old  Hamitic  plan  of  doing  business 
through  a  go-between,  which  would  otherwise  seem  strange  to  European 
traders,  was  rendered  necessary  by  the  want  of  a  common  tongue,  and  the 
old  resident  speaks  as  highly  of  the  "linguists,"  employed  by  order  of  the 
Covernment,  to  keep  the  barbarians  from  getting  into  trouble  with  officers 
or  natives,  as  ot  the  compradores. 

The  compradore  or  go-between  of  those  days  was  a  sort  of  head  steward 
or  agent  responsible  for  all  underlings  and  himself  giving  a  Hong 
merchant  as  security.  In  the  course  of  twenty  years  the  writer  heard  of 
only  one  robbery  by  a  compradore.  The  institution  of  the  so-called  Co- 
Hong,  the  thirteen  merchants  through  whom  all  the  China  trade  with 
Hngland  was  transacted,  exemplified  the  tune-honoured  principle  of  mutual 
responsibility.  The  Hong  merchants  were  responsible  to  the  Government 
for  the  customs,  and  goods  bought  from  other  Chinese  merchants  could 
nly  be  shipped  through  them.  One  of  the  thirteen  was  sponsor  for  each 
foreign  resident,  and  the  purchases  of  the  East  India  Company  were 
divided  among  them  by  fixed  agreement,  based  on  their  respective  means, 
How  qua  holding  fourteen  shares.  As  much  as  ^/,55-OGO  W;IS  l'a''l  at 
Peking  for  the  position,  though  they  were  exposed  to  dirge  "squeezes  for 
repairs  to  river  banks,  etc. 

The  conduct  ot  the  Hong  merchants  was  inquired  into,  '"lest  they  ex- 
acted illegal  duties  and   incurred   debts  to  foreigners  which  they  could  not 

1    M.    Sinn>n    had    occa-i'>!]    ivi>e  ■ t  •.-.'.  ly  u  i  decline   the    offer  of  loan-;  made   to   him    :  y 
!::;v    t  .    '  '        '    :.'    he   n. ;..:.:    wain    >uch    accommodation   alter   >o    lone;   an 


COMMERCE    AND    TRADE.  337 

repay  ;  "  and,  in  fact,  if  one  of  them  was  unable  to  discharge  his  obligations, 
theCo-Hong  would  have  held  the  creditor  .harmless.  The  Chinese  Govern- 
ment has  a  singular  idea  that,  as  it  were,  la  civilisation  oblige,  and  they  do 
not  think  it  right  to  let  any  barbarians  suffer  through  their  subjects.  There 
is  a  penalty  for  making  firearms  for  sale  to  the  wild  hill  tribes  ;  and  the 
Chinese  are  not  allowed  to  lend  them  money  or,  in  selling  goods  to  them, 
to  "  demand  an  unreasonable  price;"  and  the  same  "  vigilant  care "  for 
the  welfare  of  the  strangers  was  at  the  bottom  of  some  of  the  restrictions 
which  appeared  most  irksome  to  British  independence  and  self-will.1  The 
'•'old  resident"  proceeds:  "As  a  body  of  merchants,  we  found  them 
'Honourable  and  reliable  in  all  their  dealings,  faithful  in  their  contracts,  and 
large  minded."'  Weils  Williams  speaks  in  similar  terms  :  ''Chinese  mer- 
chants are  acute,  methodical,  sagacious  and  enterprising, — in  large  deal- 
ings exhibiting  that  regard  for  character  in  the  fulfilment  of  their  obligations 
which  extensive  commercial  engagements  normally  produce."  2  Another 
writer,  who  was  struck  with  the  thrift*  and  enterprise  of  the  labourers,  whe 
set  up  as  traders  or  contractors  with  what  they  have  saved  from  very 
moderate  wages,  adds,  "  they  combine  the  shrewdness  of  the  Jew  with  the 
versatility  of  the  Yankee.1'  3  Cooper,  who  writes  from  personal  experience, 
rather  than  as  a  mere  tourist,  says  that  a  slight  acquaintance  with.  Chinese 
merchants  is  enough  "to  convince  the  impartial  observer  that  they  are 
not  only  keen  and  successful  speculators,  but  just  and  liberal  minded  in 
their  dealings  with  those  who,  by  a  similar  line  of  conduct,  gain  their  con- 
fidence and  respect."  4 

There  are  some  few  Chinese  firms  with  a  really  large  capital,  contributed 
by  several  partners,  but  as  a  rule  large  associations  with  few  and  irre- 
sponsible governors  are  distrusted,  and  it  is  preferred  to  keep  the  business 
within  such  limits  as  not  to  preclude  personal  control  by  the  parties 
interested.       Large  joint-stock   companies-  are  therefore   as  rare  as  small 

1  That  the  Government  is  sincere  in  these  professions  appears  from  the  fact  that  it  re- 
paid to  t!ie  persons  imposed  on,  the  money  irregularly  borrowed  in  its  name  by  General 
Tcheng-ki-tong,  when  attached  to  the  Chinese  embassy  at  Paris.  This  gentleman,  the 
ostensible  author  of  some  French  works  on  China,  combining  Gallic  wit  and  Chinese 
triotism  in  a  very  piquant  fad  1  ion.  was,  unfortunately,  destined  to  give  one  more  ex  imple 
of  the  danger  to  Chinese  morals  from  the  contaminating  seductions  of  the  West,  lie  be- 
came a  favourite  of  Parisian  society,  and  the  role  being  an  expensive  one,  was  temj  : 
to  use  his  official  rank  to  negotiate  a  loan,  which  he  applied  to  his  own  use.  When  the 
Chinese  Government  repays  in  full  money  which  it  has  never  asked  for  or  received,  the 
i  dioul  :  ~':.  •  .  borrow  in  go<  d  sooth  ceases  to  be  surpris- 
ing. The  same  number  of  the  Times  which,  reported  this  scrupulosity  also  quoted  a 
'■■    •  ■  I    from   the  Governor  of  Chinese  Turkestan,  describing  how  the  state   of  tilings 

existing   in   Kubla's  time   is  reversed    and    "the  stupid    Mussulmans   are   plundered    by 
Chii    :se  usurers.''      He   pro]       e-  that  the  law  forbidding  loans    to  aborigines    - 
'■■'  aided   to  the    Mahomedans.  who  are  equally  little   able   to  take  care  of  themselves, 
n  .  '     it  existing  debts   shoul        e  I      lied      y  tl  rities.      When  the 

is  re    ;or.ab!e,    interest    and    principal   to   be   cleared   off,    without    further    injrease,    by 
in    nthiy    in  -'..  Iments    of    3    per    cent.;    when    the  interest  already  received    e\  :ee  N   the 
■;-.   ■'  .  1,    the   latter  only   should   be  repaid  ;   and   when    compound    interest    ha-   been 
'  ■    '■       . .  and  the  debtor  is  very  po  >r,  the  debt  shoul  i  be  cancelled  outright. 
"    -■■'''."  ■■'     Kin    :  111,  v.,  p.    3S9. 

I'umpelly.    Acr  i    America  and  Asia,  pp.  253-5. 
4   Pi  ■:    ■        C  m  n  /-< . .  ■  .   12'). 
VOL.     II. — P.C.  2 


33S  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

working  partnerships  arc  common.  Iron  foundries  require  more  capital 
than  most  industries,  and  the  one  already  mentioned  l  possessed  a  capital 
of  over  /'2.000,  with  a  staff  ot  more  than  300  workmen  ;  and  paid  about 
^25  a  year  royalty  to  the  treasury,  not  as  rent,  but  for  permission  to 
extract  the  metal,  which  is  imperial  property.  /2,ooo  to  ^4,000  is  a 
large  capital  for  China,  and  is  usually  owned  by  three  or  four  associates, 
who  are  either  working  partners  or  relatives,  and  thus  scarcely  richer  than 
the  peasant  Wang,  though  they  may  have  a  larger  income  by  turning  over 
their  capital  more  frequently. 

Retail  shops  are  a  necessity  for  a  dense  and  busy  population,  and  the 
severest  moralists  raise  no  objection  to  their  existence  ;  though  adultera- 
tion, if  carried  beyond  a  certain  point,  is  still  punished,  as  in  the  days  of 
Chow,  and  mercers  who  sell  bad  silk  are  bracketed,  in  the  Buddhist 
scheme  of  crimes  and  virtues,  with  physicians  who  administer  inferior 
medicines,  householders  who  refuse  to  allow  slaves  to  buy  their  freedom, 
and  those  who  remove  landmarks  or  wantonly  waste  rice.-  Siiops  of  the 
same  kind  occupy  the  same  quarter  in  the  city,  and  their  owners  form  a 
sort  of  amicable  and  unaggressive  ''trust,"  which  discourages  underselling  and 
establishes  a  '"fair  price."  "  Only  one  price"  is  a  common  inscription  on 
signboards,  and  as  the  general  public  in  China  consists  of  persons  actively 
engaged  in  commerce  and  industry,  knowledge  as  to  what  prices  are 
really  to  be  called  fair  is  more  generally  diffused  than  elsewhere.  The 
precept,  "  You  should  not  beat  down  articles  below  the  proper  price,"3  is 
niie  of  "twelve  sentences  of  good  words''  in  popular  repute.  The  regu- 
larity of  the  demand  for  certain  goods,  based  on  unchanging  custom,  also 
helps  to  keep  prices  firm.  1  )e  Mailla  describes  how,  at  the  season  when 
winter  or  summer  clothing  is  left  off,  a  man  will  bring  6.000  caps  of  a 
suitable  sort  and  sell  them  all  in  three  or  four  days  :  and  when  the  demand 
is  thus  fixed  and  calculable,  the  dealer  does  not  need  to  force  a  sale  by 
low  prices  or  recoup  himself  by  high  ones  for  the  risk  of  an  unsuccessful 
speculation. 

Some  of  the  provisions  of  shopkeepers'  guilds  have  been  mentioned  in 
connei  tion  with  the  subject  of  trade  unionism.  The  guilds  consisting  of 
dealers  only  are  of  two  kinds— the  so-called  "compatriot  guilds"  uniting 
the  natives  of  a  distant  locality  settled  in  any  town  for  trade,  and  those 
embracing  persons  of  the  same  trade  in  their  native  place.  The  former 
class  may  include  compatriots  of  different  callings,  but  most  generally  the 
iy  ever*  ises  the  trade  for  which  its  native  place  is  famous,  and  so  has 
a  common  calling.  At  Shanghai  tea  and  silk  dealers  formerly  had  a 
common  guild  :  but  since  the  Tae-ping  rebellion,  the  silk  men  formed  a 
guild   of    their  own.      The  compatriot   guilds   were   first  formed  under  the 

1    .-///.'  •.;■.;:  2.  -   ( ; ray's  ( ':i;it,i.  pp.   151    (1. 

J    I  In.-  I  :    ■      •    m    in    ':•..;!):_;    prices    is  even   carried    to   a   ludicrous  extent  :   tints, 

itiij;  to  ( iill  iii.  ;  .    mi  1,  the  pi  ice  nf^mils  in  the  marke!  of  I-ehan^  is  said  never  to 

'■     y  ;  tiling-   an:    always   -11  1.    hut,  to  make  up  for  this  uniformity,  the 

"\    minris    to  the      i.  '  ;.     :ly,  like   the    -:.  ■■  of   the   standard    oar   of    iron 

aim. n-  the   Herhei  -. 


COMMERCE    AND    TRADE.  339 

Tang  or  earlier,  to  protect  the  common  interest  of  strangers  ;  but  the 
functions  of  all  are  much  the  same. 

The  guilds  conduct  prosecutions  on  behalf  of  members,  and  defray  a 
portion  of  the  legal  costs,  provided  the  members  are  unanimous  as  to  the 
justice  of  the  claim  ;  but  a  formal  petition  from  the  guild  generally  secures 
redress  without  litigation.  The  permanent  secretary  of  all  these  societies 
is  a  gentleman  of  literary  rank,  entitled  by  his  degree  to  visit  and  negotiate 
with  Government  officers  in  the  name  of  his  clients.  Their  revenues  are 
raised,  like  those  of  the  Phoenician  merchants  and  shipowners,  by  regular 
voluntary  taxation,  generally  about  one-tenth  per  cent,  of  the  income  of 
each  firm ;  and,  to  assess  the  tax,  in  some  cases  the  books  of  all  the 
members  are  regularly  inspected  by  clerks  taken  in  rotation  from  the 
different  firms.  In  others  the  members  swear  to  the  accuracy  of  their 
contributions  ;  but  if  any  one  is  suspected  of  having  sworn  falsely,  a  ballot 
is  taken  as  to  his  being  called  on  to  produce  his  books  in  verification,  and 
if  he  refuses,  he  is  expelled  the  guild.  The  Shanghai  tea  guild  requires 
its  members  to  send  to  the  guild  an  account  of  their  sales  during  the  past 
month,  with  a  subscription  in  proportion  ;  and,  if  understatements  are  dis- 
covered, t'ne  penalty  is  a  fine  of  fifteen  times  the  amount  due  originally. 
Members  are  required  to  submit  their  disputes  to  arbitration  instead  of 
going  to  law,  and  to  boycott  any  firm  that  has  been  expelled  the  guild. 

A  :irious  guilds  regulate  the  length  of  credit  to  be  given,  the  rates  of 
discount,  the  warehousing  of  goods,  weights  and  measures,  and  the  like; 
and  some  interdict  to  their  members  the  (illegal)  practice  of  fictitious 
buying  and  selling,  or  time  bargains.  The  Shanghai  tea  guild  requires 
that  tea  which  has  been  paid  for  in  advance  shall  be  insured  against  fire. 
Foreign  firms  are  to  be  boycotted  while  engaged  in  litigation  with 
members.  All  the  rules  dealing  with  the  weight  and  quality  of  consign- 
ments have  the  object  of  securing  good  faith;  and  in  1SS3  a  quarrel 
between  the  tea  guilds  and  the  foreign  merchants  on  this  subject  ended  in 
the  well-deserved  victory  of  the  former. 

They  proposed  to  rectify  the  complaints  made  of  variable  and  false 
weights  used  by  Europeans,  by  themselves  appointing  a  trustworthy 
foreigner  at  a  liberal  salary,  to  act  as  umpire  in  all  disputes  concerning 
tea-weighing.  The  foreigners  objected  to  outside  inspection  of  any  kind  : 
the  Chinese  guild  refused  to  trade  on  any  other  terms  ;  and  after  a 
temporary  suspension  of  business,  by  which  the  former  were  of  course  the 
losers,  they  surrendered  at  discretion.  As  merchants  the  Chinese  have 
no  prejudices,  and  discriminate  readily  between  honourable  and  un- 
scrupulous aliens,  and  a  foreigner  who  entrusts  his  quarrel  with  a  guild 
member  to  its  committee  of  arbitration  is  safe  in  their  hands.  The  mere 
threat  of  such  an  appeal  on  the  part  of  a  merchant  brought  a  Chinese 
broker,  who  had  done  a  piece  of  legal  but  dishonourable  cheating,  at  once 
to  terms. 

The  Shanghai  bankers'  guild  suppressed  a  custom  of  lending  for  ten 
days    at    36    per    cent.    ($10    for   ten   days'    loan    of  $1,000,    or    $1    per 


54o  ownership  in  china. 

diem  =  365  per  r.000  per  annum),  and  decreed  that  the  rate  of  interest 
should  he  published  monthly  after  discussion  at  a  guild  meeting. 
Gambling  in  ingots  and  dollars  is  forbidden,  and  at  Xing-po,  where  it 
had  reached  a  great  pitch,  the  bankers'  guild  put  a  stop  to  fictitious 
dollar-selling.  They  were  vehemently  opposed  by  a  class  of  brokers  not 
belonging  to  the  guild,  who  had  no  other  occupation,  and  it  is  character- 
istic that  the  latter  were  pacified  by  temporary  aid  from  Government 
while  seeking  for  other  employment.  The  preamble  of  this  guild  dates 
the  profession  of  money  dealing  from  the  constitution  of  the  Treasury 
under  the  Chow  Dvnasty ;  the  importance  of  providing  that  '"those  who 
have  should  be  able  to  exchange  with  those  who  want,  and  that  small 
coppers  should  be  exchanged  for  large  ones,1' makes  this  occupation  the 
pivi  it  of  commerce. 

Main!}'  owing  to  the  growth  of  foreign  trade,  the  use  of  paper  money, 
and  so  of  free  banking,  was  discontinued  after  the  Tae-ping  rebellion,  by 
the  resolution,  of  the  bankers  themselves,  to  restrict  all  transactions  to 
ingots  and  dollars.  Thev  conclude  to  conform  to  Shanghai  monetary 
usages,  and  '"to  be  equitable  and  diligent  in  the  right  mode  of  ac  miring 
wealth/'  All  sets  of  rules  begin  with  a  moral  preamble  to  the  effect  that 
the  wavs  of  trade  should  be  truthful,  equitable,  and  sincere,  ••because  well- 
con  'noted  commerce  yields  threefold  profits."'  The  prosperity  of  the 
cor  :.-•   shows  itself  in  the   fact  that  guild  halls  are  among  the  most 

ornamental  of  Chinese  building's. 

Shopkeepers  are  allowed  to  paint  their  names  and;  wares  on  the  city 
wads  by  way  of  advertisement,  as  well  as  on  their  signboards,  which  are 
as  florid  in  style  as  the  nomenclature  of  the  streets.  Archdeacon  Gray 
instance-  in  Canton  the  '".•street  of  Golden  Profits,"  of  •"benevolence  and 
Love."  of  ""  Long  wity,  '  of  "  r.coo  Grandsons/'  of  ""  i.o:c  Beatitudes."  of 
"  io.ooc  Happinesses,"  of  ''Ninefold  Brightness,"  of  "Accumulated 
Goodness."  etc,  etc.1 

Bankruptcy  is  considered  disgraceful  and  even  criminal,  but  there  is 
little  law  on  the  subject  and  arrangements  with  creditors  are  generally 
m  de  privately.-  Government  dues  take  precedence  of  private  debts, 
otherwise  all  credit  rs  share  1  lly  :  luture  property  is  liable  unless 
expn  sslv  excepted  by  agreement,  but  the  creditors  can  ^nx  claim  absolute 
ci  ntr  1  ve-r  the  debtor's  personaitv.  The  law  places  difficulties  in  tiie 
wav  i  •  '  Lie  ot  land  for  debt,  and  if  the  1  Kinky;::  it  retained  no  means   of 

'    •  save  an  hereditary   plot,  he  w<  uld    not  1  e  d  •;  rived  of  it.      On 
:.  i.  even   effort  is  made  bv  debt  >rs  and  th    ir  fai  lilies  to  av<  >id 
.:.d  a  m   .<  hant  hav  ng  land,  but  intending  to  continue  in  trade. 
'     :  <  o:,s   n!    o:    his    relatives   to  us   sale.      In  the  rare    rases 
lit    i     Jit    be    brought    to  the    brink    of  ruin  bv  a    series   of 
tmgeni  ;es  for  w  ■  w    sn    '   ]     rs    nally  to  bl     ..   .  '...-   : 

;s    :     .  1  ".\  m  .:..:.:  -.    or    even    his    creditors    themselves. 


in 

V 

:  .i 

w 

a 

ai 

:v 

e 

r- 

e 

COMMERCE    AND    TRADE.  34  r 

would  come  to  his  assistance — a  fact  which  explains  the  severe  view  taken 
of  those  who  are  actually  allowed  to  become  bankrupt. 

Amyot  observes  :  "  Our  missionaries  have  been  repeatedly  amazed  to 
see  how  readily  people  here  waive  the  repayment  of  a  debt."  Public  opinion 
obliges  the  local  Shylocks  to  relax  their  claims  on  honest  men  who  have 
been  unfortunate,  or  the  family  of  the  debtor  comes  to  an  arrangement 
with  his  creditors.  The  tribunals  give  no  encouragement  to  the  hard 
creditor,  and  always  allow  time  for  repayment  unless  the  creditor  himself 
is  in  want.  Money  lent  by  friends  is  generally  paid  off  in  three  instal- 
ments, without  interest.  But  if  a  debt  has  been  forgiven,  and  the  creditor's 
grandson  is  poor  and  the  debtor's  well  off,  the  former  may  apply  for 
repayment,  and  it  would  be  thought  dishonourable  to  refuse  ;  so  that  the 
inequalities  of  successive  generations  tend  to  compensate  each  other 
instead  of  perpetuating  themselves. 

The  officers  of  the  State  are  dealt  with  liberally ;  salaries  are  advanced, 
gratuities  given  on  occasion  of  special  family  demands,  and  temporary 
loans,  taken  from  the  public  funds  in  their  hands,  are  sanctioned,  at  a  low 
rate  of  interest,  which  is  generally  excused  on  one  plea  or  another.  Loans 
in  cash  or  corn  are  made  to  the  soldiery  in  bad  times,  and  the  repayment 
of  these  is  also  often  excused  or  stopped  gradually  out  of  their  pay.  Such 
debts  are  never  passed  onto  the  children,  and  both  capital  and  interest  are 
excused  en  all  sorts  of  pleas.  Part  of  their  pay  is  held  back  to  the  end 
of  the  year  to  enable  them  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  season. 

Ordinary  commercial  credits  do  not  extend  beyond  the  current  year. 
In  preparation  for  the  festivities  of  the  Xew  Year,  every  tradesman  exerts 
himself  to  call  in  his  debts  and  to  clear  off  his  goods  :  it  is  the  moment 
of  genuine  "  clearance  sales,'''  x  universal  stocktaking  and  drawing  up  of 
balance  sheets.  Debts  for  household  expenses  may  be  dunned  for  at  die 
Xew  Year,  and  even  the  very  poor  try  to  avoid  this  disgrace;  and  Oeneral 
Tcheng-ki-tong  mentions  among  the  sources  of  cheerfulness  enjoyed  at  this 
holiday  season,  that  the  people  have  all  paid  their  debts.  Closing  the  shop 
door  before  Xew  Year's  Day  has  the  same  significance  as  for  a  banker  to 
"put  up  his  shutters,"  and  "taking  the  door  off  its  hinges  ''  is  a  way  of 
forcing  a  tradesman  to  pay  his  debts.  This  annual  settlement  prevents  the 
unlucky  from  falling,  and  the  thriftless  from  sliding  into  tiie  headlong  road 
to  ruin  ;  the  former  are  given  tor  a  moment  a  foothold  by  which  they  can 
recover  themselves,  and  the  latter  are  stopped  by  a  barrier  which  tew  per- 
sist in  overstepping. 

The  postal  service  of  the  country  is  managed  entirely  by  private  enter- 
prise, the  Government  couriers  not  being  allowed  to  carry  any  but  official 
des]  atehes.  betters  are  now  conveved  for  a  moderate  charge  to  all  parts, 
not  very  rapidly,  but  with  complete  security.1-  ••  During  the  whole  tune  I 
was  in  China,"  wrote  Captain  Gill,  "  I  received  every  letter  and  new-;  at  er 
sent   me,   except  one  letter,  and   that  had   been   forwarded  via    Russia."' 

1  Margary,  p.  43.  -   Cooper,   Pieneer,  p- 432- 

;i  River  oj'  Golden  Sand,  pp.  251,  261,  270.     Innovations  are  being  tried  in  this  matter. 


342  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

The  charges  of  the  Wenchow  postal  companies  union,  quoted  by  Dr. 
MacGowan,  are  as  follows:  from  Wenchow  to  Ningpo,  70  cash;  to 
Shanghai  and  Canton,  too  ;  to  Peking  and  Hangchow,  2co  ;  where  much 
of  the  route  is  by  land,  the  charge  is  increased.  The  companies  make 
good  all  losses.  Couriers  with  letters  do  forty  miles  a  day,  and  the 
charge  for  that  distance  is  about  6d.,  according  to  Mr.  Little,  J  i.e.  just  the 
equivalent  of  the  man's  labour.  M.  Simon  "never  heard  any  serious  com- 
plaint concerning  the  honesty  and  punctuality  of  the  service,'''  and  all 
European  travellers  give  substantially  the  same  testimony. 

A  missionary,  writing  in  1730,  describes  how  he  handed  over  his  posses- 
sions to  an  innkeeper,  who  made  a  list  and  addressed  them  to  his  corre- 
spondent in  the  town  to  be  reached.  On  arriving  there,  he  found  everything 
already  safely  delivered;  "the  porters  are  very  trustworthy,  and  if  they 
were  not,  the  correspondent  would  be  responsible  for  the  goods  consigned 
to  him.''  And  Davis  says  of  the  porters  engaged  for  Lord  Amherst's 
abortive  mission  :  "  Not  a  single  article  was  known  to  be  lost  by  the 
embassies  in  all  the  distance  between  the  northern  and  southern  extremities 
of  the  empire." 

Gill's  account  of  his  carriers  is  equally  satisfactory  ;  the  goods  were  "  very 
fairly  taken  care  of;  boxes  and  portmanteaux  were  never  thrown  about  in 
the  wanton  manner  of  European  porters,  and  during  my  whole  stay  in 
China  I  was  never  robbed  of  the  smallest  thing  ;  "  the  carriers  were  left  to 
themselves,  and  no  count  made  of  the  packages  in  their  hands,  but  every- 
thing turned  up  correctly. 

The  facilities  for  travelling  which  struck  Marco  Polo  as  phenomenal  in 
the  13th  century  are,  of  course,  no  more  than  are  now  enjoyed  in  any  civil- 
ized country,  but  their  continued  existence  comes  as  a  sort  of  surprise 
upon  tourists  who  have  not  been  accustomed  to  think  of  China  as  civilized. 
Mr.  Oxenham  observes  of  his  tour  from  Peking  to  Hankow,  covering  6S0 
miles  of  land  and  520  of  water  travelling  :  "  In  a  journey  at  home  I  could 
not  have  suffered  less  hindrance  or  annoyance.  .  .  .  In  a  so-called 
decrepit  and  declining  empire,  the  wonderful  organization  and  arrangement 
visible  everywhere  was  especially  remarkable."-  Besides  brick  towers 
every  five  li,:i  "  at  every  three  li  is  erected  a  small  house  built  of  brick  and 
about  eight  feetsquare  ;  the  face  fronting  the  road  isgenerally  whitewashed, 
and  on  this  is  written,  in  the  picturesque  Chinese  character,  the  distance 
from  the  nearest  //iai,  both  to  the  north  and  to  the  south,  the  name  of  the 
township  this  particular  building  belongs  to,  and  the  number,  name,  and 
residence  ol  the  thief-takers,  watchmen,  and  police;"  at  every  twenty  li 
pails  oi    water  are  provided  for  the  travellers'  mules. 

Milestones  and  guideposts  are  placed  at  intervals  along  the  high-roads, 
and  nearly  every  form  oi  bridge  known  to  European  engineers  finds  a  rude 
prototype  in  some  part  or  other  of  China.  A  suspension  bridge  on  the 
Yunnan  road  is  said  to  have  been  built  in  the  year  35  A.J).  Bridges 
and  roads,  like  canals,  are  sometimes  provided  by  private  munificence. 
1    !'■  237-  '    I'-  423-  ''■  A-,  p.  397- 


COMMERCE    AND    TRADE.  343 

Williamson  describes  the  "  widow's  hills,  so  called  after  a  widow  who  made 
the  road  across  them  at  a  cost  of  ^3,000  to  ^4,000."  ' 

Hotel  regulations,  as  already  observed,  are  entirely  modern.  The  key 
of  the  room  must  be  given  to  the  landlord,  or  he  is  not  responsible  for  the 
visitor's  property.  If  a  stranger  dies,  the  magistrate  must  be  informed,  and 
an  inventory  of  his  goods  taken ;  twelve  months  are  then  allowed  for  rela- 
tives to  claim  them,  after  which  they  revert  to  the  Crown.  These  provisions 
are  necessary  and  reasonable  in  a  land  where  men  take  long  journeys,  and 
communications  between  distant  parts  are  regular  but  slow.  The  names 
and  addresses  of  visitors  are  kept  and  reported  monthly  to  the  authorities, 
but  as  far  as  appears,  merely  in  the  interest  of  their  own  and  the  public 
safety,  not  with  any  view  to  police  supervision  or  espionage.  Foreigners 
of  any  nationality  who  understand  and  take  account  of  the  customs  of 
the  country  can  live  or  travel  in  China  with  the  same  perfect  freedom  from 
restraint  as  her  own  well-behaved  citizens. 

1  Journeys  in  NorUi  China,  p.  28 1. 


CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE    LAW  OF  MARRIAGE   AND    INHERITANCE. 

Tin-:  Chinese  code  now  in  force  contains,  according  to  its  editors,  a  few- 
ancient  statutes  derived  from  tiie  Han  Code,  but  is  mainly  founded  upon 
the  statutes  of  the  Tang  Dynasty.  It  consists  of  two  parts — the  Lit  or 
general  laws,  which  are  never  altered,  and  the  Li,  compared  to  the  English 
statute  law,  which  are  modified  and  revised  from  time  to  time.  In  i  746 
(early  in  the  Kien-lung  reign)  it  was  resolved  that  the  code  should  be 
revised  every  five  years,  and  new  editions  are  still  issued  from  time  to 
time.  A  critical  account  of  the  statutes  of  the  different  dynasties  by  a 
competent  Chinese  scholar  would  be  extremely  valuable,  though  it  might, 
like  the  Tsing  Code  itself,  be  somewhat  disappointing  to  the  student  of 
Chinese  custom.  This  code,  in  fact,  contains  only  that  part  of  Chinese 
.customary  law  which  the  Government  is  concerned  to  enforce,  and  that  part 
which  individuals  appeal  to  the  Government  to  enforce  against  persons 
breaking  it  to  their  detriment 

Custom  is  peremptory  on  a  good  many  points  as  to  which  the  law  is 
silent,  and  it  is  probable  that  some  usages,  which  have  no  sanction  but 
tra  iition,  may  be  as  ancient  as  those  recorded  in  the  oldest  Lit.  There  are 
no  lawyers  in  China,  and  no  legal  experts,  except  the  law  secretaries  who 
search  out  precedents  and  draw  up  cases  submitted  to  the  Peking  Court  of 
A:  peak  nor  aie  any  means  provided  for  instructing  magistrates  in  the  law 
they  have  to  administer.  The  Penal  code  is  a  part  of  the  official  literature 
ot    :'.  :  country,  and  as  such  no  doubt  is    studied    1.)}'  the    official  class  ;  but 

tin    G  ' in    Law   of  the    land,    including   those    parts    which   have    had 

:  nak'ks  associated  by  statute  with  their  breach,  is  still  living,  and  the 
fact,  noted  by  a  weibinformed  writer.-  that  ail  Chinese  are  fairly  veil 
ac  [uainted  with  both  the  customary  and  the  statute  law,  is  owing  to  the 
tide.ity  w:th  whf  i,  the  lavs  reflect  the  common  usaire,  not  to  the  assiduity 
v  :  I        co people  study  the  written  law. 

bile  Lu  have  1  :  n  transl  ted  by  Sir  George  Suunton  anil  ;  irtions  of 
ike  Li  iiv  Mr.  (amieson  in  tin:  Ciiina  AG:' re.  The  former  al  me  are  k  ■'  t 
::_  'l'ous'.y  in  the   knape  demanded  bv  a   penal  code,  while   the    latter  t     . 

uetii  .  'Uts.  ex;  laining  the  various  possible  combtn  1- 

ti    i  -     f  (   ii    1  .   '   vhich  the  1   w  does  n    tin    nose  to  nunish.      When   the  Li 


.....    '.'.  it.l  ioi'e  I-ftl  or  till 


:     rs,  tney  o  n 
II.  r.u-k  t,  C'r.n  :  .'       ' 


i.  .   '       I 


1      •• 


at 


THE   LAW    OF  MARRIAGE   AND   INHERITANCE.    345 

the  instance  of  the  administrative  power ;  but  when  they  treat  of  private 
relations,  with  which  normally  the  Government  has  nothing  to  do,  they  are 
plainly  an  abridged  kind  of  case  law,  determining  points  which  have  been 
raised  by  litigants  and  decided  by  magistrates  in  accordance  with  equity 
or  notorious,  unwritten  custom.  If  a  case  was  raised  again  and  again  in 
different  places,  the  number  of  decisions  given  on  it  would  supply  a  reason 
for  an  addition  to  the  Li,  to  prevent  litigation  ;  and  this  account  of  the 
matter  would  explain  the  absence  from  the  code  of  provisions  respecting 
points  of  usage  too  familiar  and  too  firmly  established  for  any  one  to 
challenge  their  obligatoriness. 

The  law  of  succession  and  inheritance  occupies  only  three  short  chapters 
in  the  code,  which  will  help  to  illustrate  the  above  remarks.  The  first  Lu 
is  headed,  "  Appointing  a  Successor  to  the  family,''"  and  begins  :  "  Whoever 
appoints  his  son  successor  to  the  family  contrary  to  law  snail  be  punished 
with  eighty  blows.''  It  is  not  stated,  but  we  are  able  to  infer,  that  the  lawful 
course  is  to  appoint  the  eldest  son  of  the  principal  wife.  If  this  wife  is 
over  fifty,  the  eldest  son  by  a  concubine  must  be  appointed,  and  the 
wrongful  nomination  in  any  case  is  cancelled  as  well  as  punished.  The 
second  clause  assigns  the  penalty  of  one  hundred  blows  if  a  lawfully 
appointed  son  deserts  his  adoptive  parent.  The  condition  of  lawful 
adoption  is  that  the  adoptive  parents  have  no  son,  and  the  natural  parents 
at  least  two. 

ddie  law  explains  that  if  the  adoptive  parents  have  a  son  later,  and  the 
natural  parents  lose  their  other  sons,  the  adopted  son  may  be  restored  to 
his  natural  parents,  but  it  omits  to  say  what  is  lawful  if  only  one  and  not 
b  ith  of  these  changes  occur.1  The  third  clause  fixes  the  penalty  ot  sixty 
blows  tor  "confounding  families  and  kindred  "  by  adopting  a  child  of  a 
different  surname.  The  fourth  clause  makes  an  exception  to  this  rule  in 
favour  of  a  foundling  child  under  three  ;  such  a  child  may  be  brought  up 
and  receive  the  name  of  its  adoptive  parents,  but  must  not  claim  the  suc- 
cession, even  failing  natural  born  children.  It  is  also  penal  to  "  break 
through  the  order  of  seniors  and  juniors  in  the  generations  ot  the  family" 
in  appointing  a  successor  :  while,  according  to  the  sixth  and  last  clause, 
•"  any  one  rearing  up  a  free  child  as  a  slave,  shall  be  punished  with  one 
hu  .red  blows,  and  the  child  shall  be  restored  to  freedom."  This  clause 
has  no  apparent  connection  with  the  choice  of  a  successor,  and  is  probably 
ancient  ;  it  may  have  been  aimed  against  usurpations  by  senior  agnates 
interested  in  the  disappearance  of  an  infant  heir. 

The  first  of  the  //  in  this  chapter  explains  the  nature  of  the  order  which 
the  fifth  -  lause  of  the  lit  forbids  men  to  break;  and  the  lu  being  oiderthan 
tne  li,  tiie  customary  law  of  the  subject  must  have  been  generally  un  ler- 
stoud  in  remoter  times,  though  the  extension  ot  the  empire  or  other  causes 
may  have  ma.de  it  seem   expedient  to  state   the  rule   more  explicitly.      Tne 

1   Uiilc-s  lvc'.aimel  by  his  natural  ]  '   .  ' '  .       1      lave       a  -      r    -  '  \.  ■  a  '   .-.  a  "   . :  --  '■'■   '  i 

!::»      rut  hers  bv  a  tout  ion.       In   the    other   ease   r.u     iuuet    a  secutvi  an      a     .    v. 


346  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

theory  of  it  is  quite  plain.  The  use  of  a  successor  is  to  take  the  place  of 
a  son  ;  the  ideal  successor  is  therefore  a  brother's  son,  who  is  almost  the 
same  as  a  man's  own  ;  uncles  are  quasi-fathers,  every  brother  is  an  alter  ego, 
and  everv  nephew  a  quasi-son.  A  man's  father  cannot  worship  his  tablet 
or  perform  the  ancestral  ceremonies,  and  the  uncle  or  any  other  relative 
standing  above  him  in  the  genealogical  tree  is  in  the  same  position. 

It  is  tqually  impossible  for  a  man  to  be  represented  in  this  matter  by  a 
grandson.  A  spare  grandson  may  be  adopted  as  successor  to  a  childless 
son,  but  no  one  belonging  to  the  generation  of  grandchildren  can  be  put 
in  the  place  of  a  child,  which  would  place  him  in  the  relation  ot  an  uncle 
to  his  own  brothers.  The  rule  is  so  far  artificial  that  when  a  successor 
came  to  be  sought  in  a  remote  collateral  branch,  it  might  well  happen  that 
tiie  person  most  suitable  in  age  would  turn  out  to  be  of  the  wrong  genera- 
tion for  adoption.  While  the  relationship  continued  near,  popular  opinion 
would  be  strong  on  the  side  of  the  lu  :  when  it  was  remote,  the  feeling 
that  prompted  the  law  would  be  less  spontaneously  strong,  and  the  motives 
for  irregular  nominations  being  present,  quarrels  and  controversies  might 
arise,  and  therefore  the  li  formulated  the  strict  law. 

There  is  a  popular  maxim  describing  the  rule  of  succession  amongst 
brothers  which  probably  represents  the  sort  of  material  out  of  which  both 
lu  and  li  were  formed.  It  runs  :  "  W  the  eldest  has  no  son,  the  eldest  son 
of  the  second  brother  (succeeds):  if  a  younger  has  no  son.  the  second 
son  of  the  elder''  (does  so).  But,  as  already  observed,  the  adoption  of  a 
son  or  the  appointment  of  a  successor  is  a  matter  to  be  decided  by  the 
whole  family  in  council,  and  any  grounds  for  diverging  from  the  strict  line 
of  seniority  which  appeared  sufficient  to  the  council  would  ipso  facto  be 
good  at  law.  The  li  on  this  chapter  consist  in  great  part  of  a  statement  of 
exceptions  to,  as  well  as  expositions  of,  the  rule.  \i  a  lawfully  appointed 
successor  cannot  "'  harmonise  with  his  adoptive  parents,"  he  may  be  super- 
seded by  *"  some  worthy  individual  for  whom  they  have  an  affection  " 
belonging  to  the  proper  generation,  and  u  the  kindred  cannot  insist  on 
their  <  loosing  the  next  in  order."  Aversion  and  dislike  between  the  legal 
successor  and  tiie  adopting  parents,  like  the  failure  to  harmonise  after 
adoption,  entitles  the  childless  family  to  seek  another  heir,  and  it  is  ex- 
pressly declared  that  "any  attempt  at  compulsion  or  coercion,  in  order  to 
secure  property  on  tiie  part  of  the  kindred,  resulting  in  law  suits,  will  be 
punished  bv  tiie  authorities  and   the  original  choice  confirmed." 

1  :.  ■  re  eding  <  lause  is  of  a  similar  character,  and  under  cover  of  it.  it 
is  ;  lain  that    u  y  :      1  le   heir  could  be  excluded.      '"'As  quarrels 

it  tne  stici        .  .:.  res  lit  in  loss  of  life,  any  one  who,  grasping  after 

tiie  property,  plots  to  succeed,  and  all  his  aiders  and  abettors  shall  be 
d  in  .  fi  m  the  suec es-i  n,  and  it  shall  rest  with  the  elders  of  the  family 
to  nominati    t'n  -      :."      It   would  be   interesting  to   know  the    date  at 

winch  tins  (  lause  was  added  to  tiie  code,  as  we  'near  nothing  at  tiie  present 
(lay  i  :  loss  ot  N  ■  :.  irrels  a  ■■  ut  u  r  lance  :  and  it  probably  goes  back 
i      i        I     .:..    -e    M;     ,       Age--,    when,   as    in    the   corresponding    buropean 


THE    LAW   OF  MARRIAGE   AND    INHERITANCE.     347 

period,  possession  was  nine  points  of  the  law  and  was  to  be  got  by  the 
taking. 

The  second  clause  in  the  li  declares  that  a  widow  left  without  a  son,  and 
not  remarrying,  is  entitled  to  her  husband's  share  in  the  family  property  ; 
if  she  marries  again,  the  property  reverts  to  the  husband's  family,  the  elders 
of  which  are  entitled  in  any  case  to  appoint  the  proper  relative  as  successor 
to  the  deceased.  There  is  nothing  in  the  In  about  the  rights  of  wives  and 
mothers,  and  the  li  do  not  mention  the  case  of  a  mother  with  sons:  these, 
therefore,  are  regulated  by  custom  of  such  force  and  fixity  as  to  be  practi- 
cally never  called  in  question.  As  the  most  singular  features  of  Egyptian 
marriage  law  continued  in  force  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans, 
there  is  nothing  improbable  in  the  corresponding  customs  of  the  Chinese 
having  remained  substantially  unchanged  from  the  days  of  the  first  three 
dynasties. 

but  the  best  account  of  the  Chinese  customs  is  due  to  a  writer  quite 
unbiassed  by  reminiscences  of  the  Egyptian  mater familias,  who  finds  "the 
prominent  position  of  the  mother  "in  Chinese  law  a  paradox  only  to  be 
accounted  for  by  the  custom  of  ancestral  worship.1  According  to  Mr. 
Jamieson,  if  the  widow  is  also  the  mother  of  the  family  {i.e.  if  she  was  the 
principal  wife),  "  she  has  the  practical  control  of  the  whole  inheritance," 
which  cannot  be  divided  among  the  sons  without  her  consent.  If  she  is 
the  widow  of  a  son  dying  before  division,  when  it  is  effected,  "she  is 
entitled  to  the  custody  and  management  of  her  husband's  share,  in  trust 
for  her  sons  or  the  adopted  successor.  In  this  particular,  custom  is  all 
powerful.  On  the  death  of  a  father,  the  legal  estate,  so  to  speak,  vests  in 
the  sons  ;  but  equity,  in  the  shape  of  custom,  prevents  their  dealing  with  it 
without  the  sanction  of  the  mother.  So  long  as  the  family  estate  was 
undivided,  the  sons  would  be  tenants  in  common,  and  would  all  be  bound 
to  join  in  a  transfer  of  any  portion  ;  but,  even  then,  to  give  validity  to  the 
transaction,  the  mother  must  also  be  a  party." 

That  is  to  say,  for  all  practical  purposes,  when  the  father  of  a  family 
dies,  the  mother  and  eldest  son  take  his  place,  under  a  general  trust  for 
the  benefit  of  the  community,  which  does  not  preclude  a  discretionary 
freedom  of  action.  The  difference  between  this  state  of  things  and  that 
to  which  Egyptian  deeds  bear  witness,  is  slight  so  far  as  the  practical 
interests  of  the  survivors  are  concerned.  The  authority  of  both  parents 
counts  for  more  than  in  Egypt,  and  that  of  the  wife  for  far  less,  perhaps 
because,  in  modern  China  at  any  rate,  the  son  is  held  to  derive  his  right 
from  tiie  father,  not  the  mother,  but  there  are  few  or  no  modern  codes  so 
favourable  to  women  as  to  make  the  wife  sole  heir  to  her  husband's 
property  and  trustee  for  all  his  children,  including  adult  and  married 
sons. 

There  are  two  lu  dealing  with  the  division  of  family  property,  the  penal 
clauses  of  which  only  come  into  operation  on  the  initiative  of  the  family 
eiders.  Sons  and  grandsons  are  not  allowed  to  set  up  separate  establish- 
1    China  Kcviezi',  viii.  p.  202, 


i-0 


OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 


merits,  and  register  them  as  such,  nor  to  divide  the  family  property,  under 
a  penalty  of  one  hundred  blows,  but  the  parents  or  grandparents  must  be  the 
complainants.  Children  dividing  the  property  during  the  legal  term  of 
mourning  tor  parents  may  be  punished  with  eighty  blows,  on  the  complaint 
of  the  nearest  senior  relative,  unless  they  are  acting  in  accordance  with  the 
parents'"  last  will.  Juniors  appropriating  any  part  of  the  family  property 
without  leave,  and  seniors  dividing  it  unfairly,  are  liable  to  punishment  up 
to  one  hundred  blows,  in  proportion  to  the  pecuniary  amount  of  the  wrong. 

The  term  rendered  seniors  in  this  clause  is  explained  to  mean  i£  the 
father  or  grandfather  class"  and  "the  elder  brother  class."  It  is  doubtful, 
Mr.  Jamieson  adds,  ''if  this  includes  the  'mother  class.'  If  it  does,  she 
might  be  said  to  have  a  joint  legal  estate  with  her  sons,  but  at  any  rate 
public  opinion  is  so  strong  on  this  point  that  a  son  who  attempted  to  sell 
the  patrimony  against  the  will  of  his  mother  would  be  so  scouted  by 
Chinese  society  that  most  probably  no  purchaser  would  venture  to  take  a 
transfer  at  his  hands.  I  do  not  suppose  that  a  case  was  ever  heard  of  in 
which  it  was  tried."  l 

Tne  Chinese  theory  of  inheritance  arid  descent  ignores  altogether  the 
claims  of  women  except  in  the  character  of  wife  and  mother.  Women 
onlv  inherit  in  the  very  last  resort,  failing  all  male  relatives,  so  that  heir- 
esses are  almost  unknown,  though  so  common  at  Rome,  in  spite  of  the 
same  preference  for  agnates.  But  it  may  be  doubted  whether  this  fact  is 
owing  to  any  disregard  for  the  proprietary  interests  or  distrust  of  the 
proprietary  capacities  of  women. 

In  modern  China,  when  family  properties  are  divided,  they  are  divided 
equally  among  the  sons,  giving  to  each  a  small  capital,  which  is  supposed, 
with  his  own  exertions,  to  be  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  a  family.2 
If  the  father  has  not  already  married  all  his  daughters,  the  mother  or  elder 
brother  does  so,  and  a  reserve  is  made  for  this  purpose  by  agreement  at 
the  time  of  division.  The  wife  does  not  therefore  enter  her  new  family 
empty  handed,  and  the  plenishing  or  paraphernalia  which  she  takes  with 
her  is  said  on  the  average  to  be  worth  about  half  as  much  as  a  son's  share." 
Marriages  being  universal,  are  necessarily  arranged  so  as  not  to  impoverish 
the  parents  of  the  young  couple  ;  but  for  the  same  reason,  it  is  impose 
to  lock  en  t'n  in  as  an  occasion  for  enriching  the  husband's  family. 

The    de.-ure   for    sons  takes    precedence   of  the   desire    for    wealth,    and 

:  :  fati    ts   able  to  pick    and   choose  for  their  sons    would   avoid    the 

families  which  h  id  but  one  daughter  left    to  represent  them  ;  and,  besides, 

as  wealth  in  China  is  more  often  earned   than  inherited,  a    rich  lather    with 


'.  :  -  1  .  !"  '  "  '  - 
h  ivc  patrimony,  ;  n'(';i:;.-i: 
l')i    ■   Ltivrn  in  in 

:  -    ' 

hv;i  ;uv  tu  have  a  claim 
a   liie  liioi      i\ 
■catc  I  by  lias  [uc  law. 


THE   LAW  OF  MARRIAGE   AND   INHERITANCE.    3A9 

daughters  to  marry  thinks  it  prudent  to  consider  the  personal  qualities, 
rather  than  the  expected  inheritance,  of  candidates  for  their  hands.  Who 
knows,  it  is  said,  but  what  the  youth  who  seems  to  he  poor  now  may  grow 
rich,  but  one  of  bad  character  is  certain  to  become  poor  if  he  is  not 
so  already.  For  the  same  reason,  very  early  betrothals  are  not  recom- 
mended, as  they  must  be  prompted  by  family  considerations  rather  than 
personal  fitness,  and  the  grandfather  of  a  prime  minister  is  quoted  as 
saying  that  the  marriages  in  Ids  family  were  always  happy1  because  it 
was  the  custom  only  to  betroth  the  young  people  a  few  months  before 
marriage,  when  full-grown,  so  that  their  suitability  in  character  could  be 
considered. 

As  marrying  for  money  is  practically  unknown,  women  do  not  lose  in 
power  or  consideration  from  their  failure  to  inherit.  They  share  the  for- 
tunes and  the  status  of  their  husbands,  instead  of  inheriting  that  of  their 
fathers,  and  the  difference  is  not  a  disadvantage.  "  Like  the  Roman  wife 
the  Chinese  wife  shares  the  honours  and  rank,  as  well  as  the 
domicile  of  her  husband,"2  and  her  participation  in  his  official  acts  seems 
anciently  to  have  been  as  essential  as  it  is  now  in  the  observance  of 
domestic  ceremonial  rites.  All  wives  are  in  subjection  to  their  husbands, 
but  this  subjection  is  qualified  by  the  importance  attached  to  the  marriage 
relation  itself  and  to  that  of  parentage.  The  young  husband's  authority 
over  his  wife  is  second  to  that  of  his  own  father  and  mother,  whom  he  must 
consult,  for  instance,  before  he  can  divorce  his  wife  ;  and  the  wife  of  the 
father  or  grandfather,  at  the  head  of  the  household,  exercises  an  authority 
scarcely  second  to  his  over  all  the  junior  members  of  the  family  without 
distinction  of  sex.  Chinese  literature  is  full  of  anecdotes  illustrating  the 
authority  of  mothers  and  the  wisdom  with  winch  it  was  exercised. 

In  the  Odes,  guests  and  relatives  return  the  good  wishes  of  their 
I  rincely  host  by  promising  him  10.000  years  of  life,  numerous  descendant-, 
and  "  a  wife  having  the  conduct  of  an  officer.'' :-  Such  wives  are  frequently 
credited  with  the  conversion  of  their  husbands  by  a  discreet  remonstrance 
to  the  energetic  exercise  of  public  virtue.  Xor  was  maternal  affection  ex- 
pected to  be  blind.  A  lady  who  is  praised  by  Confucius,1  mourned  more 
bitterly  for  her  son  than  for  her  husband,  but  she  stopped  in  the  midst  of 
her  grief  to  utter  judgment  :  "Formerly  when  I  had  this  son,  I  thought 
that  lie  would  be  a  man  of  worth.  I  never  went  with  him  to  court  "  (and 
therefore  could  not  judge  or  correct  his  conduct  there/  :  "  and  now  that  he 
is  dead,  of  all  his  friends,  the  other  ministers,  there  is  no  one  that  lias  shed 
tear.-,  for  him.  while  the  members  of  his  harem  all  wail  till  they  lose  their 
voices.  This  son  must  have  committed  many  lapses  in  his  observance  of 
the  rules  of  propriety.'' 

Tile  historiographers   have  11  ithing  but   praise  for  another   lady  who  :     ■  :. 

1  "  \\--.o .'■■.':  00'  '•:.• "  Ives  in   I '.  ■  :    v?    if  married  life  "  is  the  exnresd   :.  a--  ':. 

2  [■:.    II.   i     rker,   Ckiiu  Rc-j:  :  ;  viii.  p.  S'5.' 

3  C.C.  ;  i.  _'4c.  Shi  A'/;.\\  vol.  iv.  p.  478. 

4  Li  Ki.  .  ./>'.,  :.     .  .':.   n.    1 76. 


OWXERSIIIJ'  IN  CIIIXA. 


a  strong  measure  to  correct  her  son's  lapses  from  these  rules.  He  had 
caused  great  discontent  by  arbitrary  and  excessive  exercises  of  authority. 
and  there  was  danger  of  a  revolt  breaking  out  against  him.  His  mother 
was  aware  of  this,  and  came  instate  one  day  to  the  Hall  of  Audience,  made 
him  give  up  his  seat  to  her,  and  then  herself  enumerated  the  offences  of 
which  he  had  been  guilty,  and  sentenced  him  to  receive  so  many  blows  in 
punishment  !  The  officer  did  not  dare  to  dispute  the  judgment  of  his 
natural  superior  :  but  the  admiring  crowd  interceded  for  his  pardon,  and  we 
are  left  to  believe  that  he  conducted  himself  with  propriety  in  future.  Such 
an  assertion  of  maternal  power  would  hardly  be  possible  in  modern  China  ; 
but  even  at  the  present  day  it  may  be  taken  as  certain  that  no  legal  rights. 
powers,  or  immunities  possessed  by  a  Chinese  gentleman  of  the  highest 
rank  would  justify  him  in  disregarding  any  reasonable  command  of  his 
mother,  or  indeed  enable  him  to  do  so  legally. 

In  China,  therefore,  as  in  Egypt,  the  legal  position  of  the  mother  is 
higher  than  in  Western  Europe  ;  and  for  civil  purposes  the  wife,  who  is 
viewed  as  a  factor  in  the  civic  unit,  the  household,  is  exempt  from  all  the 
disabilities  imposed  by  the  civil  law  ot  Europe.  <;  La  femme  Chinoise 
pent  remplacer  le  mari  dans  toutes  les  circonstances  ou  il  fait  acte  de 
maitre,  et  la  loi  lui  reconnait  le  pouvoir  de  vendre  et  d'acheter,  d'aliener 
les  biens  en  communaute,  de  contracter  des  effets  de  commerce,  de  marier 
ses  enfants  et  de  leur  accorder  le  dot  qu'il  lui  plait  de  leur  donner.  En 
un  mot.  elle  est  libre."1  This  civil  competence,  together  with  the  non- 
existence of  the  separate  property  of  married  women,  practically  proves 
that  the  primitive  Chinese  custom  causes  every  lawful  wife  to  become,  on 
marriage,  a  partner  in  her  husband's  estate. 

The  wife's  dowry  is  merged  in  the  family  property,  though  its  money 
value  is  not  inconsiderable,2  so  much  so  that  in  the  event  of  a  second 
marriage,  the  widow  has  no  claim  to  recover  it.  But  Chinese  usage  does 
not  approve  of  systematically  one-sided  bargains,  and  the  wife,  as  we  have 
seen,  obtains,  in  place  of  the  exclusive  control  of  her  personal  contribution 
to  the  joint  estate,  a  life  interest  in  the  whole  of  her  husband's  property, 
inherited  and  acquired.  This  claim  is  so  indefeasible  that  it  is  said  the 
'  js  sometimes  bring  pressure  to  bear  upon  the  widow  to  induce  her  to 
marry  a_:  .::..  which  she  cm  only  do  respectably  with  their  consent,  as  it  is 
essenti  .  that  the  bride  shall  be  li  given  awav  "  by  relatives,  who  also  make 
the  customary  presents.  Second  marriages  on  any  terms  are  contrary  to 
the  best  and  oldest  rules  of  propriety  ;  but  it  is  no  doubt  well  for  the  cause 
of  dome-tic  harmony  that  it  should  be  possible  tor  the  family  council  to 
free  itseit  decorously  from  the  presence  of  a  widowed  mother  whose  cha- 
racter infill  ;  her  for  the  responsibilities  ot  the  head  of  a  family,  and  to 
such  a  person  a  second  marriage  would  probably  not  be  unacceptable. 
1!  it  t:      i  ontrast  t  >  Hindoo  usa^e  is  curiously  complete. 


1  f 


f     '     ut    /J.jo.  c  [ui- 
caniuil   value   uf  the 


:    i) 


THE   LAW  OF  MARRIAGE   AND   INHERITANCE.    351 

The  first  li  on  the  division  of  property  explains  that  sons  who  divide 
and  separate  wrongfully  do  not  escape  punishment  by  failing  to  register 
themselves  as  independent  householders.  The  second  defines,  what  had 
previously  been  treated  as  notorious,  the  fair  and  lawful  system  of  division  : 
"all  family  property,  movable  and  immovable,  must  be  divided  equally 
between  all  male  children,  whether  born  of  the  principal  wife  or  of  a  con- 
cubine or  domestic  slave.''  That  is  to  say,  all  sons  born  in  the  household 
are  equally  legitimate,  and  have  an  equal  share  in  the  inheritance.  Other 
sons  may  be  recognised,  but  are  not  equally  legitimate,  and  are  only 
entitled  to  a  half  share,  unless  a  legal  successor  has  been  appointed  in 
default  of  other  children,  in  which  case  they  have  an  equal  share,  while  if 
no  such  successor  is  appointed,  they  receive  the  whole  patrimony. 

Prior  to  division,  all  the  family  property,  whether  inherited  or  acquired 
by  the  father  or  acquired  by  the  sons,  is  brought  into  a  common  fund. 
The  children  of  a  son  dying  before  division  do  not  inherit  from  their 
father,  but  receive  subsequently  the  share  which  would  have  been  his.  The 
family  community  is  not  necessarily  broken  up  when,  as  occurred  in  the 
Wang  family,  one  or  more  of  the  sons  are  engaged  in  trade  or  have  ob- 
tained office  and  are  therefore  separately  established.  In  such  cases  the 
son  retains  command  of  his  own  earnings,  and  it  is  matter  of  arrangement 
whether  his  share  of  the  family  property  is  advanced  to  him  at  once  or  not  ; 
if  not,  he  would  share  with  the  others  on  division.  There  is  a  traditional 
or  popular  maxim  which  says,  "  The  younger  brother  should  take  the  less 
share  of  the  fruit;"  but  recent  legal  decisions  seem  adverse  to  its  authority. 
There  is  a  similar  maxim  :  "  The  will  of  the  father  should  be  respected  ;  "  l 
but  wills  in  the  technical  European  sense  can  scarcely  be  said  to  exist  in 
China  :  what  are  so  called  is  a  verbal — more  rarely  a  written — expression 
of  a  father's  wishes,  which  it  is  proper  for  sons  to  respect,  but  which  might 
be  set  aside  for  valid  reasons,  injustice,  or  change  of  circumstances  or  the 
like. 

Another  "  well-worn  Chinese  maxim  "  declares  that  ''  the  son  pays  the 
father's  debts;"  -  but  there  is  nothing  in  the  code  concerning  this  obligation, 
any  more  than  about  the  payment  of  other  debts.  It  is  thus  a  matter  of 
custom  or  a  point  of  honour, — as  among  the  Rhodians, — and  we  shall  not 
probably  go  far  wrong  if,  in  both  cases,  we  connect  the  reluctance  to  re- 
pudiate with  the  existence  of  customs  unfavourable  to  the  accumulation 
of  a  great  burden  of  indebtedness,  as  to  which  the  moral  seems  less  than 
the  legal  obligation.  In  other  words,  Chinese  sons  pay  their  father's  debts 
because  such  debts,  as  a  rule,  represent  value  received,  and  are  not  out  of 
proportion  to  the  family  means,  while  the  family  credit  is  a  part  of  the 
inheritance  worth  paying  for. 

A  tew  cases,  showing  the  disputes  that  arise  in  practice,  will  perhaps 
help  to  explain  the  working  of  the  laws,  which  are  too  simple  to  encourage 
much   litigation.     A  father  of  four  children,  by  two  wives,  left  forty-seven 

1  Chi:;;  A'  rvV::1.  v.  p.  194,   ;;  The  law  of  inheritance."      C.  Alabaster. 

2  I:..  II.   Parker,  loc.  cit.,  p.  93. 


3  5--  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

mcii<  of  hind  to  the  four  in  common.  The  first  wife  sells  it  secretly,  for 
i  ;o  taels,  fur  the  benefit  of  one  of  her  own  children,  while  one  of  the  half- 
brothers  was  bribed  to  agree.  Decision  :  fifty  taels  (more  than  enough  !) 
are  set  aside  for  funeral  expenses  of  the  wife,  and  the  residue  is  divided 
into  four  parts,  one  for  ea<  h  child,  while  die  two  conspiring  half-brothers 
are  ]  imished. 

A  man  with  no  sons  and  one  married  daughter  marries  a  second  wife, 
t  the  same  time  (to  make  sure)  adepts  a  nephew.  He  then  dies, 
leaving  the  second  wife  and  a  posthumous  son  :  the  first  wife  encourages 
her  son-in-law  to  enter  on  the  property,  and  exclude  the  adopted  and  post- 
h  mi  'Us  son-,  producing  a  will  (prior  to  the  adoption  and  birth)  in  the 
•  n-in-law's  favour.  But  as  the  land  is  barely  sufficient  to  support  the 
two  sons,  the  will  is  set  aside,  and  the  heads  of  the  family  instructed  to 
draw  up  a  deed  settling  the  property  on  the  two  sons  ;  "and,  if  there  be 
:  nv  litigation,  we  will  see,'1  saws  the  judge,  "what  the  penal  law  will  do  I  " 
In  another  case,  where  brothers  dispute  about  their  respective  shares 
under  the  father's  will,  both  parties  are  advised  '"  to  remember  that  further 
litigation  will  only  lead  to  the  utter  waste  of  the  iamiiv  property,  and 
their  reduction  from  wealth  to  poverty.'"' 

Another  case  involving  the  rights  of  sons-in-law  is  that  of  a  man  wh  . 
having  no  male  heir,  gave  a  daughter,  by  a  concubine,  to  a  husband  in  Jus 
<ici>se,  and  it  was  claimed  that  this  wing  of  the  house  was  given  to  his 
d  ghter  as  dower,  though  the  couple  did  not  reside  there  after  the 
marriage.  On  the  man's  death,  the  son-in-law  claims  to  inherit  :  b  H  ti 
court  decides  that  he  must  await  the  birth  of  a  posthumous  child,  who.  if 
-  in,  will  take  all,  and  if  daughter,  will  halve  with  his  wife.  In  another 
case,  a  man  die-  and  his  father-in-law  makes  away  with  his  son's  inherit- 
am  e;  the  father-indaw  is  flogged  for  "disregarding  the  dead  and  injuring 
the  living.''  and  ids  property  is  applied  to  recover  as  much  of  the  infant's 
estate  as  is  not  wholly  alienated.  One  brother  has  a  right  to  prevent 
-a/her.  whose  heir  he  is,  from  alienating  property,  which,  if  not  alienated, 
would  form  part  of  the  inheritance. 

A  less  common   tvpe  of  dispute  relates  to  the   question    whether   an   en- 
'  ...     .  family  estate  was   left  for   the  benefit  of  the  family  in   general  or  for 
t  .  u  ot  students  in  preference.     The  estate  was  sold,   and  that   is    rule  1    to 
■  wrong    ■  ny  wav,  as  the    sacrifices    were   a    first    charge    on    it.    and   the 
.    ■    .  flogged    ac     rdingly.      Similarlv.   the    Chen    family    had   seventv 

■  .   '    >  i    ■       .  '.     .       ted   to  1        inainten  ua  _•    of  it-   am  estrai    worship    an  1 

ter     .      .   dm  ranches    ;:;    t  irn.       An    elderly   reprobate    ti 

privately    '  -    appropriate    twenty   mow,    and    was    excused    punishment   on 

;    '  ■'      '     :  -     :    hut  the  aii    nati    n  was    forbidden.       I'ropertv,  lawfully 

rt;.'.  is  iiot  t  ;rleitedt  1       ause  the  vendor         1  a  bad   title,  ii 

isei     .     1  no  m   an s  oi  knowing  the  fact,  and  the  real  owner  m;    ie 

a  test     '  '...   .      i:.  _eneral.  the  Chinese  courts    seem    to    go  upon 

tue  pruu  ::     ■  ■        -    g  :  .    -     |    ;    ■      is    wi  .    .   ivc  .\ ;  died    to  h    \ 

right  and  r  a  :  thing  d     .  ■.  and  '  .   t  anv  living  relative   wh  .  d 


THE  LAW  OF  MARRIAGE   AND   INHERITANCE.    353. 

not  entertain  the  same  desire  should  be  turned  over  to  the  tender  mercies 
of  the  penal  code. 

The  code  is  far  more  copious  on  the  subject  of  marriage  than  on  any- 
other  civil  contract.  The  penalties  for  offences  against  women  are  severe, 
and  that  of  death  is  not  commuted  unless  the  family  of  the  victim  consent. 
There  are  seven  lawful  causes  of  divorce,1  besides  infidelity,  condonation 
of  which  is  itself  punishable.  But  there  are  three  reasons  which  override 
the  seven,  and  make  the  wife's  position  unassailable  ;  namely,  if  she  has 
shared  the  three  years'  mourning  for  her  husband's  parents  ;  if  the  family 
has  become  rich  after  being  poor  before  and  at  the  time  of  marriage  ;  and 
if  the  wife  has  no  parents  living  to  receive  her  back  again.  It  is  unlawful 
to  pretend  that  a  wife  is  a  sister,  and  give  her  in  marriage  to  another  man  ; 
but  while  there  is  little  impediment  to  divorce  by  mutual  consent,  the  law 
does  all  it  can  to  protect  the  wife  against  repudiation  without  cause,  when 
the  dissolution  of  the  marriage  would  be  plainly  injurious  to  her. 

It  is  not  conceivable  that  a  man  should  wish  to  divorce  the  mother  of 
his  sons  (the  example  of  Confucius  notwithstanding),  and  for  practical 
purposes  the  Chinese  law  of  divorce  only  affects  women  who  would  not  be 
considered  wives  at  all  by  European  law.  Men  are  required  to  provide  for 
the  marriage  of  their  female  slaves  ;  the  families  of  slaves  are  never  sepa- 
rated, and  a  master  who  was  known  to  have  taken  liberties  with  the  wife 
of  a  slave  would  be  irretrievably  ruined.2  In  fact,  "  marriage  is  regarded 
as  something  indispensable,"  :i  and  the  aim  and  object  of  legislation  is  to 
produce  a  nation  of  married  fathers.  The  effect  of  this  principle  upon  the 
moral,  physical,  and  economic  welbbeing  of  a  people  is  illustrated  also  in 
the  experience  of  the  Jews. 

The  numerous  restrictions  on  marriage,  over  and  above  that  against 
marrying  into  the  same  surname,  are  all  directed  either  against  the  marriage 
of  blood  relations,  or  against  that  sort  of  confusion  of  relationships  which 
arises  when  persons,  normally  dwelling  together  in  a  relation  resembling 
that  of  affinity,  are  considered  to  be  marriageable  if  there  is  no  tie  of 
blood.  The  Chinese,  with  all  their  extreme  regard  for  natural  relation- 
ships, yet  do  not  assign  any  magical  influence  to  the  ties  of  blood,  but 
consider  that  for  practical  purposes  those  who  live  together   as   father  and 

1  A  iz.  :  barrenness,  lasciviousness,  disregard  of  her  husband's  parents,  talkativeness, 
thievish  propensities,  envious  and  suspicious  temper,  and  inveterate  infirmity.  (Staunton,, 
Penal  Laws  of  China,    p.  120.) 

-  Littrcs Edifiantcs,  xix.  p.   146. 

3  Mr.  Parker  adds  a  comment  to  this  remark:  "Possibly  one  explanation  of  the 
light-heartedness  and  cheerfulness  observable  amongst  all  ranks  and  classes  of  Chinese  is 
the  provision  thus  wisely  made  by  the  popular  consensus  for  the  early  and  honourable 
satisfaction  ol  what  Bentham  calls  one  of  the  few  '  imperious  wants  of  mankind  ;  '  ''  and 
he  suggests  thai  the  "order  and  serenity  of  mind,''  for  which  the  Chinese  are  so  much 
more  distinguished  than  Kuropean  nations,  may  be  due  to  the  same  cause.  "To  marry 
men  is  to  keep  them  quiet/'  [China  /wtvVtl',  viii.  pp.  73,  77.)  The  result  noted  by 
modern  Kuropean  observers  was  deliberately  aimed  at  by  ancient  native  legislators. 
The  third  of  the  twelve  '-general  instructions"  which  the  Director  of  the  Multitudes  is 
required  to  propagate  throughout  the  Kmpire,  formulates  Mr.  Parker's  conclusion  :  "  By 
the  rites  of  the  female  principle  (Yin),  conjugal  love  is  taught,  then  the  fcofle  ao  not 
complain."     1  Biot,  i.  p.   196. j 

VOL.    II.  —  I'.C.  A    A 


354  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

son,  or  father  and  daughter,  should  reproduce  all  that  is  essential  to  the 
relationship,  and  accept  the  disqualifications  it  entails.  It  is  clearly  on 
this  ground  that  a  man  may  not  marry  the  daughter  of  a  wife's  former 
husband,  because  she  could  only  have  been  properly  received  into  his 
household  on  the  footing  of  a  daughter.  Such  a  marriage  as  that  with  the 
half-sister  (on  the  mother's  side)  of  a  wife,  are  not  only  forbidden,  but  are 
regarded  as  incestuous  ;  so  is  a  marriage  with  any  female  relation,  or  the 
widow  of  any  blood  relation,  within  the  fourth  degree.  Death  is  the 
penalty  for  marrying  a  grandfather's,  father's,  or  brother's  widow,  or  a 
father's  sister. 

The  following  marriages  are  also  penal  and  invalid: — with  a  father  or 
mother's  sister-in-law  (or  aunt  by  marriage)  ;  with  a  father's  or  mother's 
aunt's  daughter  (or  second  cousin  through  a  female)  ;  with  the  sister  of 
either  son  or  daughter-indaw  (i.e.  father  and  son  must  not  marry  two  sisters, 
nor  father  and  daughter  sister  and  brother)  ;  and  with  a  grandson's  wife's 
sister.  The  law  against  marrying  any  one  of  the  same  family  name  of 
course  excludes  the  corresponding  relations,  such  as  second  cousins,  on 
the  paternal  side  ;  but  while  the  rule  about  the  surname  might  have  grown 
into  a  superstition,  adhered  to  without  any  regard  for  its  rational  origin, 
the  fact  that  relationship  through  females,  which  in  so  many  other  aspects 
is  ignored,  should  be  still  treated  as  a  bar  to  marriage,  for  as  many  degrees 
as  it  is  likely  to  be  remembered,  seems  to  show  that  the  Chinese  regard 
the  "confounding  of  families  "  as  an  evil  to  be  resisted  at  every  point. 
Hut  it  is  so  unusual  for  exogamous  superstition  to  be  associated  with 
rational  prohibitions  against  the  intermarriage  of  relations  not  affected  by 
the  rule,  that  we  must  either  credit  the  Chinese  with  a  very  exceptional 
delicacy  of  feeling  on  the  subject  of  domestic  relations,  or  account  for 
their  strictness  as  a  reminiscence  from  the  time  when  relationship  through 
women  was  the  most  important  ;  and  the  latter  hypothesis  is  confirmed 
by  the  copious  vocabulary  distinguishing  relationships  through  women 
previously  quoted. 

The  men  of  China  are  perfectly  satisfied  with  the  morality  and  propriety 
of  family  life  as  constituted  in  the  Middle  Kingdom.  They  say,  and  no 
doubt  with  truth,  that  virtuous  and  tender  wives  and  mothers  have  all  the  in- 
fluence that  they  desire  within  the  household  enclosure  ;  and  they  contrast, 
to  their  own  advantage,  the  material  security  and  protection  extended  to 
women  in  China,  with  the  precarious  lot  of  those  engaged  in  the  struggle 
for  existence  on  their  own  account  in  Western  countries.1  And  as  a  State 
has  m-'er  yet  be  :n  seen  in  which  the  men  and  the  women  are  of  an  entirely 
different  and   opposite   mini!,    it   is    probable  that   the  majority  of  Chinese 

1    /   '    '  '.       /•'•■  '         I    ■  • .  ■    I    ■:.-•..!■         .   ■         ic   par  O.  Kuj;vne  Simon  (iSeo),  is 

i  —inns    Mum    can    -  iciety  may  lie  expected  t<  i  make  '  n 

a  (   hinc-e  -riii  il  ir.       1  h.-  -aniv  thin^  ha-  been  done  with  more  wit  and  vivacity  under  the 

'     !    ■.   '  .  Ilu  one    i  oint,    no   doubt.    M,  Simon   is  literally  exact. 

nt.  and   tears  by  the  si^ht  of  an  old  woman  an  1 
1     i  i  ,  -ft.      There  are  be^ars  in  China,  and   sturdy  ones 

ton;    but  app.uvmly  evi-n  >e.e   r-   '    C-'hCr  earnings  home  and  find  them   sufficient  for 
:  :  ■  :  "iris. 


THE   LAW    OF  MARRIAGE   AND    INHERITANCE.    355 

women  desire  for  themselves  the  best  fortunes  appropriate  to  their  actual 
lot,  rather  than  a  lot  of  a  totally  different  kind.  The  exceptions  to  the 
general  rule  of  contentment  are  to  be  found  among  the  younger  women, 
who  are  the  victims  of  Chinese  society.  If  any  members  of  the  family 
group  are  sacrificed  to  the  pleasure  or  caprice  of  others,  it  is  the  daughter- 
in-law  or  the  inferior  wife,  or  both. 

The  mother-in-law  may  bully  her  son's  lawful  wife,  and  the  latter  in  her 
turn  may  oppress  his  other  spouses.  The  national  good  temper  may  be  a 
security  against  very  serious  abuses,  still  abuses  do  exist,  and  that  in 
sufficient  number  to  cause  anti-matrimonial  secret  societies  to  be  formed 
amongst  girls,  the  members  of  which  are  sometimes  pledged  to  prefer 
suicide  to  a  bridegroom.  And  as  it  is  not  natural  for  women  to  be  less 
contented  than  men  with  the  married  state,  there  must  be  something  much 
amiss  in  the  domestic  habits  that  can  provoke  such  a  reaction.  The 
education  of  the  mass  of  Chinese  women  is  neglected,  and  the  powers 
assigned  to  the  Chinese  materfamilias  are  greater  than  can  be  safely  en- 
trusted to  a  person  whose  mind,  like  her  feet,  has  been  confined  within 
artificially  narrow  limits. 

That  the  abuses  in  question  are  not  more  general  is  owing,  no  doubt, 
to  the  educational  effect  of  the  powers  and  responsibilities  above  de- 
scribed ;  and  it  is  probable  that  the  girls'  suicide  clubs  would  come  to  an 
end,  if  every  woman,  whose  sons  are  regarded  as  legitimate,  were  held  to 
possess  the  same  personal  rights  as  the  principal  wife.  Without  any 
violent  dislocation  of  Chinese  custom,  a  reasonable  extension  of  the  rights 
of  this  class  would  gradually  encourage  the  preference  for  monogamous 
unions,  which  are  already  general,  and  which  we  must  be  permitted  to 
regard  as  belonging  to  a  higher  civilization. 

It  is  the  rule  for  marriages  to  be  arranged  by  the  parents,  but  the  code 
permits  a  young  man,  employed  at  a  distance  from  home,  in  trade  or  the 
Government  service,  to  contract  a  marriage  for  himself,  and  if  his  contract 
is  completed,  it  supersedes  the  one  made  by  his  family  without  his  know- 
ledge ;  but  if  not,  not.  A  French  novel  of  Chinese  Life1  turns  on  the 
dilemma  of  a  young  doctor,  who  has  practically  married  a  girl  without  his 
mother's  consent,  and  is  then  entrapped  by  his  mother  into  a  formal  mar- 
riage ceremony  with  somebody  else.  The  offence  of  bigamy,  contem- 
plated by  the  code,  consists  in  marrying  two  first  wives  :  it  is  punished  by 
blows  and  the  second  marriage  declared  invalid.  If  the  young  man,  to 
whom  a  girl  has  been  betrothed,  dies  before  the  marriage  has  been  con- 
summated, she  may  if  she  pleases  regard  herself  as  his  widow.  Among 
the  charitable  institutions  of  the  country  are  asylums  where  poor  widow 
ladies  and  their  children,  and  girl  willows  of  this  kind  may  be  received. 
One  such  '"Hall  of  Rest  for  Pure  Widows"  is  described  as  containing  1  ^0 
women  and  ,^oo  children/-  Each  inmate  pays  an  entrance  fee  of  a  few 
pounds,  and  the  current  expenses  are  met  by  the  subscriptions  of  wealthy 
families. 

1   I.c  Roman  Jc  V hojumc  Jaioic.     Tchen^-ki-tong. 
-   China  Review,  x.  p.  42;. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

AGRARIAN  LAWS  AND  CUSTOMS. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  family  comes  the  neighbourhood.  The 
fifteenth  precept  in  the  Sacred  Edict  exhorts  men  to  "  Combine  in  Hun- 
dreds and  Tithings  in  order  to  suppress  robbery."  The  chia,  or  tithing, 
consists  in  theory  often  families,  with  a  mutual  responsibility  like  that  of 
the  ancient  tsing.  The  flao,  or  hundred,  also  in  theory  includes  ten  chia, 
but  both  groups  are  elastic.  It  is  supposed  that  the  members  of  such 
groups,  owing  to  their  smallness,  can  exercise  such  an  effective  supervision 
over  each  other  as  to  make  crime  impossible,  and  that  if  a  theft  is  com- 
mitted, this  supervision  must  have  been  so  culpably  relaxed  as  to  justify 
the  injured  person  in  appealing  to  his  neighbours  for  compensation. 
Each  chia  and  pao  elects  one  of  its  members  to  act  as  headman  ;  the 
literati  are  excused,  and  officials  or  police  officers  are  disqualified  from 
serving  in  this  capacity.  Besides  the  optional  measures  for  the  good 
government  of  the  locality  which  the  headman  may  take  with  the  consent 
of  his  constituents,  he  is  also  required  to  apportion  and  collect  the  taxes 
for  his  district. 

The  third  maxim  of  the  Sacred  Edict  exhorts  the  people  to  "Cultivate 
peace  and  concord  in  your  neighbourhoods,  in  order  to  prevent  litiga- 
tions ;"  and  the  exposition  of  this  text  by  the  Emperor  Yung-ching,  and  a 
popular  paraphrase  of  the  same  by  a  salt  commissioner  named  Wang-yu- 
po,  abundantly  illustrate  the  Chinese  ideal  of  neighbourliness.  Among  the 
things  mentioned  as  likely  to  lead  to  angry  contentions  are  such  as  these  : 
"  One  might  wish  to  borrow  from  another  who  would  not  lend,  or  to 
recover  a  debt  the  payment  of  which  was  refused  ;  or  he  would  buy  a 
field  or  build  a  house  without  giving  the  neighbours  notice  and  ascertain- 
ing that  they  had  no  objections.  If  people  are  foolish  enough  to  begin 
to  quarrel  over  such  points  as  these,  artful  schemers  will  go  on  and  stir 
them  up  to  litigation."  "In  that  case,"  says  Mr.  Wang,  "you  will  have- 
to  kneel  before  the  magistrate  in  the  public  courts,  to  throw  away  large 
sums  of  monev,  and  to  suffer  much  shameful  treatment.  If  you  lose  your 
lawsuit,  you  will  scarcely  be  able  to  show  your  face  in  society  again  ;  and 
even  if  you  gain  it.  you  will  find  that  everybody  looks  coldly  and  askance 
upon  you.      Where  is  the  advantage  of  all  this?''  ' 

1    /■;/  '-trial  Ci  nfit  I'tiui.  in.     Four  Lectures  bv  Rev.   fames  l.ci^e.     China  Review,  i <S 7 7 , 


AGRARIAN  LAWS   AND    CUSTOMS.  357 

The  difference  between  Chinese  and  European  ideas  of  morality  is 
curiously  exemplified  in  these  passages  :  to  refuse  payment  of  a  lawful 
debt,  and  to  refuse  to  lend  to  a  neighbour  who  asks  it,  are  bracketed  as 
acts  of  similarly  objectionable  tendency.  Even  such  simple  exercises  of 
individual  rights  as  the  purchase  of  what  is  for  sale  should  not  be  indulged 
in  without  considering  the  wishes  of  persons  who  may  be  affected  by  them. 
It  would,  for  instance,  clearly  be  contrary  to  propriety  to  buy  a  field, 
which  a  neighbour  was  renting  with  intent  to  purchase,  so  as  to  enlarge 
his  family  property.  But  the  moral  advice  which  follows  the  picture  of 
the  evils  of  litigation  is  not  addressed  to  the  persons  who  commit  aggres- 
sions on  their  neighbours.  Ordinary  persons  are  advised  to  guard  against 
the  beginnings  of  strife,  and  to  cultivate  habits  of  consideration  and 
deference  for  others  ;  but  the  counsel  of  perfection  is  to  reach  such  an 
elevation  of  character  as  will  enable  them  to  disregard  offences,  and  on 
no  account  bear  malice  against  the  offender,  who,  "if  worthy  to  be  ac- 
counted a  human  being,"  will,  according  to  Mr.  Wang,  "  blush  almost  to 
death"  at  the  sight  of  such  magnanimity. 

This  commentary  and  paraphrase  on  the  edict  of  Kang-hi  are  publicly 
read  once  a  fortnight,  and  give  the  sanction  of  Imperial  authority  to  the 
popular  distrust  of  the  lawcourts  ;  but  from  the  reports  of  Chinese  trials, 
given  by  European  writers,  we  should  have  been  inclined  to  believe  that, 
apart  from  such  accessories  as  bribery  and  the  bamboo,  the  justice  dealt 
by  Chinese  magistrates  was  painstaking  and  even-handed. 

There  is  an  article  in  the  Code  forbidding  persons  from  taking  up  more 
land  than  they  can  cultivate,  after  a  war  or  famine,  these  being  the  only 
occasions  upon  which  uncultivated  land  is  plentiful.  Eand  which  is  not 
registered,  or  for  which  the  registered  owner  omits  to  pay  taxes,  lapses  in 
theory  to  the  State,  which  grants  it  afresh  to  any  one  cultivating  it  and 
becoming  responsible  for  the  tax  ;  but  the  Covernment  does  not  press  the 
right,  and  the  former  owner  is  reinstated  on  application.  Land  in  Shan- 
tung would  only  sell  for  a  tithe  of  its  value  after  a  recent  famine,  because, 
on  a  similar  occasion  once  before,  the  purchasers  had  been  compelled  to 
restore  their  acquisitions  to  the  original  owners.1 

Waste  lands  may  be  enclosed  as  private  property  by  obtaining  leave 
from  the  magistrate  and  actually  reclaiming  them  within  a  reasonable  time. 
Grants,  nominally  of  vacant  lands,  were  made  by  the  early  Mantchu 
Emperors  to  their  followers,  and  these  are  the  only  lands  exempt  from 
taxation  ;  but  the  holders  render  military  services,  and  the  largest  grant 
did  not  exceed  720  mow — say  125  acres — and  even  these  consisted  mainly 
of  barren  or  pasture  land,  so  that  the  burden  to  the  population  was  incon- 
siderable. Owners  of  200  acres  and  upwards  are  not  allowed  to  reclaim 
alluvial  wastes,  and  this  probably  explains  the  absence  of  any  marked 
distinction  between  the  fortunes  of  landlord  and  tenant.  The  former  is 
not  necessarily  either  richer  or  less  industrious  than  the  latter,  but  having 

1   China  Review,  vol.  viii.  p.  263. 


358  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

some  other  occupation  to  live  by,  which  prevents  his  cultivating  his  free- 
hold, he  sells  the  very  slight  difference  which  there  is  between  the 
customary  earnings  of  a  tenant  farmer  and  a  taxpaying  owner.1  The 
owner's  motive  for  letting  is  that  he  can  occupy  himself  more  profitably 
than  as  a  cultivator ,  and  the  tenant's  protection  against  rack-renting  is  that 
he  also  could  at  any  time  employ  himself  more  profitably  than  as  a  tenant, 
except  upon  the  customary  terms,  which  include  the  remission  of  rent 
in  bad  seasons. 

Apparently  the  peculiar  Malabar  combination  of  lease  and  mortgage  has 
been  tried  in  China,  though  the  absence  of  any  feudal  authority  on  the 
part  of  landlords  has  caused  it  to  fall  into  disuse.  It  is  stated  that  when 
an  owner  lets  land,  he  is  careful  to  exact  "a  pledge  equivalent  to  or  even 
exceeding  the  income  of  the  property  he  leases."2  The  reason  given  (by 
a  missionary  complaining  of  persecution),  that  otherwise  the  tenant  would 
refuse  to  pay  the  rent  agreed  on,  is  hardly  adequate,  because  even  in 
China  a  man  could  not  make  his  fortune  in  one  year,  even  out  of  a  farm 
held  rent-free.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  advanced  rent  answers 
to  the  Malabar  Kanam,  and  that  if  mortgage  leases  have  become  rare,  it 
is  because  tenant-farming  itself  has  declined,  in  the  absence  of  any  class 
distinction  between  owners  and  cultivators. 

Land  is  sometimes  let  because  it  cannot  be  sold.  Land  belonging  to 
family  endowments  or  charitable  uses  of  any  kind  is  inalienable,  and,  if 
wrongfully  sold,  will  be  reclaimed  and  the  purchase  money  returned. 
Land  devoted  to  public  purposes,  mountains  belonging  to  the  State,  roads, 
sea-walls,  embankments,  official  temples,  famous  sites,  and  ancient  buildings 
or  monuments  cannot  be  sold.  In  theory  the  holdings  of  private  families 
— or  at  least  a  part  of  them — are  also  inalienable;  relatives  not  only  have 
a  right  of  pre-emption  and  redemption,  but  are  required  to  consent  to  the 
sale.  An  edict  of  the  18th  year  of  Kien-lung  provides  that  the  words 
"absolute  sale  without  power  of  redemption  "  must  be  used  in  every  deed 
of  sale  intended  to  be  absolute  ;  and  as  it  was  added  that  land  conveyed 
more  than  thirty  years  before  the  edict  was  to  be  irredeemable,  it  is 
evident  that  the  right  of  relatives  to  redeem  was  asserted  frequently  and 
after  unduly  long  intervals.  In  modern  deeds  of  sale,  the  vendor  pro- 
fesses to  have  offered  the  land  first  to  his  relations  ;  and  the  next  of  kin. 
as  far  as  cousins,  have  a  right  to  insist  on  his  doing  so.  It  is  a  formula 
that  the  owner  desires  to  sell  "  on  account  of  poverty  ;  "  and  that  this  is 
really  the  usual  motive  appears  from  the  fact  that  advertisements  of  such 
sales  are  not  posted  on  the  walls,  out  of  regard  for  the  reduced  owner's 
feelings. 

It  is  unlawful  to  sell  land  to  a  creditor  in  discharge  of  a  debt,  though 
it  may  be  sold    to  a    disinterested    party  in  order  to  obtain  money  to  pay 

1  Amyot  observed  last  century  that  "those  who  cultivate  the  lands  belonging  to 
other- retain   more  for  themselves  than  in    other  countries."'     {Mem.   cone,  les  Chin.,  iv. 

iL?,s- 

-  Anna      a    .  ■  /',    ■       iti  n  </<  la  lot,  vii.  :>.  642. 


AGRARIAN  LAWS  AND    CUSTOMS.  359 

various  debts.  And  this  very  singular  provision  '  is  perhaps  the  strongest 
example  of  the  unscrupulous  consistency,  with  which  Chinese  legislation 
aims  at  protecting  the  cultivator,  from  the  dangers  to  which  his  class  in  all 
ages  and  countries  seems  to  have  been  especially  exposed.  Widows  can- 
not sell  land  without  their  father-in-law's  consent,  if  he  is  alive,  nor  alienate 
their  sons'  inheritance,  though  they  have  discretionary  powers  to  buy  and 
sell  for  the  good  of  the  family  :  in  practice  no  doubt  they  would  not 
propose  to  sell  land  without  the  consent  of  the  family  council. 

All  contracts  are  entered  into  subject  to  local  usage,  and  Europeans 
who  omit  to  acquaint  themselves  therewith  are  sometimes  much  disgusted 
at  its  unexpected  divergences  from  British  law.  Thus  the  man  who  buys 
a  piece  of  ground  does  not  thereby  become  possessed  of  the  buildings 
which  a  tenant  has  erected  on  them,  and  if  he  wishes  to  pull  them  down 
and  build  himself,  he  must  buy  them  from  their  lawful  owner  by  a  separate 
transaction  ;  and  in  fact,  when  Europeans  buy  land,  as  they  think,  out- 
right, the  native  vendor  himself  compensates  the  owners  of  the  houses 
on  it. 

Deeds  going  back  for  fifty  years  are  desirable  to  give  a  secure  title,  and 
these  should  be  compared  with  the  counterparts  kept  in  the  Government 
Registration  Office.  As  in  ancient  Egypt,  a  fee  is  charged  for  the 
registration  of  sales  or  transfers,  but  in  return  the  public  archives  serve  as 
title-deeds  :  and  while  England  vainly  envies  Australia  the  advantages  of 
the  Torrens  Act,  China  has  long  since  adopted  this  simple  means  of  con- 
trolling claims  which  frequently  go  back  for  several  centuries.  Go-betweens, 
who  are  employed  in  most  important  purchases,  are  essential  in  the  case 
of  land  transfer.  They  must  be,  at  least,  two  in  number,  and  their  function 
is  partly  that  of  official  witnesses,  as  they  are  required  to  give  evidence  in 
court  if  any  dispute  arises  about  the  transaction  in  which  they  were  con- 
cerned.2 

Hill  sites  for  tombs  were  the  subject  of  much  litigation,  and  the  anti- 
quarian learning  of  the  law  courts  has  sometimes  been  tried  by  really 
ancient  deeds,  which  prove,  however,  to  belong  to  a  later  dynasty  than  the 
seals  attached  to  them.  It  was  therefore  decided  by  Kien-lung  that  in 
such  cases,  whatever  adverse  ancient  documents  might  be  produced,  the 
holder  of  the  land-tax  receipts,  whose  name  appears  on  the  register,  is  to 
be  regarded  as  lawful  owner.  Otherwise  any  representative  of  an  old 
decayed  family,  which  had  preserved  its  ancient  records,  might  oust 
occupiers  who  had  fulfilled  all  the  duties  of  ownership  for  centuries. 

The  so-called  patrimonial  field,  which  every  Chinaman  is  supposed  to 
possess,  and  forbidden  to  alienate,  is  most  probably  a  survival  from,  or 
reminiscence  of,  the  "duty  fields"'  by  which,  in  less  prosperous  times 
than  the  present,  the  State  endeavoured  to  make  sure  of  all  its  citizens 
having  wherewithal  to  pay  their  taxes.  This  institution  tried  to  link  itself 
on  to  the  ancient  tradition   of  communal  tillage  and   the   inalienable  pro- 

1   Met  with,  it  will  he  remembered,  in  the  Syro- Roman  Law-book,  ante,  vol.  i.  p.  491. 
-  A/males  do  la  Propagation  J:  fa  Foi,  vii.  p.  65S. 


3<5o  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHIXA. 

perty  of  the  tsitig;  but  the  connection  in  both  cases  is  probably  rather 
imaginary  than  real,  familiar  terms  being  applied  under  such  altered 
circumstances  that  they  had  acquired  a  virtually  new  meaning.  Only 
comparatively  wealthy  families  at  the  present  day  can  afford  to  set  apart 
as  much  as  eight  mow,  which  M.  Simon  gives  as  the  limit  of  the  inalien- 
able patrimonial  field,  for  the  maintenance  of  the  ancestral  rites  and  for 
use  as  a  family  cemetery.  On  the  other  hand,  the  same  area,  when 
belonging  jointly  to  a  large  branch  family  or  clan,  can  have  no  agricultural 
value,  and  is  only  available  as  an  ancestral  hall  and  for  other  public 
purposes,  including  that  of  a  burial-ground.  Such  buildings  are  used  as 
country  or  summer  houses  by  well-to-do  townspeople,  just  as  Buddhist 
temples  on  picturesque  sites  serve  as  popular  tea  gardens. 

The  fust  Emperors  of  the  reigning  dynasty  were  particularly  eloquent 
on  the  duty  of  officers  to  protect  the  poorer  cultivators.  An  edict 
describing  the  duties  of  a  mandarin,  as  the  guardian  of  the  people,  says 
that  if  a  cultivator  has  not  seed  or  oxen  for  the  cultivation  of  his  land,  he 
should  advance  him  the  money  or  grain,  and  be  content  to  receive  repay- 
ment after  harvest  without  interest.  A  good  officer  will  even  go  about  the 
country  incognito ;  and  when  a  labourer  is  obliged  to  set  his  children  to 
draw  the  plough,  because  a  rich  usurer  has  sold  his  oxen  for  debt,  he 
rectifies  the  injustice.1 

The  land  tax,  like  the  rent,  is  remitted  if  the  years  crops  are  lost  by 
drought,  inundation,  or  similar  calamities.  In  such  cases  the  local 
government  is  allowed  to  make  advances  fur  seed,  repayable  in  not  less 
than  ten  years.  Cultivators  behind-hand  with  their  taxes  may  also  borrow 
from  the  local  treasury  on  the  security  of  their  land,  piying  interest  on 
the  loan  till  the  debt  is  paid  off;  but  there  are  amnesties  every  ten  years 
or  oftener,  so  that  the  interest  at  least  is  generally  excused.  Besides  the 
grain  loans,  which  have  the  great  advantage  of  preventing  one  bad 
harvest  from  causing  another,  and  the  grants  made  in  aid  of  special 
calamities,  there  are  permanent  local  funds  for  the  assistance  of  the  sick, 
the  old,  widows  and  orphans,  sufficient  in  the  hands  of  an  honest  official 
to  meet  all  urgent  needs. 

Xo  doubt,  as  Amyot  observed  on  tins  subject  in  the  age  of  Kien-lung, 
the  actual  dues  not  come  up  to  the  ideal.  "The  laws  command  the  best 
to  obtain  the  bearable."  but  it  is  true,  in  fact  as  well  as  theory,  that  any 
social  tendency  or  abuse-,  in  public  or  private  circles,  which  threatens  any 
s  ction  ot  the  community  with  destruction,  is  pulled  up  short,  on  that 
ground  alone,  without  any  respect  for  the  iron  laws  ol  political  economy 
as  formulated  in  the  West.  "  Xos  mceurs,"  as  the  naturalized  Amyot 
observed,  "'  ne  souffrent  pas  qu'on  ruine  un  citoyen  pour  augmenter  l'opu- 
lenee  dun  autre." 

In  the  same  was-,  the  State  intervenes  to  prevent  individuals  from  grow- 
ing rii  h  mil  ot  the  calamities  of  the  public,  farmers  are  forbidden  by  law 
to  hold  back  their  grain,  and  though  the  State  might  find  as  much   difficulty 

1    l.ti'res  /::i/h;i!:\  \\\.  p.    I  }2. 


AGRARIAN  LAWS   AND    CUSTOMS.  361 

in  China  as  elsewhere  in  enforcing  such  a  law,  the  matter  is  not  left  to 
the  feeble  hands  of  the  central  authority.  "  In  times  of  great  scarcity 
and  high  prices,  several  contiguous  neighbourhoods  forbitl  rich  farmers  or 
speculators  in  rice  to  sell  their  grain  away  to  a  distance,  and  agree  to  seize 
any  which  they  find  being  carried  off  in  spite  of  the  prohibition.  In  this 
case,  the  holders  either  have  to  wait  till  the  restriction  is  removed  or  sell  to 
their  neighbours."  : 

Local  Government  is  a  reality  in  China,  and  the  local  feeling,  which  in 
England  under  the  Corn  Laws,  showed  itself  in  rick-burning,  has  here  a 
constitutional  and  peaceful  means  of  giving  effect  to  its  resolves.  Trade  is 
of  course  not  free,  but  there  can  be  no  serious  doubt  that  the  villagers 
collectively  pay  just  so  much  less  for  their  rice  as  the  profit,  of  which 
their  tyranny  has  deprived  the  individual  speculator.  To  the  Chinese 
mind  the  wisdom  and  justice  of  such  a  course  scarcely  needs  exposition. 
Benevolence  is  the  duty  of  all  men  ;  near  relatives  and  neighbours  are  its 
appointed  objects.  Can  a  benevolent  person  desire  to  acquire  gain  by 
selling  rice  at  a  distance,  when  his  near  neighbours  suffer  hunger  for  want 
of  it  ?  Assuredly  not ;  but  persons  deficient  in  benevolence  require  to  be 
restrained  in  the  interest  of  their  neighbours,  and  instructed  for  the  good  of 
their  own  souls.  If  the  grain  dealer  who  fails  in  benevolence  is  only  re- 
strained, without  being  chastised,  his  treatment  is  at  once  just  and  merciful, 
and  the  whole  transaction  is  in  accordance  with  the  strictest  rules  of 
propriety. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  pao  chang,  or  headman  of  the  hundred,  to  see  that 
every  head  of  a  household  complies  with  the  law  requiring  him  to  register 
the  individual  members  of  his  family,  and  the  class  to  which  the  family 
belongs.  The  latter  requirement  is  embodied  in  the  Lu,3  which  are  un- 
usually full  on  the  subject  of  registration  ;  and  considering  the  searching 
nature  of  the  demands  made,  the  efficiency  with  which  the  law  is  carried 
out,  with  regard  both  to  persons  and  lands,  is  certainly  remarkable.  The 
system  is  evidently  so  old  and  so  firmly  established  as  to  work  without 
difficulty,  and  compliance  with  the  law  is  rendered  expedient  by  divers 
incidental  provisions.  For  instance,  the  number  of  the  candidates  who  can 
be  admitted  to  each  degree,  in  any  one  province,  is  always  strictly  limited  ; 
but  scholars  are  only  allowed  to  compete  in  the  district  where  they  are  re- 
gistered, otherwise  one  province  might  seize  more  than  its  share  of  vacancies  ; 
so  that  it  is  essential  to  the  chances  of  any  candidate  that  his  father  should 
have  registered  his  name  correctly. 

1  Social  Life  of  the  Chinese,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Doolittle,  \i.  p.  252.  Private  granaries 
exist  in  some  places,  founded  by  philanthropists  who  endowed  them  with  funds  sufficient 
to  keep  them  replenished,  as  those  of  the  State  are  supposed  to  be,  so  that  they  are  always 
in  a  position  to  lend  corn — like  the  Babylonian  temples — either  free  of  charge  or  at  a 
moderate  interest,  the  profits  from  which  would  go  to  the  institution.  [An?ialcs  de  la  Foi, 
vii.  pp.  644,  645.) 

-  C  70.  "  Every  family,  on  being  originally  reported  for  registration,  shall  be  re- 
gistered as  belonging  to  some  definite  class,  whether  it  be  the  military  or  common  civilian 
class,  or  that  of  Government  couriers,  artificers,  physicians,  soothsayers,  labourers, 
strolling  players,  etc.,  etc."     [China  Keviezv,  vni.  p.  269.) 


3^  OWNERSHIP  IN    CHINA. 

It  is  the  duty  of  the  provincial  officers,  if  the  people  have  left  their  homes 
on  account  of  war  or  famine,  to  draw  up  a  list  of  those  who  have  disap- 
peared, and  of  the  arable  land  left  vacant  in  consequence,  stating  the  amount 
of  land  tax  payable  thereon,  and  also  what  taxpayers  still  remain  in  the 
district.  The  list  of  fugitives  is  to  be  circulated  throughout  the  country, 
and  the  officers  where  they  have  taken  refuge  are  called  on  to  issue  orders 
for  their  return.  Those  who  had  prospered  abroad  might  decline  to  do  so, 
but  the  indigent  would  be  compelled.  Land  is  habitually  described,  and 
marked  on  boundary  stones,  as  belonging  to  such  and  such  a  family,  not 
to  air  individual  ;  and  any  member,  however  poor,  of  a  family  that  had 
owned  the  deserted  lands  would  find  his  claim  allowed  without  difficulty 
on  giving  proof  of  kinship,  if  he  alone  came  forward  to  accept  the  respon- 
sibilities of  ownership. 

This  is  one  more  of  the  many  ways  in  which  the  circulation  of  property 
is  facilitated  in  China,  instead  of  its  being  encouraged  or  forced  to  stagnate 
in  the  same  hands,  or  that  of  an  ever-diminishing  body  of  heirs.  Each 
family  has  a  kind  of  customary  code  of  its  own  ; l  and  all  its  property  is 
registered  with  reference  to  the  objects  to  which  it  is  devoted  : — such  a 
plot  supplies  pensions  for  the  old,  such  another  prizes  for  scholars,  or 
daughters'  trousseaux,  etc.2  This  applies  only  to  the  wealthier  families,  but 
it  is  so  common  for  land  to  be  left  for  the  maintenance  of  ancestral 
worship,  which  covers  all  these  beneficial  uses,  that  such  endowments 
may  be  held  by  any  respectable  family  which  has  once  had  a  wealthy 
member. 

The  law  on  the  subject  of  mortgages  is  curious  ;'■''  the  only  transaction  of 
the  kind  recognised  is  the  very  ancient  one  previously  described  *  as 
common  to  Egypt,  Babylonia,  Malabar,  and  other  centres  of  archaic 
civilization.  The  four  unlawful  acts  contemplated  in  connection  with 
such  transfers  of  the  usufruct  of  land  against  that  of  money  are — 
omission  to  register  the  mortgage ;  failure  on  the  part  of  the  mortgagor 
to  transfer  the  whole  produce  of  the  land,  for  which  the  mortgagee  pays 
the  Government  taxes,  the  penalty  being  graduated  according  to  the 
number  o{mou>  illegally  mortgaged,  and  the  land  itself  forfeited  to  the  State  ; 
attempts  to  raise  money  by  a  second  mortgage  on  property  which  has  been 
pledged  already  ;  and  refusal  to  give  up  the  land  pledged  at  the  end  of 
the  term  specified  in  the  deed,  if  the  proprietor  then  or  afterwards  tenders 
payment  of  the  amount  borrowed  when  the  mortgage  was  executed. 

The  li  on  this  section  add  some  of  the  details  given  by  Amyot,5  explain- 
ing thai  clauses  of  redemption  cannot  be  admitted  in  the  case  of  deeds  of 
sale,  though  the  presumption  is  against  an  absolute  surrender,  unless 
expressly  so  stated  :  and  providing  that  the  owner's  right  to  redeem  may 
remain  in  abeym  ee  sin-  die.  unless  lie  accepts  some  further  consideration 
for  making  toe  sale  absolute,      but  it   is  laid  down    that,  failing   any  reser- 

1    <  T.  Y.o,:.'--ii.'-  n-f<  n-n   c  to  thu  cu-auin  of  his  family  with  regard  to  tcaelie  -. 

-'    /■     ('/'mi  i   f;int     'iir  u    -in  111,   .  p.  5.  ;i  Staunton,  cap.  xcv.  p.  101. 

■    .w.v  .  on.  i.  pp.  jS(    7:322    7;  436,  7;  462;  534;  56911.      "  SueffW-V,  v  ,1.  i.  pp.  iS  J,  5. 


AGRARIAN  LAWS   AND    CUSTOMS.  363 

vation  by  deed  of  the  right  to  redeem,  possession  for  thirty  years  shall  be 
a  proof  of  ownership. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  Code  not  only  requires  to  have  the  change 
of  ownership  notified  and  registered,  but  insists  upon  the  transfer  being 
complete,  so  that  the  mortgagee  shall  be  in  no  way  less  able  than  the 
owner  to  discharge  his  liabilities  to  the  State  ;  and  the  same  distrust  of 
divided  ownership  shows  itself  in  another  section,  which  forbids  one  person 
from  paying  the  taxes  due  to  the  Government  by  another.  On  the  face  of 
it,  this  looks  like  a  provision  against  farming  the  revenue,  and  the  penalty 
is  increased  two  degrees  if  the  vicarious  payment  is  made  by  an  officer  of 
the  Government  ;  but  viewed  in  the  light  of  history,  which  records  the 
attempts  of  the  agglomerators  of  the  Tsin  and  subsequent  dynasties  to 
reconstitute  feudal  lordships  for  themselves,  it  seems  more  probable  that  it 
was  first  suggested  as  a  precaution  against  encroachments  by  wealthy 
persons,  who,  under  the  plea  of  paying  the  cultivator's  taxes  for  him,  would 
induce  him  to  incur  far  heavier  liabilities  than  those  of  which  they  relieved 
him. 

The  only  motive  that  can  be  imagined  for  a  mortgagor  to  pledge  his 
land,  when  he  was  in  a  position  to  dictate  terms  to  the  mortgagee,  and 
induce  him  to  surrender  all  or  a  part  of  the  produce  of  the  lands  nominally 
ceded  in  full  temporary  use,  would  be  the  desire  to  evade  the  laws  against 
agglomeration,  and  it  is  only  in  such  circumstances  that  the  State  would  be 
interested  in  preventing  the  bargain.  'When  the  landowner  is  really  in 
want  of  money,  the  mortgagee  is  master  of  the  situation,  and  would 
certainly  not  be  disposed  to  surrender  his  claim  to  the  produce  of  the  land 
pledged.  But  when  underletting  is  rare  and  rack-renting  unknown,  it 
would  be  more  of  an  innovation  to  let  land  at  an  unheard-of  rent,  than  to 
compel  a  poor  man,  who  wanted  land  for  cultivation,  to  advance  money 
nominally  on  mortgage,  but  really  as  a  consideration  for  leave  to  cultivate, 
while  agreeing  to  take  less  than  the  whole  produce  of  the  land  occupied 
on  these  terms.  The  law  does  not  seem  to  touch  any  abuse  now  prevalent, 
and  must  therefore  have  been  suggested  by  grievances  which  have  become 
obsolete. 

The  li  respecting  Chinese  trading  with  or  settling  among  barbarians  are 
interesting,  historically,  as  well  as  in  themselves,  because  they  illustrate  the 
principles  upon  which  the  Hundred  Families  have  relied,  from  their 
first  entry  upon  the  corn-bearing  plains  of  Northern  China  until  now.  The 
trade  in  iron  is  free,  except  on  the  borders  of  the  Miao-tsze,  the  inland 
barbarous  tribes,  to  whom  it  must  not  be  sold,  lest  they  should  use  it  for 
weapons.  The  manufacture  of  saltpetre,  again,  is  forbidden  under  severe 
penalties  in  Formosa.  Barbarians,  who  are  no  longer  dangerous,  are  not 
to  be  made  unnecessarily  troublesome,  by  being  allowed  to  procure  superior 
weapons  from  the  ruling  race.  On  the  other  hand,  certain  classes  of 
persons  are  recognised  as  dangerous  to  the  peace  and  well-being  of  bar- 
barous lands,  and  all  such  are  liable  to  be  deported  to  their  native  places, 
even  if  they  escape  further  punishment. 


364  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

"  Wandering  tramps,  who  have  no  wife  and  home,'''  constitute  such  aclass, 
and  so  do  l:  notorious  fomentors  of  lawsuits,  though  they  may  have  a  wife 
and  land  :  "  likewise  thieves,  receivers,  and  the  makers  and  sellers  of 
gambling  instruments,  and  dealers  in  opium,  together  with  "unprincipled 
Chinese  who  enter  the  savage  territory  and  orate  disturbances  by  plotting 
to  acquire  land  o:^'>ied  by  savages,1  or  who  conspire  with  other  lawless 
persons  to  induce  emigrants  to  cross  over  illegally."  2  These  provisions 
refer  specially  to  Formosa,  where  also,  '•Chinese  subjects,  who  cut  off 
their  queues  and  adopt  the  manners  of  savages,  thus  casting  off  their 
allegiance,  shall  be  liable  to  the  penalty  of  death."  Besides  which,  persons 
who  allow  their  hair  to  grow  loose,  change  their  habits,  and  marry  savage 
women,  shall  be  liable  to  banishment  to  the  frontier  for  military  service  ; 
while  simple  banishment  for  three  years  is  awarded  the  offence  for  marry- 
ing a  savage  woman,  without  adopting  savage  modes  of  life. 

For  four  thousand  years  the  Chinese  have  been  absorbing  barbarous 
tribe-,  and  annexing  barbarous  territories  for  cultivation  after  Chinese 
method-,  and  the  process  has  been  aided  rather  than  impeded  by  the 
above  laws  against  individual  encroachments  and  aggressions  on  the  one 
hand,  and  against  any  sort  of  fraternization  witli  unreclaimed  barbarians 
on  the  other.  When  the  Chinese  were  few,  and  the  barbarians  many, 
the  ancestors  of  the  Chow  kings,  according  to  Mencius,  tried  to  keep  the 
peace  by  letting  the  barbarians  buy  (no  doubt  upon  their  own  terms)  furs 
and  silks,  dogs  and  horses,  pearls  and  jade/'  from  their  civilized  neigh- 
bours. The  barbarians  would  have  Chinese  precedent  for  regarding  such 
trade  as  tribute,  and  when  even  these  concessions  failed  to  content  them, 
it  was  a  characteristic  Chinese  measure  to  move  on  out  of  the  way  of  the 
troublesome  Teih,  rather  than  light  the  matter  out  with  them. 

Experience  proved  that  barbarians  who  were  allowed  to  profit  as  much 
as  they  themselves  pleased  by  the  vicinity  of  Chinese  civilization,  while 
;  rotected  by  the  Chinese  Government  from  any  injury  at  the  hand  of  its 
subjects,  were  certain,  sooner  or  later,  after  the  lapse  of  a  sufficient  number 
of  centuries,  t  )  contract  a  taste  for  Chinese  civilization,  and  lo  wish  to  be 
absorbed  in  the  empire.  And  the  expansion  of  China  has  proceeded 
]  rti\  '  v  the  peaceable  annexation  of  people  and  territory  together  after 
the  former  had  adopted  Chinese  manners  and  customs,  and  partly  by  the 
reclamation  of  unoccupied  territories,  by  colonies  organized  in  the  same 
manner  as  the  village  clans  at  home.  The  assimilation  of  the  people  in 
almost  all  <  ises  \  recedes  tile  annexation  of  the  territory,  and.  as  a  result, 
n  *  laws  and  customs  concerning  Ian  1-h  1  ling  in  the  Middle  Kingdom 
have  n  tl  o  ah  •;■•.■  lor  influenced  by  the  creation  of  a  lower  class,  drawn 
tVi  >:n  an   inferior  race. 


!  ■   :  -  :...■      ■  -.   ■'.  ■    :.    '    '   i  .  -':    v,  I     ' '.  _-.     ':.  •    Ills     rv    of  tli-j    '.' 

■!'.--'-.-:.':.       ...     i:       ..■_■  >v,  :h  clau-c  a>  this  h  id  f< 

/.//     ui.i  II         ■  p.  i5'^. 


P1 


CHAPTER    XXXI. 

FINANCIAL  AND   MERCANTILE    OFFENCES. 

The  code  is  copious  as  to  the  duty  of  officials  in  regard  to  the  receipt, 
transfer,  and  expenditure  of  the  public  revenue.  A  curiously  primitive 
article  provides  that  taxpayers  delivering  their  contributions  in  kind  may 
be  allowed  to  measure  their  own  grain,  and  the  officer  or  collector  shall 
be  beaten  who  "refuses  to  receive  fair  measure  from  the  contributing 
landholder,  or  insists  on  shaking  the  grain  into  as  small  compass  as  possible, 
or  piles  the  grain  into  a  heap,"1  even  though  the  overplus  is  duly  appro- 
priated to  the  service  of  the  Government ;  while  a  double  penalty  is  exacted 
if  the  excess  is  embezzled.  This  unique  anxiety  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
lest  it  should  derive  too  much  profit  from  its  subjects,  inspires  a  clause  in 
the  chapter  dealing  with  the  receipt  and  issue  of  public  stores.2 

"If  the  superintending  officer,  purchasing  or  hiring  goods  for  the  public 
service,  does  not  pay  the  stipulated  sum  immediately,  or  stipulates  for 
more  or  less  than  the  market  price  or  rate  of  hire  of  the  goods  in  each 
case,  the  amount  of  the  excess  above,  or  the  deficiency  below,  what  was 
fairly  due.  shall  be  estimated,  and  the  offending  party  shall  be  proportion- 
ately liable  to  punishment  according  to  the  law  applicable  to  the  cases  of 
pecuniary  malversation  in  general:"3  and  he  shall  moreover  replace  to 
Government,  or  to  the  individual  sufferer,  whatever  may  have  been  im- 
properly withheld.  The  same  penalty  applies  to  officers  who  "  receive 
goods  of  an  inferior  quality,  when  they  ought  to  have  been  of  superior 
quality." 

In  England,  when  military  stores  prove  scandalously  unfit,  the  question, 
"  Whom  shall  we  hang?  "  is  cheerfully  debated  in  the  newspapers,  with  an 
underlying  conviction  that  at  the  top  of  the  official  scale,  where  we  take 
the  existence  of  probity  for  granted,  responsibility  will  be  so  subdivided 
that  no  honourable  gentleman  need  be  saddled  with  more  than  a  bearable 
fraction  of  blame  :  while  at  the  bottom  of  the  commercial  scale,  it  is  a  case 
of  caveat  emptor,  and  the  contractor  lias  a  right  to  cheat  the  Government 
if  he  can  :  so  that  nobody  need  be  hung  (or  even  bambooed)  after  oil. 
We  look  down  on  the  dishonesty  of  Chinese  officials,  and  think  it  dis- 
creditable to  the  nation  that  there  should  be  so  many  laws  against  that 
offence,  yet  no  one  hesitates  to  use  as  an   argument,  against  the  extension 

1   Staunton,  p.   127.  -  lb.,  p.  139. 

3  '1'hc  penalties  under  this  section  range  from  twenty  blows  to  one  hundred  blows,  and 
three  years'  banishment. 


366  OWXERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

of  Government  intervention  in  any  direction,  that  work  done  for  the  State 
is  always  more  costly  than  the  same  work  done  for  private  persons  — a  fact 
whii  h  admits  of  only  two  explanations  :  either  that  the  Government  is  a 
more  liberal  paymaster  than  private  persons,  or  that  it  is  habitually  cheated. 

The  latter  hypothesis  must  be  preferred,  however  reluctantly,  since  it  was, 
until  recently,  supposed  to  be  the  duty  of  Government  officials  to  buy  goods 
and  labour,  not  at  a  fair  ami  uniform  market  price,  but  at  the  lowest  rate 
possible,  which,  in  China,  is  as  unlawful  as  passing  paper  boots  or  pewter 
bayonets  would  be.  And  our  economists  would  regard  as  a  truly  bar- 
barous idea  the  suggestion  that  the  Surveyor  of  Ordnance,  or  a  Director 
of  military  clothing,  should  make  good  out  of  his  own  pocket  the  difference 
between  the  earnings  of  operatives  employed  on  Government  contract  work, 
and  the  minimum  sanctioned  by  the  corresponding  trade  union  scale.  The 
lowest  tender  may  be  too  high  for  economy,  or  too  low  for  equity  :  but  our 
i  ffi  ials  are  not  sufficiently  well  informed  as  to  the  market  price  of  all  kinds 
of  commodities  and  labour  to  be  able  to  judge  what  the  State  on  each 
asion  ought  to  pay,  under  penalty  of  making  good  the  excess  or  defect 
if  they  decide  wrongly. 

In  China,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  comparatively  easy,  even  for  a 
scholar,  to  know  what  prices  arc  customary  ;  while  as  to  the  quality  of  goods, 
even  Kmperors  themselves  have  not  disdained  to  discriminate  between 
_  Dod  rice  and  bad.  The  price  of  labour  does  not  vary  from  one  season 
to  another;  the  wages  of  labourers  are  not  reduced  because  a  bad  harvest 
may  have  left  some  cultivators  without  other  resource  than  their  power  of 
working,  and  so  have  glutted  the  labour  market  :  efforts  are  made  to  find 
<  r  make  work,  but  it  would  be  a  crime,  not  a  charity,  to  offer  it  at  less 
than  the  normal  rate  :  hence  the  rate  of  wages  only  varies  slowly  and 
s'.iemtlv  in  the  course  of  half-centuries,  as  that  of  the  precious  metals  may 
d  .  The  prices  of  commodities  have  the  same  stability,  and  as  the 
customary  prices  are  adjusted  to  the  customary  quality,  any  alteration  in 
the  lattei  has  the  effect  of  fraud,  and  is  proscri'oed  by  law  accordingly, 
p  is  this  real  uniformity  of  practice  which  enables  the  Government  to 
re_  'late  official  expenditure,  through  a  somewhat  venal  bureaucracy,  more 
euectively  than  is  done  in  England  with  a  higher  standard  of  honesty  in 
th     ■  ffffi  i  :1  class. 

The  last  brief  division  of  the  Code  contains  the  laws  relating  to  public 
works  :  in  this,  officers  are  forbidden  to  undertake  anv  public  works  with- 
i  .'.  previoush  receiving  full  reports  (concerning  costs  and  requirements) 
:':  ...  their  subordinates,  and  obtaining  authoritv  from  their  superiors  to 
■  :  ,-cd  with  :  ■  undertaking.  [f  they  begin  to  employ  labourers,  etc. 
with,     its  .  iti    irity.  they  will  be  punished  as  for  pecuniary  malversation. 

;  -,.  ,:/  of  w,  ch  will  be  estimated  by  counting  the  number  of  labourers 
L;:.'      ved.      id  1     i  number     f  days  they  ha\  n    at    work,  pricing  each 

:....: T    da\'s   work  at    ■  :.■    i  \     -J.  !       Anv      i  I :    :.   is   made  in  the   case  oi 


FINANCIAL    AND   MERCANTILE    OFFENCES.  367 

urgent  necessary  reparations;  but  in  the  regular  course  of  things,  the  officer 
must  describe  tiie  works  which  lie  desires  to  execute,  and  estimate  their 
cost ;  while  if  he  "  does  not  truly  state  the  extent  of  the  labour  and  quantity 
of  the  materials  required,  he  shall  be  punished  with  fifty  blows,"  and  any  loss 
arising  from  his  miscalculation  shall  be  laid  to  his  charge,  rendering  him 
further  liable  to  a  penalty  for  pecuniary  malversation  up  to  the  amount 
incurred.  Expenditure  upon  '•unnecessary  or  unserviceable  work"  is 
punishable  under  the  same  law,  the  maximum  penalty  in  each  case  being 
one  hundred  blows  or  three  years'"  banishment.  Articles  manufactured  for 
the  public  service  must  not  be  contrary  to  the  established  rule  or  custom, 
under  a  penalty  of  forty  blows;  and  if  "the  deviation  is  so  considerable 
as  to  render  the  manufactured  articles  totally  unserviceable,  or  to  render 
it  necessary  to  employ  additional  labour  and  expense  in  adapting  them  for 
use,  the  said  labour  and  expense  shall  be  estimated,  and  the  responsible 
person  punished  in  proportion  to  the  amount,  according  to  the  law  re- 
specting pecuniary  malversation  in  ordinary  cases." 

Excessive  expenditure,  even  on  harmless  or  praiseworthy  public  objects, 
is  thought  objectionable,  and  an  author  quoted  by  Amyot  observes  :  "The 
splendour  and  wealth  of  the  State  is  not  shown  by  the  magnificence  of 
dykes  and  sluices,  of  bridges,  canals  and  public  buildings,  but  by  the 
portliness  of  the  citizens,  and  the  number  of  children  and  old  people." 
Earge  and  showy  transactions  afford  a  margin  for  peculation,  because 
the  details  are  less  easily  controlled,  and  if  China  has  no  public  debt,  this 
may  be  partly  owing  to  the  fact  that  no  enterprising  war  contractors  or 
ambitious  sediles  have  been  suffered  to  build  fortunes  out  of  the  supply  of 
her  wants.  All  economical  problems  are  more  complicated  in  Europe 
than  China,  but  we  cannot  claim  complete  superiority  for  the  more 
complicated  machinery,  till  it  has  been  brought  to  the  same  compara- 
tive degree  of  perfection  as  the  older  and  simpler  system  to  which  we 
prefer  it. 

The  general  law  against  adulteration  is  headed  "  .Manufactures  not 
equal  or  comformable  to  the  standard,"  and  is  the  last  of  live  sections 
dealing  with  "Sales  and  markets."'  According  to  it,  "  If  a  private  indi- 
vidual manufactures  any  article  for  sale,  which  is  not  as  strong,  durable,  and 
genuine  as  it  is  professed  to  be,  or  if  he  prepares  and  sells  any  silks  or 
other  stuffs  of  a  thinner  or  lighter  texture  and  quality,  narrower  or  shorter 
than  the  established  or  customary  standard,  he  shall  be  punished  with 
fifty  blows." 

A  "piece  of  silk"  is  a  known  quantity;  it  has  been  used  when  coin 
was  scarce  as  a  medium  of  exchange,  and  it  is  treated  as  a  fixed  quantity 
in  the  sumptuary  law  or  custom,  which  limits  the  number  of  pieces  of  silk 
given  as  a  marriage  present  to  ten  on  the  one  hand,  and  two  on  the  other. 
There  has  been  no  reason,  since  the  days  of  Chow,  why  respectable  trades- 
men should  desire  to  have  any  alteration  made  in  the  dimensions  of  the 
web  of  silk  turned  out  by  ail  the  looms  of  the  Flowery  Land,1  ami  isolated 
1   The  primitive  dimeruion.s  of  the  web  were  forty  feet  by  two  feet  two  inches. 


368  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

divergence  from  the  general  usage  for  the  purpose  of  entrapping  customers 
into  paying  a  higher  price  for  an  article  of  unfamiliar  size,  seemed  only 
slightly  less  objectionable  to  the  lawgiver  than  the  use  of  false  weights, 
measures  and  scales  prohibited  in  the  preceding  article. 

Another  section  in  the  same  book,  concerning  "  Monopolizers  and 
unfair  traders,"  is  worth  quoting  at  length  to  illustrate  the  doctrines  in 
restraint  of  trade,  which  have  always  been  and  still  are  upheld  by  the 
supreme  authority  in  China.  '•  When  the  parties  to  the  purchase  and  sale 
of  goods  do  not  amicably  agree  respecting  the  terms,  if  one  of  them  mono- 
polizing, or  otherwise  using  undue  influence  in  the  market,  obliges  the 
other  to  allow  him  an  exorbitant  profit  ;  or  if  artful  speculators  in  trade, 
by  entering  into  a  private  understanding  with  the  commercial  agent,  and 
by  employing  other  unwarrantable  contrivances,  raise  the  price  of  their 
own  goods,  although  of  low  value,  and  depress  the  prices  of  those  of  others, 
although  of  high  value— in  all  such  cases  the  offending  parties  shall  be 
punished  with  eighty  blows  for  their  misconduct.  When  a  trader,  observing 
the  nature  of  the  commercial  business  carrying  on  by  his  neighbour,  con- 
trives to  suit  or  manage  the  disposal  or  appreciation  of  his  own  goods  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  derange  or  excite  distrust  against  the  proceedings  of 
the  other,  and  thereby  Iran's  unfairly  a  greater  proportion  of  prop i  to 
himself  than  usual,  he  shall  be  punished  with  forty  blows.  The  exorbitant 
profit  derived  from  any  one  of  the  foregoing  unlawful  practices,  shall,  as 
far  as  it  exceeds  a  fair  proportion,  be  esteemed  a  theft,  and  the  offender 
punished  accordingly,  whenever  the  amount  renders  the  punishment  pro- 
vided by  law  against  theft  more  severe  than  that  hereby  established  and 
provided.  The  offender,  however,  shall  not  be  branded  as  in  ordinary- 
cases  of  theft."1  It  is  in  pursuance  of  this  idea,  that  exceptional  profits 
must  be  virtually  stolen,  that  the  State,  which  would  be  horrified  at  the 
proposal  to  treat  the  common  people  as  taillable  et  corvcable  a  merci,  has 
no  scruple  in  treating  its  capitalists  as  squeezable  at  discretion. 

The  "commercial  agent"  referred  to  in  the  above  law  is  not  exactly  a 
Government  official,  though  he  is  licensed  and  appointed  by  Government. 
Tiiev  are  elected  foam  among  the  wealthier  inhabitants  of  the  sea  and  river 
ports  where  ships  and  merchandize  are  liable  to  arrive,  and  it  is  their  duty 
to  keep  a  register  of  such  ships  and  cargoes,  and  of  the  ••marks,  numbers, 
qualitv  and  quantity  of  the  goo  Is  imported  or  introduced  into  the  market." 
These  registers  are  submitted  monthly  to  the  district  officer,  who  takes 
what  .:■  ti  :.  thereon  may  be  necessary;  but  the  principal  function  of  these 
agents,  as  laid  down  in  the  code,  was  '"  the  valuation  and  appraisement  of 
Lroods  and  merchandize,  after  due  consideration  upon  fair  and  equitable 
terms,"  partlv  with  a  view  to  the  assessment  of  the  customs  duty,  but 
pirtlv  also  as  a  -  irvival  from  the  regulations  in  force  when  private  traders 
were  onlv  all  >we  1  to  dis;  ose  of  their  wares  to.  or  through,  agents  oi  tiie 
Government.  Penalties  against  the  Government  agent  \\cy^  enforced  if 
•      ■.   misre]  resented  the  value  of  the  goods  imported,  for  their  own  advan- 

1    Sinumun,  ;  .  i-  5. 


FINANCIAL    AND   MERCANTILE    OFFENCES.         369 

tage,  or  took  bribes  fur  under-estimating  the  State  dues  ;  while  any  one 
threatening  to  extort  fines  or  forfeitures  unjustly,  for  the  sake  of  obtaining 
blackmail,  became  liable  to  the  punishment  prescribed  for  officers  of 
Government  who  commit  wilful  injustice  in  pronouncing  judicial  sentence. 

The  treaties  with  European  powers  which  modify  or  abolish  the  func- 
tions of  these  officers,  are  of  such  comparatively  recent  date,  that  the 
provisions  of  the  code  are  still  more  in  keeping  with  the  national  habits 
and  ideas  than  the  modern  system  of  fixed  duties  paid  to  the  Imperial 
Treasury.1  Of  course  the  services  of  these  agents  were  not  rendered 
gratuitously,  though  they  received  no  regular  salary  from  the  Government  ; 
but  in  each  district  there  would  be  a  well-known  and  authorized  scale  of 
fees  or  commission,  which  they  were  entitled  to  demand  along  with  the 
Government  dues,  but  which  it  was  equally  unlawful  to  exceed. 

The  old  laws  against  hoarding  copper  are  retained,  in  the  modified  form 
of  a  prohibition  against  the  retention  in  private  dwellings  of  any  utensils 
wholly  or  chiefly  of  copper,  except  mirrors,  arms,  bells,  and  articles  dedi- 
cated to  religious  purposes  ;  but  any  copper  possessed  in  excess  may  be 
sold  to  the  Government  at  the  rate  of  about  4IJ.  a  lb.,  or  such  other  price 
"  as  the  state  of  the  markets  and  circumstances  may  authorize."  The  fact 
that  the  estimate  has  not  been  raised,  though  copper  now  commonly 
fetches  about  twice  the  amount  named,  would  by  itself  prove  that  the 
present  dynasty  does  not  attach  much  importance  to  the  enactment  which 
it  allows  to  remain  on  the  Statute  ]!ook. 

The  code  throughout  treats  the  duties  of  officials  as  matter  of  notoriety, 
and  in  providing  against  official  misconduct,  there  is,  if  anything,  more 
anxiety  to  protect  the  people  than  the  Government  against  any  evil  con- 
sequence that  might  result  from  official  misconduct.  The  legislature 
evidently  looks  upon  corruption  and  tyranny,  or  a  compound  of  the  two, 
as  the  sin  which  does  most  easily  beset  the  employees  of  the  State,  and  all 
the  obvious  occasions  and  manifestations  of  such  tyranny  are  expressly 
defined  and  provided  against.  Officials  are  not  allowed  to  buy  land,  to 
marry  wives,  or  to  lend  money  within  the  area  of  their  jurisdiction,-  and 
the  punishment  attached  to  a  simple  breach  of  the  rule  is  increased  if 
force  or  terrorism  has  been  employed  to  compel  the  other  party  to  sell, 
borrow,  or  give  a  wife  against  his  will. 

The  main  provisions  of  the  law  against  usury  have  already  been  descril  ed. 
Any  one  demanding  or  receiving  interest  in  excess  of  the  original  amount  of 
the  principal  is  liable  to  punishment,  according  to  the  amount  extorted,  up 
to  one  hundred  blows,  and  if  the  offender  is  a  Government  officer,  sentence 
of  banishment  in  perpetuity  may  be  added  to  the  blows.  The  debtor,  on  the 
other  hand,  who  fails  to  repay  principal  and  interest  at  the  date  agreed  on, 
may  be  punished  at  the  rate  of  ten  blows  for  every  month's  delay,  up  to  a 

1  The  cause  of  the  unpopularity  of  foreign  trade  with  Chinese  district  officers  is  that, 
under  the  old  system  of  restricted  trade,  the  customs  were  received  by  the  local 
authority,  and  contributed  to  the  revenue  of  the  district,  whereas  they  now  go  to 
Peking. 

2  Cl.  an!,',  vol.  i.  p.  491. 

VOL.    II.  —  P.C.  B  B 


370  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

maximum  of  sixty  blows.  But  should  the  creditor  be  dissatisfied  with  this 
mild,  vindictive  sentence,  and  attempt  to  right  Ids  own  wrong  by  forcibly 
seizing  the  cattle,  furniture,  or  other  property  of  the  debtor,  he  becomes 
liable  to  a  penalty  of  eighty  blows  (redeemable,  however,  by  fine),  or  if 
the  distix-ss  exceeds  the  value  of  the  debt,  to  such  further  punishment, 
proportioned  to  the  amount  of  the  excess,  as  the  law  regarding  pecuniary 
malversation  provides.  Further,  it  the  creditor  accepts  the  wives  or  children 
of  the  debtor  in  pledge  for  payment,  he  receives  one  hundred  blows  ;  and 
if  he  carries  off  such  members  of  the  debtor's  family  by  force,  the  penaltv 
is  two  degrees  more  severe,  and  the  debt  is  cancelled.  The  repayment  o; 
a  loan  is  tiie  only  kind  of  pecuniary  liability  which  the  G  n'ernment  attempts 
to  enforce;  and  when  the  reluctance  of  the  Chinese  to  appear  in  a  police 
court  even  in  the  character  of  plaintiff  is  borne  in  mind,  it  will  be  seen  that, 
even  in  this  case,  creditors  are  not  likely  to  benefit  much  in  practice  bv 
the  protection  which  the  law  accords  them. 

There  is  nothing  in  the  Lu  about  the  contemporary  custom  of  collecting 
debts  by  the  New  Year  :  the  absence  of  anything  like  a  bankruptcy  law  and 
the  predominance  of  small  transactions  must  have  contributed  to  make 
ca^h  payments  the  rule  :  and  where  this  is  the  case,  and  the  systematic 
giving  of  credit  is  unknown,  a  custom  would  easily  grow  up  of  allowing 
accidental  delays  of  payment  to  be  overlooked  if  cash  were  forthcoming 
within  the  twelvemonth.  The  New  Year  is  a  holiday  time,  and  the  very 
poorest  indulge  in  some  kind  of  festivities.  Nothing  but  the  most  abject 
poverty  can  prevent  a  Chinese  family  from  having  some  provision  for 
enjoyment  made  at  this  time  of  year  :  and  as  nothing  but  absolute  inability 
can  excuse  the  non-payment  ot  debts  to  neighbours  at  that  season,  the 
Chinaman  must  either  pay  his  debts  or  go  without  festivities  under  pain  of 
passing  for  a  swindler.  Hence  the  most  frantic  efforts  arc  ma  ie  to  borrow 
money,  or  goods  which  may  lie  pawned  for  money,  to  pay  whatever  is  left 
of  tiie  year's  debts,  though  after  the  sun  has  risen  on  New  Year's  Day, 
there  is  no  obligation  to  discharge  them,  and  no  allusion  is  permitted  to  be 
made  to  them  by  the  creditor. 


CHAPTER    XXX II. 

MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS:    ADMINISTRATION  AND  SOCIAL 
INSTITUTIONS. 

-Most  of  the  directions  to  judges,  contained  in  the  code,  as  to  circum- 
stances to  be  considered  in  mitigation  of  sentences,  and  the  judicial 
principles  expressed  or  implied  in  the  prescribed  modes  of  estimating 
responsibility,  are  such  as  would  approve  themselves  to  humane  and  en- 
lightened lawyers.  The  meaning  and  purpose  of  the  statutes  is  always 
clear,  and  the  precision  with  which  they  are  drafted  is  sufficient  for  the 
purpose  they  have  to  serve.  The  magistrates  are  required  to  give  equitable 
judgments,  and  decisions  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  and  letter  of  the 
code  ;  and  as  there  are  no  professional  lawyers,  authorized  to  sustain  in- 
equitable claims  by  a  strict  interpretation  of  the  letter  of  isolated  clauses, 
it  is  unnecessary  to  multiply  explanatory  provisos,  which  themselves  mul- 
tiply the  possibilities  of  dispute. 

By  a  counterpart  to  the  English  law  of  ''Maintenance/'  it  is  illegal  even 
for  non-professional  persons  to  assist  or  advise  in  the  suits  of  others,  and 
a  penalty  is  imposed  in  the  case  of  those  who  receive  money  or  any  other 
inducement  for  doing  so.  The  only  exception  is  that  made  in  the  case  of 
a  poor  and  ignorant  person,  who  does  not  know  how  to  state  his  case 
properly  before  the  tribunals;  any  one  who  •'advises  and  instructs  such 
person  rightly  and  truly  how  to  act,"  or  "draws  up  an  information  for  him 
in  the  legal  and  customary  manner''  without  misrepresenting  the  facts  of 
the  case,  is  exempt  from  blame  or  punishment.1 

The  code  aims  at  obtaining  a  confession  of  the  justice  of  the  sentence  in 
all  serious  cases  bef  're  it  is  executed.  If  a  prisoner  sentenced  to  banish- 
ment or  death  refuses  to  admit  his  guilt,  the  protest  "  shall  be  made  the 
ground  of  another  and  more  particular  investigation,'''  :-  and  the  magistrate 
who  refuses  to  receive  such  a  protest  is  punished.  The  innocent  can  thus 
secure  a  second  hearing,  while  the  guilty  are  not  likely  to  risk  an  aggrava- 
tion of  their  sentence  by  a  vexatious  appeal.  In  several  cases  the  li  or 
statutes  of  the  present  dynasty  mitigate  the  penalties  laid  down  by  the  older 
law,  while  the  blows  imposed  as  punishment  for  all  minor  offences  can  be 
compounded  for  a  small  line.  Women  are  only  allowed  to  be  imprisoned 
upon  capital  charges,  and  remain  otherwise  in  the  custody  of  their  rela- 
tives, and  nearly  all  their  offences  are  redeemable  by  fine. 

1    la  Tsing  In  li,  sect.  341.  2  lb.,  sect.  416. 


372  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

One  or  two  entirely  civilized  and  humane  provisions  are,  by  a  curious 
arrangement  of  the  code,  hidden  away,  under  the  head  of  miscellaneous 
offences,  in  the  division  devoted  to  criminal  laws.  It  is  melancholy  to 
think  of  what  art  and  science  have  lost  in  Egypt,  which  might  all  have 
been  saved  if  the  monuments  of  that  country  had  been  under  the  protec- 
tion of  the  enlightened  Chinese  code,  by  which  "  Any  person  who  is  guilty 
of  defacing  or  destroying  any  of  the  public  monuments  and  buildings,  which 
have  been  erected  in  honour  and  commemoration  of  particular  individuals 
and  events  ;  and  any  person  who  defaces  or  destroys  the  inscribed  tablets 
upon,  or  within  the  same,  shall  be  punished  with  too  blows  and  perpetual 
banishment  to  the  distance  of  3.000  li  ;  the  offender  in  these  cases  shall  be 
moreover  compelled  to  repair  the'  damage"1 — a  provision  which  the  cha- 
racter of  Chinese  monuments  renders  less  impossible  than  such  atonement 
would  be  elsewhere.  Even  now.  if  one  destructive  tourist  in  Egypt  were 
allowed  to  "  cat  s;ick  "  for  Ids  sins,  the  work  of  demolition  might  be  arrested. 
The  next  clause  carries  us  back  to  the  days  of  Chow,-  and  is  only  placed 
among  offences  because  a  penalty  is  attached  to  disregard  of  it.  By  this 
private  soldiers  attached  to  Government  stations,  and  labourers  employed  in 
public  works  are  entitled  in  illness  arid  infirmity  to  receive  medical  assistance 
and  treatment  free  from  the  local  medical  officer.  It  will  lie  remembered 
that  a  system  of  Government  dispensaries  was  introduced  by  the  [Mongols, 
and  though  it  has  unfortunately  fallen  into  disuse,  it  is  worthy  of  note  that 
the  Government  feels  itself  responsible  for  the  labourers  temporarily  em- 
ployed in  its  service,  as  well  as  for  the  regular  civil  and  military  employees 
of  the  State.  And  as  the  liberality  of  the  Government  does  not  go  beyond 
what  is  considered  incumbent  upon  private  employers,  we  may  infer  that  it 
is  usual  for  the  latter  also  to  give  such  assistance  when  necessary  to  their 
workpeople. 

The  section  concerning  public  ways  provides  briefly  for  the  maintenance 
and  repair  of  roads,  bridges,  and  embankments  by  the  local  authorities,  and 
includes  a  law  against  encroachments,  which  shows  how  long  China  has 
been  both  a  crowded  country,  and  one  with  sound  ideas  of  sanitation  and 
decorum.  "Any  person  who  encroaches  upon  the  spaces  allotted  to  pub- 
lic street-,  squares,  highways,  or  passages  of  any  kind.-  -that  is  to  say,  who 
appropriates  a  part  of  any  Mich  space  to  his  own  use.  by  cultivating  it  or 
building  on  it.  —  shall  be  punished  with  sixtv  blows,  and  obliged  to  level  audi 
resl  ire  tile  ground  to  its  original  state.  Any  person  who  opens  a  passage 
through  the  wall  of  his  house  to  carry  off  filth  or  ordure  into  the  streets  or 
highways,  -had  be  :  unished  with  forty  blows  :  but  in  the  case  of  a  passage 
being  opened  to  carry  off  water  onlv,  no  penalty  or  punishment  shall  be 
inflicted. "'  China  has  no  drains,  but  the  demand  for  refuse  of  all  kinds  tor 
use  as  manure  causes  the  streets  to  be  efficiently  scavenged  by  private 
enterprise,  and  the  immunity  of  the  people  from  epidemics  is  no  doubt 
largely  due  to  the  absence  both  of  open  drains  and  of  sewer  gas. 

Nut  the  least  curious  or  characteristic   feature   in  the   code   is  the  juxta- 
1    7\i  7 'sin    In   ',•',  cap.  c    '!uvi.   11,  ,'.ii.  -  A  nfe,  p.  224  an  I  n. 


MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS.  373 

position  of  passages  like  the  above,  which  suggest  quite  modern  problems, 
and  others  which  carry  us  back  to  the  Shoo-King  itself  and  to  the  most  pri- 
mitive arrangements  for  the  care  of  the  royal  cattle.  In  the  fourth  book 
of  the  Hia  Dynasty,  the  composition  of  which  is  attributed  to  that  of  Shang, 
the  "  statutes  of  government "  are  referred  to  as  ordaining  that  if  the  State 
astronomers  ''anticipate  the  time  "  or  fall  behind  it,  they  are  to  be  put 
to  death  without  mercy.  From  that  day  to  this,  no  doubt  the  laws  of  the 
Middle  Kingdom  have  always  contained  an  article  upon  "  Neglect  to  ob- 
serve and  note  the  celestial  appearances,'"' l  such  as  eclipses,  meteors,  comets, 
and  the  like,  and  the  astronomical  hoard  is  still  required  to  "  mark  the 
times"  of  these  phenomena  and  report  them  to  the  emperor,  though  the 
penalty  for  neglect  has  been  reduced,  with  the  progress  of  humanity,  from 
"death  without  mercy  "  to  sixty  blows. 

The  section  concerning  responsibility  for  the  care  of  Government  cattle 
has  been  referred  to  already.2  One  division  of  the  code  is  devoted  to 
what  are  called  military  laws,  and  one  book  in  this  division  deals  with  mili- 
tary horses  and  cattle.  "Every  officer  in  charge  of  the  rearing  and  feeding 
of  the  horses,  horned  cattle,  camels,  mules,  asses,  and  sheep  belonging  to 
the  government  shall  be  responsible  for  an  hundred  head  of  animals  :  (i.e. 
the  punishments  are  on  the  scale  of  such  a  charge  of  100)  and  a  strict  and 
faithful  report  shall  be  made  to  government  of  the  death,  loss  or  partial 
injury  which  occurs  to  any  of  them,"3  that  those  in  charge  may  be  pun- 
ished unless  proved  not  to  be  responsible  for  the  damage.  Under  whatever 
circumstances  the  animal  dies,  the  skin,  tail  and  the  bullock's  tendons  and 
horns  shall  be  given  to  the  proper  officer.  Rearers  and  feeders  are  "excused 
punishment''  if  it  is  shown  that  the  death  was  from  old  age,  but  they  have 
to  make  good  loss  or  injury  from  other  causes,  and  "  the  dead  or  maimed 
cattle  shall  be  sold  towards  replacing  the  same  with  living  and  perfect 
animals."  To  "conceal  the  increase"  is  among  the  offences  contemplated: 
a  special  regulation  respecting  the  droves  of  brood  mares  requires  that  their 
keepers  shall  produce  not  less  than  100  foals  a  year  from  three  droves  ot 
100  mares  each.  In  the  purchase  of  animals  by  contract  for  Government 
use,  the  officers  are  required  under  penalties  to  estimate  every  animal  truly 
and  justly  ;  and  failure  to  do  so,  whether  to  the  detriment  of  the  Govern- 
ment, or  that  of  the  vendor,  are  punished  alike,  as  in  the  case  of  other 
Government  purchases.  Xeglect  of  the  animals,  whereby  they  become 
lean,  or  bad  management  in  harnessing  or  driving  them,  whereby  soft- 
backs  or  galled  shoulders  are  produced,  are  punished,  the  degree  of  guilt 
being  measured  by  the  size  of  the  sore  or  the  number  of  unduly  lean 
beasts. 

As  the  Chinese  in  general,  like  the  Egyptians,  are  kind  to  their  domestic 
animals,  it  seems  likely  that  tins  law  is  prompted  by  genuine  humanity,  as 
well  as  by  the  desire  to  have  the  stock  kept  in  good  condition.  The  owner 
of  dangerous  animals  is  required  to   tie   them  up  and  mark  them  as  such  ; 

1  Sect,  clxxvii.  p.  1S7.         2  Ante,  p.  52;  and  vol.  i.  p.  135-        3  Sect,  cexxvii. 


374  OWNERSHIP  IN  CHINA. 

dogs  are  to  be  destroyed  if  they  go  mad.  The  curiously  severe  law  against 
killing  horses  or  cattle  without  a  Government  license  is  perhaps  derived 
from  a  time  when  the  Government  attached  some  importance  to  the  right 
of  requisitioning  such  animals  from  private  owners;  and  as  China  has  never 
been  a  grazing  country,  the  tendency  of  the  people  was  always  to  diminish 
this  available  reserve.  At  present  the  law  serves  practically  only  as  a  tax 
upon  butchers,  with  an  incidental  tendency  to  enable  the  magistrates  to 
regulate  and  equalize  the  price  of  meat. 

There  is  no  game  preserving  in  China  :  any  one  is  free  to  hunt  wherever 
he  can  find  birds  or  beasts,  and  this  being  so,  the  fact  that  game  is  not  ex- 
terminated confirms  what  has  been  Slid  already  as  to  the  general  abund- 
ance of  food.  Tcheng-ki-tong  gives  the  following  list  of  animals  available 
for  sport  :  partridges,  woodcock,  snipe,  quails,  wild  duck  and  geese  ;  roe- 
buck, red  and  fallow  deer,  hares  and  rabbits,  besides  fox,  wolf,  bear,  pan- 
ther, and  tiger  in  appropriate  localities.1  As  in  the  Chow  Li,  there  are 
provisions  in  the  code"-  against  danger  to  passers-by  from  traps  or  springes 
set  by  the  hunters  for  wild  animals,  and  they  are  required  to  put  some 
visible  sign  as  a  warning  to  mankind,  though  at  the  risk  of  scaring  the 
more  cunning  and  intelligent  beasts.  It  is  not  recorded  even  of  Chou  or 
Chich  that  they  attempted  to  preserve  their  hunting  grounds  against  intru- 
sion, by  deliberately  setting  traps  and  springes  to  catch,  not  beasts,  but 
human  beings. 

The  Chinese  pay  less  than  any  other  people  for  their  Government,  less 
absolutely  and  less  per  head,  and  the  limitation  of  the  Imperial  revenues 
has  the  incidental  advantage  of  keeping  the  number  of  Government  officials 
at  a  minimum  also.  M.  Simon  estimates  the  total  number  for  the  whole 
empire  at  between  twenty-five  and  thirty  thousand,  or  perhaps  one  for 
every  nineteen  thousand  of  the  population.  Capital  crimes  and  executions 
are  rare,  and  even  when  allowance  is  made  for  the  jurisdiction  exercised  by 
family  and  local  tribunals,  the  proportion  of  the  population  who  suffer  any 
kind  of  restraint  at  the  hands  of  authority  is  extraordinarily  small.  The 
extent  to  which  the  Government  is  constitutional  and  responsible  has  been 
indicated  in  the  history  of  previous  dynasties.  Local  droughts,  inunda- 
tions, or  other  national  calamities  serve,  as  well  as  any  patent  dereliction 
of  duty,  as  a  pretext  for  revising  the  personnel  of  the  administration  ;  but  if 
the  officer  of  the  unfortunate  district  is  popular,  the  people  appeal  on  his 
behalf,  and  he  is  continued  in  office  with  a  note  in  his  favour  rather  than 
the  reverse. 

If,  on  the  contrary,  an  official  makes  himself  intolerable  to  those  under 
his  jurisdiction,  and  is  proof  against  all  remonstrance,  the  town-people  shut 
up  their  shops,  the  country  folk  refuse  their  taxes,  or,  in  M.  Simon's 
words,  "  Plus  d'affaires,  rien  ne  va.  Au  bout  de  trois  jours,  si  1'accord  ne 
s'est  pas  retabli.  dcstittic  !  C'est  commode  et  cela  se  passe  sans  bruit." 
Archdeacon  (Ira}'  tells  an  amusing  story  illustrative  of  this  sort  of  local 
stiike  against  unpopular  government.  In  1SS0  there  was  a  struggle  be- 
/.;     /'.'-  /;■  in  C'.iiit,  pp.   12,   ;.  -  >rci.  ccxcliii. 


MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS.  375 

tween   a  mandarin  and    the  pork    butchers  of  a  provincial   town  respecting 

the  imposition  of  an  additional  tax  on  each  pig  killed.  The  pork  batchers 
closed  their  shops  and  persuaded  the  public  neither  to  buy  nor  sell.  Four 
official  stalls  were  opened  by  the  military  for  the  sale  of  meat;  but  the 
public  sympathised  with  the  strike,  and  it  was  allowed  to  rot  without 
finding  purchasers,  and  finally  the  tax  was  abandoned  and  the  pork 
butchers  gained  the  day.  The  governor  of  a  town  is  superseded  if  the 
fires  in  it  exceed  a  given  average,1  and  officers  are  expressly  declared  to  be 
responsible  for  the  mortality  in  prisons  if  it  rises  beyond  specified  limits. 

Kxhortations  and  admonitions  are  plentiful,  and  as  in  the  days  of  Yao 
and  Shun,  the  emperors  still  make  '•announcements''  to  the  people  about 
their  own  and  their  ministers'  lapses  from  perfect  virtue.  If  a  local  officer 
finds  or  introduces  in  his  province  a  commendable  usage,  he  sends  a  de- 
scription of  it  to  the  minister  of  Kites  at  Peking  :  the  minister  submits  it  to 
the  consideration  of  the  Hamlin  College,  and  if  this  learned  and  indepen- 
dent body  approves  of  it,  it  is  communicated  to  other  provinces  :  if  it  is 
generally  adopted  by  them,  it  passes  into  the  code,,  but  does  not  become 
law  till  the  next  reign,  so  that  usages  do  not  acquire  statutatory  powers  till 
they  have  had  ample  time  to  become  familiar.-  \\\  the  locality  that  wishes 
for  a  law,  it  can  take  effect  at  once.  Any  official  of  the  rank  of  Tao  tai 
or  Intendant  of  circuit  is  competent,  by  and  with  the  advice  of  the  local 
guilds,  to  publish  regulations,  saws  one  writer,  "as  far  extending  in  their 
character  as  the  Trustee  Act  or  the  Statute  of  Frauds  ;  " :!  but  such  regu- 
lations, like  other  laws,  are  never  promulgated  by  authority  till  they  have 
begun  to  be  observed  by  general  consent. 

All  official  Chinese  documents  have  a  curiously  conversational  tone.  An 
edict  about  grasshoppers,  for  instance,  explains  paternally  how  they  can  be 
caught  and  their  eggs  destroyed,  that  they  are  good  for  food,  can  be  dried 
and  given  to  ducks,  pigs,  and  other  domestic  animals,  not  omitting  the 
reassuring  fact  that  their  taste  is  like  dried  prawns.4  At  dangerous  parts 
of  the  road  notices  to  travellers  are  stuck  up  :  "  Do  not  shelter  here 
because  of  the  floods,"  or  "Beware  of  the  mountain  water,"  as  in  England 
cyclists'  clubs  warn  the  fraternity  against  dangerously  steep  descents. 
Official  decrees  in  China  combine  in  one  text  the  letter  of  the  law  and 
such  an  exposition  of  its  admirable  motives  and  tendency  as  would  be 
supplied  in  England  by  an  "  inspired  :'  morning  paper — a  combination 
which  ceases  to  appear  singular  when  we  remember  that  the  Government 
is  carried  on  by  the  very  class  whence  able  editors  are  drawn  in  Europe. 

In  civil  disputes,  if  the  sentence  of  the  local  popular  courts  of  arbitration 
is  not  accepted,  the  case  is  brought  before  the  magistrate,  and  his  under- 
lings may  have  to  be  bribed  to  allow  the  "petition  "  for  justice  to  reach 
him.  Further  appeals  may  be  made  to  the  provincial  treasurer,  to  the 
governor  of  the  province,  to  the  officer  of  corresponding  dignity  in  the 
adjoining  province,  and  from  him  to  the  Emperor;  and  bribery  which  has 

1   Cray's  China,  pp.  51,   13.  3  La  Cite  Chinoise,  p.  150. 

-'   The  Cycle,  p.  32S.  4  Middle  Kingdom,  vol.  i.  p.  469. 


376  OWNERSHIP  IN   CHINA. 

been  successful  at  every  previous  stage  lias  been  known  to  fail  at  this  final 
appeal.      Few  civil    cases,  however,   are  reported   in   the   Gazette  as  being 

carried  up  to  the  higher  courts,  the  parties  presumably  thinking  it  wise  to 
acquiesce,  when  they  are  simply  referred  back  to  the  judge,  who  has 
already  heard  an  1  decided  the  case. 

besides  the  tra  iitional  drum  which  claimants  for  justice  are  still  in 
th  >:y  entitle  1  to  strike.1  there  are  six  tablets,  with  appropriate  inscriptions, 
affixed  outside  tile  local  courts  of  justice,  indicating  where  redress  is  to  be 
sought  by  those  wronged  fi)  by  wicked  officers.  (2)  by  thieves,  (3;  bv  i.ii-c 
accusations,  (4)  by  swindlers,  or  (5;  in  any  other  way,  tiie  6th  being  for 
those  who  have  secret  information  to  impart.  The  courts  of  justice  are 
open  from  dawn  till  dusk — the  day's  work  of  la;  >urers  ...1  1  of  officers  being 
of  equal  duration. 

Witnesses,  as  is  well  known,  are  examined  under  torture,  if  there  is 
reasonable  ground  to  suspect  that  they  know  more  than  thev  tell,  and  of 
course  this  practice  leads  to  grave  abuses.  Xo  counsel  are  employed,  and 
the  judge  is  expected  to  divine  the  truth  from  the  physiognomv  and  re- 
crimination of  witnesses,  an  i  such  sign-  as  in  the  West  would  be  followed 
up  by  detectives  on  behalt  of  either  the  prosecution  or  defence.  "The 
chief  securitv  the  people  have  against  an  unmitigated  oppression,  such 
as  exist-  in  Turkev  .  .  .  lies  as  much  as  anywhere  m  the  general 
intelligence  of  the  true  principles  on  which  the  Government  is  founded,  and 
sin  ".Id  be  executed.'2  "The  Chinese  are  ti.emo.it  law-abiding  people  on 
the  face  of  the  globe,  but  the  laws  by  winch  they  will  ao.de  must  lie  laws  of 
wiib  h  they  approve."  :; 

Tne  r  ght  of  petition,  which,  comparatively  lately,  had  to  be  contended 
for  in  bngland,  is  not  only  freely  exercised  in  China,  but  a  petition,  if 
favourably  received  and  printed  in  the  Gazette,  acquires  at  once  quasi- 
legislative  force.  Any  citizen  who  possesses  the  necessary  command  of 
language  and  stvle  may  mem  riaiize  the  emperor,  and  even  if  tiie  matter 
•  ...  m  rial  is  unacceptable  to  the  sovereign,  and  tiie  tribunals  take 
;.  1:  :.  ;  >n  it.  it  is  nevertheless  preserved  in  tiie  Imperial  Record  O.'fice, 
and  tiie  i.istori  graphers  'j'i  the  future  maybe  trusted  to  do  its  author 
j  isti  e.  bed  ies  tiie  right  of  petit i  m,  the  Six  11  iar  is,  in  w  hose  b  nds  the 
(  utrol  of  the  administration  rests,  possess  a  c  mstituti  'iial  :  :\\ :. .  _ .:  e  [Uai 
t  to  the  '  rhamentary  lioerties  valued  in  tiie  \\  est.  The  eniper  ; 
rel   :  •     1  q  ;     tioiis  and  memori  h.s  :o  tn  ;se  trib  1  rails,  lor  con  :.  . 

re'  ■:"..  :i  t..e'."  do  not,  as  is  oiten  tne  case,  reac.i  the  tribunal  iirst.  1  ..  - 
trio. in i    -    are    .     -o.uteiv  tree  to    reply  and  report    as  they  tiling  .  .--t  :  alio, 

though,    m  practii  e,  11    the  emperor  doi  -  :.    t    like  their  uecisi .  refers 

tiie  m at t   i"  ;  to  t item  i  >r  reconsiuer.it;    ...  they  m  iy  be  disposed  to  tem- 

p    :..  e  ;    vet  il   lie  Wt  re    •  >  e_.:'e_I     :s,y  in   tne   wrong  that    the}'  le.t  compei.ee 


MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS.  377 

to  adhere  to  their  first  response,  he  would  be  a  bold  ruler  who  dared  to 
risk  being  written  down  a  tyrant,  by  disregarding  such  lawful  protests. 

The  opinion  of  the  doctors  of  the  Han-lin  College  loses  none  of  its 
weight  from  the  fact  that  its  members  as  such  have  no  place  in  the  Govern- 
ment.1 They  receive  from  the  State  a  house  and  garden  and  a  small 
pecuniar}-  allowance,  but  so  far  from  being  considered  in  consequence  to 
he  in  any  measure  dependent  on  the  Government,  the  endowment  is  re- 
garded  as  theirs  by  inalienable  right,  and  is  further  supplemented  by 
endowments  and  donations  ancient  and  modern.  The  Chinese  Govern- 
ment shows,  perhaps,  as  much  deference  to  the  opinion  of  the  learned,  as 
very  enlightened  and  democratic  European  Governments  show  to  the 
opinion  of  the  press  ;  and  it  shows  as  much  deference  to  the  opinion  of 
the  people  as  tiie  latter  do  to  the  verdict  of  the  ballot  boxes  at  a  contested 
election. 

The  parallelism  between  the  double  organs  of  the  national  will  in 
different  continents  is  far  from  complete  ;  but  if  the  essence  of  a  constitu- 
tion is  to  restrain  the  arbitrary  power  of  the  sovereign,  China  has  even- 
title  to  rank  as  a  constitutional  monarchy.  Xo  important  empire  would 
suffer  less  visible  or  material  change  if  the  form  of  government  were 
suddenly  metamorphosed  into  a  federal  republic.  And  it  may  even  be 
doubted  whether  the  two  great  constituent  powers  just  referred  to.  the 
learned  and  the  people,  would  have  any  serious  objection  to  the  change, 
if  an  heir  of  the  reigning  house  were  entrusted  with  the  discharge  of  the 
customary  ceremonies  in  the  worship  of  Heaven  and  Earth  and  of  his 
Imperial  ancestors. 

That  tiie  people  have,  in  fact,  inherited  the  duties  and  prerogatives  of  the 
ancient  emperors  is  apparent  from  all  accounts  of  the  benevolent  institu- 
tions of  the  country.  Foundling  hospitals,  asylums  for  the  aged  poor  and 
other  permanent  establishments  for  the  relief  of  distress  are  only  partially 
supported  by  Government  funds,  and  depend  largely  on  private  donations 
and  endowments.  The  present  dynasty  has  especially  encouraged  the 
foundation  of  orphanages  and  homes  for  the  reception  of  foundlings,  so 
that  it  is  possible  that  the  reproach  of  infanticide  brought  against  the 
Chinese  may  have  been  formerly  more  deserved  than  now. 

There  are  charitable  as  we'd  as  provident  burial  societies,-  which  provide 
coffins  for  tiie  destitute,  and  poor  parents  are  said  sometimes  to  lay  their 
dead  children  by  tiie  roadside,  in  hopes  of  having  them  interred  by  these 
societies,  more  decorously  than  they  themselves  could  afford.  The  ac- 
counts of  infanticide  in  China  are  derived  in  great  part  from  the  reports 
of  the  French  Socicte  de  hi  Sainte  Enjaiice,  which  begs  for  subscriptions  in 
France  to  save  the  souls  and  bodies  of  Chinese  babies.  The  society 
employs  native  mission  women,  who  are  paid   so   much    a   head    for    every 

1  Very  young  doctors  are  employed  in  the  public  examinations,  but  do  n<>:  hold  office 
till  qualified  by  age  and  experience. 

-  Subscriptions  to  these  so-called  "Long  life  loan  companies  "  are  continued  for  six- 
teen year.-,  unless  the  member  die  sooner,  in  which  case  he  gets  tiie  cotiin  anil  grave- 
clothes  provided  by  the  Society  cheap. 


37«  OWNERSHIP   IX   CHIXA. 

baby  they  baptize  ;  and  as  veracity  is  not  the  strong  point  of  the  Chinese, 
laymen  permit  themselves  to  doubt  whether  all  the  babies  reported  as 
chn<tened  in  artkulo  mortis  were  really  found  alive. 

The  Catholic  orphanages  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  obtain  the  charge 

'  ny  children  at  all,  which  is  not  surprising  when  we  learn  that  the 
mortality  is  much  higher  in  them  than  in  similar  native  institutions  ;  this 
fact  is  easily  explained,  since  the  Chinese  do  not  allow  a  nurse  to  take 
charge  of  more  than  one  infant,  while  the  missionaries  give  three  or  four 
to  tiie  same.  When  the  poor  little  things  die,  the  Chinese  institutions 
1  Liry  them  in  coffins,  an  expense  which  the  missionaries  regretfully  declare 
themselves  unable  to  afford.  When  the  children  in  the  Chinese  orphan- 
ages grow  up,  t  e  boys  are  taught  tra  !es,  and  the  girls  frequently  adopted 
by  childless  tamilies,  or  taken  as  inferior  wives:  records  and  descriptions 
are  kept,  so  that  the  parents  can  at  any  time  reclaim  or  trace  their  children 

:  they  wish  to  do  so  ;  and.  as  in  the  land  of  Sumer  and  Akkad,  the  found- 
ling might  have  his  "filiation  "  formally  and  legally  proclaimed. 

The  massacre  of  the  French  at  Tien-tsin  was  caused  by  the  refusal  of 
the  Sainte  Finance  to  follow  the  same  custom.  The  inundations  of  the 
Yellow  River  in  1870  had  caused  so  much  distress  that  a  considerable 
number  of  children  had.  by  way  of  exception,  been  entrusted  to  the 
society.1  As  their  families  recovered  from  the  calamity  they  wished  to 
reclaim  their  children  ;  but  the  missionaries  refused  to  restore  their 
baptized  protege's  to  heathendom  at  the  peril  of  their  immortal  souls. 
Family  affection  and  the  continuity  of  family  relations  is  the  comer- 
stone  —and  half  the  edifice — of  the  really  national  religion  of  China,  so 
that  t'ne  outbreak  in  which  the  foreigners  suffered  cannot  be  treated  as 
unprovoked.  English  law  would  certainly  have  upheld  the  parents' 
claim,  and  a  writ  of  Habeas  Corpus  have  been  issued  against  the 
missionaries  had  the  matter  been  one  within  the  jurisdiction  of  an 
Knglish  court.'-' 

Besides  permanent  institutions,  it  is  the  rule  for  wealthy  clans  to  give 
d  iles   in    spring  and  autumn   to   poor   members,   out  of    the    endowments 

:  the  a:a  -tra!  altar-,  a  liberality  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  con- 
sequence 1  :  there  being  no  priesthood  to  maintain  in  connection  with 
the  orthodox  rites.  The  Buddhist  list  of  crimes  and  virtues  has  acquired 
ti  :ly  Chinese  <  harai  ter  ;  and  among  the  latter  we  find  included 
the  giving  to  the  poor  of  hot  tea  in  winter  and  cold  in  summer — a 
provision   whi     .   has    been  id    to    the    establishment   of  drinking 

lah>    in    Fn_vand     -as   well   as  the  bridging  rivulets  and  paving   high- 
ways.     In    one    cold    December,   a    Chinese    lady   was   reported   to    have 
five  hundred    :      kets   1  1   the   old   and    poor  of  Canton.      In    [832   a 
college   was   erected   by  private   subscription,   at  a  cost  of  /.  ic.coc,  on  a 

:    .'  •  Ci;'  '"  '::  -    .  ;  .  1;  .. 


MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS.  370 

site  given  by  a  widow  lady,  to  provide  ';  fat  and  fire,"  i.e.  oil  and  food 
for  study  gratuitously  to  scholars.  But  the  number  of  public  charities 
founded  by  private  persons  is  reduced  by  the  same  cause  which 
diminishes  the  necessity  for  them,  namely  the  number  of  family  endow- 
ments bequeathed  to  supply  the  wants  of  poor  members  of  important 
clans,  as  well  as  by  the  liberality  towards  relations  exercised  by  the  well- 
to-do  members  of  every  family. 

This  trait  is  well  illustrated  by  Dr.  Legge's  account  of  a  great  fire  in 
Victoria,  Hong-Kong,  some  fort}-  years  ago.  It  broke  out  one  winter 
evening,  and  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  were  rendered  homeless.  He 
took  a  few  of  the  sufferers  to  his  home  for  the  night,  and  started  early 
next  morning  to  raise  subscriptions  among  the  English  and  other 
merchants.  "  I  took  my  way  by  the  scene  of  the  conflagration.  There 
were  the  streets  lined  with  the  ruins  of  the  burnt  houses,  but  of  all  the 
crowds  whom  I  had  left  at  midnight  shivering  on  the  hillside  there  was 
no  trace  ;  what  had  become  of  them  ?  The  answer  to  my  inquiries  was  : 
'Their  kindred  have  taken  them  in.  Does  not  the  second  maxim  of 
tiie  Sacred  Edict  say,  behave  with  generosity  to  the  branches  of  your 
kindred  in  order  to  illustrate  harmony  and  benignity  ?' "  The  constant 
application  of  this  principle  to  individual  cases  as  they  arise  saves  the 
empire  from  the  formation  of  a  dangerous  class, — the  residuum,  which  in 
our  Western  cities  drags  out  a  miserable  existence  on  the  borderland 
between  pauperism  and  crime,  and  which  in  the  Middle  Kingdom 
takes  to  brigandage,  whenever  "harmony  and  benignity"  begin  to  fail. 

Life  and  fire  insurance  offices  do  not  exist  in  China  apart  from  foreign 
influence  ;  1  yet  in  an  effective  and  informal  manner  the  whole  empire 
is  a  vast  insurance  society,  so  that  dues  and  provinces  as  well  as 
individuals  are  enabled  to  recover  from  disaster  with  a  promptitude  ami 
completeness  scarcely  to  be  paralleled  out  of  the  United  States.  Lockhart 
describes  the  restoration  of  Shanghai,  after  its  destruction  by  the  Triad 
Society,-  and  the  way  in  which,  as  soon  as  the  people  could  return,  re- 
building began,  the  streets  were  cleared,  boundaries  of  property  marked 
out  by  owners,  shops  opened,  and  trade  resumed  ;  so  that  "  in  a  very  few 
months  whole  streets  had  been  built,  and  the  business  of  the  city 
flourished  as  before.  .  .  .  Money  was  lent  in  large  sums  to  the 
traders  and  shopkeepers  by  wealthy  men  :  and  it  is  truly  a  testimony  to 
the  integrity  of  the  Chinese  character  that  when  people  had  been  utterly 
ruined,  as  most  of  these  tradespeople  were,  others  would  come  forward 
and  cordially  enable  them  to  reinstate  their  business.  For  these  advances 
large  interest  was  paid,  and  the  principle  liquidated  by  degrees  as  trade 
prospered." 

1   Intelligent  Chinamen  to  whom  their  working  U  explained  doubt  whether  they  w 
not    prove   a   dangerous  incentive    to    murder  and    arson,    for   the   sake    of  securing   the 
promised  premiums.      The   Mongol   princes    who    receive   grants    from    the    Kmperor   for 
marriage  and  funeral  expenses  are  said  to  he  exceptionally  "  wasteful  of  their  wives,"   .  - 
infant  mortality  is  increased  in  England  by  high  premiums  from  burial  societies. 

-    Tin  Medical  Missionary  in  China,  p.  332. 


3 So  OWNERSHIP  IX  CHINA. 

After  destructive  storms,  the  native  gentry  put  up  sheds  in  temple 
Li  Hinds,  and  pay  doctors  to  attend  there  upon  the  injured:  and  such 
r-pecially  British  forms  of  philanthropy  as  total  abstinence  societies  (to  put 
<;  iwn  drinking  and  opium  smoking)1  find  a  counterpart  in  China.  There 
are  societies  for  the  relief  of  poor  widows,  and  for  assisting  men  to  get 
married.  Free  libraries,  as  we  have  already  seen,  are  numerous,  and  there 
is  actually  a  building  at  Canton  called  the  Free  Discussion  Hail,  where 
political  matters  are  debated  with  the  knowledge  of  the  Government, 
which  finds  it  more  advantageous  to  ascertain  and  influence  public 
opinion  than  to  suppress  its  utterances.-  It  is  said,  however,  that  the 
expression  of  public  opinion  by  the  essays  of  candidates  in  the  Govern- 
ment examinations  is  now  restricted,  and  that  political  questions  in  which 
the  affairs  of  the  present  dynasty  are  concerned  may  not  be  alluded  to  by 
examiners  or  candidates — a  corruption  of  ancient  usage  which  conserva- 
tive scholars  would  'nave  the  sympathy  of  the  West  in  rectifying. 

The  examinations,  it  has  been  observed,  form,  as  it  were,  the  avenue  to 
the  u  hustings,  the  Church,  the  Far.  and  the  learned  professions  ail  at 
once,"  ;J  and  their  character  is  thus  a  valuable  indication  of  the  quality  of 
the  education  received  by  the  competitor-.  The  merits  ot  the  merely 
literary  exen  ises  are  of  course  unappreciable  by  foreigners,  who  will  be 
tempted  to  share  the  emperor  Yung-ching's  distaste  for  "sonnets  to  the 
uds,  the  winds  and  dews,"  which  serve  no  practical  purpose 
and  do  not  help  to  "regulate  the  age  and  reflect  glory  on  the  nation." 
Hut  t  e  following  questions,'1  quoted  from  the  "  History  Paper,'"'  set  in  an 
examination  for  the  second  degree,  seem  to  be  fully  up  to  the  standard  of 
Western  universities,  and  demand  a  kind  of  information  which  it  is 
extremely  im;  ortant  for  each  generation  of  practical  politicians  to  possess. 
"  From  the  earliest  times  great  attention  lias  been  given  to  the  improve- 
ment of  agriculture.      Will  you  indi<  ate  t  le  arrangements  adopted  for 

' ;  >se  by  tlie  several  dynasties  ?  ;'  '•  dive  an  account  of  the  circulating 
medium  i u.der  different  dynasties,  and  state  how  the  currency  of  the 
S  ;u_  1  lyn  isty  i  rresp  >n  led  with  one  use  of  paper  money  at  the  present 
day  ?  " 

It  is  -aid  that  towns  '.'/here  the  examinations  are  held  are  somewhat 
Iiauie  to  dist  irbance  when  rilled  with  candidates,  and  anti-toreign  demon- 
strati  ins  are  parti  iy  to  be  dreaded  at  such  times.  But,  as  C  toper 
'  '  Serves,  th  re  .re  few  i  mtrii  -  in  which  tile  presence  of  a  lew  thousand 
undergraduates  bn>u_iht  together  from  different  parts,  and  subject  to  no 
....  in  .  >r:tv,  wo  i;  1  not  be  iikely  to  <  induce  to  a  row.  And  as. 
::  in  t..e    h  est.  si  ho  ilbovs    and   undergraduates  are  apt    to   make    then 

nonstr  ti  .  in  the  interest  of  Conservatism,  what  can  be  expected 
i"    m   Chin      ;  undergraduates   but   the    liveliest    contempt    for    the    gog.be- 

;:.    .:-.-.   ..  2i   :. 
'   .7    -       ,\    :  .        ...     .    :-. 

/  .     .   .      T.  T.  Meaduws,  p.  527. 

;    J       '   .         .       ...  ...  :.   Martin,  PI,  30,  50 


MISCELLANEOUS   LAWS.  38 1 

eyed,  grotesquely  attired  barbarians?  This  contempt,  however,  is  not 
likely  to  show  itself  by  noisy  violence,  unless  it  happens  that  the  examina- 
tions coincide  with  the  outbreak  of  a  local  grievance  connected  with  the 
aggressions  of  French  missionaries  or  English  opium-sellers.  As  an 
English  traveller  observes,  "  Chinese  boys  and  men  never  do  wanton 
mischief,''  ]  and  we  can  readily  believe  the  assurances  of  General  Tcheng- 
ki-tong  that  Chinese  students  as  a  class  arc  studious,  and  content  with 
tranquil  and  mildly  intellectual  pastimes. 

Chinese  houses  of  the  well-to-do  class  are  large,  serving  to  receive 
what  is  more  like  a  clan  than  a  family.  Each  male  member  of  the  clan 
brings  his  bride  home  to  the  ancestral  house,  where  each  natural  family 
occupies  a  separate  apartment,  though  the  women  and  children  associate 
freely  and  amuse  themselves  as  they  please  within  the  enclosure.  The 
discovery  that  space  conduces  to  harmony  was  made  many  ages  ago,  no 
less  a  person  than  the  philosopher  Chuang-tze  having  written:  "If 
there  is  no  room  in  the  house,  the  wife  and  her  mother-in-law  run  against 
one  another."  Houses  in  Southern  China  are  always  one  storey  high,  and 
in  the  North,  where  two  storeys  are  common,  the  upper  floor  is  used  rather 
as  a  summer-house  than  for  everyday  habitation. 

Houses  are  described  as  having  a  frontage  of  three,  five,  seven,  or  more 
rooms,  as  the  case  may  be,  because  the  arrangement  is  the  same,  what- 
ever the  width.  The  hall,  drawing-room,  and  dining-room  lie  one  behind 
the  other,  and  are  each  flanked  with  an  equal  number  of  rooms  on  the 
right  and  left,  the  number  varying  with  the  size  of  the  house.  The 
different  sets  of  rooms  are  separated  by  courts,  of  which  there  may  be  any 
number  in  the  largest  houses.  A  modest  middle-class  dwelling  of  three 
rooms  to  the  front,  with  the  equivalent  of  three  floors,  one  behind  the 
other,  lets  for  E,2  10s.  a  year.'2  A  walled  garden,  with  summer-houses 
and  artificial  rocks,  is  an  indispensable  appendage  to  the  house  in  all  well- 
to-do  families  ;  and  as  the  women  of  such  families  do  not  frequent  public 
entertainments,  it  is  common  for  shows  of  various  kinds  to  be  summoned 
to  give  a  private  performance  indoors  for  their  amusement.  The  largest 
houses  of  this  kind  occupy  with  their  gardens  many  acres,  though  of 
course  much  smaller  than  a  "gentleman's  place"  of  corresponding 
importance  in  England  :  and  the  grounds  are  made  to  appear  larger  than 
they  really  are  by  winding  paths,  trellises  covered  with  climbing  plants 
walling  off  one  part  from  another,  and  all  the  other  devices  of  a  landscape 
gardener's  art.3 

All  Chinese  relaxations  are  required  to  have  an  aesthetic  flavour.  They 
play  chess  out  of  doors,  in  chosen  spots  commanding  a  picturesque  view,' 
or  in  an  elegantly  furnished  room,  with  tea  or  wine  ;  they  eniov  music  on 
the  water,  and  inscribe  appropriate  verses  on  their  works  of  art.  Strange 
to  say,  there  are  no  professional    artists.      Painting,  like    poetry,  is   in  the 

1   ('.ill,  p.  314.  -   Lcs  Piaisirs  en  Chine,  p.  9. 

'■'   I'.  (Jsl)eck,    Voyage  to  China  (1751),  ii.  p.  jcu  ;   .Mrs.  Gray,  p.  275. 

4  Lcs  Piaisirs  en  Chine,  p.   1S9. 


3S2  OWNERSHIP  IX  C1IIXA. 

hands  '  if  amateur-;.1  Busts  and  portraits  arc  executed  by  professionals,  but 
otherwise  the  decorative  work  dune  by  artisans  is  all  applied  to  household 
or  other  furniture.  According  to  a  well-known  novelist.- a  few  days  after 
a  poem  is  produced  at  court,  every  family  in  the  capital  has  a  copy. 
Chinese  verses  'nave  to  be  :"  shown,"  not  read,  because  so  many  of  the  cha- 
r  1  ters  have  the  same  sound. 

1  trical  -  erformances  are  given  in  restaurants,  by  desire  of  the  guests. 
;-  well  a.s  in  public  places  and  private  houses.  On  these  occasions  the 
Chinese  applaud  the  actors  and  penormances  they  like ;  if  not  pleased, 
they  keep  silence,  which  is  regarded  as  the  most  eloquent  condemnation. 
The  Chinese  writer  so  often  quoted  truly  regards  this  trait  as  typical. 
'•Jamais  de  critiques  directes,  d'improbation  bruyantes.de  clameurs  in- 
d  puces.  Fe  silence  suffit.  .  .  .  II  condamne  sans  discussion  et  sans 
:  p:  el.'"'  The  (aide's  dignity  and  self-respect  would  be  imperilled  if  he  had 
t  1  vi  late  the  rules  of  'propriety  t  >  the  extent  of  saying  anything  uncivil  : 
I  ut  when  it  is  the  rule  to  say  civil  thmgs,  what  can  be  more  crushing  than 
silence?  An  autocrat  who  is  displeased  with  a  courtier's  remark  savs 
nothing,  and  the  courtier  is  annihilated.  And  on  this  point,  as  on  others, 
the  democratic  Chinese  have  imperial  instincts. 

A  good  many  Furopean  -  >  >m]  ints  of  the  insincerity  of  Chinese  states- 
men are  due  to  the  imperfect  comprehension  of  the  traditions  of  Chinese 
•  diteness  and  the  obligations  it  imposes  on  diplomatists.  The  Chinese 
■  a  strong  sense  of  personal  decorum  and  dignity,  and  carry  reserve  to 
an  extreme.  Parents  and  children  do  not  kiss;  intimate  friends  do  not 
touch  each  other,  either  playfully  or  caressingly  ;  husband  and  wife,  even 
ng  the  peasants,  begin  the  day  by  exchanging  formal  bows.  With 
such  habits,  and  a  proi  itind  sense  of  the  importance  of  mutual  respect  un- 
derlying and  inspiring  the  habits,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  reply  with  a 
'  iii  '-  iai  k  \  )  to  ;  ny  ;■  giest  irom  a  person  with  whom  vou  are  on  terms 
'  :"  '  ivnity.  Aci  ordingly  there  is  a  want  of  courtesv  in  driving  any  one  hit  1 
:  '    -:.■■-:.  and  com:  elimg  i.im  to  reply  either  rudely  or  imveraciously. 

I:  Furopean  officials  wish  to  arrive  at  the  true  intentions  of  Chinese 
stale-men.  they  must  emp'.wv  at  least  as  much  dip!  m  v  as  they  w  .  . 
t    ..    .  .       rssary  in  dealing  with  a  very  powerful  very  friendly  Furo- 

]    an  1     art.      In  such  a  case,  they  would  not    isk  point-blank  for  what  thev 
want  :   tl  ey  would    endeavour   dipiornaticaily  to  ascertain  what  the  answer 
won!  1  be  it  l  ;ey  did  ask  for  it.      If  they  know  that  tile  other  high  c  aitiamt- 
ing  :  >  rty  is  reso  ved   not  to  grant   what   they   want,  they  \vi  uld  not  cuui 
dire;   refusal,  n  >r   w     .    .    I    j\   be  deceived   by  an  evasive  answer;   an 
ven    -    ..  .*.   :.  ..:  i   rity  with    Chinese    literature    would    show    that   a  vi 
:  -sent  in  i}   s:gnh\   -  miething  widely  removed  Irom  an  intention  to  periorm 
•  ■     ni-ed  act. 

A  Chinese  o;fi<  ial  thinks  it  less  discourteous  to  tell  a  lie  than  to  refuse 
a  reguest  urged   upon   him   personally  with    unbecoming  vehemence.      Bat 

!    /■     /'.'.//  /•     ■->!  >  'hinc.  p.   1  vj. 


MISCELLANEOUS  LAWS.  383 

he  feels  as  strongly  that  the  European  negotiator  is  an  unmannerly  bar- 
barian for  forcing  him  to  lie,  as  the  European  does  that  his  lying  under 
pressure  is  uncivilized  and  immoral.  The  Chinaman  would  feel  humiliated 
if  what  he  asked  for  was  refused,  and  it  is  really  as  much  from  the  habit  of 
politeness  as  from  cowardice  that  he  promises  without  meaning  to  perform. 
This  ought  to  be  as  well  known  to  the  representatives  of  European 
countries  in  China  as  another  fact,  which  they  have  been  slow  to  recognize  ; 
viz.,  that  the  Imperial  authority,  though  nominally  supreme,  is  quite  impo- 
tent to  resist  or  counteract  the  will  and  habits  of  the  nation,  so  that  the 
Chinese  Empire  is  no  more  to  be  bound  by  a  treaty  inconsistent  with  its 
unwritten  constitution,  than  the  Chinese  people  are  to  be  terrorised  by 
looting  a  palace  in  which,  contrary  to  propriety,  the  Son  of  Heaven  has 
collected  a  great  many  valuables  and  curiosities.  European  pressure  mis- 
applied might  conceivably  result  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Mantchu  Dynasty 
called  Tsing  ;  but,  fortunately  for  the  Chinese  people,  it  will  be  powerless 
to  affect  their  material  life  except  on  the  veriest  fringe  and  outskirts  of  all 
that  is  essential  to  its  national  character. 


C  0  X  C  L  U  S 1 0  X  S 


A  skk'ich  of  English  history  and  social  growth  compressing  the  records  ot 
-Soo  years  into  half  as  many  pages  is  apt  to  repel  by  the  dulness  that 
comes  ot  brevity.  A  survey  of  five  times  as  many  centuries  would  need  to 
be  ten  times  as  long  to  become  less  tedious  ;  and  the  charitable  reader  is 
entreated  to  believe  that  the  foregoing  pa_rcs  might  have  seemed  shorter  if 
they  had  been  a  great  deal  more  numerous.  They  will  have  served  their 
ise  if  they  induce  any  earnest  students  who  have  not  vet  found  a 
spef  i  ility  that  promises  to  occupy  a  life's  devotion,  to  take  the  antiquities, 
the  literature,  and  the  economic  history  of  China  seriously,  and  deal  at 
length  with  some  of  the  topics  of  which  the  surface  only  has  been 
ove. 
The  attempt  to  arouse  interest  in  :i  China  which  is  not  that  of  the  Euro- 
pean trader  or  the  European  missionary,  but  only  that  of  a  few  hundred 
millii  ns  of  native  Chinamen,  has  never  vet  been  crowned  with  success. 
If  it  has  hcen  made  once  more,  it  is  not  altogether  for  its  own  sake — as  a 
true  Sinomane  would  wish — but  to  complete  the  sketch  of  pre-alphabetic 
civilisation,  and  let  China  take  the  place  which  is  probably  genealogically 
her  due.  as  a  sister  nation  of  the  Egvptians  and  Babylonians. 

If  we  knew  as  much  of  the  life  of  the  "  little  people  ':  of  ancient  Ejypt 
and  Babvlonia  as  we  know  of  the  Chinese,  it  mi_mt  be  equally  necessary 
t  ■  lead  for  a  respectful  and  sympathetic  construction  of  the  many  traits 
unintelliml  le  to  the  Western  world.  But  as  the  crlamour  of  ancient  history 
■  n  1  -  ■' .'1  has  made  us  de-ire  more  knowledge  than  we  can  ever  have  of 
the  '  ■  pie  of  the  N  le  and  the  Euphrates,  when  the  theory  of  their  kinship 
with  the  Chinese  is  est;i  nished.  details  about  tiie  latter  will  have  the  ad- 
v  :.'  e  of  f  tisfyine:  a  re  d\  n  de  A  n  ml.  The  trade  of  Mesopotamia 
and   '  _ri    ilture   ot    Eewi  t   must  have   gone  on.  so  far  as  the  masses  of 

the  pe   '     ■  wi  r  •  i    ncerned,  in  much  the  same  way.  on  the  same  principles, 
ind  \\  it;    c    "  • :  -  miliar  results,  as   in  the   one  surviving    em]  ire    <  f   sin 
rigm      n  .    -;  ..-     t       n.    .  ty.       i  he    i       ■"  .-      :    su    :essive  dynasties   and 
we    se  -k    •   u'ni  ■    y    to   redbc  iver.   mig  .'   be   as   d  ...   as    t   ■■ 
I  A  ■•;:  in  full  :   '  ut.  on  the  other  hand,  the  nation   i  lil 
':    :  ■  '  ■  '    :  .  ■   'A  ."  Am  A.  :  ■:-  >: i ;  A.  v  w  mt   on    as    ]  eat:  t- 
n'edly.    .  mi    :  erhaps   with    the    same    -1  >w    tendency    to    a 
■  '    m    nt.  as  the  miti'  >nal  life  ■  <;  (  hina. 
-  lived  the:r   i:te  as  their  fate  and  choice  determined,  with  no 
■v    certainly   to    the    instruction    of    posterity;    and    hence  the    truth    ot 


reigns    wi 
Kang-mo 


CONCLUSIONS. 


5°o 


history  must  be  distorted  if  we  study  it  exclusively  with  a  view  to  the 
lessons  to  be  learnt  from  it  for  our  own  profit.  It  is  only  after  reading 
the  history  of  Egypt  or  China  as  disinterested  students,  that  we  can  trust 
ourselves  to  generalize  as  to  the  conditions  of  the  stability  and  conserva- 
tism, which  we  began  by  recognising  as  the  common  feature  of  the  great 
primitive  civilizations. 

Knowing  better  than  Cicero  how  great  nations  may  not  only  decline 
in  fortune,  but  actually  cease  to  exist,  we  cannot  doubt  that  there  must 
have  been  "wisdom  and  breeding"  in  any  people  whose  life  has  endured 
for  two,  three,  or  four  thousand  years.  "We  have  seen  that  the  same  kind 
of  qualities  enable  tribes  as  well  as  nations  to  flourish  unchangingly  for 
ages,  so  it  is  clear  that  this  longevity  does  not  depend  upon  political 
organization. 

The  widest  generalization  that  our  facts  seem  to  warrant  is  that  it 
depends  upon  the  prevalence  among  the  people  of  a  temperament,  which, 
when  undisturbed  by  foreign  elements,  inspires  a  theoretical  and  practical 
adoption  of  the  homely  doctrine,  "  Live  and  let  live."  The  relations  of 
class  and  sex  are  influenced  throughout  by  this  temperament,  but  the  only 
peculiar  institutions  of  the  oldest  world  which  are  directly  inspired  by  it 
are  the  limitation  of  hr.erest,  the  partnership  of  parents  and  children  in 
the  family  property,  and  the  mortgages  redeemable  in  perpetuity.  The 
custom  of  common  meals  and  lotteries  without  blanks  are  congenial  off- 
shoots, but  the  eccentricities  of  some  points  of  marriage  law  appear  to  be 
simply  owing  to  a  different  conception  of  family  relations  than  has  been 
general  in  historic  times,  which,  however,  is  in  no  way  essential  to  the 
type. 

The  question  how  far  the  influence  of  women  in  the  family  can  have 
affected  the  general  character  of  the  early  domestic  races  was  touched 
upon  in  connection  with  Egyptian  custom.  We  recognise  in  the  whole 
history  of  mankind  the  development  of  three  main  propensities  :  to  make 
war,  to  make  love,  and  to  make — things.  Very  early  in  the  days  of  civiliza- 
tion, a  few  communities  seem  to  have  tried  the  experiment  of  giving  power 
to  women,  or  to  the  sons  of  women,  who  made  love  so  potently  that  great 
men  desired  to  enter  as  consorts  in  the  house  they  ruled.  The  Xair,  the 
Amazon,  and  the  Towarek  type  of  community  are  exceptional;  though 
the}-  should  not  be  ignored  in  a  survey  of  discarded  social  experiments: 
the  rather  that  the  experiments  are  shown  to  be  compatible  with  a  con- 
siderable development  of  primitive  civilization.  This  page  of  history  has 
been  so  entirely  closed  that  it  requires  some  courage  to  reclaim  it  from  the 
domain  of  legend.  But  we  see  in  the  records  of  Egypt  how  the  archaic 
power  of  the  married  mother — the  lady  of  a  house  and  the  lady  of  a 
man — could  be  associated  with  orderly  domestic  life,  such  as  has  estab- 
lished itself  in  the  West,  notwithstanding  equally  arbitrary  theories  of 
paternal  and  marital  power. 

Apart  from  the  development  of  "  Mother  law,"  we  find  that  in  any 
community  where  exaggerated  or  exclusive  importance  is  attached  to  the 

VOL.  II. — p.c.  c   c 


3  86  CONCLUSIONS. 

occupation  of  making  love,  the  State  falls  a  prey  to  luxuriousness  and 
license,  the  tyranny  of  weakness.  While  if  exaggerated  or  exclusive  im- 
portance is  attached  to  the  occupation  of  war,  the  State  falls  a  prey  to  the 
tyranny  of  strength,  and  the  genial  amenities  of  social  and  family  life  are 
lost  in  a  hard  gradation  of  ranks,  based  upon  power — of  strength  of  will 
instead  of  charitable  wisdom. 

The  third  ruling  propensity  is  the  feeblest  in  primitive  society,  and  is 
derivative  in  its  origin,  since  men  begin  by  making  weapons  wherewith  to 
fight,  and  decorations  wherewith  to  charm  their  fellows.  It  is  only  in  the 
third  place  that  they  begin  to  make — instead  of  finding — food  and  shelter, 
to  multiply  the  animal  and  vegetable  products  available  for  those  purposes 
by  nature  ;  and  there  is  scarcely  any  article  of  human  manufacture  which 
cannot  be  traced  back  to  one  of  these  three  promptings  of  industry.  'The 
archaic  States  which  escaped  the  dangers  named  above  did  so  in  virtue  of 
their  love  of  industry,  agriculture,  and  commerce.  Some  succumbed  when 
the  love  of  commerce  overcame  the  love  of  peace,  and  seduced  traders 
into  wars  of  aggression.  Others  succumbed  when  the  habit  of  peace  or 
love  of  ease  had  grown  too  strong  for  a  race  ot  producers  to  be  willing  to 
tight  in  defence  of  their  own  eunomia. 

War  and  luxury  are  fatal  to  the  endurance  and  stability  of  any  State 
where  they  absorb  the  energies  of  the  mass  of  the  population.  Art,  letters. 
and  philosophy  only  provide  occupation  for  the  few,  and  it  seems  one  of 
the  widest  generalizations  from  the  experience  of  nations,  that  a  national 
life  good  enough  to  last  for  centuries,  to  say  nothing  of  millenniums,  is 
only  attainable  when  the  mass  of  the  people  find  their  principal  occupation 
in  the  exercise  of  peaceful  industrial  arts.  That  is  to  say,  in  communities 
which  have  allowed  or  encouraged  their  material  wants  to  grow,  so  that 
men  who  have  food,  shelter,  and  clothing  in  kind  and  quantity  sufficient 
for  their  needs,  employ  their  surplus  time  and  energies  in  varying  the 
food,  adorning  the  clothing,  and  in  furnishing  the  shelter  with  luxuries  and 
decorations  such  as  admit  of  indefinite  multiplication  and  increase. 

The  average  man  now  needs  three  things  for  his  happiness — bread, 
work,  and  iove. 

J. uve  and  bread  are  desired  for  their  own  sakes,  but  work,  like  war,  is 
only  desirable  as  an  occupation,  something  to  provide  a  succession  of 
varied,  ami.  so  far  as  possible,  pleasurable  sensations.  We  have  been 
rather  apt  to  assume  that  the  industrial  civilization  which  meets  these 
wants  is  an  invention  of  modern  Europe;  but  if  it  were  so,  we  should 
scan  eiy  venture  to  claim  stability  as  a  characteristic  of  industrial  States. 

Tiie  fact  is  that  tiie  three  primitive  propensities  interlace  in  various  pro- 
portions. Industry  lias  been  enlisted  in  the  service  of  luxury,  and  it  has 
also  been  pursued  by  methods  borrowed  from  the  arts  of  war.  Men  will 
light  for  gain  instead  ol  glory,  and  in  their  work  for  gain  they  will  contend 
ngriU  as  i!  their  object  were,  not  to  obtain  it,  but  to  overcome  their 
k  lit. \\  toilers.  And  by  the  time  an  industrial  svstem  becomes  fully  elabo- 
ra:     i,  the  pursuit  of  wealth  becomes  dissociated  from  production,  and  the 


CONCL  USIOXS.  3  8  7 

most  successful  votaries  of  fortune  are  found  to  be,  not  those  who  do  most 
to  increase  the  material  riches  of  the  race,  but  those  who  succeed  in 
seizing  for  themselves  the  largest  share  of  the  wealth  previously  produced, 
it  matters  not  by  whom.  The  influence  of  the  proprietor  succeeds  or 
continues  that  of  the  warrior,  and,  as  in  the  Irish  laws,  men  acquire 
chieftain  rank  by  the  number  of  their  cows. 

The  industrial  States  which  have  achieved  stability  are  exactly  those  in 
which  the  instinct  to  "  live  and  let  live  "  is  stronger  than  the  propensity  to 
seek  economic  advantages  contentiously  or  by  force.  But  there  are  gra- 
dations of  masterfulness  in  the  least  contentious  communities,  and  the 
most  ancient  records  in  the  world  show  us  chiefs  and  rulers  in  possession 
of  wealth  and  power.  The  primitive  chief  or  monarch  receives  voluntary 
tribute,  and  is  looked  upon  as  the  treasurer  of  his  tribe  or  nation,  not 
because  he  has  skill  or  industry  to  accumulate  all  the  goods  he  is  expected 
to  dispense,  but  because  he  has  more  imagination,  more  power  of  invent- 
ing uses  for  them. 

The  large  proprietor  of  primitive  society  does  not  catch,  grow,  or  manu- 
facture with  his  own  hands  the  articles  which  constitute  his  wealth.  His 
ownership  is  moreover  largely  titular  :  the  instinct  of  appropriation  has 
outstripped  the  power  of  enjoying  as  well  as  the  power  of  creating  material 
objects,  and  these  objects  must  be  shared  with  others  as  a  means  to 
obtaining  the  ends  really  desired,  such  as  personal  services,  tokens  of 
honour,  service  in  war,  and  the  like.  It  would  be  as  unjust  to  trace  the 
origin  of  secular  government  to  the  greed  of  kings  as  to  attribute  the 
invention  of  religions  to  the  covetousness  of  priests.  Nevertheless  the 
historical  development  of  political  authority  would  have  been  impossible 
without  the  early  growth  of  economical  authority  which  gave  the  kings  of 
Hesiod  their  name  of  "  gift  eaters,''''  and  made  the  great  men  of  Egypt 
givers  of  rations  to  the  rest.  So  long  as  the  many,  in  whom  the  instincts 
of  self-assertion  are  feeble,  have  ample  rations  issued  to  them,  they  are  not 
only  content  to  supply,  at  their  own  expense,  the  larger  wants  of  the 
acquisitive  \t\\.  but  are  actually  grateful  to  the  self-elected  chief,  who  gives 
to  them  when  they  need  it,  what  they  gave  to  him  when  they  did  not 
need  it. 

Governments  have  been  founded  upon  this  common  form  of  human 
weakness,  but  tiie  long-lived  domestic  civilizations  started  with  a  happier 
inspiration.  The  grateful  illusion  of  the  populace  was  taken  seriously, 
and  the  sovereign  together  with  his  revenue  were  assumed  to  exist  for  the 
benefit  of  the  people  ;  the  fore-thought  and  self-assertion  of  the  typical 
chief  were  treated  as  qualities  to  be  used  in  the  service  of  the  many,  n  it 
for  the  advantage  of  the  one.  Political  philosophy  began,  but  it  began 
with  treatises  on  the  duties  of  the  king,  the  local  governor,  or  the  minister. 
It  was  a  commonplace  with  Chinese  historians  and  politicians  that  the 
people  were  discontented  and  disobedient  if  the  Government  was  careless 
or  corrupt.  In  other  words,  the  contrat  social  of  primitive  States  promised 
taxes  and  loyalty  to  the  ruler,  whose  wisdom   and  virtue  provided  all    his 


3  3  8  CONCL  I TSIONS. 

subjects  with  the  means  of  living.  Brigandage  or  revolution  put  an  end, 
sooner  or  later,  to  the  sway  of  those  who  failed  to  comply  with  this 
demand. 

"  The  people  have  certain  natural  instincts,"  as  the  Taoist  philosopher 
observes,  "  to  weave  and  clothe  themselves,  to  till  and  feed  themselves  : 
these  are  common  to  all  humanity,  and  all  are  agreed  thereon.  Such 
instincts  are  called  '  heaven-sent.' "  The  moral  philosophy  of  Egypt 
and  China  recognised  no  higher  ideal  than  that  of  "  a  man  useful  to 
others,"  who  enabled  the  multitudes  to  follow  these  heaven-sent  instincts 
in  peace. 

The  surplus  production  which  follows  from  a  national  habit  of  tilling  and 
weaving  forms  the  fund  out  of  which  the  higher  wants  of  advancing  civili- 
zation may  be  met  ;  but  in  Egypt  and  China  this  surplus  was  never  large 
enough  to  do  more  than  provide  liberally  for  the  wholesome  life  of  the 
masses,  and  so  we  do  not  meet  with  further  speculations  as  to  the  principles 
on  which  surplus  wealth  should  be  distributed.  The  well-being  demanded 
by  sages  for  the  multitude  was  not  regarded  as  a  reward  due  to  them  for  their 
economic  services.  Such  an  idea  is  not  primitive,  and  the  line  of  thought 
seems  to  be  rather,  that  the  emperor  or  king  cannot  be  ruler  of  a  thriving, 
i.e.  a  rich  and  powerful  country,  unless  he  sees  to  it  that  his  people  do 
thrive.  While  slavery  prevails  there  is  equally  little  room  for  the  view 
that  economic  rewards  are  naturally  reserved  as  pay  for  services.  The 
reward  belongs,  in  fact,  to  those  who  capture  or  constrain  those  who  serve. 
It  is  only  by  an  after-thought- -or  after-belief — of  modern  economic  theory 
that  wealth  or  capital  is  assumed  to  be  exclusively  the  fruit  and  recom- 
pense of  industry  and  saving. 

The  prosperity  of  countries  is  frequently  measured  by  historians  by  their 
wealth,  and  it  is  quite  true  that  increase  of  wealth,  like  increase  of  popu- 
lation, gives  a  presumption  in  favour  of  healthy  progress.  Declining 
wealth,  like  declining  population,  is  a  symptom  of  the  decay  which  follows 
political  and  economic  disorganization.  But  it  is  possible  for  the  real 
wealth  of  a  country  to  continue  great,  and  for  its  apparent  wealth  even  to 
increase,  though  its  downward  course  has  already  begun.  When  a  country 
is  rich  because  man}'  of  its  members  are  engaged,  day  by  day,  in  acquiring 
an  ample  competence  for  themselves,  by  the  exercise  of  arts  which  are  in 
the  main  useful,  its  wealth  is  both  a  sign  and  an  effect  of  healthy  life. 
but  great  wealth  spent  in  wanton  and  dissolute  luxury  is  neither  a  cause, 
an  effect,  nor  a  symptom  of  a  sound  condition  of  the  body  politic, 
and  (  Chinese  thinkers  deserve  credit  for  their  consistent  recognition  of 
this  fact. 

The  history  of  all  commercial  nations  seems  to  show  that  the  economic 
virtues,  as  we  may  call  them,  are  only  purely  beneficial  so  long  as 
economists  are  engaged  in  utilizing  and  appropriating  objects  in  the 
natural  world.  Men  and  women  can  be  appropriated  like  sheep  and 
horses,  and  just  the  same  qualities  which,  serve  in  subduing  the  rest  of  the 
world   enable    one  man   to   bring    numbers  of  his   fellows   into   subjection. 


CONCLUSIONS.  389 

And  the  conclusion  to  which  the  history  of  ownership  in  these  latter  days 
seems  to  point  is,  that  to  secure  the  greatest  happiness,  and  still  more  the 
greatest  good,  of  the  greatest  number,  it  is  essential  to  regulate  the  econo- 
mical utilization  of  man  by  man,  by  principles  which  are  not  called  for 
in  regulating  the  utilization  of  any  other  source  of  wealth.  No  harm  is 
done  when  one  man  "  has,"  or  owns  as  much  game  as  he  can  shoot,  as 
many  sheep  or  chickens  as  lie  can  rear,  as  much  corn  as  he  can  grow,  as 
many  shoes  as  he  can  make.  Society  only  suffers  when  a  man  "  has " 
troops  of  other  men  at  his  command,  and  through  that  possession,  whether 
the  troops  be  called  subjects,  serfs,  or  "  the  employed,"  can  control  powers 
so  far  beyond  those  of  a  single  human  being,  that  no  human  being  has 
wisdom  or  virtue  enough  to  wield  them. 

In  China,  and  to  a  less  extent  in  Egypt,  after  the  first  development  of  a 
ipiasi-territorial  aristocracy,  moral  authority  and  influence  became  disso- 
ciated from  wealth.  The  sovereignty  was  put,  so  to  speak,  in  commission  : 
the  king  or  emperor  might  be  described  in  French  republican  phrase,  as 
the  Chef  die  pouvoir  cxccutif,  but  the  real  control  and  inspiration  of  the 
government  was  in  the  hands  of  the  literati,  or  the  scribes  and  priests. 
In  China,  as  elsewhere,  the  attempt  was  made  to  use  wealth  as  a  stepping- 
stone  to  power,  though  the  traditions  which  demanded  liberality  from  the 
rich  impeded  accumulation.  But  the  attempt  was  victoriously  resisted  by 
the  joint  efforts  of  the  Crown,  which  saw  possible  pretenders  and  rivals  in 
the  great  agglomerators,  and  of  the  learned  who  felt  that  their  influence 
must  expire  in  a  plutocracy.  There  is  in  China  the  same  tendency  as 
elsewhere  for  lands  and  money  to  gravitate  into  the  possession  of  some 
icw  persons,  and  out  of  the  possession  of  the  many  others  ;  and  undoubtedly 
in  China,  as  elsewhere,  such  inequalities,  when  established,  tend  to  intensify 
themselves. 

The  law  and  popular  custom,  as  we  have  seen,  have  steadily,  and  on  the 
whole  successfully,  resisted  the  growth  of  inequality,  and  this  in  a  com- 
munity addicted  beyond  all  others  to  the  avocations  of  industry  and  trade. 
Human  beings  can  be  used,  and  can  be  brought  to  acquiesce  in  being  used, 
as  chattels  by  other  human  beings,  lint  if  the  organized  wisdom  of  the 
State  disapproves  of  such  utilization,  it  can  be  impeded  by  legislation,  as 
slavery  was  suppressed  in  England  and  agglomeration  in  China.  In  other 
words,  the  tendency  of  the  natural  inequality  of  men  to  reflect  and  exaggerate 
itself  in  the  inequality  of  their  possessions  can  be  controlled  by  legislation. 
The  history  of  ownership  in  China  alone  establishes  this  fact,  which  political 
economists  of  the  a  priori  school  have  been  apt  to  contest. 

In  the  West,  where  the  power  of  ideas  and  the  charm  of  ideals  are  as 
short-lived  as  the  ascendency  of  States  and  the  organization  of  Govern- 
ments, we  find  it  hard  to  believe  that  society  can  really  have  been  influ- 
enced from  age  to  age  by  the  same  trite  phrases,  the  same  simple  copy-book 
morality,  with  precepts  such  as  western  Yangs  would  hardly  care  to  criti- 
cise, because  they  have  no  more  direct  influence  on  modern  life  than  the 
truths  of  the  multiplication  table.      It  seems,  however,  that  the  maxims  of 


390  CONCLUSIONS. 

political  morality  formulated  by  the  ancient  sages  of  China  and  Egypt 
corresponded  so  near!}  with  the  best  tendencies  of  the  best  men  of  their 
day,  and  with  the  conscious  wishes  of  the  multitudes,  that  they  continued 
to  be  acted  upon,  through  the  centuries,  often  enough  and  consistently 
enough  to  make  it  seem  that  the  maxims  were  the  ruling  and  guiding  power 
in  the  State. 

The  thought  of  the  icw  and  the  actions  of  the  many  went  together. 
Conformity  was  the  rule,  and  hence  the  result  was  attained  of  making 
moral  improprieties  contrary  to  custom.  Men  may  object  on  principle  to 
doing  what  is  wrong,  but  they  object  by  instinct  to  doing  what  is  unusual. 
And  even  ill-disposed  persons  find  it  easier  to  "do  as  ten  people  do," 
when  the  duty  of  relatives  to  the  family  group,  and  that  of  neighbours  to 
the  village  group,  is  so  clearly  defined  by  social  custom,  that  an  innovating 
offender  will  be  stared  at. 

The  stability  of  such  conservative  communities  is  conditioned  by  their 
merits,  by  the  intrinsic  reasonableness  of  the  dominant  custom,  not  in  the 
least  by  their  limitations,  of  which  little  has  been  said  above,  because 
European  self-esteem  is  already  quite  sufficiently  alive  to  them.  The  con- 
sideration of  the  problem  how  to  combine  progress  and  stability  in  modern 
States  may  seem  to  belong  rather  to  the  ethics  of  the  future  than  the  his- 
tory of  the  past  ;  but  it  may  help  to  explain  the  force  and  finality  of  Egyp- 
tian and  Chinese  morality,  if  we  realise  the  obstacles  in  the  way  of  an 
equally  exhaustive  and  convincing  treatment  of  modern  economic  problems 
by  the  priests  and  literati  of  the  West. 

A  working  creed  must  not  have  too  many  articles  to  be  carried  easily  in 
an  average  mind;  and  the  application  of  every  article  ot  the  creed  to  even- 
difficulty  and  temptation  of  the  daily  life  must  be  perfectly  certain,  plain, 
and  easy.  Only  so  can  the  habit  of  practical  conformity  be  established, 
which,  as  theologians  know,  is  one  of  the  surest  bulwarks  to  speculative 
faith.  When  belief  and  conduct  go  together  along  the  path  of  nature- 
which  provides  satisfaction  for  the  heaven-sent  instincts  of  the  multitudes, 
tiie  elements  of  disturbance  are  reduce  1  to  a  minimum;  virtue  merges  it- 
sell  in  custom,  and  custom  is  a  dyke  which  lew  men  have  vices  voluminous 
en  >ugh  to  overflow. 

'1  ne  power  of  such  customary  creeds  can  be  measured  even  in  Europe 
by  the  influence  exercised  in  a  tew  cases  by  what  we  may  call  class 
morality.  The  medical  profession,  for  instance,  is  bound  by  rules  which 
exact  from  its  members,  as  a  matter  of  technical  propriety,  conduct  which 
m  other  men  would  be  praised  as  remarkable  unselfishness  or  devoted 
charity.  In  tune  past,  some  approach  has  been  made  to  the  construction 
ot  an  ideal  tor  the  land-owning  country  gentleman,  embodying  a  good 
many  familiar  old-Egyptian  trains.  And  at  the  present  day  the  artisan 
member  ot  a  Trade  I  nion  has  and  acts  upon  a  clearly  defined  theory  of 
his  duty  to  every  member  of  his  own  trade,  and  to  the  trade  organizations 
h  '  men.  while  he  is  feeling  his  way  towards  a  formula  of  general 
applicability  to  the  wan  .  adzed  and  unemployed  workers. 


CONCLUSIONS.  391 

But  even  these  incomplete  essays  towards  a  class  morality  are  the  excep- 
tion, and  they  rather  accentuate  the  difference  between  East  and  West. 
Changes  in  the  status  of  individuals  are  quite  as  common  in  China  as 
in  England,  if  not  more  common  ;  but  the  labourer's  son,  who  has  worked 
at  a  trade  and  become  a  rich  merchant,  the  artisan's  son  who  has  become 
a  Government  official,  the  officer's  son  who  becomes  a  tradesm  in,  do  not 
have  to  change  their  creed  as  they  rise  or  fall  in  the  world.  Everybody 
knows  the  application  of  each  moral  commonplace  to  the  duties  of  every 
normal  relationship.  The  individual  finds  the  place  in  the  social  scale  for 
which  his  skill  or  character  fit  him,  but  in  each  place  he  is  equally  hedged 
in  by  custom,  giving  him  always  the  same  kind  of  help  and  imposing  the 
same  kind  of  obligations. 

Even  exceptional  misfortunes  or  exceptional  misbehaviour  are  provided 
against  by  a  customary  machinery  intended  to  guard  against  the  creation 
of  a  class  of  social  failures.  The  men  who,  in  bad  times,  take  to  brigand- 
age in  China  are  of  the  same  material  as  tne  criminal  classes  of  the  West ; 
but  in  good  times,  if  flood  or  famine  desolate  a  province,  land  and  seed- 
corn  are  given  to  the  destitute,  and  those  fit  for  nothing  else  can  at  least 
win  food  for  themselves  from  the  soil,  and  are  under  no  temptauon  to 
adopt  a  career  of  crime.  Smaller  individual  calamities  are  dealt  with  as 
they  aiise  by  the  liberality  of  the  nearest  rich  relations  or  neighbours,  ex- 
acted not  as  a  virtue,  but  as  a  custom.  And  thus,  though  any  rich  man 
may  become  poor  by  ill  conduct  or  ill  fortune,  there  is  no  class  of  poor  in 
the  habit  of  overstepping  the  boundary  between  poverty  and  pauperism. 

Xovv  it  would  surely  be  unreasonable  to  expect  that  the  changes  and 
chances  of  our  much  more  varied  and  difficult  industrial  life  should  never 
lead  to  calamines,  either  isolated  or  widespread,  as  complete  as  those  en- 
countered in  China.  But  we  have  no  machinery  for  promoting  "  harmony 
and  benignity  "  on  a  vast  enough  scale  to  provide  for  them.  The  English 
Poor  Eaw  was  an  attempt  to  do  so  ;  and  it  saves  the  destitute,  who  are 
not  too  proud  to  eat  "  Poor  man  come  here  food,''  from  absolute 
starvation  ;  but  it  aims  at  nothing  else,  and  has  achieved  nothing  more, 
except  the  addition  to  the  economic  vocabulary  of  the  words  "  pauper  " 
and  '•  to  pauperize." 

In  the  communities  of  the  West,  we  weed  out  our  social  failures,  we 
throw  them — or  let  them  sink — into  what  we  call  the  residuum.  Our 
social  residuum  lives  and  propagates  its  species  in  a  medium  as  well  pre- 
pared for  the  growth  of  anti-social  vices  as  the  hay  tea  or  chicken  broth 
in  which  the  amateurs  of  microbes  cultivate  their  disease  germs.  But  the 
man  of  science  calls  his  cultivation  successful  if  the  virus  grows  milder  and 
less  tatal  in  each  generation.  His  media  are  sterilized  by  the  most  elabo- 
rate precautions  ;  everything  in  which  the  germs  of  disease  delight,  not 
merely  morbid  matter,  dirt,  decay,  but  even  healthy  atoms  of  animal  or 
vegetable  substance,  which,  having  been  alive,  are  subject  to  decomposi- 
tion, are  to  be  excluded,  saving  just  such  a  simple  minimum  as  may  serve 
to    keep   the   microbe  alive   and  multiplying.      Small   wonder   that  under 


y)2  COXCLUS/ONS. 

this  treatment  it  grows  less  virulent,  it  is  tamed  till  it  becomes  a  harmless 
inoculant,  and  might  in  time  lose  all  its  power  to  infect. 

Hut  we.  instead,  plant  the  children  of  our  social  failures  in  a  soil  where 
•'  eir  parents'  vices  and  defects  must  become  intensified,  and  where  every 
kind  of  quality  and  propensity  injurious  to  the  individual  and  to  society 
must  develop.  The  children  of  drunkards,  nurtured  in  the  lowest  depths 
of  city  squalor,  have  their  hereditary  craving  for  alcohol  stimulated  by 
chronic  hunger,  exhaustion,  and  foul  air.  The  children  of  vagrants,  of 
men  and  women  with  indolent  and  ineffective  brains  or  bodies,  weak  in 
will,  irresolute  in  positive  desire,  in  whom  all  the  normal  activities  and 
energies  of  civilized  life  are  undeveloped,  children  of  this  kind  are  placed 
in  a  social  atmosphere  fitted  to  stifle  the  hopes  and  courage  of  the  best 
endowed,  surrounded  exclusively  by  influences  fitted  to  graft  upon  the 
native  stock  of  incapacity  all  the  feebler  vices  of  human  degeneracy. 

Y\  e  pay  covetousness  its  wages  in  the  same  coin  as  skill,  and  we  visit 
feebleness  with  the  same  industrial  penalties  as  crime.  We  let  the, 
perhaps,  not  even  specially  feeble  children  of  feebleness  grow  up  in  the 
atmosphere  of  misery  in  which  we  leave  vice  and  feebleness  to  fester  :  and 
the  two  interbreed,  crossing  each  fresh  importation  from  without  with  a 
deeper  strain  of  hereditary  corruption.  We  ridicule  the  idea  of  making 
occupation  hereditary,  yet  we  acquiesce  in  the  propagation  of  classes 
in  winch  one  generation  has  nothing  to  bequeath  to  the  next  save  bad 
health,  bad  habits,  and  general  incapacity  for  wholesome  and  serviceable 
living. 

We  acquiesce  in  all  this,  not  as  morally  right  or  practically  expedient, 
but  as  the  natural  or  necessary  consequence  of  the  free  play  of  individual 
enterprise  in  the  struggle  for  existence.  And.  so  far  as  the  heterogeneous 
SO'  iety  of  the  West  can  be  said  to  guide  its  conduct  by  any  creed,  it  is 
pro'  ably  inspired  by  a  kind  of  faith  in  the  healing  power  ol  freedom. 
T;. ere  is  no  new  thing  under  the  sun,  and  English  Liberalism  agrees  with 
Chinese  Taoism  :  ''There  is  such  a  thing  as  letting  mankind  alone  :  there 
.,  us  never  been  such  a  thing  as  governing  mankind."  Philosophical 
Anarchism  is  the  logical  outcome  of  the  optimistic  doctrine  that  the  best 

<ssible  world  will  be  made  by  leaving  every  one  at  liberty  to  do  the  best 
in  for  himself.  Put  in  the  West,  as  in  the  East,  the  censorship  01  the 
hbtoriogra]  her  modifies  the  individual  view  of  what  is  best. 

It  is  ;  f  lish  fatalism  to  assume  that  everything  which  occurs  naturally 
must  O' «  ai  necessarily,  orth.it  nothing  new  can  become  natural.  Every 
.  ist  rii  al  i  irrem  e  is  at  once  natural  and  necessary,  in  the  sense  of  being 
isarily  due  to  causes  naturally  operating  on  existing  minds  under 
existing  conditions.  Put  men  act  under  the  influence  of  felt  desires,  and 
th  -  unfore-eeii  n  suits  of  their  action  are  sometimes  inconsistent  with  the 
ends  intentionally  aimed  at  :  and  this  discovery  is  itself  a  natural  motive 
i  -r  a  (  hange  of  action.  The  malign  influence  exercised  in  the  middle  of 
resent  <  entury,  by  the  ac<  epted  doctrines  of  political  economy,  lay 
exactly  m   the  encouragement   thev  uave  to  the  delusion   that  all  natural 


CONCLUSIONS.  393 

tendencies  were  unalterable,  even  by  experience  revealing  new  evils  con- 
sequent on  their  operation. 

The  giraffe  is  a  classical  example  of  adaptation  by  natural  selection  to 
the  struggle  for  existence.  And  it  is  true  that  its  elongated  neck  enables 
it  to  crop  leaves  beyond  the  reach  of  ordinary  quadrupeds.  But,  on  the 
other  hand,  its  withers  are  so  high  that,  in  spite  of  its  long  neck,  it  cannot 
reach  to  graze  without  spreading  its  fore  legs  wide  apart  to  make  them 
shorter.  The  brute  creation  cannot  modify  its  circumstances,  and  may 
have  to  acquiesce  in  a  choice  of  evils.  The  giraffe  must  either  starve 
among  the  tree  tops  or  straddle  in  the  grassy  plain  ;  but  homo  sapiens  has 
no  good  qualities  with  inevitable  drawbacks.  He  can  make  ladders  for 
tiie  tallest  trees  and  scythes  for  the  meadow  sward.  He  can  modify  the 
circumstances,  including  his  own  impulses,  under  which  any  serviceable 
quality  may  lead  to  incidental  ill  results. 

Thus,  if  the  uncontrolled  liberty  of  the  swift  and  strong  to  push  and 
jostle  their  neighbours  in  the  industrial  race  results  in  the  accidental  over- 
throw and  maiming  of  the  feebler  competitors,  there  is  nothing  to  prevent 
the  common  sense  of  the  majority,  who  are  neither  athletes  nor  cripples, 
irom  laying  down  rules  to  make  the  game  less  dangerous  while  leaving  it 
still  sufficiently  interesting  to  call  out  the  skill  of  the  players.  Energy  and 
enterprise  are  not  necessarily  paralyzed  because  they  are  forbidden  to 
produce  suffering.  On  the  contrary,  they  may  be  stimulated  by  sympathy 
as  well  as  appetite,  and  roused  to  the  stronger  efforts  needed  if  they  are  to 
meet  wants  wider  than  the  most  ambitious  individual  can  feel  for  himself. 
To  get  wealth  for  one  may  take  but  little  wisdom  or  virtue,  to  get  wealth 
and  well-being  for  the  multitudes  is  a  task  beyond  any  but  the  master  minds 
of  every  age,  and  worthy  of  these. 

AYe  agree  with  Mencius  that  there  is  no  difference  between  killing  a 
man  with  a  sword,  and  letting  him  die  because  we  do  not  know  how  to 
regulate  the  struggle  for  existence  ;  and  there  is  no  general  disposition  to 
repudiate  '•  the  everlasting  obligations  which  are  due  by  man  to  man." 
The  problem  has  reached  the  intellectual  stage,  and  we  need  men  of  science 
to  show  how  the  felt  obligations  may  be  met  almost  more  than  moral 
teaching  to  rouse  the  sense  of  duty.  If  doctrines  as  simple  as  the  copy- 
book morality  of  Egypt  and  China  would  meet  our  case,  we  should  not 
lack  sages  to  preach,  nor  multitudes  to  practise  its  easy  lessons.  And  it 
we  claim  for  the  "Western  intellect  a  wider  range  and  a  stronger  grasp  of 
natural  fact  than  has  been  attained  in  the  Middle  Kingdom,  we  must  sup- 
pose it  adequate  to  meet  the  more  onerous  demand. 

On  the  face  of  it,  it  does  not  appear  to  be  a  more  complicated  problem, 
to  apply  the  principles  of  righteousness  to  the  ramifications  of  trade  and 
industry,  than  to  apply  the  principles  of  pure  mathematics  to  the  construc- 
tion of  the  Forth  bridge.  All  that  is  needed  is  that  our  moralists  should 
acquaint  themselves  as  fully  and  precisely  with  the  facts  of  industry  and 
commerce  as  our  mathematicians  do  with  the  properties  of  matter.  The 
processes  of  the  operative,  the  manufacturer,  the   warehouseman,  the   car- 


3  9  4  CONCL  US1 ONS. 

rier,  the  merchant,  and  the  retailer  must  he  put  under  the  microscope,  and 
every  detail  of  them  examined  under  the  dry  light  of  disinterested  science, 
when  much  that  is  unfit  to  face  the  pencil  of  the  recorders  will  at  once 
shrink  out  of  existence.  Bad  customs  are  as  easily  formed  and  as  easily 
broken  as  good  ones  ;  but  class  morality  is  mure  often  over-indulgent  than 
over-exacting,  and  many  anti-social  customs  defy  the  reformer  with  the 
retort:  "  It  is  what  everybody  does."  But  if  "what  everybody  does  "  is 
what  nobody  would  like  to  be  known  to  do — by  the  majority,  who  are 
under  no  temptation  to  do  it — we  are  but  a  step  from  the  time  when  the 
reformers  can  say  :  "  Nobody  does  that  now,"  a  sentence  which  fulfils 
itself. 

When  the  social  problem  has  been  reduced  to  its  simplest  terms,  by 
eliminating  every  accidental  complication,  it  will  still  remain  more  difficult 
than  those  which  oppressed  Confucius  when  he  enforced  the  necessity 
of  "  rectifying  names."  The  ties  of  blood  and  neighbourhood  are  more 
obvious  than  the  bonds  of  common  occupation  or  common  knowledge, 
of  related  occupations  and  interacting  pursuits.  There  is  the  difference, 
so  to  speak,  between  a  sum  in  simple  arithmetic  and  a  problem  in  algebra. 
A  common  formula  has  to  be  found  for  relationships  in  which  all  the  terms 
are  dissimilar,  and  it  should  be  expressed,  so  far  as  possible,  in  significant 
symbols,  to  assist  the  imagination  in  visualizing  the  concrete  realities  with 
which  the  problems  deal.  But  here  also  the  knowledge  of  facts  assists 
the  perception  of  relations,  and  the  formula  of  relationship  stated  in  one 
mathematical  proposition  becomes  a  term  used  in  the  solution  of  some 
higher  problem. 

We  recognise  in  theory  the  responsibilities  of  relationships  as  remote 
as  fellow-citizenship  and  nationality,  and  pay  rates  and  taxes  with  the 
understanding  that  town  and  state  must  feed  the  starving  and  nurse  the 
sick  and  helpless  poor.  And  the  intermediate  relationships  between  grades 
of  producers  in  the  same  industry  to  each  other,  between  the  producers 
in  one  industry  collectively  to  those  in  other  industries,  the  relations  of 
the  grades  and  the  groups  to  the  community  at  large,  and  of  the  com- 
munity to  individual  members  of  each  section  of  the  industrial  classes — 
all  these  relationships  only  need  to  be  known,  and  the  incidents  natural 
to  them  classified  and  described,  for  the  obligations  arising  out  of  them 
to  be  freely  and  willingly  acknowledged.  Human  needs,  human  instincts, 
and  human  perceptions  do  not  alter  m  their  nature,  and  the  dislocations 
of  intricate  social  adjustments,  which  follow  from  the  natural  course  ot 
historic  development,  will  not  prove  beyond  the  skill  of  social  surgery  to 
reduce,  if  the  need  is  recognised  for  encyclopaedic  wisdom  in  the  professors 
of  the  healing  art. 

The  best  possible  life  does  not  present  itself  by  nature,  without  effort 
or  reflection,  to  any  class  of  men.  And  to  the  imaginative  tew  it  is  not 
necessarily  at  once  self-evident  that  the  fullest  enjoyment  of  the  highest 
life  presupposes  for  its  aesthetic  background,  as  well  as  tor  its  material 
foundation,  the  well-being  of  contented  multitudes,      but  the  most  intense 


CONCLUSIONS.  395 

and  durable  human  pleasures  come  from  the  exercise  of  faculty,  and  the 
born  rulers  of  mankind  are  left  pleasureless  so  long  as,  by  a  misconception 
of  their  destiny,  they  seek  to  force  or  cajole  the  multitude  into  acts  of  un- 
willing, and  therefore  imperfect  and  short-lived  obedience.  In  like  man- 
ner, the  tilling  and  weaving  multitudes — who  are  content  with  mere  life, 
love,  and  work,  and  the  cheap  pleasures  which  beautify  the  satisfaction  of 
these  heaven-sent  instincts  —  cannot  enjoy  the  exercise  of  those  faculties 
which  form  the  groundwork  of  an  empire's  grandeur,  unless  the  science  of 
government  is  so  understood,  as  to  remove  all  obstacles  from  their  chosen 
path  of  conformity  to  nature. 

The  sovereign's  commands  are  obeyed  by  a  contented  and  prosperous 
people,  when  all  commands  are  rightly  directed  to  secure  the  content  and 
welfare  of  the  obedient  masses.  This  is  neither  government  nor  anarchy  ; 
it  is  the  interpretation  of  natural  fact.  We  have  read,  in  the  somewhat 
cumbrous  English  which  disguises  the  sagacity  of  Thang  the  Successful, 
that  "great  heaven  has  conferred  a  moral  sense  upon  the  people  which 
shows,  to  those  who  comply  with  it,  that  their  nature  is  invariably  right  ; 
so  that  the  sovereign's  task  is  only  to  enable  them  to  pursue  tranquilly  the 
course  that  is  natural  to  them." 

The  course  natural  to  the  multitudes  is  to  make  things,  to  contract 
marriages  of  affection,  and  to  revere  the  wisdom  of  the  wise,  who  succeed 
in  interpreting  those  laws  of  heaven  and  earth  which  regulate  the  satisfaction 
of  human  instincts.  And  the  pursuance  of  this  course  holds  out,  unless 
human  nature  has  altered  in  5.000  years,  the  best  prospect  of  social  and 
economic  welfare  to  the  multitudes  of  the  West,  as  well  as  to  the  ancient 
nations,  versed  in  all  the  wisdom  of  the  Egyptians  and  the  learning  of  the 
Chaldreans. 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX     A. 
Vol.  i.     P.  42. 

Egyptian  Chronology  and  Dynasties. 

As  the  general  reader  cannot  be  expected  to  retain — if  lie  has  ever 
possessed — a  working  acquaintance  with  the  order  of  Egyptian  kings  and 
dynasties,  while  there  is  no  space  in  the  text  for  a  summary  of  Egyptian 
history,  it  may  be  convenient  to  append  a  skeleton  sketch  of  Egyptian 
chronology,  which  will  at  least  serve  to  give  a  rough  idea  of  the  date  and 
order  of  the  monuments,  reigns,  and  inscriptions  referred  to.  Those 
purely  historical  questions  which  are  still  matter  of  controversy  may  be 
passed  over,  as  they  have  little  bearing  on  the  special  subject  of  Egyptian 
economy. 

As  to  the  most  doubtful  point  of  all,  the  date  of  the  first  foundation  of 
the  monarchy,  or  the  accession  of  King  Menes,  we  must  any  way  be 
content  with  a  very  vague  and  conjectural  estimate.  Dr.  Brugsch  sums  up 
the  disagreement  of  the  doctors  of  his  own  country  by  a  short  table  of  the 
various  dates  proposed  for  the  first  Pharaohs  :  viz. — 

Boeckh .     .     .     5702  i;.c.  Eauth    .     .     .     4157  B.C. 

Unger    .     .     .     5613    ,,  Lepsius      .     .     3802     ., 

Brugsch      .      .      4455     „  Bunsen.     .      .      3623     „ 

And  we  may  add  to  these  authorities  that  of  Dr.  Birch,  who  named  3000 
b.c.  as  the  latest  date  which  can  possibly  be  assigned  to  Menes,  and 
Meyer,  who  gives  31  So  b.c.  as  the  minimum  date  for  the  beginning  of  tiie 
Egyptian  State. 

Erman  gives  the  following  as  rough  approximate  estimates  of  the  latest 
dates  probable  for  beginnings  of  the  chief  dynasties  : — 

at  latest,  2S30  B.C. 

j)         253°    » 
2130    „ 

i93°  tt 
i53°-r32°  »-c 

1 320-1 180  „ 
1 1  So— 1050  ,, 

The  chief  authorities  for  the  names  and  order  of  the  kings  are  still  the 
copyists  of  Manetho's  lists  of  the  kings  of  Egypt,  what  is  known  as  the 
Turin   papyrus,  which   gives   similar  lists,   unfortunately  in  a  fragmentary 


Dynasties 

IV.,  V. 

>) 

VI. 

,•) 

XII. 

,, 

XIII. 

>) 

XVIII. 

>> 

XIX. 

>> 

XX. 

400  APPENDICES. 

state,  and  the  so-called  tabic  of  Abydos,  found  in  a  temple  of  Seti  I.,  which 
gives  the  names  of  sixty-five  kings,  from  Mena  to  the  end  of  the  Twelfth 
Dynasty,  and  of  eleven  from  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty  to 
the  father  of  Rameses  II.,  the  Greek  Sesostris  (an:  1350  B.C.).  A  tablet 
found  at  Saijqarah  reproduces,  with  some  inaccuracies,  the  names  given 
in  the  Abydos   list  :  and  a  list  found   at   Karnak,  showing  Thothmes  III. 

;  iring  the  cartouches  of  sixty-one  of  his  predecessors,  though  it  supplies 
some  missing  names  of  rulers  between  the  Thirteenth  and  the  Seventeenth 
Dynasties,  is  chiefly  interesting  as  showing  the  predilections  of  Thothmes 
himself,  whose  favourite  ancestor  was  Usurtasen  I. 

'Die  materials  for  a  chronological  list  are  some  direct  statements  in  the 
lists  as  to  the  length  of  a  few  reigns  or  dynasties  :  the  number  of  monu- 
ments dated  in  such  and  such  a  year  of  the  best  known  kings,  which 
warrant  the  inference  that  the  reign  ended  not  long  after  the  last  dated 
inscription,  and  general  inferences  as  to  the  average  duration  of  reigns, 
taken  in  connection  with  some  estimate  of  the  total  number  of  successive 
reigns,  which  last  again  depends  on  the  view  taken,  necessarily  on  conjec- 
tural grounds,  as  to  the  overlapping  of  independent  or  rival  dynasties.  In 
view  of  all  these  sources  of  uncertainty,  later  writers  in  general  judiciously 
refrain  from  propounding  a  detailed  chronological  scheme;  but  in  the  sixth 
volume  of  the  new  series  of  the  Records  of  the  Past,  Professor  Sayce  has 
brought  together  all  the  names,  fragmentary  or  complete,  given  in  all  the 
lists.  The  subjoined  table  includes  all  the  kings  (with  the  exception  of 
ttie  interminable  Thirteenth  Dynasty)  mentioned  in  any  of  the  monument-, 
but  of  course  without  repeating  the  names  which  occur  in  two  or  more  lists. 

Dynasty  I. 

1.  Meni.  5.  Hesep  or  Sapti. 

2.  Teta.  6.  Merba. 

3.  Atota.  7.  Semenptah  (?'). 

4.  A:.,.  S.  Kabeh. 

Dynasty  II. 

0.    Iiutau.  14.  Perabsen. 

1  z.    Kakau.  15.  Tata  1. 

11.   Painuteru  (Pinothris).  16.  Xefer-ka-ra. 

\  2.    LTnas.  17.  Sekeri-nefer-ka. 

1  ;.    Send.  iS.  Tefa. 

19.  Bubui. 

Dynasty  III. 
;:.   Xebkn.  2;.   Xefer-ka-ra. 


>v>. 


•6.   Tosertasis  1M.1. 


22.   Tata  II.  27.    Huni. 

j  }.   Set-es.  2S.   Snefru. 

24.   Xeb-ka-ra.  21;.   Kerpheres  (M. ). 


APPENDICES. 


40) 


D 

YXASTY 

IV. 

3°- 

Soris  (M). 

34- 

Men-ka-ra. 

31- 

Khufu. 

35- 

Ratoises  (M.) 

33- 

Ratatf. 

36. 

Bikheres  (M.) 

o3' 

Khafra. 

37- 

Shepseskaf. 

38.   Thamphthis  (M.). 
The  names  marked  (M.)  are  found  only  in  Manetho. 


Dynas 

TY    V. 

39- 

Userkaf. 

44- 

Kha-nefer-ra. 

40. 

Sahu-ra. 

45- 

Ra-n-user. 

41. 

Keka. 

46. 

Men-kau-hor. 

42. 

Xefer-f-ra. 

47- 

Tat-ka-ra. 

43- 

Shepses-ka-ra. 

48. 

Unas. 

Dynasty  VI. 


4() 

5° 
5  1 

52 
53 
54 

55 


Teta. 

User-ka-ra. 
Meri-ra  (Pepi  I.). 
Mer-en-ra  (Sokar-m-saf  I.). 
Nefer-ka-ra  (Pepi  II.). 
Mer-en-ra  (Sokar-m-saf  II.). 
Queen  Nitaker  (Nitocris). 
6<. 


5r' 

Xefer-ka. 

5  7 

Nefrus. 

58 

Ab-en-ra  I. 

59 

Ab-en-ra  II. 

60 

Hanti. 

61 

Pest-sat-en-sopd. 

62 

Paitasu. 

Se 

rhlinib. 

Dynasties  VII.,  VIII.,  IX.,  and  X. 


64- 

Mer-em-ra  Zaf-em-saf. 

65. 

Xuter-ka-ra. 

66. 

Men-ka-ra. 

67. 

Xefer-ka-ra. 

68. 

Rhrati. 

69. 

Se    .    .    . 

70. 

Ur   .    .    . 

7  r- 
72. 

Set    .    .    . 

/  3- 

Ha   .    .    . 

74- 

Ra-meri-ra  (?). 

7; 

(Xefer-ka)  ra. 

76. 

Xefer-ka-ra  Xebi. 

7  7.  Tat-ka-ra  Shema. 

78.  Xefer-ka-ra  Khnotu. 

79.  Men-en-hor. 
So.  Snefer-ka. 

8  1 .  Ra-n-ka. 

82.  Xefer-ka-ra  Terel. 

S3.  Xefer-ka-hor. 

84.  Xefer-ka-ra  Pepi-seneb. 

85.  Snefer-ka-ra  Annu, 

86.  ( Xefer)  kau-ra  I. 

87.  Xefer-kau-ra  II. 
SS.  Xefer-kau-lior. 
89.  Xefer-ar-ka-ra. 


The  Turin  papyrus  gives  355   years  and  10  days  as  the  sum  of  years  of 
he   Tenth    Dynasty.      It   is   possible  that  the  Seventh,  Eighth,  and  Ninth 

\  OL.  II. — P.C.  I)    D 


40  2  APPENDICES. 

1  >)  nasties,  and  perhaps  even  the  kings  of  the  Sixth  Dynasty  after 
Xitocris  (Xitaker),  whose  names  are  given  by  the  Turin  papyrus  only, 
may  have  reigned  simultaneously  with  each  other,  and  with  the  kings  of 
the  Tenth  Dynasty.1 

Dynasty  XI. 

90.  User-n-ra. 

91 .  Neb-nem-ra. 

92.  Ana. 

93.  Antef  I. 

94.  Mentuhotep  I.  and  Queen  Khnum-nefer-het  Mentuhotep  I. 

95.  Antef  II. 

96.  Antef  ID. 

97.  Xuter-nefer-Xeb-taui-ra  Mentuhotep  II. 

98.  Antef   IV. 

99.  Xeb-kher-ra  Mentuhotep  III.  and  Queen  Aaii. 

100.  Antef  V. 

10 1.  S-ankh-ka-ra. 

Dynasty  XII. 

102.  Amenemhat  I. 

133.  Usurtasen  I.  (first  with  his  father,  and  then  alone). 

104.  Amenemhat  II.  (first  with  his  father,  and  then  alone). 

105.  Usurtasen  II.  (first  with  his  father,  and  then  alone). 

106.  Usurtasen  III. 

1  07.   Amenemhat  III. 

108.  Amenemhat  IV. 

109.  Queen  Sebek-nefru-ra. 

Duration  of  dynasty,  213  years  1  month  17  days. 

The  Thirteenth  Dynasty,  according  to  the  Turin  papyrus,  included  12c 
to  15c  names,  among  which  are  seven  kings  Sebekhotep.  The  tablet  of 
Karnak  gives  ten  kings  of  the  dynasty,  the  last  six  of  whom  correspond 
with  the  names  in  the  Turin  papyrus  between  the  Twenty-second  and 
the  Twenty-eighth.  The  length  of  the  reigns  is  legible  in  fifteen  cases, 
amount!  g  to  a  little  more  than  seventy  years  in  all:  say.  an  average 
of  g;  years  to  a  reign,  or  at  the  rate  of  about  twenty-four  reigns  to 
a  century.  The  following  seven  names  stand  in  order  from  4  to  10  in  the 
Karnak  tablet,  and  17.  22.  2$,  2^  2S  in  the  Turin  pap\rus.  Kvident  . 
Kgyptiuti  I  i-tory  may  be  expanded  or  abridged  almost  indefinitely  accord- 
ingly as  we  reckon  ten  kings  or  over  150  to  this  one  dynast}'.  It  is  quite 
possible!  '  "  :  41  >up  of  kings  selected  for  commemoration  by  Thothmes 
included  all  the  priii'  •  i  of  the  dynasty  who  really  wore  the  double  crown. 
For  the  Fourteenth  hynastv,  the  Turin  papyrus  gives  eighteen  names. 
'  y  effect,  foil'  iwed  by  a  blank. 

:    >••     '       i!       '     ■        :    '.in    I      v-i-ntli  [)yna-ty  and    the  length  of  the  prece'Iing  pei'in'i, 

■..■•.■'.:  vi  :.  \    ".;.:.    1  72. 


APPENDICES.  403 

Dynasty  XIII. 

#  *  *  * 

Ra-sekhem-khu-taui  (Sebekhotep  III.). 

Ra  sekhem-(khu-taui)  (Sebekhotep  IV.). 

Kha-seshesh-ra  Neferhotep,  son  of  Ha-ankh-f. 

Kha-nefer-ra  (Sebekhotep  V.). 

Kha-ka-ra. 

Kha-ankh-ra  (Sebekhotep  VI.). 

Kha-hotep-ra  (Sebekhotep  VII.). 


Dynasties  XV.  and  XVI. 


Shalati. 
Bnan. 


Khaian  User  nub-ra. 
Apepi  I.j  Ra-aa-user. 

Apepi  II.,  Ra-aa  ab-taui. 

Dynasty  XVII. 

1.  Skenen-ra  Taa  I.  (contemp.  of  Apepi  II.). 

2.  Skenen-ra  Taa  II.  Aa. 

3.  Skenen-ra  Taa  III.  Ken. 

4    Uat-kheper-ra  Kames  and  his  wife,  Aah-hotep. 

Dynasty    XVIII. 

5.  Aahmes  and  his  wife,  Nefert-ari-Aahmes. 

6.  Amenhotep  I.  (his  mother  at  first  regent). 

7.  Thothmes  I.  and  wife,  Aahmes  Meri-Amen. 

8.  Thothmes  II.  and  his  wife  (sister),  Hatasu  (Hashepsu). 

9.  Hatasu  (alone  for  sixteen  years), 
ro.   Thothmes  III. 

1 1.  Amenhotep  II. 

12.  Thothmes  IV.  and  wife,  Mut-em-ua. 

13.  Amenhotep   III.  and  wife,  Teie. 

14.  Amenhotep  IV.5  (Khuenaten)  and  wife,  Nefri-Thi. 

15.  Sa'a-nekht  and  wife,  Meri-Aten. 

16.  Tut-ankh-amen  Ivhepru-neb-ra  and  wife,  Ankh-nes-Amen. 
1  7.  Aten-ra-nefer-nefru-mer-aten. 

18.  Ai-kheper-khepru-ar-ma-ra  and  wife,  Thi. 

19.  Horem-hib. 

Dynasty  XIX. 

20.  Rameses  I. 

2i.  Seti   1.  (Mineptah  I.)  and  wife,  Tua. 

22.  Rameses  II.  (u.c.  1348-1281). 

23.  Mineptah  II.  (Mer-n-ptah). 

24.  Seti  II.,  Mineptah  III. 

25.  Amen-mesu  Hik-an  Mer-kha-ra  Setep-n-ra. 

26.  Mineptah  IV.  and  wife,  Ta-user. 

27.  Thuoris  (M.),  no  doubt  the  same  as  Ta-user. 

1  The  Ilorus  uf  Manetho  and  Khuriva  of  the  Tell-el-Amarna  tablets. 


APPENDICES. 

Dynasty    XX. 

2S.  Set-nekht  Merer-Mi-amen  (defeats  Arisu). 

29.  Rameses  III. 

30.  Rameses  IV. 

31.  Rameses   V. 

32.  Rameses  VI. 

33.  Rameses  V  I  I. 

34.  Rameses  VI I  \. 
l^.  Rameses   IX. 

36.  Rameses  X. 

37.  R imeses  XT. 

38.  Rameses  XII. 

39.  Rameses  XIII. 

Dynasty  XXI.  (Illegitimate  . 

40.  Hir-hor  Si-amen  and  wife,  Xotem-mat. 

41.  Piankhi  and  wife,  Teut-amen. 

42.  Pinotem  I.  and  wife.  Hontaui. 

43.  Pinotem  II.  and  wife,  Ma-ka-ra. 

44.  Men-kheper-ra  and  wife.  Isis-em-kheb. 

45.  Pinotem  I II. 

Dynasty  XXI.  (Legitimate). 
46.   Xes-bindidi-Mi-amen.  49.  Amenophthis  (M  ). 

;o.   ( )sokhor  ( M.). 


47.   Pi-seb-kha-n  I. 
4S.  Xephelkeres  (M). 


P 


51.    Pinotem. 
;b-kha-n  1 1.  Mi-amen. 


Dynasty   XXII. 

4'').  Shashank   I. 

47.  Usarkon    I.,  married  daughter  of  Pisebkhan. 

48.  Takelet  I. 

49.  Usarkon   II. 

50.  Shashank   II. 

31.  Takelet    II. 

32.  Sk.idiank   II!. 

33.  Pimai  Mi-  men  L'ser-ma-ra  Setep-n-amen. 

34.  Shashank  IV. 

Dynasty    XXIII. 


i  r.terremmm. 


;ete     :.-;  'tah. 


In.\Wi\     XXI  \ 


APPEXD1CES.  405 

Dynasty  XXV. 

59.  Shabaka  Xefer-ka-ra  (defeated  by  Sargon  B.C.  720). 

60.  Shabataka  Tat-ka-ra. 

61.  Taharka  Xefer-tum-khu-ra  (Tirhakah). 
Interregnum. 

Dynasty  XXVI. 

62.  Psamtik  I.,  Uah-ab-ra  and  wife,  Mehet-Usekh,  B.C.  664-610. 

63.  Nekhau  Xem-ab-ra  and  wife,  Mi-mut  Xitaker,  B.C.  610-594  (Xecho). 

64.  Psamtik  II.  Xefer-ab-ra  and  wife,  Xitaker,  B.C.  594-589. 

65.  Uah-ab-ra  Haa-ab-ra  and  wife,  Aah-hotep,  B.C.  5S9-570  (Apries). 

66.  Aah-mes   Si-nit   Khnum-ab-ra   and   wife,  Thent-kheta,  B.C.  570-526 

(Amasis). 

67.  Psamtik  III.,  Ankh-ka-n-ra,  B.C.  526-525. 

We  have  in  the  above  list  109  kings'  names  before,  and  67  after  the 
Thirteenth  Dynasty  ;  but  even  apart  from  the  doubtful  question  of  the 
Thirteenth  Dynasty  itself,  it  is  impossible  to  say  how  much  should  be 
allowed  for  overlapping  reigns  in  the  remaining  176.  It  is  impossible  to 
suggest  any  general  average  for  the  duration  of  reigns,  without  reference  to 
the  historical  circumstances  of  the  time  and  country.  In  England  we 
reckon  thirty-seven  reigns,  counting  Cromwell  as  one,  from  the  Xorman 
conquest  to  the  present  day.  In  this  number  there  are  certainly  a  fair 
proportion  of  long  reigns,  and  even  the  periods  of  civil  strife  do  not  always 
result  in  exceptionally  rapid  succession.  We  can  hardly  suppose  that 
ancient  Egypt  was  more  favourable  than  modern  England  to  long  life  or 
long  reigns  ;  indeed,  we  cannot  be  far  wrong  in  supposing  that  it  will  have 
been  if  anything  less  favourable,  and  that  an  average  of  five  reigns  to  a 
century  is  by  no  means  certainly  to  be  counted  on  in  a  land  where  fifteen 
reigns  taken  by  chance  averaged  seventy  years. 

If  instead  of  English  kings  we  take  the  reigns  of  the  Roman  emperors 
from  Augustus  to  Augustulus,  or  from  B.C.  31  to  a.d.  470,  a  period  of  505 
years,  we  get  instead  of  the  average  of  five  reigns,  that  of  ten  reigns  to  a 
century,  and  this  without  counting  the  second  names  of  associated  Caesars, 
which  would  raise  the  average  to  about  twelve.  But  it  is  scarcely  fair  to 
use  these  petty  and  ephemeral  dynasties  of  the  West  as  a  measuring  rod 
for  Egyptian  antiquity.  A  more  appropriate  standard  is  that  supplied  by 
the  twenty-five  dynasties  of  China,  with  230  reigns,  covering  a  period  of 
4000  years.  The  chronology  of  the  first  three  of  these  dynasties,  from 
B.C.  2205  to  B.C.  206,  is  only  conjectural,  Chinese  chronologists  2000 
years  ago  no!  having  much  more  precise  guidance  as  to  their  own  nation:;'. 
past  than  we  have  as  to  the  age  of  the  Ramessids.  Only  the  first  two  or 
■  centuries  of  the  period,  however,  are  at  all  mythological,  as  the  dates 
assigned  prove  sufficiently,  fur  seventy-nine  reigns  are  made  to  extend  only 
over  1950  years,  or  on  an  average  just  under  twenty-five  years  each  ; 
that  is,  four  reigns  to  a  century.  From  255  B.C.  to  the  present  day, 
Chinese  chronology  is   as   trustworthy  as   any  other   record    preserved   by 


4o6  APPEXDICES. 

fallible  humanity;  and  from  255  B.C.  to  1 S75  A.D.,  153  perfectly  historical 
emperors  of  China  have  reigned,  upon  an  average  fourteen  years  each,  or 
at  the  rate  of  seven  to  a  century,  while  if  we  take  the  historical  and  the 
partly  legendary  period  together,  the  average  will  be  reduced  to  six  for  a 
century. 

If  we  take  the  ten  kings  of  the  Karnak  tablet  to  represent  the  Thirteenth 
Dynasty,  and  add  them  to  the  176  names  given  above,  we  have  1S6  reigns 
and  interregnums  of  uncertain  duration,  of  which  perhaps  it  is  enough  to 
say  that  they  are  scarcely  reconcilable  with  any  lower  estimate  than  the 
minimum  previously  quoted  of  3000  B.C.  for  the  foundation  of  the 
monarchy.  Mr.  Norman  Lockyer's  contributions  to  Egyptian  chronology 
are  discussed  in  Appendix  E,  as.  notwithstanding  their  intrinsic  interest, 
and  the  promise  of  further  results  to  be  reached  by  his  method,  it  seems 
doubtful  whether  any  single  elate  in  the  earlier  dynasties  is  as  yet 
positively  determined  by  astronomical  evidence.  The  period  of  disorder 
between  the  Twelfth  and  the  Eighteenth  Dynasties,  during  which  the  so- 
called  Hyksos  kings  reigned,  has  been  very  variously  estimated,  and  the 
native  records  count  five  dynasties  during  the  interval:  but  here  again  the 
Chinese  Annals  may  be  useful,  as  showing  that  such  a  period  of  convulsion 
may  be  an  affair  of  decades  rather  than  centuries.  Exactly  five  dynasties 
(fifteen  reignst  succeeded  each  other  in  the  fifty-three  years  between  the 
great  Chinese  dynasties  of  Tang  and  Sung  (907-960  a.d.).  And  Professor 
Eieblein  has  recently  shown  grounds  for  believing  that  the  Thirteenth 
and  the  Eighteenth  Dynasties  are  only  separated  by  a  period  of  this  char- 
acter, as  the  monuments  show  Aa-hotep,  the  mother  of  the  founder 
of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  to  have  been  evidently  a  near  relation  of 
Dueen  Sebekemsas.  daughter  of  one  of  the  last  kings  of  the  Thirteenth 
Dynasty.1 

Practically  all  the  great  kings,  all  who  erected  monuments,  and  all  who 

reigned   for  any  length    of  time,  are   given   in   all    the  lists  alike.      Where 

:  ic-y  differ,  it  is  no   doubt   that  some   include   more  fully  than  others  the 

.•mporary  dynasties,  usurpers  and    the    rival  or   associated   sovereigns 

concerning  whose  claims  there  might  be  a  difference  of  opinion   amongst 

truthful  and  weli-informed  historians.     The  table  of  Abydos,  for  instance, 

omits  the  heretical  semi-foreign   kings  who  worshipped    the  sun's  disk,  and 

reigned  between  the  Eighteenth  and  Nineteenth  Dynasties  :    and  it   is  not 

likely  to  i  ave  included  any  earlier  rulers  who  were  not  recognised  among 

;tors  of  the  reigning  house.     Thus  the  table  of  Abydos 

gives 'he   names  oi   twenty  kings   belonging  to   the  live  obscure  dynasties 

veen   the   Seventh   and  the   Eleventh,  but   the  fragments   ot    the   Turin 

1  PS./:. .!.     A;-,  i^s    v,l.  x.  y]<.  302    ■: .     On  a  steie  in  the  (iizch  Mumt.ih,  Aah- 
V      .■:.   Se   ekem-as   in   the   backer' aim  1   e-mbrn    Ing  her.      in 
.      '     .    v.  ith   \  ari    a-  f  mi  lions  hy   Aah-1  her  successor, 
■-.  n.  ■  r   y   !  w  .:          ....       :        [..  narrate.-  1      ,v  lie  ]      i  restore' 1   this  V  •mi      '    ' 

-.  it   I      .    :  -, .  ■  ■      '  -  ich  a 

i  '.'.-.     ;  '■  ■         ..        ■_'..•:  ;  v  .    mere  em]  il  ivee  of  a  ■    rt  in  hi      air  oi 

■  .    :   :    ■■-    -    ■'.      -    ■      :     he  wi  en    lame-    I.    an  i    the    MaiiMa   of 
.-.    ;i  .::  ;  v  ..  ■  :..    r:i     .    1:    ;.r\    I. 


APPENDICES.  407 

papyrus   relating  to  the  same  period  seem  to   allow  space  for  twice  that 
number. 

Chronological  records  are  sure  to  become  confused  if  events  are  dated 
only  by  the  years  of  the  reigning  king,  while  chroniclers  trust  to  the 
memoiy  of  living  men  for  the  length  and  order  of  the  recent  reigns. 
Chinese  history  owes  its  clearness  to  the  habit  which  has  been  formed  of 
having  contemporary  chronicles  of  each  dynasty  kept  officially,  which  are 
edited  and  published  by  the  next  dynasty;  but  unfortunately  the  historic 
instinct  had  not  reached  such  a  pitch  of  disinterested  strength  as  this  in 
Egypt,  and  we  are  thus  driven  back  upon  more  or  less  plausible  and  cir- 
cumstantial conjecture. 

Private  deeds,  relating  to  the  ownership  of  houses,1  show  us  five  genera- 
tions of  professional  singers  succeeding  each  other  in  the  course  of  seventy 
years,  or  at  the  rate  of  six  or  seven  in  a  century.  Several  of  the  high 
officers  who  tell  the  story  of  their  career  on  their  monuments,  record  how 
they  stood  equally  high  in  the  favour  of  two,  three,  or  even  four  succes- 
sive kings,  and  this  occurs  when  the  reigns  are  not  of  exceptionally  brief 
duration.  The  effect  upon  the  average  of  a  series  of  really  short  reigns 
has  never  been  sufficiently  allowed  for  ;  thus  in  the  obscure  period  between 
the  Seventh  and  Eleventh  Dynasties,  four  successive  kings  reigned  nine 
years  four  months  and  eleven  days  in  all,  or  two  years  and  four  months 
apiece.  And  in  the  face  of  this  recorded  fact,  to  restore  the  average  of 
three  royal  generations  to  a  century,  assumed  by  Brugsch  after  Herodotus, 
we  must  suppose  another  group  of  four  kings  to  have  reigned  255  years, 
or  over  sixty-three  years  apiece,  which  is  clearly  incredible. 

There  are  many  possible  reasons  for  short  reigns,  a  late  accession,  for 
instance,  conducing  just  as  much  as  a  short  life  to  that  result  ;  but  though 
a  long  life  is  essential  to  a  long  reign,  the  accidents  which  shorten  reigns 
may  befall  kings  whose  life  might  naturally  be  long,  so  that  to  a  certain 
extent  the  odds  are  against  even  the  same  average  of  longevity  being 
reached  by  reigning  sovereigns  as  by  the  ministers  or  architects  who  enter 
on  their  functions  when  of  age  to  discharge  them. 

The  first  two  dynasties  reigned  at  This;  the  Third,  Fourth,  and  Sixth  at 
Memphis  ;  the  Twelfth,  Eighteenth,  Nineteenth,  and  Twentieth  at  Thebes. 
The  break  in  the  monumental  record  between  the  Sixth  and  the  Twelfth, 
and  between  the  Twelfth  and  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty,  is  exactly  like  what 
would  have  occurred  in  China,  between  the  fall  of  one  and  the  rise  of 
another  of  the  great  dynasties,  if  the  maintenance  of  the  historical  record 
had  been  dependent  on  the  wealth  or  enterprise  of  individual  princes.  It 
is  in  accordance  with  human  experience  everywhere  that,  after  a  period  of 
national  prosperity  and  greatness  under  able  kings  and  ministers,  the  State 
lives  for  a  while  upon  the  recollection  and  reputation  of  its  first  glory, 
until  a  corresponding  period  of  decay  and  degeneracy  sets  in,  culminating 
in  political  anarchy  or  revolution,  which,  in  these  comparatively  isolated 
ancient  States,  ends  sooner  or  later  in  a  restoration,  and  a  further  period 
1  Rcviti   Eg)  v    '    v'  'lit .  i.  p.  17S. 


40S  APPENDICES. 

of  well-being.  Ancient  Egypt  had  three  or  four  such  epochs,  but  the 
nature  of  the  official  records  prevented  the  preservation  of  any  contempo- 
rary accounts  of  the  causes  why  dynasties  fall,  such  as  the  method  of 
historiography  in  China  makes  peculiarly  abundant  in  that  country. 

We  hardly  know  enough  of  the  history  of  the  six  dynasties  which 
constitute  the  Ancient  Empire  to  judge  if  the  prosperity  of  the  country 
under  them  was  fairly  continuous.  The  Twelfth  Dynasty,  which  belongs 
to  the  Middle  Empire,  certainly  comes  between  two  periods  of  feebleness 
and  disorder.  But  some  of  the  seven  Amenemhats  and  Usurtasens  of  this 
dynasty  must  have  had  long  as  well  as  brilliant  reigns,  to  judge  from  the 
number  and  extent  of  both  their  conquests  and  their  monuments.  The 
so-called  Hyksos  kings  were  anxious,  though  foreigners,  to  govern  upon 
the  Egyptian  model,  and,  like  the  Mongols  in  China,  their  rule  was  not  a 
mere  tyranny  :  they  had  monuments  erected  in  their  own  taste  by  Egyptian 
artists,  and  the  fact  that  these  were  deliberately  defaced  after  their  expul- 
sion is  partly  answerable  for  the  scarcity  of  authentic  information  about 
their  reigns. 

The  Eighteenth  Dynasty  begins  another  period  of  Egyptian  greatness, 
under  kings  mostly  bearing  the  names  of  Thothmes  and  Amenhotep,  whose 
dates  are  fixed  within  limits,  by  the  fact  of  their  correspondence  with  kings 
of  the  Eassite  Dynasty  of  Babylonia.  The  latter  years  of  the  dynasty  were 
discredited  in  the  eyes  of  the  orthodox  by  the  king's  adoption  of  foreign 
forms  of  worship.  The  interval  of  disturbance  was.  however,  neither 
violent  nor  prolonged,  and  after  the  decline  of  the  Eighteenth  Dynasty 
the  princes  of  the  Nineteenth  succeeded  to  the  empire  which  they  were  to 
carry  to  its  utmost  limits. 

Seti  E,  who  has  already  been  mentioned,  in  connection  with  the  tablet 
of  Abydos,  was  the  second  king  of  tins  dynasty  and  the  founder  of  us 
greatness.  His  son,  Rameses  IE,  whose  popular  name  was  Sestesu,  is 
t'ne  "  Sethosis  also  called  Ramesses  :'  of  Manetho  and  the  Sesostris  of  the 
Creeks.  With  him  the  seclusion  of  Egypt  ended,  and  it  is  hardly  too 
mi:  h  to  say  that  id-  victorious  armies  on  their  homeward  march  showed  the 
way  into  Egypt  to  t'ne  coining  generations  of  her  conquerors.  Trie  Nine- 
teenth Dynasty  was  short-lived,  and  before  its  Cose  a  Bh<unician  usurper 
and  other  r<  irdgncrs  were  in  a  position  to  levy  tribute  and  banish  or  oppress 
t'ne  math  inn  il  itants.  I  he  land  was  freed  y  '  .  father  of  Rameses  III., 
himseli  !  .  :  founder  of  the  Twentieth  Dynasty,  whose  appellation  Ramessu- 
pa-nutei"  -Rami  ses  the  _'od  is  better  known  to  us  in  the  form  Rhamp- 
-.:.  '...".:.  /    i  1  :rodotus.      lie   is  the  last  of  the    great    kin_is   of 

:.'.   ..    .       ndent    ICypt,  and   the  later  .Monarchy,  or   third  period   oi 
Egyptian  ii:-tory,  is  held  to  begin  with  Ids  reign. 

I      :  Twenty-f,!   t  1  )yn     tv  i         mded  by  a  usurper  of  priestly  origin  ;  the 

.    ■         :         ies  ]  oinl  to  a  Ah     ipotamiai 

.  and    1  weiity-iifth  are  of  Ethii  j  .  m  extrai  lion  :  and  I'sam- 

''iccessors   of   the  Twenty-sixth    Dynasty   committed   the 

:    einp!  i\  ng    Creek     ::..:  -    to   re[>el   their  southern 


1  ■..,  :. 

•:.    !' 

IS     Ill'ill 

APPENDICES.  409 

foes.  The  fourth  king  of  this  dynasty,  Uahabra,  is  the  Greek  Apries,  the 
Pharaoh  Hophra  of  the  Jews,  and  during  this  and  the  following  reigns,  the 
wealth  and  material  prosperity  of  Egypt  was  very  likely  at  its  height ;  but 
the  political  vitality  of  the  State  was  already  exhausted,  and  after  the  first 
Persian  conquest  Egypt  never  again  flourished  as  an  independent  State 
under  native  rulers.  She  enjoyed  some  peace  and  prosperity  under  foreign 
rulers  more  or  less  completely  Egyptianised  ;  but  the  history  of  the  decline 
and  fall  of  the  venerable  empire,  if  a  Gibbon  could  be  found  to  treat  it, 
would  no  doubt  begin  with  the  reigns  of  the  later  Rainessids  of  the 
Twentieth  Dynasty,  each  fresh  race  of  conquerors,  Assyrians,  Ethiopians, 
Persians,  Greeks,  and  Romans,  helping  to  complete  the  degradation  of 
the  people  and  the  disintegration  of  the  ancient  system  of  conservative 
morality  by  which  the  priests  or  princes  had  made  their  rule  acceptable. 


APPENDIX    B. 

Vol.  I.,  p.  145. 

Egyptian  Irrigation. 

Upper  Egypt  is  still  mainly  irrigated  upon  the  ancient  system  of  canals 
and  reservoirs  or  basins,  described  in  the  text  ;  its  principles  are  well 
understood  by  the  native  cultivators,  who  all  turn  out  willingly  to  work 
night  and  day,  to  guard  against  any  danger  of  a  breach  in  the  walls  during 
high  flood,  or  to  raise  the  walls  sufficiently  to  secure  the  necessary  reserve, 
when  the  Nile  is  abnormally  low.  When  fairly  worked,  the  traditional 
method  confers  the  utmost  benefit  on  the  soil  with  the  minimum  of  human 
labour  ;  and  the  explanations  given  by  modern  engineers  of  the  modus 
operandi  of  old  Father  Nile,  in  the  execution  of  his  purpose  to  provide 
corn  in  Egypt,  rather  heighten  than  diminish  our  estimate  of  his  beneficent 
wisdom. 

There  are  three  elements  in  the  Nile  water  which  contribute  to  make 
its  deposits  into  a  manure  of  ideal  completeness.  The  Blue  Nile  brings 
a  volcanic  detritus  from  the  Abyssinian  highlands  in  great  quantity  ;  the 
Sanibat,  the  waters  of  which  are  a  milky  white,  contributes  lime:  while  the 
great  swamp  regions  of  the  White  Xile  add  the  organic  matter  required. 
Eake  Victoria  itself,  the  first  chief  reservoir  in  the  chain,  is  about  1,120 
metres  above  the  sea  level;  rain  is  almost  perpetual  in  the  surrounding 
.  '  ut  a  natural  barrage  to  regulate  the  downfiow  is  provided  by  the 
Sadds  or  dams  of  living  vegetation  which  stretch  from  Gondokoro  to  the 
mouth  oi  the  Bahr  el  Gazel.  The  water  above  the  Sambat  is  always  green 
and  umvi  ilesome  ;  and  for  two  or  three  weeks  between  the  10th  of  June 
and  tile  roth  of  July,  when  the  green  water  from  the  sadds  reaches  Cairo. 
the  water  of  the  river  is  undrinkable.  Then  the  red  muddy  water,  charged 
with  alluvium,  from  the  IShie  Xile  and  the  Atbara  begins  to  arrive ;  but 
the  danger  of  1  lying  profane  hands  upon  the  ordinances  of  the  River  god 
became  strangely  apparent  between  rSjo  and  rSSo,  when  passages  in  the 
- .'.  imp    \\  open   for   navigation  and    the   consequent   loss   of  the 

natural  barrage  resulted  in  alternations  of  the  highest  and  the  lowest  floods 
ever  red  in  led. 

The  '.   1    .:..       :  the  Xile     t    Kh   rtouin  and    Cairo    is  about    the    same,  so 

:  ial  the  At'oara   and   the  springs  in    the  valley  together  must  make   up  for 

'  ie   wa-^te   ol    water    by    evaporation   and    irrigation.      Before   swelling    the 

Xile  has  to  saturate  its  own  sandy  bed  and  tiie  desert.      It 


APPENDICES. 


41  r 


takes  the  Hood  thirteen  days  to  come  from  Khartoum  to  Assouan,  and  six 
from  Assouan  to  Cairo ;  telegraphic  communication  respecting  the  state  of 
the  river  at  Khartoum  is  an  indispensable  condition  to  a  thoroughly  satis- 
factory regulation  of  the  water  supply,  and  consequently  of  the  agriculture 
of  the  country.  High  Nile  in  Lower  Egypt  is  delayed  about  a  month  by 
the  filling  the  basins  of  Upper  Egypt,  where,  if  the  canals  are  in  order,  it 
is  scarcely  possible  for  the  river  to  rise  too  much,  though  if  the  Nile  stays 
high  too  long,  the  crops  suffer  from  worms  and  heat  before  harvest.  The 
filling  of  the  basins  begins  ordinarily  on  the  12th  of  August,  and  ends  in 
the  south  by  October  r,  the  water  reaching  the  Nile  by  October  15.  North 
of  the  newly  restored  and  completed  barrages,  the  latter  date  is  postponed 
to  the  middle  and  end  of  November.  If  the  flood  is  low,  the  water  is, 
where  possible,  drawn  from  the  upper  basins  to  the  lower  ones  to  complete 
their  supply  ;  and  an  insufficient  total  water  supply  is  economised  and 
made  to  serve  the  needs  of  a  wider  area  by  means  of  temporary  banks, 
erected  so  as  to  hold  the  water  back  at  different  levels,  just  long  enough 
to  fill  the  canals  without  waste,  as  shown  in  the  diagram.  Half  the  water, 
it  is  evident,  suffices  to  water  the  valley,  by  the  help  of  the  banks,  b,  b,  b. 


Irrigated  in  this  way,  the  soil  of  Egypt  produces  one  rich  crop  year  after 
year,  and  the  fellahin  are  almost  at  leisure,  except  during  seed-time  and 
harvest,  or  during  alarms  of  excessive  or  deficient  flood,  so  that  they  are 
at  liberty  to  add  to  their  slender  resources  by  earning  the  wages  paid, 
since  the  abolition  of  the  corvee,  for  the  necessary  work  in  keeping  the 
canals  clear.  This  unproductive  work  is  lessened  when  sluices  on  a  large 
enough  scale  are  provided  to  let  the  water  on  the  lands  where  it  is  wanted, 
without  standing  in  the  canals.  And  Upper  Egypt  seems  at  present  to 
require  nothing  more  for  its  agricultural  welfare  than  the  provision  of 
additional  reservoirs,  that  will  allow  the  area  of  cultivated  land  to  increase, 
and  solid  works  for  the  regulation  of  the  high  flood  water  ;  with,  it  should 
perhaps  be  added,  a  clear  apprehension  on  the  part  of  all  officials  of  the 
end  in  view,  so  that  large  canals  should  in  no  case  be  substituted  for  small 
ones,  till  machinery  had  been  provided  which  could  be  depended  on  to 
work  them  as  efficiently,  in  proportion,  as  the  simple  system  to  be  super- 
seded. 

The  story  of  the  failure  of  Mehemet  Ali's  experiments  in  scientific  irriga- 
tion might  pass  for  an  allegory  on  the  dangers  of  a  little  knowledge, 
especially  when  applied  as  a  substitute  for  the  traditional  wisdom  oi 
ancient  custom  and   experience.     The  persons  concerned  in  the  working 


412  APPEXDICES. 

of  a  machine. — whether  it  bean  irrigationcan.il  or  the  government  of  a 
country, — if  left  absolutely  to  themselves,  to  consult  their  own  convenience 
as  best  they  can.  without  the  intrusion  of  external  force  or  fallacy,  will  in 
time  hit  upon  a  method  of  keeping  the  wheels  revolving  ;  and  this  method 
will  work,  as  it  is  said,  by  rule  of  thumb,  even  if  the  formula  of  its  working 
remains  unconstructed.  but  unless  all  possible  disturbing  forces  have 
been  calculated  and  allowed  for  a  priori,  it  is  perfectly  certain  that  new 
methods  intended  to  introduce  an  improvement  at  one  point  will  disturb 
some  portions  of  the  old  mechanism,  so  as  to  induce  new,  and,  as  it  were. 
artificial  evils,  which  again,  dealt  with  individually,  will  introduce  further 
complication-,  and  in  practice,  further  dislocation  of  the  original  mechanism. 
This  is  not  an  argument  against  elaborate  machinery,  but  an  argument  for 
instruction  as  complete  and  intelligence  as  cultivated  as  the  machinery  is 
complex.  And  this  is  what  her  manifold  controllers  have  not  succeeded 
in  bestowing  upon  the  sacred  land  of  Nile. 

Down  to  1S20,  Lower  Egypt  was  irrigated  by  a  partial  system  of  basins 
for  the  low  land,  while  cotton  or  maize  were  grown  during  flood  upon  the 
highlands,  drenched  by  the  high  floods  occurring  five  or  six  times  in  a 
century.  Mehemet  Ali  cut  a  number  of  deep  summer  canals  to  discharge 
tiie  low  level  summer  supply  of  the  Nile  so  as  to  enable  summer  crops  of 
cotton  to  be  obtained.  The  summer  or  sefi  canals  run  twenty  feet  below 
the  general  level  of  the  country,  and  water  has  to  be  pumped  from  them, 
so  that  the  labour  of  cultivation  is  increased,  and  artificial  manure  is 
re  [uired  besides,  the  result  being  a  general  average  of  two  crops  a  year. 
The  time  when  the  tlood  water  can  be  supplied  is  an  important  element  in 
the  culture  of  different  crops,  and  one  motive  for  over-deep  cuttings  was 
that  the  old  shallow  canals  did  not  get  it  early  enough  fir  maize  cultiva- 
tion. Mehemet  strengthened  the  dykes  which  kept  back  the  tlood  and 
allowed  the  basin  walls  to  fall  into  decay,  so  that  vast  tracts  got  only  water, 
mt  the  fertilizing  mud,  at  the  very  time  when  the  soil  was  being  ex- 
hausted    1  nal    <  r  »]  pii  g  :    w  lile    die  dams  built   to   hold  back    the 

w  '  -r  during  ll  >od  to  the  level  of  the  country  ••convene!  the  canals  into  a 
se-rx-s  of  pools  which  firmed  very  efficient  silt  traps,''1  that  had  to  be 
cleared  at  an  enormous  expense  of  forced  labour. 

Xor  was  this  all  t  e  damage  done  :  notwithstanding  the  regulators,  the 
■  in  !s  were  -  1  much  1  -  1  large  during  ::  -  >d  that  the  water  sen:  down  by 
them  drow  ;      the  natui      and  artiii   ial  drainage  outlets,  reducing  some 

kind   to  swamp  and  some  to  salt  wastes.       Ten  thousand  acres  of  the  1  est 
in    k_y:<t    have    been    rained    in    the    last   twenty   years  by    sailing. 
Ism  T's  ::.     :   |.ra<'ti<xU  work  —the  Ibrahima  c  mal  —damaged  a  large  neigh- 
ing  tr  icprivimj   it    of  the    "red    water''    of  the  natural   flood, 
wni!      the    mon         :    ■:.;    0:1    ii    w   uld  ii    ve   p:    vided  masonry  regulal    rs   to 

:  ■:  bg\  on       It  is  ca!    u'.aie  1    that    the  cr   ps  in  1 . 

ITvot  are  one-:  lird  m  >re  .  1    .    hie  than  those  of  the  turner  c  >  ;  ltrv,  but  at 


7    [;■ 


APPENDICES.  413 

present  neither  the  peasantry  nor  the  treasury  reap  a  reward  proportionate 
to  the  cost  and  labour  imposed  by  these  first  ill-advised  innovations. 

The  English  engineers,  who  form  the  only  really  popular  element  in  the 
English  occupation,  have  to  wrestle  with  the  double  problem,  of  reclaiming 
the  land  lost  by  faulty  methods  of  irrigation,  and  extending  the  benefits  of 
the  old  and  sound  methods  as  widely  as  possible,  as  well  as  to  meet  the 
continued  demand  for  a  system  of  summer  canal  irrigation  which  shall  not 
inflict  permanent  injury  on  the  soil.  By  summer  irrigation  seventy  to 
eighty  inches  of  water  may  be  brought,  in  about  twenty  waterings  in  the 
course  of  a  year,  to  stand  upon  the  soil;  this  sinks  over  half  a  yard  below 
the  surface  and  evaporates  ;  and  as  the  Nile  water  is  rich  in  salts,  these 
accumulate  on  the  surface,  unless  crops  are  chosen  to  counteract  the  excess. 
The  land  can  also  be  preserved  by  winter  washings  if  properly  drained, 
but  drainage  cuts  are  useless  if  above  the  level  of  the  country,  and  the 
carrying  capacity  of  different  subsoils  has  also  to  be  tested  in  order  to 
calculate  the  drainage  requirements.  If  regulators  are  provided,  the  same 
canal  can  be  used  alternately  to  irrigate  and  drain,  but  then  it  has  to  be 
large  enough  to  give  a  double  quantity  of  water  in  a  fixed  time. 

The  commonest  method  is  to  wash  by  cultivating  summer  rice,  which 
reclaims  salt  land  ;  but  mud  cannot  come  on  till  the  salt  has  been  washed 
off  bad  land,  and  accordingly  it  must  be  a  work  of  time  to  recover  for  use 
the  large  tracts  of  low-lying  lands  in  the  Delta,  at  one  time  famous  for 
their  fertility.  Some  of  these  surround  the  large  salt  lakes  by  the  coast, 
which  formerly  had  more  or  larger  openings  that  kept  the  water  in  them  at 
the  level  of  the  [Mediterranean,  and  are  swept  during  the  winter  by  salt 
water  ;  others  are  reclaimable  swamp,  and  the  rest  is  simply  land  destroyed 
by  bad  systems  of  cultivation.  Cuts  for  drainage  and  navigation,  with  em- 
bankments where  necessary,  will  remedy  the  first  evil.  For  swamps,  drainage 
cuts,  pumping  stations,  and  rice  cultivation  are  prescribed;  while  the  best 
way  to  reclaim  deteriorating  land  is  held  to  be  to  revert,  every  fourth  or 
fifth  year,  to  the  primitive  system  of  basin  irrigation,  or  else  drain  for 
summer  rice  or  wash  for  winter  clover.  Clover  irrigated  from  winter  canals 
can  be  cut  five  times  a  year  instead  of  three,  and  some  estimate  of  the 
possible  fertility  of  the  soil  can  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  good  land 
on  the  Mahmoudia  canal  bank  lets  at  £1  2  an  acre  '. 

Really  well-planned  irrigation  works  nearly  pay  their  expenses  out  of 
the  profits  of  a  single  year  ;  thus,  the  reparation  and  completion  of  the 
barrages  cost  about  half  a  million,  and  diminished  at  once  the  cost  of  clear- 
ing silt  from  the  canals  of  the  whole  Delta  by  over  ^300.000.  These 
famous  and  often-mentioned  works  were  designed  by  Mougel,  a  l-'rench 
:mgineer.  and  begun  in  LS42.  and  consist  of  a  vast  barrier,  below  Cairo 
just  above  the  forking  of  the  1  >amietta  and  Rosetta  branches  of  the  Nile. 
They  were  completed  in  their  present  form  in  1891,  thirty  years  after  their 
first  abandonment;  and  a  head  of  four  metres  of  water  was  at  once 
secured.  The  achievement  was  pleasantly  and  appropriately  celebrated, 
on  the  ap]  eal  of  Sir  Colin  Scott  Moncrieff,  by  the  bestowal  of  a  pension 


4i4  APPENDICES. 

on  Mongol,  who  was  still  living,  and  had  been  in  no  way  to  blame  for  the 
scamped  materials  and  work  which  rendered  his  design  almost  useless  for 
so  many  years.  In  general  the  record  of  the  deeds  of  the  foreigners  in 
Egypt,  and  their  relations  alike  to  the  Egyptians  and  to  each  other,  is  such 
that  we  have  reason  to  be  glad  of  the  innumerable  reasons  which  exclude 
all  mention  of  them  from  these  pages.  But  there  is  one  other  incident, 
also  connected  with  the  regulation  of  the  waters,  which  is  pretty  enough, 
and  Egyptian  enough,  to  deserve  to  be  recorded  on  the  walls  of  an 
'•  eternal  dwelling-place  "  when  the  hero  of  it  rests  in  the  fields  of  the  Amenti 
with  the  souls  of  the  true  and  just,  who,  in  the  valley  of  the  Nile,  "have 
not  shown  to  the  people  the  face  of  a  crocodile."  An  important  district 
was  threatened  with  a  year's  destitution  by  a  low  Nile  ;  the  people,  in  their 
distress,  applied  to  a  canal  inspector,  who  hastened  to  the  spot,  and  work- 
ing night  and  day,  erected  a  temporary  barrage,  damming  up  a  canal  so  as 
to  raise  the  water  to  the  needful  level  and  save  the  crops.  The  relief  was 
so  great  that  a  solemn  service  of  thanksgiving  was  held,  in  the  chief  mosque 
of  the  province,  by  the  highest  available  dignitary  of  the  national  church. 
And  popular  enthusiasm  went  so  far  that,  not  only  was  the  infidelity  of  the 
engineer,  who  had  wrought  the  deliverance,  forgotten  and  condoned,  but 
his  presence  at  the  service  in  the  mosque  was  invited  and  insisted  on.1 

The  return  from  any  judicious  expenditure  on  reservoirs  and  regulators 
is  so  speedy,  certain,  and  ample  that  some  well-wishers  to  the  Egyptians 
join  the  chorus  of  speculators  who  would  like  to  "  develop  "  Egypt  as  an 
investment  for  foreign  capital.  Toreiimers  of  every  nationality  arid  every 
creed  have  indulged  for  so  many  millenniums  in  the  lucrative  sport  of  spoil- 
ing the  Egyptians,  that  it  might  seem  a  hopeless  task  to  persuade  an  in- 
dustrial age  to  renew  its  faith  in  the  wisdom  of  the  victims.  And  yet, 
if  we  apply  the  most  modern  standards  of  economic  merit,  what  more 
can  be  demanded  of  an  agricultural  country  than  to  export  food,  and 
maintain  a  large  operative  population  in  content  ?  And  when,  between 
Amenhotep  and  MoncrielT.  has  Egypt  come  nearer  to  fulfilling  this  ideal, 
than  when  she  followed  the  ancient  lights  of  her  own  wisdom  under  her 
own  Pharaohs  ? 

By  the  help  of  sun  and  river,  Egyptian  industry  and  Frankish  engineer- 
ing science  may  bring  from  the  black  soil  even  richer,  more  abundant  and 
precious  crops  than  were  won  in  ancient  Egvpt  :  but  unless  the  teachings 
of  history  are  wasted — as  it  were  a  sin  they  should  be,  in  the  land  which 
has  dune  inure  than  any  other  to  teach  the  rest  of  the  world  to  write  and 
read  its  history— these  fruits  of  labour  and  industry  will  not  be  squandered 
in  subsidies  to  ignorant  and  irresponsible  Compagnics  anonyi/n's,  but  will 
serve  a  wise  and  independent  government  to  minister  to  the  welfare  of  it? 
people.  Egypt  does  not  need  to  borrow  now  except  from  her  own  tax- 
payers, upon  whom  her  taxes  should  be  spent — a  renewal  of  ancient  custom 
which,  in  a  tew  year-,  could  not  but  lead  to  the  astounding  and  paradoxical 

:    /:/,•    '■.!)/. i  in  /■  ,_i/.'.  Aii'rc.l   MiliK-r  (iSu2),  p.  305. 


APPENDICES.  415 

phenomenon  of  a  country  deriving  an  income  from  national  investments, 
instead  of  paying — or  failing  to  pay — a  national  debt. 

Under  whatever  guidance  Egypt  succeeds  in  reaching  this  condition, 
when  it  is  reached  "  the  confidence  of  the  people  in  its  rulers  "  will  not 
be  lacking.  Such  confidence  is  based  on  the  perception  of  acceptable 
services  •  and  there  must  be  something  wanting  in  the  wisdom  of  the  most 
well-meaning  of  rulers  if  the  services  they  seek  to  render  are  not  acceptable 
to  those  under  their  rule.  The  foreigner  in  Egypt  will  not  have  justified 
his  existence  till  the  epitaph  of  his  raj  is  written  by  a  grateful  nation  in 
the  ancient  phase  :   "  He  entered  praised  and  departs  beloved." 

Since  the  above  lines  were  written,  the  lovers  of  ancient  Egypt  have 
been  agitated  by  the  proposal  of  engineers  to  erect — at  a  total  cost  of  five 
or  six  millions  sterling — a  dam  across  the  Nile,  either  at  Kalabsha,  about 
thirty-one  miles  above  Assouan  ;  at  Philae,  at  the  head  of  the  Assouan 
Cataract,  which  would  have  the  effect  of  submerging  the  temple  of  Philse 
for  several  months  of  the  year  ;  or  at  Gebel  Silsila,  as  an  alternative  to 
the  creation  of  a  new  Eake  Moeris  in  the  natural  depression  of  the  Fayum, 
called  the  Wady  Rayan. 

All  of  these  great  undertakings  are  recommended  with  confidence  as 
Certain  to  add  to  the  national  wealth  and  revenue,  preference  being  ap- 
parently felt,  on  engineering  grounds,  for  the  most  objectionable,  archreo- 
logically  speaking,  of  the  dams,  as  promising  to  give  a  constant  water 
supply  to  Upper  as  well  as  Lower  and  Middle  Egypt.  This  is  not  the 
place  for  an  expression  of  opinion  on  so  difficult  and  technical  a  question, 
but  there  are  one  or  two  considerations  deriving  their  chief  force  from  the 
history  of  the  country,  which,  it  may  be  permitted  to  hope,  will  receive  due 
consideration. 

In  the  first  place,  Egypt  has  suffered  too  much  from  outside  interference 
to  be  able  to  afford  to  try  any  but  successful  experiments.  The  system  of 
continuous  irrigation  in  Lower  Egypt  cannot  be  claimed  as  a  complete 
success  till  the  salt  marshes  of  the  Delta  have  been  reclaimed  :  and  anv 
introduction  of  the  same  system  in  Upper  Egypt,  where  for  good  or  ill  it 
is  as  yet  unknown,  will  be  more  secure  against  disaster  if  it  is  postponed, 
until  ail  its  ill  consequences  have  been  obviated  and  its  full  advantages 
secured  in  Lower  Egypt.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  just  possible  that  the 
ancient  Egyptians — who,  in  the  days  of  Mena,  executed  irrigation  works 
which,  are  still  admired,  and  who  used  the  vast  reservoir  of  Lake  Moeris 
without  impairing  the  fertility  of  the  lowlands  on  the  sea-shore — may  have 
had  some  good  reason  for  preferring  the  system  of  basin  irrigation  in  Upper 
Egypt.  Any  way,  if,  as  has  been  stated,  the  object  of  the  reservoir  is  to 
enable  fresh  crops,  such  as  sugar  cane,  to  be  introduced,  the  cultivation  of 
which  requires  a  command  of  capital  beyond  the  resources  of  the  fellahin, 
it  is  certain  that  the  proposition  is  premature,  since  no  increase  in  the 
money  value  of  the  crops  obtained  could  compensate  the  country  for  the 
creation  of  a  landless  labouring  class. 


APPENDIX   C. 

Vol.  I.,  pp.  1S4.  323. 

Welsh    Mortgages, 

In  describing  the  primitive  antichretic  lease  as  a  sort  of  ''Welsh  Mortgage,'' 

there  is  the  same  kind  of  anachronism  as  in  the  use  of  the  term  vif-gage  or 
rivum  -radium  for  the  same  purpose.  In  Colquhoun's  Summary  of  the 
Roman  Civil  Law,  Sect.  1473.  the  Pactum  antichreticum  is  described  as 
•■'assigning  the  produce  by  way  of  interest  to  the  pledgee,  termed  in 
English  a  Welsh  mortgage.  The  pactum  antichreseos  is  taken  to  imply 
in  all  cases  of  doubt  a  pignoratitian  contract  .  .  .  which  must  not. 
however,  he  made  a  means  of  obtaining  usurious  interest.  An  antichresis 
t actio,  accrues  to  a  creditor  who  has  lent  his  debtor  a  capital  sum  without 
interest,  and  permits  him  by  implication  to  retain  so  much  produce  as  will 
represent  the  legal  interest  though  no  antichretic  contract  has  expressly 
intervened  :  he  must,  moreover,  return  the  object  to  the  debtor  on  the  ex- 
tinguishment of  his  claim,  and  if  lie  should  seli  the  pledge,  hand  over  the 
surplus  which  may  remain  over  and  above  the  amount  of  such  claim." 

The   history   of  these  conceptions  in   Roman   Law  does  not  concern  tis 

now:  though,  if  we  are  to  suppose  a  pre-Hellenic  origin  for  the  obscure 

legal  usages   of  Tenos  or  Mylasa,  it  would  appear  possible  that  the  similar 

elements   in    later  Roman  Law  might  have  been  derived   from  earlier  Italic 

k  s. 

The  two  kinds  of  landed  security  recognised  by  the  common  law  of 
England  were  distinguished  as  mertuum  radium  and  virion  'radium.  The 
vivum  va  ii  nn  c  insisted  of  a  feoffment  to  the  creditor  and  his  heirs  until 
he  repaid  the  debt  dtie  to  him  out  of  the  rents  and  profits  of  the  estate. 
The  ere  iitor  took  actual  possession,  received  the  rents  and  applied  them 
from  ti         :  )    time    in   li  :  lidation    of  the  deb;,  and  the  term  for  the  trans 

ti  m  ■■'.  -  ex;  ined  to  signify  that  by  it  neither  debt  nor  estate  was  lost. 
When  the  debt  was  liquidated,  the  creditor  could  be  elected. 

The    ancient    mortuum    vadium1    seems   to    have  res   inbled 
.  >rtg  inc.    d      ■  re  '  :    -  an  1   his   i  eirs  hi  1  ling  and  receiving  the  rents  with- 
c    iccou    t    ".:. til  tiie    principal  of  the   debt   was  repaid,  so  that   the  estate 
,vas    im.pr   -  '    '  :    "  d       ;     to  the  mortgagor   in  the  meantime  :   I 

was    this    .  dv,  to        ■:.  I      t  the  est    i       v  is    never  I    it.      There  is  no 


;-  lia.la-    v 


APPENDICES.  417 

trace  of  the  period  when  this  mode  of  mortgage  fell  into  disuse;  but  the 
change  must  have  been  effected  between  Glanville  and  Littleton,  as  the 
latter  only  describes  mortgages  a  degree  nearer  to  the  modern  sort.  After 
denning  the  mortuum  vadium  as  a  feoffment  upon  condition  that  if  the 
teoflor  pay  the  money  to  the  feoffee  at  a  certain  day,  the  feoffor  may  re- 
enter, he  says  (Sect.  332)  it  is  called  mortgage  for  that  it  is  doubtful 
whether  the  feoffor  will  pay,  at  the  day  limited,  and  if  he  doth  not  pay, 
then  the  land  is  taken  from  him  for  ever  and  is  dead  to  him  upon  condition, 
etc.,  and  if  he  doth  pay,  then  the  pledge  is  dead  as  to  the  tenant  in  mort- 
gage. To  which  Lord  Coke  adds  the  further  reason  that  it  is  to  distinguish 
it  from  vivum  vadium,  so  called  because  if  one  pledge  an  estate  until  the 
pledgee  have  received  the  debt  out  of  the  profits  of  the  land,  neither 
money  nor  land  dieth  and  is  lost.1 

Littleton's  idea  of  a  mortgage  is  that  the  land  is  pawned,  and  subject  to 
forfeiture  if  not  redeemed  at  a  given  date  ;  while,  as  Mr.  Fisher  observes, 
the  mortuum  vadium  of  Glanville  and  the  vivum  vadium  of  Coke  seem 
to  be  practically  identical,  and  both  correspond,  more  or  less,  with  the 
Welsh  mortgage,  and  the  pactum  antichreseos  of  the  Roman  law.  The 
scanty  development  of  both  systems  of  pledging,  in  Plantagenet  and 
Tudor  England,  is  due  to  the  fact  that  land  was  not  yet  regarded  as  an 
investment  for  capital.  Services  had  not  been  systematically  transmuted 
into  rent,  and  it  was  not  a  matter  of  course  for  the  "  fruits  or  rents"  to  be 
worth  so  much  that  their  accumulation  would  pay  off  a  capital  sum 
borrowed.  And  at  the  same  time,  the  distinction  between  the  principal 
and  the  interest  of  a  debt,  on  which  the  distinction  between  the  two  kinds 
of  pledges  turned,  was  not  one  of  very  prominent  social  importance,  as 
there  were  (cw  alternative  investments  open  to  non-commercial  capitalists. 

The  security  known  as  a  Welsh  mortgage  is  in  effect  a  conveyance  of  an 
estate  redeemable  at  any  time  on  payment  of  the  principal,  with  an  under- 
standing that  the  profits  in  the  meantime  should  be  received  by  the 
mortgagee,  without  account,  in  satisfaction  of  interest.  It  agrees  with  the 
vivum  vadium  in  respect  that  the  estate  of  the  debtor  is  never  forfeited, 
but  differs  in  respect  that  the  rents  are  applied  in  satisfaction  of  interest 
only,  not  of  the  principal  of  the  debt.  In  a  Welsh  mortgage  no  covenant 
for  the  payment  of  the  debt  by  the  mortgagor  is  inserted  in  the  mortgage 
deed,  and  the  mortgagee  has  no  remedy  to  compel  redemption  or  fore- 
closure in  equity,  though  the  mortgagor  may  redeem  at  any  time.2 

The  disuse  of  the  form  of  contract  is  probably  due  to  this  inequality, 
which  was  not  a  difficulty  in  babylonia  or  Malabar,  because  such  mortgage 
deeds  circulated  as  negotiable  property,  and  a  man  who  wanted  to  realize 
his  capital  could  count  on  finding  some  one  in  want  of  an  investment,  will- 
ing to  take  his  place  as  creditor.  The  theoretical  advantage,  "  that  the 
estate  was  never  lost,"  may  also  have  been  found  rather  illusory  in  feudal 
Lngland.  when  it  was  by  no  means   certain  that   the   repayment  of  a  debt 

1    Fis/u  >■  on  M  vt  \  x;;es     1SS4  .  ■ ..  2. 

1   C  ?':■_',  Treatise  011  the  Law  oj  Jferf^.i j;,  4th  ed.  (Mackeson),  ibSo,  pp.  5.  6. 
VOL.    II.  —  I'.C.  I'.    K 


4i  S  APPENDICES. 

would  induce  the  creditor  in  possession  to  allow  the  former  owner  to  re- 
enter. This  difficulty  occurred  in  the  earliest  example,  quoted  by  Fisher, 
of  a  security  "resembling  the  ancient  mortuum  vadium,  and  possibly 
derived  from  the  pactum  antichreseos,"  from  an  Anglo-Saxon  deed  of  the 
10th  century.  "  It  appears  from  the  document  that  the  land  was  delivered 
by  Sigelm,  the  father  of  Eadgifa,  queen  of  Eadward  the  Elder,  in  pledge 
for  ,£,30  to  Goda,  who  held  it  for  seven  years.  Sigelm  having  paid  off  the 
debt  and  bequeathed  the  land  to  Eadgifa  was  afterwards  slain  in  battle, 
and  Goda  then  denied  having  received  the  money  and  for  six  years  with- 
held the  land.  Eadgifa  purged  her  father  by  oath  as  to  the  payment,  but 
could  not  recover  the  land  without  the  interference  of  the  reigning  king, 
and  after  being  again  despoiled  of  it  and  a  second  time  regaining  it,  she 
bestowed  it  upon  the  Church."  Assuming  the  authenticity  of  this  docu- 
ment, Mr.  Fisher  proceeds  :  ''It  shows  that  possession  of  the  land  was 
delivered  and  that  the  right  of  redemption  was  admitted  after  seven  years  : 
and  it  seems  to  be  implied  that  no  reduction  of  the  debt  had  taken  place 
by  reason  of  the  mortgagee's  possession/' l 

In  Domesday  also  the  mention  of  lands  in  mortgage  seems  to  imply  the 
possession  of  the  mortgagee,  so  that  it  almost  seems  as  if,  in  England, 
before  and  down  to  the  time  of  Glanville,  the  possession  of  the  mortgagee 
was  incidental  to  the  security.  We  have  seen  how  Roman  law  tended  to 
limit  tiie  indefinite  power  of  the  owner  to  redeem  in  Syria,-  and  how  the 
prohibition  of  usury  in  the  Koran  was  supposed  to  apply  to  the  ancient 
Kabyle  contracts  called  rahnia.3  And  it  seems  that  in  Europe  the  Civil 
and  Ecclesiastical  law  together  set  themselves  to  abolish  the  same  kind  of 
custom  ;  which  must  have  been  the  more  widespread  and  deeply  rooted  to 
excite  so  much  hostility. 

Fisher  quotes  the  following  passage  from  Lauriere's  work  on  the  Contumes 
dc  Paris.  "When  creditors,  intimidated  by  ecclesiastical  censures,  took 
lands  in  pledge,  with  an  agreement  that  the  profits  should  reduce  the 
principal,  this  pledge  was  called  vif.  because,  as  our  old  practitioners  say,  it 
discharged  itself  by  its  own  produce,  which  was  very  just  and  lawful. 
But  when  the  creditor  took  or  received  the  profits  in  pure  gain  to  himself 
and  in  pure  loss  to  the  unhappy  debtor,  it  was  called  mortgage  or  gagc- 
mort,  because  it  did  not  discharge  or  free  itself."  We  see  how  entirely 
the  working  of  any  contract  depends  on  the  circumstances  of  the  parties 
to  it  by  the  epithets  used  here.  In  Babylonia  or  Malabar  the  debtor  in 
such  a  case  is  by  no  means  necessarily  ••unhappy,"  or  the  contract  usurious  : 
it  all  dc  [tends  on  the  value  to  the  mortgagor  of  the  right  to  redeem,  and 
on  how  far  the  amount  of  the  loan  approximates  to  the  full  value  ot  the 
land,  less  that  right. 

In  France  these  mortgages  were  only  held  to  be  justifiable  in  two  cases  : 
'•  as  when  a  father,  marrying  his  daughter,  and  giving  her  a  portion,  which 

1    '/■':.   /  ■:.  ■  of  .;/  r.\  -s,  a  n:i  o/'nr  Secim'ths   tifon  Property.     W,    R.  Fisher,  41I1  e<l., 
iS>4,  pp.  1.  3." 
-  And,  vdI.  i.  [>.  4'.G.  3  //'.,  pp.   1S6,   1S7. 


APPENDICES.  419 

he  was  unable  to  pay  in  ready  money,  gave  an  estate  in  pledge  to  his  son- 
in-law,  to  receive  the  rents  till  the  portion  should  be  paid;  or  a  vassal 
borrowed  money  of  /lis  fat  Jul  lord  (the  very  opposite  of  the  typical  Malabar 
arrangement),  and  give  his  fief  in  pledge  ;  because,  as  the  lord,  as  long  as 
the  pledge  lasted,  lost  the  services  of  his  vassal,  it  was  right  he  should  be 
indemnified  by  having  the  profits  of  the  pledged  fief."  Except  in  these  cases, 
theologians  and  casuists  denounced  the  antichretic  contracts  as  fictitious 
and  usurious.  "  These  fictitious  contracts  were  much  used  in  the  Customs 
of  Anjou,  Maine,  Touraine  and  the  Loudunois,  where  they  are  still  known 
under  the  name  of  pignoratifs  ;  but  the  court  has  always  held  them  to  be 
illegal,  and  has  forbidden  their  use."  The  local  custom  in  the  districts 
named  evidently  approached  to  the  old  English  and  Welsh  mortgage, 
which  died  out  before  feudal  custom  and  Rome-derived  law.  And  the  Code 
Napoleon  no»v  only  recognises  under  the  name  of  antickrese  an  agreement 
by  which  the  mortgagee  accounts  for  all  receipts  and  expenditure,  and  is 
entitled  to  hold  the  land  pledged  to  him,  till  the  balance  in  his  favour  has 
paid  off  both  interest  and  principal  of  the  original  loan. 

In  England  there  does  not  seem  to  have  been  any  speculative  hostility 
towards  Welsh  mortgages  in  the  judicial  mind  ;  and  Fisher  lays  down  the 
law  concerning  them  accordingly.  '•'  Being  without  condition,  there  can 
be  no  forfeiture,  and  consequently  there  is  no  equity  of  redemption  which 
can  be  the  subject  of  foreclosure;  but  there  is  a  continuing  right  of  re- 
demption, every  receipt  of  rent  being  under  the  contract  a  receipt  of  so 
much  interest." 

Among  English  reported  cases  there  are  scarcely  over  half  a  dozen  that 
deal  with  the  so-called  Welsh  mortgage,  which  has  gradually  dropped 
altogether  out  of  the  ordinary  law  books.  In  the  case  of  Orde  v.  Heming,5 
in  1686.  '"The  bill  was  to  redeem  a  mortgage,  and  the  defendant  demurred 
by  reason  that  of  the  plaintiff's  own  showing  the  mortgage  was  60  years 
old."  The  demurrer  was  overruled,  because  it  was  charged  in  the  bill 
that  the  mortgagor  agreed  the  mortgagee  should  enter  and  hold,  till  he 
was  satisfied,  which  is  in  the  nature  of  a  Welsh  mortgage,  and  in  such  case 
the  length  of  time  is  no  objection.  In  17  14,  however,  Lord  Chancellor 
Cowper  held  that  a  rent  charge  granted  over  sixty  years  ago  was  not  re- 
deemable "at  so  great  a  distance  of  time,"  and  that  the  Court  had  hereto- 
fore gone  too  far  in  permitting  redemptions.3 

In  one  case,3  heard  in  1742.  we  have  a  curious  parallel  to  the  mortgage 
tolerated  in  trance,  viz.  houses  devised  to  a  daughter  subject  to  redemption 
at  a  specified  amount:  it  was  observed  incidentally  that  "in  common 
Welsh  mortgages  on  tendering  principal  and  interest  they  may  come  into 
this  court  for  redemption  at  any  time."  And  in  another  the  analogy  of 
Welsh  mortgages  and  "  most  copyhold  mortgages  is  quoted"  i  in  defence  of 
the  decision  to  allow  redemption  against  the  heirs  of  a  money-lender,  who 
bought  from  a  young  spendthrift  an  annuity  of  ,£150  for  ,-{"[050,  under   a 

1    1.    Vernon,  41S.  2   1.    P.  Williams.  Chancery  Cases,  271. 

3  2.   Atkyns,  j'"'j.  4  3.   Atkyns,  2S0. 


4-^o  APPENDICES. 

covenant,  however,  that  the  borrower  might  buy  back  the  annuity  for  the 
same  sum  on  giving  six  months'  notice  and  an  extra  payment  of  ^75. 

In  t  7  1 5  we  meet  for  once  with  a  real  Welsh  mortgage.1  One  Davids  made 
a  m  >rtgage  of  lands  in  Wales  by  way  of  lease  and  release  in  consideration 
°*  £zooi  w'bn  proviso  that  if  he,  his  heirs  or  assigns,  should  on  Michael- 
mas 1 'ay,  1702.  or  any  Michaelmas  Day  following,  pay  to  mortgagee,  his 
heirs  or  assigns,  ,-£,300,  and  all  arrears  of  rent  and  interest,  the  conveyance 
should  cease.  It  was  said  to  be  a  common  practice  in  Wales  to  make 
mortgages  in  this  manner,  with  design,  "  from  their  pride,"  to  keep  the 
estate  for  ever  in  their  own  family.  In  this  case  apparently  the  interest  or 
rent  was  paid,  and  the  point  at  issue  was  the  application  of  dower  money, 
etc.,  to  pay  off  the  mortgage. 

Courts  of  Equity  tended  to  bring  mortgages  with  right  of  redemption 
under  the  Statute  of  Limitations,  and  refused  relief  after  twenty  years, 
unless  under  special  circumstances,  but  a  special  contract,  in  which  an 
agreement  "like  a  Welsh  mortgage''  had  been  made,'-'  was  allowed  to  stand 
because  in  a  Welsh  mortgage  there  ;i  is  a  perpetual  power  of  redemption 
subsisting  for  ever,  and  the  mortgagee  cannot  compel  redemption  or  fore- 
closure.''' In  this  case  there  was  a  grant  of  annuities  in  discharge  of  a 
debt  reserving  a  power  to  re-purchase  and  redeem  the  annuities.  It  was 
held  part  of  the  personal  estate  of  the  grantee,  and  similar  to  the  case  ot 
Welsh  mortgages.  Lord  Cowper  holding  that  there  is  no  power  in  mort- 
gagee to  compel  mortgagor  to  redeem  or  foreclose.  "  the  contract  being  of 
a  different  nature.'' 

The  most  interesting  contribution  to  the  history  of  the  institution  within 
the  United  Kingdom  no  doubt  lies  concealed  among  the  Irish  Law  Tracts 
concerning  '■  the  Law  of  Loans.  Pledges,  Accommodations  and  Securities." 
which  still  remain  unpublished,  though  their  interesting  nature  was  in- 
sisted on  as  long  ago  as  1 1. 5 7 . J  1  have  not  been  able  to  obtain  any 
information  as  to  the  provisions  of  these  laws,  though  the  above  description 
of  them  is  sufficiently  significant.  In  Hartpole  v.  Walsh,1  it  was  said  that 
the  Welsh  mortgage  was  formerly  a  common  form  of  mortgage  in  Ireland. 
and  the  case  reported  '■  of  a  lease  granted  as  security  for  a  loan  si:  »ws 
clearly:!,  t  th  ]  >s  bilities  of  the  institution  had  been  fully  realized  in  that 
country.  Morony  owed  O'Dea  /:co,  and  in  17S4.  wishing  for  a  further 
loan,  as  a  se<  urity  for   both    interest   and    principal,  he    executed  a  lease  oi 

.  ■       ;     ai  resj  for  twenty-one  years  at  r2.v\  an  acre.      O'Dea  entered  into 

session,    m  1  set  off  the  rent  against   the    interest,  down   to  Midsummer, 

17-/7.  kvhei,   '1  its  were  settled.      Upon  a  further  advance  of  money 

iy  way  ol   ioan    at   that    time  (just  as  in  Malabar),  an   additional   term    ot 

twei  tv  ye;  rs  u  nted  at  the  same  rent  as  in  1784,  but  there  was  an  en- 

i  1  •■'•    '   ■  .  c:  1        ,•:    i6.s  1  1-22  .  423.  477. 

-'   I. "i::       '.;.."  .   ■        :     .  i  i    :      .  lekc.       1 .    \\  ~ev  Senr.,  405. 

<:.'/.:•  .  ii.  1  .  2>. 

;   'I                           .  .   I  .-:.     .  wh  ■     I        ve  :■■•:■;  ;::..:'  le  t)  verifv.  ;  -  5   Pro.,   P.C  27;. 

":    M    :■'■:.}-  1.  1  ./J  .       ...                  ,         '  ,     .'•■.  .    :     .. 


APPENDICES.  421 

dorsement  on  the  lease  saying  it  should  be  null  and  void  when  the  sum  of 
^400  was  paid. 

O'Dea  admitted  that  the  original  lease  was  granted  merely  to  secure  the 
repayment  of  the  money  advanced  by  him,  and  stated  that  he  entered  into 
possession  as  mortgagee,  the  stipulated  rent  representing  the  full  value  of 
the  lands.  Morony  claimed  that  he  should  account,  as  mortgagee  in 
possession,  for  profits  in  excess  of  rent  paid,  '"'  which  was  at  undervalue, 
and  ought  not  to  be  binding  on  him."  Evidence  was  offered  that  in  1784, 
12s.  was  a  fair  value,  and  the  Lord  Chancellor  held  any  way  that  the 
mortgagor,  having  acquiesced  in  the  payment  for  nineteen  years,  could  not 
now  raise  the  point  of  undervalue.  "This  in  substance  is  like  a  Welsh 
mortgage  wanting  Form,  and  a  party  complaining  (between  1803  and  1809) 
of  transactions  in  1784  ought  to  have  come  here  much  sooner." 

Lord  Redesdale  had  held  in  a  previous  suit  that  "if  the  under  leases 
were  made  bona  fide,  the  account  must  be  taken  at  the  rent  reserved;" 
but  if  they  were  at  undervalue,  which  he  considered  fraudulent,  "the  ac- 
count must  be  at  the  full  value  of  the  lands."  Morony's  counsel  argue 
that  the  transaction  being  called  a  mortgage  makes  no  difference,  and 
that  the  agreement  is  usurious  if  the  rent  is  at  less  than  the  full  value  of 
the  lands.  "  Considering  this  Transaction  either  as  a  Lease  granted  in 
consideration  of  a  Loan  of  money,  or  as  an  agreement  in  the  nature  of  a 
mortgage,  the  Account  ought  to  be  taken  at  the  full  value  of  the  Lands, 
otherwise  it  would  be  a  great  Inlet  to  Fraud,  and  make  a  most  dangerous 
Precedent,  that  a  Mortgagee  should  be  suffered  to  avail  himself  of  any 
Agreement  to  avoid  accounting  at  the  full  value."  Finally,  the  Lord 
Chancellor  feels  himself  bound  by  previous  decisions  of  the  Court  to  de- 
clare "that  a  Lease  granted  in  Consideration  of  a  Loan  of  money  cannot, 
on  principles  of  Public  Policy,  be  supported." 

An  agreement  that  a  mortgagee  shall  enter  into  possession  of  lands  of  the 
mortgagor  at  a  fair  rent,  in  discharge  of  the  debt — to  which  Lord  Redes- 
dale, in  another  case,1  had  objected — cannot  (the  Lord  Chancellor  held) 
be  against  public  policy  or  work  a  private  injury  ;  and  is  therefore  an  excep- 
tion to  the  rule  that  a  mortgagee  in  possession  must  account  for  the  full 
value  of  the  lands.  The  lease  of  17S4  was  therefore  upheld,  but  that  of 
17S7,  "which  on  the  face  of  it  is  an  undervalue,"  was  held  to  be  imposed 
by  the  undue  influence  of  the  creditor,  and  O'Dea  was  therefore  required 
from  that  date  to  account  in  full  for  rents  and  profits  received,  which  were 
to  be  set  against  interest  and  principal,  and  the  balance  struck,  the  mort- 
gagee being  deprived  of  his  costs  on  the  ground  of  the  fraudulent  nature  of 
the  1797  agreement 

The  counsel  arguing  before  Lord  Redesdale  say  "  that  though  the  rule 
collected  from  the  Statute  of  Usury  'that  no  advantage,  directly  or  in- 
directly, above  legal  interest  should  be  gained,'  yet  it  might  be  carried  too 
far  if  applied  to  every  case  of  a  lease  granted  at  the  same  time  that  a  loan 
of  money  was  obtained."  While  the  Lord  Chancellor  comments:  "It 
1   Browne:.  O'Dea.      1.  Sch.  and  Lcf.  II  v 


42  2  APPENDICES. 

would  perhaps  be  a  good  rule  to  be  generally  observed,  that  a  transaction 
of  this  kind  (the  renewal  of  a  lease  fur  a  lunger  term  at  the  same  rent  or 
with  additional  advantages;  is  not  to  make  part  of  a  transaction  respecting 
the  loan  of  money,  because  the  person  borrowing  under  such  circumstances 
is  not  a  free  agent.'"''  Similarly  in  another  case1  Lord  Redesdale  says  :  •'  I 
never  can  suffer  the  loan  of  money  to  be  any  inducement  in  a  transaction 
of  this  kind  :  I  do  not  mean  advancing  money  by  way  of  fine  or  the  like. 
but  when  it  is  a  distinct  loan  of  money  to  a  distressed  man,  for  which 
security  is  to  be  taken  and  he  is  still  to  continue  a  debtor  for  it.;!  "It  is 
against  public  policy  that  those  who  make  profit  on  their  money  without 
hazard,  should  have  as  large  a  profit  as  those  who  employ  it  in  trade  and 
manufactures,  which  are  hazardous  undertakings.''  The  upshot  being  that 
the  leases  granted  (by  a  spendthrift  to  a  speculative,  moneydending  brother- 
in-law)  are  cancelled. 

In  vet  another  Irish  case-  the  plaintiff,  who  was  then  very  much  pressed 
for  money,  "  declared  he  would  not  grant  a  lease  to  any  person  who  would 
not  accommodate  him  with  a  sum  of  money."  The  lease  was  set  aside. 
JSut  an  under  lessee  bona  fide  and  not  concerned  in  the  transaction  of  the 
loan  remained  undisturbed. 

The  Irish  courts  seem  to  have  had  a  latent  conviction  that  freedom  of 
contract  between  landlord  and  tenant  or  between  debtor  and  creditor  was 
in  tiie  nature  of  things  impossible.  If  the  capitalist  dictated  the  terms 
upon  which  he  would  lease  the  lands,  the  agreement  was  void  because  the 
power  of  the  purse  was  irresistible  ;  and  even  if  the  landowner  insisted  upon 
a  money  advance  in  consideration  of  the  lease,  it  was  void  also,  as  still 
tending  to  his  own  impoverishment.  "Where  such  agreements  stand  unim- 
peached.  we  find  either  that  the  two  parties  are — as  a  matter  of  fact— 
equally  matched,  like  the  trader  and  the  agriculturist  in  babylonia,  or  that 
the  political  superiority  of  the  one  (like  the  Xair  landlord)  counterbalances 
the  financial  superiority  of  the  other  {e.g.  the  Mapilla  tenant).  The  usuri- 
ous tenant  creditor  of  the  O'l  )ea  type  only  takes  possession  in  order  to 
subdet  at  an  advance,  not  to  cultivate  himself. 

A  lease  granted  at  the  time  of  a  loan,  containing  a  clause  empowering 
the  tenant  to  retain  a  portion  of  the  yearly  rent  till  the  money  was  repaid, 
(without  interest)  was  not  upset.1'  The  precedent  quoted  was  a  case  where 
the  defendant  was  indicted  tor  usury  in  taking  more  than  legal  interest 
by  getting  a  beneficial  lease.  Hale  (C.  J.),  before  whom  it  was  tried,  said, 
"that  if  any  other  security  for  the  payment  of  the  money  had  been  taken. 
or  that  by  any  collateral  agreement  it  were  to  be  repaid,  and  all  this  a  con- 
trivance to  avoid  tiie  statute,  it  would  be  usury/'  Cases  of  this  sort  had 
practically  ceased  to  come  before  tiie  English  courts,  while  still  frequent  in 
Ireland;  where  also  we  inert  with  an  example  of  a  loan  in  the  form  of  an 
advam  e  of  rent.  ;      Tiie  am  aint  of  two  year.-'  rent  was  paid   down   and  a 

:    I  hew  -.    I',  .v.  i  r.      I.  Sch.  and  I.ef.   li>2. 
y     .    I i  ■. in.      [.  S   ::.  an  1  I. ■■;'.  310. 
:'   I'rior  r.   I  >  un:  iiv.      I.   Bali  ami  Beattv.  27. 


APPEXDICES.  423 

lease  granted  for  two  years  at  $s.  a  year,  and  then  another  lease  for  41  years 
at  the  rent  contemplated  in  the  advance  (i.e.  ^275),  the  interest  of  the  first 
advance  to  be  deducted  from  the  first  gale  of  rent  under  the  second  lease. 
Lord  Chancellor  Manners  said,  "The  Doctrine  of  lease  and  loan  appears 
to  me  to  have  been  carried  far  enough."  This  is  not  a  lease  in  considera- 
tion of  a  loan  ;  it  is  but  "  an  advance  of  rent  by  way  of  fine  or  foregift,"  and 
therefore  to  be  upheld. 

It  is  earnestly  to  be  wished  that  the  interrupted  translation  of  the  Irish 
laws  may  be  resumed,  and  we  should  then  perhaps  get  a  clue  as  to  the  steps 
by  which  the  Malabar  lease  in  consideration  of  a  loan  developed  out  of  the 
pure  Babylonian  antichresis.1  Meanwhile,  the  persistency  of  so  strongly 
specialized  an  institution  within  narrow  and  definite  limits  certainly  gives  a 
presumption  in  favour  of  its  having  spread  along  with  men  of  a  particular 
stock  or  race.  And  from  this  point  of  view  the  Welsh  mortgage  and  the 
Irish  lease  in  consideration  of  a  loan  may  be  taken  as  an  argument  for  the 
importance  of  an  Iberian  or  other  equally  archaic  element  in  the  popula- 
tion of  the  British  Isles. 

I  am  indebted  to  the  kindness  of  Sir  Charles  Elton  for  nearly  all  the 
above  references. 

1  It  2s  perhaps  a.  question  whether  the  taurcrec  or  small  subsidy,  called  in  the  case  of 
inferior  tenants  raith  or  waives,  given  by  the  superior  to  his  dependant,  had  anything  to 
do  with  the  habit  of  regarding  loans  and  leases  as  exchangeable  values.  But  there  is  at 
leasl  nothing  paradoxical  in  the  somewhat  strange  attempt  to  interpret  Chinese  antiquities 
by  Irish  analogies,  when,  in  addition  to  minor  parallels,  we  find  the  same  faith  in  the 
vicarious  efficacy  of  royal  virtue  in  both  countries.  "It  was  the  belief  of  the  ancient 
Irish  that  when  a  good  and  just  king  ruled,  crops  were  plentiful,  cattle  were  fruitful,  the 
water  abounded  with  fish,  and  the  fruit  trees  had  to  be  propped  owing  to  the  weight  of 
their  produce.  Under  bad  kings  it  was  all  the  reverse."  (Joyce,  Short  History  of 
Ireland,  p.  64.) 


APPENDIX    D. 

Vol.  I.,  p.  259. 

Babylonian  Dynasties  and  Reigns. 

The  names,  dates,  and  order  of  the  kings  of  Babylon  are  being  con- 
stantly added  to  and  revised,  so  that  any  chronological  summary  is  liable 
to  become  antiquated  even  while  it  is  being  printed.  But  when  only 
approximate  accuracy  is  required,  or  attainable,  a  table  of  names  and 
dates,  which  the  reader  will  understand  to  be  purely  tentative  and  pro- 
visional, is  the  most  convenient  for  reference,  and  may  serve  instead  of  an 
historical  summary  to  those  who  are  not  specially  interested  in  the  history 
of  Mesopotamia.  The  basis  of  the  table  is  derived  from  the  great  lists, 
called  A  and  B  'ante.  p.  25S).  ot  Babylonian  kings,  supplemented  from 
other  sources  as  they  become  available,  and  with  round  numbers  substituted 
for  those  suggested  in  different  detailed  attempts  at  a  chronological  re- 
construction. 

First  Dynasty  of  Babel. 


Kin 


Reigned  A:  1  nit 

year.-.  n.C. 


Sumu-abi  15  ...  2400 

Sumula-ilu  35  ...  23$5 

Zabu             (iris  son)  14  ...  2550 

Apii-sin                ..  18  ...  2^0 

Sinmuballit          ..  30  ...  2318 

Chammuragash   ..  " ;  ...  2200 


1   Builder  of  a  temple,  restored  by  Sa- 
t       gasaltias,  and  again  by  Xabonidus. 


Otherwise  Hammurabi,  who  joined 
l  Chaldrea  to  Kardunias  (Baby- 
\  Ion),  and  succeeded  the  Elamite 
I  dynasty  of  1  .arsa. 
:  Invasion  of  Chalda:a  by  Kudurnan- 
(       chundi. 


Samsi-iluna  ..  35  ...  2233 

1  bishum  ..  25  ...  21  <)3 

A 1111  nidi  tana  ..  2^  ...  2173 

Ammi/ad .;__  a  ..  21  ...  2 1 4.S 

Samsuditan  1  ..  31  ...  212- 

Total,  Pleven  king-  of  Babel  reigning  304  yean 


APPENDICES. 


425 


Second  Dynasty  of  Sisku. 


King 

Reigned 
years. 

About 

B.C. 

Anma-an 

61       ... 

2  100 

Ki-annibi 

55 

2039 

Damki-ilanisu 

36     ... 

1983 

Iskibal 

15     ... 

1948 

Shu-ush-shi    (his 

brother) 

27     ... 

3933 

Gulkisar 

55 

1906 

Kirgalbar  (his  son) 

5°     •• 

1851 

Adarrakalamma 

(his  son) 

38     ... 

1S01 

Akarulanna 

26     ... 

1773 

Milamkurkuraa 

6     ... 

1746 

I-agamil 

9     ... 

1741 

One  syllable  or  other  of  nearly  all 
these  names  is  missing,  and  sup- 
plied conjecturally. 

The  earliest  known  rulers  of  Assyria, 
the  patesi  Samsi-ramman,  son  of 
Belkap-kapu,  mentioned  by  Ram- 
man-nirari  III.,  and  Samsi-ram- 
man, son  of  Ismidagon,  mentioned 
by  Tiglath-pileser  I.  as  preceding 
him  by  700  years,  will  belong  to 
tins  period. 

Belbani,  son  of  Adasi,  king  of  As- 
syria, is  mentioned  by  Esarhaddon 
as  an  ancestor,  and  may  have 
flourished  towards  the  end  of  this 
dynasty,  when  the  Assyrian  princes 
probably  asserted  their  independ- 
ence. 


Total,  Eleven  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  Sisku  reigning  368  years.1 


King 

Kan  dish 

Agum-amir  (his  son)   2 

Agu-ashi  2 

Ush-shi 

Adumilik 

Urzigurubar 

Asrukakrime 


Third  Kassite  Dynasty. 

Reigned 
years. 

16 


About 

B.C. 

!73° 
1 7 16 

1694 

1671 


One  inscription  of  this  king  exists. 


?i6oo      Eeft  important  inscriptions. 


After  this  the  order  of  the  reigns  becomes  uncertain,  the  relative  position 
of  only  half  a  dozen  or  so  together  being  agreed  upon.  Some  of  the 
blanks  may  perhaps  be  filled  in  by  the  following  names,  contained  in  the 
bi-lingual  list  of  royal  names  :  Ulam-buriash,  Kara-bil,  Ulam-charbi,  Mili- 
chali,  Mili-shibarru,  Mili-sach,  Nimgirabi,  Nimgirabi-sach,  Nimgirabi- 
buriash,  Kara-sach,  Nazi-shishu  and  Nazi-buriash  ;  but  this  is  only  a  con- 
jecture. The  three  following  columns  give  the  names  and  dates  in  the 
order  suggested  respectively  by  Hommel,  Winckler,  and  Hilprecht,  the 
latter  of  whom  has  not  given  all  the  grounds  for  his  suggestions,  which 
therefore  do  not  appear  more  convincing  that  those  of  his  predecessors. 

1  The  following  are  the  names  of  five  kings  and  a  queen  who  may  have  reigned  towards 
the  beginning  oi  the  Second  Dynasty:  Urdamu,  Babbaruru,  LTlugala,  Urbabbar,  Lugal- 
girinna  (or  Sargon),  and  Azag-bau,  the  queen. 


426 


APPENDICES. 


Hommel  (p.  170)  leaves  the  following  kings  unplaced 


Reigned 

years. 


About 
B.C. 


Called  the  "unequalled"  by  a  dis- 
tant   descendant,     and    said    by 

Burnaburias  II.  to  have  received 

Ivuncral/u  I.  ...  -  . 

°.       .  presents  of  gold  Irom  an  Egyptian 

Nmash-shishu  ...  ,  •       ,n,,     .£  TTT  ,  . 

.     ,  king  (  Ihothmes   III.)  (B.C.  i^ov 

C  lam-bunash  ...  ,  °  •  „        ,    XT  0      .  c 

.  ^      i449>  Records,  X.S.  vi.  p.  148). 

Nazi-Maraddash 

Mili-shishu 

Burnaburias  I. 

Kara-inlil 
Sharbi-shishu  (his  son) 

After  these  the  order  of  six  reigns  is  clear  from  the  Tell-el-Amarna  letters 

and  other  sources. 

,-.  Reirnied  About 

J\in'r  & 

h  years.  B.C. 

(  Treats  with  Assyrian  king  Assur-bil- 

nishe-shu,   and   corresponds   with 

Amenophis  III. 

Treats  with  Assyrian  Busurusur,  and 

corresponds  with  Amenhotep  IV. 

So  does   "  Assur-yubalidh,"  king 


Karaindas 


( 


Burnaburias  (?)  II. 

(his  son) 


Kara-chardas 

Xazi-bugash 

Kurigalzu  the  Less 

Xazi-maraddash  II.  ('. 
Ivaraburias 


•hainrni  1? 
Kudur-bu 


of  Assyria,  mentioning  his  father 
V  Assur-nadin-ahi.1 
/  The  son  of  the  daughter  of  the 
'  Assyrian  king,  Assuruballit,  re- 
J  volted  against  and  slew  his  pre- 
decessor. 
(  Contemporary  of  Assyrian  king 
^v0  1       Bilnirari,  son  of  Assuruballit. 

r  Contemporary     of      Assyrian     king 
135°  •        Ramman-nirari,  whose  inscription 
v.       survives. 

C  Contemporary  of  Shalmaneser  I.:  a 
19  '        seal   of  latter's   son,    Tiglat-adar, 
carried  off  to  Babylon. 
,'ti  I.  and  Rameses  II.  (B.C.    1 34S- 
1297  ■         ijSn  receive  tribute   from   most 
v       countries   west  of  the  Euphrates. 
1  -  7 > 
1  -  5  4 


L 

(s 


1  : ; : 
A'i).u:i; 


Ta'  lets  in  the  Gi/di  Mi 


APPENDICES. 


427 


King 

Reigned 
years. 

About 
11.  c. 

Shagasaltiash 

<3      •• 

1  246 

Bil-til     .  .(his  son) 

8      .. 

1253 

Bilnadinshumi 

I  :',         .  • 

1225 

Kara(?)charbi 

ii     .. 

1224 

Ramman-nadin- 

shumi 

6     .. 

1  222 

Ramman-nadin-ahi 

3°     •• 

1216 

Mili-shishu 

IS      •• 

1  186 

Marduk-apal-iddin 

Zamam-shuma-iddin 
Bill-shuma-(iddin  ?) 


IiqS 


J157 


f  An  inscription  of  his,  700  years  old, 
I       found  by  Nabonidus. 


f  Defeated  his  Assyrian  contemporary 
(       Belkudurosor  and   Nindarpileser. 

(  A  grant  of  land  by  him  contains   re- 
'        ferences    to    the     "unequalled" 
'       Kurigalzu  and  Irba-marduk. 
C  At  war   with    Assurdanan,  king   of 
I       Assyria. 


Total,  36   kings  of  Kossrean  (?)  dynasty  reigning  376  years. 


The  lists  of  Winckler  and  Hilprecht  follow  in  parallel  columns. 


,,.                Re 

y 

gned 
:ars. 

About 

B.C. 

T,-                   Reigned 

King                     & 
&                  years. 

About 
B.C. 

Gandis 

J5       • 

•      i729— 17I3 

Ramman-mushesi 

..      1442 

A  M 

Kallima(?)sin 

1422 

Gujashi 

Kudur-turgu 

..      1407 

Ushshi 

Shagashalti- 

Adu-metash 

buriash 

•■      I392 

Tashi-gurumash 

. 

Kurigalzu  I.,  son 

*      *      * 

of  Kadashman- 

Karaindas 

kharbe 

■•      1372 

El?... 

Kara-indash 

Kurigalzu  I. 

(?his  elder  son) 

•■      1347 

Burnaburias 

Burnaburiash  (?  his 

Karachardash 

younger  son) 

..       1342 

Xazibugash 

Kara-khardash,  son 

Kurigalzu  II. 

of  Kara-indash 

••       1317 

*  *  ■* 

Xazibugash 

•■       I3°7 

*  *  * 

6      . 

Kurigalzu  II.,  son 

Shagashal. .. 

J3      • 

of  Burnaburiash 

..      1306 

Kashbe 

Nazi-maruttash, 

(Phis  son) 

8     . 

his  son 

1284 

Belshumiddin 

1 1      . 

Khadashman-turgu, 

Karacharbe 

i|     . 

his  son 

■■      i-5  7 

Ramman-shum 

Kadashman-buriash, 

iddin 

6      . 

his  son 

..      1240 

428  APPENDICES. 

...  Reigned  About  ,-■  Reigned  About 

Kin"  =>  Kni'r  °  „  _ 

&  years.  B.C.  a  years.  B.C. 

Ramman-shum-  Isamme ti  ...      1238 

usur  3c     ...  Shagashalti- 

shuriash  ...      1232 

Bibi-iashu,  his  son  ...     1219 

Bel-shum-iddina   I.  ...      1210 

Khadashman- 

kharbe  ...     1209 

Ramman-shum- 

iddina  ...      1207 

Ramman-shum- 

usur  ...      1 20 1 

Mil-shikku,  his 

son  15      ...      1  1 7 1 

Marduk-abal- 

i  Idina,   his 

son  13      ...      1 156 

Zamam-shum- 

iddina  1      ...      1143 

Bel-shum- 
iddina  II.  3       1 142-1 140 

In  the  last  list  the  date  of  Kurigalzu  is  too  late  to  agree  with  his 
Egyptian  correspondent  ;  but  as  fresh  names  are  added  to  the  lists,  fresh 
clues  as  to  the  order  of  the  kings  are  discovered  also,  and  there  are  so 
many  cases  in  which  the  lists  give  the  duration  of  a  reign  without  any 
other  particulars,  that  the  chronology  would  be  much  more  complete  than 
that  of  Egypt,  if  only  the  names  and  order  were  completed. 


Fourth   Dynasty  of  Past. 


Kin- 
Ma  rduk. 


deigned 

a;  iut 

years. 

B.C. 

17       .. 

I  I  50 

6     .. 

•      ^33 

1  At     war     with     Assurisi,    kino;     of 

Nabuctiodorosor  I.                                  '  a 

1  Assyria,  grandson  ot  Assurdanan. 
Belnadinaplu 

,  According    to    Senacherib,     carried 

Marduk-nadin-ahi  ?    22      ...    ?  112-    !  (,it"   Assyrian    gods     to     Babylon. 

[  j  j  ,  j  Defeated  by  Tiglath-pileser,  son 

I  of  Assurisi,    the   first  great   con- 

(  (juering  Assyrian  king. 


1  1 


Made   peace  with  Assurbelkala,  son 


M   rduk     ■  ikullat        1  ;     ...      1  10, 

0  -1    1       of   1  lglath-pileser 


APPENDICES.  429 

,..  Reigned         About 

Ring 

&  years.  B.C. 

r  Was  made  king  by  a  revolution,  and 

r,  1    •  1  r  \       married  the  daughter  of  Assurbel- 

Ramman-aplu-iddm  J  ° 

,       kala,    who    is    succeeded    by   ins 

v      brother,  Samsi-ramman  III. 

Marduk-zer 

Nabu-shum 

Total,  Eleven  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  Pasi  reigning  72^,  years. 


Fifth  Dvxastv  of  Babylon. 

...  Reigned  About 

Ring  & 

tt  years.  B.C. 

,     ,  •  ,  t    \        r>  o     C  Member  of  a  southern  dynastv  "of 

Sim-mash-shi-(chu)      18     ...     iobo  -  7 

(.       Damik-marduk.' 

months. 

Iamu-kin-sumi  5     ...      1062      A  "  son  of  Hasmar." 

T-  vi-  /-1   The     Babylonian    chronicle    makes 

Kassu-nadin-ahi  3      ...      1062  ,'        ,  .         . J     , 

I       him  reign  6  years. 

Total,  Three  kings  of  the  Sea  Country  reigning  21  years  and  6  months. 


Sixth  Dynasty  of   Bazi. 

-,-.  Reigned  About 

Km"  °  ,,  ,. 

5  years.  B.C. 

Iulbar-shakin-shumi     17      ...  1060      A  "  son  of  Bazi." 

Xindar-kudorosor  3       ..  1043 

mi  mths. 

Amil-shukamuna  3      ..•  1040 

Total,  Three  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  the  House  of  Bazi  reigning 
20  years  and  3  months. 


Seventh  Dynasty. 

...  Reigned  About 

Ring 

3  years.  B.C. 

An  Elamite  6         .     1040 


43o  APPENDICES. 

Eighth   Dynasty  or'   Bab 


Kir.!' 


Reigned  About 

years.  li.c 


13     ...      1040      (Kingdom  of  Israel  founded.) 

ii.' mths.  days. 

=S       *      *  6  12  ...  I  02  I 

-  -  *  Assur-nadin-ahi,  king  of  Assyria. 

Tiglath-pileser  II.,  king  of  Assyria. 
Shishak,    king    of    Kgypt,    founded 

22nd  Dynasty,  and  invaded  Israel, 

circ.  920. 

-  *  -  Assurdanan  II.,  king  of  Assyria. 

(  Defeated  by  Ramman-nirari  II.   of 
Samas-mudammik  ,       Assyria   on 

/  Defeated  by  Ramman-nirari    II.  of 

Xabu-sumiskun                               900  -.  Assyria,  91  1,  who  is  suceeeded  by 

(  Tuklet-adar,  910, 

I  and    he   by    Assur-nasir-pal,  author 

I  of  inscriptions,  8S3. 

years.                       |  Made  treaties  with  Shalmaneser  II., 

Xabu-pal-iddin          ?3i      ...       S79  <  860,    who  assists    Marduk-nadin- 

(  sum  against  his  rival. 
Manlnk-na  din-sum 

(his  son)  ...        853 

Marduk-belusati  ") 

(his  brother  1  j 

r  Contemporary     of     Samsi-ramman, 

Marduk-balat-suikbi            ...       812  ■  whose    4th    campaign,    825,    was 

(  against  him. 

I   Deposed  by    Ramman-nirari,   812- 
?  Bau  ahi-iddin  before  78^  ",        -q,, 

Total.  Thirteen  (or  Thirty-one;  kings  of  unknown  dynasty  reigning 

*  *  *  years. 

Xinth   Dynasty  of  Bauki,. 

(At  this  point  the  Babylonian  list  of  kings  and  the  data  of  the  Babylonian 
chronicle  begin,  and  can  be  compared  with  the  Ptolemaic  canon.) 
...  U(  i"neil         About 

KlllL  '  ,,  ,. 

vents.  i:.(  . 

Xabu-shum 15      ...      762      Assur-nirari,  king  of  Assyria         753 

Xabonassar  14      ...      747       Tiglath-pileser,  king  of  Assyria  745 

Xabti-nadhw.iri  1  his 

son)  -1      ...      733  1  ,  •  • 

month,  davs.  I    Jvl|lt('  m  an  insurrection. 

Xabu-shum-ukin      1       12 

Total,  Four  kings  of  the  dynasty  of  Babel  reigning  31  years. 


Who  revolted. 


APPENDICES. 


43* 


T,.  Reicrned        About 

rt  years.  B.C. 

Ukinzir,  of  the  house 

of  Shashi  3 

Pulu  became  king  of 

Babylon  2 

Ululai,  of  the  house 

of  Tinu  5 

Merodach  Baladan,  of 

the  Sea  Dynasty        12 


jargon  (of  Assyria) 


Samas-sum-ukin,  king 

of  Babylon  20 

Kandal  (Assurbanipal )  22 

Xabopolassar  2 1 


Nebuchadnezzar 


43 


731       under  his  personal  name, 

725  and  was  succeeded  by 
I  called     Shalmaneser     IV.      by    the 

726  1       Assyrians. 
(  Contemporary    of   Sargon,    king    of 

721    (        Assyria. 

Murdered  and  succeeded  by  Se- 
nacherib,  whose  authority  was 
not  long  recognised  in  Babylon  ; 
but   he  was  able  afterwards,  705, 

709  <^  to  appoint  one  of  his  sons  to  be 
viceroy  there,  who  fell  into  the 
hands  of  an  Elamite  foe.  Ulti- 
mately Sennacherib  recovered  the 
throne  for  himself,  688. 


Senacherib,  of  the 

house  of  Habigal  2      ...      704 

months. 

Marduk-zakir-shumi  1 

Merodach-baladan  6 

years. 
Bil-ipush,  dynasty  of 

Babel  3      ...     702 
Assur-nadin-sum, 

dynasty  of  Habigal  6      ...      699 

Nirgal-ushizib  r      ...     693 
Mushizib-marduk, 

dynasty  of  Babel  4 
Senacherib,  king  of 

Assyria  S 

Esarhaddon  1  \ 


692 

r  reig 
68 S  I       a; 


reigned  over  Babylon  and  Assyria, 
and  was  succeeded  by  his  sons, 
681  and  Assurbanipal,  king  of  Assyria, 
66S.  who  was  succeeded  in 
Assyria  by  his  sons,  Belsumiskun 
and  Assur-itilani,  under  whom 
Babylon  revolted,  626. 

668 
647 

Contemporary  of  Sinsar-iskun  ?  the 
Sarakus  of  Berosus,  and  last  king 
of  Assyria,  under  whom  Nineveh 
fell,  606. 


4^2  aPPEXDICES. 


King 

Reigned 

years. 

About 

Kvil-Merodach 

2 

.       562 

Xeriglissar 

4       •■ 
months. 

■     56° 

J.abashi-marduk 

9      •• 

years. 

-     55r> 

Xabonidus 

17       .. 

555 

Uelsazar  (his  son) 

539 

Taken  prisoner  by  Cyrus,  539. 
(  Cyrus   welcomed  by  the   people 
(       Babylon. 

Twenty-two  kings  of  different  Houses  reigning  194  years. 


APPENDIX    E. 

Vol.  i.,  p.  337. 

Metric  Systems  of  Babylonia  and  Egypt. 

One  of  the  first  discoveries  arising  from  the  excavations  of  Telloh  was 
that  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  foot  rule  were  on  the  same  scale.  A 
statue  of  Gudea  bears  upon  its  knee  a  graduated  cubit  measure  J  which 
was  conclusive  on  the  subject.  Numismatists  and  metrologists  before  this 
time  had  been  haunted  by  recurring  resemblances  between  the  coins  and 
measures  of  the  West  and  some  common  standard,  from  whence  it 
seemed  that  they  must  all  be  traced,  while  yet  it  did  not  accord  with  the 
established  views  of  ancient  history  to  suppose  a  direct  borrowing  in  such 
important  matters  from  either  Egypt  or  Babylonia.  Still  less  would  it 
have  occurred  to  any  one  to  imagine  that  the  weights,  coins,  and  measures 
of  the  old  world  were  all  derived  from  a  unit,  fixed  in  the  highly  artificial 
and  scientific  way  adopted  by  the  French  savants  who,  in  1799,  elaborated 
the  modern  metric  system.  They  took  as  their  standard  (a  kilogramme) 
the  weight,  in  vacuo,  of  a  cubic  decimetre  of  distilled  water,  and  the  cor- 
responding unit  of  length  was  supplied  by  that  of  one  side  of  the  cube,  the 
length  of  the  metre  having  been  previously  fixed  by  an  astronomical 
standard. 

Brandis  pointed  out,  nearly  a  generation  ago,  that  the  weight  of  the 
Babylonian  cubic  foot  of  water  was  identical  with  that  of  the  Babylonian 
talent ;  -  and  valuable  papers  by  L)r.  Brugsch  have  now3  shown  it  to  be 
possible  that  the  French  men  of  science  were  forestalled  in  the  use  of  their 
method  by  the  Babylonian  and  Egyptian  originators  of  the  system  bor- 
rowed by  the  Greeks  and  Romans.1 

1    Mr.  Flinders  Petrie  gives  its  exact  length  at  20^  inches. 

-  Das  Mii hz-  .Mass-  unci  Geicichts-tcesen  in  Vorder  Asien,  bis  auf  Alexander  der 
Grossen.      J.   Brandis,   1S66,  p.  37. 

3  Zeitschrift  f.  .•/:';-.  Spraelie  u.  Altherthumskunde.  May  and  Sept.,  1S89.  Die  Liisung 
iL  r  altagyptischm  Miinzfrage. 

1  Mr.  Ridgeway,  in  his  recent  instructive  work,  The  Origin  of  Metallic  Currency  and 
Weight  Standards,  objects  a  priori  to  the  possibility  of  a  primitive  people  using  so 
elaborate  and  scientific  a  method.  But  wc  must  remember  that  it  is  easier,  if  less 
scientific,  to  measure  than  to  weigh  ;  and  the  use  of  rectangular  water  tanks  would  make 
it  easy  to  take  the  surface  measure  of  a  receptacle  the  capacity  of  which  had  been  ascer- 
tained by  filling.  He  himself  points  out  that  in  Homer  vessels  of  silver  are  valued,  not 
by  weight  but  by  size,  according  to  what  they  will  hold.  The  use  of  seed  or  grain,  to 
determine  the  smallest  weights,  is  that  they  lend  themselves  to  division,  either  for  weigh- 
ing or  measuring,  so  that  any  desired  fraction  of  the  larger  weights,  previously  fixed,  can 
be  ascertained  and  expressed  in  grains.  Hultsch  s  view,  that  the  longer  measure  answer- 
ing to  the  Greek  stadium  was  first  fixed  by  the  distance  a  man  traversed  during  the 
S]  ace  of  two  minutes,  or  the  length  of  one  diameter  on  the  sun's  path,  does  not  neces- 
sarily exclude  the  other  method  for  connecting  the  weight  and  length  standards. 

VOL.    II.  —  P  C.  :';  !      [■' 


434  APPENDICES. 

The  cubic  root  of  any  number,  giving  the  weight  in  grammes  of  a  cube 
of  liquid,  will  give  the  linear  measure  ;  and  so,  if  the  standard  of  weight  is 
known,  that  of  length  can  be  inferred.  The  Roman  amphora,  for  in- 
stance, was  required  to  weigh  So  lbs.  =  26,196  grs.:  but  while  this  fact  was 
known,  the  length  of  the  Roman  foot  had  been  matter  of  debate.  Taking 
the  mass  of  the  contents  of  an  amphora  to  be  a  cube,  the  length  of  the 
foot  corresponding  to  the  above  weight  is  shown  to  be  0*29699  metres,  or 
a  trifle  more  than  the  highest  estimate  otherwise  arrived  at. 

Before  tracing  farther  the  relations  between  the  coins  and  measures  of 
the  East  and  West,  as  interpreted  by  this  key,,  the  divisions  of  time,  which 
have  been  not  less  extensively  borrowed,  and  the  native  system  of  numera- 
tion, must  be  described. 

1. — Number  and  Time. 

In  the  Babylonia  of  history  two  parallel  systems  of  numeration  existed, 
the  sexagesimal  of  Turanian  or  Sumerian  origin,  and  the  decimal  adopted 
by  the  purely  Semitic  stocks.      In    the   cuneiforms,  the   same    notation   is 

w  YYY  ,  . 

used  tor  both  up  to  60:    I   =  1  ;  YYY  =  4:    YYY  =  9  ;    <  =  10  :  <s  =  20. 

«<  Y  Y  r  ,.       V  J      r         r  /YY 

57   is   written  ^^  yyY  >   atter  tnis    1    stands  for  60 ;  S  j   I    =61  ;    114   is 

mace  up  of  60,  50,  and  4:   I    I    =120;   143   is  made  up  of  2  (sixties)  and 

23,  and    so   on  up   to   3,599,  which   is   equivalent   to    59   sixties  and   59. 
After  this  602  or  3,600  =  unity,  so  that  4.096.  for  instance,  is  made  up   ot 

one  say  (3,600).  S  sosses  (480)  and  16,  written    Y vvWyJ v  -1 

Tables  of  the  squares  and  cubes  of  different  numbers  have  been  found. 
and  the  convenience  of  the  system  becomes  manifest  as  the  higher  num- 
bers are  reached  ;  the  cube,  for  instance,  of  32  is  written  with  three  figures, 
9.6.S.  (3,600  x  9  =  32,4004-60  -<  6  =  360  4-  S  =  32.768;.  which  with  the  Arabii 
notati  »n  requires  five  figures. 

In  Assyria,  60  is  called  sussu,  the  sossos  of  Berosus:  60c,  niru.  or  neros: 
and  3.600,  saru.  or  saros.     The  decimal  system  consists  of  figures  only, 

but  6c  may  be  written   either  ^<^    or  p:   ico   is    Y>.    i.ece   is   (  Y  >• , 

and  n  turally  the  word  for  hundred  is  Semitic.     The  cycle  of  6c   and  6cc 
year.-,  b  common  to  1'igours,  Mongols,  and  Mantchus  ;  the  Chinese  h; 
cycle   of    6c    days,  as  web  as  one  i  f   6c    solar   years   of  365  \    days    e: 
According   to   one   account.  the\   divided   the   year  into   four   seas 
each   season   into   six    parts,  giving  24  divisions  (answering  to  die  24  hours 
ot   the  day)  to  the   year.      Considerable  traces  of  die   sexagesimal    system 

.-:'.•<"•■.     F.  I.--    :-!i    ■  ■    in-v.  -  .  151  ■■■ 
'  (''-  •/:   '  .'  .'  •■'.;.-;     .      ■.    i  L:  A .:    A.  '  I      -     i\>2\  ;     .    .  ;•  .   1  '2.      N\>- 


APPENDICES.  435 

remain  among  the  Dravidian  population  of  Malabar,  and  the  islanders  of 
Minicoy  ;  otherwise  Turanian  languages  in  general  are  quite  free  from  the 
elaborate  numerical  ideas  of  the  men  of  Sumer  and  Akkad. 

In  them,  for  instance,  20,  40,  etc.,  are  only  2  tens,  4  tens,  and  so  on  ;  in 
Akkadian  20  is  kasbu,  and  gives  its  name  to  measures  forming  \  of  the 
standard  60  :  so  40  is  Assyrianized  into  as,  a  weight  =  f-g  of  a  mina  ;  and 
in  fact  the  same  sign  is  used  for  the  fraction  \  and  for  the  number  40, 
which  is  two-thirds  of  60.  There  are  two  words  for  50,  derived  from 
five  tens  and  from  live-sixths,  and  from  the  latter  the  primitive  word,  gig, 
for  10  is  guessed  at.  Soss  is  Assyrian,  but  perhaps  derived  from  us  us  = 
60  x  60.  Niru  translates  the  Akkadian  word.  There  are  separate  signs 
for  all  the  following  fractions:  7.vj,  -J-g,  %%,  ■§-■},  l''„  -;][},  i.e.  TV,  \,  \,  I,  \  an<^ 
{:-,  though  :V,  \,  and  |  alone  have  proper  names.  The  advantage  of  the 
sexagesimal  system  is  that  60  has  n  factors  (1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  10,  12,  15, 
20,  30),  while  10  has  only  3,  and  100  only  8;  raised  to  the  second  power 
60  will  divide  by  9,  and  at  the  third  power  also  by  S,  but  the  practical 
conveniences  arising  hence  could  scarcely  have  been  divined  a  priori. 

The  question  therefore  presents  itself,  Was  this  remarkable  invention 
suggested  by  another  achievement  of  the  same  people,  the  division  of  the 
equator  into  degrees  and  the  thence  resulting  measurements  of  time  ? 
The  arguments  of  Letronne  and  Brandis  on  this  subject  have  lost  none  of 
their  force  by  the  discoveries  which  now  cause  this  claim  to  be  made  for 
the  inhabitants  of  the  same  country  2,000  years  or  more  before  the  earliest 
date  dreamt  of  by  them.  The  classical  tradition  on  the  subject  was  not 
very  clear:  Hipparchus  (150  B.C.)  is  supposed  to  have  introduced  to  the 
West  the  astronomical  wisdom  of  Babylonia,  which  was  popularized  by 
Ptolemy  300  years  later.  Letronne  quotes  Achilles  Tatius  (3rd  century 
A.D.)for  the  statement  that  "The  Chaldseans,  whose  researches  were  minutely 
exact,  ventured  to  determine  the  course  and  the  hours  of  the  sun.  for 
they  divide  the  sun's  hours  on  the  day  of  equinox  into  30  limits,  during 
which  that  star  traverses  the  whole  expanse  of  the  sky  in  uniform  progress. 
So  that  the  30th  part  of  the  hour,  on  the  day  of  equinox  is  called  'a  limit 
of  the  course  of  the  sun.'  "  x 

Letronne  was  led  by  the  division  of  the  circle  into  720  stadii,  used  by 
Manilius,  who  was  not  an  astronomer,  to  infer  that  the  "limit :)  of  the  sun 
here  meant  its  diameter.  The  method  of  obtaining  this  standard  measure 
is  beautifully  simple,  but  it  may  be  doubted  whether  the  whole  after 
history  of  science  contains  anything  neater  or  more  elegant  in  the  way  of 
observation.  To  measure  one  diameter  of  the  sun  it  sufficed  to  note  the 
first  moment  of  it-  beginning  to  appear  above  the  horizon,  and  measure, 
or  rather  weigh,  the  water  which  dropped  from  a  vessel  between  that 
moment  and  the  time  when  the  whole  disc  had  appeared.  Then  by  com- 
paring the  water  of  one  diameter,  as  it  may  be  called,  with  that  which 
dropped  from  the  same  vessel  during  the  day  and  night,  it  was  ascertained 
that  the  path  of  the  sun  in  the  equator  was  exactly  720  diameters  Vms.'1 
f.'umal  Je    S.n m:  .  1S17,  p.  739.  :   Brandi?,  loc.  ■  '/'.,  p.   in. 


4;,o  APPEXD1CES. 

In  the  astronomical  tablets,  according  to  the  learned  work  of  FF.  Epping 
and  Strassmaier,1  tiie  day  is  not  divided,  as  commonly  supposed,  into  24 
hours,  but  into  6  periods,  each  subdivided  into  60,  making  360  parts,  like 
the  decrees  of  the  circle;  these  were  again  divided  by  60  and  by  60  again, 
giving  thus  periods  of  4  minutes,  4  seconds,  and  of  one-fifteenth  of  a 
second — divisions  which  might  be  thought  too  minute  to  serve  the  purpose 
of  any  one  but  an  astronomer,  though  they  are  not  unlike  those  used  in 
Malabar.- 

If  for  ordinary  purposes  the  day  was  divided  into  60  periods,  the 
•"double  hour/'  which  is  sometimes  mentioned,  would  be  4S  minutes 
long  and  correspond  roughly  to  the  modern  hour  of  60  minutes.  But 
where  there  was  already  some  tendency  towards  a  duodecimal  mode 
of  reckoning — and  the  division  of  the  year  into  12  months  suggests  this 
— it  was  obvious  to  divide  the  720  diameters  by  12,  and  subsequently, 
when  the  valuable  powers  of  the  number  60  had  been  ascertained,  to 
make  each  degree  of  the  circle  equal  2  diameters,  giving  360  in  all. 

There  is  no  reason  for  believing  the  Greek  division  of"  the  circle  into 
360  parts  to  be  ancient.  before  Hipparehus,  they  had  made  very  few 
observations,  and  might  have  borrowed  for  their  geometry  what  was  for 
them  an  arbitrary  division.  But,  in  fact.  Ptolemy  speaks  of  degrees  of 
which  360  make  two  right  angles,  and  of  those  of  which  360  make_/^wr' — a 
laxity  which  would  be  exactly  accounted  for,  if  the  division  of  the  equator 
into  720  sun's  diameters  alternated  with  that  of  the  abstract  circle  into  360 
degrees.  And.  under  these  circumstances,  we  can  have  little  doubt  that 
the  latter  was  derived  from  the  former. 

The  identification  of  stars  and  the  interpretation  of  astronomical  tablets 
present  greater  difficulties  than  the  most  obscure  contract  tablets,  while 
results  in  this  field,  even  when  attained,  are  less  intelligible  to  the  laity. 
The  latest  and  most  competent  workers  are  agreed  that  a  more  than  respect- 
ble  measure  of  astronomical  knowledge  had  really  been  attained.  The 
B  '  nians  iiad  fairly  accurate  tables  of  the  time-  of  New  Moon,  such  as 
1  u  i  only  be  calculated  by  very  laborious  methods,  tiil  within  the  last  icw 
years,  in  Kurope.  It  is  not  known  what  theory,  if  any,  they  held  respect- 
ing the  m  iti  ms  of  the  sun.  moon,  and  earth,  but  they  anticipated  eclipses 
-  nd  pi  netary  conjunctures  in  a  way  impossible  to  mere  empirics.  Under 
tiie  mythol'  ideal  phrases  "The  way  in  refcr<_n  :e  to  Anu  "  and  "  The  way 
in  reieren  e  '  1  be!.'  there  is  supposed  to  lurk  a  perception  of  the  distinc- 
tion between  the  pole  of  t'ne  equator  and  the  pole  of  the  ecliptic,  while 
the  ti  ■:  'a  of  (  Capricorn  is  further  denoted  by  "The  way  in  reference  to."  or 
wed  b\    I.  A'  ; 

They   were     <    itiainted,    as   M.    Oppert    ha-   shown,  with    the    period  or 
•  y  A-    '  ■:    2  j  ;    ■  .  .  i:h      [S    years   and    1  1    days),   called    utros.  after    wl 
ipses  oi  t    e  moon   repeat   themselves  approximately,  and  with  the  great 
A  oi   i.-c;   years  122.]?^   moonsi.  after  which  the  order  of  the  solar 

h-   ::<    /■'..'         >;  ;  .  2  Ant,;  vol.  i.  p.   ::;. 

/.         <  .     ■  '.  ;    ;  .    '    :       n,  Die  C     ■■>:  A    A    /.  Ini    :     ni<  >'.  \\  -   147      ■ 


APPENDICES.  437 

eclipses  is  repeated.  The  mythical  ages  of  Berosus  represent  twelve 
Sothic  periods  (of  1 46  r  years),  or  292  sosses — a  number  which,  reduced  to 
years,  reappears  in  the  Hebrew  chronology  as  the  period  between  the 
Deluge  and  the  birth  of  Abraham. 

The  mere  recognition  of  these  periods  does  not,  of  course,  throw  any 
light  upon  the  duration  of  Sumerian  history,  but,  as  in  the  chronology  of 
China,  the  position  of  the  constellations  gives  the  desired  clue.  The  signs 
of  the  Zodiac,  like  so  much  else,  date  from  the  first  inhabitants  of  Meso- 
potamia, and  some  of  them  can  be  confidently  identified.  The  Babylonian 
Zodiac  would  fall  in  suitably  as  to  the  position  of  the  sun  in  spring, 
summer,  and  autumn,  witli  a  division  of  the  heavens  made  between  five 
and  six  thousand  years  ago,1  so  that  its  invention  may  plausibly  be  assigned 
to  some  time  between  the  date  of  the  Creation,  according  to  Archbishop 
Ussher,  and  that  of  Sargon  of  Agade;  according  to  Xabonidus. 

The  first  month  of  the  Akkadian  calendar  is  called  "month  of  the  holy 
altar,''  at  which  a  ram  was  the  usual  object  of  sacrifice ;  the  second  month 
(Taurus)  is  that  of  "the  protecting  bull  ;  "  the  third  (Gemini),  "month  ot 
the  twins  :"  the  fourth  is  the  month  "  of  the  message  of  Istar  "  (?  Virgo). 
The  sign  for  the  eighth  month  is  perhaps  connected  with  the  legend  of  the 
scorpion-man  and  his  wife,  who  guard  a  fairy-land  with  jewelled  fruit  and 
beautiful  birds.  The  ninth  month  "  of  the  clouds,"  which  fly  like  an 
arrow  from  the  bow.  corresponds  to  the  sign  Sagittarius  ;  and  the  eleventh 
month  is  that  "of  the  curse  of  rain,"  or  Aquarius. 

According  to  the  Observations  of  Bel  there  are  twelve  of  these  months 
"for  the  year  of  360  days  of  which  their  number  is  recorded  in  full,"  and 
the  fifth  tablet  of  the  Creation  series  says:  "twelve  months  of  constella- 
tions by  threes  he  fixed."  '-  These  were  lunar  months,  and  every  two  or 
three  years  an  intercalary  month  was  inserted  to  keep  the  natural  and  the 
civil  year  together. 

The  Egyptian  calendar,  on  the  contrary,  ignores  the  lunar  months 
altogether,  and  made  the  civil  year  consist  of  365  days.  This  being  a 
quarter  of  a  day  too  little,  after  735  years  have  passed,  the  natural  and  the 
civil  year  are  just  six  months  out,  and  twice  that  period,  i.e.  1,461  years, 
has  to  pass  before  the  two  agree  again.  The  Egyptian  Sothic  period  began 
at  the  season  when  the  rising  of  the  dog  star  (Eg.  Sopet,  whence  Sothis) 
was  visible  in  the  east  at  sunrise.  This  date,  which  fell  at  Memphis  on 
July  20,  was  counted  as  the  beginning  of  the  year,  as  it  was  the  season  at 
which  the  Nile  began  to  rise. 

As  Meyer  points  out,;j  the  discrepancy  between  the  civil  and  the 
Sothic  year  would  not  vary  during  an  average  lifetime  by  as  much  as  a 
month,  so  that  no  very  practical  inconvenience  would  arise:  and  as  die 
duration  of  the  Sothic  period  was  known,  those  who  were  aware  of  the 
discrepancy  would  also  know  that   it  would   rectify  itself  in  time.      In  fact. 

1  I\  Jensen.  Di    Cosih    '  Lr  PlhP/l/rr  (1S90).  p.  320. 

2  \Y.  St.  ('hail  Boson  wen.  H>i!ish  Shtscicu  /.rc/iurs,  ii.  4. 

■;   (/'•      '. .  .'.  Althcrthiuiis  in  Eur.cidarstcHiiii'cn,  E^ypt,  p.  127  ft" 


43  S  APPENDICES. 

the  two  new  year's  days  were  regularly  celebrated.  The  priests  kept  an 
account  of  the  astronomical  year,  and  divided  the  Sothic  period  into  365 
intervals  of  four  years  each,  forming  as  it  were  one  day  of  the  great 
Sothic  year.  The  precessional  movement  of  the  star  caused  the  year 
fixed  by  the  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius  to  come  nearer  to  an  exact  365]  days 
than  the  true  solar  year;  but  this  is  an  accident,  though  it  leaves  the  Sothic 
period  at  1,46]  years,  when  the  solstices  would  give  a  cycle  of  1.506 
years. 

Special  signs  were  used  to  indicate  in  which  of  the  four  years  of  the 
Sothic  day  any  special  event  occurred.  There  is  an  inscription  of  Thothmes 
III.  giving  the  date  of  an  heliacal  rising  of  Sirius  which  would  place 
its  author  as  reigning  in  15S0  B.C.  :  and  a  still  earlier  record  of  the  same 
event  would  make  the  first  Sothic  period  begin  3192  B.C.,  and  the  others 
1728  and  271  b.c.  respectively,  which  is  409  years  apart  from  the  date 
given  by  Censorinus  (writing  23S  a.d.) — a  discrepancy  which  Mr.  Lockyer 
explains  by  a  supposed  change  in  the  names  of  the  months,  which  were 
partly  significant,  and  so  ceased  to  be  appropriate  as  the  cycle  advanced. 
Another  calculation,  followed  by  Meyer,  however,  makes  the  coincidence 
of  the  two  new  year's  days  fab  in  the  years  136-139  a.d.,  i 325-1  ^22  B.C., 
27S5-2.  and  4246-4,  so  that  even  this  point  is  not  yet  irrevocably 
settled. 

Mr.  Norman  Lockyer's  interesting  contribution  to  the  problems  of 
Egyptian  antiquity  J  appeared  after  the  Egyptian  section  of  the  present 
work  was  in  type,  otherwise  the  light  which  he  throws  on  the  question  ot 
the  "Two  Crowns''  of  Upper  and  Tower  Egypt  should  have  been 
utilised  on  pp.  37,  38.  His  facts  are  also  of  importance  in  regard  to  the 
question,  at  what  point  the  founders  of  Egyptian  civilization  entered  the 
country.  The  orientation  of  the  Pyramids  has  lung  been  regarded  as  a 
proof  of  the  astronomical  attainments  of  their  builders,  and  the  only 
difficulty  in  the  way  of  tracing  the  orientation  of  Egyptian  temples  has 
been  caused  by  the  great  variety  of  the  directions  chosen.  Mr.  Lockyer 
lias  attempted  to  reduce  these  variations  to  groups,  with  one  very  import- 
ant result. 

The  solar  temples  of  Upper  Egypt  seem  to  be  connected  with  a  solsti- 
tial solar  cult.  At  Abydos.  the  direction  of  one  of  the  oldest  temple 
.<  mds  a]  .  rs  to  suit  a  temple  built  to  face  the  sun  setting  at  the  summer 
■-olstice  :  and  at  Thebes  there  are  remains  of  many  solar  solstitial  temples, 
including  Karnak  and  the  Memnonium.  The  great  temple  of  Amen  Ka 
at  Karn  ik  is  ;  rai  tii  ally  a  giant  telescope  600  yards  long  :  a  series  of  seven- 
teen to  eighteen  apertures  in  the  pylons  limit  the  light,  which  is  being 
conducted  into  the  -anctuary,  to  a  narrow  beam,  which  on  one  nigl 
the  year  would  stream  straight  through  the  temple.  Such  an  arrangement 
would  allow  oi  the  solstice  being  accurately  observed  by  a  hash  lasting 
t    two  minutes   while   the   orientation  of  the   temple   remained   exact. 

/    ■:  u  o/Astr  ,.    •■;. 


APPENDICES.  439 

And  in  this  way  the  exact  length  of  the  solar  year  might  be  ascertained  by 
observation. 

The  attention  of  the  learned  was  naturally  and  properly  directed  to  the 
observation  of  the  solstices,  since  the  knowledge  of  that  date  would  enable 
the  rise  of  the  river  to  be  predicted  and  prepared  for  ;  and  this  is  an  argu- 
ment for  regarding  the  solstitial  worship  as  of  native  Egyptian  origin.  The 
great  temple  mound  at  On  or  Heliopolis  faces  the  sun  in  mid  April  and 
mid  August,  so  is  connected  neither  with  solstitial  nor  equinoctial  obser- 
vations and  may  have  been  oriented  to  a  northern  star.  But  in  temples 
at  Memphis,  Tanis,  Sais,  Bubastis,  and  Gizeh,  in  fact  throughout  Lower 
Egypt,  the  orientation  is.  like  that  of  the  Pyramids  themselves,  to  sunrise  or 
sunset  at  the  equinox.  There  is  thus,  as  Mr.  Lockyer  observes,  '"'  a  fun- 
damental change  of  astronomical  thought,"'  x  and  the  difference  to  an 
astronomer  is  so  radical  as  to  suggest  a  probable  difference  of  race. 

Memphis,  the  Pyramids,  and  perhaps  other  towns  in  the  Delta  may  have 
been  built  by  men  who  worshipped  at  each  equinox  a  star  rising  in  the 
cast ;  but  the  solstitial  worship  found  at  Thebes  and  the  non-equinoctial 
worship  of  Heliopolis  are  presumably  older  than  the  equinoctial  worship 
of  Memphis.  This  may  have  been  introduced  more  directly  from  Baby- 
lonia, where  the  inundation  of  the  two  rivers  occurs  at  the  equinox  rather 
than  the  solstice.  And  there  is  thus  astronomical  as  well  as  etymological 
and  geographical  probability  in  favour  of  the  colonization  of  Lower  Egypt 
independently  from  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Sinaitic  Peninsula,  instead 
of  from  Upper  Egypt.  In  this  case  the  diorite  wrought  by  the  artists  of 
Gizeh  and  Lagash  will  have  come  from  the  same  quarries.  The  step 
Pyramids,  like  zigurrats,  are  an  obvious  link  between  Babylonia  and  Egypt, 
and  Mr.  Lockyer  believes  that  the  temple  of  Babylon  to  Ami  and  Bel 
must  have  been  oriented  to  the  north,  like  that  of  Memphis  to  Sutekh. 

If  the  solstitial  worship  of  Upper  Egypt  originated  in  the  Xile  valley,  the 
only  clue  to  the  derivation  of  its  followers  would  have  to  be  found  in  the 
star  worship  which  they  also  practised.  According  to  Mr.  Lockyer's  cal- 
culations, no  Sirian  temple  is  to  be  looked  for  in  Upper  Egypt  before  3200 
B.C.  ;  after  that  date  two  at  Karnak,  and  one  each  at  Denderah,  Der  el 
Baliari,  Uosche,  Xaga  and  Philae  are  enumerated,  and  seven  or  eight  other 
stars  are  suggested  as  likely  to  have  dictated  the  direction — and  still  more 
the  changes  in  direction — observable  in  adjacent  temples.  He  considers 
the  Egyptian  temples  to  show  that  a  Ursae  Majoris,  Apella,  Antares,  Phact, 
and  a  Centauri  "  were  carefully  observed,  some  of  them  as  early  as  5000 
B.C.,  the  others  between  4000  and  3000  B.C.  .  .  .  it  is  possible  that  at 
Edfu  and  Philae  the  star  Canopus  may  have  been  observed  as  early  as 
6400  B.C.'-  Calculations  of  the  same  kind  give  the  year  3700  B.C.  as  a 
possible  date  for  the  foundation  of  a  temple  at  Thebes.  But  the  author 
candidly  admits  that  it  has  seldom  been  possible  to  exclude  all  possible 
sources  of  error,  and  for  the  present  perhaps  there  is  more  to  inspire  hope 


P.  85. 


440  APPENDICES. 

than  faith  in  the  more  definite  of  the  conclusions  suggested.  Mr.  Lockyer 
does  not  seem  to  have  turned  his  attention  to  .Mr.  Dent's  observations, 
and  it  may  be  some  time  before  the  star  worship  of  the  primitive  inhabi- 
tants of  Arabia  can  be  sufficiently  understood  for  it  to  decide  whether  the 
settlers  of  Northern  Egypt  brought  their  astronomy  from  there.  The 
primitive  astronomy  of  the  Chinese  will  also  have  to  be  interrogated  afresh 
before  the  problems  of  Babylonia  can  be  either  solved  or  despaired  of.1 
It  may  possibly  also  be  worth  while  to  question  the  astrologers  and 
teachers  of  Malabar,  where  it  is  said  that  the  art  of  calculating  the  rising 
of  sun,  moon,  and  stars  is  still  a  part  of  primary  education,  and  v  here  it  is 
easily  possible  that  some  primitive  methods  and  traditions  may  have 
lingered  on.~ 

In  laying  the  foundations  of  an  Egyptian  temple  the  "  stretching  of  the 
cord  :'  in  the  desired  direction  was  the  first  and  most  important  part  of  the 
ceremony,  like  the  "determining  the  cardinal  points"  with  which  the 
Chinese  ruler  was  supposed  to  begin  the  foundation  of  any  new  city  or 
settlement.  In  two  cases  the  star  used  for  the  alignment  is  named,  viz. 
the  ak  of  the  Thigh  for  the  temple  of  Harbor  at  Dcnderah,  and  the  Thigl 
in  general  for  that  of  Edfu.  It  is  suggested  that  the  emerald  pillar  that 
shone  by  night,  in  the  temple  of  Herakles  at  Tyre,;)  was  illuminated  by  the 
star  to  which  it  was  built,  and  the  telescope  arrangement  already  described 
in  the  case  of  solar  temples  would  give  unsuspected  briilian<  y  to  the  lighi 
of  some  stars  in  the  Egyptian  climate. 

There  are  no  apparent  signs  of  artificial  light  having  been  used  in  dark 
tomb  chambers,  and  it  is  suggested  that  in  them,  as  in  the  sanctuaries  01 
the  temples,  light  may  have  been  obtained  by  a  series  of  reflecting  mirror-. 
IJut  the  natural  effect  of  the  single  ray  of  sun  or  star  light  would  be  sutfi- 

<  iently   impressive   by  itself  to  form   an  important  part  in   the   ritual   ol 

1   The  later    Chinese  have  exercised    themselves  vainly  abtwtt  '"the   nine   paths   ni    the 
ivii  un  I    i    and   before   the    Hans   hut   since   :    .      "    :.. 
will]    th     ■    riod  of  eighteen  <   id  years,    called  sai    ;   by  t]       I       P 

.'  ■■   ■//:  .    1S40,  p.  91.)     The   differences  and   rese-m:  1   i    e       twecn 

<  <hh     .   1  l.dia,  and  Arabia,  were  discussed  by  Richth    fen     ..:   VV1 

.'.  iian  texts  had    made  less   progress  than  n    v..  but    th 

diverge:  1  a  remote  Cm]  -  1:  :P\-  ..■;.-■ 

-    lir.  (', u-tav  Oppert,    in   his    recent  work,    '/>',     In':-:: :/h;;i'      '    F< 
iv    :  .  _-~  that  the  whule     enins  da  was    \-  rmerlv   inh      .••   .    . 

the  h    ..      .     -     f  Art  -    ith.     'And  he  c  ,nneet-  the  Mi  i   \    '.':    vPth' 

\  '::.-..'.■■    ■:       :.     plant  ~,  a~  well  a<  people.      He      .:otes   several  .   1  y  preo 

;    tis'i       ;  ' '  -  ~<)-cah'e''   Pariahs  uf  Southern  India,  which  ...   'i     i  :  tr:   iitions.  1 


1 

:Jcur,:u 

.    :  7,    '.:/ 

vvP  '. 

the  kn<  j'.v 

P    tie! 

.  -     :    w  i  : 

'  ■-  .,■''  .: 

,  r   /;;.//, 

.    1    ■ 
(                          : 

: 
I 

.  e 

p 

: .             y  t he 

y                ■    .  v, 

n  - 

e  n 

■ 

'iifferen:  cla-s  a    ...  P 

1 ) . .  <> 

ei 

;  . 

22'. 

"T:  v  e  exists 

,    ■ 

.     \ 

-A:'  -  -  :  element  -     :  ! 

1  ••■■    " 

..     . 

■    . 

■_■■'.■     .    th 

APPENDICES.  44' 

worship.  "  To  see  his  father  Ra  in  Habenben  "  was  a  privilege  enjoyed 
by  the  king,  who,  standing  with  his  back  to  the  light  would  suddenly 
behold  the  image  of  the  god  illuminated  by  the  rising  sun.  Such  effects  of 
natural  magic  probably  blended  with  the  more  deliberate  artifices  by  which 
the  priests  are  supposed  to  have  made  the  divine  images  give  expression 
to  their  own  views.  Such  devices  as  speaking  and  moving  statues  are 
commonly  supposed  to  belong  to  the  decadence  of  a  faith  ;  yet  it  is  in  a 
far  from  ancient  account  of  the  election  of  Ethiopian  kings  that  we  catch  a 
glimpse  of  what  may  be  one  more  trait  common  to  Egypt  and  babylonia.  On 
two  such  occasions  Anion  of  Xapata  is  represented  as  seizing  hold  of  one  of 
the  royal  brothers,  and  then  addressing  him,  in  the  shades  of  the  sanctuary, 
as  the  elected  king.  Some  other  author,  followed  by  Synesius,  bishop  of 
Ptolemais,  makes  the  kings  of  Egypt  go  through  a  similar  election,  at  which 
the  priests,  the  warriors,  and  the  reigning  king  give  their  votes,  while  the 
gods  intervene,  if  the  other  parties  are  equally  divided.1  it  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  king  in  Babylonia  was  not  lawfully  enthroned  until  he 
had  "taken  the  hands  of  Bel,"  and  it  is  impossible  not  to  ask  whether  the 
phrase  indicates  something  answering  to  an  Egyptian  original  of  the  Ethio- 
pian selection  or  adoption  of  a  candidate  by  the  god. 

The  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  of  the  equinoctial  school,  and  the  entrance 
of  t'ne  sunlight  on  the  morning  of  the  spring  equinox  was  part  of  the 
ceremonial.  The  priest  being  in  the  naos,  the  worshippers  outside  "  with 
their  backs  to  the  sun  could  see  the  high  priest  by  means  of  the  sunlight 
reflected  from  the  jewels  in  his  garments/'  i.e.  the  sardonyxes  on  the 
high  priest's  shoulders,  which  according  to  Josephus  "shined  out  when 
God  was  present  at  their  sacrifices,''  a  miraculous  shining  which  was  said 
to  have  ceased  200  years  before  his  time.  Evidently  the  Jews  had  in- 
herited an  astronomical  temple  of  which  they  did  not  understand  the  pur- 
pose, and  as  they  failed  to  regulate  their  feasts  by  the  strict  solar  year  the 
manifestation  ceased.  In  Egypt,  where  astronomical  science  continued, 
alive,  if  the  precession  of  the  equinoxes  made  a  temple  lose  its  efficiency 
for  ceremonies  connected  with  celestial  bodies,  the  axis  of  the  temple 
received  a  slight  twist,  so  as  to  enable  later  additions  to  serve  the  old 
purpose,  or  if  this  too  became  impossible,  another  temple  with  the  needful 
change  of  direction  would  be  set  up  adjoining  the  old  one. 

The  Egyptians  were  acquainted  at  so  early  a  date  with  the  true  length 
of  the  solar  year,  that  it  is  hard  to  explain  their  keeping  up  the  tradition  of 
a  year  of  360  days,  unless  we  imagine  that  to  have  been  the  length  of  the 
year  assumed,  as  it  were  a  priori,  to  correspond  with  the  degrees  of  the 
circle  and  supposed  to  represent  pure  mathematical  truth  as  distinct  from 
mere  empiricism.  "At  Phike  in  late  times  in  the  temple  of  Osiris,  there 
were  360  bowls  for  sacrifice  which  were  filled  daily  with  milk  by  a  specified 
rotation  of  priests.  At  Acanthus  there  was  a  perforated  cask  into  which 
one  of  the  300   priests  poured  water  from  the    Nile  daily."-     And  such  a 

1  Etudes  dc  Mythologu  d  d\4rch,\  \\ic  E^yp/icuins,  par  G.  Maspcro  i'iSoj),  vol.  i. 
pp.  Su,  7.  -   /-.'..  p.  24S. 


442  APPEXDICES. 

machinery  for  keeping  count  of  the  days  of  a  year  which  had  no  religious, 
civil,  or  political  use  can  only  represent  an  ancient  tradition,  connected 
perhaps  with  the  primitive  sanctity  of  the  numbers  six  and  sixty  and  their 
multiple. 

2. — Weights,  Measures,  and  Money. 

It  is  possible  that  the  aperture  through  which  the  water  ran  when 
measuring  the  sun's  path  may  have  been  so  calculated  as  to  let  a  mina  of 
water  run  through  in  an  hour,  so  as  to  connect  the  measures  of  time  with 
those  of  length  and  capacity.  The  Mesopotamian  weights  which  have 
been  found  and  tested  are  more  exact  than  those  of  the  Greeks  and 
Romans;  the}-  have  been  found  of  i,  2,  5,  15,  and  30  mina,  i.e.  up  to 
half  a  talent,  and  of  such  fractions  as  -J,,,  /-,  and  :j  of  a  mina.  The  con- 
venience of  60  as  a  common  denominator  shows  itself  in  the  fractions. 
There  are  60  shekels  to  a  mina,  but  as  we  have  seen  in  the  contracts,  only 
the  odd  shekels  are  counted  as  such,  everything  that  can  be  is  called  a 
fraction  of  a  mina;  thus  we  have  |,  I.  I,  and  }  of  -d(T,  i.e.  ,,10,  -,',,,  TJ.T)-, 
and  .,  \ ,,  of  a  mina. 

According  to  M.  Oppert,1  the  measures  of  capacity  are  not  as  numerous 
as  Brandis  supposed,  the  table  being  as  follows  : — 

i  o  sahia  make  1  qa 
27  (pa  „       1  ap 

60    .,  ,.       j  imer  (homer) 

:/»  „         „     l  pi 

1  So  qa,  3  imer,  or  5  pi  .,       t  gur 

but  the  value  of  these  measures  need  not  be  discussed  here. 

The  measure  used  for  both  lands  and  buildings  in  the  age  of  Hammu- 
rabi, and  called  sar,  does  not  appear  in  the  later  deeds,  and  any  area  that 
can  be  suggested  as  suitable  to  the  name  (e.g.  360  square  yards)  would  be  so 
much  too  large  for  a  measure  of  houses  that  one  is  driven  to  suppose  that 
two  measures,  used  for  different  purposes,  bore  the  same  name.  Probably, 
as  M.  Jvevillout  takes  to  have  been  the  case  later,  building  sites  were  nor- 
mally oblong,  so  tiiat  the  sar  of  house  property  might  be  do  measures  one 
way  and  much  less  the  other.  In  the  later  deeds,  while  arable  or  pasture 
land  is  measured  by  the  quantity  of  seed  required  to  sow  it,  town  lots  and 
building  laud  are  measured  by  the  inch,  yard,  and  rod.  According  to  M. 
Oppert.  24  inches  make  one  I ~  and  7  L*  one  ijann,  or  rod.  like  the  24 
hours  of  the  day.  and  7  days  of  tile  week  ;  the  rod  at  this  rate  is  about 
14  feet,  or  10N  inches.  The  plots  of  ground  to  be  measured  were  of 
course  never  e\a<  tly  square,  but  they  were  commonly  parallelograms,  with 
angles  not  very  far  removed  from  a  right  angle  ;  to  obtain  the  superficial 
measurement.  Chakkean   surveyors  took    the  mean  of  two  actual  measure- 

1    1. 1     J/    ii>-:     -1   yr,  ,;  ■■  ,:    ..■'       uf<rjirii.      A'eriu    J' A    yrioL    if,    1SS4, 


APPENDICES.  443 

ments  of  length  and  width  and  multiplied  these  two  together  with  results 
that  were  sometimes  quite  exact  and  never  very  far  from  the  mark. 

The  data  about  the  various  measures  are  too  imperfect  and  confused  for 
the  value  of  the  different  measures  of  length  and  area  to  be  positively 
determined,  and  it  is  even  possible  that  land  was  actually  sown  afresh  by 
measure,  when  it  was  intended  to  be  sold,  which  would  account  for  eccen- 
tricities of  detail.  But  a  fact  of  more  interest  than  the  technicalities  of 
surveying  is  amply  illustrated  by  the  existing  contracts,  namely  the  com- 
parative value  of  land  in  town  and  country  districts.  The  price  of  a  rod 
of  land  in  the  country  varied  from  \  7  to  75  drachms,  while  if  the  same 
measures  were  used  for  town  holdings,  the  most  valuable  of  these  fetched 
170  times  as  much  as  the  most  valuable  fields.  In  towns  the  price  of  land 
by  square  metre  varied  from  eighteen  pence  to  6s.  6d.  The  latter  price 
seems  too  high  and  the  disproportion  too  great,  considering  the  popularity 
of  land  as  an  investment,  so  that  most  likely  the  ancient  distinction  be- 
tween a  sar  of  land  and  a  sar  of  houses  still  subsisted  in  some  form. 

In  the  case  of  the  town  house,  which  Itti-marduk-baladu  acquired  in  ex- 
change for  fields  and  plantations,  the  house  is  said  to  measure  24  rods  in 
all  (or  1 176  square  yards),  and  the  field  to  be  one  of  a  gur  of  seed,  which 
represents  between  50  and  60,000  square  yards,  so  that  the  comparative 
value  is  about  as  1  to  45,  which  is  not  unreasonable  when  we  consider 
that  it  includes  the  buildings.  There  is  at  least  no  such  artificial  dispro- 
portion as  in  the  modern  capitals  of  Europe.  An  English  banker  does 
not  give  45  acres  of  orchard  and  arable  land  for  one  acre  of  land  with 
buildings  on  it  in  London. 

With  the  recognition  of  a  common  starting  point  for  the  weights  and 
measures  of  all  civilized  nations,  it  becomes  possible  to  supply  the  blanks 
in  one  record  by  the  help  of  others,  which  are  seldom  all  imperfect  in  the 
same  place.  Egypt  and  Babylonia  have  not  only  the  same  unit  of  length — 
in  the  cubit  of  20';//  inches — but  also  the  same  original  unit  of  weight. 
The  only  difference  is  that  the  Egyptians  followed  a  decimal,  and  the 
Babylonians  a  sexagesimal  subdivision.  Egypt  dividing  the  talent,  of 
weight  and  money,  of  300  utai  into  3000  parts,  or  kite  ;  and  the  latter 
dividing  the  weight  talent  into  60  mina,  and  then  60  smaller  parts,  but  the 
money  talent  into  60  mina  with  an  alternative  'Tight"  talent  and  mina 
containing  50  parts  instead  of  60.  The  Samian  ell  was  the  same  as  the 
Babylonian,  and  the  exception  which  Brandis  supposed  to  be  offered,  to 
the  general  prevalence  of  Babylonian  weights  and  measures,  in  the  Nile 
valley  and  the  Italian  peninsula,  are  now  shown  by  Brugsch  to  be  only 
apparent.  Indeed,  the  history  of  Egyptian  values  gives  independent  con- 
firmation to  the  conclusions  arrived  at  respecting  those  of  Babylonia. 

The  Ptolemaic  coinage,  according  to  this  view,  was  not  a  new  Greek 
importation — except  so  far  as  the  use  of  any  coined  money  was  foreign  to 
primitive  Egyptian  habits — but  was  based  on  old  Egyptian  weights.  From 
the  1  8th  century  B.C.  two  of  these  were  in  use,  the  utcn  and  the  kite,  the 
latter  being  -,',,  of  the  first.     The  kite  has  been  weighed  and  found  equiva- 


444  APPEXDICES. 

lent  to  9"o9^9i  grammes;  the  uten  therefore  should  weigh  90-9591  gr. 
These  are  the  only  weights  used  for  the  precious  metals  ;  quantities  of 
36.000  and  upwards  are  given  in  uten.  and  the  smallest  sums  in  fractions 
of  a  kite.  The  relation  between  the  Roman  foot  and  the  cubic  con- 
tents of  a  Roman  amphora  has  been  mentioned  already,  and  a  comparison 
of  Persian  and  Greek  measures  points  to  a  similar  correspondence,  in  the 
standards  used  by  them.  But  the  remarkable  thing  is  that  the  So  Roman 
pounds  which  the  amphora  was  to  weigh  (26.196  grammes)  coincides  to  a 
fraction  with  36  x  So  or  2,880  Egyptian  kite. 

Tne  correspondence  between  the  Egyptian  and  the  Babylonian  measures 
is  still  more  obvious.  Brandis  started  from  the  assumption  that  the  Baby- 
lonian cubic  foot  represented  the  dimensions  of  the  Babylonian  talent  in 
some  liquid  with  a  specific  gravity  very  near  that  of  distilled  water  :  and 
thus  obtained  a  length  for  the  Babylonian  foot  of  0-320  m.  Brugsch, 
taking  the  Babylonian  talent  as  equivalent  to  3,600  Egyptian  kite,  and  ex- 
tracting the  cube  root  of  the  corresponding  weight  in  grammes  (32745-276). 
arrives  at  the  practically  identical  length  of  0-31992  m.  The  same 
proportion  holds  good  in  the  case  of  the  Egyptian  talent  of  300  kite, 
weighing  27287-73  grammes  :  extracting  the  cube  root  of  this,  the  length 
of  the  Egyptian  foot  comes  out  0-30106  in.,  and  the  short  and  the 
royal  ell  respectively  0-45159  m.  and  0-52686  m.  :  while  the  length 
given  independently  for  the  three  by  Eepsius  was  2-333.  0-450,  and  0-525, 
though  as  to  the  latter  the  average  given  by  several  actual  measurements 
is  nearer  0-526.  Such  a  correspondence  in  method  is  even  more  con- 
clusive than  identity  of  results  would  be  as  a  proof  of  common  origin. 

The  correspondence  between  the  moneys  of  Egypt  and  Babylonia  will 
be  most  easily  recognised  in  tabular  form,  and  the  table  suggests  that  the 
so-called  "light  talent "  and  mm  a  might  'nave  been  borrowed  from  Egypt  : 
as.  however,  the  Assyrians  also  used  a  decimal  system  whenever  not  borrow- 
ing wholesale  from  Babylonia,  it  might  equally  well  represent  a  compromise 
made  for  their  benefit  : — 

1     Babylonian  talent  =  r  ■  Egyptian  talent,  or  3.620  kite. 

1  ..  , .  ..  uten.    or        60     .. 

..1  ..  ..  10.. 

1  ..  stater,  or  2      ., 

....        -  1  -    .. 

1      ,. 

Tne  Egyptian  kite  is  thus  equal  to  the  Babylonian  shekel,  so  that  the 
monetary  unit  is  the  same  in  the  two  countries.  Of  course  we  are  not 
1. abed  on  to  on  o  >  e  tha:  babylonia  received  this  una  from  Egypt,  any 
more  tii  m  the  <  onver-e.  wl.i.  a  Euynt  dogists  would  be  loth  to  believe.  Tire 
use  of  hieroglyph- to  he  read  ■//o/.  denoting  the  mm  1  of  60  shekels,  cer- 
tainly   Rubs   like    borrowin_    within   historic  time- :    but    Dr.   Ilruesch  con- 


APPENDICES.  445 

nects  the  root  ss  with  the  number  six,1  and  in  that  case  both  word  and 
notion  would  belong  to  the  common  furniture  of  the  pre-historic  people 
from  whom  both  Egyptians  and  Babylonians  proceeded."  The  mysterious 
magistracy  or  Great  Houses  of  the  Six  previously  alluded  to,  also  seems  to 
show  that  the  number  six  possessed  a  traditional  sacredness  or  significance 
at  the  earliest  times  which  was  subsequently  lost  sight  of,  and  this  would 
harmonise  very  well  with  the  view  that  it  had  been  important  in  an  obsolete 
system  of  numeration/' 

The  different  value  of  the  monetary  unit  in  the  Ptolemaic  period  is 
partly  connected  with  the  change  in  the  relative  value  of  silver  and  copper. 
From  the  eleventh  century  onwards,  these  metals  and  not  gold  were 
used  as  standards  by  weight.  From  a  comparison  of  the  price  of  honey 
as  given  in  silver  and  copper  (about  iooo  B.C.),  it  appears  that  -ll,)  silver 
kite  — S  copper  do.,  i.e.  that  silver  was  to  copper  as  80  to  1.  In  the  age  of 
Thothmes  III.  the  proportion  was  4S  to  1,  while  before  the  Roman 
period  it  had  sunk  to  120  to  1.  The  change  was  spread  over  12  or  14 
centuries,  and  was  due  to  natural  economic  causes.  But  the  substitution 
of  the  silver  drachm  for  the  silver  kite  just  corresponds  to  the  change  of 
value,  so  as  to  leave  the  proportion  between  the  common  silver  and  the 
common  copper  coin  the  same.  The  Coptic  name  for  the  didrachmon 
was  kite  and  for  the  drachm  half-kite,  thus  pointing  to  a  (pre-Persian) 
period,  when  the  proportion  between  the  two  metals  was  as  96  to  1,  as  the 
time  when  coins  were  first  struck  in  Egypt. 

Egyptian  texts  are  fuller  on  the  subject  of  measures  of  area  than  those  of 
Babylonia  and  Assyria,  and  it  is  possible  that  additional  light  may  be 
thrown  on  the  latter  by  Mr.  Griffith's  latest  paper.4  The  common  Egyp- 
tian measures  of  length  are  of  the  primitive  sort  which  survive  in  the 
English  measurement  of  horses  by  "hands."  The  digit,  the  palm,  the 
handsbreadth  (with  the  thumb  included),  the  lung  and  short  span,  the  upper 
arm.  and  the  short  and  royal  cubits,  are  measures  with  no  apparent  refer- 
ence to  a  scientific  standard.  The  royal  cubit,  of  about  2o-6  in.,  contains 
7  palms  and  28  digits.  The  khet  of  100  cubits  takes  its  name  from  the 
roll  of  cord  used  for  measuring.  The  square  khet — or  set,  the  Greek 
arura—  was  considered  to  be  composed  of  too  strips  of  one  cubit  broad 
by  ico  long.  The  earliest  inscriptions  have  a  hieroglyph  for  ten  arura, 
suggesting  either  a  landmark  or,  like  the  sign  for  the  set,  an  oblong  slip, 
which  seems  to  imply  that  the  original  unit  of  cultivation  was  oblong. 

From  the  Twelfth  to  the  Nineteenth  and    Twentieth  Dynasties  signs  are 

1   The  peculiar  u.se  of  this  number  has  been  n    te  1,  a>  :■'■  vol.  i.  p.  01. 

-  Mr.  Ridgeway,  in  the  work  referred  to  above,  assumes  throughout  that  the  sexa- 
gesimal Babylonian  notation  was  a  comparatively  modern  invention,  but  the  recurrence 
of  the  numbers  15  and  50  in  the  lists  of  Gudea's  offerings  and  the  obviously  primitive  use 
ot  fractions  of  60  noted  above,  which  were  sufficiently  convincing  arguments  on  the  other 
side,  have  now  been  supplemented  {ante,  vol.  i.  p.  247  by  an  undoubtedly  archaic  in- 
scription showing  the  notation  in  use. 

;;  In  China  the  same  number  had  a  traditii  >nal  ini]  rtance,  which  can  be  measure  i  i  y 
a  reference  to  the  in  lex  of  the  Confucian  texts,  sitbvoc,  Six  :  S.   lb,  xxxviii.  p.  4S2. 

;  P.S.H.A.,  [une,  1S92. 


446  APPEXDICES. 

found  for  T\lf  1-,1,-,  and  J11,;r  of  a  set  and  also  for  .1,  -\,  \.  The  half  arura 
was  an  oblong  of  53  cubits  by  100.  but  the  quarter  was  a  square  of  25 
cubits.  Ten  arura  contain  about  6]  acres,  and  it  seems  rather  as  if  the 
si/e  of  the  standard  farm  or  holding  had  stood  at  this  amount  under  the 
ancient  monarchy  and  at  one  arura  under  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth 
Dynasties.  Such  a  change  is  a  natural  result  of  increased  population  and 
more  profitable  culture.  Even  the  higher  limit  implies  a  class  of  compara- 
tively small  cultivators, — tenant  farmers  under  feudal  nobles.  The 
measures  of  length  and  of  area  stood  in  such  well-defined  customary  re- 
lations that  the  same  names  were  used  indifferently  according  to  the  con- 
text, a  circumstance  which  has  added  to  the  difficulties  of  interpretation.1 

The  common  measure  of  capacity— the  hekt — is  indicated  by  a  barrel 
from  which  grain  is  pouring;  the  fractions  of  it.  like  those  of  the  set.  form 
a  dimidiated  series  from  .1  to  dt.  The  hieratic  sign  for  -;.  is  — which  is 
used  as  the  symbol  for  quartering.  One-tenth  of  the  hekt  is  also  a 
favourite  measure,  and  ;! ; .  ,-.  the  fraction  of  the  hekt.  which  serves  to  unite 
the  two  series,  is  called  the  fraction.  The  hekt  is  multiplied  up  to  four  as 
well  as  divided.  The  two  systems  of  binary  and  decimal  subdivision  are 
notable  —  especially  on  account  of  the  total  absence  of  any  reminiscence  of 
duodecimal — to  say  nothing  of  sexagesimal — methods. 

The  importance  which  may  attach  to  the  details  of  this  subject  is  mani- 
fest from  the  remarkable  value  of  the  oldest  Egyptian  weight  yet  known. 
A  ten  unit  weight  of  Khufu  and  a  five  gold  unit  weight  of  Amenhotep  I. 
(iSth  Dynasty)  weigh  206  and  2c~l,G  grs.  respectively;  while  two  other 
weights,  respectively  of  the  Twelfth  and  Eighteenth  Dynasties,  weigh 
i'V>'5  and  r 97 7  grs. — the  four  having  exactly  the  range  attributed  to  the 
so-called  .Eginetan  standard.  This  standard  prevailed  originally  over 
nearly  the  whole  of  Peloponnessus,  in  Athens.  Bceotia,  Phocis,  Locris. 
Thessaly,  the  Thracian  Chersonese,  Crete,  Cyme,  Teos,  Cnidos.  and 
( 'amein  15.  It  has  been  regarded  as  a  reduction  oi  the  Phoenician  standard, 
but  Mr.  1'etrie  is  probably  right  in  considering  it  as  the  remains  of  an 
:i  trn  lition  drawn  from  some  origin  connected  with  Egypt.  If  there 
were  Punitcs  on  the  Mediterranean  who  did  not  settle  first  in  Phoenicia, 
they  might  i  e  the  true  authors  of  this  perplexing  elen    nt. 

The  demotic  papyri  show  two  non-Egyptian  weights  introduced  from 
W'e-tern  Ada,  the  kirk  r  or  talent  of  50c  uten.  and  the  stater  (formerly  read 
shekel),  equivalent  to  2  kite.  A  common  formula  in  the  Egyptian  texts 
"Copper  24  kite  to  -  ."  iias  been  interpreted  as  referring  to  a  proportion 
ofallov;  but  it  we  read  it  to  mean  "  24  copper  kite=  f,,  silver  kite,"  then 
\S,  copper  kite  il\  :r  kite  :  -  and  this   is  exaetlv  the  weight   <  if  a  Pi 

maic  silver  drai  inn    ■:.  i    [  oi   the  normal   tetradrachmon.      But  it   the  silvei 
drachm      :  .     .    the     Egyptian    designation    for   the   latter   must 

1  '1 '  1  ■'. :   r-'       '    ' :    ■    '  ■  1\  '  ■ "    in    I   ■  :        moan-   b\ 


APPENDICES.  447 

answer  to  the  Greek  copper  coin  chalkus,  of  which  48  went  to  a  silver 
drachm.  But  the  chalkus  appears  to  be  regularly  valued  at  2  J  copper 
drachms,  so  that  the  Egyptian  copper  kite  —  2),  drachms  and  the  copper 
stater  =  5  copper  drachms.  At  this  rate  120  copper  drachms  would  go  to 
one  silver  one,  giving  the  proportion  between  the  metals  already  mentioned 
of  120  to  1  for  the  Ptolemaic  age. 

There  is  thus  a  sufficient  reason  for  the  divergence  of  the  Ptolemaic 
coins  from  the  primitive  standards  of  the  uten  and  kite  weights,  and  one 
which  in  no  way  invalidates  the  theory  of  their  derivation  from  the  common 
standard  of  the  Babylonian  water-cube  talent.  A  satisfactory  proof,  that 
the  correspondence  between  the  Egyptian  and  Babylonian  weights  has 
been  successfully  established,  is  that  Dr.  Brugsch  has  done  what  Brandis 
conjectured  a  priori  to  be  possible,  namely  reduced  the  odd  numbers  of 
pounds  and  loths  mentioned  as  tribute  in  the  great  Harris  papyrus  to  an 
even  number  of  mina.  The  pound  and  loth  correspond  to  the  uten  and 
kite,  and  it  is  in  a  similar  passage  in  the  account  of  the  victories  of 
Thothmes  III.  at  Karnak  that  the  word  si/su  is  used  in  the  sense  of  mina 
The  latter  when  divided  by  sosses  give  an  even  number  (600)  of  light  or 
50  shekel  mina  ;  and  by  the  same  process  the  tributes  from  different 
districts  received  by  Rameses  III.  are  reduced  from  odd  numbers  with 
fractions  to  sums  of  Soo,  11,300,  12,000  and  15,000  mina. 

The  close  correspondence  which  Dr.  Brugsch  traces  between  the 
Egyptian  and  the  old  Italian  unit  of  weight  is  very  interesting  and  impor- 
tant, but  taken  in  connection  with  other  metric  systems  in  the  countries  of 
the  Mediterranean,  it  does  not  point  so  clearly  to  a  connection  between 
Egypt  and  Italy  as  to  a  connection  between  the  whole  of  the  old  trading 
world,  from  Mesopotamia  to  Marseilles. 

The  sexagesimal  system  of  Babylonia  was  nowhere  adopted  in  its 
entirety,  but  the  extent  to  which  duodecimal  divisions  are  adhered  to  is 
some  measure  of  the  strength  of  its  influence.  The  Italo-Sicilian  pound 
or  litra  was  divided  into  12  parts,  each  equivalent  to  an  Egyptian  stater. 
The  Italic  talent  of  120  litra  was  thus  equal  to  1.440  Egyptian  staters,  i.e. 
12  x  120  (the  "long  hundred'"' of  Northern  Europe)  or  24x60,  like  the 
divisions  of  the  day  and  hour.  The  Egyptians  following  the  decimal 
system,  obtained  the  talent  of  1,500  staters;  but  the  weight  of  the  Egyptian 
uten  (90*9591  gr.)  multiplied  by  360  gives  32745-276  grammes,  while  the 
estimated  weight  of  100  Roman  pounds,  according  to  Boeckh  and  Momm- 
sen.  is  3 2 745 -3.  The  Egyptian  and  the  Roman  talent,  that  is,  stand  to 
each  other  exactly  in  the  relation  of  10  to  12.  But  what  is  perhaps  even 
more  significant,  the  subdivisions  of  the  Roman  pound  proceed  by  frac- 
tions exactly  like  the  fractions  of  the  Babylonian  gur,  made  by  adding 
6  qa  or  multiples  of  6.  The  undo,  is  5  kite,  and  from  6  to  56  kite,  the 
Roman  measures  advance  by  steps  of  3.  6,  9,  12.  15  kite,  and  so  on  :  but 
the  lesser  weights  from  the  siliqua  to  the  sicilicus  represent  forty-eighths  of 
a  kite,  '  '■'•  '\\-  '  "  (=  one  drachm),  ]l  and  l'±. 

Such   fractions    are  not  suggested   by  or  borrowed    from  the   Egyptian 


44S  APPENDICES. 

measures,  but  they  have  parallels  in  Greece,  where  duodecimal  sub- 
divisions of  the  coin  in  general  use  were  common.  The  fractions  of  the 
Phoenician  stater  met  with  at  Miletus  were  l,  I,  /.,  -eh,  and  _h  ;  at  Chios  \ 
and  j1.,,  at  Samos  and  Cyzicus  I  ;  -T  at  /Egina  and  I  in  .Macedonia,  while 
Cyprus  had  coins  \,  ).  -},  T\7,  -^j,  and  -./,,-  of  a  stater,  and  Corinth  },.  -},  and 
of  the  stater  before  the  drachm  was  used. 

The  history  of  the  matter  is  that  the  ancient  Babylonians,  like  the 
modern  Chinese,  did  so  much  business,  and  by  force  of  habit  did  it  so 
easilv.  by  the  help  of  silver  cut  and  weighed,  that  they  never  felt  the  want 
of  coins.  Probably  they  were  at  heart  anarchists,  in  the  sense  that  the 
Chinese  are  so.  and  the  way  in  which  the  weight  of  the  Babylonian  shekel 
was  gradually  impaired, — as  coins  struck  by  Greek  Governments  took  the 
place  of  the  •"current  money  with  the  merchants''  with  his  scale  and 
weights.  —  may  be  cited  to  show  that  the  ancient  use  had  its  advantages. 
Xo  doubt  on  the  whole  the  balance  of  convenience  is  in  favour  of  coined 
monev,  and  the  same  turn  of  mind  which  substitutes  an  alphabet  for  a 
syllabary  substitutes  money  for  weighed  metal.  The  Phoenicians  probably 
contributed  to  both  innovations,  and  there  was  doubtless  a  transitional 
starre  in  which  bars  of  metal,  ready  made  up  into  convenient  sizes,  were 
used  and  stamped  with  their  weight.  Six  such  bars  of  silver  were  found 
together  by  Dr.  Schliemann  in  the  Troad,  and  when  allowance  was  made 
for  oxidization  and  weathering,  they  appeared  to  average  about  one-third 
of  a  mina  each. 

The  first  coins  were  probably  struck  in  Asia  Minor,  where  electrum,  a 
natural  alloy  of  silver  and  gold,  was  found.  Whether  Lydia  or  Cyzicus 
led  the  way  is  uncertain,  but  the  pale  gold  or  electrum  of  the  latter  city 
constituted,  with  the  Persian  darics.  "the  staple  of  the  gold  currency  of  the 
whole  ancient  world."  '  till  the  gold  staters  of  the  Macedonian  kings  were 
introduced.  The  Cyzicus  mint  possessed  something  like  a  monopoly  of 
coining  these  staters,  and  till  pure  gold  coins  were  introduced,  they  pro 
bablv  fetched  more  than  their  value,  which  was  about  ten  times  that  of 
silver,  while  in  Assyria  gold  was  reckoned  to  be  as  13.;  to  1  in  comparison 
•>.  ith  silver. 

The  intricacies  of  the  Mediterranean  coinage  systems  mainly  originate 
from  the  Phoenician  distaste  tor  t  .e  sexagesimal  notation.  They  borrowed 
the  shekel  in  its  original  form  as  g  of  a  mina.  but  starting  from  it  they 
made  a  new  mina  of  s"o  shekels  :  they  still  reckoned  60  mina  to  a  talent, 
ami  thus,  like  the  Egyptians,  got  a  talent  of  3.000  shekels.  The  Baby- 
lonians used  t:cc  talents  and  mina,  the  "  heavy"'  and  the  ■"light,"  of  which 
the  former  was  double  the  weight  of  the  latter,  so  that  one  cannot  con- 
veniently design  te  the  50  mina  talent  as  light.  In  fact,  it  is  a  reduction 
of  the  heavy  liabylonian  talent  that  the    I'iicenicians  are  supposed  to  have 

hsscminated  :  the  1  in;  in  (hecks  borrowed  from  the  latter,  and  took  ,"    ot 
the  heavv  Bui  yioi  :       n  in  i  for  their  unit,  the  stater,      The  mm  a  or  shekel 

,f  Carcl.emish,  which   is    frequently  mentioned  in    Babylonian   contracts, 
//."  ■  ;•.  ;  iWv.vr.vw,  by  Barclay  V.   Head,  1SS7,  :  .  449. 


APPENDICES.  449 

may,  it  is  conjectured,  represent  the  light  Babylonian  mina,  and  if  so  the 
Lydians  will  have  borrowed  it  from  them.  Mr.  Head  suggests  that  the 
"  people  of  the  sea,'"  who  invaded  Egypt  in  concert  with  the  Khita,  would 
naturally  use  the  mina  of  Carchemish.  The  Phocaean  stater  was  ^  of  the 
heavy  Babylonian  mina,  and  just  twice  the  value  of  the  Lydian  gold  stater 
of  Crcesus,  and  the  oldest  Eubcean  coins  followed  the  same  standard. 
I  he  heavy  silver  stater  was  in  practice  halved  and  quartered,  and  the 
lighter  one,  as  at  Corinth,  divided  by  3,  so  as  to  make  the  coin  in 
common  use  any  way  about  the  same  size,  like  a  franc  or  shilling. 

The  Greek  coins,  in  all  cases,  fell  below  the  standard  of  weight  from 
which  they  are  supposed  to  be  derived.  Thus  the  Phoenician  or  Graeco 
Asiatic  silver  standard,  based  on  the  heavy  gold  mina  of  Mesopotamia,  had 
in  theory  a  stater  weighing  230  grs.  This  was  reduced  in  coining  to  200 
or  thereabouts.  Indeed,  the  earliest  known  stater  of  eHgina  (arc.  ?  700 
i;.c.)  is  singular  in  weighing  as  much  as  207  grs.;  the  average  is  nearer 
194.  to  which  corresponds  a  drachm  of  97  grs.,  a  tri-obol  of  48,  a  di-obol  of 
32,  with  lesser  coins  of  24,  iS,  S,  and  4  grs.  each.  The  light  Lydian  stater, 
to  begin  with,  should  have  weighed  172-9  grs.,  but  suffered  a  corresponding 
depreciation. 

The  reason  for  following  the  course  of  these  different  standards  from 
East  to  West  is  that  we  may  be  certain,  wherever  money  has  gone,  men 
and  customs  have  gone  also  ;  and  it  so  happens  that  the  routes  traced  out 
for  the  various  forms  of  Bab)  Ionian  mina  by  a  disinterested  numismatist, 
are  just  those  along  which  we  are  brought,  by  other  considerations,  to  look 
for  social  and  ethnic  affinities  not  hitherto  generally  recognised. 

According  to  Mr.  Head  there  were  four  principal  tracks:  "(1)  The 
southern  route,  starting  from  Sidon  and  Tyre,  and  proceeding  from  one 
Phoenician  station  to  another,  across  the  Cretan  Sea  to  Peloponnessus  and 
-F.gina,  where  the  Phoenician  silver  stater  of  236-220  grs.  was  gradually 
deteriorated  into  the  /Eginitic  stater  of  t 94-1  So  grs.  (2)  The  central 
route,  leading  straight  across  the  sea  from  Samos  to  Eubcea,  Corinth  and 
Athens.  By  this  route  the  light  Babylonic  gold  weight  of  130  grs.  passing 
into  Rurope  and  being  there  used  for  silver,  became  known  as  the  Euboic 
(Attic  or  Corinthian)  silver  stater  of  135  025  gr.  (3)  The  northern  route, 
(a)  by  land,  from  Phrvgia  across  the  Hellespont  into  Thrace,  where  the 
old  Babylonic  silver  stater  of  773  grs.  took  root  in  the  Pangaian  district  as 
a  stater  weighing  about  150  grs.  (4)  The  northern  route,  (/;)  by  sea,  from 
.Miletus  and  oilier  towns  of  Western  Asia  Manor  to  Abdera  in  Thrace, 
whence  the  Phoenician  stater  of  236-220  grs.  penetrated  into  Macedon. 
and  there  gave  rise,  in  later  times,  to  the  Macedonian  standard  of  224  grs." 
Along  one  or  other  of  these  lines  the  peculiar  institutions  of  the  primitive 
civilized  race  also  spread,  and  along  all  of  them  there  spread  the  con- 
ceptions of  an  equitable  and  liberal  commercial  code,  subsequently  gathered 
together  by  Roman  jurists  as  dicta  of  the  law  of  nations.  The  /Eginetan 
standard,  which  the  (/reeks  supposed  to  be  the  earliest,  was  very  widely  dif- 
fused, and  continued  in  force,  in  places,  till  far  down  in  the  Roman  period. 

VOL    II.     -I'.C.  G    G 


45o  APPENDICES. 

Solon's  currency  reform  for  the  relief  of  debtors  was  supposed  to  have  con- 
sisted in  substituting  the  Euboic  for  the  /Eginetan  standard,  and  making 
the  new  coins,  worth  nearly  30  per  cent,  less,  legal  tender.  But  the  newly 
discovered  Aristotelian  Polity  of  Athens  treats  the  two  measures  as  distinct. 
The  new  money  was  pure  and  of  full  weight,  and  so  became  popular  ;  pos- 
sibly the  Euboic  standard,  if  introduced  through  Samos,  had  had  less  time 
to  degenerate  in  transit ;  any  way,  Athenian  owls  were  in  great  demand; 
they  have  been  found  far  up  the  Oxus,  were  copied  in  Arabia,  and  circulated 
so  far  beyond  the  limits  of  artistic  Greek  taste,  that  the  archaic  character  of 
the  first  stamps  was  retained  from  policy,  when  the  Athenians  themselves 
would  probably  have  preferred,  and  could  certainly  have  produced  some- 
thing intrinsically  beautiful. 

The  Thracian  mining  tribes,  who  brought  the  Babylonic  silver  standard 
with  them  to  Europe,  were  of  Pelasgic  affinities,  and  there  is  reason  to 
believe  that  the  pre-Hellenic  element  was  strongest  in  the  westernmost 
of  the  so-called  Creek  colonies  in  the  Mediterranean.  The  .Eginetan 
standard  was  mostly  followed  in  Southern  Italy,  though  the  colonists  were 
supposed  to  start  from  Eubcea.  Tat  most  of  the  towns  of  Magna  Grrecia 
seem  to  have  had  coins  of  their  own,  struck  independently,  but  of  cognate 
value,  so  as  to  be  interchangeable  at  need  :  their  stater  averaged  about  126 
grs.,  and  was  divided  into  3  drachms  of  42  grs.  on  the  Corinthian  pattern. 
Etruria  was  apparently  supplied  from  Kubcea,  but  the  reduced  /Eginetan 
or  Persian  standard  was  also  used  there,  along  with  the  native  heavy 
bronze  coinage:  silver  coins  are  found  marked  20,  10,  5,  and  2.!,  indicating 
their  relation  to  the  bronze  unit. 

About  five-and-twenty  years  ago  a  hoard  of  small  Greek  silver  coins 
was  found  near  .Marseilles,  including  some  2.000  specimens  of  archaic 
style  and  25  different  sorts,  and  similar  finds  on  a  smaller  scale  have 
been  made  elsewhere.  They  bear  no  legend,  and  differ  too  much  to  have 
been  the  coinage  of  a  single  town,  and  are  therefore  probably  the  currency 
of  a  loose  kind  of  monetary  confederacy  '  (like  that  of  the  Greek  towns  in 
Italy),  "  of  which  the  Phocrean  towns  of  Veiia  in  Italy,  Massilia  in  (hud, 
and  perhaps  Emporiae  in  Spain,  were  members.  The  weight  standard  to 
which  these  interesting  little  coins  belong  is  the  Pluenician,  of  which  the 
stater  weighed  about  220  grs.  or  somewhat  less.  They  are  for  the  most 
part  121I1S  or  obols,  with  a  w  ■ight  of  18  grs.'' 

The  Carthaginians,  who  might  be  expected  to  adhere  most  closely  to  the 
usage  ot  the  I'hienicians  among  themselves,  probably  counted  6,000 
drai  Inns  to  a.  talent.  Any  way  they  had  pieces  of  3.  4.  6,  S.  10,  and  12 
times  some  unit  nearly  equivalent  to  the  drachm.  This  unit  is  put  by 
Brandis-  at  ,  .'.  i;  ol  the-  Babylonian  royal  mina,  and  so  corresponds  to  the 
weight  equivalent  to  the  smallest  gold  unit,  gold  being,  as  already  mentioned, 
1  3  ';  to  1  as  «  unpared  with  silver  in  Asia.  A  curious  trace  of  tin's  propor- 
tion is  preserved  in  the  amount  of  Lyeian  fines,  those  imposed  for  injuring 

1    ///■/.  .Y.vv..  p.  56.  -   Loc.  f/,'..  \<.  1.1S. 


APPENDICES.  451 

graves  being  s  mietimes  fixed  at  thirteen  coins,  i.e.  the  amount  of  silver 
required  to  make  up  one  gold  weight,  as  that  metal  was  not  coined. 

Another  and  the  most  advanced  example  of  a  monetary  union  is  that  of 
the  Lycian  league,  who  allowed  foreign  silver,  as  well  as  that  of  all  the  con- 
federate cities,  to  circulate  if  it  received  the  triquetra  stamp  of  the  league.1 
The  history  and  meaning  of  this  symbol — which  is  virtually  the  same  as 
the  arms  of  the  Isle  of  Man— forms  a  tempting  subject  of  speculation,  but 
we  have  already  wandered  rather  too  far  from  our  proper  theme. 

The  true  cradle  of  metrology  turns  out  to  be  identical  with  the  cradle  of 
primitive  civilization,  and  on  the  common,  unimpassioned  ground  of  coins, 
weights  and  measures,  data  may  be  found  for  solving  or  harmonising  such 
of  the  controversies  between  Classical  and  Oriental  scholars  as  have  their 
hidden  root  in  the  specialist's  natural  jealousy  of  specialities  he  has  not 
mastered.  The  metrologist,  at  all  events,  who  desires  to  know  exactly  how 
the  first  merchants  of  the  world  "weighed  their  money  and  measured  their 
grain,"  must  be  content  to  begin  his  studies  in  the  land  of  Sumer  and 
Akkad. 

1  Some  5th  and  6th  cniurv  coins  of  Ilerocabear  the  inscription  Arkadikon,  as  if  issued 

by  some  kind  of  Arcadian  league  with  common  coinage  :  a  currency  is  most  useful  to  a 
confederacy. 


APPENDIX    F. 

Vol.  i.,  pp.  4,  557  ;   vol.  ii.,  p.   13. 

Peru. 

To  "  survey  mankind"'  literally  "  from  China  to  Peru'"'  is  too  large  an 
undertaking  for  even  two  long  volumes;  and,  though  the  civilization  of  the 
Incas  is  generically  akin  to  that  of  ancient  Egypt  and  China,  the  chrono- 
logical interval  between  its  rise  and  theirs  offers  a  sufficient  excuse  for 
treating  Peru  as  outside  the  subject  of  the  present  work.  At  the  same 
time,  as  we  have  not  hesitated  to  illustrate  or  interpret  the  usages  of  civi- 
lized antiquity  by  that  of  later  stocks  of  inferior  development,  it  may  be 
asked  why  the  line  is  drawn  at  the  Canaries,  or  the  Pyrenees  and  .Malabar, 
to  the  exclusion  of  the  New  World,  and  all  those  stages  on  the  ocean  route 
towards  it  from  Eastern  Asia,  where  ethnologists  have  reported  customs 
akin  to  many  of  those  described  above. 

It  may  be  admitted  at  once  that  common  meals,  village  hospitality,  quasi- 
communism  of  different  kinds,  the  habit  of  tracing  descent  from  the  mother, 
rudimentary  mummification,  female  polygamy,  and  other  traits,  met  with  in 
the  .Malay  Archipelago,  Australia,  and  the  Islands  of  the  Pacific,  will  give 
an  indication  of  race  relationship,  it  it  should  be  shown  hereafter  that  they 
are  not  universal  characteristics  ot  a  certain  stage  of  social  development.1 
Put  this  point  is  not  one  to  be  decided  in  a  parenthesis,  and,  at  any  rate, 
we  only  know  the  primitive  races  of  the  Southern  Seas  in  a  state  which, 
however  amiable  and  picturesque,  cannot  be  called  civilized  in  the  sense 
that  the  literary  nations  of  antiquity  are  so. 

The  ruling  race  of  Peru  must  have  differentiated  itself  from  a  stock  vir- 
tual!}- on  the  level  of  the  Canarians,  and,  without  entering  into  details  or 
controversies  respecting  its  origin,  history,  and  antiquities,  it  may  be  con- 
venient to  subjoin  a  summary  of  the  points  recorded  by  the  Inca  Garcil- 
asso  de  la  Vega,  which  bear  the  most  obvious  resemblance  to  features  in 
the  eiv'i'ized  communities  of  the  ancient  Past. 

The  whole  kingdom  ot  Peru  was  railed  Itahuantui-suya.  according  to  the 
I  nra  the  "'  tour  -  [nailers  of  the  \\  orld,'"  '-'  corresponding  to  the  four  cardinal 
points,  or  according  to  Markham,  merely  ""  the  four  provinces/'  distinguished 
by  their  sev   ral  dire*  tioii  in  regard  to  die  capital,  Cuzco  ;  "so  that,  in  point 

'P  i-  pi-  •     -      /  :       .  i  I    nnani     Mi    villi-,      .   N  1         alls  the 

:  ' '       '1     iiviT.n 

-   I\    :  •    '/     m,  11     •/  )'■•■  .,'.,  (jarrilaw)  tie    In    Vega,   tr.  Clements   Mark!     m, 

[1                      .   iM.ii,  :.  -,  .;  ..  1  :j. 


APPENDICES.  453 

of  fact,  the  use  of  one  of  these  divisions  in  a  discourse  was  the  same  as 
saving  to  the  east  or  west  ;  and  the  four  roads  issuing  from  the  city  were 
also  so  called  because  they  led  to  the  four  divisions  of  the  Empire."  There 
were  four  viceroys  for  the  four  districts ;  and  there  was  some  fourfold 
arrangement  of  "upper"  and  "lower"  towns,  of  which  the  significance  is 
not  clear.  The  villages  founded  by  the  first  Inca  "  were  at  first  small,  the 
largest  not  having  more  than  one  hundred  houses,  and  the  smallest  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty."  1  In  all  the  towns  the  inhabitants  were  registered 
by  decades,  one  as  a  decurion  to  have  charge  of  the  other  nine.  Five  of 
these  decurions  had  one  to  rule  them,  who  thus  commanded  fifty  men. 
Two  of  these  rulers  of  fifty  had  a  superior  who  commanded  ioo  men  ;  five 
centurions  had  a  chief  (ruling  500),  and  two  of  these  obeyed  a  general  com- 
manding 1,000,  the  largest  troop  recognised.'2 

It  was  the  decurion's  business  to  see  that  seed  was  supplied  for  sowing, 
cloth  for  clothes,  houses  built,  or  re-built  if  necessary ;  also  to  report  of- 
fences, among  which  were  reckoned  removing  landmarks,  diverting  water, 
and  burning  a  house  or  bridge.  The  decurions  had  also  to  report  births 
and  deaths  monthly  to  their  superiors,  and  a  summary  report  was  given 
yearly  to  the  king,  including  a  return  of  the  soldiers  killed  in  war.  These 
census  returns  were  required  in  order  to  regulate  the  supply  of  food,  and 
that  of  cloth  and  cotton.  Travelling  censors  or  overseers  were  employed. 
The  father  was  punished  for  the  child's  offence.  The  general  language  of 
Peru  had  two  words  for  son — son  of  a  father,  and  son  of  a  mother. 3 
Garcilasso  speaks  of  a  school-fellow  "  whom  I  may  call  my  brother,  for  we 
were  born  in  the  same  house,  and  his  father  brought  me  up."4  But  he  also 
mentions  how,  before  beginning  his  history,  he  wrote  to  other  old  school- 
fellows, asking  them  for  help,  and  for  particulars  respecting  the  Incas'  con- 
quests "  in  the  provinces  of  their  mothers."  5 

The  king's  titles  are,  "  Sole  Lord,"  "  Lover  of  the  Poor,"  and  "'  Son  of  the 
Sun,"  the  Incas  being  rather  naively  praised  by  their  descendant  for  their 
superior  skill  in  "selecting  ancestors."'  The  king's  wife  was  called  "Our 
Mother."  The  twelfth  Inca,  Huayna  Ccapac,  was  said  never  to  refuse  the 
prayer  of  a  woman,  and  one  of  his  father's  concubines  therefore  interceded 
for  her  native  province  after  its  rebellion  :  on  which  he  replied  :  "  I  well 
perceive  that  thou  art  Maman-chic,"  i.e.  Common  Mother,  meaning,  "  My 
Mother  and  the  mother  of  thy  children."0  In  describing  all  the  Inca  con- 
quests, the  formula  used  represents  them  as  desiring  to  extend  the  blessings 
of  civilization  :  they  are  slow  in  attack,  and  try  to  do  the  enemy  as  little 
damage  as  possible,  and  receive  the  first  overtures  for  peace  with  kindness 
and  presents.  Then  they  make  roads,  bridges,  and  irrigation  works  for 
their  new  subjects.7 

Every  year  or  two  years  the  girls  from  eighteen  to  twenty,  and  the  men 
of  twenty-four  and  upwards,  were  assembled  in  the  city  of  Cuzco,  and  mar- 

1  !><.,  \\  So.  '-  lb.,  p.  1 4 j.  3  lb.,   p.  314.  *  lb.,  p.  2ii. 

5  //'.,  p.  77.  (1   Vol.  ii.  p.  43S.  ;  Vol.  i.  p.  157- 


454  APPENDICES. 

lied,  if  of  high  rank,  by  the  Inca,  otherwise  by  his  ministers.  Houses  were 
provided  by  the  common  labour  of  the  villagers  for  the  new  couples.  Villa- 
gers were  obliged  to  intermarry;  '"only  sisters  were  reserved."  The  Inca 
married  his  eldest  sister,  "that  the  blood  might  be  preserved  pure,"  and 
others  in  order  of  seniority,  if  necessary  to  obtain  children  ;  failing  sisters. 
the  nearest  cousin,  aunt,  or  niece.  Failing  legitimate  children,  the  eldest 
relation  of  pure  blood  might  inherit.1  The  dignity  of  primogeniture  was 
mm  h  considered  among  the  Incas.  and  the  obligation  to  marry  the  eldest 
sister  points  to  the  inheritance  passing  with  her.-  A  year  of  widowho  >d 
was  strictly  observed,  and  the  re-marriage  of  widows  discountenanced.  The 
lies  of  tiie  dead  kings  were  "  embalmed,  so  as  to  appear  as  if  they  were 
alive/'  Acosta  says,  "by  means  of  a  sort  of  bitumen,"  the  eyes  being  formed 
«  i   small  pellets  of  gold.3 

The  sixth  Inca.  Rocca,  established  schools  in  Cu/xo,  and  said,  "  If  he 
had  to  worship  anything  on  this  lower  earth,  it  would  be  a  discreet  and 
learned  man.  the  chief  of  all  created  things/'  They  had  a  high  priest  of 
the  temple  of  the  Sun  at  Cuzco,  who  was  an  uncle  or  brother  of  the  king, 
or  at  least  a  legitimate  member  of  the  royal  family.  There  was  a  great 
feast  of  the  Sun  at  the  summer  solstice,  but  the  principal  least  was  ob- 
served at  the  autumn  equinox.  The  year  had  y^  days,  the  common  people 
d.ting  by  harvests  and  the  Incas  by  the  movement  of  the  sun,4  which 
thev  measured  by  the  help  of  towers — according  to  Garcilasso  8  and  to 
Acosta  12  in  number — the  towers  being  placed  east  and  west  of  Cuzco, 
an  1  the  date  of  the  summer  and  winter  solstice  determined  by  the  falling 
<  ;  the  shadow  between  the  smaller  towers.  The  term  between  the  end  of 
:Te  -  >lar  and  the  lunar  year  (cubed  "  finished  moon  " )  was  devoted  to  rest. 
i  ue  date  of  the  equinoctial  feast  was  fixed  by  observation  ot  the  shadow 
ot  a  pillar  in  the  centre  of  a  circle,  with  a  line  across  from  west  to  east  : 
-of  ibservation  where  the  shadow  was  shortest,  or  within  the  equinoc- 
tial line,  '.vere  tlie  most  sacred.  Some  of  the  stones  in  the  fortress  of 
bhi/co  measured  twelve  or  sixteen  feet  in  length  ;  Garcilass  )  believed  they 
were  not  married,  but  natural  blocks  laid  together  and  worked  at  the  joints 
so  as  ti  fit  exactly.  The  fortifications  themselves  were  arranged  ''with  a 
deju  :  i  f  skill  nowhere  else  to  be  met  with  in  any  work  of  fortification  an- 
teri    r  to  the  invention  of  g  mpowder,  and  including  a  fortification  en  Av,  liueP 

hue   !  utu    ing  of   m  mntains  for  tillage  had  been  carried  in  Peru    t  >    the 
..  -    e-;    ;i   --;    ;e   decree    of    perfection  : ''   other    Uelds    were    levehed    and 

lar  ■  .  .        :t;_   ti  ■  ,  :  P.  ■  terraces  were  watered  bv  an  elaborate  system  of 

■  .      ts.     nd  where  t     :re  were  neither  rivers  nor  s  irface  q  rings   to  feed 

' .     .        .    is.  .:  .  ■  ■ ',  ■  Aral  -  and  Persians,  the  ln<   is  made  si;  )ten\mcau 

q';:;.'<  as  much  as  f  rt\   ieet    tin  lerground.       Ail  arab.e  ..  :.  . 


APPENDICES.  455 

was  divided  into  three  parts — one  for  the  Sun,  one  for  the  king,  and  one  for 
the  people.  ':  When  the  people  of  a  village  or  province  increased  in 
numbers,  a  portion  was  taken  from  the  lands  of  the  Sun  and  of  the  Inca 
for  the  vassals.  Thus  the  king  only  took  for  himself  and  for  the  Sun  such 
lands  as  would  otherwise  remain  desert  and  without  an  owner."  l  Besides 
the  irrigated  maize  lands,  that  where  other  crops  were  raised,  without  irriga- 
tion, was  cultivated  on  the  same  principle,  only  with  intervals  of  fallow. 
Only  maize  lands,  irrigated  and  manured,  were  cropped  every  year. 

After  tilling  the  fields  of  the  Sun,  they  did  those  of  the  poor,  —  widows, 
orphans,  the  sick  or  aged  ; — the  officers  of  the  village  looked  after  this, 
summoning  the  villagers  by  trumpet  to  work  on  such  lands  in  their  neigh- 
bourhood :  the  labourers  received  no  pay  in  such  cases ;  the  families  of 
soldiers  on  a  campaign  were  also  provided  for  in  this  way.  Then  the 
people  tilled  their  own  lands,  assisting  each  other ;  then  the  lands  of  the 
Curaca,  or  local  chief,  lastly  those  of  the  Inca.  They  were  wont  to  sing  as 
they  ploughed  for  king  and  Sun.  Each  householder  had  one  tupu  of  land 
— a  little  over  an  acre — for  himself  and  wife,  and  an  additional  tupu  for 
every  son,  and  half  that  for  each  daughter.  The  sons  as  they  marry  take 
the//////,  and  the  father  gives  it  up.  It  was  not  allowed  to  buy  or  sell  land. 
In  the  guano  islands  each  village  and  province  had  its  plot  marked  out  and 
was  not  allowed  to  encroach  on  the  others,  while  each  villager  had  an 
allowance  suited  to  his  lands.  The  allotments  of  the  householders  paid  no 
tax. 

The  tribute  of  the  common  people  was  to  cultivate  the  lands  of  the  Sun 
and  the  Inca,  and  to  gather  the  harvests  and  store  them  in  the  granaries 
kept  in  each  village.  These  granaries  (called  pirua)  were  built  to  hold 
given  measures  of  corn,  and  had  openings  by  which  the  corn  taken  out  was 
measured.  There  were  two  storehouses  in  every  village — one  containing 
grain  against  years  of  famine,  the  other  the  crops  of  the  Sun  and  the  Inca. 
The  latter  for  fifty  leagues  round  Cuzco  were  used  for  the  support  of  the 
Court,  and  outside  this  circuit,  crops  were  conveyed  to  royal  granaries  and 
storehouses  on  the  roads,  for  the  supply  of  the  soldiers,  who  were  not  allowed 
to  take  anything  from  villages  while  on  march.2  Lodgings  for  travellers 
were  placed  at  intervals  along  high-roads.  Priests  were  maintained  while  on 
duty  at  the  temple  in  weekly  rotation,  out  of  estates  of  the  Sun,  and  at 
other  times  received  lands  to  till,  like  the  rest  of  the  people.  The  store- 
houses of  the  Sun  served  as  a  reserve  for  the  Inca  in  emergencies. 

They  gave  the  name  of  the  "  common  law  "  to  that  which  obliged  the 
able-bodied  Indians  to  work  on  roads,  bridges,  palaces,  etc.3  They  called 
the  "'brotherly  law'"'  that  which  compelled  the  inhabitants  of  every  village 
to  help  each  oilier  in  getting  in  the  harvest,  building  houses,  and  similar 
work  without  pay ;  and  it  was  said  to  be  "  a  very  ancient  custom  among 
them  to  work  together,  not  only  on  public  lands,  but  also  on  their  own.''  A 

1  /..(-.,  vol.  ii.  p.  5.  -  lb.,  ii.  23. 

a  lb.,  p.  yd.  *  lb.,  p.  206. 


456  APPENDICES. 

There  was  a  law  which  the)'  called  "mitachanacuy,"  which  means  "  to  take 
turns  according  to  families  "  to  do  the  share  of  public  work  allotted  to  each 
village,  family,  or  person.  "  This  law  also  ordained  that  three  or  four  times 
a  month  all  the  inhabitants  of  each  village  should  feast  together  .  . 
another  law  ordained  that  strangers  should  be  treated  as  guests,  and  public 
houses  were  provided  for  them  .  .  .  the  same  law  decreed  that  all  the 
poor  should  be  invited  to  the  public  banquets  two  or  three  times  a  month, 
that  in  the  universal  rejoicings  they  might  forget  their  own  misery." 

Hunts,  like  gigantic  battues,  were  organized  at  set  seasons;1  noxious 
animals  were  killed  ;  huanacas  and  vicunas  shorn,  and  the  flesh  of  other 
animals  divided  amongst  the  people.  The  provinces  were  divided  into 
three  or  four  parts,  of  which  one  only  was  hunted  each  year  in  succession, 
to  let  the  ileeces  grow  and  the  other  game  multiply.  The  Incas  said  the 
game  should  be  made  as  profitable  as  tame  llocks ;  and  the  common  people 
as  a  rule  only  obtained  flesh  through  these  hunts.  The  people  exchanged 
one  article  of  food  for  another,  but  "neither  sold  clothes  nor  houses  nor 
estates,"  and  knew  nothing  of  renting,  buying,  or  selling. 

The  artizans  paid  tribute  in  kind,  making  cloth,  shoes,  arms,  etc.,  each 
district  paying  tribute  according  to  its  produce.  Under  twenty-live  and 
over  fifty  no  tribute  was  exacted  from  the  men,  and  the  women  paid  none 
at  all.  Gold  and  silver  were  only  collected  when  the  people  had  nothing 
else  to  do.  The  extraction  of  quicksilver  was  forbidden  as  hurtful,  as  it 
caused  those  who  worked  it  to  tremble  and  lose  their  feeling/-  The 
pearl  fisheries  were  not  worked  by  the  Incas  on  account  of  the  danger  to 
the  divers.  Miners  worked  for  two  months  of  the  year  as  their  tribute  : 
and  if  extra  services  were  given  one  year,  a  corresponding  time  was  de- 
ducted in  the  next  year.  Salt,  fish,  fruit,  cotton,  and  other  produce  were 
dealt  with  in  common,  but  trees  planted  on  private  lands  were  enjoyed  by 
the  occupier.  Roads,  bridges,  and  canals  were  repaired  annually. 
Domestic  industries  were  practised  by  every  one,  and  there  was  little 
specialization  of  occupation.     Beggars  were  unknown. 

The  knots  used  in  counting  served  for  figures,  as  there  might  be  nine 
strings  bearing  up  to  nine  knots  each,  placed  one  under  the  other,  just  like 
the  figures  on  a  slate  for  an  addition  sum,  the  value  of  each  knot  being- 
shown  by  its  place.  The  people  in  charge  of  the  knots  [(reserved  tradi- 
tional senteni  ,-s  and  speeches  by  memory. :J  "Sententious  sentences"  of 
the  ninth  Inca.  Pachacutec,  were  preserved  by  tradition.  He  increased 
the  schools  founded  by  inca  Rocca,  and  ordered  the  language  of  Cuzco  to 
be  taugut  throughout  the  kingdom  ;  and  he  is  also  said  to  have  caused 
storehouses  to  be  built  in  all  villages,  large  and  small,  where  supplies  might 
he  kept  tor  succouring  the  people  in  time  of  scarcity,  such  depots  to  be 
tilled  from  the  crops  of  the  Inca  and  the  Sun/1 

(  onuiieut   on   su(  h   a    list  of  institutions  is   unnecessary;  and    sceptical 


ii.  ].]..   115    7.  -   //'.,  pp.  21,  415.  .;- 

12!.  >    //'.,    p.     201. 


APPENDICES.  457 

criticism  is  uncalled  for  also,  because,  whatever  difficulty  the  Inca  Garci- 
lasso  may  have  had  in  excluding  from  his  mind  all  the  effects  of  his  half- 
breed's  education,  all  the  above  traditions  represent  what  he  must  have 
gleaned  "  from  the  mothers"  of  his  friends,  and  his  own  relations  on  the 
mother's  side,  as  the  inventions  of  the  Spaniards  would  take  a  totally 
different  direction. 


APPENDIX  G. 

Vol.  i.,  p.  553. 

Report  of  the  Malabar  Marriage  Commission. 

When  first  examining  into  the  eccentricities  of  Egyptian  marriage  settle- 
ments, the  writer  had  no  thought  of  a  possible  practical  bearing  for  the 
historical  speculation;  and  it  may  appear  somewhat  incongruous  to  append 
to  the  preceding  summary  of  ancient  law  and  history  the  discussion  of 
anything  so  modern  as  a  Bill,  to  be  called  The  Malabar  Marriage  Act, 
two  proposals  for  which  have  been  laid  before  the  Madras  Government  in 
the  last  ten  years,  but,  though  the  shade  of  Mencius  forbids  us  to  study 
history  for  the  sake  of  "  profit,"  it  is  not  necessary  to  close  our  eyes  to  the 
light  which,  on  rare  occasions,  disinterested  historical  inquiries  may  cast 
on  questions  of  practical  politics.  "We  have  taught  gentlemen  who  sign 
themselves  \air  and  Menon  to  quote  Iientham  and  John  Stuart  Mill  as 
well  as  barasu  Rama  in  their  legislative  proposals;  and,  as  the  countrymen 
of  the  two  first-named  authors  have  taken  upon  themselves  the  responsi- 
bility of  legislating  for  a  people,  to  whom  the  latter  name  is  naturally  the 
more  sacred  of  the  three,  it  is  clearly  desirable  that  the  European  lawgiver 
should  understand  the  history  and  ethics  of  the  Malabar  problem,  at  least 
not  more  imperfectly  than  the  descendants  of  Malabar  Warriors  and  Scribes 
understand  English  Utilitarianism. 

The  demand  fur  an  Act  ''to  provide  a  form  of  marriage  for  Hindus 
following  the  Marumakkatayam  law  of  succession,  and  to  provide  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  wives  and  children  alter  the  performance  of  such 
marriages,"  lias  arisen  because  there-  are  now  natives  of  .Malabar,  especially 
in  the  Government  service,  who  earn  a  professional  income  which  enables 
them  to  maintain  their  wives  and  children  without  assistance  from  family 
properly  ;  and  who  are  desirous  of  bequeathing  their  savings  from  such 
earning-,  to  their  own  wife  or  children,  rather  than  to  their  mothers  and 
sisters  and  sisters'  children,  who  are  now  by  local  custom  their  legal  heirs. 
In  1  SS.j.  ;i  or  Mi.  Ari  for  this  purpose  was  prepared  by  Mr.  Logan,  whose 
standard  work  is  quoted  from  in  the  text  (vol.  i.  p.  553)  upon  this  very 
subject.      As   110  action  was  taken   upon   his   proposal,  its  details  need  not 

:  clisi  u  -ed.  In  recognition,  however,  of  the  demand  for  some  action  in 
tins    direction,   a   ( 'ommission   was   appointed    in    May,  iSyi,  to  take    evi- 

d    ■!!.   e- 

"(,/)   As  to  the  customs  connected  with  Hindu  marriages  in  Malabar  ; 


APPENDICES.  459 

(/>)  As  to  whether  the  proposed  changes  are  desired  by  the  majority  of 
the  classes  subject  to  the  Marumakkathayam  law, 

(c)  Or  are  essential  for  the  protection  of  the  minority  ; 

(d)  Whether  legislation  is  expedient, 

(e)  And  if  so  what  form  it  should  take  ; 

(/)  Whether  the  measure  would  affect  the  religion,  or  the  religious  rites 
and  usages  of  the  Marumakkathayam  classes  ; 

Cr)  What  would  be  its  effect  upon  the  people  of  the  neighbouring  States 
of  Cochin  and  Travancore, 

(//)  And  upon  the  people  governed  by  the  Aliyasantana  law." 

Witnesses  selected  from  the  Marumakkatayam  classes  (i.e.  those  follow- 
ing sisters'  sons'  inheritance)  were  examined  to  the  number  of  322, 
including  representatives  of  the  Kovilagams,  or  princely  families  of  the 
country.  The  written  answers  of  64  witnesses  and  the  viva  voce  evidence 
of  121  witnesses  are  printed  at  length  in  the  report  published  by  the  Com- 
mission, which  may  be  recommended  as  a  mine  of  information  for  the  social 
anthropologist.  The  Commission  consisted  of  a  judge  of  the  High  Court, 
Mr.  Muttusami  Aiyar,  Mr.  H.  M.  Winterbotham,  Collector  of  Malabar, 
the  Hon.  Sankaran  Xair,  the  author  of  the  Bill  discussed,  and  three 
other  native  gentlemen,  two  holding  the  office  of  District  MunsifT,  and  the 
other  a  member  of  the  Parapanad  Kovilagam. 

The  Bill  drafted  by  Mr.  Sankaran  Nair  (on  the  same  lines  as  that  of 
Mr.  Logan)  proposes  to  legalize  marriages  between  followers  of  the 
Marumakkatayam  law  of  succession  upon  the  following  conditions  : — 

( 1 )  Neither  party  must,  at  the  time  of  the  marriage,  have  a  wife  or 
husband  living. 

(2)  The  man  must  have  completed  the  age  of  18  years,  and  the  woman 
the  age  of  14  years. 

(3)  Each  party  must,  if  under  21,  have  obtained  the  consent  of  his  or 
her  legal  guardian  to  the  marriage. 

(4)  The  relation  of  the  parties  must  not  be  such  in  respect  of  con- 
sanguinity or  affinity  that,  according  to  any  recognised  custom,  a  marriage 
between  them  would  be  improper.  (This  is  neutralised  by  the  two  follow- 
ing provisos,  which  will  be  referred  to  later.1) 

Then  follow  a  variety  of  formalities  tor  giving  notice  of  a  proposed 
marriage  to  the  registrar,  and  for  the  "solemnization"  of  the  marriage 
in  his  presence  and  that  of  three  witnesses,  with  any  forms  desired, 
provided  each  party  "says  to  the  other  in  the  presence  and  hearing  of  the 
registrar  and  the  witnesses,  *'  I  [A.)  take  thee  (B.)  to  be  my  lawful  wife 
(or  husband).' "  A  large  part  ot  the  remainder  of  the  Draft  deais  with 
'•  Matrimonial  Suits  "  under  four  heads — Decree  of  Nullity,  Of  Dissolution 
in  case  of  absence,  For  Divorce  or  Judicial  separation,  For  Restitution  of 
conjugal  rights — all  more  or  less  ot  the  European,  not  to  say  British 
pattern.  The  last  material  portion  confers  the  following  civil  rights  on 
parties  married  under  the  Act.  The  husband  becomes  ipso  facto  the 
guardian  oi  his  wife  and  children  :  the  latter  are  entitled  to  claim  mainten- 


46o  APPENDICES. 

ance  from  the  husband,  while  retaining  their  rights  as  members  of  their 
tarwad.  The  wife  becomes  legal  guardian  of  the  children  after  the  father's 
death  :  the  self-acquired  property  of  either  husband  or  wife,  if  they  die 
intestate,  shall  devolve  on  the  survivor  and  the  children  of  the  marriage, 
and  failing  them  on  the  tarwad.  both  husband  and  wife,  if  of  full  age 
and  sound  mind,  may  dispose  of  their  separate  and  self-acquired  property 
by  will,  with  the  proviso  that  the  wife  and  children  are  entitled  first  to  a 
sufficient  share  of  the  husband's  property  to  provide  them  with  suitable 
maintenance. 

In  justice  to  the  author  of  this  Bill,  which  is  not  acceptable  to  any  section 
of  his  countrymen,  it  should  be  explained  that  it  was  drafted  under  the  belief 
'•that  in  the  present  state  of  English  public  opinion,  a  proposal  to  recog- 
nise caste  as  an  obstacle  to  marriage,  and  to  permit  free  divorce,  is  not 
within  the  field  of  practical  politics.''  So  that  the  bill  represents,  not  the 
spontaneous  wish  either  of  the  whole  people  or  of  the  "  English  educated  " 
minority,  but  an  approximate  guess,  by  a  member  of  that  minority,  how 
much  of  what  they  want  their  rulers  will  allow  them  to  have. 

On  the  suggestion  of  the  President,  the  following  were  accepted  as  the 
chief  points  for  notice  in  connection  with  the  reference  : — - 

(a)  Conditions  of  a  valid  marriage. 

(/')   The  form  that  ought  to  be  recognised. 

(n    Registration  as  evidence  of  an  agreement  to  be  governed  by  the  act. 

(<i)  Divorce;  grounds  of  divorce  ;  tribunal. 

(<•)    Rights  and  obligations  to  be  attached  to  the  legal  form  of  marriage. 

Memoranda  were  prepared  by  each  member  of  the  Commission  and 
read  at  their  second  meeting,  from  which  it  appeared  that  they  were 
unanimous  in  replying  to  the  second  question  of  the  reference  in  the  nega- 
tive, i.e.  that  in  their  opinion  no  change  in  their  marriage  customs  is 
desired  by  the  majority  of  persons  following  Marumakkatayam.  With 
regard  to  question  r.  four  out  of  five  of  the  Commissioners  agree  that 
legislation  is  desirable  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  educated  and  progressive 
minority,  and  the  dissenting  member  considers  such  legislation  necessary 
"in  case  the  Courts  refuse  to  recognise  the  existing  social  marriages  as 
legal  and  binding  marriages,  creating  the  rights  and  obligations  described 
o}'  him  in  his  .Memorandum." 

This  remark   illustrates  the  initial  difficulty  of  the   problem,     The   late 

Sir  I-'itz-Jaines  Stephen  is  quoted  as  saying  :  "  Most  people  regard  marriage 

as  a  '     nti  i         nd  something  more  :   but  1  never  yet  heard  of  any  one  who 

d  thai  i:  is  at  all  event-  a  contract,  and   by  far  the   most  important  ut 

ail    contracts,"      The    Majority  report    of  the   Commission   proceeds:    "A 

i  ontnu  t  is  an  agreement  enforceable  bv  law  (Contract  Act  ix.  ot  1872,  >'  2  1, 

:Mi  if  we  can   dis<  over  such   an  agreement  in  the  form  of  nuptial   union 

sanctioned  by  Marumakkatiiavam   custom,  we  shall   have  ascertained  that 

1-  a  M  c  ,.,.    ...  ith  r  am  m  irri  ._e.  and  not  otherwise.  ' 

Xow  if  this  proposition  were  of  worldwide  application,  it  would  be 
e\t:  ::uulv  i.l  atbtful    ■  the   ancient    K:/vj>hans   were  married   to  their 


APPENDICES.  461 

wives;  and  it  is  not  even  certain  that  the  millennial  marriage  customs  of  the 
Chinese  would  satisfy  the  terms  of  Contract  Act  ix.  1872.  The  marriage 
Contracts  of  later  Egypt  were  all  in  effect  marriage  Settlements  ;  and  the 
Syrian  distinction  between  "  marriages  with  writings  "  and  those  without 
seems  to  point  to  a  similar  difference.  But  not  even  the  Roman  Prcetor 
went  the  length  of  saying  that  persons  married  without  writings  were  not 
married  at  all.  An  ancient  Egyptian  might  have  a  wife  without  entering 
into  "  an  agreement  enforced  by  law,"  but  if  he  wished  to  arrange  for  the 
transmission  of  his  property  to  his  own  and  his  wife's  children,  he  had  to 
execute  a  marriage  settlement  for  that  purpose. 

If  the  educated  minority  in  Malabar  had  had  an  "Egyptian"  instead  of 
an  English  education,  they  might  have  met  the  difficulties  of  their  case  by 
executing  marriage  settlements,  which  the  Courts  would  have  been  obliged 
to  recognise  as  Contracts.  But  even  if  this  remedy  had  occurred  to  them, 
it  is  doubtful  whether  it  would  be  effectual  now,  in  the  face  of  a  strong  and 
well-meant  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Courts  to  uphold  another  portion  of 
the  customary  law  of  the  country.  The  English  have  been  accused  in 
some  parts  of  India  of  breaking  up  the  "joint,  undivided  families  -;  of  the 
Hindus,  by  tin  excessive  readiness  to  recognise  the  rights  of  individuals, 
apart  from  the  groups  of  ancient  tradition.  And  by  way  of  avoiding  this 
reproach,  they  have,  in  Malabar,  to  some  extent  laid  themselves  open  to 
another  ;  viz.,  that  of  arresting  a  tendency  to  substitute  the  tavazhi,  or 
natural  maternal  family,  for  the  tanvad  or  larger  group  with  a  common 
ancestress.  All  family  property,  unless  formally  divided  by  deed,  is  now 
held  to  be  tarwad  property ;  and  marriage  settlements  of  self-acquired 
property  might  be  set  aside  by  the  Courts  as  an  infringement  of  the  rights 
of  tarwads. 

The  natives  of  Malabar  are  thus,  through  no  fault  or  failing  of  their  own, 
dependent  on  the  goodwill  and  intelligence  of  English  legislation  to  enable 
them  to  transmit  their  property  to  the  children  born  to  them  in  mono- 
gamous unions,  contracted  in  accordance  with  all  the  social  and  religious 
proprieties  recognised  in  their  country.  And  the  discussion  of  their 
demands  is,  after  all,  scarcely  a  digression  from  the  subject  of  the  present 
work,  as  much  of  the  information  embodied  in  the  Report  of  the  Com- 
mission throws  fresh  and  valuable  light  on  the  significance  and  origin  of 
various  archaic  traits  already  met  with. 

The  marriage  customs  of  the  natives  of  Malabar  are  in  some  respects 
less  advanced  than  those  of  Egypt,  owing  to  historical  circumstances, 
which  are  to  some  extent  assignable.  The  natural  evolution  of  the  family 
continued  tin  listurbed  in  Egypt,  and  the  combined  influence  of  family 
affection  and  proprietary  interests  made  marriage  and  liberal  marriage 
settlements  the  rule,  in  a  country  with  a  primitively  lax  standard  of  sexual 
morality.1  There  is  practically  no  doubt  that  the  ancient  native  custom 
of    Malabar   approached  to   that   of  the   Xabaueans   and   of  the   modern 

1    I  nlike  tlie    Chinese   clas.-ics,  10  nsider  ol    Egyptian    text;   are  de- 

scril  1    1  as  untranslatable. 


4r,2 


APPEXDICES. 


Tibetans  :  while  the  earliest  records  of  Egypt  give  no  hint  at  such  a  stage 
having  been  passed  thr  aigh,  except  in  the  recognition  of  real  or  imaginary 
marriages  with  sisters,  evidently  due  to  some  notion  of  the  special  fitness 
of  a  sister  to  be  installed  as  "  Lady  of  the  House." 

Without  a  circumstantial  descrption  of  modern  Malayali  custom,  we 
shoui  .  fin  1  it  di  lit  to  realize  what  the  so-called  i;  sister's  son's  inherit- 
ance''' reallv  means.  We  will  suppose  Khrishna  and  Lakshmi  (the  baron 
and  /<■;;!■•  u\  India;  to  be  members  respectively  of  a  large  tanvad.  descended 
from  Lakshmfs  great-great-great-grandm  >ther,  and  of  a  small  tavazhi 
or  1  r  :.  f;  mily,  either  separate  1  ::  in  an  <  vergrown  tarwad,  or  sole 
representative  of  one  which  has  died  out.  Khrishna  therefore  has  been 
brought    u:>  in  a  household   consisting   of  his    mother,  one  or  two  of  his 

ithers  or  tilers,  and  his  own  brothers  and  sisters;  if  he  is  a  native 
of  Northern  Malabar,  the  family  will  also  have  included  his  brothers' 
children,  while,  if  he  lives  in  Southern  Malabar,  it  will  have  included  his 
sisters'  children  onlv.  Whether  the  family  group  be  large  or  small, 
tiie  members  of  either  -ex  within  it  take  their  meals  together;  and. 
whether  the  children  of  a  marriage  are  brought  iv.>  in  their  father's  or  their 
mother's  family,  it  is  usual  for  long  visits  to  be  paid  to  the  other  house- 
'.  i]  i.  and  it  is  therefore  desirable,  in  choosing  a  consort,  to  choose  one 
who  i  ::.  in  ac<  irdance  with  ciste  nil  :s,  eat  with  the  persons  of  the  same 
sex  in  tile  fimily  of  the  other  s]  ouse. 

Lakshmi's  father  only  visits  his  wife  and  children  occasionally,  and  the 
;.  .-;■■•-  of  the  i.  msehold,  and  her  legal  guardian,  the  Karnavan,  is  pro- 
bablv  a  great-uncle  or  distant  cousin,  wh  >  takes  no  personal  interest  in  her, 
bevond  reckoning  her  as  one  of  those  for  whom  rice  must  be  provided  at 
tiie  women's  table,  and  a  husband  found  in  due  season.  The  girls  and 
nun  of     large  tarwad   are  kept  a1   irt  trom  t  '    -.  with  whom,   how- 

ever remote  the  relationship,  marriage  is  absolutely  forbidden:  conse- 
quently the  onlv  man.  before  her  marri  ige.  with  whom  she  can  h  ive  any 
irse.  is  a  brother  fherovn.  If  Khrishna's  father  also  lives 
in  ids  '.'..  tarv,  d.  apart  from  his  wife.  Khrishna's  sisters  will  grown  in 
th  :  i.  '  ft  of  regarding  him  as  ''*  the  man  of  the  h  >  use  ;  "  and,  as  ins  m 
look-  to  iris  uncles  to  do  her  business  outside  the  family,  and  look  fter 
the  f  ro:     rtv.  :V  >m  wliii    .  the  un  iivided     ou  sell  old  lives,  so  Ki  rishn 


.  r  iw 


:..  the  .  n    :t   oi   i    nisi  ier:m_    liimselt    n  -•     nsd  i  ;  :    •:   the   materia 


sup'.jor;  '  f  h'\<   m  itiier  and   sisters   w'nen    his   uncle  dies.      And    while    the 
i'.vs.  i  | (To  >ab!y  to    Khrishna    that   they  would    have  to  apply,  if 

tlie  ux   i  ■  -       ■.     i    signs   oi    '    >sti    iiiing    their   interests  in   any  wav  t  i  -i,  ise 
r> :  ii  i  s  '    '.- n  ( : i  u  1  d 

The  .  o  i.aic  :  r  :fereiv:e  of  the  brother  to  tiie  husband,  the  sped  d  regard 

f  >r  the  :..  >'  i  r.    md  the  separati  in   of  the   sexes  at  meal-  (known 

f  '   -     -..   I!        le.    .  :.  1    (Met   n    custom ).  all   originate    in    a  system    of 

■•_    c     .;    in      km    t  i    that    ot    m  >dern    Malabar,  and  we  —  h  >w 

the    ••  comp.inionslup    ot    the    cupboard  *'    gives    a    natural    vitality    to   an 

.  ■  ■     •    ntly    irtili    ial  system     f  inheritance  :   so  that,  at  the  pre -en  t  m  mient, 


APPENDICES. 


463 


while  men  wish  to  be  allowed  to  leave  property  to  their  children,  none  of 
them  would  be  content  to  be  compelled  to  leave  it  away  from  their  mother 
and  sisters.  If  Ivhrishna  is  poor  and  Lakshmi  rich,  they  would  both  think 
it  right  tor  their  children  to  be  brought  up  in  her  tarwad,  and  for  him  to 
give  what  little  he  might  earn,  for  the  maintenance  of  his  mother  and 
sisters,  even  though  the  Litter  were  married  and  had  children.  And, 
under  the  circumstances,  we  cannot  say  that  there  is  anything  unnatural  or 
absurd  in  the  feeling.  The  mother's  property  maintains  the  son,  and  the 
son's  earnings  go  to  the  support  of  the  mother  ami  her  other  descendants. 

The  hard  case,  for  which  relief  is  sought,  is  that  of  a  wealthy  Ivhrishna, 
—  probably  with  an  English  education  and  a  salary  from  Government, 
which  passes  for  wealth,  —  who  has  married,  perhaps  before  obtaining  a 
salary,  some  poor  Lakshmi,  whose  family,  if  she  is  left  a  widow  with 
children,  can  barely  supply  her  and  them  witli  food.  It  Ivhrishna  is  an 
affectionate  and  thoughtful  husband,  he  will  probably  buy  some  small 
property  in  the  name  of  his  wife  or  her  brother,  and  so  enable  her  to 
provide  for  their  children  ;  but  if  he  dies  prematurely,  or,  like  the  English 
professional  man  who  puts  oft  insuring  his  life,  does  not  take  his  precau- 
tions in  time,  his  wife  may  be  either  left  destitute  or  endowed  with  the 
damnosa  inereditos  of  a  lawsuit  with  his  tarwad. 

When  a  new  Marriage  Law  is  spoken  of.  the  uneducated  classes,  we  are 
told,  at  once  assume  that  it  is  proposed  to  compel  them  to  give  up 
Manunakkatayam  and  become  Makkatayam  '  men,  to  which  they  object 
unanimously.  ''  but.''  says  one  witness,  "  do  not  stop  your  inquiry  here. 
Ask  him  (the  uneducated  man),  'Have  you  no  wife?  Are  you  not 
married  to  her?  '  '  Yes  ;  I  have  a  wife  and  I  am  married  to  her."  '  Is  it 
proper  or  good  that  you  or  she  should  discard  each  other,  as  either  of  you 
wish?'  '  Of  course  not;  that  is  not  our  mariada  (custom).'  'Are  you 
not  bound  to  maintain  your  wife  and  children?'  '  Yes  ;  and  we  do  it  !' 
'Don't  you  give  a  portion  of  your  self-acquisitions  to  them?'  'Yes.' 
'  Have  you  any  objection  to  have  these  customs  declared  as  your  law  in 
an  Act  of  the  Government?  '     '  If  this  is  all,  it  is  very  good.'" 

In  the  comparatively  rare  case  of  family  property  being  left  without  an 
heir  to  claim  it,  the  lawful  course  under  Marumakkatayam  is  to  adopt  a 
sister,  whose  child  will  be  heir,  which  seems  absurd  to  European  ideas, 
but  it  is  extremely  likely  that  the  Egyptian  wife,  who  is  called  a  sister 
without  being  one  by  birth,  was  primitively  adopted  in  that  character,  so 
that  her  children  might  receive  their  father's  inheritance,  before  the  custom 
of  writing  marriage  settlements  was  formed.  And  there  is  thus  nothing 
on  the  face  of  it  to  explain  why  native  Malabar  custom  has  failed  to 
establish  monogamy  as  a  national  institution  in  the  way  that  was  done 
in  Egypt. 

The  tact  seems  to  be  that  two  alien  influences,  Hindu  and  Luropean, 
have  interfered  with  the  natural  development  of  the  Malabar  family  on 
either    Basque  or  Kgyptian    lines.     The   Nambutiri  or  Malabar   brahmins, 

1    Son's  inheritance. 


464  APPENDICES. 

who  very  probably  belong,  like  the  Xairs,  to  the  pre-Aryan  population,1 
originally  practised  polyandry  of  the  Xabataean  type,  the  eldest  son  alone 
being  entitled  to  lawful  marriage.  Other  Brahmins,  called  Pattars,  are 
looked  down  upon  in  Malabar,  and  are  only  regarded  as  acceptable 
husbands  when  nothing  better  is  to  be  had.  Such  a  feeling  is  inconsistent 
with  a  real  community  of  origin  between  the  Brahmins  of  Malabar  and  the 
rest  of  India,  in  contradistinction  to  the  other  inhabitants  of  the  former 
district.  And  it  seems  probable  that  a  polyandrous,  priestly  caste  of 
M alias  has  borrowed  the  Brahminical  pretensions  of  the  Hindu  priestly 
caste,  and  imposed  upon  the  Xairs, — who,  as  the  warriors  of  the  countrv, 
should  by  analogy  be  called  Ivshatriyas  rather  than  Sudras — a  curious 
revelation  ascribed  to  Parasu  Rama,  which  has  had  the  effect  of  perpetu- 
ating the  laxity  of  Malabar  marriage  custom. 

The  learned  Zamorin,  Maharajah  Bahadur,  of  Calicut,  quotes  the 
following  passage  from  a  discourse  between  Garga  and  Yudhistira  in  Kerala 
Mahatmiam  :  '■  In  this  Kerala,  only  one  member  of  a  Brahmin  Tarawad 
shall  marry.  The  eldest  son  shall  marry  in  preference  to  the  others.  It 
is  not  necessary  that  the  females  of  Samanthams.  Sudras,  and  others 
should  observe  the  rule  of  chastity.  But  the  rule  of  chastity  should  be 
observed  by  the  Brahmin  females  only.  I  truly  say  that  the  above  rule 
need  not  be  observed  by  the  females  of  non-Brahmin  castes. "  This  passage, 
which  reminds  unbelievers  of  the  less  admirable  revelations  of  Mahomet,  is 
put  forward  by  a  number  of  Conservative  witnesses,  who  are  at  the  same 
time  opposed  to  legislation,  indignant  at  the  suggestion  that  they  are  not 
married  to  their  own  wives,  and  certainly  prepared  to  take  mortal  offence 
at  the  barest  hint  at  the  possibility  of  its  being  supposed  that  the  ladies 
of  their  own  families  are  intended  to  avail  themselves  of  the  dispensation 
ai  corded  by  Parasu  Rama. 

What  happened  when  the  Xairs  were  not,  as  now,  practically  mono- 
gamous is  as  if  tlie  Basques  had  found  an  aboriginal  race  in  Spain,  which 
was  taught  to  reverence  them  as  the  Indians  did  the  Incas,  and  as  it  then 
:  e  lias  [lie  householders,  instead  of  condemning  their  cadets  to  celibacy, 
had  illowed  them  to  marry  the  aborigines,  but  not  to  bequeath  any 
property  to  the  children  of  such  marriages.  '•  Custom,"  it  is  further  observed 
by  tiie  Zamorin,  "is  regarded  to  be  the  foremost  among  the  Agamas 
(revelations).  The  origin  of  all  the  virtues  is  custom,  and  the  eternal  God 
is  the  Lord  ot  all  the  virtues.''  So  mighty  a  god  is  custom,  especially 
when  allied  witii  religion,  that  vice  and  virtue  may  be  confounded  at  his 
bidding.  Custom  in  China  prescribes  lawful  marriages,  and  lawful  marriages 
are  universal.  Custom  in  ancient  Kgvpt  bade  a  man  love  his  wile 
unmi\ed.v,  and  the  walls  of  the  eternal  dwelling-places  record  his  delight 
th  •  affection  of  the  lady  of  his  house.  In  Malabar — as  has  so  oflen 
happened  in  Kurope  the  dictates  of  natural  morality  and  the  precepts  ot 
what  is  taken  for   religion   now  pull    opposite  ways.      Among   respectable 

1    X    ',  '  .  '  ■  ■'  hi    ;;•■<!.  Imw  r     •  k-n:  India,  hut  to  sonic  branch 

'  .  •     A  '  '.     ::   v.    . :'       .         .    ',    .    ,i    v.  I),   in  civil  i/.Uli';!)    -eel  n-  lo  have   lieLTUIi. 


APPENDICES.  465 

people  men  and  women  do  not  practise  polygamy.  Life-long  marriages 
are  common,  and  it  is  the  exception  for  the  absolute  liberty  of  divorce 
possessed  on  both  sides  to  be  abused  by  repeated  and  motiveless  separa- 
tions ;  and  it  is  probable  that  if  the  natives  of  Malabar  were  left  to  their 
own  devices,  these  new  customs  would  rank  as  an  Agama,  and  Panchayats 
and  Tarwads  would  find  means  to  punish  their  violators. 

But  at  this  point  the  second  disturbing  element  appears.  European 
influence  has  to  some  extent  accelerated  the  natural  process  of  develop- 
ment by  causing  the  whole  "English  educated"  class  to  feel  uncomfortable 
under  the  imputation  of  living  under  a  laxer  marriage  law  than  other  civilized 
communities  ;  and  it  might  have  been  supposed  that  the  alien  professors 
of  monogamy  would  welcome  and  hasten  to  record  the  social  progress  of 
the  subject  race  under  their  protection.  But  the  Indian  Government  has 
contracted  a  fixed  habit  of  respecting  the  religious  Agamas  of  its  subjects, 
however  eccentric  ;  and  there  is  therefore  some  excuse  for  its  hesitating  to 
legislate  before  ascertaining  by  direct  inquiry  whether  the  domestic  usages 
of  modern  Malabar  are  such  as  are  sanctioned  by  Kerala  Mahatmiam  or 
not — whether,  in  fact,  Malabar  is  governed  by  what  Europe  regards  as  an 
immoral  religious  law,  or  by  spontaneously  moral  custom,  unsupported 
by  the  sanctions  of  the  civil  power. 

But  for  this  uncertainty,  for  which  English  rule  is  not  to  blame,  it  would 
be  rather  startling,  and  indeed  shocking,  to  find  the  English  Government, 
while  desiring  to  raise  the  standard  of  social  propriety,  giving  offence  to 
the  social  prejudices  of  respectable  citizens,  who  have  married  wives 
according  to  the  most  proper  customs  of  their  country,  by  asking 
questions  which  imply  that  they  are  perhaps  not  married  at  all.  Some  of 
the  native  witnesses  even  object,  as  to  a  slightly  coarse,  vulgar,  or  jocose 
expression,  to  the  words  used  by  the  Commissioners  '  as  the  nearest  equi- 
valent available  for  husband  and  marriage.  And  others  resent  the  mere 
putting  of  the  question  on  the  most  important  issue  of  fact  before  the 
Commission. 

That  issue  is  raised  by  the  interrogatories  23,  24,  27,  28  :  Can  a  woman 
have  Sambandham  with  as  many  men  as  she  pleases  at  the  same  time? 
Is  this  permitted  or  prohibited,  and  in  either  case  where  can  such  a 
permission  or  prohibition  be  found  ?  Can  a  man  have  Sambandham  in 
more  than  one  house  at  the  same  time?  If  he  chooses,  is  there  anything 
to  prevent  it?  Some  of  the  witnesses  resent  the  mere  putting  of  the 
questions,  and  some  who  refrain  from  answering  them,  probably  do  so  on 
the  ground  of  their  indecorum.  An  analysis  of  over  50  answers  probably 
gives  a  faithful  reflection  of  the  present  state  of  fact  and  feeling. 

To  the  questions  relating  to  women  three  answer  with  a  plain  Yes, 
there  is  nothing  to  prevent  her.  Eleven  answer  with  a  plain  Xo,  she 
cannot.  Five  say  it  is  not  unlawful,  but  it  is  not  respectable  :  it  is  thought 
unbecoming.       Eight    distinguish,    and    say   it    is    unknown    in    Northern 

!  Sambandhakaran  and  Sambandham.  Sambandham  =  connexion,  especially  the  con- 
nexion of  husband  and  wife. 

VOL.   II.  —  ]'.c.  II     II 


466  APPEXDICES. 

Malabar,  though  heard  of  formerly  in  Southern  Malabar  (where  a  legend 
of  one  woman  with  2S  sambandhakarans  at  a  time  is  talked  of).  Fifteen 
others  speak  of  the  practice  as  very  rare,  dying  out,  a  thing  formerly 
known,  but  now  unheard  of,  though  not  prohibited.  Six  speak  of  it  as 
restricted  to  the  lower  orders  in  Southern  Malabar,  and  not  approved  of 
even  among  them.     And  five  answer  : 

Certainly  not. 

( )f  course  not. 

Xo  ;  the  facility  of  divorce  has  given  rise  to  the  erroneous  idea. 

I  am  surprised  that  the  question  should  have  been  asked. 

Xo.  Tins  question  is  not  at  all  warranted  by  anything  connected  with 
trie  Xavar  marriage  custom. 

The  answers  to  the  companion  questions  are  as  follows:  thirty-two  give 
a  plain  Yes.  One  adds  :  "The  general  Hindu  law  is  in  his  favour  ; ;!  and 
these  answers  all  seem,  like  the  affirmatives  in  the  first  case,  to  apply  to 
the  strict  letter  of  the  interrogatory.  There  is  nothing  in  the  civil  or 
religious  law  of  Malabar  to  prevent  it  :  and  in  Xorthern  Malabar  especially, 
there  appears  to  be  a  section  of  the  people  who  would  rather  alter  the 
iocal  custom  in  the  direction  of  ordinary  Hinduism  and  polygamy  than 
towards  European  monogamy.  These  witnesses  can  be  recognised  by 
their  desire  to  minimize  the  right  of  women  to  divorce,  which  is  certainly  an 
essential  part  of  the  old  national  custom.  Twelve  answer  that  it  is  not 
illegal,  but  it  is  not  respectable,  no  respectable  man  wishes  to  do  it  ;  it  is 
theoretically  lawful  but  practically  unknown  ;  it  can  be  done  subject  to  social 
odium,  or  to  the  difficulty  of  finding  a  family  that  will  consent  to  let  one  of 
its  women  marry  a  man  who  has  a  wife  living  and  undivorced.  Some  say  :  it 
is  do\]c  against  all  propriety,  or  that,  if  done,  the  second  wife  is  regarded 
as  a  mistress.  One  says  that  it  is  prohibited  by  custom  for  men  as  much 
as  for  women;  and  this  witness  adds  :  It  is  commoner  in  Xorthern  Mala- 
':  ar,  where  the  women  are  less  educated,  less  refined  and  independent  than 
in  the  south  ;  and,  as  the  taking  a  Second  wife  is  generally  recognised 
fas  it  was  in  ancient  Egypt)  as  giving  the  first  wife  a  sufficient  reason  for 
(ii\"oroi: ;lt.  it  is  clear  that  the  customary  independence  of  women  must  have 
worked  in.  favour  of  the  rule  of  one  wife — or  husband — at  a  time. 

Tne  <  'ommissioners  did  not   take  the  evidence  of  any  women,  though  it 

would  '.  it  be   impossible   to   do   so,  as  the   elder  women   of  a  family  are 

allowed  t  >  speak  to  strangers,  and    the  senior  ladies  of  the  Kovilagams,  in 

which    traditi    ns    of    gvmecocracy   linger,    are    regarded    as    authorities   on 

orum.      but  even  without  their  evidence,  the  practice  of 

id  mders  and  the  nature  of  things  make  it  practically  certain 

born  women  of  Malabar  would  oppose,  with  all  the  irresistible 

their   conservative   sex,  any    proposal  to  legalize   Hindu  poly- 

i  ind  •■■  1  no  such  is  seriously  made  by  Malabar  gentlei 

•  the  list  of  witnesses  includes  many  entirely 
■  ■■  ■  --cd  to  the  suggested  legislation  or  to  any  interference  with  native 
custom,  an  1  that    native    theologians  are  bound  bv  the  dictum  ascribed    to 


■  M 

•  • 

ini 

:- 

mv. 

\v:  ■ 

APPENDICES.  467 

Parasu  Rama,  it  is  evident  that  the  practice  of  polyandry  is  virtually 
extinct  in  Northern  Malabar  and  among  the  upper  classes  of  Southern 
Malabar,  and  that  it  is  dying  out  and  discountenanced  everywhere.  It  is 
believed  even  by  the  opponents  of  European  legislation  that  if  a  new 
Marriage  Law  is  passed,  even  those  who  do  not  like  it  will  marry  under  it, 
rather  than  lie  under  the  stigma  of  not  wishing  to  be  as  much  married  as 
possible  ;  it  is  also  prophesied  that  any  legislation  effected  in  this  direction  in 
Malabar  will  be  copied  in  the  adjoining  native  States  of  Cochin  and  Travan- 
core  and  in  Canara,  where  a  transitional  law  called  Aliyasantana  is  in  force. 
It  is  therefore  plain  that  a  serious  responsibility  attaches  to  the  English 
Government,  which  has  the  power  to  accelerate  and  secure  a  natural  step 
of  social  progress  and  give  the  coup  de  grace  to  an  unseemly  anachronism. 

But.  if  native  opinion  among  men  and  women  alike  is  in  favour  of  a  law 
legitimating  monogamous  marriage,  it  is  difficult  to  see  how  or  why  the 
attempts  to  give  effect  to  this  laudable  purpose  have  been  hung  up  for  ten 
years.  What  is  the  difficulty  in  the  way  of  legitimating  the  de  facto  mono- 
gamous unions  now  existing  in  the  country,  and  those  contracted  day  by 
day,  with  customary  rites  and  a  full  intention  of  permanence  ? 

Before  attempting  to  answer  this  question,  we  must  analyse  the  answers 
given  to  another  interrogatory:  "Is  it  the  custom  to  change  '  Samband- 
ham '  frequently,  or  is  it  the  rule  for  one  man  and  woman  to  cleave  toge- 
ther for  life  ?  "  Ten  of  the  witnesses  answer  simply  that  it  is  the  rule  for 
the  parties  to  cleave  together  for  life  ;  six  say  that  this  is  the  rule,  but 
there  are  exceptions  ;  one  that  it  is  the  rule  in  999  cases  out  of  1,000  ;  ten 
say  that  it  is  not  customary  to  change  frequently  ;  one  that  the  power  to 
change  prevents  the  wish  arising  ;  others  that  the  custom  of  changing 
frequently  is  declining,  that  it  is  rare  in  Northern  Malabar,  rare  in  respect- 
able families,  rare  now,  that  unprincipled  men  change  and  honourable  ones 
do  not ;  that  "the  majority  of  the  present  generation  cleave  together  for 
life  in  perfect  harmony,  "  while  others  speak  of  permanence  as  the  rule, 
failing  good  cause  for  divorce;  ''  it  is  not  proper  to  divorce  without  cause.'" 
Eour  say  :  "  A  man  can  do  as  he  likes  ;  "  "  It  is  at  the  will  and  pleasure 
of  each  individual  :"  "  There  is  nothing  to  prevent  either  party  divorcing 
if  bent  on  it,"  or  "  if  enmity  takes  the  place  of  love.'"' 

The  question  as  to  what  are  considered  reasonable  grounds  of  divorce 
is  discussed  at  length  in  the  answers  to  other  questions,  bearing  on  the 
provisions  for  divorce  in  the  proposed  Bill  ;  and  there  is  a  general  consensus 
of  opinion  among  the  natives  that  infidelity  on  either  side,  failure  of  the 
man  to  give  reasonable  maintenance  or  of  the  woman  to  obey  reasonable 
commands,  incurable  and  repulsive  disease,  conviction  for  crime,  barren- 
ness in  the  wife  and  intemperance  or  similar  bad  habits  in  the  husband, 
complete  incompatibility  of  temper  and,  perhaps,  a  serious  feud  between 
the  families,  are  regarded  as  valid  grounds  :  while  separation  for  frivolous 
reasons  is  prevented  by  the  custom  which  makes  the  consent  of  the  elders 
of  the  families  usual  in  both  cases  and  practically  indispensable  in  the  case 
of  women.     Some  witnesses  attribute  the  generally  high  standard  ot  matri- 


468  APPENDICES. 

monial  happiness  to  the  liberty  of  divorce,  which  causes  both  parties  to 
continue  on  their  best  behaviour,  and  there  is  some  agreement  as  to  the 
exceptional  attractiveness  of  the  women  of  South  Malabar,  which  makes 
the  husband  more  anxious  to  retain  the  affections  of  his  own  wife  than 
to  be  at  liberty  to  take  another.  The  whole  picture  is  perhaps  a  little 
overladen  with  coideur  de  rose,  but  we  gather  that  a  majority  of  the  whole 
population  in  Northern  Malabar  and  of  the  upper  classes  in  Southern 
Malabar  enter  into  what  is  virtually  a  contract  of  marriage  during  life  or 
good  behaviour,  and  that  the  great  majority  of  such  married  couples 
remain  faithful  to  each  other,  in  spite  of  their  legal  right  to  separate  at  the 
wish  of  either  one.  We  gather  also  that  the  virtuous  majority  are  pre- 
pared to  accept  legislation,  restricting  divorce  in  cases  where  there  is  no 
assignable  cause,  except  that  one  of  the  spouses  lias  got  tired  of  the  other  ; 
and  of  course  it  is  obvious  that  the  obligation  to  provide  for  the  wife  or  the 
children  of  a  former  marriage,  dissolved  by  the  husband's  default,  would 
operate  still  further  in  restraint  of  change. 

Now  whether  the  witnesses  exaggerate  or  not  the  extent  to  which  the 
archaic  laxity  of  South  Indian  custom  has  become  a  thing  of  the  past, 
they  agree  in  wishing  to  have  the  marriages  that  they  do  in  fact  enter  into 
recognised  as  binding  legal  contracts  ;  and  under  these  circumstances,  it 
cannot  be  the  duty  of  the  English  Government  to  thrust  them  back  upon 
the  uncovenanted  mercies  of  Parasu  Rama.  To  the  legal  European  mind, 
there  are  two  things  wanting  to  Malabar  marriages,  that  the  law  should 
recognise  the  terms  of  the  contracts  so  as  to  be  able  to  enforce  its  fulfil- 
ment, and  that  this  power  should  not  be  rendered  nugatory  by  including 
in  the  contract  itself  a  provision  making  it  revocable  at  will.  On  the 
other  hand,  it  is  highly  important,  in  the  interest  of  morals  and  the  insti- 
tution of  marriage,  that  the  new  legal  contract  should  be  made  as  easy, 
attractive,  and  popular  as  possible,  so  that  the  obligations  it  imposes  may 
be  generally  and  willingly  incurred. 

The  Bill  of  Mr.  Sankaran  Xair,  which  we  may  criticise  without  scruple, 
as  the  clauses  in  it  which  are  objectionable  to  his  countrymen  were  doubt- 
less only  ins-  ried  to  facilitate  its  adoption  by  the  English  Government,  is 
-cd  (>n  the  following  grounds  :  It  proposes  to  create  a  form  of  mar- 
riage tor  tiie  population  of  Malabar;  a  proposal  which  is  a  gratuitous 
offence  to  every  respectable  married  couple  in  the  country,  and  is  needless, 
as  there  are  six  or  seven  well-known  forms  of  marriage  in  use  in  various 
cla  o  ties,  one  or  other  of  which  would  be  acceptable  to  every 

n   '   .  ■   d  ■-::">  is    of  marrying  tinder   the  Act.      The    form  proposed    is  also 
cted   to   m    itself.      Moth   men   and  woinen.it   is  said,  would   think   the 
firm  ;'i   in    the   draft    improper,  not    to  say  immodest,  and    there  is  an  uni- 
versal <ibj<  (  tion  ;  .  the  appearance  of  the   bride  in  public,  before  an  ol 

:  it  ;in   caste.       (  >ne    Lteiitleinan    whose    command    01    Knglish    idiom 

i  '.'.<'.':..'  ■•  ■ .  ircd  says  :"  I  do  not  sec  the  fun  of  constituting 
{]:■:   Mih  Ri      -•■    r  our  m:irria_'.    High    Priest,"  and    tins    sentiment   maybe 


APPENDICES.  469 

An  alternative,  which  would  satisfy  English  misgivings  and  native  sus- 
ceptibilities, may  be  proposed  :  that  a  few  discreet  and  learned  representa- 
tives of  all  classes  should  be  invited  to  draw  tip  a  report  describing  the 
various  forms  of  marriage  in  use,  which  it  is  desirable  for  the  Government 
to  recognise  as  legal.  As  they  vary  in  cheapness  as  well  as  solemnity,  it 
is  important  that  at  least  one  very  simple,  informal  rite  should  be  legal- 
ized. It  should  then  be  made  the  business  of  some  person,  officiating  at 
each  form  of  marriage,  to  forward  a  notification  of  it  to  the  registrar, 
specifying  the  form  used,  and  forwarding  the  signature  of  witnesses  on  a 
Government  form.  Application  for  the  form  would  be  a  notice  of  the 
proposed  marriage,  and  any  falsification  of  such  documents  would  be  an 
offence  under  the  Penal  Code.  No  change  would  be  necessary  in  the  mar- 
riage rites  of  the  people,  but  those  who  wished  to  make  the  marriage 
agreement  a  legal  contract,  ''enforceable  by  law,"  would  do  so  by  the  mere 
fact  of  having  their  marriage  registered.  There  can  be  no  motive  for  the 
registration  of  imaginary  marriages,  and  the  recommendation  of  the  Chair- 
man of  the  Commission,  repeated  by  all  the  more  intelligent  witnesses, 
seems  absolutely  unobjectionable :  "  The  new  Act  should  purport  to 
legalize  the  existing  forms  of  social  marriage,  and  not  to  provide  a  new 
form  of  civil  marriage." 

The  next  objection  is  to  a  proviso  that  no  bar  to  marriage  save  consan- 
guinity and  affinity  shall  be  recognised,  and  these  only  between  parties 
related  "through  some  common  ancestor,  who  stands  to  each  of  them  in  a 
nearer  relationship  than  that  of  great-great-grandfather  or  great-great-grand- 
mother, or  unless  one  of  the  parties  is  the  lineal  ancestor  or  the  brother  or 
sister  of  some  lineal  ancestor,  of  the  other.'''  The  restrictions  on  marriage 
are  very  numerous  and  stringent  in  Malabar,  but  it  is  not  in  accordance 
with  English  precedent  to  attack  established  custom  in  such  matters  as 
caste  observances,  and  it  is  clearly  unnecessary  to  weight  a  Bill  for  legaliz- 
ing existing  marriages  with  provisions  sanctioning  unions  now  thought 
wrong  or  improper.  It  is  as  if,  in  a  country  like  Spain  or  Russia,  it  were 
proposed  for  the  first  time  to  legalize  the  marriage  of  Anglo-Catholics,  and 
the  law  giving  that  measure  of  relief  went  on  to  legalize  marriage  with  a 
deceased  wife's  sister.  In  Malabar  it  is  not  lawful  to  marry  any  relative  of 
a  deceased  wife — i.e.  any  member  of  her  Tarwad.  And  there  are  real 
reasons  of  social  expediency  at  the  bottom  of  all  such  customary  prohibi- 
tions, in  communities  where  the  group  living  in  close  domestic  association 
is  not  limited  to  the  natural  family.  Supposing — par  P impossible — that 
China  were  included  in  the  British  Empire,  should  we  refuse  to  recognise 
the  legality  of  Chinese  marriages,  because  it  is  unlawful,  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  the  Flowery  Land,  for  a  Chinese  .Smith  to  marry 
a  Smith,  or  a  brown  a  Brown? 

In  all  parts  of  India  there  are  restrictions  on  marriage  which  appear 
needless  and  useless  to  Europeans,  and  it  would  be  quite  reasonable  and 
logical  to  declare  that  any  native  of  the  country  who  had  adopted  European 
ideas  on  the  matter  should  be  free  to  contract  a  valid  civil  marriage,  "  with 


47o  APPENDICES. 

the  Registrar  for  his  high  priest."  The  Hindu,  who  does  not  believe  in 
the  laws  of  caste,  has  as  much  right  to  enter  upon  marriage  as  a  civil  con- 
tract, as  the  English  agnostic  or  secularist,  who  does  not  wish  to  be  married 
in  church  or  chapel ;  and  it  is  one  of  the  drolleries  of  Anglo-Indian  legisla- 
tion that, — as  I  am  informed, — an  Indian  rationalist  cannot  be  married  at 
an  English  registry  office  unless  he  declares  himself  a  convert  to  Christi- 
anity !  But  in  this  respect  Malabar  will  be  no  worse  off  than  the  rest  of 
India,  and  there  is  at  present  no  demand  for  the  legalization  of  any  mar- 
riages except  those  which  social  and  religious  custom  now  regard  as  lawful. 

The  objections  to  the  institution  of  a  Divorce  Court  and  public  suits  for 
divorce,  or  for  the  restitution  of  conjugal  rights,  are,  if  possible,  stronger 
than  those  raised  against  the  proposed  form  of  marriage  :  and  the  reader 
who  is  fresh  from  the  domestic  atmosphere  of  Egypt  and  China  will  feel 
the  incongruity  of  setting  up  by  law  in  a  modern  Lycia  the  machinery  of 
this  kind  which  is  treated  as  a  necessary  evil  in  Europe.  The  native  wit- 
nesses are  ready  in  their  references  to  English  scandals,  from  the  Jackson 
case  onwards  ;  and  the  standard  of  morality,  reached  under  the  existing 
marriage  svstem,  is  to  some  extent  vindicated  by  the  fact  that  many  of  the 
witnesses  are  in  favour  of  retaining  the  existing  equality  of  the  sexes  in  the 
matter  of  divorce.  They  propose  to  recognise  other  grounds  of  divorce 
than  infidelity,  so  as  not  to  put  a  premium  on  the  commission  of  that 
offence,  but  they  do  not  wish  to  deprive  the  women  of  their  right  to  claim 
release  on  that  ground  alone.  In  this  no  doubt  they  are  wise,  because  it 
is  certain  that  women  of  wealth  and  position,  whose  example  would  have 
most  weight  in  the  country,  would  decline  to  enter  into  marriages,  which 
they  could  not  dissolve  upon  the  ground  hitherto  considered  sufficient. 
One  cannot  make  Griseldas  by  Act  of  Parliament,  but  the  institution  of 
marriage  is  perfectly  compatible  with  that  of  a  simple  and  equal  law  of 
divorce.  And,  even  if  divorce  by  mutual  consent  on  the  ground  of  in- 
compatibility of  temper  were  recognised,  there  is  no  reason  to  fear  that  the 
license  would  be  abused.  The  respective  Ivarnavans  who  have  arranged 
a  marriage  discourage  its  dissolution  ;  a  person  who  advertised  himself  as 
':  gey  ill  to  live  with  "  by  more  than  one  divorce  for  '''incompatibility''' 
would  find  himself  unable  to  obtain  a  partner  for  a  third  attempt;  and, 
besides,  as  in  Egypt,  the  rights  of  the  first  wife  and  children  to  main- 
nee  would  operate  powerfully  to  discourage  second  marriages  of 
any  kind.  If,  as  is  probable,  registered  marriages  came  to  be  regarded  as 
more  dignified  and  sacred  than  unregistered  ones,  and  if,  as  is  certain, 
they   w  're   ■  nly   enl  ito  by   the    more    respectable    classes,    divorce 

would  any  way  become  less  frequent  than  at  present.  And  it  is  obviously 
absurd  to  make  the  recognition  of  .Malabar  marriages  conditional  on  the 
:.  :::  the  i  o  mtry  of  a  divorce  law  of  English  rather  than  German  or 
Aniei  i<  an  ]  lattern. 

The  consent  of  the  Ivarnavans,  a  year's  notice,  and  a  formal  registration 
■  !  the  ::.    tivetl  a;  ;  li<  ation  for  div   r<:e  are  tiie  cheeks  suggested  by  general 


APPENDICES.  47 1 

With  regard  to  the  age  of  marriage  and  the  consent  of  guardians  there 
is  no  serious  difficulty.  Child  marriage  is  not  usual,  and  the  financial 
responsibilities  associated  with  a  legal  marriage  would  not  tend  to  lower 
the  customary  age.  Practically  at  present  it  is  impossible  for  a  marriage 
to  take  place  without  the  consent  of  the  elders  on  both  sides,  because  the 
husband  cannot  obtain  access  to  the  wife  without  the  consent  of  her 
Karnavan,  nor  can  she  and  her  children  receive  their  food  in  their  hus- 
band's Tarvvad,  as  is  usual  in  North  Malabar,  without  the  consent  of  his 
Karnavan.  The  consent  of  the  Elders  can  only  be  dispensed  with  if  the 
husband  is  in  a  position  to  maintain  his  wife  apart  from  the  families  of 
both;  and  it  would  probably  be  acceptable  if  some  form  answering  to  the 
French  summations  respectueuses  were  provided,  by  which  a  young  couple, 
whose  union  was  opposed  by  their  elders,  should  have  to  wait  for  a  mode- 
rate term,  after  giving  notice  of  their  wish  to  register  the  marriage,  before 
the  contract  could  be  completed. 

One  point  appears  to  be  very  important ;  that,  at  least  for  a  certain  term, — 
preferably  not  less  than  twenty-five  years, — it  shall  be  open  to  any  person 
married  according  to  ancient  social  custom,  to  register  their  past  marriage 
as  legal.  If  they  are  in  a  position  to  do  so,  the  date  of  the  ceremony,  the 
form  used,  and  the  signatures  of  surviving  witnesses  might  be  filled  in,  upon 
the  ordinary  registration  form  ;  while  for  the  poor  or  illiterate,  who  could 
not  give  such  details,  it  should  suffice  to  register  the  marriage  as  previously 
effected.  It  would  clearly  be  unjust  and  invidious  to  draw  a  line  between 
the  parties  to  a  monogamous  union  of  thirty  or  forty  years'  standing  and  a 
young  couple  who  merely  hoped  to  enjoy  the  same  permanent  relationship. 
And  it  would  be  unwise  to  fix  any  narrow  limit  of  time  for  such  retrospec- 
tive registrations,  because  after  a  {<tw  years  it  is  certain  that  the  legally 
married  will  look  down  on  the  others  ;  and  it  is  not  desirable  to  create  a 
hard  and  fast  line  of  demarcation  between  those  who  claim  the  benefit  ot 
the  Act  at  once,  and  those  who  delay  doing  so,  from  doubts  or  scruples, 
legal  or  religious,  not  affecting  the  correctness  of  their  domestic  morals, 
which  experience  of  the  working  of  the  Act  would  remove.  By  such  retro- 
spective registration  the  persons  who  now  consider  themselves  married 
would  be  put  at  once  in  the  same  position  as  if  the  Act  had  been  passed 
before  their  social  marriage  contract  was  formed  ;  and  of  course  such  regis- 
tration would  "establish  ":  the  children  as  well  as  the  wife  in  their  full  legal 
rights. 

The  criticism  of  the  witnesses  before  the  Commission  naturally  concen- 
trates itself  on  the  points  offensive  to  their  religious  and  social  susceptibi- 
lities, but  there  are  other  difficulties  from  which  a  study  of  comparative 
jurisprudence  might  save  the  Malabar  draftsman. 

It  is  proposed,  rather  light-heartedly,  as  in  accordance  with  Hindu  and 
English  precedent,  to  make  the  husband  legal  guardian  of  his  wife  ;  to 
reserve  the  rights  already  possessed  by  the  wife  and  children  in  her  own 
Tarwad,  and  to  allow  the  wife  to  dispose  by  will  of  all  her  self-acquired  pro- 
\  erty, — which  is  to  include  that  which  she  may  receive  from  her  husband. 


472  APPENDICES. 

Now  the  Malayali  arc  said  to  be  a  litigious  people,  and  the  only  serious 
opposition  to  a  reasonable  marriage  law  is  that  prompted  by  the  fear  that 
any  marriage  law,  carrying  proprietary  rights,  will  result  in  breaking  up  the 
Tarwad  properties.  The  Dewan  of  the  native  Cochin  State  remarks  : 
"The  one  principal  advantage  of  Marumakattayam  Law  is  the  continuity 
of  wealth  in  Tarawads ;  "  and  this  claim  is  perfectly  well  founded,  the  Tar- 
wad having  the  same  permanence  as  the  Basque  family  estate;  and  any 
destitute  descendant  of  the  ancestress  has  an  absolute  right  to  receive  the 
necessaries  of  life  out  of  it. 

It  is  not  the  intention  of  the  English  Government  to  disendow  Tanvads 
by  a  side-wind,  .but  it  is  impossible  to  work  two  totally  different  legal 
systems  together.  In  the  Tarwad  system,  the  family  property  vests  in  the 
woman,  not  to  use,  but  to  transmit.  If  she  has  a  guardian  at  all,  in  regard 
to  proprietary  interests,  it  is  legally  the  Karnavan  of  her  Tarwad  and 
naturally  her  mother's  son.  Hitherto,  it  the  Karnavan  chose  to  insist  on 
Lakshmi  divorcing  her  husband,  Khrishna  had  no  remedy,  because  the 
marriage  was  not  an  agreement  enforceable  by  law.  But  alter  a  legal  regis- 
tered marriage,  Khrishna  would  have  a  right  to  his  wile's  society,  unless 
.die  herself  were  entitled  to  a  legal  di\orce  ;  and  he  would  there-tore  not,  as 
a  husband,  be  at  the  mercy  of  his  wife's  great-uncle.  The  Act  also  makes 
him  the  legal  guardian  of  his  children,  so  that  his  personal  status  as  hus- 
band and  father  is  secured.  The  clause  making  him  the  legal  guardian  of 
iiis  wife  can  only  have  the  effect  of  raising  a  conflict  of  interests,  and  per- 
haps of  rights,  between  the  husband  and  the  wife's  Karnavan,  and  should 
be  dropped  as  a  mere  matter  of  legal  logic. 

Whatever  the  social  position  of  women  may  be  in  modern  Malabar,  the 
conception  of  their  legal  tutelage  is  absolutely  inconsistent  with  the  national 
system  of  inheritance.  Theoretically,  in  .Malabar,  as  in  Egypt,  babylonia, 
'and  even  in  China),  there  are  no  limits  to  the  civil  competence  ot  a 
woman  :  her  share  in  the  hereditary  property  of  the  family  is  limited  as 
that  of  a  man  is  limited,  she  has  the  same  power  of  dealing  at  discretion 
during  lite  with  self-acquired  property,  and  she  is  at  present  under  the 
same  disability  in  bequeathing  it  away  from  the  Tarwad  when  she  dies.  To 
give  a  woman  full  testamentary  powers  over  self-acquisitions,  to  [dace  her 
mder  her  husband's  guardianship,  and  to  make  gifts  or  bequests  from  him 
count  as  self-acquisitions,  would  be  to  place  every  woman  between  two 
tires,  as  the  affectionate  husband  and  brother  complains  ot  being  now. 
Tiie  husband  might  insist  on  her  bequeathing  to  his  Tarwad  gifts  from  her 
own  brothers,  and  her  Karnavan  "would  certainly  claim  that  she  should 
beque  tli  to  /  ;■  I'arw  d  tl  e  gifts  received  from  her  husband,  in  view  of 
the  obligation  which  the  Tarwad  would  still  be  under  to  maintain  her  and 
her  chhdren  during  widowhood.  The  consequent  dissatisfaction  of  the 
■•belongings''  on  both  sides  would  go  far  to  neutralize  the  gam  from  the 
essenti  il  reforms  contained  in  the  Act. 

<  >!i  ■  of  the  practii  al  mjustii  es  of  the  present  law  is  that,  if  a  man  has 
trie  1  to  provide  for  his  wife  and  children  by  a  gift  infer  vivos,  and  thev  die 


APPENDICES.  473 

before   him,   what  he    has   given    them    passes  to   their  Tarwad,  i.e.  to  a 

grandmother,  aunts,  or  cousins,  instead  of  reverting  to  his  own  family. 
The  exceptional  number  of  deeds  of  gift  registered  in  the  Marumakattayam 
districts  explains  the  copious  provisions  against  such  transactions  in  the 
Gortyn,  Syrian,  and  other  semi-archaic  codes,  and  the  only  way  to 
avoid  burdening  the  statute  law  with  a  number  of  prohibitions,  which 
people  spend  their  ingenuity  in  evading,  is  to  make  the  provisions  of  the 
common  law  as  equitable  or  rather  as  equal  as  possible.  To  avoid  set- 
ting up  new  injustices  in  the  place  of  the  old  ones,  the  best  way  would 
be  to  make  the  proprietary  responsibilities  of  husband  and  wife  absolutely 
equal,  so  that  every  Tarwad  shall  have  the  same  gains  and  losses,  when, 
as  is  usually  the  case  now,  they  arrange  two  marriages  at  the  same  time, 
each  family  giving  a  wife  to  the  other,  so  as  to  balance  the  expense  or 
advantage  incurred. 

There  is  a  general  agreement  among  the  witnesses  that  not  more  than 
half  the  parent's  self-acquisitions  should  go,  on  intestacy,  to  the  consort 
and  children,  but  opinions  are  divided  as  to  whether  the  remainder  should 
go  to  the  Tavazhi  or  to  the  Tarwad.  Some  propose  that  one-third  should 
go  to  each  of  the  three  claimants,  but  the  equitable  course  would  seem 
to  be  that  it  should  go  according  to  the  ''companionship  of  the  cup- 
board;" i.e.  that  if  the  family  had  eaten  rice  with  the  Tavazhi,  paid 
for  with  Tavazhi  funds,  the  Tavazhi  should  inherit,  and  if  the  Tarwad  had 
given  maintenance,  then  the  Tarwad  should  inherit. 

The  evidence  as  to  the  respective  contributions  of  the  family  and  the 
husband  to  the  support  of  the  wife  and  children  supplies  a  most  eloquent 
commentary  on  Egyptian  marriage  contracts.  The  common  table  supplies 
food,  but  "  oil  and  clothes  " — it  is  universally  agreed — should  be  supplied 
by  the  husband.  Even  without  the  formality  of  written  marriage  settle- 
ments '"'  he  must  give  it,"  as  the  Egyptian  documents  say,  or  he  may  be 
regarded  as  dissolving  the  marriage  contract  itself  by  his  neglect. 

An  opponent  of  marriage  legislation  proposes,  as  an  alternative,  a  bill 
to  the  effect  that  "  every  person  whose  personal  law  is  the  Marumakattayam 
law,  and  who  is  of  sound  mind  and  not  a  minor,  shall  be  competent  to 
dispose  of  his  self-acquired  separate  property  by  will."  but  this  is  un- 
necessarily revolutionary.  It  is  desirable  to  enable  fathers  to  provide  for 
their  children,  even  though  their  doing  so  reduces  the  amount  of  the 
Tarwad's  inheritance;  but  it  is  not  desirable  that  men  should  be  empowered 
to  disinherit  their  Tarwad  for  the  sake  of  women  to  whom  they  are  not 
respectably  married  :  such  an  innovation  would  be  like  the  Ptolemaic 
legislation  in  Egypt,  a  way  of  combining  the  disadvantages  ot  two  separate 
systems  of  jurisprudence. 

Space  forbids  the  enumeration  of  all  points  of  interest  contained  in  the 
Report,  bat  the  following  may  claim  a  moment's  notice.  The  distinction 
between  betrothal  and  marriage,  met  with  elsewhere,  seems  to  linger  in 
one  peculiar  marriage  custom,  in  which  the  bridegroom  asks  the  permission 
of  the  mother   of  the   bride  to   visit  her  for  six  months,  and   does  in  fact 


474  APPENDICES. 

spend  the  wedding  night  in  the  mother-in-law's  house,  returning  (now) 
the  next  day  to  fetch  the  wife  home.  There  is  an  inexpensive  form  of 
marriage  with  the  peculiarity  of  not  entitling  the  bride  to  be  brought  to 
her  husband's  house,  as  if  the  "taking"  had  not  been  followed  by  the 
"  establishing"  as  wife.  An  institution  discussed  at  great  length,  the  Tali 
kettu  kalyanam,  the  tying  of  the  tali  on  a  girl  before  she  attains  maturity, 
as  a  token  of  marriageableness,  may  possibly  be  a  reminiscence  of  an 
original  religious  betrothal  ceremony  ;  but  interested  Brahministic  sug- 
gestions have  deprived  it  of  this  character,  and  it  is  now  a  useless,  expen- 
sive, and  meaningless  ceremony,  to  the  performance  of  which  the  con- 
servatism of  the  country  is  accordingly  profoundly  attached.  One 
advantage  of  a  popular  and  dignified  marriage  rite  is,  that  it  might 
gradually  supersede  the  tali  tying,  or  perhaps  let  that  resume  its  place  as  a 
real  betrothal. 

We  are  reminded  of  the  foundation  of  Marseilles  by  the  dictum  of  the 
Zamorin  :  "  The  gift  of  daughters  in  marriage  by  the  sacerdotal  classes  is 
most  approved  when  they  have  previously  poured  water  into  the  hands  of 
the  bridegroom."1  And  we  are  reminded  of  the  Nabataean  and  Syrian 
formulas  of  succession  by  the  sentence  quoted  from  the  Jimuthapahatha  by 
the  same  authority  as  applying  even  to  those  who  follow  the  system  of  sons' 
inheritance  :  "  The  properties  of  those  who  have  no  son,  daughter's  son,  or 
daughter's  grandson  shall  descend  to  the  sisters'  children." 

And  we  may  fairly  ask  in  return  for  so  much  curious  information,  that 
anthropologists,  who  might  be  disposed  to  form  a  Society  for  the  Protec- 
tion of  Ancient  Institutions,  should  show  sufficient  interest  in  the 
grievances  of  Malayali  parents  to  move  the  Madras  Government  to 
proceed  with  a  discreet  and  sympathetic  Malabar   Marriage  Act. 

One  point  should  not  be  neglected — the  selection  of  a  dignified  and 
auspicious  name  for  the  ne>v  legal  contract.  It  is  said  that  nearly  the  only 
words  that  would  be  understood  throughout  Keralam  as  meaning  "  to 
man}""  are  Sambaiidham  Tudangnga  —  "To  begin  Sambandham  ; "  but 
they  clearly  do  not  satisfy  the  requirements  of  the  case.  Another  term  in 
use  is  "Guna  Doshatn  " — Good-bad-doing, — which  is  illustrated  by  reference 
to  the  Knglish  "For  better  for  worse"  in  the  Marriage  Service.  What 
seems  wanted  is  a  term  including  the  ideas  of  auspicious  life-long  union 
between  the  mother  and  father  of  children.'-'  A  significant  and  alluring 
name  would  go  half-way  towards  popularizing  the  reform. 

1    For  ibis,  however,  there  is  ;i  parallel  in  Manu. 

-    The  term    haraina  Sanihaiiilliani  has  been  suggested,  karaina  being  already  used  to 

denote  a  perpetual  lease,  and  the  selection  of  a  further  honorific  adjective  might  be  lelt 
to  the  experts  charged  with  the  duty  of  reporting  on  the  marriage  rites  to  be  recognized 
as  binding 


APPENDIX   G  bis. 

Vol.    ii.,    pp.    II    anil    189. 

Chinese  Classics. 

The  five  King  or  Canonical  Books  of  China  are  the  Yi  King,  or  "  Book 
of  Changes;"1  the  Shoo,  the  Book  of  History;  the  Shi,  the  Book  of 
Poetry;  the  Li  Ki,  or  Record  of  Kites;  and  the  Ch'un  T'sew,  or  Spring  and 
Autumn,2  a  chronicle  of  events  from  721  to  480  B.C.  The  compilation 
of  all  these  has  been  loosely  attributed  to  Confucius,  but  the  last  alone 
was  really  written  by  him.  The  Four  Shoo  or  Books  of  the  four  philo- 
sophers consist  of  the  sayings  of  Confucius  (translated  under  the  title  of 
Confucian  Analects)  and  those  of  Mencius,  and  the  Treatises  called  "The 
Greater  Learning"  and  the  "  Doctrine  of  the  Mean,"  ascribed  respectively 
to  a  disciple  and  a  grandson  of  Confucius  ;  but  the  two  latter  are  included 
also  in  the  Record  of  Rites.  To  these  were  sometimes  added  the  Chow 
Li,  or  Rites  of  Chow,  the  E  Li,  or  "Ceremonial  Usages,"  and  three  com- 
mentaries on  the  Chun  Tsew,  of  which  the  best  by  one  Tso,  called  the 
Tso  Chuen,  is  translated  by  Dr.  Legge.  There  is  a  great  edition  of  the 
Shoo,  the  Shi,  the  Sayings  of  Confucius  and  Mencius,  and  the  Chun 
Tsew,  with  Chinese  text,  translation  and  notes  in  seven  parts  or  five 
volumes  by  Dr.  Legge  (quoted  throughout  as  Chinese  Classics  or  C.C.  ); 
and  the  English  portion  of  the  volumes  on  Mencius  and  Confucius  have 
also  been  reprinted  in  popular  editions,  and  are  generally  referred  to  in 
quotations  as  more  easily  accessible  than  the  large  edition.  The  transla- 
tion of  the  Shoo  King  (with  abridged  notes)  is  also  given,  together  with 
short  extracts  from  the  Shi  Ling,  in  the  third  volume  of  the  Sacred  Books 
of  the  East,  and  the  Li  Ki  forms  vols,  xxvii.  and  xxviii.  of  the  same 
series.'" 

The  Chow  Li,  of  which  so  much  use  is  made  in  the  text,  has  been 
translated  in  full  by  M.  E.  Biot,  in  two  volumes,  illustrated  by  copious 
extracts  from  the  works  of  native  commentators.  The  text  consisted 
originally  of  six  divisions,  each  of  which  contains  a  list  of  the  officials  of 
different  degrees  employed  in  the  various  branches  of  the  six  great  De- 
partments of  State,  followed  by  chapters  descriptive  of  their  functions. 
The   authorship  of  this  remarkable  monument   of   ancient    civilization   is 

1   On  this  subject  see  App.  I. 

-  Literally  "  Springs- Autumns  "  =  successive  seasons  of  the  year,  i.e.  Annals. 
:!   For  the  reasons  against  attributing  any  great  antiquity   to    this   work   in    its    present 
form,  see  V Age  an  Li  Ki,  M.  (.'.  de  Ilarlez.      Trans.  Ninth  Oriental  Cong;      .  ii.  p.  5S1. 


476  APPENDICES. 

attributed  to  the  Duke  of  Chow.  The  text  in  its  present  form  dates  from 
the  Han  Dynasty  (206  B.C.— 221  a.ix),  which  has  also  bequeathed  some 
very  full,  interesting,  and  instructive  comments  on  the  newly  restored 
text,  the  authenticity  of  which  can  scarcely  be  questioned,  when  we  learn 
that  a  reward  of  1000  pieces  of  gold  was  offered,  after  the  revival  of 
classic  learning,  for  a  missing  section  of  the  work,  without  producing  a 
colorable  forgery. 

The  arrangement  of  the  classical  books,  undertaken  by  order  of  the 
second  emperor  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  (627-649  A.D.),  added  to  these  the 
I  rh  Va,  a  dictionary  of  ancient  characters,  and  the  Meaou  King,  or  Classic 
ot  filial  piety.  By  order  of  the  Han  emperors,  in  the  first  century  of  our 
era.  a  report  of  all  the  literary  monuments  then  existing  was  drawn  up. 
According  to  a  history  of  literature  written  two  centuries  later,  there  were 
then  "  294  collections  of  the  Yih  King  from  thirteen  different  individuals, 
or  editors  :  412  collections  of  the  Shoo  King  from  nine  different  individu- 
als ;  of  the  book  of  Rites,  555  collections  from  thirteen  different  individuals  ; 
of  the  books  on  Music,  165  collections  from  six  different  editors  ;  948  col- 
lections of  history,  under  the  heading  of  the  Ch'un-Tsew,  from  twenty-three 
different  individuals  ;  229  collections  of  the  Lun-Yu  (or  digested  conversa- 
tions), including  the  Analects  and  kindred  fragments,  from  twelve  different 
individuals  :  of  the  Heaou  King,  embracing  also  the  Urh  Ya,  and  some 
other  portions  of  the  ancient  literature.  52  collections  from  eleven  different 
individuals  :  and  finally,  of  the  Lesser  Learning,  being  works  on  the  forms 
of  the  characters,  45  collections  from  twelve  different  individuals.  The 
works  of  Mencius  were  included  among  the  writings  of  what  were  deemed 
orthodox  scholars,  of  which  there  were  836  collections  from  fifty-three 
different  individuals."  ' 

It  is  impossible  to  suppose  that  this  sort  of  library  could  represent  the 
forgeries  of  200  years  :  and  if  not,  then  it  represents  the  surviving  salvage 
irom  the  burning  of  the  Books  ;  and.  since  the  Han.  no  dynasty  has  tailed 
to  extend  its  care  to  the  literary  monuments  of  the  country,  so  that,  as  Dr. 
I.cg-ic  observes,  "  The  evidence  is  complete  that  the  classical  books  of 
China  have  come  down  from  at  least  a  century  before  our  Christian  era, 
substantially  the  same  as  we  have  them  at  present." 

The  authoritv  of  the  Historic  Annals,  known  as  the  Bamboo  Hooks,  has 
been  called    in   question,  parti}'  because   of  their  substance,  and   partly  on 
account  of  the   romantic  story  of  their    discover)'.      But   the    tendency    of 
Chinese  si  hilars  now  is  to  give  them  at  least  equal  authority  with  the  T.so 
Chuen  and  the  later  books  of  the  Shoo.      They  are  said  to  have  been  dis- 
covered. 279  a. D.,  by  lawless  persons,  who  opened  (presumably  in  search  ot 
treasure)  the  grave  of    King  Seang  of  Wei,  who  died  295  B.C.,  that  is,  nearly 
fico  vcars  before.      We  know  that  treasures  were   anciently  buried  with  the 
1  :   an  1  .  m    ng  '    in  h  treasures,  why  not  the  collection  of  a  royal  biblio- 
:?      In  am  ient  Kg\  pt  it  was  considered  the  proper  thing  to  say  of  every 
ueient  text  that  it  had   been   discovered   in   the  tomb  of  some  famous  an- 
1    Chines  C/a    :\  ,  v  il.  i..  I'rulei;  imena,  pp.  4.  5- 


APPENDICES.  477 

cient,  and  the  invention  would  have  had  no  point  unless  it  had  actually 
been  the  habit  from  the  first  to  bury  works  of  all  kinds  with  the  dead,  as 
copies  of  the  Funeral  Ritual  were  subsequently.  The  discoverv  of  the 
Bamboo  Books  is  alluded  to  by  a  contemporary  scholar,  author  of  a  well- 
known  edition  of  the  Tso  Chuen,  and  without  exaggerating  the  importance 
of  their  contents,  they  may  be  taken  to  represent  the  kind  of  chronicle  kept 
in  every  Slate  of  importance,  which  supplied  formal  historians  with  their 
materials.1 

"  The  lacquered  tablets  of  the  Classics  which  had  been  discovered  in  154 
11. c,  hidden  in  the  ancient  house  of  Confucius,  were  preserved  in  the  Royal 
Archives,  where  those  which  had  escaped  the  bibliothecal  catastrophes 
of  the  years  23  and  290  remained  until  311  A.D.,  when  they  were  lost  in 
the  great  lire  which  destroyed  the  precious  library  once  collected  by  the 
Wei  Dynasty.  The  year  175  a.d.  saw  put  in  practice  the  grandest  idea  of 
the  time.  In  view  of  securing  evermore  the  integrity  of  the  sacred  books, 
Tsai-Yung,  duly  authorized  by  the  emperor,  Han-Ling-Ti,  after  a  careful  re- 
vision of  tiie  text  of  six  kings  by  competent  scholars,  wrote  them  himself  in 
red  on  forty-six  stela.  The  engraving  and  erection  of  the  tablets  was  finished 
in  1S3  a.d.  in  front  of  the  Imperial  College,  on  the  east  side  of  Lob-Yang." 
The  text  was  given  in  three  characters.  '"'  Students  were  allowed  to  take  rub- 
bings of  the  stones,  and  the  result  was  that  less  than  a  century  afterwards  five 
of  the  stela  had  disappeared  ;  only  twelve  were  still  intact,  and  twenty-nine 
were  either  broken  or  defaced.''  2  Between  240  and  265  the  Wei  emperors 
had  another  edition  of  the  Classics,  with  the  exception  of  the  Book  of 
Odes,  engraved  on  stone  tablets  :  but  these  remarkable  monuments  did  not 
remain  intact  ;  time  and  removals  caused  them  to  disappear  gradually, 
and  in  717  a.d.  the  forty-eight  tablets  of  24S  were  reduced  to  thirteen. 
'•  All  that  remains  of  them  since  that  time  is  preserved  at  Si-ngan-fu  in  the 
famous  Pei-lin,  or  Forest  of  Tablets,  amongst  the  300  inscriptions  that  it 
contains.'" 

<;  Ancient  texts  were  printed  as  early  as  593  B.C.,  but  it  was  only  in  932 
that  an  imperial  order  was  issued  to  engrave  on  wood,  and  print  for  distri- 
bution the  nine  king  recognised  at  the  time.  The  work  was  finished  in 
932.'''  ;;  The  arrangement  of  the  classical  books,  undertaken  by  order  of 
the  second  emperor  of  the  Tang  Dynasty  (627-649  a.d.)  included  the 
Urn  Ya,  a  dictionary  of  ancient  characters,  and  the  Heaou  King,  or  classic 
of  Filial  Piety  (included  in  the  Sacred  Books  of  the  East).  From  time  to 
tune  other  editions  in  different  characters  were  brought  out  bv  private 
scholars  or  imperial  command.  But  there  has  been  no  room  for  uncer- 
tainty concerning  the   texts  themselves  since   the  new  set  of  stone  classics 

1  For  instance,  it  is  stated  fin  the  authority  of  some  lost  annals  that  "from  Ilwang-ti 
to  Vu  was  thirty  generation-:.''  whi  \i,  at  live  generation-;  to  a  century,  would  give  a  very 
in     ierai  possible  ]  eri     [off     1  years  I       the  ]       historic  col      :  'Nine 

inces. 

-  Tin  Ol.lest  Book  of  tin  Chinese,  Ik:  Yk-Kii;^  and  its  Authors,  by  A.  Terrien  de 
Lac<  uperie  ( I S 0 2  1 .  p.   103. 

"    /•"'..   '  .   104. 


4yS  APPENDICES, 

was  erected  at  Chang-ngan  (Si-ngan-fu)  in  the  9th  century.  Five  years 
(S33-837)  were  spent  in  engraving  the  twelve  works  included  in  this  edi- 
tion on  2\(>  tablets;  and  they  are  still  preserved,  practically  uninjured,  in 
the  ''Forest  of  Tablets''  already  referred  to.  Some  original  rubbings 
which  had  been  taken  from  the  three-character  stone  classics  of  the  Wei 
1  )ynasty  were  discovered  about  the  middle  of  the  1  ith  century  by  a  scholar 
named  Su-wang,  who  had  them  engraved  and  published,  and  this  work  was 
reprinted  in  the  present  century  by  a  scholar  into  whose  hands  a  copy  had 
come. 

The  earlier  dynasties  were  in  the  habit  of  removing  the  stone  tablets 
erected  by  them  in  their  capitals  when,  for  any  reason,  the  seat  of  empire 
was  transferred  ;  but  with  increasing  respect  for  the  sanctity  of  ancient 
monuments,  and  experience  of  the  dangers  to  which  they  were  exposed  by 
such  removals,  the  custom  was  abandoned.  But  as  it  was  clearly  improper 
that  Peking  should  be  worse  off  than  Si-ngan-fu,  182  tablets,  engraved  on  both 
sides  in  a  style  oi  great  beauty,  containing  the  thirteen  classics,  were  erected 
in  the  Kien-lung  reign  at  Peking,  and  are  still  the  admiration  of  students. 

The  later  literature  of  China  is  too  voluminous  to  allow  even  a  summary 
to  be  given  here.  It  will  be  enough  to  mention  just  the  names  of  those 
writers  whose  works  are  of  almost  classical  authority  and  vogue.  The 
"  Narratives  of  the  States,"  the  mine  from  which  modern  dramatists  and  his- 
torical novelists  draw  half  their  plots,  is  attributed  to  Tso,  the  author  of 
the  Commentary  on  Confucius'  Spring  and  Autumn.  The  "Warring  States," 
which  has  had  the  same  destiny,  dates  in  its  oldest  form  from  the  Han 
Dynasty,  but  has  been  amplified  by  later  editors.  A  translation  of  the 
original  version  of  the  work  would  be  exceedingly  valuable.  The  same  re- 
mark applies  to  the  "  Historical  Records  "  of  Szema-tsien,1  who  first  worked 
out  the  system  of  chronology  since  generally  accepted  from  Hwang-ti, 
2697  p,.c.,  to  his  own  day,  104  15. c.  This  work  is  the  first  in  the  collection  of 
"Twenty-three  Histories,"  ending  with  the  Ming  Dynasty,  which  was  issued 
by  Imperial  order,  in  1  742,  by  a  commission  of  forty-five  officers  and  scholars 
of  the  present  dynasty.  Dr.  Legge's  copy  of  the  Collection,  "bound  in 
Knglish  fashion,  makes  fifty-three  volumes." 

The  "  Collected  Comments  on  the  Shi,"  by  Choo  Hi,  were  published  in 
1  1  77,  and  in  the  imperial  edition  of  the  Odes  published  in  1727,  the  authority 
of  this  commentary  is  substantially  maintained.  Chinese  scholarship,  it  may 
be  observed,  is  not  at  all  credulous  ;  and  modern  criticism,  when  it  begins 
to  apply  itself  to  the  literature  of  the  Flowery  I -and,  will  find  a  great  deal 
of  work  done  ready  to  its  hand.  The  Shi  King  contains  305  odes,  and 
the  titles  ol  six  more,  supposed  to  have  been  included  in  the  collection 
made  by  Confucius,  are  preserved.  According  to  tradition,  the  original 
1  oilection  consisted  of  3,000  pieces;  and  the  remarks  on  this  subject,  made 
by  a  scholar  of  the  present  dynasty,  may  be  quoted  as  a  fair  specimen  of 
the  rational  principles  of  criticism  adopted.  There  are  two  historical  works 
little  later  th  in  (  !onfueius,  in  which  the  Odes  are  frequently  quoted.  One 
1    W'ltDii)  I)r.  dc  Lacuuperic  calls  tlic  I  Ierodotu.s  uf  China, 


APPENDICES.  47  9 

of  them,  the  Tso  Chuen,  already  described,  contains  219  quotations  from 
the  Odes,  of  which  only  thirteen  are  not  identifiable  in  the  surviving  clas- 
sic ;  the  other  contains  thirty-one  quotations,  all  but  one  of  which  are  in 
the  Shi  King  as  known  to  us.  If,  observed  Chaou-Yih  in  the  last  century, 
"  the  poems  existing  in  Confucius'  time  had  been  more  than  3,000,  the 
quotations  found  in  these  two  books  of  poems  now  lost  should  have  been 
ten  times  as  numerous  as  the  quotations  from  the  305  pieces  said  to  have 
been  preserved  by  him  ;  whereas  they  are  only  between  a  twenty-first  and  a 
twenty-second  part  of  the  existing  pieces  " — whence  he  concludes  that  the 
number  of  lost  pieces  must  be  inconsiderable. 

The  "  San-kwo-chi,  or  History  of  the  Three  Kingdoms,"  is  also  a  favourite 
mine  for  the  dramatist,  and  is  intended  as  a  history  rather  than  a  romance, 
though  it  gives  prominence  to  all  the  romantic  incidents.1  A  portion  of  it 
lias  been  translated  by  M.  T.  Pavie.  Another  work,  to  which  it  is  much 
to  be  desired  that  translators  should  turn  their  attention,  is  the  great  Ency- 
clopaedia of  Ma-twan-lin,  called  a  "  General  Examination  of  Records  and 
Scholars,"  the  result  of  twenty  years'  labour,  published  in  1321.  Remusat 
calls  "  this  excellent  work  "  a  library  in  itself,  and  held  that  if  Chinese 
literature  consisted  of  it  alone,  the  language  would  be  worth  learning  for 
the  sake  of  reading  it. 

Ql  course,  all  these  materials  require  to  be  used  critically,  in  order  to 
give  their  full  quantum  of  reliable  information.  The  Tso  Chuen  is  rather 
like  a  Chinese  Eivy,  and  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Chinese  historians 
are  more  infallible  as  to  affairs  before  their  own  day  than  a  Thucydides 
or  Polybius  ;  but  they  had  access  to  a  larger  number  of  contemporary 
records,  and  the  main  outlines  of  the  history  derived  from  such  fragments 
of  their  works  as  have  been  translated  are  probably  to  be  depended  on.  A 
serious  history  of  China  cannot  be  written  except  by  a  Chinese  scholar ; 
and  such  scholars  will  no  doubt,  for  many  years  to  come,  find  one  dynasty 
at  a  time  quite  enough  for  a  work  of  the  desirable  Grilndlichkeit. 

The  HisUrire  Generak  de  la  Chine,  by  P.  de  Mailla,  is  derived  from  the 
Tong  kien-kang-mou  which  Kang-hi,  who  did  so  much  for  the  study  of  the 
Classics,  caused  to  be  translated  into  Tatar  for  the  benefit  of  the  vanquished 
conquerors  of  the  Middle  Kingdom.  But  though  a  convenient  and  trust- 
worthy compendium  (in  thirteen  quarto  volumes),  it  is  far  less  interesting 
and  instructive  as  to  the  national  life  of  China  than  other  authorities  of 
which  less  is  known. 

A  Chinese  bibliography  by  the  brothers  von  Mbllendorff.  and  another  by 
M.  Henri  Cordier  in  two  volumes  (1878-81),  will  give  the  reader  any  fur- 
ther information  that  may  be  desired  as  to  the  stock  European  authorities 
on  China;  the  "  Chinese  Reader's  Manual,"  by  W.  F.  Mayors,  and  Mr. 
Wylie's  "  Notes  on  Chinese  Literature  "  should  also  be  consulted. 

1  Robin  Hood's  feats  of  archery  are  forestalled  by  an  interesting,  if  not  very  admirable, 
war::  >r.  I  .in- Pou,  who  makes  two  rivals  lone  of  whom  is  his  friend)  agree  lo  disband  iheir 
troops  if  he  succeeds  in  piercing  with  hi-  arrow  a  lance-stem  at  a  distance  ol  150  p. aces, 
which  he  then  proceeds  to  do.     {San-kico-c/ii,  ii.  p.  S. ) 


APPENDIX  I. 

Vol.  i.,  p.  31  ;    vol.  ii.,  p.   16. 

China  and  Babylonia  and  the  Yi  King. 

As  long  ago  as  187  r  Dr.  Edkins  was  struck  by  the  many  ancient  customs 
pointing  to  a  connection  once  existing  between  "Western  Asia  and  China,  and 
proposed  that  ':  China's  I'lace  in  Philology"  should  be  considered  by  the 
light  of  these  resemblances.  In  rSSo  a  paper  on  the  History  of  the 
Chinese  language  by  M.  Terrien  de  Lacouperie  was  laid  before  the  Royal 
Asiatic  Society,  in  which  the  "  phonetic  laws  of  spelling  of  the  ancient 
Chinese  writing"'  and  the  resemblances  between  this  writing  and  the  pre- 
cuneiform  or  linear  Akkadian  character  were  described  ;  and  the  theory 
advanced  that  the  unintelligible  Chinese  classic,  the  Yi  King,  might  be  a 
kind  of  archaic  dictionary,  intended  to  preserve  the  memory  of  the  con- 
nection between  characters  like  the  modern  "radicals"  and  their  deriva- 
tives. Prof.  R.  K.  Douglas  took  part  in  these  investigations  and  concurred 
in  their  results,  which  to  the  present  writer  appeared  then  as  almost  "  too 
good  to  be  true,"  so  acceptable  was  the  philological  proof  of  relationship, 
as  an  explanation  of  resemblances  at  once  too  radical  and  too  minute  to 
be  accidental. 

Thus  far  the  subject  had  been  approached  by  Sinologists,  taking  up 
Akkadian  to  illustrate  Chinese  ;  but  before  long  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
opposite  course  was  made  plain  by  the  inquiries  of  the  Rev.  C.  J.  ball,  an 
Assyriologist  who  began  to  study  Chinese  for  the  purposes  of  philological 
comparison  and  the  illustration  of  the  too  scanty  Akkadian  texts.  In  rSSo 
he  began  to  publish  a  systematic  comparison  of  Chinese  and  Akkadian 
roots,1  and.  as  M.  Terrien  de  Lacouperie  expresses  it,  by  grouping  his 
assimilations  to  avoid  the  many  pitfalls  inherent  to  comparison  of  mono- 
syllables, ,L  has  undoubtedly  proved  a  deep  relationship  between  the 
vocabulary  of  the  two  languages,"  '  though  only  about  two-thirds  of  his 
identific  itions  with  old  Chinese  arc  accepted  by  the  pioneer  of  the  investi- 

tion.  To  outsiders  it  is  reassuring  that  there  should  be  even  this  amount 
or  agreement  between  independent  inquirers,  and  the  identifications  may 
be  all  the  more  readily  accepted  because  the  evidence  is  sufficiently  obvious 
to  convince  specialists  from  two  different   fields. 

Mr.  bill  has  devi  ited  himself  exclusively  to  the  philological  side,  and 

'     '"  •>./'..•/..  \    '1.    \';i.  '  .    (.   v!i     e-  .   s;.    36S.  .;S(. 

1   :  ■  1                        "'    i  ;.<•  ('an        .  •;      Yli  Is  i  ne.   nil  I    its.  authors.      lis  A.  Terrien   he 
I.         :;••■;■;.:.       '.    .I.   ..    .7  .   1!    ...< 5. 


APPENDICES. 


481 


of  the  identifications  which  are  least  obvious  to  the  general  reader  are  most 
convincing  to  students  of  language,  because  of  the  uniformities  in  the  permu- 
tation of  sounds  which  they  establish  between  the  two  languages.  On  the 
other  hand,  some  of  the  very  numerous  sounds,  apparently  exactly  alike 
and  having  the  same  meaning  in  both  tongues,  may  be  merely  accidents 
iluc  to  the  limited  variety  of  monosyllabic  sounds  available.  A  certain 
percentage  of  deductions  may  be  allowed  for  on  this  ground,  and  still 
leave  the  resemblances  numerous  enough  to  satisfy  sceptics. 

These  resemblances  may  be  classed  in  three  groups  :  identity  of  sound 
or  parallelism  of  phonetic  modification  between  words  having  the  same  or 
allied  senses  in  Akkadian  and  Chinese  ;  resemblances  between  the  cha- 
racter used  to  express  a  given  idea  in  linear  Babylonian  and  archaic  Chinese 
writings,  which  in  some  cases  outlast  the  resemblance  of  sound  in  the  word 
for  which  the  character  stands  ;  because  when  the  pictorial  significance  of 
the  character  is  lost  sight  of,  false  analogies  sometimes  cause  it  to  be  used 
as  a.  symbol  in  a  new  and  inconsistent  sense  ;  and,  lastly,  resemblances  in 
the  habits  of  thought,  which  lead  to  the  establishment  of  similar  associa- 
tions between  words  and  symbols  that  are  not  self-evidently  allied. 

The  following  groups  of  terms  for  parts  of  the  body,  objects  connected 
with  agriculture,  and  various  animals  are  taken,  by  his  kind  permission, 
from  .Mr.  ball's  paper  On  the  Accadian  Affinities  of  Chinese,  read  at  the 
Ninth  London  Congress  of  Orientalists,  1892. 


Accadian. 


LT 


bad,       body,  skin 

sun,  su     ,,  ,, 

sag,  sanga  )  ,       , 
h!         °     -  head 
zag.  zang    J 

umun,  face 

su,  beard  (from  sud,  sug) 

igi(n)  I 

en  (from  gan)  ) 

ka,  mouth 

mush-tub        ~\ 

gish,  ge  >  car 

burn  '  =  vur)  ) 

shi(b'),  shu(b),  ear 

gun.  gu,  neck,  throat 

bar.  Ilesh,  belly 

tu,  belly 

tig,  zag,  side 

gan,  breast  (and  ribs). 

bar.  back 

shu,  hands 

da(d),  hand 

Vi  »i .    II.       i'.C. 


Chinese. 

*bat,  p'i 

shen,  sin 
sheu,  su 
sang  (forehead) 
nun,  mien 
sii,  *sut 

yen,  ngan,  nge" 

k'eu,  ku 

*top(P.  314)  (P-  238)1 

*ngit,  *ngi,  i;  Amoy  hi  (from  ki,  gi) 
el" 

*shep  (R.  128) 

king,  hiang.  *gun  (P.  827)  *gu,  hen 
*pak.  fok,  fu  :  Jan.  hara  (from  para) 
tu 

click,  tsek.  tseh  (*tek,  *d 
*gib,  hip,  sid.es,  ribs. 
-bak,  pok.  poh 
sheu,  shu 

*dok,  *dak  i  V.  15).  *dot,  *dat 

1    i 


4S: 


APPENDICES. 


A  CCA  DI  AX. 


leer,  knee 


dug,  dub) 
zib  i 

gir,  foot  :   firm 
nn  _  i,  uz  i(g ).  flesh 
_  ush  i      gut.  gud) ") 
gltii,  sal  t )  f  blood 

mud  J 

lu-gud  (lu'g  +  gud),  clear  blood 
:  i,  dark  blood 


Chixese. 
t'ui,  *u'ok,  thigh,  leg  (*t'ut) 
tsuk,  tsuh.  leg,  foot 
keuk,  kick,  kioh,  foot  :   firm 
*nuk.  nibk,  zhibk.  zheu 
*git,  hit  ;  also 
sut,  sii  (P.  2S1 ) 
mi't,  mi  eh 
*lung.  *git 
*dam,  tan.  red 


AGRICULTURE. 

Here  are  some  words  relating  to  the  important  art  of  tillage. 


Accadiax. 

e-din,  field 

lu,  dab,  dib,  land 

i-diin.  well,  spring 

dun.  dim,  dig.  plough 

(  dimj  ra  g.  a  plough 

kur,  ku,  canal 

gan,  g  irden 

mu.  gish,  gid,  tree,  stalk,  trunk 

sar  ') 

sig  ) 

sham  '  -■  ■  shang,  shagp,  herl  >s 

sum,  van.  _    rli 

'_    .         1 

,     ■  crourds 


irreens 


u-kush 

) 

/.:r   }  ' 

.  in,  see 

is.  <  ereals 

■  . . r  of 

(    rn 

:  <    :•;. 

..    Sii    d 

) 

/.],   /id 

■  _ra:n.  <  orn. 

et< . 

:    ' 

Chixese. 
*din,  tien 

*lut,  la  ;   *dab,  ti  1  ear:'. 
*din,  *dzin,  ch'iien,  ts'iien  : 
*dim,  tsing 
*din,  tien,  to  till 
*iag.  *lik,  lei,  li,  a  plough 
*kuk,  ken 
*gon,  yuen 
muk.  mu  :  ngit,  yea 
*tsak.  ts'ai  'zag.  sag! 
*tsak,  ts'au 
sung 
si'm,  --.van 

*kuk,  *kut,  kwa 

kuk,  kuh  ;  *gak.  hwo 
*tsok.  tsz; 
*suk.  sui  :   suk.  -ail 
;.:    g.    :ng,  l;i  r    avn  of  grain 

suk.  sun,  grain  :    ''  hut,  s'r.u,  mi 
t  fi.        nil  led  millet 
sh  a.  tsut.  zeh.  millet 
.   1  ap.  nrngi, 


\    -;:   •    n      A: 


A      • 

.    1 


1  : 


APPENDICES.  4S; 

Accadian.  Chinese. 

gug  (gung)  \  yeung,  yang 

u-mun  J  kuk.  kut 


zia:  (/mi;)     '    ,  ,       ,  nun.  mien 

'  )  sheep,  lamb 

guk-kal        i  seung,  suing 


*shap,  she' 
mang 
man,  min 
*mune 


u-du  \  *kak.  kau 

i-dib  /  *du,  t'u,  chu 

sha  \i,  si_r,  dab  )     .  shi,  *shok,  *shik,  *dap,  shin 

>  i )  1 " 
dam.  dim  )      =  t'un,  dang,  *dom,  tw'an,  chung,  toung 

c-lum  1    t 

.  stag  hng 

e-lim   J 

dara,  antelope,  deer  luk,  luh 

am-sig,  elephant  siang 

u-shum  =  u-shub  \ 

sir  ma'g 

{written     mug-     -serpent 

mush  j 

gir,  scorpion  *git,  hit 

nim.  turn,  insects  *dom,  t'iong,  ch'ung 

bar.  leopard  ;  spotted  felinae  *pok,  pan 

num(ma),  wolf  *hmg,  lang 

Accadian  dumu-zi,  pig,  Tammuz  (the  Swine-god),  is  a  compound  (dum 
-dam;  zi  =  zig,  sig,  sir).  It  survives  in  the  Turkish  domuz,  pig.  The 
dialectic  gumu-nsir  reappears  in  the  Semitic  loan-words  chumsiru,  chin/.ir, 
chazlr.     'Gumu  —  gian,  kin.  boar  ('gumunsir). 

The  asterisks  denote  old  Chinese  forms,  and  the  other  references  are  to 
the  "  Phonetics  in  Edkins'  Introduction  to  the  Study  of  the  Chinese 
Characters." 

A  lew  other  isolated  specimens  of  similarities  of  sound  and  sense  be- 
tween the  two  languages  may  be  added.  The  ninth  Chinese  radical  pan, 
man,  the  character  for  which  represents  two  legs,  corresponds  to  a  modern 
dialectical  form,  modified  in  the  same  direction  as  Akkadian  variants  as 
seen  in  the  table  :— 


Akkadian 

Gin  : 

Din 

Ni(n) 

Chinese 

Yin 

jin 

niang 

Old  Chinese 

gin 

din 

nin 

The  interchangeableness  of  y  and  g  in  the  two  languages  is  illustrated 
by  many  examples,  as  Akk.  gis,  gi,  one  ;  Chi.  yit.  vi,  one  ;  Akk.  gin,  gim. 
handmaid  ;  Chi.  gim.  yin,  girl.  The  interchangeableness  of  n  and  d  is 
common  to  both  languages,  so  that  the  old  Chinese  gin  and  din  have 
counterparts  in  the  Akkadian  forms  ni  and  ti,  to  fear:  ni  and  di,  bright: 
na(g)  and  dag,  stone  ;   idin  and  inim,  heaven.     Then  we  have — 


484 

ACCADIAN. 

tu,  tuk,  clothes  I 

i,  sig,  shang        I 

uk,  to  take,  to  seize 

Sim,  a  multitude 

Sim.  to  throw  down 

She.  grain 

Shag,  bright,  pure,  holy 

Shuk  (kal).  high  messenger  or  servant  Shi  (sink),  follower 

Shi,  to  command,  send,  service 
Kal,  high,  noble  Kao,  high,  noble 


PPEXD1CES. 

Chinese. 

Tok,  chok,  i,  shik,  sek,  shang,  clothes 

Tok,  to  take  ;  tek,  to  get 

Sim,  a  multitude 

Shu,  to  overturn,  to  exterminate 

Sim,  millet 

Sho  (shak),  bright,  to  shine 


The  phonetic  resemblance  in  the  last  case  is  supplemented  by  the  close 
agreement  between  the  linear  character  in  Cudea's  inscriptions  and  the  old 
Chinese  writing.  The  initial  g,  which  Akkadian  scholars  assume  to  be 
earlier  than  k,  in  Chinese  is  often  worn  down  to  h,  so  that  kwei,  hwei,  and 
hwei,  old  gut,  to  return,  turn  round,  represents  an  Akk,  gur,  with  similar 
meanings.  The  change  simply  from  g  to  k  is  illustrated  in  the  following 
list  :  that  from  g  to  y  already  mentioned  is  still  more  frequent. 


(i)   ( j  pa-sing  into  k. 


ACCADIAX. 


ga,  house 
gab,  to  open 

L     ,  -  demon 
gul  I 

gur,  to  raise 

gar  (gur),  chariot 

'ge,  this 

gin,  reed,  rod 

gin,  fasten,  establish 

gish,  one 

gun.  neck,  throat 

gun,  tribute 

eur.  to  return 


Chinese. 


kia,  *ka 

k'ai 

kwei,  *gut 

kii 

ku,  A.  ku 

k'i 

kan 

kin,  kien 

k'i  *kit,  single 

king 

kung 

kwei,  *cut 


ACCADIAX. 

ir,  mir 


( 2  i  (1  passing  into  v. 


raise,  hit.  earrv 


.  '.  gwu,  ku,  fish 

stylus 

'.  e,  to  be 
gin.  « 

rden 


Chinks  i 


vii,  *guk 

vii,  *ngu 
vuh,  *got 
yu.  *guk 
vun,  *gun 
\  ueii 


<\; 


APPENDICES. 


485 


ACCADIAX. 

'gar  (gar-sag),  summit 
gash,  two.  second 
gig,  dark,  night 
ge,  night 

gig,  sick,  sickness 
gin,  genie,  handmaid 
gin,  to  walk 
gir  (i-gir),  wings 
gish,  gi,  one 
gish,  tree,  stalk 
gish,  male,  strong,  hero 
gud,  gu,  ox 
gu,  gudu,  gucle,  speak 
gug.  a  gem 

gul,  'gil(i),  joy,  rejoice 
'gun.  to  look  up 


Chinese. 
yoh,  C.  ngok,  A.  gak 
ya,  *gak  ( =gat) 
yih,  C.  yik,  dark 
ye,  night 
yih,  C.  yik 
yin,  *gim 
yin 

yih,  C.  yik 
yih,  C.  yit 
\'eh,  C.  ngi't,  A.  giet 
yih,  C.  ngat,  strong,  martial 
yiu,  C.  ngau,  A.  gin,  gu 
yii  :  *yut,  C.  lit.  M.  vue'i 
yuh.  C.  yuk,  *nguk 
yii,  *yuk  ;  yoh.  *ngok 
vaiiLf.  *n"ona. 


Parallel  examples  are  found  within  each  language  of  the  same  phonetic 
change  ofg,  by  way  of}',  into  a  mere  breathing. 

Amongst  tiie  ideograms  common  to  Akkadian  and  Chinese,  it  is  of 
course  prudent  only  to  rely  on  those  in  which  the  association  of  the  sign 
and  meaning  are.  to  a  certain  extent,  conventional.  A  stroke  for  the 
numeral  one,  and  a  circle  for  the  sun.  would  suggest  themselves  indepen- 
dently to  any  inventors  of  writing.  The  Akkadian  character  read  ka-is- 
bar,  and  translated  '•  to  give  oracular  decisions."  consists  of  three  elements 
—  mouth,  one,  to  divine  :  and  the  Chinese  composite  character  read  ki,  to 
divine,  also  contains  the  elements  pu-k'au-yih,  to  divine,  mouth,  one.  The 
25th  Chinese  radical  puk.  pu,  the  first  element  in  this  group,  was  anciently 

written    P,  while  in  Gudea's  style,  with  the  position  rectified,  the  character 

for  the  corresponding  Akkadian  element,  bar.  to  divine,  is  | 

In  Akkadian,  the  ideogram  for  god  was  a  star;  the  corresponding  word 
dingir,  used  for  god  or  king,  was  written  phonetically  with  three  elements. 
"  judge-plant-prick,"  and  the  composite  Chinese  character  ti  (representing 
an  earlier  form,  tik,  dig),  to  judge,  a  god.  the  king,  preserves  traces  in  its 
structure  of  the  same  elements  "judge,"  and  '"  prickly  plant."  The  ideo- 
gram of  a  star  for  god.  also  reappears  in  both  the  Akkadian  and  Chinese 
characters  for  ear  of  corn  or  growing  -rain,  the  persistence  of  the  ideogram 
being  unmistakable,  while  tiie  identification  of  the  words  pre-supposes  a 
series  of  moditicati  o.  u  i  ,  by  themselves  appear  possible  ral 
inevitable.  Tiie  use  of  the  divine  star  as  a  symbol  for  grain  helps  to 
explain  the  c  mm  >n  Chinese  phrase,  referring  to  the  altars  or  the  wo: 
of  i:  the  land,  and  the  grain."  in  translating  which  Dr.  Leirue  aiw  ys  inter- 
tes  the  gloss  ••the  spirits  of."  The  Chinese  character  bears  in  itsell 
the   suggestion  of  divinity. 


486 


APPENDICES. 


Mr.   Hall,  who  lias  kindly  revised  the  above  lists,  communicates  to  me 
the  following  additional,  as  yet  unpublished,  confirmation.     The  ku  wen  oi 


the  old  word  *suk  s 


lie,  ear  of  corn  is  actually  +-  =  Akkadian      V  -  essu, 
ear  of  corn  ;   the  Lu  s/iu   tutig  gives   as   the  ku  wen  of  siie  or  sui,  ear  of 

corn,     p^  ■  and  another  old  form  is     pjr^  ,  all  clearly  rough  cursive  forms 

of  the  eight  rayed  star,  which  in  both  languages  is  also  god.     The  word 


essu  =  ansu  (s_r)  and    ;]',    se,  corn,  is  also  read  sug,   while  an(u)  is  another 

i 

term  for  ear  of  corn.  The  following  parallel  is  also  interesting-  In 
babylonia  the  planet  Venus  was  female  from  sunset  (to  sunrise)  ;  male 
from  sunrise  (to  sunset).1  In  China  the  planet  Venus  is  female  as  the 
morning  star,  Nii-ts'ien,  and  wife  of  the  same  planet,  called  T'ai-poh  shang- 
kung  (  — Dilbad  shukum,  Akkadian  titles  of  Venus)  as  evening  star.  The 
ku  wen  for  star  is  0°0  ;  and  the  oldest  Babylonian  for  star  is  *#*,  and  the 
correspondence  of  the  three  Chinese  circles  with  the  three  Babylonian 
stars  can  hardly  be  accidental. 

Tile  old  Chinese  character  for  fire,  an  angle  with  three  strokes  above  it, 
corresponds  with  the  archaic  Babylonian  character  for  fire,  representing 
an  altar  with  flames;  and  though  tin's,  it  maybe  said,  is  only  a  coincidence 
of  obvious  picture  writing,  this  is  not  the  case  with  the  Akkadian  ideogram, 
containing  the  elements  ku-gin,  gold,  which  in  its  original  form  bears  an 
;  bvious  likeness  to  the  Chinese  character  kin.  also  gold.  The  significance 
of  [lie  Akkadian  characters  (bright,  yellow)  serves  to  correct  the  current 
Chinese  analysis. 

The  inscribed  cylinders  commonly  buried  in  the  foundations  of  Baby- 
Ionian   buildings  were    called    dinunen,  the   character  for  which  in   the  very 

/ 
earl\-    monuments  of   K-anna-du  is     '        ',  while    the    Chinese    man,  wan, 

ntly  men,  "writing,"  was  written  originally    \0/   ,  and    has    not    been 

very  materially  altered  since.  Xebo,  the  Babylonian  god  of  letters,  the 
1  )imsar,  or  scribe  par  excellence,  of  the  Akkadians  was  commonly  indicated 
by  a  compound  ideogram,  god-stylus,  the  latter  of  which  elements  is  read 
gad,  _ i ; 1 1 ,  muwat,  and  corresponds  to  the  Chinese  wat,  yuh,  old  yut,  stylus, 
and  the  Chinoe  character  resembles  the  Akkadian,  only  with  a  hand 
lyh.i  .     Tin-  i\  •  between  kal,  kao,  noble,  eminent,  has 

.  refened  to  airi  i  ...  .  ml  the  resemblance  between  Cudea's  version  and 


A   Chinese  character  is  annum  the  closest  met  with. 


and  k-I 

n 


APPENDICES. 


487 


The  fact  that  a  drawing  of  four  squares  stands  for  fields  in  Chinese  and 
Akkadian  would  prove  nothing,  because,  like  the  Egyptian  hieroglyph,  it 
is  the  obvious  way  of  indicating  that  cultivated  land  is  divided  by  irrigation 

channels;  but   the  fact  that      r~\    was  read  In,  dib,  dab,  in  Akkadian,  and 

lu,  hit,  *tap,  in  Chinese  is  not  likely  to  be  accidental.  The  Akkadian  sug, 
zug,  field,  written  with  the  ideogram  for  enclosure  and  water,  is  compared 
by  Mr.  Ball  with  Chinese  tsi,  tsti,  an  untilled  field,  curiously  written  with 
the  signs  for  water  and  field,  as  it  were  lucus  a  11011  lucendo,  since  irrigated 
and  cultivated  fields  are  synonymous  :  the  interpretation  may  be  that  the 
Chinese  tsi  shows  water  outside  the  fields,  while  the  same  elements  of 
enclosure  and  water  (ante,  p.  42)  are  used  to  indicate  the  well  which  is  the 
centre  of  cultivation  in  both  countries. 

There  is  a  similar  resemblance  in  the  coincidence  of  Akkadian  limn  and 
Chinese  min  for  the  curved  line  or  angle  representing  a  roof  and  meaning 
house.  The  symbol  house-god  is  an  element  in  the  Akkadian  character 
tor  parents,  and  the  old  Chinese  chin,  parents,  includes  exactly  the 
same    elements,    and    closely    resembles    the    linear    form    of    the    Akka- 


dian 


* 


Chi. 


J 


t 


One    more   pictorial  coincidence  must  suffice. 


The  father  and  mother  are  the  gods  of  the  house,  and  the  city  is  the 
dwelling-place,  the  seat  of  the  god.  The  ku-vven  forms  of  the  Chinese 
character  fang,  old  ban,  gan,  "  place,''  are  almost  indistinguishable  from  the 


inear  Akkadian 


for  place,  city,  which  seems  from  its   derivatives 


''to  have  had  the  various  sounds  gan,  gal,  gun,  gin,  gar,  gur,  and  perhaps 
ban."  The  ideogram  seems  to  represent  die  throne  upon  which  the  city 
god  may  be  supposed  to  sit,  as  the  king  does  in  his  portrait  statues. 

If  we  now  compare  a  few  of  the  favourite  objects  or  dominant  ideas  of 
the  two  nations,  the  same  suggestions  of  a  common  source  appear.  The 
phonetic  connection  between  uknu  (Akk.  lapis  lazuli)  and  Chinese  yu, 
beautiful,  precious,  clear  white,  jade,  or  gem,  belongs  perhaps  to  the 
doubtful  list  ;  but  the  following  are  something  more  than  plausible  : — 

Akkadian  :  Lai  (according  to  the  syllabaries)  saqalu,  to  weigh,  measure 
money,  to  pay.      Chinese:  Liao,  to  measure. 

Akkadian  :  I  )i,  dinu  or  denu,  judgment.  Chinese :  Ti,  to  judge  be- 
tween. 

The  same  sign  is  read  kud,  with  the  sense  of  dividing,  which  answers  to 
an  old  Chinese  ko  or  kat,  to  examine,  sift  thoroughly,  a  law.  It  is  also 
read  tar,  tim.  with  senses  answering  to  those  of  Chinese  tien  ;  and  s/nr,  in 
which  case  it  is  translated  street,  to  subdue,  rule,  judge.  Akkadian  towns, 
as  we  have  seen,  were  divided  into  quarters  by  their  main  streets,  and  the 
practice  of  doing  justice  in  the  gates  (of  the  city  streets)  would  keep  up 
the  association  between  the  material  and  the   figurative  uses  of  the   word. 


gSS 


APPENDICES. 


The  Akkadian  ideogram  with  three  sounds  and  nine  Assyrian  definitions 
had  probably  the  original  sound  and  sense  which  survives  in  China  with 
die  root  ti,  and  the  notion  of  dividing  or  discriminating. 

Akkadian  duk.  a  cup,  vessel,  answers  to  Chinese  teu  (old  sound  duk), 
wooden  trencher,  sacrificial  dish.  .Akkadian  an,  anna,  heaven,  high,  may 
he  compared  with  Chinese  ang,  high.  Akkadian  gis,  gi.  one,  answers  pho- 
netically to  Chinese  yih,  yit  :  hut  a  much  stronger  proof  of  common  origin 
than  the  mere  possession  of  a  similarly  sounding  numeral  is  supplied  by  the 
common  metaphorical  use  of  the  term.  Ci  is  said  to  be  defined  in  one  place 
as  sarin,  king  ;  and  yit  nil"),  the  ( )ne  Man.  as  the  reader  will  remember,  is 
a  standing  epithet  for  the  primitive  Chinese  king  in  the  Shoo.  The  three 
signs  for  30  were  read  in  Akkadian  esin  and  shehu,  and  the  late  sheb 
suggests  a  primitive  shab,  with  which  the  Chinese  sap,  sa,  sell,  for  3  tens 
may  he  compared.  The  Chinese  san,  3,  seems  to  answer  to  the  form 
esm.  Sin,  the  Moon-god,  in  compounds  san  (e.g.  Sanherib),  was  sym- 
bolized by  the  number  30.  The  Akkadian  shanabi.  40  (?  a  compound  of 
11a,  20,  and  hi.  2).  is  interesting  because,  as  already  mentioned,  it  is  the 
word  used  for  the  fraction  f..  because  40  is  f(  of  60  ;  and  it  is  possible  that 
the  Chinese  sap.  40.  is  a  much  decayed  reminiscence  oi~  this  original. 
The  Chinese  words  tor  brick,  tile,  can  also  be  derived  by  a  series  of 
norma!  changes  (from  ga  to  wa,  through  an  intermediate  ngwa)  from  an 
Akka  Han  original  gar,  nmr,  mar. 

For  the  numerous  other  parallels,  possible,  probable,  and  virtually  cer- 
tain, of  wh:  h  tl  e  above  are  but  a  few  specimens,  the  reader  must  consult 
Mr.  ball's  ]  wj  icrs. 

In  the  prei  -dii  :  pages  allusion  das  been  made  to  the  Akkadian  sylla- 
baries giving  the  various  meanings  borne  by  isolated  characters.  M  .  die 
1  .''coo'  erie's  suggestion  is  that  the  Yi  King  consisted  originally  of  just  such 
lists  1  ;  meanings,  and  as  a  test  case  he  has  taken  the  archaic  Babylonian 
character,  hi.  a  bud.  for  comparison  with  the  similar  Chinese  character  li, 
a  <  ■  ■•'.'.  The  thirti  d.  ch  ;  ter  t.>\  the  Yi  King  deals  with  this  ch  iracter,  the 
c  •:,  t  -  mnds  of  which  were  lip,  dep,  de.  The  early  forms  ot  due  cor- 
:  :sj  img  1  unciform  was  lup,  dip,  udu.  There  are  twenty  tw  1  separate 
meanings  given  for  the  Chinese  c'naracter,  all  save  one  of  which  have  some 

.  c    -      .     in  the  twenty-seven  entries  given   in   a  1 
list  ot  1  ::iii  Form  ideographs  compiled  by  a  Cerman  scholar.     The  two  lists 


s ;  ',  \ . 


.  ' 


|,  I  ; 


Cuixi.sr.. 
A  domestic  cow 
To  shoe 
?  (  '  mfus(  d 

burn  awav.  brightness  Fuling,  burn- 
ing-like dving 
?  Attentive.  iuck\   <  1 


APPEXDICES.  489 

Babylonian.  Chixf.se. 

nigu,  music  Special  music 

kissu.  multitude  ?  Perpetual  chatter 

hatu,  trespass;  eteku,  to  go  forward  Oppose,  rushing  against 

ba'aru,  to  hunt  ?  To  meet 

sabatu,  sibitu,  kamu,  to  sei/e  ?  Throwing    off,    to    split    wood,   to 

cut  off 

tabaku,  outpouring  Falling  drops 

aha/u,  to  possess,  to  take  To  have  something 

kirdibbu,  ?  kirru,  immeru,  beast  Ravenous  beast 

kababu.  a  cover  Bamboo  basket 

subburu,  to  oppress  Abominable  bogie1 

Willi  regard  to  the  use  of  the  same  character  for  sheep  and  cow,  Mr.  Ball 
(p.  692)  seems  to  make  it  probable  that  lu  is  used  in  a  general  sense  for 
domestic  animals  who  are  kept  in  enclosures,  both  sound  and  character 
for  ox-stall  being  alike  in  Chinese  and  Akkadian.  The  meaning  en- 
circling, which  M.  de  Lacouperie  had  obtained  from  another  source. 
would  probably  he  connected  in  this  way  with  the  original  character;  and 
that  of  law  and  order,  also  given,  might  answer  to  the  Chinese  sense  of 
cutting  and  splitting,  in  the  metaphorical  sense  met  with  before.  When 
all  the  possible  causes  of  divergence,  during  a  separation  of  thousands  of 
years  between  the  earliest  editing  of  the  Chinese  Classic  and  the  Akkadian 
syllabaries,  are  taken  into  account,  the  survival  of  so  many  parallel  mean- 
ings, in  groups  put  together  on  apparently  arbitrary  lines,  is  certainly  re- 
markable. 

The  earliest  arrangement  of  the  text  of  the  Yi  King,  according  to  the 
Chinese,  was  effected  by  King  Wen,  the  father  of  Wu,  who  founded  the 
dynasty  of  Chow.  This  prince  was  imprisoned  for  two  years  (1 144-3 
B.C.)  for  a  State  offence,  and  occupied  his  enforced  leisure  in  composing 
the  earliest  commentary  on  the  Yi,  the  text  of  which  therefore  must  have 
existed  before  his  time.  The  ancient  Ku-wen  character  was  probably 
n  a  ]  honetic  expression  of  real  speech,  but  dialectical  divergences  had 
mace  the  correspondence  a  thing  of  the  past,  when,  in  die  9th  century 
i:.c,  a  famous  minister  of  King  Sieuen  invented  the  '1  a  Chuen  style  of 
characters,  which  were  an  attempt,  often  misguided,  to  revert  to  an  ideo- 
gra< hie  system .'- 

There  is  \  1  >ably  -vine  connection,  though  no  one  can  at  ;  resent  say 
\vh;  t.  between  the  Kwas.  the  whole  and  divided  lines  which  hea  1  the  sec- 
tions of  the  Vi  King,  and  the  method  of  divination  by  stalks,  rods  or 
arrow-,  which  was  the  alternative  to  divination  by  the  tort  >ise  shell.  And 
•sible  that  Akkadian  texts  may  yet   throw  light    >  n    the  allusions    to 

*  /.'     .  In:  ':  •;•  ,  p.    119. 
tiperie    believes    t!     '     the  ret    of   the    "    : .  "  -  <  "   v:    the 

mm  was  a  in. liter  of  cahjjrn!  hy,    an  i    that    1 
:.  '■    "i\.    A  1.  the   force   of   v.  liieh  v     ;  I  1  in  l!:e   ?e,-j 


'    T\ 

r:  A  A. 

-■  ::. 

A    Lae 

Spri     -    a 

a.  1    An: 

a  1  ;.-r  L 

aucius. 

49°  APPENDICES. 

both  these  systems  in  the  Tso  Ciiuen.1  It  seems  clear  however,  that  the 
use  of  the  Vi  for  divination  began  late,  when  its  real  meaning  was  on  the 
way  to  be  forgotten,  as  the  so-called  foretelling  words  in  the  present  text 
have  no  place  in  the  rhymes  of  the  rhyming  chapters. 

M.  de  Lacouperie  has  attempted  translations  of  six  chapters,  one  of 
which  has  been  analysed  already.  The  seventh  and  the  fifteenth  chapters 
are  also  rendered  as  vocabularies  ;  and  among  the  characters  in  the  latter 
there  are  two,  the  renderings  of  which  appear  to  justify  the  view  that  Con- 
fucius, in  his  views  on  cornering  (ante,  p.  41),  was  really  "a  transmitter  and 
not  a  maker"  of  doctrines  older  than  King  Wen.  A  character  which  is 
translated  "  underselling  ::  is  paraphrased  in  the  Chinese  ':  not  rich  by  means 
of  his  neighbours  ::'  and  another,  "  to  overcharge  price/'  is  paraphrased, 
■'many  employ  it  in  cheating  and  plundering1'!  So  even  in  the  hands  of 
its  most  matter-of-fact  translator,  the  Vi  King  seems  to  keep  up  its  cha- 
racter as  a  mine  of  hidden  oracles  of  wisdom.  The  thirty-first  chapter  is  a 
vocabulary  :  the  twentieth  a  sort  of  historical  ballad  or  epigram,  relating  to 
a  Prince  Kwan  (22nd  century  ii.c),  whose  name  is  identical  with  that  of  the 
character  heading  a  short  vocabulary.  The  thirteenth  chapter  describes 
the  manners  and  customs  of  certain  cave-men,  according  to  our  author  the 
aborigines  dwelling  in  the  loess  cliffs,  and  their  gradual  acceptance  of  the 
blessings  of  Chinese  civilization,  in  which  again  we  recognise  the  perennial 
tone  of  Chinese  politicians. 

Mr.  Ball  and  M.  Lacouperie  agree  in  regarding  Chinese  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  a  much  earlier  stage  of  Turano-Scythic  speech  than  any  other 
living  lang  urge,  and  as  stiil  including  elements  going  back  to  some  source, 
common  to  it  with  the  founders  01  Hlamodiabylonian  civilization.  Arid  in 
view  of  the  affinities  suggested,  on  other  grounds,  in  the  preceding  pages, 
the  conclusions  of  M.  Lacouperie's  linguistic  researches  is  not  without 
interest,  lie  observes  :  "  At  present  the  Turano-Scythic  stock  of  languages 
;s  divided  into  six  principal  groups  : — 

1.  SAW  Asiatic;  Akkado-Sumerian,  etc. 

2.  L'ralic  :  I'groT'innisb  ;  Samoyed  :  Tungusic ;  Japanese. 

3.  Altaic  :  Turkish  :  .Mongol. 

4.  Kr.enlunic  :  Ivotte  :  Chinese  :  Tibeto-Durmese. 

5.  iiimalaic  :  I)ravidian  ;  Cangetic  :  Kolarian,  etc. 

6.  Cam  asic  :  X.  Caucasian  :  Alarodian. 

The  Kuskarian  is  perhaps  the  sole  representative,  diverged  and  altered, 
of  a  s  ."'  '-'      It   should    be  observed,  in  passing,  a propos  of  the 

hrancl  here  m  ■-.  ted,  which  have  not  been  alluded  to  in  the  preced- 
.'  .  vi  ...  .  '  t  the  i  inns  a:  least  should  have  received  consideration 
above,  had  rmitted   more   than  an  allusion   to   their  self-governing 

apt.;  ale-,  and  tl  eir  re.  ird  for  the  mother  as  virtual  ruler  of  the  house- 
hold. 

M.   I.;  '  (i  :;     '  aivd   to  account  for  a  considerable  number  of  the 

iels   to  Ci  1  iher  branches,    by   direct    intercourse 

!    '  '.'  '.,  v.  ;  .   !■ ,5.  -    /..<-.,  [).   107. 


APPENDICES.  491 

in  historic  times  ;  and  he  includes  Sabreans,  Syrians,  and  Hindus  among 
the  foreign  traders  who  issued  the  first  coins  of  China  at  Tsih-moli  city 
about  670  B.C.  {ante,  p.  58).  But  this  part  of  the  subject  requires  elucida- 
tion from  several  outside  sources  before  we  can  rely  absolutely  upon  the 
identifications  suggested.  As  the  author  has  in  the  press  a  new  work  on 
the  "  Western  Origin  of  Chinese  Civilization,"  it  would  be  untimely  to 
summarize  the  results  already  published  by  him  in  various  periodicals  on 
this  subject. 

There  is  one  other  ancient  Chinese  document  which  it  is  somewhat 
grievous  to  have  to  leave  unutilized  in  a  work  of  this  kind, — a  grant  of 
land  in  favour  of  the  San  family,  attributed  to  the  latter  years  of  the  Yin 
dynast}-,  preserved  in  the  original  characters,  which  Chinese  writers  fail  to 
interpret  satisfactorily,  and  Chinese  Sinologues  have  not  yet  grappled  with. 
Two  pages  of  the  inscription  are  shown  in  one  of  the  cases  at  the  British 
Museum,  and  in  these  a  character  <^£)  occurs  twice,  which  Prof.  Douglas 
informs  me  is  read  by  the  Chinese  as  equivalent  to  the  four  squares  which 
stand  for  ticn,  field.  The  character  in  itself  is  so  much  more  like  the 
Egyptian  hieroglyph  for  city,  and  the  Hittite  character  compared  with  it, 
that  the  question  arises  whether  it  can  be  read,  or  fitted  with  an  Akkadian 
parallel,  in  this  sense. 

When  the  learning  and  ingenuity  spent  on  much  shorter,  less  interest- 
ing, and  less  ancient  inscriptions  in  other  tongues  is  considered,  the 
neglect  of  Chinese  antiquities  seems  really  astonishing  ;  and  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  the  contemporary  publications  of  Prof.  Douglas  and  M. 
Terrien  de  Lacouperie  may  rouse  sufficient  interest  in  that  subject  to 
enlist  fresh  workers  in  the  field. 


APPENDIX    K. 

Vol.  ii.,  p.  69,  120. 

Tin;  Chinese  Families  and   Irish   "Fines." 

There  ran  be  little  doubt  that  the  conventional  classification  of  the 
agricultural  communities  in  China,  was  affected  by  the  spontaneous  group- 
ing of  the  families  which  did,  in  fact,  live  and  cultivate  the  ground  together. 
'l'he  subjoined  genealogical  tree  shows  the  traditional  nine  branches  of 
kindred  in  all  their  ramifications,  worked  out  symmetrically  with  an  allow- 
ance of  two  sons  to  every  father.  If  we  suppose  the  ninth  generation  to 
be  not  yet  marriageable,  there  may  be  a  few  surviving  great-grandfathers. 
(P)  whose  personal  authority  would  of  course  be  great,  hut  would  not 
interfere  with  the  separate  establishment  of  successive  grandfathers.  At 
this  time  there  would  be  surviving  from  each  of  the  four  ancestors  of  the 
third  generation  (V)  just  eight  natural  family  groups  or  households,  four 
of  which  are  founded  by  the  householders'  grandfathers  (P),  while  two 
trace  to  a  great-grandfather  (A),  one  to  a  great-great-grandfather  (Z),  and 
one  to  the  common  ancestor  of  a  generation  further  back  (Vj.  The 
scheme  of  nine  generations  '   will  give  us  four  such  groups  of  eight. 

The  hamlet  may  have  consisted  of  a  fourth  of  such  a  group  ;  i.e.  of  four 
or  more  neighbouring  families  of  which  two  were  founded  by  living  grand- 
fathers iC,),  one  by  a  great-grandfather  (P),  and  the  other  by  the  common 
ancestor  of  the  group  (A),  together  with  four  married  younger  sons  not 
yet  attained  to  the  dignity  of  grand  paternity.  Whether  these  last  were 
or  were  not  established  in  separate  households  would  probably  depend 
upon  the  number  of  individuals  and  generations  living  in  each  particular 
case.  'I  he  representative  of  the  eldest  branch,  who  continued  to  live  in 
the  house  with  both  father  and  grandfather,  was  not  likely  to  keep  his  own 
younger  sous  after  their  marriage,  but  .1  younger  son  separately  established 
might  have  two  sons  living  with  him  until  the  younger  of  them  came  in 
his  turn  to    have  sons  ol    marriageable  age. 

'I  he  u-e  ol  this  imaainarv  genealogical  tree  will  be  more  apparent  when 
we  come  to  consider  the  conventional  families  or  "lines"  of  the  Prelum 
laws  :  but  the  actual  pr;i<",u  e  of  the  Chinese  family  groups  helps  to  inter- 
pret the  perplexing  r  eniations  of  the  Irish  code,  while  the  coincidence  of 
ii;  ■  mar  1!'  meal  rn'oanniu  in  one  case,  with  the  territorial  or  agricultural 
b  1    udaiF-s  1  01:  mm  plated  in  bee  other,  gives  a    presumption  that   both  were 


1    \ 


ar  :  I  v  <  >l    1  >i':ie1  teal  MLUiiticancc. 


APPENDICES.  493 

determined  roughly  by  the  same  natural  considerations.  It  is  in  all  cases 
the  younger  branches  that  are  compelled  to  separate  and  form  new  house- 
holds, while  the  elder  branch  may  continue  in  an  unbroken  line  from  the 
remotest  ancestor.  The  commentary  on  one  of  the  odes  of  Chow  shows 
that  this  method  of  forming  branch  families  was  fully  recognised.  Three 
triplets  celebrate  in  parallel  style  the  '"sons,"  the  Ci  grandsons,"  and  the 
"kindred''  of  the  prince  ; ]  and  we  are  told  that  "the  term  surname  is 
used  tor  grandsons,  because  the  grandson's  descendants  become  a  new 
clan,  with  the  designation  of  his  grandfather  for  a  clan  name/'  Thus  B 
in  the  genealogical  tree  may  live  to  see  one  of  his  grandsons  (i.e.  his 
eldest  son's  second  son)  found  a  new  family  named  after  himself ;  but  his 
own  younger  son  would  be  established  independently  as  a  descendant  and 
namesake  of  his  grandfather,  B's  hither.  A,  without  special  reference  to  15 
himself.-  The  '"kindred''  are  all  those  who  trace  their  lineage  to  a  common 
'''high  ancestor,'"  the  original  stock  of  the  nine  branches,  which  in  the  case 
of  one  legendary  worthy  were  all  found  living  under  one  roof-tree. 

The  national  doctrine  of  filial  piety,  as  applied  in  China,  prevented  any 
such  extension  of  \\\o,  patria  fiotestas  as  existed  at  Rome,  and  was  believed 
by  Sir  Henry  Maine  to  have  existed  elsewhere.  The  son  who  was  also 
a  father  had  as  such  irrefragable  claims  to  authority  and  respect,  which 
his  own  father  could  not  be  the  first  to  disregard.  The  eldest  son,  who 
remained  under  the  ancestral  roof,  derived  more  dignity  from  his  position  as 
a  representative  of  the  senior  branch  than  he  lost  by  not  becoming  himself 
an  independent  householder,  due  youngest  son,  if  forisfamiliated,  was 
not  thereby  emancipated  from  any  of  the  obligations  of  filial  piety,  which 
continued  binding  on  the  elder  son  who  would  succeed  to  the  headship 
of  the  house. 

This  senior  branch  seems  to  correspond  to  the  Irish  Geilfine  family 
group,  which  according  to  the  Brehon  lawyers  might  conceivably  consist 
of  live  persons  in  different  generations,  from  the  father  to  the  great-great- 
grandson,  or  just  over  half  of  the  Chinese  nine  degrees  of  relationship. 
Most  readers  of  Sir  Henry  Maine's  attempt  to  interpret  the  meaning  of 
the  Irish  family  groups,3  with  their  four  classes  and  seventeen  members,  by 
the  light  of  paternal  power,  must  have  felt  that  the  real  problem  remained 
nearlv  as  perplexing  with  as  without  the  proffered  explanation.  The  editor 
of  the  Book  of  Aicill  states  the  case  as  follows:  "Within  the  family  17 
members  were  organized  in  four  divisions,  of  which  the  junior  class,  known 
as  the  Geilfine  division,  consisted  of  five  persons  ;  the  Deirbhfine,  the 
second  in  order,  the  larfine,  the  third  in  order  .  and  the  Indiine,  the 
senior  of  all,  consisted  respectively  of  four  persons,  due  whole  org  mi- 
ration consisted  and  could    only  consist    of  17    members.      It   any    person 


!   I.<o-0'.  iv.  p.  10. 

*  Tii      :  is  clcarl v  an  allusion  to  this  in   the    l.i    Ivi.    which    speaks  (.9.   />'. .  \    i.  wviii, 
•p.  4p  .  f  a  Min  other  than   the   eldest    becoming   the   ancest  >r      f  a  !  r.  itch    of  the  sanu 
1  :. 
';   /:  ,     'ory  of  Institutions,  p.  217. 


-tl--T 


APPENDICES. 


was  born  into  the  Geilnne  division,  its   eldest  member  was  promoted    into 
the    Deirbhfine,    the  oldest   member   of  the   Deir'ohfine  passed    into   the 

I  irhne.  and  the  eldest  member  of  Indiine  passed  out  of  the  organization 
.;'■  ^ctlicr."  The  1!  >  »k  of  Aicill  itself,  however,  does  not  speak  of  persons 
:  _bng  "  b  an  "  into  the  Geilnne  division,  but  only  says.  "If  one  person 
lis  i  men:)  into  the  Geilfme  division  so  ;b  to  make  it  excessive,  a  man 
mast  go  uti:  of  it  into  the  Deirbhline  division,"  and  so  on — which  is  not 
exaebv  the  same  thing. 

Idle  four  gr  'lips,  it  will  be  seen,  correspond  exactly  with  the  househ<  1  Is 
1  -  ended  from  one  grandfather  (A  in  the  genealogy),  and  the  senior 
_-  o  :-  evidentlv  the  one  which  may  be  expected  to  include  a  genera- 
f'on  more  than  the  others,  while  we  are  expresslv  told  that  the  Geilnne  is 
first  in  dignity.  Supposing  the  Irish  fines  to  be  '  rgani.  id  like  a  Chinese 
familv.  the  Geilnne.  or  "hand  familv."  would  consist  of  A.  H,  C,  I)  and 
K  :  and  the  other  three,  respectively,  of  C  scv:/>/iiits,  son  of  11  friwus.  1 1  and 
11;  o:  B  hs'i'uius.  C.  D.  and  E  :  and  of  C  smi/iJiis,  -o\\  of  11  sicufidits,  I) 
and  K  :  the  latter  of  which  groups  are  less  nearly  related  than  the  former 
t  tile  lour  junior  members  i  f  the  Geilnne.  The  ]  :-rson  who  might  come 
in:  >  the  Geilnne  so  as  to  mike  it  excessive  would  be  1)  SclUhJus,  son  of  C 
_-■■;'- ::iS  and  grandson  of  B  rr;>;::>s.  and  such  a  younger  s  n.  o  i  ording  to 
the  Chinese  familv  svste-m.  forms  a  new  household  :  according  to  the  Irish 
statement,  lie  may  either  form  a  new  Geii fine  division,  or  take  the  place  oi 
one  of  the  other  branches,  leaving  the  most   remote   to   "pass    out  of  the 

Worked   i   it  for  nine  generations    instead  oi  five,  the   genealogical  tree 

gives  us   sixteen   "  neighbourhoods  "'"    or  contemporary    groups  ot   relatives. 

m  1  takm.:  th.e  estimate  o{  five  families    i  i  ea  h.  the  des<  en  lants  i  f  one 

-;  ir.  tar  aigh  the  nine  brai  i  hes,  would  give  approximately  a  hundred 

aiseh  b  i'  f  ur  villages.  The  wav  in  wltf  h  ur  auth  rities  seem  to 
hesitate   between  t'nree  an  1   live,  or  between    three  threes   and  two   fives  as 

;  i    ..-'    nent  e.em  aits     :   tae  i  o:s.   w  >•.   .  .  e    mite  ex1  aune  1  u    we  sua  - 

■    -<e  th  it  it  was    oi  tional    with    the   officials    to   count  i  nly   th  >se  families 

l".d    i  the  n    rmai  t'ar    ;■  generations,  though  for  fiscal  and  agri    ab 

tural   ]  ur;     -   -  the   unit   was    the    married    oiuole  or    fv.  answering   to   the 

tii      les  l     i     ;t>     :'     ...       A  w  raid  no:  form  more  than  ab   tit   four  of  these 
fat:  -as.     an  1     th  :v     sk    w    :.  >     ;  :  e  iilecti  m     . : 


APPENDICES. 


40  5 


The   extraordinarily  strict  rule    of  exogamy  enforced    in  modern    China 
must  have  originated  at  a  time   when  the   relatives  living   together  in   the 

same  enclosure  were  of  different  degrees  of  nearness,  but  dwelt  so  entirely 
on  the  same  footing  that  brothers  and  sisters  could  not  be  distinguished 
from  cousin.-.  A  few  examples  of  the  evils  of  too  close  interbreeding  or 
the  marriage  of  unduly  near  relations  would  suffice  to  set  up  a  rational  and 
ineradicable  prejudice  among  the  people  against  any  approach  to  those 
habits,  which  could  only  be  absolutely  excluded  by  a  very  strict  rule,  in 
the  face  of  the  opportunities  of  intercourse  afforded  in  patriarchal  families 
like  those  described. 


APPENDIX  I. 


Vol.  ii.,  i 
Chinese  D 


liia. 

Shang  or  Yin    . 

1  !ho\v 

T'sin 

Han  (former  or  Western  } 

I  .ater  or  Eastern  Han 
The  Tinvc  Kingdoms 

Minor  I  Ian 

Wei   . 

Western  T'sin  . 
Kastern  T'sin  . 
North  and  South 

Northern  or  first  Wei 

Western  Wei 

! ■':  stem  Wei 

Northern  Chi 

N  inhern  ( "now 

S<  iiit'nern  Sung    . 

( !h'i  . 

Liang 

Chen 
Sony 

'I  'a;  g        .  .  . 

Ti  •■  i  ive  Posterior  I  )ynasti 


rl  'sin 
I  Ian  . 

(  Tow 
l.i  i  i 

Westt  r;i   i  ,iaio 
Kin. 

Sung 

.'  .    r:i  Sun_ 

\    an 


Ian) 


i.  123. 

YNASTIES. 

SOVEREIGNS. 

T7 

2S 

34 

5 

:4 


1  700 
1  1  22 


I  I 

2  2  1 

2  2  1 

220 

229 

4 

2 

1 1 

31  7 

4?; 


:S6 


J 

3  JO 

[ 

5.34 

7 

55° 

5 

55  7 

9 

420 

7 

479 

6 

-C2 

5*9 

!  :  5 

9-7 

9°7 

923 

93" 

947 

95' 

1  c 

1 1  1  5 

9 

r/,0 

9 

I  127 

9 

■ 

9 

1644-  I'M,.; 

APPENDIX  M. 

Vol.  ii.,  p.  77. 

Thk  Use  of  the  Staff. 

The  Egyptian  figure,  with   a    long  rod,  like  an  alpenstock,   in  the  right 

hand,  is  familiar  to  the  most  superficial  student  of  the  wall  pictures.  It  is 
so  characteristic  that  the  late  M.  Chabas  wrote  a  short  monograph  Sur 
Pitsage  des  Batons  de  main  chez  les  Hebrettx  ct  dans  I'ancienne  Egypte 
(Annales  du  Muse'e  Guimet,  vol.  i.,  1880),  illustrated  by  a  number  of  Old 
Testament  texts,  alluding  to  the  varied  associations  of  die  staff,  from  the 
shepherd's  crook  to  the  royal  sceptre  and  the  magician's  rod.  The  staff  is 
reckoned  as  no  less  indispensable  to  the  traveller  than  his  shoes,  and  it  is 
apparently  the  same  utensil  which  serves  the  overseer  to  urge  on  the  work- 
man, and  the  teacher  the  pupil  whose  "  ears  are  in  his  back."  Put  there 
is  also  an  association  of  rank  or  authority  with  its  possession.  The  per- 
mission to  use  the  baton  du  commandement,  which  was  expressly  granted  to 
Amten,  was  presumably  a  prerogative  of  those  born  to  hereditary  power  ; 
and  a  high  sacerdotal  functionary  boasts  of  being  "  the  staff  of  the  king 
within  the  temples.'"' 

The  handle  of  the  staff  was  commonly  ornamented  and  frequently  in- 
scribed ;  the  bronze  L  ferrule  of  that  of  Pepi,  bearing  his  cartouche,  is  now 
at  the  British  Museum.  A  portion  of  the  gilt  staff  of  Amenhotep  III.  of  the 
Eighteenth  Dynasty  is  among  the  treasures  of  the  Leyden  Museum,  and  the 
Louvre  has  the  handles  of  staves  once  belonging  to  Seti  I.  and  Rameses  II. 
Among  private  possessions  of  this  kind,  one  belonging  to  a  scribe  attached 
to  the  worship  of  the  solar  disk  is  of  interest,  as  the  only  surviving  proof 
of  the  existence  of  a  temple  of  this  heretical  cult  at  Memphis.  Age  as 
well  as  rank  gave  a  title  to  the  honorific  use  of  the  staff,  as  appears  from 
several  inscriptions,  such  as:  "An  excellent  staff  to  begin  old  age  with, 
in  the  great  hall  of  the  temple,  and  to  go  forth  with  daily  in  going  to  see 
Ptah  of  the  White  AVall  (i.e.  the  citadel  of  Memphis);  this  is  said  for  the 
benefit  of  the  chief  scribe  of  the  God  Aoh,  Anoui."  A  shorter  staff— or 
yard  measure-  -belonged  to  a  person  of  the  same  name,  who  is  designated 
as  "  lord  of  the  ell,  whom  his   master  always   loves,"  and  described   as    the 

1  Professor  Minders  Petrie's  discovery  of  copper  tools  at  Kahun  lias  led  to  a  more 
accurate  method  of  describing  the  early  metal  objects  found  in  Kgypt.  A  small  piece 
of  bronze  rod,  almost  certainly  of  the  4th  Dynasty,  has  been  found,  but  no  bronze  tools 
earlier  than  the  iSth  Dynasty;  and.  in  the  absence  of  analysis,  the  term  "bronze" 
applied  to  such  objects  as  the  fragment  of  l'epi's  staff  means  only  that  they  appear  to  be 
made  of  some  copper  alloy. 

VOL.    II.  —  I'.C.  ";  K    K 


49  S  APPENDICES. 

t:  runner '"' of  Pharaoh.  An  ebony  staff  at  the  British  Museum  bears  the 
name  of  "  Bai,  royal  messenger  in  Mesopotamia,''  possibly  a  friend  and 
minister  of  the  last  king  of  the  Nineteenth  Dynasty.  Araon  and  Ptah 
are  invoked  by  artists  of  the  Nineteenth  and  Twentieth  Dynasties  to  bestow 
life,  health,  and  strength  on  the  owners  or  makers  of  other  ornamental 
walking  sticks.  Many  other  inscriptions  are  known,  but  differ  little  from 
those  in  general  use  for  commemorative  purposes. 

That  the  use  of  the  staff  in  ancient  China  was  in  all  ways  similar  to  that 
in  Egypt  appears  from  the  fact  that  inscriptions  engraved  upon  ancient 
staffs  have  been  preserved  {Chinese  Classics,  iv.  i.  pp.  16,  17).  But  the 
inscriptions  themselves  are  of  a  disinterested  moral  kind.      Here  is  one  : — 

'•  Helping  a  man,  be  not  rash  ; 
Holding  up  a  man,  do  not  wrong." 

And  again  : — 

"  When  are  you  in  peril  ? 
In  giving  way  to  anger. 
When  do  you  lose  the  way  ? 
In  indulging  in  your  lusts. 
When  do  you  forget  your  friends? 
Among  riches  and  honours." 

In  this  case  one  might  imagine  that  there  is  an  allusion  to  a  threefold  use 
of  the  staff:  as  a  weapon,  as  a  walking-stick,  and  as  a  token  of  honour. 
The  legend  as  to  the  general  disuse  of  the  staff  in  China  shows  that  a 
certain  idea  of  dignity  or  sanctity,  or  perhaps  of  national  pride,  attached 
to  it. 

In  rough  or  mountainous  country  the  use  of  a  long  walking-stick  is  so  ob- 
vious that  it  would  not  seem  to  call  for  remark  or  need  explanation  ;  yet  it 
is  not  by  any  means  the  universal  custom  of  mountaineers  to  "always  have  a 
-tick  in  their  right  hand,"  as  Schweinfurth  says  of  the  men  of  Sokotra.  and 
as  was  also  observed  of  the  Cuanches.  Wellsted  speaks  in  the  same  way 
of  !;  the  crooked  staff  which  "  So-and-so  "carries  in  common  with  all  other 
Arabs."  And  on  reflection  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  the  habit  of  carry- 
ing a  staff — which  implies  the  absence  of  any  other  occupation  for  the 
right  hand— was  necessarily  disused  in  classes  that  required  the  right  hand 
to  be  at  liberty  for  utasping  a  tool  or  performing  other  laborious  tasks. 
The  staff  is  a  symbol  of  dignified  leisure  in  a  civilized  man,  who  is  as  free 
from  servile  work  a-  die  wiid  Arab  of  die  desert. 

Naturally  the  iu.-a  -urviving  traces  of  a  lost  custom  will  be  found  in  con- 
nexion with  religious  observances,  like  the  procession '  di.s  Pa^ncttes  Blanches 
(to  which  my  ;  "•  :;  '  I  as  been  called  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Rviands.  the  secre- 
t  iry  of  the  S  >  iety  of  J]  >a  d  Arohie-ologv),  held  on  Whit  Monday  at  Chalons 
sur  Marne.  Down  to  1005,  a.  processi  n  of  unquestionably  heathen  origin 
to  ITltoile       1    ire'    w  Id  on   the    live   of  St.   John  Baptist's  Day.    and 


APPENDICES.  499 

orthodox  moderns,  {Cartulaircs  dc  F Evcchc  ct  dn  Chapitrc  Saint- lilicnne  de 
Chalons  sur  Jfarnc,  IM.  dc  Barthelemy,  p.  91)  who  rejoice  over  the  aboli- 
tion of  all  such  archaic  rites,  are  careful  to  explain  that  the  long  white  rods 
borne  in  the  surviving  procession  are  only  a  souvenir  of  the  time  when  the 
roads  outside  Chalons  were  so  bad  that  the  priests  could  not  walk  along 
them  without  the  help  of  such  staves.  Mud,  however,  like  mountains, 
may  exist  without  giving  rise  to  the  inveterate  habit  of  walking,  sitting, 
and  standing  "with  the  staff  in  the  right  hand,'' and  the  question  whether 
this  is  not  one  of  the  minor  characteristics  that  may  be  relied  on  as  an 
indication  of  race  is  worth  considering. 


INDEX, 


[Unless  otherwise  specified,  entries  from  pp.  i   to   225  refer  to  Ee;ypt ;  pp.  229 
1  v'ylonia  ;  and  those  in  Vol.  II.  pp.  1  to  383  to  China.) 


79  to 


Aah-hotep,  Queen,  403,  406  n. 
Aahmes,  founder  of  17th  Dyn.,  119. 
Aahmes,    "  Beautiful    Companion    of," 

her  mummy  discovered,  120. 
Aahu,  the  fields  of,  151,  152. 
Abbott  papyrus,  59,  [65. 
Abijatha,  coins  of  King,  508. 
Abraham    and    the    kings,  verisimili- 
tude of  the  story  of,  274. 
Abstract    deities    worshipped     under 

6th  Dyn.,  153. 
Abulfeda,  ii.  2  17. 
Abundance  and  industry  associated  in 

Egypt,  151. 
Abydos,  ancient  holy  city  of,  19,21. 
Abyssinia,  Sabauin  inscriptions  from,    \ 

519. 
Accepting    and   establishing    as   wife,    j 

206. 
Acci,  foster-father  of  S argon,  275. 
Accumulation    of   wealth   discouraged 

in  Egypt,  161. 
Acquired    property   virtually     secured 

to  children  in  Egypt,  216. 
Acquisitions  of  abdicated  father  go  to 

family  funds,  458. 
Acquisitions    of    junior     members    of 

tarwads,  how  disposed  of,  576. 
Acquisitions,  Thesawaleme  on,  539. 
Action   by   royal   scribe  against  priest 

of  Mut,  60. 
Actresses  and  courtezans,  ii.  220. 
Ada,  grant  of  lands  confiscated  from. 

.  344- 
Adinna,  diminutive  of  Ada,  429.  . 

Adopted  sons  of  eunuchs,  ii.  137. 
Adoption  "'  bv  ten  hands"  in  Malabar, 

54S. 

Adoption,  deed  of,  in  Egypt,  219; 
deeds  of,  in  Babylonia,  363,  370, 
378  :   C'rortyn  laws  on,  481. 

Adulteration  forbidden  in  Chow  Li,  ii. 
;o  ;  by  trade  guilds,  }zo  ;  penal- 
ties (or,  :,  '7. 


Adumilik,  grandfather  of  Agukakrime, 

286. 
Advance  of  rent  like  Malabar  loan  and 

lease,  ii.  338. 
.Elius  Gallus,  Arabian  expedition  of, 

49S. 
.Ethalians,  478,  479. 
Agade,  Sargon,  king  of,  256. 
Agate  found  at  Xipur,  250. 
Age  for  marriage  in  ancient    China,  ii. 

Agency,  doctrine  of,  in  Babylonia,  351. 
Agglomeration   of    land    in    China,  ii. 

114,    151;     under    the     Mongols, 

229  ;  laws  in  restraint  of.  363. 
Agglomerators,   struggle   between  the 

peasantry  and,  ii.  252. 
Agrarian  innovations  of  state  of  T'sin, 

ii.    98-100;  extended    to    rest   of 

empire,  101. 
Agrarian     legislation     of    T'sin      and 

Wei,  ii.  126. 
Agreement  to  cultivate,  temp.  Ptolemy 

Euergetes,  189. 
Agricultural    imagery    in    the    Ritual, 

151. 
Agricultural  interest,  rate  of,  in  Egypt 

and  Babylonia,   193,332-4. 
'■Agricultural     Precepts"     of    ancient 

Babylonia,  335. 
Agricultural  produce,  rate  of,  per  head 

in  China  and  France,  ii.  305,  306. 
Agriculture   and   manufactures,    com- 
bination of,  ii.  304-7. 
Agriculture,  Carthaginian  treatises  on, 

408,  409. 
.Agriculturist  free  to  migrate,  ii.  56. 
Agu,  the  Great  or  elder,  2S6. 
Agu-amir    or   Agu-a-shi,   Agukakrime 

descended  from,  287. 
Agukakrime,  inscription  of,  2S6. 
Ahaz,  kmg  of  Jtidah,  305. 
Ahmed  Achmatb  or  Ahamag  Kubla's 

finance  minister,  ii.  22;.  22". 


JXDEX. 


Ahmes.  scribe,  accused  of  not  having 
a]  i]  irentice  taught,  ro6. 

. 'viior.ii     and    ahouiti.     antiquity     and 

mi  ailing  of  terms.   140. 
Aiklon  in  Sparta.  470. 
Akar-sallu,  battle  between   Kardunias 

a:..i  Assyria    it.  2  --. 
Akbar,  Mahomedan  merchant  at  court 

of.  o:i  China,  ii.  2'    >. 
Akhir    el     Benat,   "  Defender    of    the 

viiiae.  •  maiden,"   53  1 . 
Akk  id   -  Xorthern  and   Central   Baby- 
lonia. :    .;. 
Akkad  to  destroy   Kutu,  Lullubu   and 

Sutu.  etc..  2  ■  ;. 
Akkadian     and     Chinese    root-.     Mr. 

Hall's  1       a  arison  of.  ii.  480  -7. 
Akko,  murder  uf  Babylonians  at.  com- 
plained of  to  Egyptian  king.  292. 
Akouta.  prince  of  the  Kin.  ii.  172. 
Aksum,  advanced  agriculture  around. 

510;   dei  1  ir  ition  1  if   monoliths   a;. 

511. 
Akurga,  km  j,    md  patesi.  2   2.2    ;. 
Alabaster  bas-reliefs,  crude  brick  walls 

lined  with.  22.  ■,. 
Alabaster  statue  of  noniar  h   dragged 

with  ropes,  102. 
Alala.  the  eagle,  belov  d  oi  Istar,  250. 
Alambra.  necropolis  of.  405. 
A'.arodian    and     Hamitic    civilization, 

common  points  of.  424. 
A    ir     ii;ui,    term    for    certain    archaic 

E  ii"'  ipean  stocks.  5S4. 
Alashan.  lie  a  and  drought  in.  ii.  4. 
Alasia.    king    of.    untranslated     letter 

fr  ■ '  . .  2  .  t . 
Albanians.  ,.  .   ient  and  mi  •  lern.  456, 
A  exander  ami  the  Kiiodians,  422. 
Aii   t'.nen:  -.  viiiac    .  in  China,  ii.  .;;. 
A  ;..  in,  land  on  2 ft' '3. 
Al-M     :    -    a  1.  ~   :.    f  \.  idy  Asma,  522. 

-\  ip a  •  a  Lenm  is  inscription.  4  18. 

Ai  a-     o'siiid   de  lie  a  ,-s  spoils  of  Eiam 

to    Bel.   254. 
Aman       .  a  >  a      'dars.  2''  1. 

•  a..  .  -1    a        .    .  :     A  .      f  li  a. a  .  irabi. 

2>'  J. 

■      A  .7  :,,  -  .  am      i 


and    i 


Amenemhat  I..  Instructions  of,  7S ; 
disturbed  reign  of.  119. 

Amenemhat  III..  Hammamat  quarry- 
men  temp..  1 10. 

Amenemhat  IV..  married  and  reigned 
with  his  sister,  1  19. 

Amenemhat,  12th  Dyn.,  stele  of  Prince, 

I  a  j. 

Amen  mheb,  general  of  Thothmes 
1  1 1.,  on  his  troops.  142. 

Amenhotep  I.  reign-  with  his  mother 
ami  marries  his  sister.  119:  ad- 
dressed as  son-in-law  oi  Tushratta, 

-93 

Amenhotep  III.,  Semitic  wife  of.  120  ; 
Ximmuriya  uf  can  alarm  corre- 
spondence, 292  :  dispute  about 
dowry  of  Babylonian  princess 
with,  294. 

Amenhotep  IV..  Xapkhururiya  of 
cuneiform  correspondence,  292  ; 
letter  ;rom  Tushratta  to.  2<jj. 

Amenhotep  appealed  to  'ay  a  workman 
about  a  house.  59,  186;  called 
""  king  1  if  ti.e  cityg  59. 

Amenhotep,  architect  of  statue  of 
"■  Memnon."  102  :  s  irnameci  the 
Wise,  temple  of  Kak  founded  by. 

159- 

Arnenhoteo. chief  priest  of  Anion  under 

Rameses  ill..  1  jS. 
Amenophis,  st'c  Amenhotep. 
Amenophis  the  scribe,  author  oi  Table 

of  precedence.  71  >. 
Amenti.  the.  48.  50.  151. 
Amherst,  embassy  ol  Lord.  ii.  2S9. 
Amiaud  on  comparative  chronology  of 

Egypt  and  Bab\  i1  >nia,  2~  .a 
Aminiditana.  contract  tablets  of.  284. 
Ammi    id  igga.  1    intra  a  tablets  1  if,  2  -a. 
Anion,    hymn  to.   ;i,   ;~  ;    of   Thebes 

called  .a/.va.  not  1  r/>  <.  1 17  ;  \  atron 

of  4  nomas.  1 50. 

on  Me  lemet  Aii.  75  ;  on  cast  2 

in  Egypt.  1  26. 
Amphictyonic  body.  422.  225. 
A p'nel     ;  .   nt'.iie  .     with     t.aii  _-r  ot 

1  lammural  ii.  2  a- . 
Aniten.  4th    i  )yi i    a"  1  2"  Sen  •:    aa 

a  1.  1 2 1.  14c. 
Amu     Svrian-      a.     wall    a  linting  -      t 

i  ieiii  1  lassan.  ■  a\ 
/a.,  a-   menis.  mod   rn   Chinese,  ii. 
Amyut's  memoir  o     inter   -t   a.  China. 

[84.  ii.  523  :   on   Chin   se  nn   1 
f   tributary.     [30  :    -a    ere  i:'     of 

Mantchu  -■  ildiery,  279  ;   on  tamiiy 

intei     1  irse,    295  :    on   tenancy   in 

.'a.,;    ..  "'  pri  ite     .    a."    of      A    '  y'.e 

trtoes.  ;  20. 


INDEX.  503 

Ana-ittisu  tablets,  367.  \    Antichresis  tacita,  ii.  146  ;  among  the 

Analects,  Confucian,  ii.  43.  Basques,  462. 

Anandravan,  Nair  '"next  relation,"  550.  Antichreticmortgages,  earliestexample 
Anarchy,  preached  by  Chuang-tze,  ii.  of,    322,   331  ;    terms   of   various, 

93,  94.  340.   355,  336  ;    perhaps    referred 

Anatomical    treatise    translated    into  to  in  inscription  of  Halicarnassus, 

Mantchu,  ii.   280.  436  ;  forbidden  by  Georgian  code, 

"Ancestor,'"'  slave  claims  to  be  son  of  459  ;  Syro-Roman  code  on,  490: 

an,  357.  developed    into    rent     in     feudal 

Ancestor  worship  in  China,  152.  154.  state,  572  ;  the   only  kind   lawful 

Ancestral  halls   and  burial  grounds  of  in  China,   ii.  362  ;  see  also  Welsh 

great  families,  ii.  360.  mortgages  and  vifgage. 

Ancestral   property,    Gortyn    code   on    :   Anti-Christian  edicts   and   memorials, 

sale  of.  481  ;   Spartan  law  against   ;  ii.  281. 

sale  of,  485.  !   Antidamas,  description  of,  408. 

"Ancestral    usage"    of    Rhodians  to  Anti-foreign,    conservative    feeling  of 

support  the  poor,  441.  Chinese  undergraduates,  ii.  380. 

Ancient  deeds  with  more  ancient  seals,  Ami-Malthusianism  in  ancient  Egypt, 

."•  359'        .  .  .  .  c1-. 

Ancient      Empire,     religious      feeling  Antiquity  of  written   deeds   in   Baby- 

during,  170;  six   dynasties   of,    ii.  Ionia,  191. 

40S.  Antonia,  wife  of  Pythodorus,  439. 

Ancient  kingdoms   of    South   Arabia,  Anubis  called  Chief  of  the  Thirty,  56. 

496.  Anzan,  country  of  Cyrus,  23  ;  nucleus 
Ancient    laws    of    Ireland    on     stock  of  Persian  kingdom,  318. 

farming.  135.  Appeals,  system  of  judicial,  ii.  375. 

Andorre,  duration  of  families  in,  213.  "  Appointing  a  successor  to  the  family,''' 
Andreia,    common    meals      in     Crete  ii.  345. 

called,  471.  Apprentices,   number    of,   limited    by 
Andrew.  Bishop  of  Zayton(Chinchow),  trade  guilds,  ii.  319. 

ii.  231.  Apprenticeship  in  ancient  Egypt,  106, 
Anglo-Saxon  approach  to  Welsh  mort-  107  ;  of  slaves,  35S. 

gage.  ii.  418.  Apries,     related    to     the     mother    of 
Ani,  maxims  of   scribe.  46.  52,  77,  Si,  Amasis,  120. 

SS,  112,  144.  Arab  princess  and   gods   restored   by 
Animal  worship  in    Egypt,  145  :   faint  Esarhaddon,    313  ;    war    maiden, 

traces   of,   in   China,    148,  ii.   37:  529,531  ;  Amazons,  528,  529;  trade 

not  confounded  with  ancestor,  147.  with  Southern  China,  ii.  215  ;  tra- 

Animals.  human  qualities  idealized  in,  vellers  in  China,  ii.  140-142. 

146  ;  feeding  tlie  sacred,  in  Egypt,  Arabia  Felix,  on  the  lucky    right,  side, 

148  :   Lady  Duff  Cordon  on,  149  :  266  :  date  of  its  prosperity,  511. 

penalties  for  neglect   of  imperial,  Arabia,  first  settlements  in  South,  270. 

ii.  373.  Arabian      campaigns      of       Tiglath- 
Anna  or  Anu,  the  sky  god,  239.  pilescr    III.,    306:    Arabian    and 

Annals  of  the   Bamboo  Books,  ii.  2S  :  Chinese  conservatism,  496  :  Ara- 

477.  bian    monarchies,    character    of, 

Annals    record   the    name   of    leading  502  ;  Arabian    campaigns   of  Se- 

scholars   in   examination   lists,    ii.  nacherib.    Esarhaddon,   and    As- 

20C.  surbanipal.  511. 

Ar.nanadi  —  Anja-nacli,  or   five    rivers,  Arable  land  contrasted  in  Babylonian 

546.  inscriptions  with  towns.  324. 

Annual    tenancy    of    cultivators,   341,  Arabs  taught   to   take    "  squeezes "  of 

345.  inscriptions,       5 10:      world-wide 

Annunaki,  spirits  of  earth.  233.  wanderings  of,  ii.  236. 

Ans  in,  Sir  George',  in  the  China  seas,  Arad  Samas    appears    to    marry    his 

ii .  272.  28  ■'.  sisters.  369. 

Antef.  nth    Dynasty  poem  of.  122.  Arad  L'lmassitu    appears   as   landlord 
Anti-Budd  ii          ii  its    and   memorial-.  and  tenant,  j}/-. 

ii.  125,  145     ,.  Aradus,  walls  of,  405, 

Antichresis,   origin    of,   in     Babylonia  Arch,  not  really  understood  in  Assyria, 

and  Egypt,  183.  250. 


5C4 


IXDEX. 


Archaic  art.  mannerisms  of,  404;  usages 
found  on  same  lines  as  archaic 
monuments,  416. 

Archaic  customs,  evidence  of,  383. 

Arciueological  discoveries,  bearing  of 
recent,  383  ;  evidence  ot  Leuco- 
Synan  mlluence  on  Greeks,  415. 

Archbishop  of  Tournon,  mission  of, 
ii.  278. 

Archery  and  warlike  arts,  examina- 
tions in,  ii.  21  2. 

Architect,  office  of,  53  ;  architect  and 
builders  in  Egypt,  101  :  architect 
to  Amenhotep,  11 1;  inscription 
ot   twin  brothei  s,  1 19. 

Architecture  of  Babylonia  and  Assyria, 
249. 

Ardys,  son  of  Gyges,  acknowledges 
supremacy  ot  Assurbanipal,  311. 

Area  of  town  lots,  how  measured,  354. 

Argistis,  king  of  Armenia,  conquers 
Hittite  country,  302. 

Aristotle  on  possessions,  1  ;  Aristotle 
and  Kallisthenes  on  Babylonian 
chronology,  256  ;  his  description 
of  Carthaginian  constitution,  391  ; 
on  Locri,  417  ;  on  laws  of  Cha- 
ronclas,  450. 

Arithmetical  calculations  of  Egyptian 
scribes,   54. 

Armanakarsalu,  289. 

Armenia   submits    to    Assurnasirabal, 

298  ;  Assyrian  campaigns  in,  301- 
305  ;   Sargon's  campaigns  against, 

Armenian  kings,  list  of,  302  :  Ar- 
menian succession,  laws  of  Jus- 
tinian on,  559;  virgins  dedicated 
to  the  temple.  457. 

Armenians,   photographs  of   modern, 

3rJ'4' 
Army,  payment  of  Chinese,  ii.  152  n. 

Arsapi  r    Reseph,    letter    in  ?    Hittite, 

by  king  of.  293. 
Art,    early    Egyptian  and    1  Babylonian. 

compared.  257  :  ot  Sargon,  archaic, 

299  ;  ot  South  Arabia,  509. 
Artesian  well  in  Phoenicia,  406. 
Aitizam,  work  of  the,  ii.  60-  62. 
Arverni,  Macedonian  coins  copied  by, 

402, 
A  >  !'■  '.  those  who  go  to  battle  together. 

.Wins, villain  in  Story  of  the  Peasant,  86. 

A-b'en.  urn  ot.  join  their  wives' 
tri  >es,  539. 

A-;ii;n:n  -Astir  of  Minaan  inscrip- 
tion^, 5uo. 

A  ia  Minor,  arohnic  elements  in  cul- 
ture of,  587:  dilfei'eiice  between  S. 
^  \V.  <  oasts  of.  41  ;. 


Askelon,  men  of,  on  Egyptian  monu- 
ments. 268. 

Asma.  the  Lady.  521,  522. 

Asnunnak  =  Southern  Babylonia,  2S7. 

Aspalut,  maternal  ancestry  of  King. 
550. 

Assa,  5th  Dyn.  Egyptian  king,  23, 
45  ;  works  the  llammamat  quar- 
ries. 95  ;  sends  expedition  to  land 
of  Punt.  497. 

"Assessors  of  taxes"  to  claim  Egyp- 
tian endowments  diverted  from 
founders  purpose,  159. 

Assets  of  till  kinds  interchangeable  in 
Babylonia,  35  1. 

Association,  tendencv  to.  in  China,  ii. 
5 '8'. 

As  Sulayhi.  king  of  \  emen,  522. 

Assur,  mentioned  in  Babylonian  epos. 
285  :  king  of.  claimed  as  tributary 
by  Thothmes  III..  291. 

Assurbanipal  destroys  temples  and 
tombs  in  Elam,  233  :  bi-iingual 
tablets  of,  236  ;  colophon  on  bi- 
lingual tablet  of,  242  ;  recovers 
image  carried  off  by  Kudurnan- 
chundi,  254  ;  Armenian  ambassa- 
dor to.  304  ;  account  of  Gyges, 
king  of  Lydia,  by,  310  ;  Egyptian 
expedition  of,  313:  meaning  ot 
name,  313  ;  Arabian  campaigns 
of,  314:  Arabian  conquests  of,  499. 

Assurbelkala,  son  of  Tiglath-pileser, 
29b. 

Assurdanan.  king  of  Assyria.  291,  295. 

Assunsisi,  king  of  Assyria,  295. 

Assurnadinahi,  father  of  Assurtiballit, 
288  ;  receives  twenty  talents  of 
gold  from  Egypt.  292. 

Assurnasirapal  restores  Caleb,  296, 
298  :  his  inscriptions,  297,  298. 

Assurnisisu,  king  of  Assyria,  288. 

Assurtiballit,  Iris  dealings  with  Baby- 
lonia, 288:  writes  desiring  gold 
from  Egypt,  292  ;  letter  from,  in 
( iizeh  Museum,  ii.  420. 

Assyria,  need  for  irrigation  in,  229  : 
cardinal  points  in.  265. 

Assyrian  deeds,  earliest,  345  ;  Assyrian 
monarch;.",  causes  of  its  rapid  de- 
struction, 314.  515;  records  pre- 
served by  rapid  rum  of  cities.  315. 

Astrologers,  important  low  caste  in 
Malabar.  564. 

Astrology.  Chinese  scholars'  report  on, 
ii.  152. 

Astronomical  knowledge  of  Canary 
islanders.  543'-  of  ancient  Chinese, 
ii.  23  :  clans.  24  :  Astronomical 
Work,  1.  278,  285,  ii.  45b  ;  obser- 
vations in  Peru,  ii.  45c 


INDEX. 


Astronomy,  rudiments  of,  taught 
throughout  Malabar,  564. 

Asylum,  right  of,  possessed  by  slaves, 
340  ;  asylum  for  a»ed  slaves,  356  ; 
right  of,  possessed  by  Carian 
temple  of   1  lekate.  419  n. 

Athena  as  Mentor,  45  1. 

Athenaeus,  describes  Sac;ea  after  Ber- 
osus,  244. 

Athenian  antichresis,  326  :  owls,  Him- 
yarite  imitation  of  508  ;  widely 
spread,  ii.  4.50  ;  Athenian  women, 
legend  ot   disfranchisement   ot,    i. 

423- 

Atmosphere  and  climate,  influence  of, 
on  Egyptian  monuments.  101. 

Attar  of  various  towns,  invoked  in  in- 
scriptions, 501. 

Attipct  old,  or  final  sale  of  land,  575. 

Attiret,  K.,  portrait  of  Kiendung  taken 
by,  ii.  286. 

Attiris,  or  seashore  assemblies  at 
Minicoy,  567. 

Augustinian  and  Franciscan  missions 
to  China,  ii.  265. 

"  Authors'  association  :'  prosecuted,  ii. 
121. 

Automela  ?  attu  or  ettu  mala,  546. 

Auxiliary  troops  in  Egypt,   133. 

Average  length  of  reigns,  ii.  497. 

""  Avoiding  the  name.''  ii.  25. 

Azariah,  king  of  Judah,  his  alliance 
sought  by  Hittite  federation,  305. 

Azdjers,  "  ladies  who  give  birth  to 
chiefs  ':  among  the,  531;. 

Azupirani,   birthplace  of  .S  argon,  275. 


Baal's   land  =  that   naturally   irrigated, 

525- 

Babylon  prosperous  and  independent 
while  obscure,  299  ;  captured  un- 
injured by  Cyrus,  319;  becomes 
a  bye-word  for  poverty,  353. 

Babylonia,  one  of  the  great  seats  of 
archaic  civilization.  3  ;  connection 
between  China  and.  31  ;   ii.  480  if. 

Babylonian  art,  earliest  specimens  of, 
257,  261  :  epos,  passage  from, 
285  :  the  kiench  ot  the  old  world, 
295  :  Babylonian  cities  submit  to 
Bui,  304:  trade  developed  under 
Nebuchadnezzar,  318;  chronicle 
on  Xabomdus'  ollences,  329  : 
citizens  normally  owned  land  in 
the  country.  324  :  deeds  informal 
and  equitable,  348  :  Malabar  par- 
allel to,  570  ;  mortgages,  possible 
trace  ot,  in  Arabia.  524  :  Baby- 
lonian and  Chinese  character  for 
well   and  enclosure,  ii.  42  :    Baby- 


lonian   dynasties     and     dates,    ii. 

App.  1).  pp.  424-432. 
Babylonian   Talmud,  quotation   from, 

198  ;    Babylonian    kin;_;s,  two   lists 

of,  257. 
Bad  contracts  void  by   Egyptian  ami 

Irish  law,  2  1  5. 
Bail  debts,  Chinese  merchants  cancel, 

ii.  3}-?. 
Badakshan,  native  land  of  lapis-lazuli, 

232  ;  village   clusters  in,  ii.  43,  44. 
Baguettes  blanc/ws,  procession  ot  the, 

Bahrein,  island  of,  25  ;  with  springs 
like  that  of  1'ancluea,  515  ;  tombs 
examined  on.  516  ;  inhabitants  of, 
called  Xabatieans,  520  ;  Bahrein 
and  Oman,  cosmopolitanism  of, 
520. 

Bainuter--  Binothris  of  Manetho,  117. 

Balearic  isles,  status  of  women  in, 
460. 

Ball,  Rev.  C.  J.,  on  Akkadian  and 
Chinese  characters,  32,  ii.  480- 
487. 

Bamboo  books,  ii.  27,  476  ;  use  of,  in 
China.  49. 

Banias,  citadel  of,  405. 

Bankers,  Babylonian,  forestall  clear- 
ing-house system,  321  ;  landed 
property  held  by,  324  ;  warehouse 
their  clients'  valuables.  353. 

Bankers'  guild  at  Shanghai,  ii.  339-40. 

Bankruptcy  rare  and  disgraceful,  ii. 
34o. 

Banks,  resorted  to  by  all  classes  in 
China,  ii.  330  ;  facilities  given  to 
small  capitalists,  33  1. 

Banquets,  cost  of  Chinese",  ii.  316. 

Barachiel,  suit  concerning,  357. 

Barbarians,  laws  on  trade  with,  ii. 
363  ;  against  '"plotting  to  acquire 
land  from,"  364. 

Barbers'  union  at  Wenchow,  ii.  320. 

Barbosa  on  Malabar,  485. 

Bareas  of  East  Africa,  531,  533. 

Barrage,  natural  and  artificial  Nile, 
ii.  410,  413. 

Basins,  irrigation  system  of,  ii.  41  r. 

Basque  and  Malayali  parallel  to  Egyp- 
tian marriage  contracts,  21  r. 

Bastpie  custom,  212,  460  463  ;  Basque 
law,  hypothetical  approximation 
to,  in  Sparta,  483-  5  ;  domestic 
customs  compared  with  those  of 
Malabar,  556;  rule  against  inter- 
marriage of  eldest  children,  213, 
558. 

Basques,  partnership  of  elder  child 
among,  123:  primogeniture  with- 
out distinction  of  sex  among,  124. 


;c6 


INDEX. 


ias-reiiefs     in     alabaster    line    brick 

walls,  249. 
Cssorah,  Persian  Gulf  once  extended       1 

above,  229. 
'au,   the  goddess,   elder  daughter   of 

Anna,  239.  ] 

■  y/\,  sons  ot.  297.  ,    1 
le^ats,  female  descent  among,  530. 
Ck-cn-Amon,  letter  from   the   scribe,       ] 

»74- 

»ei.  the  king  of  Babylon  "takes  the       1 

hands  of,"  305,  ii.  241. 
Cikhanos,  a  Cretan  god,  471.  " 

led,  John,  of  Antermony,  ii.  277  n. 
ieinadinapli,     or    aplu,     king    of    4th 

Cib\  Ionian    Dyn.,    295  ;    King   of       I 

Casi  Dyn.,  343. 
Cmirari,    son    of    Assuruballit,     wars 

against  Kurigal/.u  II..  2S8,  2S9. 
ieisunu,    partner    of    Xebo-ahi-iddin, 

54  V-  I 

ienevolence  and  economy  to  be  com- 
bined by  rulers,  ii.  32  ;  a  duty  of 
traders,  361.  ] 

er.evoleiit      institutions     of     modern       J 
China,  ii.  377. 

..:.;  Amer  of  Cast  Africa.  531. 

leni    Hassan,     12th     D\  n.    tombs    of       1 
Khnumdiotep,    etc.,    at.   80,     156, 
103. 

■  et'bcrs  and  Casques,  etistomary  codes       1 

_of.  38.  461.  536. 

Crbers,    Ibn    Khaldouirs    History   of,  I 
407  :  debts  repaid  by,  451. 

ierosus,  chronology  of.  2^7,  258.  1 

lerscheh,  12th  Dyn.,  pictures  at.  102.  i 

i-'trothal,     supposed     allusion     to,    in  1 
Ptah-hotep,  201,  205:  betrothal  or 

secret  marriage  among  Albanians,  I 

450  :     distinct    from    marriage,   in  1 

Syro-Roman    code,    493  :     a   year  1 
before    marriage,    in    Cast  Africa, 

531  :  a   distinct  stage  in  marriage  1 
<  '  ntracts.    ;  V'j  :    traces  of  this    in 

Malabar.  ii."  47 3.  474.  1 

'.        na.  i;a".\  e  name  of   Armenia.  301 .  I 

1  ib'.io    rapiiies,  Cnii  (  se,  ii.  479. 

1  ...:..■_;  -al     hsts    of     Pain  Ionian  kingC  I 

nana--.    2;-.    259.  ii.  423  :    texts   of  1 

A-siiri  minimi's     librarv.      i.      sM  :  1 


-•'(fm 

(  k  i 
CI 

iin 

a- 
i.  1 

1.,,  of  A 

i ,. 

2  ( • 

.male  to 

m 

11  i 

.or 

a:  ed  p   '■:>'.  name;  fur  ancient 


Akkadians,   26  ;    do.    of  Chinese, 

ii.  2i. 
ilack-headed   people,    an    epithet  for 

the    Chinese,    26  ;     black-headed 

race,  276. 
Hack  land  of  Egypt,  65. 
blacksmiths'   union    of    Wenchow,   ii. 

319- 

dock  printing  introduced,  ii.  209  ; 
described  by  Semedo,  270. 

due   eyes   in  Arabia,  277  ;   blue-eyed 

Arab  heroine,  529. 
Clue    like    the    sky    between    clonals 
after     rain,:;    china   ordered,    like, 
ii.  166. 

due-stone  of  Babel  =  lapis-lazuli,  232. 

'  Boarding  out  "  of  royal  cattle  in 
Egypt,  Ireland,  and  Tatary,  135  ; 
in  ancient  China,  ii.  52  ;  in 
modern  China,  373. 

Joards  of  modern  Chinese  govern- 
ment and  their  ancient  counter- 
parts, ii.   23.  376. 

ioatmen,  earnings  of  Chinese,  ii.  313. 

Cats,  with  eye  in  prow,  in  Cypriote 
tombs,   403  ;     used    as    shops,    ii. 

Socchoris,  or  Bok-en-ranf,  legislation 
of,  192,  193  ;  succeeded  by  Sa- 
bako.  306. 

kjgbaz  Keui,  remains  of,  3S7,  412. 
414. 

johemia,  annals  of,  by  John  of  Flor- 
ence, ii.  239 

>ook  of  Kites.  ,vaa  Ci  Ki. 

look  of  the  Dead,  j^,. 

)ooks,  "  steward  of  the  house  of 
books,"  55. 

!order  states  in  feudal  China,  ii.  80. 

iornu,  constitution  of  kingdom  of.  558. 

Sottomry,  loans  on,  398  ;  forbidden 
by  Rhodian  law,  3,9,  444. 

Joundary  stones,  temp.  Marduknadi- 
nahi.  343. 

Sows,  manufacture  of,  ii.  62. 

iranch  families,  foundation  of,  ii.  69, 
492. 

Ceakmg  a  plate  with  guest  friend.  410. 

irehon  Law  s,  1  }^,  ii.  491. 

Jribery  in  ancient  Egypt.  57. 

irick  tablets,  use  of,  in  contracts.  321. 

3-7- 
hacks,  burnt  and  sun-dried,  248. 
Iride    revisits    her    own    family    after 

marriage,    ii.     67  :     cases      when 

••  she  will  not  go,"  68. 
Conze.  generally  used  in  Middle  Em- 

pire,  99  ;   statu  s  of.  102;  weapons 

of,  with    iron   (aire,  232  ;   eariy  use 

of  alloys  for,  400  ;   early  examples 

of.  ii.  497  n. 


INDEX.  507 

"  Brother  to  brother  should  be  loving,"  Calendar,  Chinese  and  Sumerian,  278: 

338.  regulation   of,  a  royal  prerogative 

Brothers,   field   owned  jointly  by  two,  in    China,  ii.    23.   24  ;  ot   the    Hia 

and  pledged  by  one,  216  ;  division  Dyn.,  71  ;   Christians  employed  to 

of  property  between,  371  ;  brothers  correct   Chinese,   267;    Akkadian 

and    sisters,   inheritance   from,   in  and  Egyptian,  ii.  437. 

Thesawaleme,    560  ;    rule   of  sue-  Calicut,  freedom  of  trade  at,  54.8. 

cession  among,  ii.  346.  Caliph   Galun  =  Harun   al  Raschid,  ii. 
Bubastis,  kings  of,  316.  139. 

Buddhism   in    China,  ii.   95,   109,    124,  Caliphate,  embassies  from,  ii.  2 1  5. 

125.  145.  146.  Caliphs,       Chinese       assist      Cashgar 
Buddhist    view     of     Kshatriyas    and  against,  ii.  139. 

Brahmins,      108;     theology,     ex-  Cambalec  =  Khanbalig=  Peking. 

animations  held  in,  ii.  144  ;  priest  Cambyses,  training   school  for  scribes 

cremated,    210;    works,     Mongol  under,   53,    55;     Egyptian   legend 

edition  of,  in   letters  of  gold,  230  ;  concerning,  1  16. 

virtues  and  crimes,  ii.  378.  Camels,    chief     article     of     Towarek 
Budget    of    a    Chinese    peasant    under  property,  540. 

the     Hans,    ii.    113;    under     the  Campsay,  see  Kin  say. 

present  Dyn.,  299.  Canaanites      and      Sidonians,      389: 
Bulls,  symbolism  of  their  images,  249.  Canaanitc  =  merchant,  389  n. 

Bunanitum,  suit   between  widow   and  Canal  inscription  of  Hammurabi,  283  ; 

deceased   husband's   brother,  358,  canals     and     water     courses      in 

376.  ancient     China,    ii.    63  ;     Grand 

Bundahesh,   reference   to  China  in,  ii.  Canal  projected  by  Kubla,  244. 

149  n.  Canal,    traces  of    great,     near  Telloh, 
Burckhardt  on  dwindling  of  the  kas-  264;  canal  from  the  upper  Zab  to 

saba.  74.  Caleb,  298  ;   Grand   Canal,  ii.  224. 

Burial    place    granted    to    Jesuits    for  Canalization     in     ancient     Babylonia, 

Ricci.  ii.  270.  264. 

Burial   places,  sale   of,   in  Egypt,    166,  Canals,    construction  of,    247  ;  require 

169;  choice  of,   in  China,  ii.  133;  restoration,    24S  ;     inscription     of 

burial  societies  in  China,  yj".  Clerk  of  the  canals  at  Abydos,  79. 

Burlingame,  Mr.,  on  Chinese,  ii.  85.  Canary   islands,  walled   enclosures  in, 
Burnaburias,    his    presents    of    lapis-  446  ;  population  and   customs  of, 

lazuli     to      Egyptian     king,     2^1  ;  542—4. 

dated   by    Nabonidus,  254  ;   King  Cane,  derivation  of  the  word,  231. 

of    Kardunias,    288  ;    marries  the  Canonical    books  ol    China,  ii.  474. 

daughter   of    an    Assyrian     king,  Cantabri,  Strabo  on  the,  213  ;  marriage 

289  :     corresponds     with    Amen-  customs  ot  the,  460. 

hotep   IV..  292.  Canton,     foreign     trade    at,    ii.     139: 
Bursin    J.,    inscription   of    King,   267,  annals  of, on  Portuguese  "tributcy" 

272.  ii.     262  ;      old     resident     at,     on 

Bursurasur,  king  of  Assyria,  his  deal-  Chinese  trade,  ii.  336,  337. 

ings  with  Babylonia,  288.  Capital  and   income  of  peasant  family 
Butha,  maxims  of  customary  law,  532.  in  China,  ii.  299. 

Byblos,  temple  of,  404.  Capital  crimes   rare    in  China,  ii.  374. 

Bvssus  workers,  marriage   contract  of,  Capital,  Tai-tsou-sung  on  choice  ol   ... 

207.  ii.  [68. 

Byzantium,  war  of  Rhodes  with,  443.  Capitalists,  early  Egyptian,  7!. 

Capitation  tax,  three  grades  of,  in  later 
Egypt,  138. 

Cadets,  position  of  Basque,  213.  Cappadocians  or  "white  Syrians,"'  38:  - 

Cadi     forbidden     to     buy     or    sell     in  Caps  sold   by  the   thousand   at  proper 

Arabia,  527,  season,  ii.  33S. 

Cai-fung-fu     invested    bv   the    Kin,  ii.  Captivity  of  Jehoiachin  and  Xedekiah. 

174:    captured    by    Mantchu    Ta-  317. 

tars.  240.  Caralis.  remains  at.  415. 

Cais  ibn  Al    Khatum    leaves  a  garden  Caravan  routes  acres-  Arabia.  503. 

to  supply  annuity  for  his  mother.  Carchemish   made   an    Assyrian     pro- 

;22.  vince,   ]\z. 


vcS 


IXDEX, 


Cardinal     points    in     Babylonia    and   j    Central  Cappadocia,  people  of,  414. 


China,  31,  265, 


Cephissus,  valley  of,  421. 


<-"•"",       J'l        -"J'  WW[,W    ..._w.-.       .    ....W_.         W.,       -,.-,. 

('aria   and    Lycia,  surviving   traces   of  ;    Ceylon,  notice   of  sale  of   land  to  b 


prehistoric  population  in,  41  8. 
Carian   and    Lycian  names.    41S.   419 


given    to    heirs,  neighbours,    etc., 
in,  576. 
•  Carian  wall  "  on  coast  of  Man  re-  Cha,  medicinal  drink  called,  ii.  264. 
tania,    42S  :    Carian    and    Lycian  Chachperi,  children  of,  divide  her  in- 
custom.  42S.   438;   Carian   priests  j            heritance  by  lot,  213. 
praised  tor  their  liberalities,  431  ;  "  Chal,    the   mule    said    the    horse    is 
modern    Cariairs    regard    tor   the  my,"  521. 

mother,      435;      Carian      Jupiter  I    Chakhea  and  k'ardunias  independent, 

worshipped  by  three  nations,  514.  299. 

:    :.;.  [ohn,  of   Piano,  ii.  216.  Chakhcans.    "whose   cry    is    in    their 

Carriage    of    letters    and    bag-age    in  ships."'  307. 

China,  ii.  341.  342.  i    Chamnmragash.  sec  Hammurabi. 

'•  Carrvin^   of  cloth  to  exchange  it  for  Chang-yang,     agrarian    policy    of,    ii. 


silk."  ii.  324 


97-9-  1  a; 


Carthage,    Aristotle's    description    of,       Cha'o   Tso  on  crime  and  poverty,    ii 

- 1   i~\    •        1  i.ni^-    ^         civ       cf"rw*i/>c         hi'.n  1   I  ">       [An 


390  ;     hou>e        six     stories     high 
at.  406. 
Carthaginian  tombs,  405  :   soup,  40;; 
Cretan  dish  resembling,  48 


1  1 2.  160. 
Chaou-yih,  scholarly  critic  of  the  Shi, 

ii.  479. 
Characters,  number  of  Sumerian,  234. 


Caste  unknown  in  monumental  Egypt,       Charibael,   King,    his     relations     witi 


108  :  Ampere  on.  1  2r 


Rome.  50S  :  srr  it/so  Karibail. 


Casting    m  nicy,    mode   of,   in    China, 

ii.  1  ;;.  1  v 


,    WW       ,       .     Ull|^:V       WW.        A    _W.  ^ ^,      J  WW       ,      .,0    <  ,,..,,-        i    VW,    .WWW. 

Castiglione,  [•".,  employed  as  an  artist.       Chariot  horses  of  Rameses  Ik,  150. 

Chariots,  manufacture  of,  described  in 
Chow  Li,  ii.  61. 

Charondas  of  Catana,  laws  of.  448-50. 
Cathay.  em])ire    of    Khitai   Tatars,  ii.       Chatramotitie.  people  of  Hadramaut, 

5°9- 

Cheapness  ot  all  commodities  ii 
China,  ii.  32  1. 

Chefa'a.  Kabyle  term  for  right  of  pre- 
emption   by    kinsmen,    etc.,     [86, 

537' 
Chera  kings,  policy  of,  564. 
Cher-heb  or  roll-bearer,  63  :   meaning 

of  term,  167  :  Chinese  parallel  to. 

.    .  "•  36- 

Chia,  modern  Chinese  tithing,  ii.  356. 

Children  foliow  the  father's  status  in 
Egypt.  93;  inheritance  of,  206; 
Children-household  =  family,  in 
Crardhian.  303  ;  follow  the 
father's  status  by  (iortyn  code, 
:  "'  .a  oi   iiis  daughter," 

in  Syro-Roman  code.  488  :  chil- 
dren to  lie  indulged  when  young, 
ii.  73  :  to  be  taught  manners  and 
moral-  at  eight.  74. 

China  oi  Yung-lo's  reign,  ii.  237. 

China.  1  me  1  if  the  great  seats  ot  archaic 
civilization.  5,  5  ;  entrance  10 
from  Central  Asia.  17  :  a  land  of 
difficult  access.  18  :  physical 
geography  ot,  ii.  8  ;  no  impass- 
able natural  barriers  in.  10:  indi- 
4'em  ius  inhabitants  of,  1  1  :  pro- 
vin  es  (it  ancu  r.i.  11-15;  '■  acaut 
-  .  mted  to  die  destitute  in, 
UI. 


Cato  on  Latin  peasantry.  410  n. 

Cats.  (  ultus  of.   in  modern  Lgypt,  149. 

Cattle  farming  in  Egypt,  79,  's2.  83; 
Caithaginian  treatise  on,  40S,  409  : 
regulations  for  care  of  imperial 
cattle,  ii.  373  :  cattle  and  horses 
not  to  be  killed  without  a  license. 

374- 

mes  and  Caunians,  45  1. 
nians.  4  1  7.  422. 
.     dry  in    Egypt,   cost  of  his 

education  and  hardship  oi  his  lot, 
138. 
Cave  dwelling  in    Asia  Minor.  41  ;. 

v  imj  11  ised  mi  younger  sons  of 
X'amb  itiri  !  irahmins.  555  ;  as  on 
ka-  ets.    556  ;   cell    acy   of 

kin :  inoi  iks     and    nuns    de- 

IV  lunced.  ii,   i  4  ,. 

;.''■'  ' :  11s  to,  in  9th  cent.  B.C.. 
ii.  ~i  :  1  en  -us  reports  of  dang 
1  »yn  L-ty.  134  '  :  :  rst  Mil  g.  238  : 
.  .  it;  m  and  land-. 
24;:  in  I'  ru.  453- 
'  1  :.-;-  o!  M  ina  1;.  tak:  :.  by  "  certain 
women  in  audi'  irit\ ."  ;'  7. 

Ada.   pd\  -.  'al    _,e<  >gi  nphy  of. 


IXDliX. 


5°(J 


Chinese  army,  how  paid.  130  :  Chinese- 
Classic  and  Delphic  oracle  agreed, 
474  ;  horror  of  bine  eyes  and  light 
hair,  177  ;  Chinese  art,  self-con- 
scious and  naturalistic,  ii.  166  and 
n.  ;  Chinese  astronomy,  440  ; 
Chinese  bride,  customary  visit  to 
her  parents  from,  494  ;  characters, 
20  :  chivalry,  maxims  of,  82  ;  civi- 
lization, primary  and  uniform 
character  of,  291  ;  code,  Syro- 
Roman  parallel  to,  i.  490,  491  ; 
classes,  ancient  division  of,  still 
recognised,  297  ;  classics,  copy 
of,  sent  to  Tibet,  139  ;  Dr.  Legge's 
edition  of,  473  ;  coast  lands  laid 
waste  to  repel  pirates,  275  : 
Chinese  cycle  of  sixty  years  and 
days,  434:  Chinese  Diogenes,  48  ; 
Chinese  dynasties,  gradual  pro- 
gress under  successive.  123  :  list 
of.  495  :  emperor  and  his  feuda- 
tories, intercourse  between.  273  ; 
government,  policy  towards  tribu- 
taries, 247  :  ideal  of  a  ruler's  duty, 
8:  Chinese  lady,  manners  of.  294; 
Chinese  manners  and  customs  de- 
scribed by  Trigault  and  Semedo. 
268,  by  Da  Cruz  and  l'erera.  270. 
271.  Martini,  271.  272.  and  Du 
Halde,  as  by  Doolittle,  Cray  and 
Williams  ;  Chinese  merchant-. 
liberality,  courtesy  and  ability 
of,  334-337  ;  Chinese  parallel  to 
Egyptian  maxims,  i.  44.  ii.  76  ; 
Chinese  penal  code.  344  ;  pound, 
weight  of,  allowed  to  vary,  338  ; 
proverb  on  national  prosperity. 
153;  Chinese  religion,  Jesuit 
version  of.  276  ;  society  contented. 
353-4  ;  suits  respecting  family 
property,  352  ;  towns,  democratic 
architecture  of.  324  ;  Chinese 
traders  reach  Ceylon  and  the 
Euphrates,  140  ;  traffic,  principal 
lines  of,  218  ;  Chinese  Turkestan, 
memorial  against  usury  in,  337  ; 
Chinese    boys    not    mischievous. 

,   .  33i. 

Chinese.  Kabyle,  and  Egyptian  rate  of 

interest.  193. 
Chinese   odes  against   slanderers.   74: 

mortgage  or  tien,  184. 
Ching,  common  fields  restored  in  state 

of,  ii.  914. 
Ching-yu  or  sacred  edict,  ii.  280. 
Chin-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  170.  1S7. 
Ching-tsong   Ming     Wan-lib    period  , 

ii.  248. 
Chi-tsong,   blue   china   of,   ii.  166  ;   on 

copper  Ihiddhas,  167. 


Chi-tsong  Ming,  reign  of.  ii.  247, 
248. 

Chnum,  Egyptian  god.  called  chief  of 
the  Thirty,  56. 

Choachyte's  son  adopted  by  a  tax  col- 
lector, 127. 

Choachytes,  archives  of  a  family  of. 
127 ;  choachytes,  164  ;  =  pourersof 
libations,  166;  contracts  of,  in- 
herited, 168  ;  corporation  or  guild 
of,  169. 

Choo-hi  restores  public  granaries,  ii. 
191  ;  his  Commentaries  and  offi- 
cial career,  207.  208,  211  ;  reform 
of  examination  system,  211  ; 
views  on  educational  system  of 
Chow  Li,  212  ;  philosophy  of. 
213  :  Commentary  on  the  Shi, 
478.  ' 

Chou  or  Te-sin,  last  wicked]  king  of 
Yin.  iS,  28. 

Chow  Dynast)",  documents  of,  in  Shoo 
King,  ii.  24  :  founded  by  King 
Wu,  18,  109  :  regulations  of.  22  ; 
grant  to  surviving  representatives 
of,  107. 

Chow  kings  and  barbarians,  ii.  364. 

Chow  land  system  abolished  by  T'sin, 
ii.  98. 

Chow  Li,  Chinese  book  of  Rites.  77  : 
Chow  Li  or  Rites  of  Chow,  ii.  22  : 
on  public  granaries.  35  ;  on  the 
tsing  or  nine  squares,  42  ;  on  local 
organization,  42-44  :  on  work  for 
different  seasons.  47  :  on  taxes. 
50  ;  on  classes  and  occupations, 
55  ;  missing  section  of,  60  :  traffic 
regulations  in.  63.  64  ;  edited  by 
Wang  Mang,  116  :  on  lost  pro- 
perty. 217  :  editions  of.  475. 

Christianity  tolerated  in  Europeans, 
ii.  275  :  a  kind  of  Fo  religion, 
149.  276. 

Chronological  list  ot  Assyrian 
eponyms,  300. 

Chronology  of  Kassite  kings,  2S7. 
288. 

Chu,  father  and;  daughter,  artists  in 
porcelain,  i;.  2  1  3. 

Chuang-tze,  ii.  48;  on  Con:'  i  is'  fail- 
ure, 84  :  on  contemporary  s<  iphists, 
88  :  on  charity  and  duty  to  one's 
neighbour.  92  :  011  letting  mankind 
alone.  93  :  on  horses.  257.  e;v'  :  on 
over-crowding.  38  1 . 

Chua-to,  patron  1  :  fession. 

ii.  130. 

Chumba-ba,  Elamite  tyrant.  274. 

Chung,    maiden's    rebuke    to    .Mr.,   ii. 

Chun_r-ne.  sec  Confucius. 


1XDEX. 


l-ti,  Mongol  emperor,  corresponds    |    Code     Napoleon,     decay    of     Basque 


with     J' 


I  Senedict     XII..     ii. 


C'n'un  T'sew.  or  "Spring  and  Autumn," 
histurv  bv  Confucius,  ii.  2;  :   nuni- 


custom  caused  by,  213:  Chinesi 
code.  ii.  34  ;  on  farming  imperial 
cattle.  373  :  statutory  additions 
to,  how  made,  375. 


bcr  of  states  mentioned  in,  So  n.  ! ;       Cof,    quasi-political     organization     in 


inc. min  <  of  ti tit 


Berber  villages,  536. 


m  of  Christian,  allowed.  Co-]  long,  thirteen  merchants  engaged 
ii.  271  .  in  English  trade,  ii.  330,  337. 

:i  1  practically  subdued  by  Assyria,  Coin  melted  down  to   obtain   copper, 
3  1  2.  ii.  160,  162,  163. 


lan  gates,  387. 

Cimmerians,  raids  of  310.  311:  Cim- 
merian-. Scyths,  and  Medes,  con- 
joined movements  of.  314. 

Cing  ilese  report  of  Seres  inaccurate, 
ii.   1 10. 

( "inque  cento  R.C.,  288. 

""Circle  of  relatives  ;'  in  China,  ii.  47- 


Coinage,  value  of  copper,  ii.  1  1  ^  ;  va- 
riations in  Chinese,  155-160:  ex- 
cessive charge  for,  by  Chinese 
government,  159;  common,  of 
( ireek    and     Lycian    federations, 

45°- 

Coiners,  trade  of,  in  China,  ii.  156, 
160. 


'  :rns    for   rain    water   at   Carthage,        Coins  and  weights  of  ancient  China,  ii. 

57  ;  ancient,  preserved  by  forgers. 


400. 


Citadels,  Lycian  and  Carian.  428. 

City    of    Pyramids    'Memphis,    163:       Colchis,  legendary  renown  of.  460. 


city  gods  of  Sumer  and  Akkad, 
235  :  king  and  g<  id  o;  the  ii  . 
19  ;    "Children     of    Chaldis,    of 


1  He  '.ions  of  Chinese  coin-,  ii.  155  ; 
of  Classics  made  by  flan  Em- 
perors. 476. 


Cr 


the."  303  :  custom  of  the.  334.  Colleges  of  priests  do  not  suffer  en- 
dowments to  lapse.  175:  colleges 
"  where  they  nourished  the  aged." 
ii.  72  n.  :  Imperial  and  other. 
142.  113:  colleges  founded  by  Kin 
emperor.  i~_t:  colleges  and  libra- 
ries, 209-211  :  under  t'tie  Ming. 
254:  colleges  built  by  private  sub- 
scription, 378. 

Colonization  of   China   effected  grad- 
ually, ii.  11. 

Colossal   statues    of    Egyptian    king-, 
ii.   103. 

Comana  of  Cataonia  and  Capp  1  locia. 
419  ;  of  Cappadocia,  437. 

Comedians,  favour  shown  to.  ii.  105. 

irt,  stand  ird  of.  in  modern  China. 


3_to  :  en  y  taken  to  witness  m  deeds. 

337;    st  'rehouses  and  officers  of. 

at  Cyzicus,  _i 5  1  ;  architecture  and 

design  of  ancient  Chinese  cities. 

ii.  62. 

1  capa  :ity  of  women  in  Babylonia, 

374  :   in  China,  ii.  350. 
ivil   :a*i  m.  difference  between  archaic 

and  mo  iern,  3  :   ci  immon  features 

of  primitive.  7.   14:    first  "raised 

in  h-at."  401. 

-    I-aak-z.    code  :ted    customs    of 

J    'V.  t  M  ilabars.  55   . 
1  11    n   -    ;ief-   and   heads   of  families,  ii. 

307.    3  >-' . 
1   -       tiier    than    caste    di\"isions  in 

he       t.  IO0. 
Clu--i      1  •  -V  -  edited  tm  ler  ti  e  Han-, 

i:.   105  :   imperi  d  versions   of  477, 

-:~  '  ■ 
"lane       .  ir   from    Emperor. 

in  Ceyh  >n.  ii.   M    . 
'  "•  '■')<  -.  ear  -     •      'hines  •.  ii.  3  10. 


presenti    :    bv    K;cr  1, 


ii.  292. 

Commercial  rent  of  comparatively  late 
origin.  141. 

Commercial   us  gcrr'.   variety  and   ll    xi- 
bility  ■  '4   in    Babyli  mi  1.    -21.  341  1  : 
commercial    and    funny    p    : 
ships  distinguishable,  331  ;    com- 
mercial   :     rtn   rship-.  division   of 
profits   in.  34  >  :    coim 
c-ty     of     <  nines  ■.     a   1  ording     I 
Semedo.    ii.    270  ;     to    19th    cent. 


-t  A- 


.    42  1.    4  ' 
.  11 

e  and  o  ".:. 


1  r.  3  1  3. 


writers. 


•r, 


,!...: 


- 3  ~  :      coum 

■■    :  ■  :    .    -  '  y 

commission.  30  .. 
Common     cultivation     of     the     field-. 
system  of,  ii.  1  .  :  experimental  re- 
st iration,    99   n.  ;     in    Peru,    45^. 
456. 


iynj'.x. 


Common    meals    perhaps    related    to 
public  feasts  in  Asia   Minor,  433  ; 
common  meals  in  (Enotria,  Crete, 
and   Lacedamion,  44S  ;    in   Crete. 
46S,  469  ;    in   Sparta.  465,  470  ;  of 
Xabatieans,  5  12. 
Co7)imunaute     dc      biens,     provincial 
French  customs  concerning,  205. 
Communism     of     Tyrrhenians,    460  ; 
traces  of  family,  in   Syro- Roman 
law  book.  495  :  on  island  of  I'an- 
cluea,    514;     virtual,    of    ancient 
Arabia,  526. 
Commutation  of  punishments  for  fines, 

ii.  58. 
"  Companions  of  the  cupboard, '  450, 

ii.  69,  473. 
Compatriot  guilds,  ii.  338. 
Compensation  for  injuries,  ii.  213,  214. 
Competition-wallahs    gradually  intro- 
duced to  civil  service,  ii.  119. 
Compound    interest    not   due   without 

special  agreement,  327. 
Compradore,  general  honesty  of  Chi- 
nese, ii.  336. 
Comradeships  at  Elbassan,  456, 
Concerning  dykes,  Confucius,  ii.  68,  69. 
Conclusions,  general,  ii.  384-95. 
Concubinage  castes,  uncalled-for  term 

of  disparagement,  551. 
Conditions   of  good   work     threefold, 

ii.  61. 
Confession,  or  self-examination,  Baby- 
lonian form  of,  245. 
•'  Contirmer  of  Sons."  title  of  Nebu- 
chadnezzar I.,  343. 
Confiscations  of  officer's  wealth,  ii. 
116;  of  copper  hoards  intended  to 
lower  the  price  of  land,  161. 
Confucian  psychology,  ii.  86  ;  teach- 
ing, summary  of,  88. 
Confucius,  birthplace  of,  ii.  14  ;  on 
the  Three  Dynasties,  22  ;  de- 
scendant of,  claims  privilege  for 
historic  records,  26  :  on  minis- 
terial responsibility,  the  essentials 
of  government,  virtue  and  wealth, 
etc.,  31,  32;  on  cornering,  41  ; 
on  mourning  for  foster  mother, 
69  ;  his  gilt  to  a  mourner,  75,  76  : 
on  State  of  Loo.  80,  n.  :i  ;  general 
praised  by.  82  :  on  taking  office, 
82  :  as  an  administrator.  83  ;  con- 
temporary criticism  of,  S3;  de- 
spondency and  failure  of,  84;  on 
rites  and  reverence.  83  ;  on 
reciprocity,  89  :  on  Taoism.  95  ; 
grave  of,  visited  by  Man  emperor, 
195  :  on  water  and  hills,  128: 
Hioeun-thsang  on.  [45  ;  on  serving 
spirits  ami   the  knowledge  of  the 


dead,  14S  ;  descendant  of,  de- 
manded as  hostage,  176;  mo'.) 
quieted  by  ([notation  from,  294. 

Confusion   between    soss    and    century 
possible  in  Nabonidus'  inscription. 
!     ^      255. 

Conjugal  love,  Chow  Li  on  the  teach- 
ing of,  ii.  353  n.3 

Conjuration,  Sumerian  formula  of.  23; 

"  Conjuror,'''  literal  rendering  of  word 
for  witness  to  deeds,  328. 

Conservatism  of  domestic  States,  224  : 
of  llamitic  African  tribes.  533  ; 
of  Chinese  undergraduates,  ii. 
380  ;  conditions  of  primitive,  390. 

Considerate  courtesv    of    Kang-hi,  ii. 
278. 
i    Constant   widow,   in  Chinese   ode,   ii. 

66. 
1    Constitutional   Chinese   doctrine  con- 
cerning bad  kings,  ii.  18. 

Constitutionalism  of  Sheikh  govern- 
ment, 527  ;  of  modern  Chinese 
do.,  ii.  377. 

Contemporary  China,  European  writers 
on,  ii.  85,  292-4. 

"  Content  with  Truth,"  name  of  gate 
of  Rameses,  ii.  60. 

Contracts  saleable  in  Egypt  and  Baby- 
lonia, 168  ;  for  cultivation  of 
temple  lands,  174  ;  forms  of  com- 
mercial, in  Egypt  and  Rome,  181  : 
in  Nineveh,  182  ;  penalties  on 
breach  of,  195  ;  simplicity  or" 
Egyptian,  197  ;  Setnau's  children 
made  to  sign  contract  renounc- 
ing their  rights,  218;  contract 
tablets  of  Hammurabi  and  Rim- 
sin,  280  ;  contract  tablets  edited 
by  Meissner,  284  ;  concerning 
sales,  partnerships,  loans  and 
mortgages,  321  ;  in  which  rent 
and  interest  cancel  each  other. 
323  :  Contract  tablets  found  at 
Warka,  327  ;  law  of  Zaleucus  on. 
448  ;  contracts  and  archives  in 
Cretan  cities,  47S  ;  contracts 
waived  as  well  as  debts  in  China. 
ii.  335  :  English  definition  of  con- 
tract, 460. 

Co-operative  cooking,  ii.  317. 

Copper  wire  used  as  medium  or  stan- 
dard of  exchange,  99  ;  copper 
money,  large  and  small,  ii.  ;S  :  of 
Wang  -  mang,  unpopular,  110  : 
copper  mines  in  Sz'chuen,  worked 
by  Chinese  Croesus,  150:  ^iv.jp^ 
of.  inadequate,  iy>  :  copper  uten- 
sils manufactured  by  government. 
162  ;  plentiful  after  suppression  of 
monasteries,     164  :     copper    cur 


5t2  INDEX. 

rency,  193-6  ;  copper  plates  used  Crocodile,  the  type  of  a  bad  governor. 

for     printing     bank    notes,     196  ;  44. 

Kung-I   on   copper   money,    197  ;  Croesus  and    Cyrus;   palace    of,    con- 
copper   money  of  the   Ming,   253,  verted  into  gerusia,  433. 
254;  modern  laws  respecting,  369  ;  Crops  suited  to  the  soil,  ii.  306. 
relative  value  of  copper  and   sil-  Cultivation  of  land,  tablet  concerning, 
ver  in  Egypt.  445.  447-  .34°. 

Coptic  contracts.  209.  Cultivators  contract  not  to  appeal  to 

Copy-book      morality,    stock    phrases  the  gods,  93  ;  antichretic  mortgage 

common   to    Egypt,  Akkad,   Car-  a  boon  to  small,    184,   186  ;  share 

thage  and  the  Canaries,  409.  of  the  produce  in  Egyptian  agree- 

Corea.  Chinese  Protectorate  over,  dis-  merits,  188  ;  transferred  with  land 
puted  by  Japan,  ii.  249.  in  Assyria,  346  ;  share  of,  in  Baby- 
Cormorants,  use  for  fishing  described  Ionia, 335  ;  in  Ceylon  and  Malabar, 
by  Odoric,  ii.  232.  57°:  position  of  poorer  cultivators 

Corn,    not    habitually   exported     from  in   China,  ii.  304  ;  see  also  Budget 

ancient     Egypt,     70  ;     distributed  of  a  peasant 

free  in   years  ot  scarcity,   71  ;  im-  Cuneiform    correspondence     between 

ported  by  Phoenician  government,  Egypt    and     Mesopotamia.     120, 

398.  -9-  ;   tablets   found   near    Tyana, 

Cornish  tin  cast  in  moulds  like  that  of  420  ;    cuneiforms.     Cypriote    and 

Zimbabwe,  403.  Phoenician     characters      derived 

Coroners,  instructions  to,  ii.  213.  from,  98  ;  see  also  tablets,  contract 

Cosmas,  the  Armenian,  ii.  124.  130.  tablets  and  inscriptions. 

Cosmus,  office  of,  in  Crete,  468  ;  Cosmi  Currency    of  Tsih-moli    city,    ii.    58  ; 

fined  for  not  carrying  out  popular  changes  made  in,  by  Wang-Mang, 

decisions.  474.  115;  troubles  connected  with  the, 

Cost  of  living  in  China  under  the  1  fans.  121.  195,  253. 

ii.    11  >;  increased  between    Han  Curse  on  the  careless  feaster,  236. 

and   Tang,    164;  at  present    day.  Custom  duties  transferred  from  local 

^15,     316;     cost   of    education   in  to  central  revenue,  ii.  369  ;  custom 

China.  31  1.  the  chief  of  the  Agamas,  464. 

Cotton,  Akkadian  name   for,   232   n.  ;  "Custom   of   her   people,"   amount  of 

cotton   mill,  earnings  in   Chinese.  debt  according  to,  354. 

ii.  313.  Customary    division     of    produce    in 

Counterfeit  money,  penalty  for  issuing.  Malabar,    569  ;    customary    price 

ii.  151.  and    quality    of    goods    generally 

Courteous  Arab.  527.  known  in  China,  ii.  365. 

Courtesy,  Chinese  rules  of.  ii.  74.  76  ;  Cvelne  Majcnatial  =  Cilnius  Maecenas, 

courtesy  and  insincerity,  i.   45  ;  ii.  427. 

382.  Cyaxares.    king     of     Media,    attacks 

Coutume    of  Navarre,   213;    of  Paris.  Nineveh,  316. 

on  vifgage,  ii.  418.  Cyclopean      architecture,      traditional 

Couvade  in  Corsica.  460.  home  of.  428. 

Craftsmen,  skill  of  Chinese,  ii.  216.  Cylinders,  earliest  Babylonian,  261. 

Crane;  1  iore.i     pital  of  Cherakings,546.  Cyme,  proverbial   stupidity  of  men  of. 

C1    dit.  easily  obtained  in   China,  193:  462. 

phrase  for.  322  :    development  of,  Cynocephali,  found   in   tomb  of  Kane, 

in  Babylonia.  350  :  extension  of,  in  Khafra    Chephrcn  .  14;. 

China,  ii.  3  Cypriote    syllabary.   98,    387  :    charac- 

Croditors  and  officials  forbidden  to  buy  tors.  407. 

land,  491  :  creditor   punished  for  Cyprus,  stud  to  be  invaded  by  Sargon, 

li            b:    r's  family,  ii.    570.  312  :   chief  cities  of,  403. 

('retail    a. .via'.    Albanian   parallel    to,  Cyrus  conquers  Sardis,  318. 

..;;'>    :      knights,     472    :     ecclesia,  Cyzicus,  450:   compared    to   Massalia 

]  1   i\    rbs.    :   '    :  dr  ss,   survivals  of  and  Rhodes,  452. 
a  n  1  i  ( ■  n  t ,  4  •'■  : . 

Crete  and   Sparta  compared  with   Car- 

•'  age.     ■■  . '  :     Crete,    government  Damages  paid  by  divorcing  husband, 

of.     described    by    Ephorus,   407  ;  217  ;      for     personal     injuries     at 

by  Arir-tot'e.  4      .  Rhodes.  444  ;   for  injuries  by  ani- 


INDEX.  513 

mals,    Gortyn  code  on,  481  ;    for  Delphic    oracle,    Athenian     problem 

breach  of  betrothal  contract,  536.  submitted  to,  4-8. 

Damascening  iron,  art    of,  known  in  De    Mailla,    History  of,  ii.    274  ;  con- 
Babylonia,  250.  tinuation  of,  283  n. 

Damik-marduk,  dynasty  of,  297.  Demeter  and    Persephone,   mysteries 
Dangerous  animals,   rules    respecting,  of,  420  ;   Demeter  and    Kore.   ob- 

ii.  373.  jects   of    worship    in  all    Cnidian 

Darius,     Egyptian      priesthood      con-  inscriptions,  430. 

ciliated  by,  179  ;  no   deeds   reiat-  Democratic  temper    of    East  African 

ing  to  sales  of  land  in  Egypt  be-  tribes,  531-3;  of  Chinese  society, 

fore,     186;     Darius    I.,    marriage  ii.  294. 

contract     temp.,      210;      Darius  Demogerontia  of  modern  Cretans,  4S2. 

Codomamanus,      Egyptian    deed  Demosthenes'  father  lends  on  security 

showing  heiress  daughters  temp..  of  a  shop,  327. 

214:  Darius,  Babylonian  contract  Demotic   chronicle.    60;    writing,    in- 

tablets  of  his  reign,  353,  354.  troduction  of.  191,  192  ;    marriage 

Dark    ages    of    Chinese    history,     ii.  contracts,  201. 

126.  Denga  dwarf,   from  the  land  of  Pun, 
Daughter  of  Kao-tsou-tang  buried  w  ith  497. 

military  honours,  ii,  132  ;  of  Tai-  De    Rouge'    on    origin    of     Egyptian 

tsou-sung,  169.  civilization,  20. 

Daughters'    descendants,     tomb     re-  Descent  counted  through  the  mother, 

served  to,  433  ;   rights  of,  reserved  407;    traces   of,   in   Arabia,    521; 

in    Posidonius'   endowment,  434;  counted  by  the  Kanuri.  538. 

and  in  that  of  Epikteta,  435.  Deserts    of    Central     Asia    and    the 
Daughters  left  heirs  among   Cantabri  Sahara,  ii.  3. 

and   Basques,  213,  460  ;  of   Ma'in  "Despising"  a   wife,  penalties  on,   in 

named    in   inscriptions,    ii.    348  :  Egypt,  217. 

marriage  portions  of,  ii.  34S.  Dgema'a,  Kabyle  village  council,  534. 

Dead,  sale  of  the,  in  Egypt,  167,  16S.  Dhuspas  =  Tosp,  302. 

Death,  Egyptian  phrase  for,  "to  rejoin  Diminutive  termination  hi7ia.  418. 

my  mother,"  220.  Diodorus   on  Egyptian  monarchy,  47, 
Deba  on  coast   of  Arabia  show  hospi-  48  :  on  Egyptian  tribunals.  56;  on 

tality  to  Dorian-,  516.  judicial      procedure      in      Egypt, 

Debating   flail  in  Canton,  ii.  380.  59  ;  on   cost  of   living  in    Egypt, 

Debt,   fictitious  acknowledgments    of,  72  :  on   skill   of   Egyptian  herds- 

by  Egyptian  husbands,  209,  2:0.  men.  79  :  on  slavery,  in  Egypt.  90; 

Debtor  and   creditor,   relations   of.    in  on   Egyptian  gold    mines.  96  ;   on 

Egypt,     193-6;      in     Egypt    and  Egyptian  wives,  210. 

Babylonia,  322.  Diorite  threshold  dedicated  to  goddess, 
Debtors,   penalties    on    defaulting,   ii.  262. 

369.  Dioscorides  =  Sokotra.  510. 

Debt-  assignable  in    Babvlonia,   321  :  Diplomacy,  need  for  skilled,  in  China, 

ma  .(.-   to  extin  :ruish    each    •  ii  ii.  3S2. 

35  t  :    readily   forgiven   in    China,  Director   of  the  multitude-,  ii.  23    n.  ; 

''•    335-    54°-   3-l[  ;   paid   by  sons,  one  of  his  duties,  353  n. 

351.  Diseased   mendicancy  rare   in    China. 
-   uth  or  "right  h  ii.  141. 

Decline   of    Egyptian     independence.  Disintegration  of  families  by  Malabar 

ii.  409.  system  of  inheritance,  550. 

Decoi  ■   Rhodes.  444.  Dismemberment   of    Chinese   empire, 

'  -  in  Peru,  ii.  45  3.  Ma-twan-lin  on,  ii.  i~>j.  1  ■  j. 

Dedication  of  wealth  in  Egypt.   [61.  Disorder,  four  sources  of.  ii.   [05. 

Deed   of  gift   to  a  daughter,    308;  of  Dispensaries,  free  under  the  Mongols, 
mutual     re               :  m.     364,    36:  :  ii.  224. 

-    and    indentures,    Chow    Li  Distribution  of  the   waters   in   Egypt, 
on-  ii-  00  :  ,f£y  also  contracts.  79. 

Degree-  granted  for  money,  ii.  2;;.  Divided  ownership  distrusted  in  China. 
De   la    Marre's    translation   of    Kien-  ii.  jf>3- 

s  history  of  the  Ming.  ii.  23S.  Division  of  property  amongst  children, 
Delos  a  centre  of  Oriental  trade.  508.  215  ;  on  divorce  at  Gortyn,   477  ; 

VOL.   II. —  p.C.  I.    I. 


5'4 


IXDEX. 


by  Syro-Roman  code,  492,  493  ;  of       Duck-shaped  weight  of  Dungi,  272. 
earnings  between  Illavatti  couple  s       DuffGordon,  Lady,  on  carrying  stones, 

101  ;  on  animal  worship,  149  ;  on 
Bedaween  women.  200. 

Duke  of  Chow,  24,  ii.  22,  46,  etc. 

D'unama  ben  Selma'a,  king  of  Bornu, 


heirs.  554:  of  family  property  in, 
China,  laws  concerning,  ii.  348 
350. 

Divisions  of  the  clay.  ii.  436. 

Divorce,  deed  of,  366.  367  :  Georgian 


penalty  on,  45S  ;  Gortyn  code  on,       Dungi,   copious   inscriptions   of.   26/  : 


4~~  : 


frc<  dom    of,   bv   women  in 


son  of  L'r-bau.  272. 
Arabia.  522,  523  ;    formula    of,  in        Dunshagana.  son  of  Ningirsu,  240. 
Arabia.   524  ;  ancient  freedom  of,       Dunziddu,  foster-father  of  Gudea,  271. 
in    China,   537;    Towarek   liberty       Duodecimal  divisions,  42 1. 
of,  339  ;  lawful  causes  of,  in  China,       Dur-Kurigalzu,   fortress    and    wall   to 

protect  Kardunias,  288. 
Dust  storms  and  wind  streams,  ii.  6. 


11.    s53  ;    customs    respecting,    111 
Malabar.  467,  470. 


"  Doctor  of  the  four  willows,"  ii.  128.  Dutch  embassy  to  Peking,  ii.  272.  273. 

"Doctor   of     tlie     gate,'"     4th      Dyn.       Duty  of  a  virtuous  Egyptian,  5 1. 


judicial  tiue.  59. 

Dodona,  priestesses  of.  423. 

Dogs      in      ancient      monarchy     and 
1  ith  Dyn.  tombs.  149. 

Domain    of    restraint,   wild,    imperial, 
etc..  in  ancient  China,  ii.  21. 

Domesday  book,  mortgages  in.  ii.  418. 

Domestic  relations,  historic  variations 
in.  10. 

Domestic  slavery  mild  in  Egypt.  01. 

Domestic    triad    in    primitive     Meso- 
potamia, 238. 

Dome-tic    virtues  described  in  Egyp- 
tian inscriptions,  198. 

Dominican  jealousy  of  Jesuits,  ii.  276. 

Doors,  etc..  tenant's  fixtures  in  ancient 
Babyl  mia.   341. 

I  )orians,  111   t  rop  hs  of,  465. 

Dowries  given  "to"  or  '"with" 
daughters,  373.  374  :  limited  a; 
Massalia,  453  :  Syro-Roman 
on.  4-i  :  Thesawaleme  on.  551), 
;•  1  :  piss  to  husband's  family  in 
Chin  .  ;  .  ;;o  ;  Welsh  mortgages 
wed  ti )  pay.  ii.  418.  4  [9. 

Drain      e.     mcU  rsi 

Akka    .  233  :   necessary  in  J 
i  i .  41  v 

Dravidian    group    of   languages,    545: 

population    of     Dravidian    village 

descni  1  d.    v  ;.    ;'  6  :     I  )ravidian 

like  Chin    -c    lottery,  called  kuri, 

I  )ravi       :        1  i     K  -hatriyas.     to)  ; 

a::i  iilians.  ii.  440. 

1  ■  ■      .  literary   i 

1  )n  iwnii  2     or    ducking;    of    di\ 


Mr. 


•'Dwelling-place  of  Ea,"  a  translation 

of  name  Eridu,  232. 
Dyers'  union,  ii.  320. 
Dyke  of  Mareb,  506.  507. 
Dynasties,     Egyptian,     App.     A.,     ii. 

400-9:  capitals  of    various,  407; 

I !aby Ionian,  256  n.,  25S  :  App.  D.. 

ii.  424-32  ;  Chinese,  App.    L..   ii. 

495- 

E,  king  of  Chow,  ii.  24. 

Ea.  mother,  daughter  and  son  of,  238  : 
the  water  culture-god  of  baby- 
lonia, 497. 

Kama,  temple  of  Erech,  26 r. 

Eanna,  high  priest  described  as  one 
who   goes  in  to.  262. 

Eanna-du,  patesi  of  Lagash,  202.  263. 

Earnest  money  and  fines  for  breach 
of  contract.  443  ;  in  laws  ot  Cha- 
rondas,  449;  when  forfeited,  by 
Syro-Roman  code.  489. 

Earnings  and  g" i ft 5  to  unmarried  sons, 
Thesawaleme  on,  339. 

Earthenware  coffins,  temp.  Gudea,  243. 
in    S  imer  and       Earthquake   of  Rhodes,    gilts   to    the 
island  after.  443. 

bar-tern  mountains,  population  of, 
united  against  Senacherib,  312  : 
Eastern  and  Western  custom  con- 
trasted in  Syro-Roman  coda-.  492  ; 
Ear-tern  1  Ian  restored  after  Wang- 
mang's  death,  ii.  t  16  n.  :  Eastern 
Tin  kestan.  Chinese  rule  in.  2    _. 

Rater   -  if  1  ati  ms,    Rgvptiai 
subj.    '.     i. 

Rbers  papyrus,  98. 

bbisu  or  [bi.-diun,  one  contract  tablet 
dated  in  reign  of.  284. 

/by-///  •:<>'  <<i\^'nt.  182. 

bdict   n;     agriculture.   135,     138.     1.39  - 
Chinese   edict  granting    religious 
toleration,     ii.     276  :      com  «  rnii  g 
-shoppers,  37;. 


•    of    Clioo-lfi, 


INDEX. 


- ' 


Edicts  for  and  against  YVang-ngan- 
shi  and  his  opponents,  ii.  207,  208. 

Edom.  kings  in  the  land  of,  500. 

Edrisi  on  China,  ii.  2  i  5. 

'"  Education,  Record  on  the  subject 
of."  in  the  Li  Ki,  ii.  118. 

Egypt,  a  land  of  difficult  access,  iS  ; 
Egypt  and  Mesop  itamia,  corre- 
spondence between,  120;  Egypt 
and  Assyria  rivals  in  Palestine, 
310  :  Egypt  and  Yemen,  inter- 
coarse   between,  501. 

Egyptian  craving  for  a  kind  of  im- 
mortality, 154;  deeds  and  con- 
tracts, unilateral  in  form.  81  ; 
kings  refuse  their  daughters  to 
foreign  kings,  294  :  law  of  in- 
heritance, 125  ;  law,  general 
character  of.  223  ;  marriage 
contract-  really  marriage  settle- 
ments. Malabar  parallel  to,  553, 
ii.  461  :  moralists  on  offend- 
ing wife,  i.  477  ;  priesthood.  316  ; 
dates  and  dynasties,  ii.  399-405  ; 
ritual  or  book  of  the  Dead,  date 
of  extant  copies  of,  i.  122  ;  royal 
tens,  3  4  :  temperament.  141,  162. 

Egyptians,  honesty  of  modern,  451. 

Eight  and  ten  years' tenancy  secured  by 
mortgage,  331. 

bight  hours'  day  in  Chinese  lead  mine, 
ii.  313. 

Eighteen  provinces  of  modern  China, 
ii.  14. 

Eighteenth  Dyn.  kings  associate  sons 
and  daughters.  120:  iSth  and 
1  obi  Egyptian  Dyns.  contem- 
porary with  Kassite  do.,  291. 

Eimeri,  13th  Dyn..  Chief  of  Great 
1  louse  of  the  Six,  61. 

Ekura,  temple  of  Xipur,  2 6 r . 

Elam  and  .Media  merged  in  Persia. 
318  :  tribes  of  Elam,  232  :  tombs  of 
the  kings  of,  233  ;  campaign  of 
Nebuchadnezzar  against  king  of. 
342  :   pride  of.  353  n. 

Elamite  invasion  of  Erech,  258,  259; 
Elamite  and  Hittite  profiles  a  :e. 
26  -'■  :  Elamite  kings  in  land  of 
Ma*'  <  ■.'..  279  ;  Elamites,  perhaps 
expelled  by  kings  of  Larsa,  27  ; 
Elamites  and  Kassite  -.  285. 

Elder  brother  or  eldest  son  constituted 
in  deeds  of  ad'  iption,  37  t  ;   "e     1 

dier  of  tin    f  inner   family  "  in 
s:  n'\   ol   a  foum 

Elders  ot  a  tribe  conjoined  with  women 
in  M  incan  inscription.  509. 

Eldest  child,  partnership  of,  in  family 
property,  1 17  :  heirship  of  Ba 


Eldest  daughter  acts  as  head  of  family, 
214  ;  sacrifices  if  there  is  no  son, 
240  ;  name  of,  takes  precedence, 
406. 

Eldest  son  associated  with  father  to 
secure  his  title,  no;  "eldest son,'5 
title  of  honour  in  ancient  Egyptian 
monuments,  121,  123;  Egyptian 
character  for,  122  ;  a  prop  a*  name 
of  Thoth,  122  ;  Chinese  eldest  son 
mourns  three  years  for  his  eldest 
son.  ii.  70. 

Electors,  Bornu  king  appointed  by 
three.  538. 

Elephantine  and  Syene  =  " ivory"  and 
•■  trade  "  stations,  95. 

Eleuthernae,  treaties  with,  474. 

Eleuths,  insubordination  of.  ii.  27S, 
279  ;   conquest  of,  286,  287. 

E  Li  or  "  Ceremonial  Usages, ::  ii.  475. 

Elish-ku-lim-ma-sin,  letter  from,  in 
Tell-el-Amarna  collection.  292. 

Elissa.  her  council  often  Panic  princes, 

393- 

Embalmment  of  the  dead,  165  ;  par- 
chase  of  materials  for,  168. 

''  Embalmer,"  originally  a  title  of  dis- 
tinction, 153. 

Embassy,  reception  of  Papal,  ii.  235  ; 
Dutch.  273  :   English,  379. 

Emerald  pillar  in  Tyrian  temple,  ii. 
440. 

Emersons   numerous  in    China,  ii.  85. 

Eme-sal,  read  "'  women's  language," 
264. 

Empress,  school  for  royal  children 
founded  by  Han,  ii.  120  ;  Empress 
Wu-heou,  examinations  for  women 
introduced  by,  133  :  Empress  re- 
gear.  [69  :  Empress  app  ants  heir 
to  Wu-tsong-  Ming.  246. 

Enamelled  bricks,  colours  of.  250. 

En-anna-du,  patesis  of  Lagash,  263. 

En-anna-tumma,  patesi.  240. 

Enchanters.  Oman  cab- d  land  of.  52b 

Encyclopaedia  of  Vung-lo.  ii.  23  1. 

Endowments,  purpose  of  the  earliest, 
in  Egypt.  144:  necessary  to  per- 
petuate commenn  irative  wi  asbip. 
155:  of  tombs  precedes  that  of 
temples.  156  :  examples  of  private. 
in  Egypt,  156:  earliest  mention 
of  temple.  [69;  endowment  of 
•■  with  husband's  property,  200  : 
Chinese    family    endowments,    ii. 

37S. 
Engineers.  English,   in   Egypt,  ii.  413, 

414. 
Engraver  will  not  put  his  name  to  m- 

scripti  m  defaming  Ssema-kw;  :..;. 

ii.  2   '  . 


;i6 


IXDEX 


Enki,  lord  of  earth,  a  name  of  Ea,  240.       Ethnological  difficulties  and  problei 
En  Xedin,  authority  tor  Sabaun  mar- 


riage law,  523. 
Entena,  patesi  of   Lagash,  263. 
Enzag,     name      of     Nebo,     found     at 

I Jah rein,  238. 
Enzu  or  Sin,  the  moon  god.  23). 
Ephesus,  inscription   from,   respecting 

moitgages,  437. 
Ephesus.  where  parents  "owe  dowries 

to  their  daughters, r:  560. 
Ephors,  4-2.  473. 
Ephorus  on  government  of  Crete.  407. 


Etiquette,  Chinese,  for  reception  of 
foreigners  dates  from  Chow  Li,  ii. 

-73- 

Etruscan  federation.  424  :  origin 
of  Roman  tribes.  424  :  text  on 
mummy  wrap,  425  :  tombs  and 
commerce.  426  :  Etruscans  and 
Lydians  confounded.  425. 

Euergetes  II.,  tenants  temp.,  made 
to  ■"contract  out"  of  right  of 
asylum.  93. 


Epiballontes,  "belongings"  in  Gortyn       Euiuk,  remains  of.  38 


code,  47; 


Eunuch,  confiscated  wealth  of,  ii.    246. 


Epidemics,  immunity  from,    in   China,       Eunuchs,    influence   of.   ii.    115:  th 


lie 


power  revived.  13''),  137  :  fall  of 
their  party,  13S. 

Euphrates  and  canal  system  of  Meso- 
potamia, 230. 

European  fundholder,  origin  of.  ii.  329. 

Evaporation  exceeding  rainfall,  ii.  4. 

Examinations  and  colleges  in  ancient 
China,  ii.  71  :  do.  and  schools 
under  the  Han.  118-20;  ex- 
aminations and  office.  144  :  held 
south  of  the  Kiang  f  r  northern 
provinces,  202  ;  under  posterior 
Dyns.  and  Sung.  209.  210  :  under 
the  .Mongols,  229  ;  for  degrees, 
254.  2:5  :  entry  to.  implies  regis- 
tration. 361  :  importance  and 
character  ^\.  3S0. 

Exchange   of    land  between  brothers. 

33/  ■ 
Exchange  of  use    land  tor  money,  etc. 
in  babylonia,  183.  33 1. 
editary  rank  or  birth.  41  ;  lb-pa        Exempt    land.    sc.    from    taxation,    in 


Epigram  against  miser,  ii.  66. 

/;/>// rof?os,   son   may  be  appointed  as. 

4X9- 
Eponymous  Cosmus,  468. 
Eponyms,  list  of  Assyrian.  207. 
Equator,  divisions  of.  ii.  gsA 
f.     iini  exes  <  >'  iserved  in  Malabar.  564. 
Eratosthenes    on     nations    of    Arabia 

Eelix,  ;     1. 
Erecii.    230:  a  cite   of  Akkad,  264;    1 

most    ancient    favourite    place    of 

banal.  260. 
Erica      on     or     near    the     sea     when 

loitnded,   229:  ancient    names  of. 

252  :  a  city  <<{  Sumer,  264. 
Erimenas.    king    of    Armenia,   makes 

peace  with  Assyria,  302. 
Ei  .    Dr..  on    funeral  endowim  nts, 

1 ;~. 
Erf.  r  01 


1  4' ■  e-'  >an      ■  e  ■  ■  7;      e6 


or  rop  i  of  tin.'  gods.  1 
Ersu  or  Arisu.  Syrian  usurper,  \~~ 
En  \.  w  ah  of.  405. 
Es    .   1!   .     real  teni]  !e  of  babvlon. 


Egypt,  139. 
Exogamy    associated     with     "sisters 
son's    inheritance,"   554:    of    Chi- 
nese, ii.  141.  4    \. 
-ci     itions  and  borrow  d        Export  trade  condemned  and  importa- 
f.  ti<  m  of  furs  appn  ived,  324. 

Exp  math  m    of    grain     for  adden.     ii. 
[63  ;     1  if    rice.    2:'  ) :    in    time    of 
scarcity,  v  1. 
five,  there  is  iv>."  345. 


1    iv.s  ot.  2.:  1  :   g   nea 

'    :      '  .-. 

:  r  e     I ! 

1     '       '         i~.  313. 
Er-clau       Ma-      :>■  •  ;i  u  t.  C  ■  1 . 
h-h;  u  1  iia  :'  hr     lis.  lewis  .  feat  11 


f  ■ 


I-. 

:.  ;  ids  v. 


•  I    Chinese    eunuchs.       ■■  face  of  the  land  sprouts."  loan  to  be 
repaid  when.  3  33. 
n   ])  1  ■':  -al  ■;".   s-        Ea-hien.  travels  of.  44.  124. 
■  '■'■■     •  Eair  Semites  in  Egvptian  monuments, 

'  -  :'.  .:.  [•:        t.  2--. 

1  China.        I  'al  :i  m  '  meeds  in  N.  Asia,  and  winters 

in  E.  Afri  a.  ;  1  ■ ). 

'  '1     .  '  7.  ball  of  Nineveh.  3  14. 

noimceasun,       family      affection,      strength    of.     in 

Egypt.      199  :       relationships     of 

:nt.  two  l:n   >  of.   5S3.  Mesopotamia!!     gods.    238;     law 


INDEX. 


5'7 


tablet,     361  ;    renderings    of,    by 
Benin,  Haupt,  Meissner,  and  Op- 
pert,    362  ;     alternative     version, 
365,    366;     family     property  held 
jointly   by    tarwad  or  tavali.  552  ; 
archaic     constitution    of    Chinese 
family,   ii.    21  :   community,  work- 
ing   of    family,    300  -3  ;    councils,        F 
power  of  family,   308,   309  ;  suits       F 
relating  to  family    property,  352  ;       li 
family  customs  and  endowments, 
362,  '57S.  F 

I- amine,    rare    in    ancient    Egypt,  69  ;       F 
in  Cpper  Egypt,  1878.  75.  1- 

Fan-bearer,  bakshish  to,  89. 

Farm  servants,  wages  of,  in  China,  ii. 
310. 

Farming  oat  of  cattle.  85  ;  under  Per-       F 
sians  and  Ptolemies,  86  ;  in  Egypt, 
Ireland,     and     Tatary,     135  ;     in        F 
ancient  and  modern  China,  ii.  52,       F 

373-  .  .  I' 

'•  I- atal   sentence  '  in   the  mouth   of  a       F 
prince,  ii.  }j. 

Father    and    mother,     Egyptian    and       F 
Babylonian  view  of.  198. 

Father  holds  property  for  his  children, 
212  :  cedes  his  property  to  a 
daughter  on  condition  of  main- 
tenance. 375. 

Father-in-law  of  So-and-so.  party  to  a 
deed  described  as.  361. 

''  Father's    debt,     son    pavs,';    352.    ii.       '; 

35'-  .  F 

Feast   of  Hoeing,  152;  temple   feasts, 

4^2;   common   feasts    in    Peru.  ii.       F 

456. 
F  easter.  curse  on  the  careless,  236.  F 

Federal  union  of  Lycian  cities.  429. 
Fees  paid  to  .Malabar  Rajah,  564.  F 

.    irrigation   channels  in   Arabia,       F 

Fellahin  as  a  class  probably  settled  on 
'•  remaining  ':  land.  141. 

■'  Fciiow  villagers,"  judgment  to  be  re- 
ceived, ii.  43.  F 

Female   descent  or  Mutter  ree/it,  111. 

J  13,  429.  313  :  female  agnates  a.nd       " 
cognates    distinguished    in    Syro-       F 
Roman      code,      494  :       kinship.       F 
copious  vocabulary   of  female,    in 
China,  ii.  68.  F 

lrtimiies   siiT'u/itc's,     Pan-hoei-pan   on,       F 
ii.  i  :  6 

Feng  shwuy,  ii.  133.  F 

Feudalism   in    Egypt    under    the    6th 

and  [2th    Dynasties,  40 ;  in  China       F 
under   the   later  Chow   emperors, 
/  >.  :    feudal    rights  mortgaged    in       F 
Malabar  leases,  572,  574  ;    feuded       F 
prince-,  Mencius' complaint  of,  ii.       F 


24  ;  etiquette,  examples  of  feudal- 
ism, Si,  82;  feudalism,  Chinese- 
age  of,  83  ;  creation  of  feudal 
princes,  policy  of,  102  ;  compelled 
to  divide  their  hinds,  105  ;  feudal' 
ism  in  S.  China,  127;  attempted 
revival  of,  under  the  Tang,  151. 

ever  demon  of  Mesopotamia.  236. 

eysul,  prince  of  Riad,  502,  303. 

Field  of  a  fourth,'''  fifth,  tenth,  etc., 
336. 

ields  measured  by  seed,  341,  570. 

ifth  Babylonian  Dyn.,  297. 

ifth  Dyn.,  unoccupied  tombs  already 
scarce  under,  163  ;  ideal  of  do- 
mestic virtues  in  inscriptions  of. 
[98. 

ifty,  temples  of  the  number,  262,263, 
268,  272. 

ijian  chiefs  and  working  parties,  68. 

dial  children,  duties  of,  ii.  ~^„  74. 

iliation,  tablets  of,  378. 

inance  ministers    of   Kubla,  ii.   225, 

ines  for  insanitary  house  property, 
341  ;  on  breach  of  contract  to  be 
paid   to  a   temple,    346  ;   paid  by 


divorcing   husband,    36" 


in    tin 


violation  of  tombs,  433,  434  ;  on  re- 
newal of  lease  to  janmi,  573,  574  ; 
extension  of  system  of  tines  by 
Yung-lo.  ii.  242. 

Fines"  of  Breton  Laws,  ii.  490. 

inger  posts,  friendly  notices  on,  in 
Asia  Minor,  464. 

innic  tribes,  earliest  metal  workers  in 
X.  Europe,  401. 

inno-Ugric  affinities  of  Etruscan, 
426/ 

ire  god,  Ishum,  285. 

ire.  ideogram  for,  236  :  rules  respect- 
ing, in  ancient  China,  ii.  47.  48  ; 
houseless  poor  sheltered  by  rela- 
tives after.  379  ;  local  governor 
dismissed  if  fires  numerous,  375. 

ire-proof  towers  for  storing  valuables, 
ii.  222.  223. 

Fdrst-born  Bel,"  a  title  of  Xebo,  238. 

irst-fruits,  dedication  of,  152. 

11st  year  of  marriage,  proprietary 
partnership  begins  after,  206. 

ishermen's  union,  ii.  320. 

ive  Dyns.,  Chow  drums  lost  during 
the,  ii.  27. 

ive  Dyns.  in  China  and  Egypt,  ii. 
406. 

ive  leg-,  animals  represented  with, 
2 ;  1. 

ive,  tribunals  of.  472. 

lax  factor)'  in  ICgypt,  106. 

lint  axes  from  Syria,  98. 


;  is 


IXDEX. 


"  Floating'"  and  living  coin?,  ii.  1 5 S. 
Flocks  and  herds  given  to  the  temple: 

by  ( ludea,  247. 
Flowers  used  in  Egypt,  162. 


Fourth   Babylonian  Dynasty  of  Pasi, 

295- 
Fou-y,   anti-Buddhist   memorial   of,  ii. 
1 45 .  146. 


Fo  =  Buddha,  worship  of,  introduced  to       Fractional    ownership    due    to    family 


Chin;!,  ii.  109.  1  16. 

Fong  and  Chan  sacrifices,  ii.  36,  106  ; 
imperial  gifts  after.  107. 

Foo-chow,  great  port  of  Fokien,  ii. 
218. 

Food,  cheap  and  abundant  in  ancient 
Egypt,  66,  73  :  the  antidote  to  the 
mortal  poison  of  hunger,  ii.  127: 
food  and  fodder  plants  of  Western 
Asia,  i.  231. 

Foot,  length  of  Babylonian  and  Egyp- 
tian, ii.  433  :  of  Roman,  434. 

Foot  soldier,  hardships  of,  painted  by 
Egyptian  scribes.  138. 

Forced  labour  and  subsistence  wages, 
67,  oS,  88. 


partitions,  2  16. 
Fractions    of    a    house    owned,    342  ; 

fractions    of    60    give    names    to 

numbers,  ii.  435. 
Franciscan  missions  to  China,  ii.    231, 

232>  234-  235' 

Fraudulent  promoter  unknown  in 
China,  ii.  334. 

Free  libraries,  ii.  380. 

Freedom  of  contract.  Locrian  view  of, 
452  ;  freedom  of  the  press.  Chinese 
counterpart  to.  ii.  35  ;  of  speech 
and  literature  in  ancient  China.  79  , 
free  trade  in  coin.  155,  158.  162: 
freedom  of  contract  in  regard  to 
loan  and  lease,  ii.  422. 


Foreign   commerce   in   ancient  Egypt,       French   missionaries,  why   unpopular. 


94;  foreign  princesses  carried  off  t( 
Egyptian     harems,     204;    foreign 

policy  of  the  Hans,  ii.    1  10  ;  trade 

at  Canton.  //;.  ;  alliances  of  China 

under  the    Fang,    139;   trade,   im- 
perial   monopoly  o;    foreign,   221, 

225  ;  trade,  regulations  of  foreign, 

236  :  foreign  commerce  under  the 

Ming,  260. 
Foreigner,  the.  in  Egypt,  ii.  415. 
I-  orest  of  '1  ablets,  ii.  477. 
Forestalling  forbidden,  ii.  361. 
Formula    of    mutual    renunciation    of       Fudang,  horses  sent  from,  ii.  235. 


11.  377-  37&. 

'"Friend"  or  intimate  of  the  king,  a 
title  in  Egypt,  50. 

Friendship,  Chinese  formula  for  swear- 
ing, ii.  295. 

'"  From  mouth  to  money."  338. 

Frontage.  Chinese  houses  described 
by  size  of  their,  ii.  381. 

Frontier  garrisons,  provisioning  of, 
ii.  245. 

Frontiers  of  Babylon  and  Assyria. 
"•')■ 


relationship.  ;•'  2. 
Fortification  in  Peru.  ii.  454. 
Fortress,   plan  of,   on   Cudea's  stattic, 

2'    S. 

F<  'Sterinj,  in  China,  ii.  (   1. 

Fou-hi,  mythical  emperor  of  China,  ii. 

'7-  '44- 

I  '■".:.  lati    n  of  M  issalia.  story  of,  462. 

.proverbs  res]  1  cting,  24!:  : 

r  iimdati  >ns    of    1  ulbar    in    Agani. 

sought     by     Kurigal/u,     2S8  :     of 

to    -o  't    out    ol    order. 


n    production 


Funeral  sacrifices,  138:  monuments, 
changes  in  the  character  of  Egyp- 
tian, 170;  inscription  on  the 
darkness  of  death,  199. 


d    Xiivjirsu.    23 


39. 


,  ;     ,i.e 

>[  ti,      v. 


1 .    ;    nam 


m  t      .  C ; 

.ftii   I  1.:..  to 


s. 


Gal-alim,   son   of 

240. 
Galatians.  twelve  tetrarchies  of.  422. 
'  ialeotto  Ferera,  ii.  2'  >2. 
Game-preserving,  Mencius   on,   ii.  40  : 

not  known  in  modern  China,   374. 
C     nil  or  C  r-nindar.  273. 
Camil-sin,  contract  table's  or.  237. 
Canotil,  daughter  ot  l'r-bau,  2'  2. 
Cap-    in    Babylonian    dynastic    1  l!  ie. 

Garden  and  fields  distinguished.  341  : 

mi  idem  Chim  -e  gai'tiens.  ii.  38  t. 
Gasper  da  1   ruz,  ties   n    tion    of    China 

,  :    e  se.  ii.  2'  13,  2'  4. 

Gate,  justice  done  in  the  temple.  2''-'. 
Gates    named    by    Kameses    I  1 ..    and 
K    mm    nnii  ari,  '    1.  290. 

-si  r  of  Lagash, 

2  3  j. 


INDEX. 


5  »9 


Gaulos,    ancient     temple     of,     called  Gortyn.  treaties  between,  and  Cnossus 

Giganteja,  405.  and  Lappa.  475. 

Gaza,  terminus  of  Arabian  trade,  500,  Government  officials  and  pawn-shops, 

508.  ii.  331. 

Gebanites  or  Gabaan,  510.  Grain,   cultivation   of,  how  suggested, 
Geilrine  family,  ii.  492,  493.  230  :  grain  measured  and    money 

Genealogies,  sister   mentioned    in    re-  weighed,   339;    ''grain    purchase 

mote     generation     of,      ill  ;     not  by  agreement,"  abuses  connected 

valued    in     Egypt,     12S  ;     mother  with,  ii.    152;    grain-storage,  sys- 

mentioned  in  Etruscan,  427.  tern  of,  revived,  284,  285. 

"  General  examination  of  records  and  Granaries,   Chow   Li  on,  ii.  33  ;   Li   Ki 

scholars."  ii.  479.  on,  35,  36;  public,  under  the  Mon- 

Genghis  khan  and  the  Kin,  ii.  175.  g'°ls,  223,  224  ;  private  charitable, 

Geographical  bi-lingual,  361.  361    n.  ;     Peruvian,  called  pinta, 

( Geographical  "description  of  provinces  45  5,  456. 

and  cities,"  ii.  27.  Grand  Canal,  ii.  10,  17.  224,  225,  236. 
Geology  of  Central  Asia,  ii.  3.                    ,    Grandchildren,    Egyptian    interest    in 
Georgian  laws,  458.  posterity  stops  with,  125. 

Gerbillon,    Father,  acts   as   interpreter  Grand-daughter,   eldest,  mentioned  in 

with  Russia,  ii.  275.  12th  Dyn.  funeral  inscription,  214. 

Ghanna  =  fish.  261.  Grand  lama  does  homage  at   Peking, 
Ghouindan,  fort  of  Sana.  505.  ii.  274. 

(iifts  to  the  gods   common  after    12th  Grasshoppers,     confidential     Chinese 

Dyn.    inscriptions,     155;    of    oil,  edict  respecting,  ii.  375. 

Rhodian    inscription    concerning,  Gratitude    of   Chinese    merchants,   ii. 

441  :     to    wives     and     daughters,  335. 

limited  by  Gortyn  code,  47S,  479  ;  Graver,  "'house  of  the,"  261  ;  "he  who 

from  mother  to   son  do.  do.,  48 1  ;  bears  the,"  262. 

to  children,  Syro- Roman  code  on,  Graves,  Egypt  a  land  of,  66. 

488;   to   wives,  Syro- Roman  code  "  Great  winds  have  a  path,"  237,    ii.  6  ; 

on.  489.  "Great  Plan,"  the,  ii.  jO  ;  "Great 

Gilgames,  name  Izdubar  or   Gisdubar  College."      143  ;      Great     wail    of 

now  read,  262  ;  group  of  Gilgames  China,    line    followed    by,    ii.    17, 

and  Heabani,  402.  100.  tor,  105.  106.   245. 

Gin-dung-nadda-addu,  wife  of  Gudea,  Greater   Leptis,    Sidonian  customs  of, 

inscription  to,  271.  407. 

Gin-tsong.     Sung     emperor,     ii.    169;  Greek    cities    in    Arabia,     516,    51"; 

urged  to  appoint  an  heir,  180.  ships     from     Egypt     trade    with 

"  Giver  of  names."  342,  379.  Malabar,  546  ;  leases   in    form   of 

Giving  cloth,  significance  of  Malabar  mortgages,     572,    573  ;     coins,    ii. 

marriage  rite.  557.  448  31. 

Glass  making,   a   Phoenician  industry,  Green  mount    planted    by    Kubla,   ii. 

•*°3-  .     .  233- 

Go-between,  essential  in  land  transfers,  Grosier,  Abbe,  on  Wang-ngan-shi,  ii. 
ii.  359.  180. 

"Goddesses    and    gods,    women     and  Guanche  vocabulary  for  relationships, 
men."  271.  542  :       origin     and     remains     of 

Goes.  Benedict,   crosses  Central   Asia,  ancient  population,  542-4. 

ii.  269.  Guardian      appointed      by      Egyptian 

Goethe's  Wilhelm    Meister.  parallel  to.  father's  will,  204. 

in  Chinese  classics,  ii.  32.  Guardianship    of  orphans  by   laws   of 

Gold  mines  of  Xubia,  95,  96  ;  gold  sent  Charondas,  449:  of  heiresses  by 

from    Egypt    to    Babylonia,    292,  Gortyn  code,  481 . 

294  :  gold  and  silver  in  circulation  Gudea,     supposed    to    have    imported 
in  China,  ii.  163  ;  price  of.  in  SAW  -tones    from    Sinaitic     peninsula, 

China.    21S  ;    proportionate   value  21  ;  statues  of,  25.  28  :   conquests 

of  gold  and  silver  under  the  Ming,  of,  in   Elam,  233  ;   inscriptions  of, 

253.  242    ".    262  :    portrait    statues    1  :. 

Gordian.  law  of  Emperor,  209.  267  :  his    rule,   style   and    fortress 

Gortyn    code    on   offending   husband,  plan,   26S  :    comparative    elate  of 

366  :  Gortyn  code,  467.  476-85.  Sargonand  Gudea,  267  ;  products 


52o  INDEX. 

brought    by  his    ships,    269  ;    his  Handfasting,  205. 

account  of  his  parentage,  271.  Hang-chow  =  Khan-fu,     Ouinsay,    or 

Guggu,  king  of  Ludclu    Gyges,  king  of  Kingsse,  ii.  215.  220. 

Lydia  ,  310.  Han-ki,   '*  a  man   useful  to  others,"  ii. 

Gugua  makes  over  her  property  con-  148. 

ditionaliy,  374.  Hanlin  college  founded,  ii.  143  ;  posi- 

Guild  of  merchants  and   ship-owners,  tion  of  members  of,  377. 

395-  39k';  5°S-  Han-ming-ti,  ii.  116. 

Guilds.  Chinese  traders',  ii.  339.  Hannirabbat,    king     of.    corresponds 

Gulkisar,  endowment  by.  343.  with  Amenhotep  III..  292. 

Gursar,      grandfather    of    a    king    of  Han-wen-kung,  see  Han-yu,  the  Prince 

Lagash,  263.  of  Literature. 

Guti,  peoples   ''east"  of  Babylonia  =  Han  wen-ti  (emperor  Wen  of  the  Han 

Govim,  265,   286  ;    light-coloured  Dynasty,  secret   supplicator  sup- 

sla\"es  from.  340.  pressed    by,    ii.    j"  ;    freedom    of 

Gyges,    Egyptian    alliances    of.    313;  speech  allowed  by,  1 18  ;  jw  Wen- 

AssurbanipaFs  account  o  ,  310.  ti. 

Gynajcocracy  of  Xairs  and  Towareks,  Han-wu-ti,      emperor     Wu     of     Han 

457.  Dvnastv,  ii.  139  :  coinage  of,  1^5. 

156. 

Han-yu,  poem  on  drums  of  Chow  by, 

Ha.  the  Egyptian  headman,  41.  ii.  27  ;  on   Mencius  and   Mih,  89, 

Habigal,  dynasty  of,  306.  91  ;  on   examinations,  143  ;    anti- 

Hadee'yal,  Arab   war   maiden    called,  Buddhist  memorial   of,    147.  148  ; 

529.  quoted  against  reception  of  Ricci's 

Hadendowa  tribes  of  East  Africa,  531.  offerings,      266;     translated      by 

Hadramaut.  government  of.  528.  Kang-hi,  276. 

Hagiar  kini,   monolithic    doorway   at,  Haqou  ahouit,  title  of  Amten,  49. 

405.  Haram  Bilkis  at  Mareb,  ^oG  ;  inscrip- 

Hahema,  chief  of  Turfan,  ii.  245.  tion  from.  507. 

Halicarnassus,  priesthood  of  Artemis  Haran,  men  of,  protected  by  Sargon, 

sold    at,  435  :     treaty    concerning  308  ;  =  Kharran,  "the  road,"  389. 

lands  and   houses   between   Hali-  "Hard  and  white/'  treatises  on  the,  ii. 

carnassus    and     Lygdamis,    436  ;  88. 

decree  of.  490.  Haritat,  King,  512. 

""  Hall  ot  Two  Truths,"  73.  Harrani,    road,     stands    for   business, 

Halys.    battle    of,    317  ;  bridge    across  trade.  238. 

the.  414.  Harris  papyrus,  gifts  to  the  gods  enu- 

Ham.  derivation  of  the  name,  26.  merated  in,  176,  177. 

Haitian,    name     of,     connected     with  Hartitief.  Prince,  author  of  dark  say- 

Elamite  Chumba-ba,  274.  digs.  122. 

Hamciani,  496,  505.  Harvest,  time    of.  in  Egypt.   Si  ;  land 

Hami.   disputed   protectorate  over,  ii.  changes  hands  after,  in  Babylonia, 

-'■?•  206.  341. 

Hamitic  stocks,  branches  of  so-called,  Hasmar,  son  and  palace  of.  297. 

28  :  Airman   stocks  akin  to  Egyp-  Hathor,  patron  goddess  of  live  nomes, 

thin  nmy  be  called,  384  ;  common  150;  princesses  named  as  priest- 

points  of   Hamitic  and   Alarodian  ess  of.  170. 

civilization.  424.  Hayton,  Armenian  prince,  on  Cathay- 
Ham. et-  live  neighbourhoods,  ii.  43.  tins.  ii.  216. 
Hammamat,  quarries  ot.  95,  96.  Hazael  besieged  in  Damascus.  299. 
Hammuraj;    and    Burnaburias.   dated  He.   duke     oi     Loo.     sacrifice    against 

by  Xa'jomous,  254  :    Hammurabi,  drought  proposed  by,  ii.  51. 

otherwise      Cuammuragash,     258,  Heaou,  Duke  of  Tsin.  ii.  97. 

-I  j  '■   inscription  oi,  naming  Rim-  Heao  1.    King  or  Classic  o;   iilial  piety, 

sm.  2-  j;  grandfather  01.    282  :   m-  ii.  476. 

s1  notions    oi.     282.  283  ;   contract  Heaou  or  •■after"  Tsin.  ii.  9"  :    Heaou 

tab:   1^  of  hi.,  age.  321.  or  after   Tang.    Leang.    i(  5  :  after 

Han    Dynasty,  history  oi   hrst.  quoted.  Han.  after  Chow,  166. 

>'■  '  ~  '■  fmmoer  oi,  104  ;  distre-s  in  "  Heaven  "  and  the  "  Lord  of  heaven  " 


INDEX.  521 

"Heaven-sent"  instincts  of  the  people,  Hien-tsong-ming,  lands  taken  from  the 

ii.  92.  people  under,  ii.  244. 

Hebrew  prophets  on  political  situation,  Hierapytna,  treaties  with,  474,  475. 

315.  Hierarchy,  .Manual  of  Egyptian,  tr.  by 
Hcen,  King,  contemporary  of  Mencius,  Maspero,  61. 

ii.  28.  Hieroglyph  for  priest,  157. 

Hecren    on    origin    of    Semitic    race,  Hierro,  village  enclosures  in,  542. 

19.  "  High  place,"  frequented  by  spirits  in 
Heiresses,   why   numerous   at   Sparta,  ancient  China,  ii.  37. 

483;  laws  common  to  Chalcidians  High  priest  of  Thebes,  ileliopolis  and 

and  Rha2gians  on,  450;  heiresses,  Memphis,   63;  of  Apuat   and  110- 

465  ;   Gortyn  code  on,  480,  489.  march  of  Siout,    158  ;  of  Ptah  at 

Heirship  as   well  as  sonship   ascribed  Memphis,  164;  of  Anion  at  Thebes, 

to  the  gods,  123.  of     Osiris     at     Abydos,    ib.\     of 

Hekate,  temple  of,  at  Lagina,  431.  Sais,  son  of,  restored  to  office  by 

Hekatonmos    Dynasty,   names    of,    in  Cambyses,  179. 

use,  429.  High  roads  of  modern  China,  ii.  342. 

Heliopolis,  chief  priesthood  of.  171.  Highlands  from  Hlam  to  the  Caucasus, 
Helots,  465,  485.  413. 

Heqab,   Prince,  "  ruler   of  his   father's  Hilprecht,  Prof.,  on  inscribed  slabs  of 

heritage."  124  ;  heir  son,  489.  lapis-lazuli ;  on  Babylonian  impre- 

Her  sestcta,  title  borne  in  6th  and  18th  cations,  290. 

Dynasties,  61.  Himyarite  coins,  50S. 

Heracleida;,  date  of,  416.  Himyaritic  inscriptions,  497. 

Herakles,  road  called  of,  402  ;  archaic  Hiouen-thsang,  ii.  44,  125  ;  on  Khotan, 

image  of,  imitated  from  Gilgames  138,  144. 

group,  402.  Hiouen-tsong,  Tang  emperor,  ii.  134  ; 
Hereditary    princes,    their   rights    re-  partiality  for  Taoism  of,  144  ;  ab- 

spected  by   Egyptian  kings,  132  ;  dication  of,  173. 

plots  pledged    rather    than     sold  Hired  labour,  contracts  for,  338. 

in      Babylonia,     324;      property,  Hirhor,  usurpation  of,  178. 

Thesawaleme     on,      559  ;     offices  Hirusha,  land  of,  49. 

in  Chow  Li.  ii.  55  ;  governorships,  Hisn  el  Ghorab  remains  and  inscrip- 

attempts    to    restore,      134,    138  ;  tions,  504,  505. 

land  not  saleable  for  debt,  340.  "Histoire  Gendrale  de  la  Chine,"  tr.  by 
Heretical  sects, Taoism  and  Buddhism,  Pere  De  Mailla,  ii.  479. 

ii.  145.  Historical  geography  of  Asia  Minor, 
Hermias,  suit  concerning  title  of  land  414. 

by,  189.  "Historical  Records"  of  Ssema-tsien, 
Hermopolis,  priest  of  Thoth  at,  172.  ii.  478. 

Herodius     of     Alexandria,     letter    on  Historiographers,     Board     of.    ii.    24  ; 

Edict  of  Agriculture,  135.  ot  Tse,  courageous  veracity  of,  26; 

Herodotus  on  slaves' right  of  asylum,  of   Tai-tsou-ming,    put    to    death, 

92;     on     Egyptian    priests,    ^j  ;  -59',    complaints  of   eunuchs  by, 

chronological   confusion    of  infor-  246. 

mants      of,     132;     on      Egyptian  History  of  Chinese  pottery,  translation 

animal    pets,     149  ;     on    duty    of  of  Nien's,  ii.  280. 

Egyptian  daughters,  219  ;  apt  be-  Hittite  country  invaded  by  Assurnasir- 

ginning  of  his  record,  31 1.  apal,  298;     power    at    its   height, 

He/.ekiali,   his   allies   against   Assyria,  291;    kingdom,  flourishing  period 

312.  of.     295;     monuments,    380  :    re- 

Hia,  Little   Calendar  of.  tr.  by  Biot,  ii.  mains,  413;    remains  ami  inscrip- 

9;  dynasty  of,  founded  by  Vu,  18;  tions,  414. 

house-building  favourite  industry  Hittites     mentioned    in    astronomical 

of  the.  61.  work,  278;  Agukakrime's  negotia- 

"  Hidden  sheep,''  sacrifice  to.  ii.  ^~.  tions  with,  286  :   of  Syria,  412. 

Hien-fung,   recent   Tsing   emperor,  ii.  Hoai-tsong.    last    Ming    emperor,    ii. 

289/  249,  250. 

Hien-tsong,    Tang    emperor,    ii.    136;  Hoang-ho,  change  of  course  of.  ii.  2S7. 

147  :    treasury   bonds    issued    by,  Hoarding  of  copper  forbidden,  ii.  160, 

[63.  J 63  ;     laws    against,   repealed     by 


7XDEX. 


Wang-ngan-shi,  193  ;  renewed  in       Housebuilding,    vocabulary    of.    23 


1 160,  196. 
Ho-cbang     and     Tao-sse,    Christians 

compared  to  sectaries  of,  ii.  277. 
Hoei-tsong',   Sung    emperor,   given    to 

tritles  and   Taoism,  ii.    171.    172; 

abdicates,  173. 
Hoei-tze.  private  bonds,  ii.  193,  196-8. 
"Hoes  and  cloth  ;;  =  wealth,  ii.  58. 
Hojjah,  Oueen  Sayyidah  as.  522. 
Holdings,  size  of  average,  ii.  192. 
Holy  island  of  Diodorus,  514. 
''  Homage  of  their  commerce"  desired 

from   Tatars  of  Western  Asia,  ii. 

10 


ancient  method  of,  in  China,  ii.  20. 
"Households,    part   of  the    Code    for 

regulating,"'  ii.  291. 
Houses,  price  of,  in  ancient  Babylonia, 

337  ;  belong  to  women  in  Minicoy, 

5G7;  modern  Chinese,  ii.  381. 
I  low-qua,  generous  acts  of,  ii.  334.  335. 
How-tseih,  legend  of,  31,  276,  ii.  18,  19. 
Hpt'faa,  nomarch  of  Siout,  endowment 

of,  158. 
Hsing  =  surname,  character  for,  ii.  21. 
Hubuschia,  country  on  the  Upper  Zab, 

29S. 
Hue.  Father,  quoted,  13: 


Homogeneous    character    of    Chinese       Hui-tze,  Chinese  sophist,  ii.  87,  88. 


civilization,  ii.  290. 
Hong-man.  memorial  against,  ii.  27 


Human     sacrifices      last    allowed     by 
Mantchus,  ii.  2~ 


Hong     merchants,    early    parallel    to.        Hundred    houses    of    Locrians,    417: 

Hundred    or    commune     of    font 


"-.236,  355-7- 

Honorific  decrees  of  Carian  and  Lycian 
cities.  431. 

"Honoured  head"  of  the  family,  tab- 
let of.  ii.  69. 

Horemhib.  edict  of,  135— S. 

Hoise.   worship    of,   in    China,  ii.   37; 

trade  with  Tatary,  135.  258  :  fairs  237. 

on   Tatar  frontiers,  240  ;    demand       Huns,  antagonism  of,  to  Han  traders, 


hamlets,  ii.  44  ;  houses  of  Chinese 
villages,  49  :  families,  107. 

Hundreds  and  tunings, duties  of  neigh- 
bours in,  ii.  356. 

Hung-woo  =  Warlike  Fortune,  name  of 
first    Ming    emperors    period,    ii. 


for.  246-8. 
Horses  on  Egyptian  monuments.  150  ; 
boarding  out  of.  under  the    Inno- 


ii.  109  :  victory  over  northern,  1 17. 
Hunting,    impropriety    of    excess     in, 
ii.  129. 


vatur.  187  ;  Chinese  forbidden   to       Hunts,  royal,  in  ancient  China,  ii.  31  ; 


keep,  230  ;  price  of.  in  tea.  238  ; 
"tlie  people  made  to  maintain," 
240,    241  ;     disuse    of,    in    China, 

Horus  ana  Set,  patrons  of  Upper  and 
Lower  Egypt,  38  ;  Horus  or  Hor- 
siesi  pleading  for  his  father  Set, 
124  :  patron  god  of  three  nomes, 
100  :  as  the  beloved  son,  199. 

io-ea.  305.  306. 

.ospuaiity  in  Cretan  towns.  469  :  in 
l\a'  >vie  villages.  468,  ; ; ;. 

otci    regulations    of  modern    China, 

loti.  Egyptian  security  called.  209. 
1'j-ti.  emperor  o  1  Eastern  Han.  ii.  117: 

eunuci;  s  employed  by,  121. 
loitentots     resem'ule      the     Chinese. 


,  dated    by  trace 
nd  "hou>e  of  m- 


Nind 


of  the  Incas,  456. 
Husbands  and  wives,  relative  size  of, 

on     Egyptian     monuments,    200  ; 

relations  of,  in  ancient   China,  ii. 

63-7;  proposed  to  make  Malabar 

husband  his  wife's  guardian.  471. 
Hwai,  the  boundary  between  Kin  and 

Sung  empires,  ii.  1  74. 
Hwang-ti,  mythical  emperor  of  China. 

ii.  16,  17.  29;  sacrifice  to,  37;  the 

Yellow  emperor,  92. 
1 I  wan-ti,  ii.  1  1  5. 
Hway,    king    of    Seang,    rebuked    by 

Mencius.  ii.  33. 
Hydrussa,   ancient    name    for    Tenos, 

437- 

Hyksos   inscription,  ideal  of  domestic 
virtue  in,  198. 


Ia-mukin-sumi.  son  of   Hasmar,  297. 
Ia.-ilikaia.  uncertain   sex   of   figures  in 

bu>-reiiefs  of,  439. 
Iberian  <  onstitution  according  to  Stra- 

bo.  457:  migration,  line  of,  460. 
Iberians,  communism  ol  Spanish.  5  14  : 

ot   Transcaucasia,  455. 
Ibn    batata,   description    of    Malabar, 

363  :  on  China,  ii.  213.  233.  236. 


INDEX.  523 

Il)n  Khaldun  on  Berbers,  535.  Indebtedness  not  a  criminal  offence  in 

Ibn  Khordadbeh  on  Jewish  meixhants  babylonia,  356. 

in  China,  ii.  140,  217.  "  Independence  of  mind"'  of  Malayali, 

Ibn  Rashid,  502.  549. 

Ibi ■u-naharan,  of  Mi  mean  inscriptions,  India,    land    trade    between     Mesopo- 

500,  501.  tamia    and,    232  ;    trade    between 

Ice,  use  of,  in  ancient  China,  ii.  4.  Arabia  and,  519  ;  communication 

Ichneumon  in  Egyptian  wall  paintings,  between   Western    China  and,  ii. 

bldina-marduk,  merchant  and  money  Individual    rights,   Chinese    limits   to, 

lender,  348,  350,  355  ;   slave  moil-  ii.  j^y. 

gaged  by,  355.  Inequality    of     wealth,     Cretan    laws 

Ideals  of  Chinese  thinkers,  ii,  96.  meant  to  discourage,  467. 

Ideogram  for  mother,  361.  Infanticide  unknown  in  Egypt,  72. 

Ideograms    gradually    superseded    by  Inheritance  of  children  in  Egypt,  200  ; 

syllabic  signs,  234  ;    similarity  of  inheritance    of   father    and    sister 

Akkadian  and  Chinese,  ii.  485,  4S6.  divided  in  Babylonia,  368  ;  Gortyn 

Igigi,  spirits  of  heaven,  233;  Igigi  and  code  on,  477-9  ;   Syro-Roman  law 

Annunaki    war   against    Pennsyl-  book  on,  494  ;  law   of,  in   Oman, 

vanian  expedition,  290.  528;  in    East    Africa,    532,    533; 

Ihi-Samas,    eldest    son    of    Ubarsin,  among   Kabyles   of  Algeria,  537  ; 

divides  paternal  inheritance.  328.  rules  of,  in  Canaries,  543  ;  inlieii- 

Ilani-erba,  or    Iki-erba,  deals  in  land  tance  and  descent  through  women 

and   renounces    his    mother,   328,  of  royal  families  in  Malabar,  550; 

364.  of    children    from    both    parents, 

Ilsahr,  king  of  Saba,  507.  Thesawaleme  on,  560  ;  division  of, 

Iltani,   a    woman    with    separate    pro-  in  Wang  family,  ii.  301. 

perty,  368.  Inner  tribunal  of  eunuchs,  ii.  137. 

Iltani,    the    sister    of    Taramka,   mar-  Innkeepers  transmit    goods   securely, 

riage  contract  of,  369.  ii.  341. 

I  Invars,   Malabar    caste   derived   from  Innovations,     mode     of     introducing 

Ceylon,  554.  praiseworthy,  ii.  375. 

Images  of  gods  recovered  by  Agukak-  Innovator,  the,  see  W'ang-ngan-shi. 

rime,  286.  Inoculation   introduced    in    China,  ii. 

Immeru,  one  contract  tablet  of  reign  213. 

of.  284.  Inscription  of  workmen  employed   by 

Immovables,  law  of  Egypt  on,  196.  Agukakrime,  286  ;  inscriptions  on 

Imoschag,  name  used  by  Towareks  or  shields,  ornaments,  etc.,  in  Berber 

Touaregs,  539.  characters,  540,  549  ;  faithfully  re- 
Imperial  college,  ii.  143;  college  found-  produced  by  Chinese  scholars,  ii. 

ed  at  Nanking,  254  ;    dynasty  did  27  ;  inscriptions  ot  T'sin  Dynasty, 

not  always  govern  all  China,  10;  100;  on   ancient  Chinese  staffs,  ii. 

farms,  establishment  of,  244  :  pro-  497. 

presses  objected   to,  24O  ;    herds,  Instruction  to  follow  wealth   and  pre- 

rcgulations    of   Chow   Li    on,   52  ;  vent  class  distinctions,  ii.  j2. 

library  founded.  143  ;  library  pre-  Instructions    of   Amenemliat,    78,    84, 

sided     over    by    lliouendhsang's  106. 

grandfather,     144;    manifesto     in  "  Insubordinate  son  "  in  Algeria,  538. 

time  of  scarcity,  112;    receptions,  Insurance  system  not  used   in   Cmna, 

Mongol  etiquette  at,  232:    sacri-  ii.  379. 

tices  offered  by  prince  oi    T'sin,  81.  Interest,  rate  of,  in  China,  185  :  Egypt 

Imprecation,  forms  of,  343,344  ;  against  and   in  some    Kabyle  tribes,  [87; 

destroyers   of  records,   by   Cudea,  limited    by    Bocchoris,    193;   rate 

244  ;   of   Kammannirari   and  Tig-  of,  for  agricultural  loans  in  Egypt 

latii-pilescr,  290.  and  Babylonia,  [93,  334  :   evasion 

Inalienable  family  lands,  ii.  35S.  of    laws    against     compound,     m 

Incas,  royal  marriage  customs  of,  no,  Egypt,  195;  rate  of,  in  Babylonia 

ii.  454  ;   titles  and  policy  of,  453.  and  Nineveh,  322  ;  origin  of.  323  ; 

Income     tax,    graduated     under     the  interest  on  loans   sometimes  paid 

Tang,     ii.    151  ;    levied    on    large  to  temples,  332  ;  rate  of.  reckoned 

land  owners.  229.  sexagesimally,    334  ;    allowed     to 


524 


1XDEX. 


double  the  principal,  346;  rate  of,       Isullanu,  the  gardener  beloved  of  Istar, 

in  Georgia,  439  :  in  Ceylon  not  to  250. 

exceed    principal.    569;  essay  on       Itahuantui-suya,  Peru  called,  ii.  452. 

interest   in  China,  ii.  323  ;  benefit        Italian     trade     with    China,    ii.     233  ; 

Chinese  labourers  compared  with 
Italian,  314  ;  Italian  and  Egyptian 
weights.  447. 
Itamara    the    Saba_'an  =  King  lethaa- 


mar,  ^oj. 
Itti-bel,  father   of  Sargon   of   Agade, 

Itti-marduk-baladu succeeds  his  father 
Nebo-ahi-iddin,  352,  353,  357- 


)f  loans  at.  325,  326,  328  ; 
maximum  rate  of,  in  China,  327  ; 
interest  on  loans  made  to  deter- 
mine  rents.   347. 

Interment,     rites     of,    performed     by 
special  class  in  Crete,  482. 

Internuptial    gifts,   limited  by   Gortyn 
code.  478. 

Interval  between  marriage  and  "  estab- 
lishment," ii.  67. 

Intramural  burial   forbidden  in   Egypt 

and  China,  163  :  under  Gudea,  243.  Jade  gate  or  Yu-mon  passage,  18,  95  ; 

Inundations  from    Chinese   rivers,  ii.  Chinese  enthusiasm  for,  232. 

10:  of  Hoangho.  230.  Jaffna,  customary  laws  of,  559.  5'  ?. 

Ionia,  Carians  and  Leleges  occupying,  Janmi  orjenmkar,  Malabar  landowner, 

,4'~-                  .                          .  '     .  5^9- 

Ionian     and    Carian    mercenaries    in  Japan.   Chinese    intercourse    with,   ii. 

Eyypt,  313-  3'  5-  CjO. 

Irba-marduk.  291  n.  '.  Japanese  pirates,  inroads  of,  ii.  247. 

Irba-sin,  founder  of  fifth   Babylonian  Jareb    of     Hosea    perhaps  =  Irba    or 

Dynasty,  297.  Iriba,  a  name  for  Sargon.  307. 

Irish    law    tracts    of    loans,    pledges,  Jati,    the     Deliverer,    Minsean    king's 

etc..  ii.  420.  title,  502. 

Iritisen,  his   wisdom,  102  ;  his   family,  Jaua,  son  of  Humri=Jehu,  the  son  of 

1 10.  Omri,  299. 

Iron  bar    as    standard   of  value.  53S  ;  Jedail  Bajjan,  son  of  Karibail   Watar, 

iron  foundries,  scale  of.  in  China,  507.  508. 

ii.     ;;-  ;    iron    money    of    Leang  Jedail  Dirrih,  works  at  Mareb  by,  506, 

Dynasty,     158:     in    Fokien     and  507. 

Sz'chueii.     193-5;    sources   of,    i.  Jehoahaz  carried  into  Egypt,  316. 

232.  Jehoiakim  submits  to  Nebuchadnezzar, 

Irrigation      works,     decay     of.     under  317. 

Ptolemies.  76  ;   Egyptian  methods  Jekrubmalik    Watar,     king    of    Saba. 

of.   79  :  phrases    concerning,  341  ;  507. 

irrigation  of  Etruscans,  426  :  irri-  Jenm  or  Janmam  =  hereditary  freehold, 


anon      and     other     remains    in 


509. 


Transcaucasia.     459  :     irrigation       Jenm    right    valued    at    one-third   the 

estate,  573  :  successive  parts 
transferred  by  deed,  574. 

Jenmkar,  set  Janmi. 

[eremiah,  foreign  policy  of.  316. 

Jerusalem,    orientation    of    temple   at. 

ii-  441- 
Jesuit  missionaries,  first,  ii.  24S. 
[esuits  implicated  in  d\  nastic  intrigues, 

ii.  :8i. 
[ethaamar  or  letaamir  Bajjan.  507. 
I  c  .'  s.  fair  1    ■  ;..:  ilexii  m  oi  Pastern,  2(  . 
folm  of  Florence     De'  Marignoiii  .   ii. 


works  at  Koiiaiti,?  ancient  Koloe. 
510:  irrigation  and  agriculture  in 
1  eru.  ii.  454. 
Irtabi.  daughter  of  a  Babylonian  king, 

I saac.  in <'.y  father,  160. 
I  saurian    inscription    giving    mother's 
in  c         1  logy.  434. 

I  Leiites  and  Midianites  in  storv  of 


: 


ured      of    t;i 
-    c.f    1 


fi  lint  ownership  in  (  ',<-■  u'gia.  438. 
Josiah  .-lain  at  Megiddo.  3  16. 
Juao  and  Thua<  >,  Egyptian    nan 

1  J  :■■  :n  Tii's  parents,  2.3. 
Judah,  kingdom  of.  increase-  in  impor- 

fuc'.  meats  1  >n  bad  rulers,  ii.  33. 


INDEX.  525 

Jupiter Triphylius, temple  to,in  Panara,  Kar-Istar,  battles  between   Kardunias 

514.  and  Assyria  at,  288. 

Jus  gentium,  whence  derived,  10.  Karibail,  brother   of    Ilsahr,   king    of 

Just  weights  and  measures.  75.  Saba,  507. 

Justice,  administration  of.  in  Egypt,  56,  Karibail  the  Wise,  inscription  of,  506. 

86  ;  justice  and  wealth  of  Chinese  Karibail  Watar,  507,  508  ;  inscription 

in  9th  cent.  A.D.,  ii.  141  :   Chinese  of,  509. 

administration   of  justice,  ii.    264,  Karnavan,  senior  member  of  tarwad, 

265.  555  ;     powers    of,     compared    to 

Justified,    also      rendered      'iien'diquc,  basque  seigneur,  556,  557. 

term  for  righteous  dead,  73.  Karnu,    chief   city   of    Minaians,  49S  ; 

Justinian    on    Armenian     succession,  modern  Es-souda,  499. 

559.  Karra-na-Samas,  fortress  of  sun  god, 

built  by  Hammurabi,  2S2. 

Kabyle,      partnerships      and      rahnia  Karthlos,  ?  =  Khaldis,  458. 

pledges,  187,  534 ;  Kabyle,  Chinese  Karzi-jabku,  grant  to.  342,  343. 

and    Egyptian    rate    of    interest,  Kasabeh,  Arabian  heiress,  509. 

193;      betrothal     and     marriage  Kashgar.  tributary  to  China,  ii.  117. 

distinct      among     Kabyles,    206;  Kassaba,  size  of  reduced,  74. 

Kabyle  communism,  469  ;  Kabyles  Kassi.    babylonia  called   land  of  the, 

of  Algeria,   customs  of,  538,  539  ;  down  to  9th  century,  296. 

complexion,    534  ;    local    govern-  Kassite  king.-,  of  babylonia,  Egyptian 

mem.    534  6  ;    public    hospitality  correspondence  with.  96  ;   Kassite 

among,    535  ;    kanouns  or    custo-  Dynasty,   258  ;   relations  of    Kas- 

mary   codes,   536  ;  law   of  inheri-  sites  and  Cushites  to  Chakheans, 

tance,  537.  287  ;       Kassites     and      Elamites, 

Kahun.  wills  found  at,  203.  blanks  in  list  of  kings,  2S5  :  Kas- 

Kak.   temple  of.  endowed   by   Amen-  site    Dynasty  contemporary  with 

hotep  the  wise,  159.  1 8th  and    19th  Egyptian    Dynas- 

Kaldu,  land  of  the  Chakkvjans,  264.  ties,  291  ;  Kassite  names  common 

[vallima-sin,  perhaps    same   as   Elish-  down  to  Nebuchadnezzar,  296. 

kullimasin,  292.  Kassunadinahi,  son  of  Sippai,  297. 

Kallisthenes   and    Aristotle  on   Baby-  Katabothra,  subterranean  water  chan- 

lonian  chronology.  236.  nels,  422. 

Kam't.  or  "black  land,"  26.  Keang-yuen.  mother  of  How-tseih,  ii. 

Kan  am  or  mortgage,  sometimes  a  rent  18. 

paid     in     advance,      570:      lines  "  Keeper  of  lost  property."  ii.  217. 

payable  on  renewal  of.  574.  Kegler.    1 'resident      of    .Mathematical 

Kang-hi.      ii.     2 17  =  Profound     peace,  board,  ii.  2S1. 

period  of.  274,   281  ;  sacred  edict  Kelt-Iberian    alphabet,     affinities     of. 

of,  356.  357.  462. 

Kansu,  province  of.  the  ancient  Yung,  Kema,  queen-mother,  119. 

formerly  a  part  of  Shensi,  ii.  18.  Kenna,  workman  who  petitions  Amen- 

Kanuri     of     Bornu,    female     descent  hotep  about  house,  58. 

among.  538.  Kepir,    conjecturally    identified     with 

Kao-ts  1!  _.  Sung  emperoi'.  ii.  174,  196.  Pyblos,  98. 

Kao-tsou.   founder  of    Tang    Dyn.,    ii.  Keralolpatti,     or    origins     of     Kerala, 

[32.                                      '        '  548. 

Kaqinmna.  40  :  book  of,  45.  46.  Kesra    Chosroes\  son  of  Persian  king 

Karaburias.    named    in    Assyrian    in-  Kobad,  ii.  129. 

ti  ms.  2  .  1.  Kethuba,     in    Jewish    marriage    con- 

Karaliardas,  king  of  Kardunias,  deal-  tracts.  367. 

ings  with  Assyria.  2'  ■ .  Keturah  =  in<  ense,  503. 

Karaindas     of     Kassite     Dyn.,    288;  Kha  or  double,  theory  of.  153.  160. 

temple  built  by.  289.  Khafra-ankh,  tomb  of.  50  ;  dog  repre- 

Karakorum,  furthest  point   reached  by  seated     on.     149;    priest     of    the 

K  ibruk,  ii.  216.  pyramid  of  Khafra,  152. 

Karamat.  daughter  of  Pisebkhan,  116.  Khaldias      or     K'naldik.is  =  Chalybes, 

Kardunias,    a     name    for     babylonia,  30a. 

264  :  the  ''garden  of  the  lord   of  Khaldis.  UTardhian  deities.  ?  =  Karth- 

tlie  lands,"  2S9.  los,  303. 


-26 


IXDLX. 


Kharoubas,  associated  Kabyle  villages,       Knots    used  for    records  in   Peru,    ii. 


534- 


456. 


Khenmes,  Egyptian  steward  or  agent,       Kobad,  Persian  king,  ii.  12S. 

83.  Koloe.  remains  of,  at  Kohaito,  510. 

Khien-ao.   uncivilized  charity  of,  ii.  75.       Koluppa/uiayam,      or       "ploughshan 


Khita  or  I  littites,  3  ■  6. 
Khitan  empire,  height  of  its  power,  ii. 
170. 


pledge,"  answering  to  Babylonian 
mortgage.  571. 
Komograinuiats,  139. 


Khitan  Tatars  invited   by  After  Tsin,       Kong-sun-yang,  see  Chang  Vang. 

ii.  [6;;    Khitan  government  civil-       Konia   =   Iconium,      inheritance     by 


ized.  168. 


.•omen  in  13th  century  at,  435. 


Khnum,   patron  god    of  three    nomes,       Koshinga,  pirate  or  privateer,  ii.  275. 

150.  Kouyundjik,  mounds  of,  315. 

Khnumhotep,  78.    112  :   endowment  of       Kuban  stele.  97. 


ancestral  temple  of.  156. 
Khorsabad,  iron  found  at,  232  ;  palace 

of  Sargon  at.  250. 
Khotan.  ancient  city  or.  15:  embassy 

to  China   from.  ii.  15S  ;  u  tribute"       Kudatku  Bilik,  Uigour  poem.  ii.  173 


-labia,  capture  of  Tali  by,  ii.  177; 
plants  trees.  222.  233  ;  vicarious 
charities  of.  224  ;  Chinese  estimate 


from.  215. 
Khrishna    and    Lakshmi  =  baron    and 

feme.  ii.  462. 
Khuenaten  =  Amenhotep  1A7,  120. 
Khufu,    Khafra-ankh,     priest     of    his       Kudurnanchundi,  Elamite  king,  25S. 


Kudur  Lagamar,  name  identified  with 

Chedoriaomer,  259. 
Kudur-mabug,  260  ;  father  of  Rimsin, 

-79- 


pvramid,  ;o. 


Kukullanu  buys  and  rents  land,  347, 


Kia-king,   recent     Tsing    emperor,    ii.        Kung-chiu,  Chinese  Giotto,  ii.  61. 
2-  Kurasch    Cyrus}  =  shepherd,  233. 

Kiao-tze  or  bills   of  exchange,  ii.  193.       Kuri,  Dravidian  lottery,  568  ;   Chinese 

parallel  to.  ii.  332. 
Kurigalzu     recovers    tablet    of   Dungi 
from     Elam.    254    n.  ;    the  li  un- 
equalled"   king.    28S  ;   statue    set 
up  by,  289. 


Kieh  and  Chow.  ii.  89.  91. 

Kien-lung;s  History  of  Ming  Dynast}-, 
ii.  238.2^9;  Kien-lung  = '' protec- 
tion   of  heaven,"   period    of.    274. 


2-'   9  :   edict  of.    ^^S  :  on  title  by       Kurigalzu  the  younger,  288.  289. 


registratn  m,    ^59, 
Kien-wen-ti.    grandson     of    Tai-tsou- 


Kustaspi    of   Kummuh    Commagene  . 
50;. 


K 


ming.    deposed   by    his    uncle,   ii.       Kwan,  ballad  of  Prince,  ii.  489. 
2^9.  Kwang-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  175. 

Kin   inherit   conquests  of  the  Leao,  ii.        Kwan-tse  on  trade  and  luxury,  ii.  324. 
173:    Dvnasty   of.  falsely   -aid   to       Kwan-tze  or  frontier  bonds,  ii.  193. 
have  been  ruined  by  literati,  179. 
1.  duties  -  if.  ii.  370. 
King,    duke  of  Sung,  refuses  to  divert       Labour  cheap   in   ancient    Egypt,  7}  : 

hardships  of.  drawn  by  scribes. 
105  ;  labour  tax  in  China,  ii.  37. 
38  :  under  the  Tang.  151  :  con- 
ditions of,  in  China.  296  :  un- 
stinted  application  to  the  soil  of. 
-  5.  306  ;  conditions  of  fixed  by 
>   :stom.  312  ;  labour  tax  in   Peru, 

,   455-45<>- 

Labourer,  corn  produced  by  one  in 
Egypt,  174  :  hired  out  by  father 
1  a'  1111  ther  in  IJabyh  aba.  ;-  ;  >, 
33  .  :  \x  st  off  in  ri  liest  dis- 
tri  ts  1  if  China,  ii.  314  :  nut  to 
be  employed  by  officials  without 
authi  irity.  365. 

Labranda.  temple  belonging  to  the 
eit\'  of.  410.  n.  :  Carian  temple  of. 
;  is. 


calamities.  11.  30.  37. 
\in_i-!  on  copper  money,  ii.  19". 

anrient  1   ime  of  land  of  Sumer 

a:    ;  Akk  id.  230. 
\::  .  -  of  S   ba  and  Raidan.  507. 
'.'.:..    '    -  -  .  rial  1     it  ..:'■■    \vi  >rks 


Kii     -ti  succeeds   \>.i  capti\e  brother, 

K :  1  '  -  •  : : . .  -  .-    1  : .  i  i .   r  49  n , 

Kin g s s e.  ca j ) i t a  1    II    n 

.-.  S  ■•  _  -  ,  .      rnr  tn  ats.  as  ::.- 
fi  i'ii  ir.   v.  i:  ii    Kin.    i; .    1  73  :   tak   n 
1  >i  .-oner,   1  ".1. 
Ki-hi  :k    or   \  ill    je    group    in    I  lauak- 


INDEX.  527 

Ladak,    marriage    and   succession    in,  92  ;  his   theory  of  perfection,   93, 

55S.  94  ;  Lao-tze  and  Buddhism,  147. 

Lady  of  the  house,  name  for  the  law-       Lapis-lazuli,  called  blue  stone  of  Babel, 


ful   wife  in    Egypt,  122,  125,  204; 


-j— 


sense   of  the  phrase  in   Malabar,  Laranda    and    other    typical     names, 

552.                                          _  41811. 

Lagash  =  Sirgulla,  Sirbulla,  Shirpuria.  Large     estates,     management     of,   in 

etc.,  259.  Egypt,    106,    107  ;  discouraged   in 

Laish  and  the  men  of  Dan,  390.  China,  ii.  50  ;   large  estates  under 

Laissez  faire,  growth  in  China  of  the  the  Sung,  190,  191. 

doctrine,  ii.  153.  Larissa,  range  of  the  name,  418;  sup- 
Lake  Moeris,  76.  posed  city  in  Arabia,  517. 

Lamazou,  wife  of  Pirhoum  and  Hani-  Larsa,   early  kings   of,   254  ;   Larsa,   a 

erba,  329.  city    of     Sunier.     264  ;     identified 

Lamentations  of  Isis  and  Xeplitys,  1 1 1.  with     Ellasar     of    Genesis,    266; 

Land  surveyors  one  of  three  classes  in  founded  by   Ur  Bau,    272;  kings 

Egyptian  enumeration,    ~S  ;  land  of,   27S  ;   perhaps  connected  with 

tax  or  rent  in   Egypt,   130  ;   lands  Larissa,  418. 

held  ex  officio,  129,   132  ;   land  of  Lasi-rab,  king  of  Guti,  265  n. 

the  soldier-,  the  priests,  the  king,  Later  Egyptian  monarchy,  ii.  408. 

and  the  "remaining  lands,-''   139  ;  Latifundia'va.  ancient  Egypt,  67.  79. 

land    let    for   cultivation    by    the  Lato.   inscription  of,  472   n.  ;   treaties 

year.  iSS  :  increase  in  number  of  between  Lato  and  Olus,  475. 

private   landlords.    1S9  ;    registra-  Law  suit  between  Sininana  and   Ibba- 

tion  of  land    in  Egypt,   189.  190  ;  sin,  329. 

land    of    Punt,    station    between  Laws    of    Egyptians    in   eight    books, 

Egypt  and   Babylonia,  270  ;   land  56  ;  civil  and  domestic  customary 

paid  for  in  kind,  344  :   land  mea-  law,     181-223  ;     Babylonian     do., 

sured  by  seed.  354  ;  ownership  of,  320-79  ;     Akkadian     law    tablet, 

in   East  Africa,  532,  533:   Ian  led  360-71  ;   Mazaceni,  laws  of.  416; 

property    in    hands    of    Towarek  Rhodes,    maritime    law    of,   443  ; 

women.  539  ;'"  land  or  a  garden  "  Charondas,    laws    of.   445   \\.\    of 

=  property   in    town    or    country,  Zaleucus.  447,  448  ;  of  the  Massa- 

562  ;   land    measured   by    seed  in  lians,  452  ;    Georgian     laws,    458 

Malabar.    570  ;    land    tenure   and  ff.  :  of  Crete  and    Sparta,  467  t(.  ; 

taxation   under  the    flan,  ii.   150:  Gortyn      laws,      476-85  ;      Syro- 

land    tax    remitted   on   reclaimed  Roman    laws.    487-95  ;    Saba?an 

land,    152;    granted    rent    free    to  marriage  law,  523  ;   Kabyle    laws, 

cultivators.    190;  granted   to   dis-  535  :   ancient    Chinese    laws,    see 

trict  colleges,  210  ;  land  tax,  penal  Chow   Li;   laws    against   Taoism, 

character    under    Yung    lo,    240  ;  ii.    206  ;     modern    Chinese     laws, 

grants    of   land  to    imperial   rela-  ii.  344-74. 

tions,  244  ;  registered  for  taxation.  Lawyers,  no  such  profession  in  China. 

2;2  :  for  cultivation,  how  obtained,  ii.  371. 

303  ;    owned     by    families,     30'j  :  Layard.  Sir  Henry,  on  fair  Jew-;.  26. 

cost    of    small     plots.    314.     315;  Leagues  and  covenants  between  feudal 

land  sold  after  a  famine  restored  princes,  ii.  So. 

to  original  owners.  358  :  not  to  be  Leang  Dynasty,  financial  experiments 

taken  up  in  large  quantities,  357  ;  of.  ii.  15S. 

may   not    be   sold    to    a    creditor,  Leao   Dynasty,   ii.    166  :   said   to   have 

358;     land     and     buildings    sold  been    ruined   by    Buddhists,    17;: 

-   parately,   359;    partition   of,   in  representatives  of  early.  248. 

Peru.  455.  Learned  ladies-maid  of  Chinese  novel, 

Lane,  on  cost   of  living  in    Egypt,  72  ;  ii.  296. 

on.  funeral  of  tyrannical  Bey,  74  ;  Learning,  praises  of,  104. 

on  property  buried  with  the  dead,  Lease    of    Ptolemy     Philopator,    (SS  : 

102.  tablets    concerning     leases,    3,4  ; 

Language  of  Mitani,    letter  of  'Push-  lease    of   sacred     pastures,     458; 

ratta  in.  293.  lease    and    mortgage    combined, 

Lao-tze.    Confucius'   confession   to.   ii.  35S  ;  lease  and  loan  in  China.  35S, 

84,  87  ;   doctrine  of  his  followers.  3':3-   doctrine   of,    421-3  ;    leases 


S2S 


INDEX. 


as  security   for   loans   in    Ireland.        Lin-wen-hi   on    Ming    degeneracy,    ii. 
420  3.  ....      326. 

Legal  dav's  work,  duration  of.  in  China,       Lion,  Akkadian  name  for.  231. 


11.  3  Hi. 
Legal    documents,    how   preserved    in 

Kg\  pt.  190. 
Legendary  races  of  (  ireece.  417.  418. 
Legislators,  semi-mythical  Greek.  425. 
Legitimat  '.   Egyptian  law  regards  all 

chili  .ren  as.  2  1  5. 
Leleges.  wall  of.  at  Iassus,  42S  :  Lelegcs 

,  :  d   Carians,  tradition  respecting, 

Lelex.    matriarchal    story  concerning. 

4  1  7. 
Lemnos.  pre- 1  lellenic  inscription  from. 

2v'.  v  7.  417.  418. 


Lists  of  Babylonian  kings,  257  ;  of  offi- 
cers and  fun<  tions  from  Kouyun- 
djik,  342. 

Literary  controversies  in  China,  ii. 
206  ;  literary  and  a-sthetic  diver- 
sions, 381. 

Literati,  complaints  of  northern,  ii. 
241  :  doctrine  of,  one  of  the  three 
religions  of  China.  2^17  ;  Jesuits 
adopt  the  dress  of,  266. 

Literature,  losses  to,  between  the  Han 
and  Sony  Dynasties,  ii.  130  ; 
under  the  Tang.  143. 

Li-tse-ching,  rebel  emperor,  ii.   250. 


Leo    the    l-aunan    -ends    embassy  to       Li-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  250. 


China,  ii.  139. 


Little  Delos---=  1'uteoli.  395. 


Lepsius  on  origin  of  Phoenicians.  385.  Littleton  on  mortgages,  ii.  417. 

Le-Sze.    Premier  of  Tsin-hwang-ti,   11.  Liturgies,  or  funeral  services,  charges 
1    ;.  1    3.  tor.  166  ;  sale  of.  with   other  pro- 

Letters  conveyed   by  private  carriers.  Pcl"y-  '67. 


11.  341. 


Lixus.  remains  of.  404. 


Lcttrcs   uii/ituifiS,    imperial     charities       Lo,  Ming  artist  in  pottery,  ii.  256. 


tii  ?'  ribeii  in.  ii.  279,  285. 

Leuco-Sytians.   386;    in   Asia    Minor. 
414  :  Peuco-Syrian  religion,  420. 

Li.  king  '  f  Chow.  ii.  7  : . 

Li.  various  meanings  of,  ii.  42  :  accord- 
in;   to  Semedo,  271. 

Liaii  1.  •      Pear). 

Li         •    hi  on  luxury  and  extra'.-,: 
ii.   324. 
■.car.  273. 

Libraries     and     schools     in     ancient 
Lgy:  '.  55. 

1  .'■ ■".  -'  ■  ■.    1       1st.  ,  ii.  94.     5. 

••  Light  "     and     "  heavy  "     nn  mey     of 

1  "nines :  •  <  on  nnist.s.  ii.  1  57. 

.     "  th.e    one-eyed    dragon." 

Li  Ki.    fn      voidh       the  nan  e,   ii.   25  : 
r  n  i--ver.'.'.i     ;.:  iditure.  3;  ; 

01:  o::'     ...  ,,  iaries.  J  <  :   on   public 

:-!>.    •  1  :     on    mourning    for    a 

r.uv-'-.  '    ■  :   on  duties    of    «    liidren. 


Matteo 


I    : 


Lin- 


..    ;;.  iu-  :  aj 


!C    b 


Loans  in  Kgypt.  China,  and  Baby- 
lonia. 194  :  of  grain  from  Baby- 
lonian temples.  246  :  loans  and 
leases,  parallelism  between.  323  : 
of  corn  and  money  in  ancient 
Babylonia.  332  ;  at  interest  in 
Assyrian  deed-.  343  :  distinction 
between  loans  for  necessity,  trade. 
and  prodigality,  ii.  327. 
Local  organization  under  the  Chow, 
ii.  42-4  :  local  government,  work- 
ing of.  in  China,  361. 
Locrians  called  Leleges.  nobles  count 
de-cent  tic  nigh  wi  mien,  417  : 
Locrians  as  ship-builders,  432. 
Loess,    districts    of     China,    ii.    3.    6  : 

theory  of  loess  formation,  7. 
.og  halts  in  Asia  Minor,  413. 

.:  . .    in.sta    ■     -    of,   in  <  ihina,   ii. 
222  n. 

cup  iives.  ii.  377  n. 
,00  and   Chow,  relations  between,   ii. 

Si. 
.1 1st    property.    Mongi  '-    and    1  )rt  ■-' 

nil    -      m   en  ing.  ii.  279. 
.    tl    .  ■    loans  or  n     ne\    1     lbs,  ii.  332. 

.ou-.-iou-fou.  last    adherent    of     Sung 
1  r. ::..  ii.   1  --.  178. 

■i   es  in   1  7th   <  em  try   Chi]     . 

204.  270. 
"  Lower  sea"  in  Cudea's    inscriptions. 

Loyalty   to   a  dynasty   n   t   patriotism, 

ii.  1  ~  1. 


INDEX.  529 

Loyang  the  eastern  court,  ii.  106.  !    Mainotes     and     Tzaconians,    archaic 

Lugal-girinna,  called  Sargon,  ii.  259.  dialects  and  modern  customs  of, 

Lulumi,  289.  4S6. 

Lusitanians  and  Lacedaemonians,  460.    \    "  Maintenance,"  counterpart  to  English 

Luxury    denounced  under    the   Hans.  laws  against,  ii.  371. 

ii.   111  ;  Chinese   writers  on   eco-  Makarib,  earliest  Sabaean  rulers  called, 

nomic  effect  of,  324-327.  503. 

Lycian   monuments    to    women,    427  ;  Malabar,    counterpart     to     Egyptian 

settlements    deserted    in    summer  custom     in,    1  S3  ;    all    leases     in 

time,  Herodotus  on,  428  ;  league  of  Malabar  have  the  form  of  mort- 

33  towns,  429  ;  method  of  tracing  gages.  323  ;  mortgages  in  Malabar, 

descent     through     mother,    429  ;  354  ;      Malabar      and      Egyptian 

Lyciarchissa    and    other    offices,  husbands,  parallel   between,  550  ; 

432.  parallel    to    Egyptian     marriage 

Lyctus,    inscription    of,    471  ;    treaties  contract,  554  ;  lotteries  or  money 

with,  475.  clubs  in,  566  ;  Malabar  and  Egyp- 

Lycurgean  views  of  Chinese  general,  ii.  tian    tenure    compared.   569,   570, 

112.  574;    Malabar  marriage  act,  pro- 

Lycurgus,   Herodotus   on,   466  ;   legis-  posals   for  a,  ii.  458  ;  parallel    to 

lation  of,  467  ;  Rhetra,  472  ;  inno-  Egyptian  husband's  contributions, 

rations,  probable  character  of  his,  473. 

485.  Malayalam,    how    related    to    Tamil, 

Lydia    reconciled    with    the     Medes,   ;  545. 

317.  Malayali    and     Basque     parallel     to 

Lydian   influence  on   Greek   religions.  Egyptian  marriage  contracts,  21 1  ; 

416.  date    of  earliest  Malayali  deeds, 

Lydians,    invention   of  retail  trade  as-    j  545. 

cribed  to,  416.  Male  and  female  assemblies  of  Mini- 
coy,  567. 
Maleficent  powers  of  the  air,  237. 

Mabiou,  M.  Maspero  on  the,  57.  Mallas  and  Malayali,  ii.  440. 

Macao,  Portuguese  factory  at,  ii.  262  ;  Malta,  language,  etc.,  of,  404. 

foreign  track'  restricted  to,  275.  "  Man  the  son  of  his  god,"  237  ;  man 

Macartney,  embassy  of  Lord,  ii.  238.  and  citizen  synonymous  in  Sumer 

Maccarius  S.,  207.  and  Akkad,  266. 

Macrones,    descendants    of    ancient,  Mana,  Samoan  conception  of,  236. 

439.  Man-chan    advocates    free   trade   and 

Madhi  and  Misru,  strife  between,  500.  loans  at  interest,  ii.  326. 

Magan,  Milucli,  Ciubi  and  Nituk,  269  ;  Mandarin  dialect  compared  to   Latin, 

mines  of.  worked  in  third  Egyptian  ii.  264. 

Dynasty,  270.  Mandeville,    after     Odoric,    on     inn- 
Magistracies    of    5,     10,     and     30     at  keepers  of  Jamchay,  ii.  223. 

Cartilage,  393.  Manetho,  38,  42  ;  ii.  399. 

"  Magistrate's  china, ':  ii.  256.  Mang-tze.  see  Mencius. 

Magnesite  found  at  Xipur,  250.  Manichieism  or  Magianism  in  China, 

Magic    powers    of    the     Non-Human,  ii.  149. 

237.  Manna,  people  of,  311. 

Mago,   quoted    by    Roman   writers   on  "  Manner  of  the  Xidonians."  390. 

agriculture,  409.  Mantchu    Dynasty,   foundation    of.  ii. 

Magpa,    husband    of   Tibetan   heiress  248  ;  emperor  revenges  his  fathers 

called.  558.  murder,  249:  dynasty  established, 

Mahaffy,  i'rof.,  his  translation  of  Greek  249-251  ;  soldiers  not  allowed  to 

wills  found  in  Egypt,  221.  borrow.    279  :    emperors,    vacant 
Mahomedan  money-lenders,  ii.  227.  lands  granted  by,  357. 
Mahomedans    plundered     by    Chinese  Mantchu     Christian,     arguments     ad- 
usurers,  ii.  337.  dressed  to,  ii.  282. 
"  Maid  of  a  village  "'  in  Samoa.  470.  Mantua,  duodecimal  divisions  in,  424. 
Ma'in,    kings    of,    497,     502;     Mainu  Manual  of  precedence,  70. 

Mi-ran.    301  ;    Ma'in    and    Jathil.  Manufactures    in    Egypt,    100;    corn- 
kings   of,   502  ;  site  and    remains  bined  with   agriculture   in  China, 

of,  503-  ii.  304-307- 

Vol.     II. —  I'.C.  M    M 


53° 


1XDEX. 


Manumission  of  slaves  and  their 
children  in  Egyptian  wills.  222. 

Manurial  value  of  Nile  water,  ii.  410. 

Manzi.  ii.  2  16. 

Maonites,  various  readings  for.  499. 

Mapillahs,  origin  of,  546  ;  as  tenants 
in  Malabar,  573. 

Marco  Polo  on  climate  of  Badakshan, 
16  :  on  island  of  women,  455.  567  : 
arrives  at  the  court  of  China,  ii. 
177  ;  on  paper  money.  19S  ;  his 
journeys  in  China.  21S  ;  his 
description  of  China,  219  ;  of 
Chinese    manners    and    customs, 

220  :  on  population  of  Hang-chow, 

221  ;    hostelries     and    highwa\s, 

222  :  lake  Sidiou  and  water 
parties,  223  :  public  granaries. 
223,  224  :  orphan  asylums  and 
the  grand  canal.  224.  225  ;  on 
paper  money,  225.  226  :  revenue 
of  Hang-chow,  226  ;  return  to 
Venice,  229. 

Marcus    Aurelius,    embassy    from,    to 

South  China,  ii.  1 1  7. 
Marduk  'Merodach),  called  "  Supreme 

Patesi."  262. 
Marduk     abal     iddin,     sec     Marduk- 

apal-iddin. 
Marduk-apal-iddin,   king   of  Babylon, 

291  :   boundary  stone  of.  291.  342. 
Marduk-belatsuikbi   allied  widi    Elam 

and  Chalda-a.  300. 
Marduk-belusate    rebels    against    his 

brother,  299. 
Marduknadinahi   carries  off  Assvrian 

gods.  254.  296. 
Marduknadinsum,  son  of  Xabupalid- 

din.  299. 
Marduknaziraplu.  grandson  of  Xebo- 

ahi-iddin.  553. 
Marduksapikullat,  296. 
March,  dvke  and  elliptical  temple  of, 

Maritime  law  of  Rhodes.  443. 

Mark  t.  Kgvptian.  represented  on  ;th 
Eyn.  luini),  98  ;  market  police  of 
Kab\  k-,  5  ^8  :  markets.  Confucius 
and  Mi-ncms  on  cornering  and 
monopolies  ii.  21  :  market  regula- 
tiwiis  of  ( 'how  Li.  ;o.  Go  :  market 
gardener,  fable  of  the.  1  52  :  mar- 
ket   price  and  rates  to  be  paid   by 

Marriage  -cttl-anents  in  Egypt,  11;  : 
contract-.  2''. 4.  20;.  20-.  ;■;•'.  210. 
211.2:;;  r,  mtra'-t-  in  Main  Ionia. 
3'  '  V  '.  -'  ■.  yx.  ;~  i  :  laws  of 
(  h  if'  aidas  on  -e<a>iid.  420  :  con- 
tra :-  log;  -tered  a'  M  v>  inns,  g ;  3  : 
cu.-'.     a-   ■■:'    MakCarddng-,    ;g;;  : 


and  inheritance,  law  of.  in  Mala- 
bar, 576,  ii.  461  ;  gifts  of  silk 
limited  in  China,  ii.  64  ;  of  the 
eldest  son  needed  to  found  a 
dynasty,  67  n.  ;  universal  in 
China,  353  ;  customs  of  Peru- 
vians, ii.  454  ;   a  contract,  460. 

Married  women  appear  as  proprietors 
in  Rhodian  inscription,  442. 

Martu,  south  east  of  Babylonia,  265. 

Marumakatayan  or  "  sisters  sons'  in- 
inheritanceg  ii.  548  IT. 

Mas.  names  beginning  with.  408. 

Mashonaland  gold  mines.  405. 

Maspero,  Manual  of  Egyptian  hier- 
archy. 61. 

Massalia  and  Rhoda.  coins  of,  copied, 
402. 

Masters  of  the  Hall  of  audience,  62. 

Ma-tang,  Eunuch,  patron  of  Ricci,  ii. 
266.  268. 

Mate?- jdDiilids,  mention  of.  inPlautus 
407  :  the  only  householder.  552. 

Maternal  grandfather,  powers  of,  re- 
stricted, 48S  :  maternal  uncle, 
powers  of.  in  Africa.  532  ;  import- 
ance of.  in  Arabia,  521. 

Ma-twan-lin,  Encyclopaedist,  ii.  16, 
98,  100  ;  on  state  purchase-.  56  ; 
on  Chow  treasurer.  57  :  on  primi- 
tivecurrency,  58  ;  on  examinations, 
73  :  budget  of  Wei  cultivator, 
given  by,  113:  on  agrarian 
economy  of  the  Tang.  150-152  ; 
Vissering's  translations  from.  158  ; 
on  Tang  laws  against  hoarding, 
161  :  end  of  his  work.  189:  on 
students'  fees.  209  :  on  crowded 
population.  219:  continuator  of, 
2;;  :  "General  Examination  of 
Records  and  Scholars."  479. 

Mawan  perhaps—  Magan.  501. 

Mawiiat.  fortress  of  Hisn  Ghorab, 
505. 

Maxims  of  Ani  on  husbands  and  wives, 
201-5  :  of  Babylonian  law,  33S. 

Mazaceni.  Strabo  on  the.  416.  538. 

Ma/.dek.  Persian  socialist,  ii.  12S- 
1  30. 

Measures  of  land.  Mesopotamia!"),  ii. 
442  :    Egyptian  do.,  445.  440. 

Mecca.  Makoraba,  old  name  for.  505. 

Mechanic  and  pea-ant.  little  difference 
betv.  een.  in  China,  ii.  3  10. 

Mechanical  -kill  and  resources  of 
Eg\  ptians.  100.  ior. 

Mede-,  Cimmerians  and  Scyths.  com- 
bine 1  movements  of,  314  :  Medes 
mala*  Cyrus  son  of  Astyages' 
daughter.  51 8. 

Media  and  Persia.  500. 


INDEX.  531 

Medical  aid  to  government  employees,  Meri-antef.  an  eldest  son,  receives  his 

ii.  372.  fathers  office,  204. 

Mehat    en    Susekh,    grandmother    of  Merodach   and   Osiris,  names  written 

Shishak,  116.  with  same  ideograms,  339;  Mero- 

Mehemet    Ali     and     the    taxation    of  dach,  son  of  Ea,  237  ;   Merodach 

Egypt,  69,  74,  75  ;  his  tax  on  Waqf  "  filled  a  tilling/'  ii.  20  n.  {sec  also 

lands,  179  ;  his  irrigation  schemes,  Marduk;  ;     Merodach    and     Zar- 

ii.  41  i.  412.  panit,  gifts  dedicated  to,  286. 

Memorial  against  discussions  between  Merodach  Baladan  of  Lit  Jakin,  307  ; 

scholars,  ii.  207.  his  citadel   destroyed  by   Sargon, 

Memphis,  high  priest  of,  concerned  with  309. 

funeral    ceremonies,     166  :    chief  Meruitensa.  high  steward  of  Xeb-ka- 

priest   of   Ptah,  169:  chief  priest-  n-ra,  58. 

hood     of,    endowments    of,   171  ;  Mesopotamia  and  Egypt,  correspond- 

name     has     same     meaning     as  ence  between,  120  ;  restricted  use 

Eridu,  252.  of  the  term,  263. 

Men  and  Men  tilt,  query  connected,  501,  Metallurgy,  traditional  cradle-land  of. 
Men  and  women,  proportion  of,  accord-  232. 

ing  to  Chow  Li,  ii.  71.  Metals  known   in    Mesopotamia,  232; 
Men  of  Letters,  position  of.  in  feudal  in  ancient   China,  ii.    29;    metal- 

China,  ii.  S2.  working  tribes,  i.  401. 

Mencius'  account  of  Confucius  and  the  Metayage,    ancient    Babylonian,    not 

Chun   Tsew,   ii.   25.26;  on'1  get-  clearly  described,  336. 

ting    the  hearts    of    the   people,"  Mezzabarba,  mission  of,  to  China,  ii. 

32  :    on    murder   and    misgovern-  277. 

merit,  on   over-taxation  and  fowl-  Miao-tze,  barbarian,  subdued,  ii.  287  ; 

stealing,  j},  34  :  on  game  preserv-  sale  of  iron  to,  forbidden,  363. 

ing     and     results    of    benevolent  Michaux's  stone,  344. 

government.  40  ;  on  Chief  of  the  "  Middle  Antiquity''   of  China,  22,  ii. 

West,  45  :  on  deforesting  of  hills,  14,  65.  121. 

52  ;    on    fostering,   69  :    on   those  Middle   Empire,  religious  feeling  dur- 

who  unite  the  princes  in  leagues,  ing.  170. 

80  :  on   difference   of  dialects    in  Middle    Kingdom,    ancient   China    so 

different  provinces,  Son.:  against  called,  ii.  21. 

profit    seeking,    86  :    on    life    and  Midian,  sons  of,  503. 

righteousness,  87  ;  quoted  by  Choo  Mih  Teih,  advocate  of  universal  love, 

Hi  on   importance  of  agricultural  ii.  87-91. 

statistics,  21 1.  Mikrat-sin  engaged  in  sales  and  par- 
Mendez  Pinto,  Memoirs  of.  ii.  262.  titions  of  land,  328,  331. 

Mendoza's  Hist,  of  China,  ii.   262  ;  on  Milesians,    colony    in    West    Arabia 

the  literati,  264.  ascribed  to,  516. 

Menes,  17,  38  ;  dyke  attributed  to,  42,  Miletus,  sexes  eat  apart  at,  417  ;  arch- 

75.  angels  of  the  planets  worshipped 

Menkara.  granddaughter  of.  49  :  priest  at.  420. 

of.    50  :    inscription  on    coffin   of,  Military  lands,  in  what   sense  heredi- 

ii2:  chapter  of  ritual  ascribed  to  tarv,    129;    military    qualities    of 

his  time.  122.  Egyptians.  242  ;  military  laws  in 

Menodora.     Pamphylian    millionaire.  China   include   stock  farming,   ii. 

432.       _  _  373- 

Menon  =  scribe,  a  common  surname  in  Mimmuria,    name    of  Thothmes    III. 

Malabar.  564.  in  Tell  el  Amarna  tablets,  293. 

Mentuhotep,  judge   under    Usurtasen  Min.ean     inscriptions — Halevy  :     Xo. 

I..    5!'>  ;    benevolence   of,   96  ;    on  5^5.  500  :    Xo.  578,  ;oi  ;   Xo.  392, 

rival  brothers,  199.  501  ;     Claser  :      Xo.    [000.    504: 

Mentuhotep.  11th  Dyn.  queen.  61.  Xos.  4S5.  481.  pp.  ;o7.  509:   date 

Menua.   mountains   of.  in   Gudea's  in-  and  bibliography  of. 

scriptions,  269.  Mmaeans,  history  of,   goes  back  to  re- 
Menuas,  mother  of,  303.  mote  date,  270  :  Kama,  chief  town 

Merchant,     epithets     applied     to,   in  of.  509. 

syllabaries.  339.  Minanu  and  his  son  Ilani-ituram,  par- 
Merenra,  pyramid  of  king,  50.  ties  to  contracts,  328. 


532  INDEX. 

Mineptah  I.,  son  of  Ramescs  II..  173.  still  prevalent  in  nominally  Maho- 

Mincs    and    quarries   used   by   Egyp-  medan    tribes,    539  ;    the    rule  in 

tians,  95.  Canary   Isles.  54.2  ;  commoner  in 

Ming     Dynasty,    founder  of.    ii.    230;  Malabar   than   supposed.    550.  ii. 

Chinese     iSth    century,  237;    its  466:  of  Minicoy  islanders,  i.  567. 

chronicles   meagre,  245.  247  ;  fall  Monopolizers  and  unfair  traders,  law 

of,  2;i  :   Ming-shi  compiled,  280.  against,  ii.  368. 

Ming-tsong.  Sung  Emperor,  ii.  175.  Montecorvino,    John     of.     Bishop    of 
Minicoy.   454:  t'ne   original   island  of  Cambalec,  ii.  231. 

women.     566— S  ;      language    and  Months  of  Akkadian  calendar,  ii.  437. 

notation  of,  546  :  physical  features  Monuments,  two   types   of  feature   on 

of.  islanders,  51  b  earliest    Egyptian,  25  ;  built   with 

Minimum   wage  in    Chinese   code.    ii.  surplus    wealth.    69;    descriptive 

310.  sentences  from  the.  St. 

Minister  of  Rites,  selection  of  scholars  Moplahs  or  Mapillahs,  546. 

by.  ii.  11S.  120.  Morimene,  temple  of,  419. 

Mil, or    Hans,  one   of  the  three   king-  Mortality  of   Egyptian  expeditions  re- 
borns, ii.  124.  corded.  90.  96. 

Minos,  laws  of  Crete  ascribed  to.  465.  Mortgage  or  pledge  without  :  ossessi  m 
Misru  in   Minajan  inscription  =  Egypt,  in    ancient     Egypt,     182;     wife's 

;co.  cowry    secured     by.    209  :    mort- 

Missionaries,   edict    banishing   Chris-  gages  and  sales  by  various  parties, 

ban.  ii.  2~7.  327.    330 :     peculiar     form    of,    in 

Mitani,   kingdom   of.  291  :   Tushratta.  Tenos  inscription,  437  :  mortgages 

king  of.  293;  afterwards  bit  Adini.  multiplied  in  civil  disorders,  437  ; 

2  iS\  mortgages    and     sales    in    Tenos 

Mizwad.  earliest  Mina_-an  rulers  called,  ::.-•:"::  w   n.     2.5;:  s    mi 

;    5.  Cynuean    porticos    and    Halicar- 

Mnemones  at   I  Ialicamassus  —  Recor-  nassian    stoa.   463:    of   skives    in 

clers.  436.  Gortyn  code.  485  :  mortgages  and 

Mnoians  of  Crete,  465.  dowries     in     Ceylon,     561.     562: 

Mod   1  it  ■  t    ;ation.  ii.  263.  Chinese    law    of    mortgages,     ii. 

Mode    .   Chin   -   .  court   sy  and  hospi-  3<  :. 

ta!  "■  of.  ii.  2  -t.  2  ,2.  Mortitum  vadium,  or  mortgage,  ii.  416, 
Moharrak.  frcdi-water  springs  at   sea  417. 

off,  ;  1  ;.  Moschi,  land  of.  312. 

Momms-  n  on  triple  divisions  of  Grmco-  Moses  of  Chorene  on  Chinese,  ii.  130. 

[tab  .11-.  421.  ••  Mother  law,"  traces  of.  9. 

Mona-tAA m  in  China  under  the  Tang.  Mother  of  Amten    not   a  lady  of  pro- 

ii.   i_A  149.  perty.   49:  mother  mentioned   in 

[on.ey.  in   an   ienl    I '.    v]  t,  funei  =   riptions    and    p  ipyri, 

1  17  :    money    weig    ed    an  1      rain  112  :   ;     ither's  father,  inheritance 

measured      in      babylonia.     339:  from.  1  1  1.  r  1 4  ;    Egyptian  view  of 

"money  of  separation.'1  36b.  v'<7  :  the  mother's  claims.  2  .0  :   mother 

e.g.-     a-:    by  Vu  and  '\',\:  g.  ii.  of  children,  her  claim    for   main- 

57;    is-ui-d    by    cities,    mer   hams  tenance.   206:  mother   mentioned 

a    .  i  tra  e:    ry  unions.  ;  ■ .  in  deeds  concerning  children.  21 ;  ; 

-     :    money     A    timers.     C'm'n   se  goddess  call    I  1      t    ei   of  the  chil- 

.•■■'■•  .     1     ■  :        barges    of  in    of  the    ti  »\vi  .   269  :    im  I 

Iw  ■  ien      ".;''.  and  daughter  renounce  each  other, 

b.   tir-t    appearance    of.  ii,    174.  v A  ;  mother's   family   name   used 

m;  1     lw-;e.        C   i-fong-'u.    j-c;  by      Latinized      Etruscans.     427: 

cony.;-'  -  -     i    :.-  .  mother's    family   may    inherit    by 

A    of  t        ;  .'ol   code  S\  ro-Roman    code.    494  ;    mo: 

ed  or     eldest     lady      r  :'    i      A  l1 

i:2'-.    2  m  :  tali    of.  ehold.    5;;  :     mi  >thcr     :  1  dn- 

:.  2~  •' :  princes,  t     ned   by   sons   in    bast    Atr 

'.s  -o  M'  o;;  A   wo.  ;  s  1   :  mother  of  Kim -hi:  g,  ;i.  2  ■  ■•  : 

d    '.  '         I        '  '  Ac    id   ah   i  '  ■  :  mother,  customary  r ghts  of  em- 

s' "A       •-■  '  -     work      1 :.  nese,     ^47    ;o  :     tales     of     heroic 

I  ' .  :    -ab     ir.s.  523  :  in  others.  349.  350  :  I'erm  ians  best 


IXDEX 


informed  about  provinces  of  their 

mothers,  453. 
Motley    on  European   admiration   for 

Chinese,  ii.  85. 
Mougel,  the  Barrage  engineer,  ii.  413. 
Mou-hou-fou,  religion  of,  ii.  149. 
Mount    Qui,  sages  of,  sacrificed   to,  ii. 

3?; 

Mourning,  term  of,  in  East  Africa, 
533  >  degrees  of.  for  relatives,  ii. 
68-70. 

Mouziris  =  Muyiri-kotta,  546. 

Moveables,  law  of,  in  Egypt.  196. 

Movement  of  population  south  and 
west,  temp.  Rameses  III.,  295. 

Mow,  a  ploughland,  ii.  43 


Xabopolassar  seizes  Babylon  for  him 

self.    314;    alliance    with    Media, 

316. 
Nabuchodorosor,  king  of  Pasi,  295. 
Xabupaliddin,  king  of  Babylon,  299. 
Xabusumiskum,     wars     and     treaties 

with  Rammannirari,  ii.  297. 
Nad,    political    division    of   Malabar, 

547,  548- 
Xaharina    of    Egyptian    inscriptions, 

Xai-hwangti,  legendary   Chinese   em- 
peror, 32. 
Xair.  Bill  of  Mr.  Sankaran,  ii.  46S. 
Xaiii  land,  upper  and  lower  lakes  of, 

Mulberry  planters  on  bad  times,  ii.  45.        Xairs,  marriage  law  of,  compared  with 


Mummification  practised  in  Canaries, 

544,  and  Peru,  ii.  454. 
Municipal  offices  all  filled  by   women 

in  Lycia,  432. 
Music,    profession     of    hereditary,    in 

ancient  China,  ii.  54. 
Mut,  action  against  priest  of,  60. 
Mutabil.  governor  of  Badanna,  278. 
Mutbal,  land  of,  279,  2S7. 
Mu-tsong-ming,  ii.  248. 
Miitter-rccht,  or  female   descent,   in, 

Mutual  aid  preferable  to  taxing,  ii.  35. 

Mutual  relations  or  "  belongings," 
rights  of.  in  Ceylon,  560,  561. 

Mutual  responsibility  of  neighbours 
enforced,  ii.  151, 

Mycen;c,  walls  of,  405. 

Myconos,  marriage  settlements  regis- 
tered at.  56] . 

Mylasa,  inscription  from,  refers  to 
leases  in   form   of  mortgage,  437, 

575- 
Myrina,  art  of,  463.  464. 
Mythical  emperors  of  China,  ii.  17. 

Xabata?an  inscriptions,  Egyptian 
parallel  to,  1  16  ;  Nahataean  and 
Xair  parallel  to  Egyptian  mar- 
riage customs,  211  ;  Nahataean 
inheritance.  438 :  Nabataeans  = 
Xabatu,  511  :  marriage  customs 
of.  511-13:  Petra,  capital  of, 
:i2  :  inheritance  and  descent 
among,  512:  tombs  entailed  in 
the  female  line.  513  :  Nahataean 
book  ot    Agriculture,    forgery   of, 

Xabonassar.  Babylonian  chronicle  be- 
gins with,  304. 

Xabonidus,  antiquarian  zeal  of,  233  ; 
may  confound  sosses  and  cen- 
turies. 2;;:  antiquarianism  ami 
unpopularity  of,  518.  319. 


Egyptian,  113.457;  Xairs  com- 
pared to  Plato's  Guardians,  485  ; 
military,  polyandrous,  serpent 
worshippers,  546;  assemblies,  dis- 
cussion and  voting  at,  549  :  sup- 
port their  mothers  and  sisters, 
563  ;  Xairs  and  Xamboori  (Xam- 
butiri),  priestly  and  military  castes, 

5^3-   ' 
Xakhb  el  Hajar  fortress,  504  ;  doubt- 
ful   renderings    of  inscription    of, 

5or>.  . 
Xambutiri    Brahmins,  546  ;   marriage 

customs   of,   555  ;    pretensions   of. 

ii.  464. 
Names  given  to  statues,  gates,  etc.,  in 

Babylonia,  272. 
Xam-magh-ni,   son-in-law  of  IT-bau. 

262.' 
Xamrassit,  king  of  Erech,  2~4. 
Nanking,  capital  of  one  ot   the  Three 

Kingdoms,  ii.  1  24. 
Xaram-sin,  foundation  stone  of,  found 

by    Xabonidus,  253  :  brick  stamp 

of.    found    by    Pennsylvania!!    ex- 
pedition, 254. 
Xareae  of  Pliny— Xairs.  546. 
'•  Xarratives  of  the  States, :;  ii.  478. 
Xask,  sacred  way  from  city  of.  500. 
Xatnu,    king  of  the    Xabatu,  defeated 

by  Assurbanipal,  511. 
Xatural  barrage,  regulating  Nile  flood, 

ii.  410. 
Natural  religion  in  China,  146. 
Nature  gods  of  Mesop  itamia,  2}/>. 
Xaukratis,  discoveries  at,  316  :  remains 

of.  406. 
Xavars.  .Wc'  Xairs     called   Protectors, 

'.536). 
Nazibugas.  king  of  Kardunias.  28S. 
Nazimaraddas,    king    of     Kardunias, 

288   :    his     benediction      quoted, 

290. 
Xeb  =  kurios.  21;. 


534 


IXDEX. 


Neb  =  pourer  of  libations.  54. 
Nebka,  temple  of  King,  152. 


Xina   or    Xin,  "  the  great  one,"  239  ; 
daughter  of  Ea,  240. 


Xebka-n-ra  in  the  story  of  the  Peasant,       Xine    Bows,  warriors  of.  on  Egyptian 

frontier,  133  ;  nine  classes  of  the 
people  in  ancient  China,  ii.  54  ; 
nine  mountains,  12;  nine  pro- 
vinces, 11-15;  nine  rivers,  12; 
nine  vases  of  Vu,  81. 

Xineteenth  Dyn.,  change  in  character 
of  religious  enciowments  under, 
170. 

Xineveh,  site  of,  forgotten  before 
Xenophon,  239  ;  fall  of,  314. 


58. 

Xebo  and  1  asmit.  givers  of  wisdom 
to  Assurbanipal,  242  ;  Xebo,  "  the 
legitimate'"''  or  established  son, 
238  ;  worship  of,  introduced  in 
.Assyria,  301. 

Xeboahi-iddin,  banker,  34S  ;  his 
partnerships,  349  ;  other  con- 
tract-. 350,  352  ;  marriage  con- 
tract, 372. 


Xcbt-hai,    Egyptian     word     for     wife,  Xingharsag,  wife  of  Kllilla,  239. 

125.  Xingirsu,  239,   or   Xinib,   husband  of 
Nebuchadnezzar    defeats     Xccho     at  Bail,  240. 

Carchemish,    317;    character    of  Xini-haldu,  father  of  aking  of  Lagash, 


his     inscriptions,    317;     religious 

innovations  of,  3  19. 
Nebuchadrezzar  I.,  -rant  by,  342. 
Xecho  invades  Palestine.  316. 


263. 
Xinip,    wall    dedicated    to   god,   347 
'"ancient   interest   to  be  paid  to,' 
348. 


Necropolis  of  Thebes,  164;  governor       Xinmarki,  daughter  of  goddess  Nina, 
of,  at   feud  with    nomarch,    165  ; 
payments  to  priests  of,  166. 

Negative  confession  in  the  Ritual.  73. 

'•  Neglect  to  observe  celestial  appear- 
ances," Chinese  code  on,  ii.  373. 

Neighbourhood  --live    families,  ii.  42  ; 
Sacred  Edict  on  duties  of,  356. 

Neit,  princesses  act  as  priestesses  of, 
170. 

Nek_\  ah.  Moslem  settlement  in  case  of 
divorce,  367. 

Nephews,  inheritance  by,  407  ;  nephew 
preferred  to  wife  by  Xair,  554. 

Nephoris,    profligate    Egyptian     step- 
mother, 220. 

Xeriglissar  speculates  in  corn,  352. 

Ners   and   sosses,   reckoning   by,  255, 
ii.  434. 

New    Sumerian   language,    so    called, 


New  Year's  Day,  debts  paid  in  China 
by,  ii.  331.  341.  370. 

Newerkara,  King,  0  1 . 

Nil  a  a.  enamelled  tiles  of,  250. 

N  en,  i,eid  of  King-te-ching  pottery 
\\  orks,  ;.2-  i. 

police  described  by  Marco  I'olo 
and  1  )avis,  ii.  222. 

Nile,  the  h  ghway  of  Egyptian  trade, 
' '  [  :  Nile  as  a  g<  id.  In  11111  to  the, 
[fo,  151  :  layhr ;  aside  ot  the  Nile 
1  >i  H  ik,  [5  1  ;  risi  ot  eight  en  yards 
required    to    :.  a        khI,    2wj  ; 

si  nine  of  Nile  llo  k'i.  ii.  410. 

d    Naramat  .  tatiier  ot  Shisbak, 

N  ;n  ■:  >d.  kin-  of  I  lenm  'pod-.,  re- 
i  ii'i  iai  heel  •  lior>es  starve, 


24a 
Nin-narsag,    inscription    to    goddess, 

268. 

Niobe,  so-called  of  the  Sipylus,  414. 

Nipur,  Sippara,  and  Babylon,  citizen 
of,  241  ;  American  excavations  at, 
250  ;  one  of  the  most  ancient 
cities  of  Akkad,  261,  266. 

Nisin,  kings  of,  267  ;  inscriptions  by, 

2 1 3- 

Xiu-chin  Tatars  or  Kin,  ii.  170,  248. 

Nizzuwah  or  Neswa  in  Oman,  fort  at. 
505. 

'•  Noble,  not  such  a  thing  as  being 
bom,':  ii.  J~. 

Xofer-hotep,  scribe  of  a  quarter  of 
Abydos,  267. 

Nofert-ari-Aahmes,  "beautiful  com- 
panion of  Aahmes,"  1  [9, 

Nomarchs  appointed  not  hereditary, 
name  of,  adopted  by  his  people. 
41  :  position  of,  in  table  of  pre- 
cedence, 62  ;  nomarch  of  Siout. 
(>2  :  his  endowments,  157.  173. 
nomarchs.  etc.,  of  Delta  called 
•■  kings  "  in  Assyrian  inscription?, 

3 '3- . 
Nomes,    ideograph   for,  3S  ;  antiquity 

of,  rival  (duets  of,  40  ;  nome-gods, 

1  ;i  >. 
A~<>;v,  or  dowered  husband,  214. 
Normal  rate  of  interest  in  Babylonia. 

da--  334- 
Northern   and   Southern    Empire,  age 

of,  ii.  1  24. 
North-west,  embassy  from  far,  ii.   139. 
North     wind,    sweet    breath     of     the, 

8  1    3. 
No?sis.  Loerian  poetess.  448. 


INDEX.  535 

Notices  to  travellers,  464,  ii.  375.  ment,  285  ;    roguery  among,  334  ; 

Nouit   Amnion,   a  name  for   Thebes,  treatment  of,  by  Chinese  govern- 

39.  ment,  341  ;   duties   of,  under  pre- 

Xouit.  designation  of  ancient  Egyptian  sent  dynasty,  360;  responsible  for 

settlement,  38,  39.  quality  of  goods  supplied  to  go- 

Xubians,  modern,  as  auxiliaries,  142.  vernment,    345  ;    not    allowed    to 

Numbers  of  the  objects  sacrificed  by  buy  land  within  their  jurisdiction, 

Gudea,  247.  369  ;    powers  and  responsibilities 

Xumidian  rule  of  descent,  407.  of  local,  374,  375. 

Nuptial  gifts  in  Theban  and  Memphite  Ogatai    adopts    Chinese    methods    of 

contracts,  209.  government,    ii.    176;     financiers 

Nuraghs   of    Sardinia,   446  ;    builders  of,  225. 

of,  perhaps    Iberians,  447  :  struc-  Ogyris,    island,    and    Ogyr,    tribe,    on 

ture    of,    explained    by    Arabian  Persian  Gulf,  516. 

forts,  505.  Old   age,  respect   for,  among    ancient 
Nur-ranmum,  king  of  Larsa,  27S.  Albanians,  456  ;    in    bast   Africa, 

Nutche,  see  Niu-chin.  531. 

Old   men    maintained  at   public   cost, 
Oases  and  crops  in  Oman,  526  ;  oases  ii.  72. 

of  Central  Asia,  ii.  5.  Olus  and  Lato,  treaty  between,  475. 

Oaths  accepted  as  evidence,    191  :    of  Oman,    inhabitants    of,    called    Naba- 

women   taken   in    Crete,  485;    in  tasans,  520  ;  government  of,  528. 

civil  suits  in  Minicoy,  568.  Onam  festival,  presents    to    wives    at, 
"Observations  of    Bel,"  obscure   pas-  551. 

sage  in,  24  r .  Ophiodes,  island  in  Arabian  Gulf,  517. 

Occupations  hereditary  in  Egypt,  109,  Oppert,  M.,  translations  of  legal  texts 

ill  n.,  126  ;  how  tar  hereditary  in  and  contracts,  321. 

ancient  China,  ii.  54,  55.  Oranges   "only   fit   for   show   at   ban- 
Octo-  and  nonogenarians   at    Peking,  quets,"  ii.  253. 

ii.  221.  Orchomenos,  remains  at,  422  ;  inscrip- 
Ode  of  I'm,  poetical  Calendar,  ii.  46.  tion  respecting   loan  to  the   city, 

Odes,    Chinese,   ii.   6,    18,    19,   24,   31,  437. 

45-9  :    general    character   of,  63  ;  Orientation  of  temples,  ii.  43S-441. 

quotations  from,  66,67;    one  as"  Orphanages,     Chinese    and    Catholic, 

cribed  to   Duke  of  Chow,  66  ;  on  ii.  224.  377,  378. 

posthumous     betrothals.    70  ;    on  Ortos.  old  Mongol  customs  preserved 

royal  authority,  78  ;    political  de-  by,  ii.  279. 

nunciations,  79  ;  on  officers  buried  Osiris,  hymn  to.  eldest  of  the  five  gods, 

with  a  duke  of  Tsin,  80;  on  feudal  122  :  title  given  habitually  to  the 

and  family  relations,  80:    appro-  dead,    170;     name     written     with 

priate  to  different  ranks,  81  ;    on  same  ideograms  as  Merodach.  252. 

rash  ambitions,  tio.  Otti,  one  of  the  later  stages  of  Mala- 
Odoric  of  Pordenone,  on  standard  of  bar  mortgages,  571. 

wealth   in   China,  ii.  229;    travels  Ou-fang,  Sung  philosopher,  ii.  2 13. 

of,  231-3.  Oukimai,  second  Kin  emperor,  ii.  174. 

Offending   husband,   Gortyn   code   on.  Oulo.  Kin  emperor,  ii.  175. 

477  :     offending     wife,     Egyptian  Ou-ni-tao-jin,  pottery  of.  ii.  257. 

moralists  on,  477.  Over-population,  complaints  of,  ii.  2S4. 

Office,   conditions    of,    in    Egypt    and  Over-production,     not     heard     of     in 

China.    52  :    in   Egypt   only   here-  China,  ii.  320. 

ditary,  as  other  occupations  were.  Overseer  of  royal  workmen.  63. 

126;  open  to  all  classes  in  China,  Owner  who  does  not  occupy,  status  ot 

ii.   55  :    given  increasingly  by  ex-  Egyptian,  183:  owner  of  the  soil 

animation,  212.  in  Arabia,  he  who  gives  it  water, 

Officers    or  officials,  of  the  nomarch's  525. 

:;.  list    of,  62:    formula   for  a  Ownership  of  land  in  Malabar  retained 

virtuous,    88  :    officers    of    Chow,  apart  from  any  other  right,  569. 

ii.   22,   54;    officer    of    marriages.  Ox,    wild    and    domestic,    in    ancient 

70.  71  :    increase  in  numbers  and  Mesopotamia.  231. 

salaries  of,    146  ;  officer  rewarded  Oxen  for  ploughing  lent  to  the  poor, 

for  reporting  on  defective  embank-  532,  533. 


556  INDEX. 

Pactum  aiiticJireticum,  ii.  416.  Pasagga,  a  fire  god,  son  of  Ea,  240. 

'adan,  land  of,  2S6.  Pasi,  dynasty  of,  258. 

'aiming  left   to    amateurs    in    China,  Pastophores,  marriage  settlements  in 

ii.  38  1.  a  family  of,  210. 

'alace  of  foreigners,  ii.  269  ;  "Palace  Patamkar  =  le--: 


of  imperial  histor- 


ic 


Patara,  oracle  of  Apollo  at,  42S. 


alestine    and     Phoenicia,    growth    of       Paternal   grandfather,    position  of,    in 


their  cities,  295. 
'aim.  the  sacred  tree  of  Eridu,  231. 
'amir  district,  1  5,  16. 
'anagia  Aphroditissa,  404. 
'anara,  chief  city  of  Panchaea,  514. 
'anbesa.  letter  of  the  scribe,   174. 
'anchaa    of    Diodorus  =  Pa-anch    of       Paul.  Christian  convert,  ii.  267. 


China,  ii.  70. 
Patesi,    title   of    priest-kings    or    vice- 
roys,   239  ;   patesis  of   Xipur  and 
Sirgulla  dedicate  objects  to  Dungi, 

Patrimonial  field,  ii.  359,  360. 


Egyptian  story,  5  17. 
'ancke  "ruled  by  women."'  546. 
'aneba,  crimes  of,  106;    he  ''became 

a  mason,"  1  27. 
'an-hoei-pan.  lady  annalist,  ii.  117. 
'an-kang,    change    of    capital    by,    ii.        Peasant,  budget  of.  under  the  Han,  ii 


Pawnshops,  Chinese,  ii.  331,  332. 
Peacock,  Hebrew   word  for,  borrowed 

from  Tamil.  545. 
Pearl    fishery,    lives    sacrificed    to,    ii. 


18.  29. 
'an-kou,  historian,  ii.  11; 
'an-tchao.  campaigns  of,  in  Western       Pegolotti,  commercial  guide  to  China, 


Peasant,  story  of,  42,  58,  86. 


Asia.  ii.  11; 
antellaria,  island  of.  446. 


Pei-lin  or  Forest  of  tablets,  ii.  477. 


'anther's     skin     worn     by     Egyptian        Peisias  the  Lycian,  will  or, 


priests,  54. 


1'ekah,  death  of,  305. 


Pao.  modern  Chinese  hundred,  ii.  361.         Peking,  Pegolotti  on  trade  of.  ii.  234  ; 


'ao-chang.  headman  of  the  hundred, 

ii.  361. 
aou-sze,  mistress  of  Kins;  Yew.  ii.  28. 


capital  removed  to.  240;  identified 
with  Cambalu,  269  ;  Gazette,  de- 
scription of,  ii.  285. 


'apal  embassies  to  China,  ii.  277,  281.         Pelasgia,      Peloponnessus      anciently 


'aper    money,    abuse     of,    under    the 


called,  417. 


Sung,  ii.    180-8  ;    paper  bonds  of       Pelasgian,  where  last  spoken.  450. 


various  sorts,  193-8;  paper  money 
depreciated,  196,  197  :  paper  cur- 
rency described  by  Marco  Polo. 
225.  226  :  Pegolotti  on,  234  ;  de- 
preciation of.  243.  253  :  disuse  of. 
254,  340. 

aper  umbrella  makers'  union,  ii.  320. 

a  per  valuables,  custom  of  burning. 
ii.   11;. 

ara-chi^tes  and  taricheutes.  164.  166. 

ara.-u  Kama,  revelation  of,  ii.  464. 

urer.mn,  letter  of,  on    Kang-hi  as  Iin- 

aremal  kindness,  '':  like  great  heaven, 

illimitable."   ii.  66. 
are:.;-  and  children,  relative  size  of. 

on  Egyptian  monuments.  200. 
artlu-ma.  a  1  ommon  name  on    Pelas- 

anl.en;  ;  .    •■•'.•  luization    of  Taren'.um 


-etween    1  >ab\  Ionia 


par, 
in  C 


Pelasgians,  Xiebuhr  on.  386  ;  traces 
of,  where  found.  417  ;  Pelasgians 
and  Boeotians,  legend  of  quarrel 
between.  423. 

Penalties  for  breach  included  in  con- 
tract, 322  ;  natural  penalties 
on  indolence  enumerated  by 
Chinese  lawgiver,  ii.  51  :  penal- 
ties against  demoralizing  bar- 
barians, 364. 

"'Pencil   of  recording   officers,''  ii.  16, 

25- 

Penestre  of  Thessaly,  465. 

l'entaur,  poem  of.  133.  i-;. 

People,  judgment  of  the,  to  be  be- 
lieved, ii.  54. 

Pepi  II.,  6th  Dyn.,  King.  23  :  his 
sarcophagus  described  by  I  na. 
49  ;  works  the  Hammamat 
quarries.  9;  ;  Pvramids  ot  Pep: 
I.  and  1  L.  f?3. 

Perfumes  field  ot  flowers  for,  345.  346. 

I  'erioeci  of  Crete,  4'  5. 

1'eriplus  on  King  Charibael,  508  :  on 
M  alabar  region.  540. 

Perpetual  interest  not  understood  in 
China,  ii.  32.:. 


INDEX.  537 

ersecution     of    scholars     by    T'sin  Pin   and  pocket  money    promised  in 

emperor,  ii.  104.  Egyptian  marriage  contracts,  207, 

Perrot  and  Chipiez,  .MM.,  quoted,  232,  208  ;   Minicoy  and   Malabar  ana- 

245.  _     logies,  551,  567  ;  ii.  473. 

Persian  embassies  to   China,  ii.    12S-  Pin,  king  of  Chow,  ii.  28. 

30;   Persian  Gulf,   former  exten-  Ping-chow,  centre  of  monetary  unions, 

sion   to  the    north   of,    229,    264  ;  59. 

Persian    imitations     of    Chinese  Ping-ti,  Han  emperor,  ii.  120. 

characters,  ii.  257.  Pinto  and    Perera  on   Chinese  justice, 

Personal  reserve  in  China,  ii.  3S2.  ii.  264. 

Peruvartham,    mortgage     up    to    full  Pi-pi  of  Marquesas  Islands,  ii.  452. 

market  value,  575.  Pisebkhan,  116. 

"  Perverse,"  surname  given  to   King-ti  Planting      tig-trees       compulsory      in 

on    restoration    ot    Vng-tsong,    ii.  Kabyle  tribes,  535. 

243.  Plants,    temperate    and    tropical,     in 

Pessinus,  pre-Phrygian  centre  of  trade  South  Arabia,  536. 

and  worship,  419.  Plautus,  Punic  fragments  in.  408. 

Petition,  right  of,  in  China,  ii.  376.  Pledges  on   security  transferable,   like 

Petrie,   Mr.   Flinders,  quotation   from,  debts,  325. 

24.  Pliny    on    Seres,   ii.    1 10  n.  ;    on    silk, 

Petty  trading,  profits  of,  in   China,   ii.  1  1 1  n. 

3  1 6.  Plots  of  land,  how  described  in  Egypt- 

Peyen,  general  of  Kubla,  ii.  177.  ian  deeds,  1S9. 

Pharaoh,  his  intimacy  desired,  48.  Plough  lands    of   ancient    Babylonia, 

Pnaraonic  succession,  rule  of,  no.  340. 

Phasis,  456,  457.  Ploughs,  respect   for  property  in,  535 

Phebamon,  shrine  of  S.,  159.  and  n. 

Philometor,  Queen  Pythodoris  called,  Poh-loh,   his    management  of  horses, 

439.                        "                                  '  ii.  25S. 

Philopator,  insurrection    against,    en-  Polemon,    Pythodoris    succeeds     her 

gaged  in  by  women,  221.  husband,  440. 

Philosophic  Taoism,  ii.  94.  Political  effect  of  Egyptian  system  of 

Phoc.eans     who     founded     Massalia,  inheritance,  1 16  ;  politic+d  maxims 

452.  of  Sumer  and  Akkad,  240  ;  politi- 

Phcenicia    and    Carthage,    scanty    in-  cal  organization  of  Malabar,  548  ; 

formation  about.  384,  385.  political   and  economic    effects  of 

Phoenician    alphabet,    98  ;    language,  Chinese    climate,    soil,    and  river 

3S5    ;      Phoenician      '"tales      and  system,  ii.  8,  10. 

treaties/'    390,   396  ;    settlements,  Polo    denounces  crimes    of   Achmath 

range  of,  390,  396  ;  guilds  or  cor-  to  Kubla,  ii.  225. 

porations,    395  ;    trade,    character  Polyandry    practised   in   Sparta.  471  ; 

and    staples   01,     39S.    399;    rock  obsolescent  in     Malabar,    551,   ii. 

tombs.     405  ;     inhumanity,     410  ;  466   ;     polyandry    and     entail     in 

guild    of    merchants     and     ship-  Ladak,  557. 

owners,  ii.  339.  Poiybius  on  Ptolemy's  war  with  Anti- 
Phrases     for     repudiating    contracts,  ocims,  134. 

345.  Polygamy,  Malabar  Commission  Re- 
Physical   geography   of  Central   Asia.  port  on,  ii.  465,  466. 

ii.  3.  Pongal  feast  in  Malabar.  566. 

Piankhi,  inscription  of.  r 30.  ''Poor  man  come  here  food,"  ii.  7;. 

Pictured  offerings  substituted  for  real  Population    and    cultivated     area     in 

ones.  1  53.  Egypt,    72,    80  ;     distribution    of, 

Piece  of  silk,  size  of,  ii.  367  n.  under    Tang     Dynasty,     ii.    146  ; 

Piece-work      preferred      by      Chinese  under    first     Sung    empire,     [68; 

operatives,  ii.  31 1  increase     of.    in     11th    and     12th 

Pien-tsing,  or '' convenient  money,"  ii.  centuries,  169-71  ;  of  Hang-chow 

193.  and  Peking.  221. 

Pietschmann  on  Phoenicians,  23.  Porcelain  under  the    Tsin   and    Souv, 

Pignoratitian  contracts,  ii.  416,  419.  ii.  130;   of  Chi-tsong,   n      ;   under 

.  .  beyond  the  Tigris,  2'  ..  the   Sung.  213  ;  under   the  Ming, 

i  .lerim's  wav,  a<jz.  2;6,  2^~. 


=^8 


INDEX. 


Portrait  painters,  skill   of  Chinese,  ii.        Priesthood,  Egyptian,  52,  54  ;  concili- 
2ii,  ated   bv    Darius   and    Ptolemv  1.. 


Portrait  statue  of  Gudea,  267. 


179. 


Portuguese  artillery  not   employed  by       Priestly  families  at   Lagina  and  Stra- 


the  Ming,  268. 


tomaea,  431. 


Portuguese  open  trade  with  China,  ii.       Prime  minister  of  Tang  the  Success- 


201, 


ful,  ii.  18,  31. 


Posidonius,    religious    foundation    by,       Primce,     Basque     term     for     hein 


451- 


daughter,  2  14. 


Possessions,  domestic  relatives  a  kind       Primogeniture,  111  ;   importance  of,  in 


ot,  124. 
Postal  companies'  charges,  ii.  341. 
Posterior  dynasties,  ii.  165. 
Posthumous  betrothals,  ii.  70. 
Potarras,  deep    wells    with    masonrv, 

Potterv,  favourite  industry  of  Shun.  ii. 


Egypt,  131  :  traces  of,  at  Puteoli, 
406  ;  at  Cnidus,  435,  473  ;  with- 
out distinction  of se\,  Basque  rule 
of.  461  ; "'  primogeniture  run  mad" 
among  Malayali  Brahmins,  554  ; 
primogeniture  and  sister  marrying 
among  Incas.  ii.  454. 


61  ;    under   first   Wei,    T'sin  and       Princes  of  imperial  family  reduced  in 


Sony   Dyn.,  ii.  131  ;  of  the   -Ming, 
256:257'. 
Poultry  not  domesticated  in  Egypt,  85. 


number,  ii.  1  32. 
Prisoners     required     to     admit     their 
guilt,  ii.  37  1. 


Pound,     variability     of,     in     Chinese       Prisse  papyrus,  containing  precepts  ot 


markets,  539,  ii.  23^- 


Ptah-hotep,  43. 


Poverty  alleged  as  a  reason  for  selling       Private    deeds,    showing    duration    of 


land.  ii.  358. 


generations  in  Egypt,  ii.  407 


Powers     of     father    and     mother     in        Prize  essay  against  eunuchs,  ii.  156. 


( iortyn  code,  478. 
Praise   of   learning,     48,    77.    104  ;    of 
riches,  ii.  1  1  1. 


Professions  not  more  highly  paid  than 

trades,  ii.  3  16. 
Professor  Owen  0:1  Egyptian  fauna,  19. 


Pram     the    interpreter,    Bilingual    in-       Property  ceded  to   the    wife  to  ensure 


scnption  ot.  429. 
Prasos,  treaties  with.  474, 
Pre-  or  proto-Hellenic    population   of 

Greece,  3-4. 
1  're-aiphabetic  writing,  5. 
Precedence,  table  of  Egyptian,  171. 
Precious  stones,  trade  in,  ii.  250. 
Pre-emption,  family  right  of,  barred  in 

sa.es  of  land,  522. 
Preimogeneia,  1. acnes  son  of,  406. 


its  passing  to  children,  113,  1  1  ■,  , 
property  in  soil  and  trees  distinct, 
308  ;  ot  land  and  buildings  ditto, 
ii.  359  ;  property  of  Rajahs  dis- 
tributed during  their  lite,  i.  550  : 
property  in  town  and  country, 
Egyptian,  Babylonian  and  Chi- 
nese distinction  between,  ii.  48. 
Propriety  and  humanity,  ii.  86  :  pro- 
priety, rules  of.  74.  7b 


Price  ot   houses  in  ancient  Babvlonia.       Protectorate  of  ministers  deposes  bad 

king.  ii.  78. 
Protis,     chosen     by    king's    daughter 

( 'Vptis,  no-  her  husband,  4'  2. 
Proto-Setnitic  anil  Hamite  stocks.  385, 
Provincial    governorships,    scrupui  ms 

officials     banished     to,     ii.      147  ; 

di\  ided.  165. 
Psammetichus,  tounder  ot   Saite  Dyn.. 

120;   vainly  relied   on  for  help  by 

Gv2.es,   311   ;   son   of   Ncch<\  313  ; 

revival   of  Egypt  under,  315. 
i  'sar.  inkstan'  1  of,  the  i  ieloved  ot  Thoth, 

j'    1. 
i ':      .  the     re    I    r,  71    :  tike  ol  the   high 

priest  "i   Ptah.   104. 
Piah-ases.    adopted    son   of  Menkara. 

169  :  governor  ot  temple  domains. 

171. 
Ptah-hotep,    precepts    of.    45  ;    on   the 

dutv  of  ministers,  46  ;  on  honorary 


337  :  ot  l;md,  11.  445  ;  "a  pertect 
pi .  e.  '  1.  337.  jyj  :  price-,  duty  of 
y  .'...:..  nt  t  1  equalize,  it.  ;6.  57  : 
re;4  liated  by  issues  1  if  ci  'in.  1 5  -  : 
let"  tiie  Tang,  164  :  rise  1  if. 
under  the  Sui  g,  1  jy  :  prices 
taxation  tmoer  the  Ming.  204  ;  m 
modi  rn  <  i.in.i.  3  15.  310;  not  to  be 
beat<  nil  i\\ ;..  5    •. 

Priest  o!  hi  nt  and  .\  .  0  ka.   152. 

I ' . . e - 1  -  .  . .    y p ;       mni     t e d  w i th 

kbai     lis.    54  :     priests     cent  tin    : 
'■'■:.    land    re0i-t    .■-.     1421  ;     semi 

:  -     : 

4     .  ;         ome   ot.    '.'.  it  en   •     iiei    .     ] 
in  A-  .    <S5. 

Prie-:  -  ot  ;ne  .  luwn'of  N.  it.  t  '  »f 
u:te  in  ;th  1  J\  n..  t'  un'o.  50  ;  prie  -t- 
e-~    ot    lia-t    in    'Pale    of    Set 


INDEX.  539 

sonship,    122  ;  '"  the  eldest  of  his  Questions  at  a  Chinese  examination, 

race,"  123  ;  his  advice  to  husbands,  ii.  380. 

201.  Quinsay,  see  Kinsay. 

Ptah-hotep,  scribe   represented  on  liis 
father's  tomb,  50. 

Pteria,    capital    of   Cappadocia,   410,  Ka,  the  roof  of,  76. 

414.  Rahnia   pledges,  or   antichretic   moit- 

Pterophores  or  rexiu,  54.  gage,  187  ;   Berber   term  for,  534  ; 

Ptolemies,  irrigation  works  allowed  to  rahnia  contract,  ii.  418. 

decay  under  the,  76.  Rahotep,  modern  features  of,  25  ;  chief 

Ptolemy   Epiphanes,  conciliatory    po-  of  the    Thirty,    56  ;  compared  to 

licy    ot,    139;   Philadelphia,  mar-  Gudea,  268. 

riage   contract   of  his  reign,  207  ;  Rainless   regions   the   seat   of  earliest 

Ptolemy  IV.,  Philopator,  payment  civilizations,  4;  rainless   periods, 

ot  troops  by,  134  ;  revolt  of  Egypt-  effect  of,  on  the  soil.  ii.  5. 

ians     against,     134  ;    tutelage    of  Ramaka      Hatasu     reigns     with    her 

women  introduced  by,  221.  father,  118  ;  invoked  in  architect's 

Public    debts  ot    Cyme    and   Halicar-  inscription,  119. 

nassus,    463;   public   and  private  Rameses    II.,    40;  trial   in   his    reign, 

fields    in   ancient    China,    ii.    48  ;  60  ;    allows    the    Khita   to   import 

public   land   rented,    127;    public  food,   94;  obtains   water    for    the 

edifices    set   up  in  country    rather  gold    miners,   97  ;    his    hereditary 

than    towns,   309  ;    public    works,  right    derived    from     his     mother, 

laws    relating     to,    365,  366;    ex-  120;    respects  hereditary  claims, 

cessive      expenditure       on,       dis-  132  ;    employs  mercenaries,    133  ; 

couraged,  366 ;   monuments,  laws  campaigns  against  the  Hittites  of, 

protecting,  372  ;  spaces,  encroach-  295. 

ment  on,  forbidden,  372.  Rameses    III.,    strike   at    Necropolis, 

Pudil,  father  of  Rammannirari.  2S9.  88  ;    foreign    expeditions    of,    97  ; 

Pulleahs,  helots  of  Malabar,  563.  woes   of   the   soldier   under,    138; 

ban,  land  of,  497.  wars  on  the  "  peoples  of  the  sea," 


Punicum    ricer,  from    Berber   ikiker, 

5-i-2- 


Rameses     IX.,     Necropolis     workers 


Pun;,  the  land  of,  21,   22,  23,  25  ;   the  appeal  to  government  of,  89  ;  state 

men  of,  22  ;  identified  by  Pepsins  trial  under,  161  ;  robbery  of  royal 

with     Phoenicians,   23,    385  ;    ex-  tombs     under,     165  ;     restores    a 

peditions  10,96,  97,  172.  building  of  Usurtasen  I.,  172. 

Purchases    on    credit    in    Babylonia,  Ramessu-Mei-Amon,  city  of,  174. 

326.  Rammanapaliddin,  296. 

■•  Purification  of  the  spirits,"  144.  Rammannirari,  king   of  Assyria,  wars 

Purpose   of   loans    described    in    con-  with    Kardunias,   2S8-9  ;  inscrip- 

tiacts.  333.  tion  and  genealogy  of.  389;  Ram- 
Purpose  of  the  nuraghs,  447.  mannirari  IP,  son  of  Asurdanan 
Purrapurias^Burnaburias,     king      of  I.,   297;   Rammannirari    IIP,  his 

Kardunias,  292.  campaigns   and    successors.    301  ; 

Purveyors  for  the  palace  of  Pharaoh,  deeds  ot  his  reign,  345. 

63.  Ramusio's  version  ot    .Marco   Polo,  ii. 

Puteoh,    letter    from,    to    Tyre,     395;  217.224. 

Puteoli      and      Rome,      factories  Rank,  differences  in,  between  relations, 

financially    united,    39G  :     Puteoli  ii.  295. 

inscription.  406.  Rashideddin   on   Chinese  administra- 

Pydnai,  fortress  of,  42S.  tion,  ii.  231. 

Pythodoris,    family  history   of   queen,  Rasutanu  or  **  arranger,"  functions  cf, 

4  5'  )•  J2?: 

Rates  of  wages  in  ancient    Babyloni  i. 
33^)   3s)  •  U1    modern     China,    ii. 

Haan     petitions    to    inherit    from    his  310-16. 

mother's  father.  214.  Rations  ir-r-ued  to  workmen,  88,  89,96. 

Quarters    of    Egyptian    cities    under  Reading  priest  or  Cherheb,  167. 

special  officers,  267.  Real  property  in   Malabar  only   liable 

Queens  regent,  succession  of.  521.  to  kauam  mortgage.  571. 


54^ 


INDEX. 


Real  wages,  method  of  estimating  rate       Resting  places  for  the  dead,  6S. 


ot.  11.  514. 
Rebel  armies  in  South  China,  ii.  142. 
Reciprocity.  Confucius  on,  ii.  89,  90. 
Record  office  claims  privilege,  ii.  26. 
Recorders  of  the  Interior  and  Exterior, 

ii-  24- 

Records  of  judicial  decisions  preserved 

in  Egypt,  190. 
Red     Hamitic     stock,    33:     red     and 

black  Berbers,  534  :  *'  Red  water" 

essential  to  fertility  in  Egypt,  ii. 41  2. 
Regency  of  empress  mother  of  Gin- 

tsong,  ii.  169. 


Restrictions  on  marriage,  11.  353.  354. 

Retail  shops  in  China,  ii.  j}?*,  340. 

Revenue  of  ancient  China,  ii.  13,  14  ; 
Li  Ki  on  revenue  and  expenditure, 
35 ;  accounts  of  revenue  under 
the  Tang,  135  ;  revenue  of  North 
China  farmed  under  Ogotai,  176  ; 
revenue  reports  of  Ma-twan-lin, 
193;  of  Hang-chow,  according  to 
Marco  Polo,  226  ;  revenue  re- 
garded as  imperial  property.  244  ; 
under  the  Ming,  246.  271  ;  revenue 
ot  Chinese  guilds,  339. 


Registration   of  inhabitants   in   Egypt       Reverence,  Chinese  insistence  on  duty 


and  China,  I2~  :  in  ancient  Egypt, 
1  Sg  :  of  soldiers  and  sailors.  235  ; 
of  land  sales.  359  ;  of  households, 
361  ;  should  validate  existing 
Malabar  marriages,  ii.  471. 
Reigns,  average  duration  of,  ii.  405. 
406. 


of,  ii.  31. 

Revillout,  M.,  on  priests  engaged  in 
interments.  164  ;  on  general 
character  of  Egyptian  law,  223  : 
work  of  the  brothers.  321. 

Revival  of  prosperity  under  the  Hans, 
ii.  10S. 


Rekba,  or  vengeance  of  blood,  not  to       '"  Revolt,'"'  right  of   Kabyle   wives  to, 

be  claimed  before  women.  537.  537. 

Rekhmara   described   as  a  just  judge,       Rhegians     of    Italy    follow    laws     of 


60  ;  chief  of  the  council  of  the  Six. 
6  1  :  genealogy  of,  1  1  2. 
Religion  of  Upper  and  Lower  Egypt, 

.  72- 

Religious   order,   the  whole  of   China 

governed  like  a,  ii.  271  ;   religious 
toleration   under   the   Mongols,  ii. 
231. 
Rent  in   Egypt   paid   for   unculth   tted 
pastures,   78  :   rent    and    taxation, 


Charondas.  450. 
Rhodes,  legendary  inhabitants  of.  441  : 

compared  to  Carthage.  Massalia, 

and     Cyzicus.    442  ;     customs     ot 

modern,  444. 
Rhodians  keep  the  peace  at  sea.  442  ; 

Rhodian  law  of  losses  at  sea.  444. 
Rhubarb  collected  for  sick  soldiers  by 

Yeliu  tchoutsai,  ii.  1  77. 
Ricardian  rent  not  primitive,  131. 


130:  political  origin  of  rent,  131  :       Ricci.  Matteo.  his  arrival  in   China,  ii. 


rent  in  babylonia  not  derived  trom 
land  tax.    S-;:   rent    of  houses  in 


266  :   invited  to  return  to  his   own 
country,  26S  ;   death  of.  269.  270. 


babylonia.    332;    rent   connected       Rice,  amount  consumed   per  head    in 


with  rate  of  interest.  ^2  :   rent  of 


1    ii    a,  ii.  35. 


irn    land,    337:    pi        n    in    be-       Rice  wine  praised   by    Marco   Polo.  ii. 


21S. 


tween  rent   ami   wages,  jy)  :   how 

fixed   in  Malabar.  570;  origin   of,       Rich    men   only    gain    reputation     by 


in    Malabar.  571  :   rent   ami   taxa- 
tion under  the  11  an.  ii.  114  ;  land- 

1  I'm  r  ni  said  to  exceed  in 
taxes  tin  ler  the  Sung",  1  -  1  :  rents 
and  proms.  ;  1  5  :  rent  of  Chinese 
hou,es.  3N1. 
Renunciation  of  a  mother  sometimes 
o  nne  ted  with  her  remarriage. 
32i">  :  mutaal  renunciations  1  if 
parents    and     cliil  ire    .    i.-.-' 

-mm:!'       --  ir\   lo   bar 


liberality,  ii.  334. 
Richthofen,    baron  v..  1 5. 
"Righteous  decisions"  of    the    '   Inm 

Tsew,  ii.  25,  4"  1. 
Rijam,    the    Exalted,    Minaun    king's 

title,  502. 
Rim-sin,     otherwise     Ri-agu,    son     of 

Rudur  mabug,  260,  280  ;   contract 

tal  eel-  of.  2S4. 
be,:     is,  hieratic    Hal  i\  h  mi  tn  ii 

tion  of.  0:1  1  ia'nr  in,  ;  16. 


it,   v>3  :   or   facilitate       Ring  money,  ii.  58,  59. 


■   - .    :    4 . 
>f    Committee     on     Malabar 


Rings,   contract    to   deliver  weight  ot 
silver  in.  33S. 

lb  ie  '  if  A--\  ria.  291. 

Rites  1     •  ft!   es,     rivalry     1  ■  1 

minist(  rs  of,   ii.   141:    lio  ,k  of,  1  m 
the  [)o  ii"  an  .  j  n'l  ipi  ;et} .::..:.   . 


INDEX.  541 

Rites  of  Chow,  see  Chow  Li.  Sacred  Edict  of  Kang-hi,  ii.  2S0.  356, 

Ritti-marduk,  grant  to,  of  Karzi  jabku,  357  ;  on  duties  of  kindred,  379. 

342.  Sacred  fountain  of  I'ancha.-a,  514. 

Ritual,   negative     confession     in.    43:  "  Sacred  road ''  to  Delphi.  424. 

agricultural      imagery      in,      151  ;  Sacred  tortoise,   Chuang-tze    and   the, 

robbery   of  the   dead    disclaimed  ii.  95. 

in.  161.  Sacred  way.  sixty  stadia  in  length  from 

Rif  wiles  Eiruscontm  Libri,  426.  city  to  temple,  419  n. 

Rivers  ot  Asia,  ii.  4.  Sacritices,    list    of     Gudea's,    247;    of 

Road,    ''the    daughter    of    the    gods,''  sheep    by    Arabs.    509;    economy 

23S  :     roads,      ancient,     in      Asia  in.    prescribed    in    China,    ii.    36  ; 

Minor,  419  ;  road-ways,  inns,  and  Ssema-tsien      on      ancient,      37; 

post-houses  in    Chow     Li,   ii.   63;  animals  for.  52;   Chinese  doctrine 

road-,   bridges  and  repairs,   laws  of,  282  and  n. 

on.  ii.  372.  Saddle-shaped  money,  ii.  59. 

"  Robber  Society'"  and  pawnshops,  ii.  Sagasaltias.  dated  by  Xabonidus,  2S2  ; 

33  f.  temple  founded  by,  2S9. 

Robbery  of  tombs,  161.  165.  Saint  Mary  the  Virgin,  church  of,  how 

Roger,    Michel,   Jesuit   missionary,   ii.  secularized,  ii.  281. 

248.  Saite  kings,  103. 

Roll  bearer  or  cher-heb,  167.  Saka-kansak,   daughter  of  Tushratta, 

Roman  dc  i'lwuiine  jciunc,  ii.  355.  293. 

Roman  writers  on  Seres,  ii.  1  10.  in.  Salaries  of  officials  in   ancient   China. 

Ropa.  see  Erpa.  ii.  50  ;  under  the  Tang.  146. 

Routes  taken    by  various    coinages,  ii.  Sales  of  the  right  to   bury  in    Egypt. 

449.  167,  16S  ;  Sales,  Ninevite  formula 

Royal     authority,    how     displayed    in  for.  182  ;  two  deeds  required   for 

Arabia,  522.  sales   in    Egypt,    182;  sales    and 

'"  Royal   cousins,"  status  of,  in    Egypt,  successions    taxed    in    Ptolemaic 

48.  Egypt.  190  ;  form  of  sale  for  real 

"Royal   Road,"  from    Susa  to  Sardis.  property,      322  :      sales      without 

412.416.  delivery    in     Babylonia,    326:    of 

Royal  Tens  and  Thirty,  56,  57.  land     temp.     Rimsin.     328  ;     sale 

Royal   wife  takes  precedence  of  royal  toith   option   of  redemption.   524  ; 

mother.  1  to.  sales  ot  land  in  China,  rules  con- 

Rubruk  on  Cathayans,  ii.  216.  cerning,  ii.  358. 

Rules  of  propriety  with  regard  to  sport,  Salmanasar    I.,   date   of,   288;  son   of 

ii.  39.  Rammannirari,  290. 

':  Runner-."  fall  citizens  in  Crete  called,  Salmanasar  1 1.,  298.  20  ;. 

482.  Salt    bake  district,  effect   of  wind   in. 

Running  water,  charms  of.  527.  ii.  6. 

Russi  1,  embassy  from.  ii.  274.  275.  Salt  mines,  revenue  from,  ii.  137  :  salt 

Rutennu,     land     of,    pays     tribute     to  trade  and  garrison   contracts,  238, 

Egypt,  29!.  245. 

Salting    of    badly    irrigated    land     in 
Egypt,  ii.  413. 

Saba.  k:ngs  of.  497.  Saltpetre,    manufacture    of,    forbidden 

Saba  and  Raidan,  king-  of.  502.  in  Formosa,  ii.  363. 

Saba   m  inscriptions  and   Sabajan  era,  Samahali  Dirrah,  king  of  Saba,  507. 

498  :   Saba'an  chronology  accord-  Samarcand,    great    mart    for   Chinese 

to     Dr.      Claser,      508;      Saba-an  traded.  260. 

■  d  Maria')    Ma,-jab=  Mareb  .  Samas.  the  god.  son  of  Ea.  240. 

:       :   Saba.'an  marriage  laws,  523.  Samasmudammik,   king  01  Kardunias, 

Sabako.    king     of    Egypt,    encounters  313. 

Assyrians  at  Raphia.  306.  Samas-sumukin     made     governor     of 

Sabot  1     Sabwat  .    capital    of    Chatro-  Babylon,  313  :   deed  of  his  reign, 

:  ita\   ;  ro.  3  ; ;. 

Saca-.i     of     Athena-us      answers      to  Sambandhakaran,  term,  used  for  hus- 

festival  of  Gudea,  24a.  band.  ii.  405. 

Sacred    animal-.     145-7:    expenditure  Sambandham  =  connection,     ii.     465: 

on  funerals  of.  179.  sambandham  karaina,  474. 


542 


INDEX. 


Sam  muramat  or  Semi  rami  s,  301.  Scarabs  of  Thothmes  III.  and  Amen- 

Samoan    conception    of   Mana,     236  ;  hotep  III.   found  by  Lavard,  291, 

Samoan     maid     of    the    village,  292. 

470.  Scenery,  taste   for.  developed  early  in 
Samsi,    Arabian    queen,    tributary    to  China,  ii.  128. 

Sargon,  511,  512.  Schall,  Adam,   Jesuit  missionary  and 
Samsi-iluna.   son   of   Hammurabi,    in-  astronomer,  ii.  250,  272,  274,  275. 

scription  of,  2S3  ;  contract  tablets  Scharistani,     authority     for     Sabaean 

of,  284.  marriage  law,  523. 

Samsi-ramman  I.,  date  of,  25a.  Schiaparelli,   Professor,  6th   Dyn.   in- 
Samsi-ramman   IV.  succeeds  Salman-  scription  found  by,  23. 

asar  II..  33.  Scholars  restored   to  favour  under  the 
Samsu,  demotic   proper  name  of  god  Man,    ii.    105  ;    Chinese   scholar's 

Thoth="  the  eldest/'  122.  ideal,  148. 

Sana,  water  supply  and  citadel  of,  505,  School,    children    sent    to,   in    Egypt, 

507.  200  ;    schools     and    colleges     in 

Sanch,  Egyptian  "credit,""  209.  ancient  China,  ii.  71.72  ;  schools 

Sanctuary,      right     of,     possessed     by  and  examinations  under  the  Tang, 

women,  436,  461,  ^7-  *42_4  >     schools      and      colleges 

Saneha,  story  of,  72  ;  political  allusions  restored    under    the    Ming,    254, 

in.  119  :  pyramid  and  endowment  255  ;  schools   established  by  sixth 

granted  to,  157.  Inca  Rocca,  454. 

Sangar,  king  of  Carchemish,  29S.  Schweinfurth,   Dr.,  on  sacred  trees  of 
San-kwo-ehi,     historical    romance     of  kig.vpt,  145. 

Three  Kingdoms,  ii.  124,479.  ''Scribe   of  the  place    of  provisions," 
Sapi-kalbi,  adoption  of,  378.  title  of  Amten,  49  ;   scribes,   posi- 

Sar,  255.  ii.  434.  tion   of,  in   Egypt,   52  ;    compared 

Sar    and    Asur    and     Ibru-  Xaharan,  with  Chinese  literati,  53  :  training 

lords  of.  500.  school  for,  53,  55  ;  list  of  various, 

Sarakus,  last  king  of  Assyria,  314.  54;     school     exercises     of,      54; 

Sargon    fixes    the    price    of    corn   and  scribe  of  the  house  of  instruction, 

oil,  246  ;  dated  from    Xabonidus'  title    of  Ptolemaic    schoolmaster, 

tablet,  2,3  :  date  of,  if  Xabonidus    '  55  ;  of  the  royal   storehouses,  62  ; 

confused     sosses     and    centuries,  one  of  the  three  classes  in    Egyp- 

255:    called   "king   of  the    city,"  tian  enumeration  of  mankind,  78  ; 

sc.   Agade,    266  :  archaic   style  of  multiply  pens  and  writings.  81  ;  a 

his  monuments,  ib .  ;   comparative  ministerial,  not  a  riding  class,  87  ; 

date   of  Sargon  and    Gudea,  267:  the   young,    ''has    a    back,"    106; 

annals  or  omens  of.  275  ;  Chinese  scribe  of  the  soldiers,  of  the  king. 

parallels  to  his  legend,  276,  ii.  19  ;  of  the   settled    inhabitants,    139; 

conquests   attributed  to.  i.  275-7;  letters      of.       174  ;       Pabylonian 

victory    over    Samaria    of.    306:  ''scribe     of    births,"    342.     379; 

forbearance       towards      Habylon,  scribes     employed      by     king     of 

307  :  other  conquests,    312  :   ety-  Calicut,  564. 

mology  of  name,  308.  Scrupulous  honestv  of  Towareks,  540. 

Saros  cycle,  ii.  436.  Scyths.  Herodotus  on  dominion  of,  in 
Sar/.ec,  M.  de,  quoted.  263.  West  Asia.  314. 

Satihotep.  daughter  of  Serenput,  124.  Sea  of  Central  Asia.  ii.  3-5. 

Satirical  (  >des.  date  of,  ii.  24,  26.  Sea,  "upper"'  and  "  lower,'"'  in  Gudea's 
Saturnalia.  1  Dbylonian  counterpart  to,  inscriptions,  269.  270. 

described  by  Gudea,  224  :    Cretan  Se-anch-ka-ra,   expedition   of,   to    land 

and       lab;.  Ionian     equivalent     to  of  Punt,  96. 

Roman,  482.  Seang,  king  of  Wei.  ii.  28. 

Savage-,,    laws    against    adopting     the  Seasons,    work    for    each,     in    ancient 

manners  ot.  ii.  364.  China,  ii.  46  9. 

Saving,  maigin  for,  in  China,  ii.  2</c  Sebek,     13th    Dyn.   kings  worship  the 
Save--.  1  ':■■  >;« — -■  ii-,  on  model  11  Egyptian  crocodile-headed,  119. 

-uperc  itions,        147.       149;       do.  Sebekemsas,  Oueen.  ii.  400. 

hom-.-tv,  4;i.  Sebek-hotep,  13th  Dyn.  king,  96. 

Sa\yai  Said.  ;    .:.  Sebek-nefcr-ra,    wife    of    successor    of 
Sawidah.  <  >uern.  ;22.  x.i\  last  1 2th   D\n.   kina,  no. 


INDEX.  543 

Second  marriage,  consent  of  children,  Seu.cn,  Duke,  additional  tithe  levied  by, 

when    necessary    to,   20S  ;   law   of  ii.  38. 

Cliarondas  on,  449  ;   effect   of,  in  Seuen,  king  of  Tse,  ii.  34. 

Thesawaleme,     560  ;     sometimes  Seuen-king    maintains    the  nature    ot 

sanctioned  in  China,  ii.  350.  man  to  be  evil,  ii.  93. 

Secret  intercourse  between   betrothed  Seven  evil  spirits  of  Babylonian  spells, 

or  married  couples,  206,  456,  471.  237  ;     seven      brandies     of      the 

Secret  braver  or  Supplicator,  ii.  36.  paternal  house,  238  ;  seven  staged 

Secularism  and  anarchism  of  Han-yu  temples  raised  on  "holy  mound/' 

and    his   contemporaries,  ii.    153;  238. 

of  Chinese,   216.  Seventh     century    B.C.,    rise    of    new 

Seti  or  summer  canals,  ii.  412.  nationalities  in,  310. 

"  Seizing  hold '"'  of  Ethiopian   king   by  Seventy  great  scholars,  ii.  102. 

Anion  of  Xapata,  ii.  440.  Sewage,  collection  of  town,  ii.  317. 

Self-discipline  of  Chinese  sage,  ii.  74.  Sexagenary  cycle  of  China,  ii.  29,  434. 

Se-lou    "assassinated''     by    Tai-tsou-  Sexagesimal     notation,     antiquity    of, 

ming,  ii.  239.  247  ;   used  by  Assurbanipal.  254  ; 

Semedo    on    disuse    of   carriages    in  in  Vannic  inscriptions,  303  ;  traces 

China,  ii.  257.  of,  in  .Malabar  and  Minicoy,  547  ; 

Semites  and  Cushites  in  South  Arabia,  origin  of,  ii.  434,  435. 

19.  20.  Sexes  eat  apart  in  Canary  isles,  542. 

Semitic  inscription  of  Dungi,  274.  Shah  Rukh,  embassy   to   China   of,  ii. 

Senacherib,  chronological  inscriptions  241,  260. 

of,  254  ;  recaptures  seal  of  Tiglat-  Shalmaneser   or    Ululai,   son   of   Pul, 

adar  from   Babylon,  2S9,  291  :  re-  306. 

covers  Assyrian  gods  from   Baby-  Shamanistic    side   of    Babylonian   re- 
Ion.  21)6  :  murderers  of,  take  refuge  hgion,  235. 

in     Armenia,     302:    of     Habigal  Shang,  dynasty  of,  ii.  18,28,29,  Ior- 

Dynasty,     306;     destruction      of  Shanghai,   recovery  from    destruction 

Babylon     by,     309  ;    checked    by  of,  ii.  379. 

resistance  of  Judah,  312.  Shardana  and  Sardinians,  445. 

Senchus  Mor  quoted,  135.  Sharganisharali  =  Sargon,  king  of  the 

Seniors  and  juniors,  ii.  348.  city,  256. 

Sent,      king      of      second      Egyptian  Sheikh    el    Beled,   wooden   statue   so- 

Dynasty,  42  :  his  worship,  152.  called,    25,     103;     compared    to 

Sepharvaim,    children    sacrificed    at,  Gudea,  268. 

241.  Shensi  formerly  included  Kansu,  iS. 

Sepulture  ancient  modes  of,  25.  Shepherds,  expulsion  of,  120. 

Serapeum    at     Memphis,    an     asylum  Shi-king,    young  lady    in,    appeals    to 

for  slaves,  92.  Mr.  Chung,  ii.  43  ;    Shi  and  Shoo, 

Serat    invoked    to    strangle    the    first-  .128:    destruction    of,    advocated. 

born,  344.  104  :  Chinese  scholar  on    missing 

Serenput,  12th  Dyn.  tomb  of,  124.  portions  of,  479  ;  see  also  Odes. 

Servants    and  slaves    in    East  Africa.  Shing-too.  emperor  known  as  Kang-hi, 

rights  of,  532.  ii.  275. 

Sesostris.    Creek    accounts    of,    129;  Shinnung,  mythical  Chinese  emperor, 

pseudo-  at  Karabeli,  414.  31,  ii.  19. 

Seti  I.  associates  his  son  Rameses  II.,  Shishak,   22nd    Dyn.    king  of  Egypt, 

120  ;     campaigns     of,     in     Syria,  116,  296. 

295.  Shishaks    and     Sargons   reigning    in 

Seti  II.  supported   by  the   priesthood,  Egypt.     192;    naturalized    Egyp- 

1  77.  tians,  316. 

Setna,  or  Setnau.  demotic  tale  of,  55,  Shoo  King,  book  of  history,   ii.  ri.  16- 

204  n..  217.  18,  22-4.  30.  31.  54.  58.  475.  476. 

Setten.  wife  of  Serenput,  mother  and  Short  reigns,  averages  much  an'ected 

daughter  of  do.,  124.  by.  ii.  407. 

Settlement      on     a    wife.     12th      Dyn.  "  Show  face  "  festivals.  1  "9. 

Egyptian,  203,  204.  Shu-anna,  a  quarter  of  Babylon,  284. 

Seuen,  drums    of  Chow   attributed    to  Slum,  emperor  oi  China,  ri.    17     ;.  21. 

reign    of   King,     ii.     27  ;    Bamboo  29,    50.    61  ;     quoted    by    literary 

annals  do..  2S.  maid-servant,  296. 


544 


1XDEX. 


Shun-chi,  first    Mantchu  emperor    of      Sirgulla,    230  ;    various  readings    fo 


China,  ii.  2~ 4. 
Shuo-wen,  ii.  28. 
Sibou,  the  crpa  of  the  gods,  1  17. 
Sidon  =  fishery.    3S9    ;     Sidon     and 

Araclus.  wails  of,  405. 
Sidonian  kings.  400. 
Sidyma.     mother's     name    mentioned 

alone  in  late  inscription  of.  455. 
Sieou,    two   sisters,  artists    in    pottery. 

ii.  270. 
Sieuen-tsong-ming,  ii.  241. 
Signatures,  phrases  concerning.  342. 
Silk  and  rice,  allowance  of,  to  wives  in 

Mini  coy,  507. 
Silk    used    for    currency,   ii.    51  ;    silk 
and    grain,    used     for    cv  hange, 
157-9  :  use  of,  forbidden,  161. 
Silk-weavers  and  dyers''  union,  ii.  319. 
Silk-weaving  factory,  wages  in,  ii.  312. 
Silkworm  month,  ii.  4". 
Silsilis,  breaking  of  rock  dam  at,  80. 
Silver  and  corn,  medium  of  exchange 
in   Egypt,  197:   silver,  Phoenician 
trade  in.  400  :   used   for   trade,  ii. 
2;4  :    as    medium    of    exchange, 
270  :     relation    of,    to    copper    in 
Egypt.  445.  447- 
Simeonites,    Meunites    destroyed    by, 

4    >■ 
Simon,    M.    Eugene,    and    tiie  Wang 

family,  ii.  29S  fi. 
Simtishilshak,  father  of  Ivudur-mabug. 

2  79- 

Sin.  the  moon  god.  patron  of  I  r.  2 "2. 

Sinabich,  ancient  Dalisandros,  inscrip- 
tion from,  434. 
Sinazu  buys  land.  328. 
Sinbelsaan  buys  part  of  his   brother's 
inherited  land.  328. 
n-fu.  the  western  court,  ii.  100. 
1.  inscription  of,  273. 
Sin-idinna,  king  of  Sumer  and  Akkad. 

civilized  inscription  of.  278. 
Sinik.  co  intry  of  the  Seni  or  Chinese, 
ii.    14  .  n. 

1  a  or  Sini-istar.  party  to  con- 
tracts. 32S  :  swears  disputed  pro- 
]i  11  y  w  a-  1  >  night  from  personal, 
no:  ji  lint  fund-.  329  :  stun  ti  >tal  1  if 
tram  icti  ns  atti  il  um  1  to,  3  : 
]  •  v.  •      -  in  of  I  "bar-in,    :  ; 

if    f    '.    fatiier     oi     Haimnuraiii, 

Sippa     .         ii    i    of  Akk   d.   :>  :  ;   Sip- 

■   .    Nipur.   and    Pabylon.  thei: 

v.  or-1  red  and    raptha  -  re- 

-'     :        by  8     I'    on,  3  .8.  31     ,  ;    take:] 
bv  1  '\  ru"-.   ;i-i. 
sir     'fhou     -     More    excludes     horsi  - 
from  I'ti  pia,  ii.  257. 


239  ;   a  city  of  Sumer,  264. 

Sirius,  rising  of,  ii.  43S. 

Sirwah  and  Mareb,  departed  greatness 
of,  408  ;  temple  to  Almakah  at 
Sirwah.  506. 

Sisku,  second  Babylonian  dvnastv, 
25S,  284. 

Sister  marrying  in  Egypt,  t  10.  111  ; 
of  the  Tachtadschys,  438.439  ;  in 
Canary  Isles,  542  ;  in  Peru,  ii 
454- 

Sisters  son's  inheritance  called  Maru- 
makatayam,  550  tT.,  ii.  45S  it. 

Six  boards  of  administration  in  ancient 
China,  ii.  23  n.  ;  described  by 
Rashideddin,  231  ;  a  .Mantchu 
and  Chinese  appointed  to  each 
office  of.  2~4  :  Boards  of  modern 
China,  376. 

Six  great  houses  of  ancient  Egypt, 
61,  ii.  445. 

Six  hundred  Annunaki,  233  ;  600  of 
the  country,  chief  of,  342  ; 
councils  of  600,  424  :  Six  Hun- 
dreds   of   Malabar  and    Massalia. 

455-  5-4-7- 
Six  minor  dynasties,  ii.  124. 

Six  witnesses  to  -ale  of  land  in  Mala- 
bar, 547.  575  :  sixth  share  of  pro- 
duce paid  to  police,  ib.  :  six 
virtues,  six  actions,  six  branches 
of  knowledge,  ii.  72  :  six  tablets 
outside  courts  of  justice,  ii.  376. 

Sixteen  witnesses  to  grant  of  Ada's 
land.  344  :  to  private  deed.  347. 

Sixth  Babylonian  Dyn.,  299. 

Sixths  of  a  mina  counted  as  fractions, 
not  shekels.  3"  5  n. 

Sixty,  council  of,  at  Cnidus,  4"s: 
*"  Sixty  Houses.''  the.  mentioned 
in  inscription  of  Entemena,  263. 
342.  347  :  sixty  measures,  between 
city  of  Xask  and  divine  images. 
506:  sixty,  body  of.  formed  at 
Athens  of  9  archons  and  ;  1 
cpheti.  42  i. 

Si-yu-ki.  Iliouen-thsang's  Memoirs  on 
u  c-tern  countries,  ii.   145. 

Skupts  h  1.  ministerial  responsibility 
ii  .■>•(  1  liy  Servian.  4  75  n. 

Slave  in  i  ypi  ci  nsent-  to  his  own 
.  i  :  -!  ve  1  arri  d  ■  <n  to  serve 
i'1  army,  93:  slave-dealing  oi 
Phi  enicians.  4     1 

Slavery  in    Egypt.  90-3  :  in    China,  ii. 

Sla\  e-.  right  to  bury.  1 '  ■■  :  ]  iri  'es  of 
in  1  labyli  nv  1.  34  >  :  <  ml  ract  U  >v 
sale  •  4".  ;  : ;  .  dei  8-  signed  by, 
355  '•  '    mip  insatii  m   for  injury  to, 


INDEX.  545 

358  ;  agricultural,  at  Rome,  409  ;  Southern    empire   of   the    Sung    pros- 

not     employed    by     Locrians    or  perous,  ii.    175:  great  college  of, 

Phocians,   448:  ( iortyn   code  on,  i\\. 

476-7;    forbidden     to    plead    by    :    Sony  Dyn.,  ii.  130,    131  ;  currency  re- 

Syro-Roman  code,  4X9  ;  not  used  forms  of,  158. 

among   Xabatmans,    ;i2;    slaves  Spade  money,  ii.  58,  59. 

of  Towareks   do  not    revolt,  540:  Spanish  ships  and    Sir  ( icorge  Anson, 

given   as  dowries   in    Ceylon   and  ii.  28S. 

babylonia.  562  ;  duties  and  rights  Spartan  banquets  described  by  Athen- 

of,     in     Ceylon,     562  ;    slaves    of  ;eus,     counterpart      to      Samoan 

IUiddhist    monasteries     set     free,  iditpo,    470    ;     custom     of    secret 

ii.     149  ;     families    of.   not    to    be  marriage,     471,     493    ;     peculiar 

separated.  353.  position  of  Spartan  women.  483  ; 

Small    proprietorship,    working   of.  in  Spartan  lots  reckoned  to  support 

China,  ii.  304,  305.  three  men,  5 58. 

Soanes,  ancient  and  modern,  422.  Specialists  not  always  impartial,  23. 

Soap-stone   mines   near   Wenchow,  ii.  Speculation  in  paper  money,  ii.  253. 

314.  Spirits,    worship    of.   in    Egypt,    144; 
Social  ideal  of  Chinese,  ii.  330.  of  the  land    and   the   grain   wor- 

Soeial  marriages  of  Malabar,  plea  for  shipped   in    China,    153.   ii.   483  ; 

legalization  of,  ii.  469.  recognised   in  primitive  Chakhea, 

Sci'/r/iu/r  Li  Stiinle  I''.iifance,\\. 377,3 78.  233  ;    spirit    of  the   city    deified, 

Sofala,  gold  mines  of,  519  and  n.  269  ;  of  heaven  and  earth,  adora- 

Sohar,  Arab  vessels   from,  trade   with  tionof,  278 ;  "Spiritual  Exercises" 

China,  520.  of  S.  Ignatius,  parallel  to,  420. 

Soils  of  special  fertility,  ii.  7.  Sport,  animals  available  for,  ii.  374. 

Sokarimsef,  pyramid  of,  133.  Ssema-kwang,    ii.     180;     his    history, 
Sokaris,    Ptah-ases    governor    of   the  188:  funeral  of.  189. 

temple  of.  169.  Ssema-tching,  historian,  ii,  144. 

Sokotra,     island     of,    identified    with  Ssema-tsien,  chronology  of,  ii.  29  ;   on 

Panchaa,       517    :      position      of  fong  and  chan  sacrifices.  36,  107; 

women  in,  542.  on     ancient     metals,     58  ;     T'sin 

Solar    diameter    as    unit    of  measure-  inscription    preserved    by,     101  ; 

meat,  ii.  435.  record    of  debate   on  destruction 

Solar   temples    of    Eg\  pt,    orientation  of  the    book.-,,    102  4;     on      Han 

of,  ii.  438,  439  ;   solar   festivals    in  campaigns   in  Central    Asia,  100; 

Peru.  454.  on    sequence    of    prosperity    and 

Soldiers'    lands,    tenure   of.    in.    Egypt,  decay,    123,    252;     Historical    re- 

[30  ;  hardships   of,  138  :   Chinese  cords  of,  478. 

soldiers'    laments    lor  family  and  Staff,  use    of,    517.    542:   in   China,  ii. 

home.    ii.  66,  67  ;  double   pay   of,  77  ;  in  Egypt,  etc.,  ii.  497,  49S. 

134,  311.  Standard  of  comfort  among  Egyptian 
Soding.  his   loan   to  small  traders,  ii.  labourers,  89. 

320,  330,  ;-?.  Standard  of  weight    and   length  fixed 
Solstitial   and   equinoctial  solar  cults.  concurrently,  ii.  433. 

ii.  4  58,  43  1.  Stars,   Egyptian   temples   oriented  to, 
Solstitial  temple  at  Zimbabwe,  517.  ii.  439,  440. 

Son... "who  established  the  foundation  Slate   purchases,  coin   put   in   circula- 

of  his  father's  throne,"  286.  lion  by,  ii.  59. 

Son-in-law,  adoption  of,  ii.  68.  Statue  erected  and  named   by  Cudea, 
Song  of  the  Harper,  71.  119  n.  243.  244. 

for  the  dead  bv.  538.  Statuette-    of    Myrina,    modern   char- 
Son's  wife,  girl  bought  to  be  a,  348.  acter  of,  463. 

Sophists  in  China,  age  of,  ii.  87.  Status  of  Egyptian  king  consort,   110. 

Sosses   and    ncrs,    reckoning   by,  2;;,  Statute    of   limitation    applies   not    to 

ii.  434.  Welsh  mortgages,  ii.  420. 

Sothic  period,  ii.  437.  Staunton.  Sir  George,  on  Constitution 

thern   China,    foreign    trade  with.  of  China,  ii.  291. 

restored,  ii.  234,  236:  heavily  taxed  Stele  of  the  Coronation.  530. 

by    Ming  emp..  240:    slowest    to  Stcrlo  —  basque  cadet,  461. 

lit  to  Mantchus.  274.  Steward  of  the  house  of  books,  55. 
VOL.    I).  —  l'.C.  N    X 


4<> 


INDEX. 


Stewards,    administration    through,   in 

Egypt,  S3,  85. 
Stork,    giving    and    taking,    in    Irish 

laws,  135. 
Stone-cutters     of     Ameneinliat      III., 

1  10. 
Stone  drums  of  ( 'how,  ii.  27. 
Stone   knives  used    for  sacrificial    pur- 
poses in  Egypt,  54. 
Story   of  the    feasant,   42,  58,   86;  of 

Saneha,  72. 
Strabo's  maternal  ancestry,  439. 
Streets,  names  of  Chinese,  ii.  340. 
"  Stretching  the  cord  ";  to  orient  I'"gyp- 

tian  temples,  ii.  440. 
Strike  of  workmen  in  the   Necropolis, 

88,  89;  of  Chinese  pork-butchers 

against  a  tax,  ii.  375. 
'"  Stubble  before  the  wind,"  ii.  6, 
Students  in    state   colleges   privileged 

in  examinations,  ii.  210. 
Suancs,    villages    of,    lie    in    clusters, 

459- 

Subbi-kuzki,  king,  a  correspondent  of 
Amenhotep  I  V.,  294. 

Sub-registrar  not  acceptable  as  mar- 
riage high  priest,  ii.  468. 

Subsistence  wages  and  forced  labour, 
67,  68. 

Subterranean  irrigation  canals  in  Peru, 

Succession  to  the  throne  in  ancient 
China,  ii.  55 

Su-che,  his  opposition  to  Wang-ngan- 
shi,  ii.  182,  186,  188;  governor  of 
Ilang-ehow,  200;  Lake  Si-hou 
planted  by,  201  ;  epigrams  of, 
201  ;  appointed  historiographer, 
and  banished,  202. 

Su-chow,  rents  reduced  and  granaries 
opened  at,  ii.  242. 

Suedin.  peoples  "  east ':  of  Pabvlonia, 
265. 

Sutieti,  election  of  Carthaginian,  393. 

Suffixes  of  Pelasgian  names,  418. 

Sulu.  hang  of,  on  the  Euphrates,  298. 

Suit  ide  (dubs  among  Chinese  girls,  ii. 

j  3  5  ■ 

Stinier     Southern  babylonia,  264. 

Sumerand  Akkad,  difference  between, 
2A4  :  title  of  king  of.  274  :  separ- 
ation o!  cities  of,  279. 

Sumerian  and  Egyptian  writing,  254: 
Sumerian  -  Semitic    vocabularies, 

Suinerian.-i     and     Semites    contrasted. 

Summer   canals,    drawbacks   of  deep. 

in  Eg\  pi,  ii.  41  2. 
Summer    palace,  China    indifferent   to 

die  Ii  indue;  of  a,  ii.    ,8  5 


Sumula-ilu  built  fortresses  against  Ela- 
mites,  283. 

Sun,  wife  compared  to  the,  238. 

Sung  Dynasty,  causes  of  its  fall,  ii. 
'180. 

Sung  emperor  has  inscriptions  on 
Chow  drums  filled  with  gold,  ii. 
27. 

Surety,  only  relatives  can  stand,  327. 
330. 

Surname,  law  against  marriage  be- 
tween   persons    of    the    same,    ii. 

35~- 
Sum  fortress,  298. 

Suspension  bridge  in   Yunnan,  ii.  342. 
Suti,  nomad  tribes,  smitten  by  Sargon, 

3°9- 

Sutu,  Kutu  and  Lullubu  to  be  de- 
stroyed by  Akkad,  285. 

Su-tung  p'o,  verses  on  rain,  ii.  76  ;  his 
estimate  of  wealth,  199;  opposi- 
tion to  foreign  trade,  215. 

Sybaris,  tombs  at,  used  as  asylums 
448. 

Syllabaries  compared  with  telegraphic 
code-words,  339. 

Symposium,  Socrates  compared  to 
Silenus'  figures  in,  464. 

Synchronous  history  of  babylonia 
and  Assyria,  288  ;  story  of,  re- 
sumed, 297. 

Syria  and  Palestine,  allegiance  of 
transferred  to  Egypt,  314. 

Syria,  Egyptian  trade  with,  97,  98. 

Syrian  law  of  half-profits  and  risks, 
444. 

Syrian  slave,  letters  of  Egyptian 
scribe  concerning,  174. 

Syro-Cappadocian  monuments,  427. 

Syro-Roman  law  book,  487  495. 

S/.'chuen,  enlightened  governor  of,  ii. 
'34. 

'ablet  of  u su  stone,  royal   inscription 

copied  from,  273. 
"abulu,  the  shepherd  beloved  of  Istar. 

'achtadschys,  archaic  people  in  Caria 

and  Lycia,  438. 
'afidh,  perhaps  Sana,  507. 
'ai'i.  Prince  of   M't  Tso,  sacrifice   to. 

ii.  t,". 

'ai-tsong,  stock  name  for  second  ruler 
of  a  Dynasty,  ii.  y/. 

'ai-tsong-Tang,  second  emperor  ol 
Tang  I  )ynasty,  improper  curiosity 
shown  by,  ii.  26  :  drums  of  Chow 
found  in  reign  of,  27  :  accession 
of,  131,  133;  number  of  students 
under,  143  ;  salaries  of  officials 
under,   146;   granaries  under,  184. 


INDEX.  547 

Tai-tsong-sung,    second    emperor    of  Tarwad,    taravvad    or    taravad,    des- 

Sung  Dynasty,  ii.  168.  cription  of  system,  552  \T.  ;  tarwad 

Tai-tsou  =  great  ancestor,   founder   of  system     partly     answerable      for 

a  Dynasty,  ii.  237.  kanam       tenure,      575  ;      tarwad 

Tai-tsou  and  Tai-tsong-tsing,  ii.  274.  claims  like  those  of  epiballontes, 

Tai-tsou-ming,   ii.   237,    239  ;   coinage    ,  576  ;    not    lawful    to    marry   any 

of,  253.  member   of   deceased    wife's   tar- 

Tai-tsou-sung,    centralizing    measures  wad,  ii.  469  ;  tarwad   rights,  how 

of,  ii.    167  ;  reunites  the  empire,  far    to    be    protected,    472,   473  ; 

168  ;    his    reign    begins    brilliant  claim     of  tarwad    to    share  self- 
period  of  Dynasty,  1  So.  acquisitions,  473. 
Taiz,  pre- Islamite  remains  at,  505.  Tatar    aggressions    on   Chinese    fron- 
"  Taking  the   hands   of    Bel,"  319,   ii.  tiers,  ii.    133,    134;    Tatars  of  all 

440.  sorts  adopt    Chinese    civilization, 

Talai    lama,   friendship   with,    ii.    267,  173;    costly    embassies    of,    242, 

268.  243  ;  little  wars  with,  286. 
Talayots  of  Balearic  Isles,  446.  Ta-Tsin  (Rome), projected  Chinese  em- 
Tale  of  Two  Brothers,  79  ;  of  Setna,  bassy  to,  ii.  117  ;  religion  of,  149. 

M.     Revillout's      translation     of,  Tau-kwang,  recent  Tsing  emperor,  ii. 

204.  289. 

Tali-kcttu-kalyanam,  tying   of  tali,  ii.  Tavali,  .sw  Tavazhi,  branch   family  in 

474.  Malabar,  552. 

Talmud,  Babylonian,  on  ten  measures  Tavazhi  or  tavali,  action   of   English 

— of  poverty,  etc.,  353.  courts  in  regard  to,  ii.  461  ;  claims 

Tamara,  Queen,  45S.  of,  to  share  self-acquisitions,  473. 

Tamerlane,  ravages  ot,  ii.  260.  Tave,    the    servant    of,  renounces    his 

Tamna  or  Thomna,  capital  ot    Katta-  master.  92. 

banians,  509.  Tavium,  sacred    grove    and   place    of 

Tana  (Azov),  route   to  China   from,  ii.  refuge  at.  420. 

233.  Taxation    and    finance,    officials    con- 

Tanagra,  pottery  at,  464.  nccted   with    Egyptian,    63  ;    tax- 

Tan-foo,   Duke,  removes   from  Pin   to  ation    in    Egypt     fluctuates    with 

Chow,  ii.  19,  20.  the  inundation,  69  ;  taxation  and 

Tang,  see  Thang  the  Successful.  rent,     130  ;    taxation    in     ancient 

Tang  Dynasty,  rise  and  fall  of,  ii.  110,  China,  ii.    35-9,  41  ;   taxation  and 

138:  Tang  code  drawn   up,  132;  revenue    under    the   Han,     r  1 3—6, 

official  history  of,  202.  121,  127  ;  taxation  and  population 

Tang-ja-\vang=  Adam  Schall,  ii.  250.  under  the  Sung,    192  ;  under  the 

Tangut,   people   of,  ii.  217;  language    '  Mongols,    227,    228;     under    the 

of,  learnt  by  Chinese,  279.  Ming,  239  :  of  foreigners  in  Cash- 
Taoism,    ii.    145,    146;    favoured    by  gar,  etc.,  287  ;  rate  of,  per  head  in 

Hiouen-tsong,  ii.  144.  modern  China,  320,  374. 

Taoist  criticisms  on  Confucius,  ii.  84  ;  Taxes,  large  land-owners  otter  to  pay, 

Taoist  jealousy  of  Buddhism,  124  ;  for     their    dependents,     ii.     150; 

insurrection  in  Sz'chuen,  288.  taxes  remitted  in  bad  times,  360. 

Ta-ouan,    Han    expedition   against,  ii.  Taxpayers  not   to  be  overcharged,   ii. 

109.  363. 

Tar,     Egyptian     border     fortress     in  Tchang,  brothers,  artists  in  porcelain, 

M  in, ran  inscriptions,  500.  ii.  213  :  the  elder  imitated  under 

Tara,    unit    of    civil    organization    in  the  Ming,  256,257. 

Malabar,  547,  548.  Tchang    yang,    negotiable    notes    in- 

Tard/Tdniiii  of  ground  duty  of  |affna  vented  by,  ii.  193. 

Malabars,  569.  Tehao-ing    defend:,    the   legal    rate  of 

Taravad,  see  Tarwad.  interest,  ii.  328. 

Tarchundarash,      king       of      Arzapi,  Tcheng-ki  long,   results   oi     residence 

:  Reseph,  294.  in  Kurope  to.  ii.  y\j. 

Taricheutes  or  parachistes,   164.  166:  Tchc-tsnng,    Sung    emperor,    ii.    171  : 

proprietary    institutions    of,    167,  regulations  of  Wang-ngan-shi  re- 

168.  vived  l)y,  202,  207. 

Taririas,   mother   of   Armenian    king,  Tchin-tse   on   social  utility  of  million 

Menuas,  303.  aires,  ii.  j2<>. 


i4» 


I XI)  EX. 


Tchin-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  168. 

Tching-tsong,  Chinese  name  of 
Timour,  ii.  229. 

Tching  y,  master  of  the  orthodox 
school,  ii.  200-  8. 

Tchu-wen,  general,  puts  last  Tang 
emperor  to  death,  ii.  1  58. 

Tea.  introduction  of,  ii.  r  30  ;  not  men- 
tioned by  Marco  Polo,  218:  tea 
trade,  opening  of  Tatary  to,.23S  ; 
Tea  and  silk  dealers'  guilds,  338  ; 
charitable  provision  of,  378. 

Teacher     paid     bv     Kabyle     villages, 

I  ea-pi<  kers,  wages  of,  313. 

Tedjnris,  mountains  of.  232. 

Tefinagli  or  'titinar,'  old  Berber  cha- 
racters called,  540. 

Tegean  inscription,  438. 

Teie  nr  Tii,  wife  of  Amenhotep  III.. 
129:  mother   of  Amenhotep   IV., 

2Tv 

Teih.  the  barbarous,  ii.  364. 

Teleboas,  daughter  of  I.elex.  417. 

Tell  el  Amarna  tablets,  cuneiform  cor- 
respondence between  Egypt  and 
princes  of  Asia,  25:,  288,  291  : 
bibliography  of.  2  >~:  n. 

Telloh,  inscriptions  of.  tr.  by  Amiaud, 
2^,'j  :  remains  of  Lagash  Si r 
gulla    at,  263. 

Telmessus,  oracle  of  Ap  illo  a'..  434. 

Tcman,  wisdom  of.  ;  1  >. 

Temperament      of      Egyptians       and 
Chinese.  223. 
!e  employees   in  Egypt,  lists  of. 


f, 


<j  ' 


'[\  mole    days  "    of   th 


priests    valued    and     bequeatl 
15S  :  revenues  so  described,   173  : 
Babylonian      parallels      to,     570: 
temples     of     tl        kings,    on  l<  1 ., 
men:    1  if,  1  J- >  :   royal   gifts  to,  171. 
[  72  :     land-     included     in.     1 73  ; 
taxes   aligned    to.    1 76.    1  "7  ;   re 
venues  re  eived   bv.  under  Rame- 
-■-  III..  170  :  temple  estates  held 
upn     trust,  173  :    gradual  increase 
of,    in    Eg\  pt,    17;  :   temple    land  - 
e  r.tu'.e' !     to     (  hvek     n     1  cenai  ie-. 
'  '.:  ;     '    :  -    taxed 

:ndcr      :  ■     ei         .      179  :      llaln 

le      '    iv\    fre  ■    of   in- 
■     ■    ■.  :      temple     1   asts     ;  I 

c\,     :.-'■  oi    priests    in  ('aria.  g~2  : 
tern]  ile  o;    emperors  and    kings  in 

res     :    ■•     ■'.  mi.  e  t<  .,  uccord- 
1.      to    T.thnud,    '  -  ;  :    ten    yi    1 
.'  ' . 

luii       '    '.      ,  4 2 1    :    t ' 


and  thirties  in  Carthage,  394  ;  ten, 
groups  of,  in  Malabar,  etc.,  547. 
548.. 

I  enants  in  Malabar,  theoretically  hold 
at  will.  575  :  twelve  years'  tenure 
secured  by  English  courts,  ib. 

Teng  T'ung.  Chinese  Croesus,  ii.  156. 

Tenos  inscription  respecting  sales  and 
mortgages,  437.  453. 

Tenth  of  a  man's  property  dedicated 
to  Serapis,  176;  "tenth  year," 
amount  of  debt  in  the.  354. 

Terminations  of  Kassite  and  Vannic 
names.  303  :  Pelasgian  do.. 
41.S  ;  as  and  is  in  Isaurian  in- 
scriptions, 434. 

Teti.  pyramid  of,  1  53. 

Te-tsong,  Tang  emperor,  ii.  151  ;  con- 
versation with  a  peasant  of.  152. 

Thai-hio,  imperial  college,  founded,  ii. 
118. 

Thamaount,  Kabvle  institution  called, 

469. 
1  hang,  the  successful,  founder   of  the 
dynasty    of  Shang.   ii.    18.   28,  31, 
5".  92  :   inscription   on   his   bath, 

,,74- 

Thapsus,  a  Tyrian  colon}",  406. 
Tharros  necropolis,  401,  405. 
Theatrical  performances  in  Dravidian 

villages,  566  ;  theatrical  company, 

pay  of  Chinese,  310:  demeanour 

of  audience.  382. 
Theban    priesthood,    aggrandisement 

of.  under  Kameses  III..   1  ~~. 
Thebes,      Memphis    and      Heliopolis, 

judge  -   and   high    priests   of.  171  ; 

chief  priesthood   of  Thebes,  171  ; 

capital    transferred,     increase    in 

religious  importance  of.  172. 
Theophr;     t    -'    cam"    f  ir    lapisdazuli, 

232  :  on  laws  of  Charondas,  449. 
Thera,    inscription    found  at.    reserves 

rights   ol  ('.  .  -      : 

1  hcsawaleme  or  I  asawalamai,  Ceylon 

law  boi  >',:.  5 :  1. 
Thessalian    ti'ibes   with   Amphictyonic 
i:  anchise,  4'  ;. 

di\  ision  ol  meat  in 
Algeria,  46',),  435;  Cuanche  par- 
Third  1  ) .  n.  Eg\  ptian  kings,  42  : 
third  Chinese  IJ\  n.,  fail  of.  ii.  97. 
[year,  Ian  1  let  lor  1  rop  of.  ;  54  ; 
third  :  -    ;iveii    to   land- 

lord by  <  'eylon  •  a-nmi.   5.    , 
I'hirti    nth    Eg\  ptian    1  >yn.  kings  reign 
in  right  of  tl     ir  u  ives.  1  ;  1  :   king 
dc-scril  ied  a  -  "  --  >n  of  1  ,uc  n  mother 
; 


INDEX. 


549 


Thirty  judges  or  suteni  in  Egypt,  56  ;        Tien    or    contract,   Chinese    mortgage 


thirty  years'  jubilee  in  Assyria  and 
Egypt,   300  ;    Thirty,  councils  of, 


called,   1 84  ;   Amyot's  description 
of,  1 84.  1 85. 


472-4  ;  thirty  gerontes  of  Sparta,       Tien-tchi  on  interest  and  rent,  ii.  328. 


.  472,  473- 

This,  capital  of  1st  Egyptian  Dyn.,  19. 

Thoth,  Egyptian  table  of  precedence 
ascribed  to  god,  64  ;  the  register- 
ing god,  76;  called  /'nine,  122; 
wisdom  of,  stolen  by  Setnau,  218. 

Thothmes,  a  litigant,  86. 

Thothmes  I., sonof  Nofert-ari-Aahmes, 
sometimes  represented  black,  120; 


Tien-tsin  massacre,  causes  of,  ii.  378. 

Tiglat-adar.  his  seal  captured  and  re- 
covered, 254  ;  son  of  Salmanasar 
I.,  291. 

1  iglath-pileser  I.,  king  of  Assyria, 
254  ;  inscription  of,  254  ;  denun- 
ciation of  "unseen  places"'  by 
290,  291  ;  wars  with  Mardukna- 
dinahi,  296. 


:onquests  and  tributes  claimed  by,       Tiglath-pileser    III.,    ?    a    Babylonian 


291  ;  marriages  of  the  four  Thoth- 
mes, 1  [O,  1 1  8. 


named  Pulu,  304, 
Tigris,  floods  of,  229. 


'hothmes   111.,  reign  of,  40  ;  employ-       Tii  or  Teie,  mother  of  Amenhotep  IV., 


293- 

I'ime  book  of  Egyptian  foreman,  70. 
777////,  later  Egyptian  word  for  town, 
39- 


ment  of  his  prisoners,  90  ;  spoil 
taken  by,  97  ;  inscription  of,  toi  ; 
his  ornamental  tools,  103  ;  con- 
quests  and   tributes   claimed    by, 

291  ;  Thothmes  III.  and  the  Timour  (Tchingtsong),  ii.  229 
ahouitou  of  Megiddo,  140;  his 
gifts  to  temples,  172.  173,  175: 
empire  extended  to  borders  of 
Babylon,  287  :  Mimmuria  of  Tell 
el  Amarna  letters.  293  ;  dated 
astronomically,  ii.  43S 


limuchi    of   Massalia,  424,  449,  452, 

547- 
rintir,    sacred    name   of   Babel,   262  ; 

rst    Babvlonian    Dyn.    called    of. 

2S4. 
Finn,  dynasty  of,  306. 


Three  hundred  Igigi,  233  ;  three  years,       Tirhaka   unites   Egypt   and    Ethiopia, 


^12:      recovers     Memphis     from 
\echo,  3  1  3. 
335  :    threefold    classifications   in       Tiruvalluvar,  author  of  Kural,  566. 


leases  for,  334:    "'three  parts  hi 
made"  at  the  time  of  cultivation 


Asia  Minor,  421  ;  threes  and  tens 
in  Doric  states,  421  :  three  cities 
of  ancient  Rhodes,  441  :  three 
grades  of  population,  465  ;  three 
hundred,  senates  of,  4-2:  three 
possible  arrangements  for  house- 
hold life,  493  :  three  classes  on 
island  of  Banch.ea.  114;  "three 
precious  things''  of  Arab,  528: 
three  dynasties  of  ancient  China, 
ii.  22,  29  ;  allotments  of,  44  ;  three 
yeaiv  mourning,  when  used,  70: 
three  kingdoms,  period  of,  124: 
three  hundred  per  cent,  profits  of 
trade,  334. 
Thsi    yti    on     hereditary    occupation, 

ii-  54- 

Thurium,  city  of,  divided  into  four 
quartei  -.  421. 

Tin  re  1,  city  walls  of,  48b. 

Ti,  description  of  wall  pictures  on  the 
grave  of,  66  ;  on  his  dead  wife,  199. 

Tibet,  Chinese  difficulties  with,  ii.  t  ;  ;, 
134,  139;  first  mention  of,  in  Chi- 
nese  annals,    139:    Tibet  applies 


Tiryns,  walls  of,  405. 

Tithe,  the  Li  Ki  on,  ii.  36. 

Tiuspa,  ?  Teispes,  the  Achaomenian 
311. 

Tios,  acropolis  of,  428. 

"To  bedauie,"  Bedja  or  Bega  lan- 
guage. 531. 

Token  coinage,  Chinese  approximation 
to  a,  ii.   1  57. 

Toleration  edict  of  Kang-hi,  ii.  276. 
2  8  1 . 

Tomb,  lands  or  domain  ol  the,  152: 
not  to  be  built  on  private  or  temple 
lands,  161  ;  as  properly  in  Egypt, 
163;  property  in,  in  Caria  and 
Lyeia,  433  ;  burial  of  valuables 
in,  ii.  115;  litigation  respecting 
the  dtes  of.  ii.  359. 

Tones,  use  of  Chinese,  not  at  first  un- 
derstood by  Europeans,  ii.  267. 

Tong  kien-kang-mou,  ii.  479. 

Topogrammats.  139. 

Tortoise  shell,  divination  by,  in  China, 

Total  abstinence   societies  in    China, 


for  Chinese  protection,  zj<). 
Tibetan   explanation   of    Basque    rule       Totemism,  no  signs  of,  in    Egypt,  14; 


against  marriages   between   elder 
dren,  5 ; 


1 47- 
Touiza,  Kabyle  labour  loans.  18; 


55o  INDEX. 

Tourguts    cross    Chinese    frontier,    ii.  Truddhu  or   watch-towers   in  Apulia. 

287.  447. 

Tou-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  177.  Truth,  Egyptian  conception  of,  44. 

Towarek    laws    of    inheritance.     524  ;  Tryphaena,    daughter   of    Pythodoris, 

Towarek  tribes,  position  of  women  440. 

among,    539  ;    functions  of  noble  Tsao,  state  of,  ii.  97. 

or  warlike,  539,  540.  Tse,  signs  of  the  tall  of,  ii.  40  ;  prince 

Town,   "a   righteous   man  who  loves  of,   S3;     scholar   of,    opposed    to 

his,"  245  n.  ;   "town  and   country,  flatterers  of  T'sin  emperor,  102. 

all  my  property  in."  a  Babylonian  Tseng-kong   superseded    as    historio- 

formula,    324  ;    independence    of  grapher  by  Su-che,  ii.  202. 

towns  in  feudal  China,  ii.  60.  Tseou,  clan  of  workers  in  porcelain,  ii. 

Trade    organizations    in   later    Egypt,  213. 

107    ;      trades     occupy      special  Tse-tchi-tong-kien-kang-mou,    history 

quarters      in      Egyptian      towns,  by  Ssema-kwang,  ii.  188. 

109  ;    trade    routes    from    Euph-  Tsi,  see  Tse. 

rates     to     Mediterranean.     389    :  Tsien-tchi  on  free  trade  and  diminish- 

trade   routes    for  tin  and   amber,  ing  returns,  ii.  325. 

401.  402  ;  for  Milesian  trade  with  T'sin,  state  of,  ii.   24:  persons  buried 

Etruria,    424  ;     from    the     Black  with   duke  of,  <So  ;  imperial   terri- 

Sea.    426;    to     China,     ii.     140:  tory  ceded  to,  81  ;  usurpation    of, 

trade     guilds,     ii.     318-30    ;     all  97.  100;  character   of.    102,    103: 

classes  interested   in   trade,   32;  ;  T'sin  Dynasty,  ten  follies  of,  105  ; 

trade    with    barbarians,   laws    on,  duration  of.  130. 

363.  Tsin-chi-hwang-ti,      Burner     of     the 

''Traders."   name   of  Shang   Dynast)  Books,  ii.  100,  106. 

translated,  ii.  29.  Tsing,  Chinese  rural   unit,  38  ;  village 

Trading   class,  status   of.  in    China,  ii.  settlement   with    common  well.  ii. 

323.  334  :  trading  tribes  of  South  42  ;  "imperial  fields,"  ii.  116. 

Arabia,  i.  503.  Tsing,  speech  of,  ii.  102. 

Translators,  two  schools  of.  320.  Tsing-ti  or  promissory  notes,  ii.  193. 

Travancore,  history   of,  by    Mr.  Shun-  Tsin-sse,  duties  of  the   first   three,   or 

goony  Menon,  5:4.  doctors,  ii.  255. 

Travellers,  provision   for,  in    Malabar,  Tso  Chuen,  Commentary   by   Tso  on 

564.  Chun    Tsew,   ii.   25  ;    quoted,    ii. 

Treasury  bonds  or  fey  tsien,  ii.   103.  40,  54.  99.  102. 

Treaties  between  Carthage  and  Rome.  Tsoo,  human   sacrifices   in  state  of,  ii. 

390  ;  between  Cretan  towns,  474,  So. 

4~5  :  between  China  and  the  Leao,  Tsoui,  pottery  of  the  venerable,  ii.256. 

ii.    169;    treaty    on    equal     terms  Tuition  fees   under   the   Sung,  ii.  143: 

between    China   and    the    Kin,   ii.  in  modern  China.  31 1. 

172  :     between     Kubla    and     the  Tung-chi,    recent   Tsing    emperor,   ii. 

Sung,  17".  28';. 

Trees   planted    on    other    men's  land.  Turano-Scythic  group    of   languages, 

5r,S\  ::.'  "•  A  '■ 

Triad,  divine  and  human  family.  \i\  :  Tu.shratta,  letters  from.  293. 

domestic  Egyptian,  203  ;  of  Car  Tutelage   of  women,  objection    to    in- 

thaginian    oath-,    410;     favourite  troducing  in  Malabar,  ii.  471,  472. 

Chinese,  ii.  3.  Twelfth    Dyn.     stele,    79;     kings    of. 

Tribute   bearers,    expense    caused  by  associate    sons     in     government, 

tii  n    of.    ii.     i  10  :    so   called.  119;   reward   of   gallantry    under. 

241  :   tribute-paying  families,  pro-  \\\  :    extra    share    of  one-twelfth 

portion  of,   i     ■ .  taken  by  eldest  -on.  2  1  7. 

Tribute  of  Yu.  anAeni  portion  of  Shoo  Twelve  Pastors   of  Chinese   tradition. 

.   1    .    ;:.   ii.   11.   13,   17.  21.  32.     ii.    21  :    twelve     shekels    per 

t  on  v. :  —    ;    character  of  China,  mina.  interest  at  the  rate  of,  334  : 

n.     204   :     h;-     book     on     Kic<  A  twelve  per  soss     20  per  cent.,  334, 

mi--:":!..;'--.  ---;    twelve    witnesses    to    Ritti- 

I'ho  ni<  i               ettl   '  ic  Marduk's  grant.  ;;;  :  twelve  cities 

1  ailed.      ...  (if     Etruscan      federation,,    424: 

I  lo'.p      o|  ■,,  I,                        1   |-(_'te.  i~  1.  c  ou  iv  ii  of.  in  C,  ran  Can  aria.  -42. 


INDEX.  55, 

Twenty-fifth  Ethiopian  Dyn.,  190.  Underselling   and    overcharging,    the 
Twenty-first  Dyn.  founded  by  usurpa-  Vi  King  on,  ii.  489. 

tion  of  Hirhor,  1  7S  ;  influence  of  "  Undivided  half,"  361. 

priesthood  declines  after,  192.  Uniformity  of  costume,  ii.  64. 

Twenty-second    Egyptian     Dyn.,    As-  Unit  of  French   metric  system,  ii.  433. 

Syrian  contemporaries  of,  296.  Unlawful    to    deprive   a  neighbour   of 
Twenty-sixth  (Saite)  Dyn.,  120  ;  anti-  his  business,  ii.  36S. 

quarian  renaissance  under,  253.  "'  Unnamed    prince,"  exalted    title   of, 
Twenty-three  histories,  ii.  478.  ii.  211. 

Twins  of  the  Serapeum,  220.  Unploughed    fields,  forming    pasture, 
'Two  brothers,  tale  of,  79.  78. 

'Two    Crowns    associated     with    two  Unpopular  officials  repudiated,  88. 

astronomical  systems,  ii.  438.  Upper  and    Lower  Egypt,  division    of 
'Two  families,  difficulties   arising  from  the  country  into,  37. 

hereditary  rights  of,  216.  Upper  Egypt,  proposals   for  irrigation 
'Two   literary   young    ladies,    romance  of,  ii.  415. 

of,  ii.  295.  Ur,  230  ;   a  city  of  Sumer,  264  ;  mod- 
Tyana,    horse    breeding     and    sacred  ern  Mugheir,  271. 

spring  at,  419.  Urardhi,  modern  Armenia.  298. 

Tylor,  .Mi-.,  quoted,  231.  Ur-bau,  patesi,  inscription  concerning, 
Tyre  refuses  tribute  to  Assyria,   312  ;  240  ;     otherwise,     Ur  -  bagas    or 

'Tyre.    Sidon,    and    Aradus,    con-  Urukh,  patesi  of  Lagash,  267  ;  his 

federation    of,     394  ;     height    ot  buildings,  272. 

houses      at,    406   ;     fresh  -  water  Urli  ya,  ii.  476. 

springs     at    sea    off,    515:    'Tyre  LT-kagina,  King,  246. 

(or  Tylos)  and  Aradus,  islands  in  Urmia    lake   called   the  lower  of  the 

Persian  Gulf,  so  called,  516.  Nfairi  land,  270. 

Tyrian  I  Ierakles,  patron  of  Phoenician  Ur-nina,    King,   246;    otherwise,    Ur- 

guild,  395   n.,   508;  Tyrian   seas,  ghan,  king  of  Lagash,  261. 

dangers  of,  307,  308.  Urninghoul, patesi  of  Lagash,  262,  263. 

'Tyrrhenian      license      according      to  Urningirsu,  son  of  Gudea,  267,  271. 

Athenaus,  448.  Unu   (or    Gurru)   dugga,    a    name    of 

Kridu,  252. 
Uru-zag,  name  of  Babylon  or  a  quarter 
I  ahabra    Pharaoh   Hophra)=:Apries,  thereof,  284. 

317.  Urzugurubar,    father    of  Agukakrime, 
Ubarsin  engaged   in   sales  and   parti-  286. 

lions  of  land,  328,  33  1 .  Usufructuary  mortgage,  Malabar  ka- 
Ugnu  or  Uknu  stone  — lapis-lazuli,  250.  nam,  etc.,  571. 

L'igour  poem,  Kudatku  Bilik,  ii.  215.  Usurtasen   L,   56,  84,   96;  associated 
Ululai,  ?  the  personal  name  of  Sama-  with   his  father,   119;    builder  of 

nasar,  306.  temples,  171. 

Ummanigas,  king  of  Elam,  307.  Usurtasen  II..  78. 

Umpire  city  (ekkletos),  institution  of,  Usurtasen    III.,  fortifies  his  southern 

475.  frontier,  95. 

In.  nomarch  of.  40.  Usury,  law  against,  ii.  369. 
Una,  Sixth    Dyn.,  inscription  of,   49; 

office  held  by,  46  ;    he  has  access 

to  the  House  of  the  Six,  61.  Vacaci,   common    cultivation    of    the 
I  nas'    pyramid,    plummet     found    in,  ground  among.  460. 

103  :  funeral  text  found  in.  153  n.  Vakhtang.  Prince,  Georgian  laws  edi- 
Uncultivated       land,     ownership     of.  ted  by,  458. 

lapsed   in   Egypt,  141  ;  law  of,  in  Yakhushta,  Prince,  458. 

Arabia,  525,  526  ;  taxed  in  ancient  Yalignano,  Father  Alessandro   da,  on 

China,   ii.    50  ;    in    modern,   236  :  China,  ii.  265. 

granted  afresh  by  the   State,  357,  Value  of  money  in  China,  ii.  310,  311, 

362.  _  313. 

Undantti   painiyam  =  x\\\vm    vadium,  Valuer  of  horses,  duty  of.  in  the  Chow 

571.  Li,  ii.  52, 

Underground  water  channels,  422.  526.  Van  inscriptions,  302,  yj-\ ;  Wan,  called 
527,  ii.  454.  the  upper  lake  of  Nairi  land,  270. 


INDEX. 


Varangis.  female  assemblies  in    Mini-       Wang-ngan-shi,     financier    of     Sung 


coy,  567. 
Venetian  gentleman  on  Chinese  trade. 

ii.  260. 
Yerbiest,     Fatlier,     succeeds      Adam 

Schall,  ii.  382. 
VcntiapaUiUii,    Malabar    land     lease, 

\  iceroy  of  Canton,  his  appeal  to  Ricci, 
ii.  20S. 

Village  rominunities  in  Badakshan.  ii. 
43  :  village  headman,  functions 
of.  under  the  Chow.  ii.  44  ;  village 
officers,  ' .  >  i  :  hall-  and  libraries 
in.  modern  ( .'hin a.  300,  309. 

Village,  size  of  Peruvian,  ii.  453. 

Vine,  unknown  to  Akkadians.  231. 

Virey,  M.  Philippe,  on  Brisse  papyrus, 
43  :  version  of  I'tah-botep  by.  209. 

Virgil  on  silkworms,  ii.  111. 


Dyn.,  ii.  116;  called  the  Inno- 
vator. 170,  171,  173.  180;  his 
rationalism,  1S1  ;  theory  of  taxa- 
tion and  state  trading,  182;  Forced 
Labour  Kmancipation  .Act,  and 
labour-aid-money,  [82,  183  ; 
Creen  Sprout  law  state  loans  to 
farmers  .  183  :  Ssema-kwang:s 
criticism  on.  184;  losses  to  the 
state  by  peculation.  1S5.  1 86  ; 
cadastral  survey  and  Barter  law, 
186  ;  law  for  protection  of  horses, 
187.  222;  liis  edition  of  the 
classics  and  death..  188  ;  edicts 
for  and  against  his  doctrines,  207  ; 
remodels  examinations,  210. 
Wang-pou,  the  blameless  censor,  "  as- 
sassinated':  by  Tai-tsou-ming,  ii. 
239,  .42. 


Virgins  employed  as  recorders,  ii.  260.       Wa-ng-tchi-tchang  on  Ming  finance,  ii. 


Virtuous   officers   banished   to  remote 


-43- 


governorships,  ii.    147;  series  of,       Wang-yu-pu's    paraphrase    of  Sacred 


under  the  Ming,  ii.  242. 


Edict,  ii.  350. 


Virtuous  ruler,  ancient  Chine-'.'    ideal       YVanlih   period  — reign    of   Chir.-tsong, 

of.  ii.  20. 
\ "isscher's  letters  from  Malabar.  54S  11.  : 

on  Malabar  mortgages.  572. 
Vivitw    viidiuin    or    vif-gage,    ii.    416. 

4'A 

Voluntary  subscriptions  at  Rhodes  for 
public  purposes.  .142. 

Von  Luschau's  photographs  of  Armen- 
ian.-. 

\*otive  tablets  of  Arabian  -.  5 

Vox  pi'puli.  vox  A/,  ancient  Chinese 
doctrine,  ii.   31, 

Vulture  stele,  201 . 


Wa  li  Maglin    1.  1     p   er  mini        i.  95. 
Wages      Kgyj  >ti  in     p.iii  i   in    beer   and 
bread.    54;    real    wages    not    low. 

7 1  :     rate    of    wages     in    moi ' 
China,    ii.     310-15  :     wages     .and 
price-;     fixed     concurrently,     3 19  : 
standard  rate  named   in  the  <  ode, 
3'  ;  :  wages  1  if  v. omen.  3:5. 

\\  ;  iter-  pav  f  a  their  plai  e-  in  Man  o's 
Chin  i,"ii.  223. 

\V;  ":    :    Major,    K    p  >r1    on     M 
1   n  !  tenun  -  !.v.  —.  . 

Wall  |)!etur   s  of    Kgyptian    to:  ibs  and 
teniji!"-.   1  cj  3. 

.     ii.       .  .  :     u-  ::  pat  ion    of. 
n  .:   s  :      -     :       <  -       e  \aminatii  •):-. 
i  2  •  :    cot  npar   d    to  tin.    lnno\    to  . 
i    7. 
'..:.'        2-t-e.    tamilv    and    fai  1 


. 


11.  249. 
Wan-yang  against  luxury,  ii.  324. 
War   gods    let     loo-e    on     Babylonia, 

War  horses,  not  to  be  allowed  to  feed 
upon  the  children,  24 1 . 

Warka,  ancient  Krech,  deeds  found 
at.  322. 

Warnings   to   kings   again-' 
241. 

Warring  state  period,  ii.  59.  <j\.  93.  97. 
47  A 

War-  between  Babylonia  .and  Assyria, 
288.  289;  Chinese  war-  with  Hia 
Tatar-  and  Tibet, en-,  ii.  171  ;  be- 
tween  Kin  and   I.eao,   1  72. 

Waste    lands,    arr  11  .  ei  icnts     for    re- 

1  iaiming,  ii.  2    :. 

Waste  1  ;.  teri  d,  utilixati  m  or.  ii.  317. 
W    '    h-tower  dedi    ii     1     to    Attar    by 

Min  can  princes,  5  >  j. 
Water-channels,  numerous   words   for, 

343  :    v.  ater  rights  in  Arabia.  520  : 
.-.  ing  '.'.  ater  as    a  e   rite. 

4'  2.  ii.  474  :   water  tight  ■  •  nr  part- 

ments.  b  ia*  -  wit  h.  223. 
Water  work-  ne  ir  'lyre,  4 
Watery  abvss.  the  ori-Mn  of  all   tiling-. 

2  ■/>. 

Wa\  ing  -  orn  lield,  beauty  of.  admired, 
ii.    i  !    . 

<  ;    .       ient    !■'.,_}  ptian-    in  4  ex- 
1     ■  .     ;    ;  ot  temple     ft":   er.- 
-'-.-.:'..■       • 


INDEX. 


553 


by  Chinese  minister,  lest  its  in- 
heritance should  demoralize  heirs, 
ii.  55  ;  concentration  of  wealth 
objected  to.  329. 
Wei,  state  of,  ii.  113;  one  of  the 
three  kingdoms,    124  ;  coinage  of, 

W  ei    Shang,    a    Chinese    Leandcr,    ii. 

.  .  67- 

\\  eights  and  coins  of  ancient  China, 
ii.  57  ;  weight-money,  specimen 
of  7th  century.  80,  n.  '  ;  weights, 
Egyptian  and  Babylonian,  ii. 
445.  444-  446,  447- 

Welsh  laws  of  ilowel  on  cutting  tim- 
ber, ii.  51, 

'•  Welsh  mortgage  "  met  with  in  China, 
Malabar,  Egypt,  and  among  Bas- 
ques and  Berbers,  323  ;  nature  of, 
ii.  417,  4i9i  420. 

Wen.  king  of  Chow,  44,  ii.  40,  121  n. ; 
Wen  and  Wu,  ii.  78,  92,  108. 

Wen-hien-thong-khao,encyclopaediaof 
Ma-twan-lin,  ii.  98. 

Wen-ti,  minister  of,  on  riches,  ii.  199. 

Wen-ti  of  Wei  Dynasty,  ii.    128. 

\\en-ti  =  the  learned  prince,  ii.  237. 

Wen-tien-hsiang  on  everlasting  obli- 
gations, ii.  2  [4. 

West  of  Thebes  =  the  Necropolis,  89, 

\\  estcrn  Asia,  protectorate  of  China 
in,  ii.  117  ;   intercourse  with,  128. 

W  estcrn  traders'  overtures  rejected, 
ii.  140. 

Wheels,  philosophy  of,  in  China,  ii. 
62.  63. 

W  bite  Syrians  of  Strabo,  5S6. 

Widowed  ^cndn\  Basque  son-in-law, 
his  portion.  21S. 

•'  Widow's  hills,"  ii.  342. 

Widow's  son,  in  Oriental  romance.  379. 

Widows,  position  of  Chinese,  ii.  347  ; 
"  Hall  of  Rest  ;:  for,  355  ;  "  not 
allowed  to  sell  land.  359. 

Wife.  Egyptian,  position  of,  200;  if 
offending,  to  depart  with  her  pro- 
perty, 202  ;  various  phrases  for 
workman's,  205  ;  allowance  of 
1,800  drachms  to,  208;  her  con- 
sent necessary  to  her  husband's 
acts,  209,  210:  endowed  in  the 
interest  of  the  children,  210  :  I3a 
bylonian  wife  compared  to  midday 
sun,  238  ;  her  dowry  liable  for 
husband's  fathers  debts,  346  ;  her 
property  reverts  Lo  her  own  family, 
577  ;  husband  required  to  join 
wife's  tribe  in  parts  of  Arabia,  '-,2^  ; 
status  of  acknowledged  wife  in 
China,  ii.  67,  68  ;  "wife  having  the 
conduct  of  an  officer,"  549  ;  in- 
VOL.    II.  —  I'.C, 


herits  from  husband,  347  ;  not 
lawful  to  marry  any  member  of 
deceased  wife's  tarwad,  469. 
Wills,  1 2th  Dyn.,  Egyptian,  203  ;  of 
foreigners,  temp.  Ptolemy  1.  and 
II.,  22  r,  222  ;  unknown  in  Baby- 
lonia, yj~]  ;  will  of  Yang-chi,  ii. 
202  ;  that  ascribed  to  Kang-hi, 
282,  283  ;  wills  in  modern  China, 
351  :  objections  to  legalizing  wills 
apart  from  marriage  in   Malabar, 

473- 

Winckler,  genealogy  proposed  by,  263. 

Witch  and  emaciated  person,  proposal 
to  burn,  ii.  5  1. 

Witnesses,  six  required  for  smallest 
transaction  in  Egypt,  195  ;  quali- 
fications of,  in  Georgia, 458;  three 
required  at  Gortyn,  478;  qualifi- 
cations of,  in  Syro-Roman  code, 
491  ;  examined  under  torture  in 
China,  ii.  376. 

Woman  sells  herself  as  servant  or  con- 
cubine, 92  ;  "  woman's  language  " 
in  Akkad,  264. 

Women  as  witnesses  to  deeds,  371  ; 
Lycians  said  to  be  ruled  by,  429  ; 
women  in  Carian  and  Lycian  in- 
scriptions, 429,  430  ;  women's 
apartments  at  Tiryns  and  My- 
cenae, 445;  "women  and  two 
elders"  of  Mimean  tribe  make 
gifts.  509  ;  influence  of  women  in 
ancient  Arabia,  521  ;  position  of, 
in  Oman,  528  ;  in  East  Africa,  531  ; 
in  Asbcn  and  Towarek  tribes,  539 ; 
in  Canary  islands,  543  ;  women 
employed  in  Chinese  palace  in- 
stead of  eunuchs,  ii.  138  ;  wages 
of,  in  modern  China,  310,  315  ; 
penalties  for  offences  against,  t,^  ; 
only  imprisoned  on  capital 
charges.  571. 

Wonderful  stories,  book  of,  402. 

Woo  chang,  confluence  of  the  Han 
and  Kiang  at,  ii.  it,- 

Wood  on  climate  of  Pamir  plateau, 
16  ;    on  kishlak  of  Badakshan,  ii. 

43,  44- 

Wood,  repulse  of  English  expedition 
under  Benjamin,  ii.  272. 

Writings,  inspector  of.  in  5th  Dyn. 
tomb,  55  :  "  writing  for  money." 
a  sort  of  mortgage  bond.  182: 
marriage  with  and  without,  in 
Syro-Roman  code.  492  :  old  Ber- 
ber, mainly  used  by  Towarek 
women.  540. 

Written  characters,  where  invented,  4; 
introduction  of  written  deeds  in 
Egypt,  191. 


554  INDEX. 

Wu.    emperor    of   the  Han    Dynasty    '  cities    of,  503;  noble    ladies   un- 

(Han-wu-ti),   ii.    105-7,   109,    ill,  veiled  in,  521. 

1 18  ;  favourite  currency  of,  116.  Yen  and  Tse,  alliance  and   gifts  be- 
\Vu,  king  of  Leang  Dynasty,  ii.  146.  tween,  ii.  81. 

W'u,  son  of  Wen,  ii.  18,  22,  28,  44.  Yen-tze,  quotation  from,  ii.  95,  n.  2. 

Wu,  state  of,  ii.  97.  Yenta  demands  a  market  for  horses, 
Wu-heou,  usurpation    of  Empress,  ii.  ii.  246-8. 

133;  examinations   regulated  by,  Yesien,  Chinese  emperor  captured  by, 

144;  .  .  ii-  242. 

Wu-tching,    president  of  Hanlin    col-  Yew,  king  of  Chow,  ii.  28. 

lege,  ii.  230.  Yi    King,   Chinese   classic,   31,    ii.    16, 
Wu-ti  =  the  warlike  Prince,  ii.  237.  200,  202,  207,  488-90. 

Wu-tsong,   anti-Buddhist   edict   of,  ii.  Yin,  Bamboo  annals  end  with  reign  of, 

148.  ii.  29. 

Wu-tsong-ming,  ii.  246.  Yng  -  tsong.     Ming     emperor     taken 

prisoner  by  Tatars,  ii.  242,  243. 

Yang-chi    quoted,  ii.  ~~  ;  will  of,   202  ;  Yng-tsong,  Sung  emperor,  ii.  170. 

advice  to  his  sons,  203  ;  provisions  Yo-fei.  general  and  scholar,  ii.  1  74. 

for  relations    and    servants,    204,  Young  married   women  the  victims  in 

205  ;    on    tutors,    311  ;   custom  of  Chinese  society,  ii.  354. 

his  family,  362  n.  Yu,  the  great,  hydraulic  achievements 
Yang-choo,  ii.  87  ;  Epicurean  egotism  of,  276  ;  emperor  of  China,  ii.  17, 

of,  89-91.  20,   29,    30,   57;  enumerates  nine 

Yang-chow,  sec  Hang-chow.  classes  of  land,    13  ;  metal  work 

Yang-jin    innovating    Tang    financier,  the  favourite  industry  of,  61. 

ii.  150.  151.  Yuen   Wei   Dynasty,  ii.    144;  sales  of 
Yang-ke-ching  objects  to  horse  fairs,  land  restricted  by,  150. 

ii.  246.  Yule,  Sir  Henry,  on  Pegolotti,  ii.  234. 

Yang-koui-shan,    philosopher    quoted  Yu-mon  passage  or  Jade  gate,  18. 

by  Choo-hi.  ii.  213.  Yung-ching,  Mantchu  emperor,  ii.  274, 
Yangs,  regency  of  the  three,  ii.  242.  281-6,  357,  380. 

Yang-se-khy,    advice   to   Seuen-tsong,  Yung-lo  deposes  his  nephew,  ii.  239  ; 

ii.  242.  tomb  of,  241  n. 

Yao,  legendary  emperor  of  China,  17,  Yunnan,  rebellion  in,  ii.  27S. 

32.  ii.  17,  29,  45,  46.  Yuruks,  415. 
Yao  and  Shun,  ii.  89,  91,  92. 

Yarim  or  Y'arkand  river,  ii.  3,  5.  Zabibija,    Arab    queen,     tributary    to 
Yarkand  and    Khotan,  village  clusters  Tiglath-pilescr  III.,  511.. 

in.  ii.  44  ;   Yarkand  and   Cashgar  Zabid,  women  of.  523. 

welcome  Chinese  protectorate,  287.  Zabu,  king  of  babel,  282. 

Year,    length    of    Chinese,  ii.    23  ;    ol  Zaiton,  sec  Zayton. 

Egyptian,  ii.  441  ;  oi  Babylonian,  Zaleucus,  legislation   ascribed  to,  447, 

437  ;    Peruvian,  454.  448. 

Yeha,  inscription  from.  510.  Zamasumiddin,  at   war  with  Assyria. 
Yeliutache,  ii.  172,227.  291. 

Yeliu-tchoutsai,  minister  of  Ogatai,  ii.  Zarpanit    and    Merodach,    gifts    dedi- 

i  75   7.  224.  cated  to,  286. 

Yellow    caps,  insurrection   of,  ii.    121  ;  Zayton  =  Chinchow,   ii.   217,   2  r  S,  231, 

yellow      mantle,    the      badge     of  232. 

Buddhism.  145.  Zerca  el  Yemamah,  long-sighted  Arab 
Yellow  liver,  change  of  its  course,  ii.  kady,  529. 

ii'.  and  n..  230,  287.  Zi  =  spirit,  235. 

Yemenite  in-'  riplions,  19  :  intercourse  Zimbabwe  ruins.  518. 

between  Yemen  and    Egypt,  501  ;  Zodiac,  constellations  of,  ii.  457. 

commercial  importance  of  ancient  Zophar  the  Naamathitc,  499. 


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